Swarovski for the Holidays and a Happy Birthday!!!

First, I want to wish a Happy Birthday to my younger sisters (twins) who turn 50 today! If you don't have a least one sister, you don't know what you are missing. Sisters are the touchstones for who we are; they are our past, and good sisters are our encouragement for our future. So a big Happy Birthday - and a cliche, but it's true nonetheless - you're not getting older, you're getting better!

I've been working on Custom Jewelry this week, but some new Swarovski caught my eye (I made the mistake of opening the package) and I just had to do a little with it. I've been know to get Swarovski shipments and leave them untouched until I had the time to work with the crystals, since when I open any Swarovski crystals I am immediately entrapped by its sparkle.
The first Swarovski that really caught my eye in this package were the Galactic pendants (shown at the top). But, I thought, why use them as pendants when they would be so much more striking and beautiful as earrings? So that is what they ended up being (also a picture of the pair at the bottom of this post). The Galactics have wonderful movement and of course, their sparkle is gorgeous. Perfect for these oddly shaped crystals are these modern looking earwires from the Karen Hill Tribes, so that the result is a very modern earring. I put them in the Holiday Gift Ideas section.
Below the Galactics are earrings made with Swarovski's new green opal crystals. It is a great Christmas green.

Alexandrite Swarovski crystals in their changeable colour are featured in these Swarovski crystal earrings. These earrings have earring posts made of sterling silver; these domed posts are great if, like many of us, you have unsightly holes from years of wearing dangling earrings.
The earrings below are created from huge 12mm bicones, then hung from sterling silver earwires with a flat diamond shape on the front. They are wonderful for a holiday party.
Below those is another picture of the Galactic earrings from the first picture in this post. Most of our other Swarovski crystal earrings can be found on the website in the Austrian Crystal Earrings page or on our Swarovski Bridal Jewelry page.

I hope that everyone is getting on with his/her Christmas shopping. I'm trying to order a few things online, trying to get a head start this year! I adore shopping online, avoiding the crowds, aching feet, and that long drive from this small Arkansas town to Memphis (where most of the Christmas shopping in this area is). While I like people, it's sometimes much easier to keep the Christmas spirit intact when you don't have to circle mall parking lots 3 times to find a parking space scrunched next to someone who is probably going to dent your car or wait for a salesperson who decided to go to lunch just when you were ready to pay for 15 items that you've painstakingly shopped 4 hours to gather together.


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earrings

After Thanksgiving

I have the post-Thanksgiving case of nerves I always get at this time every year. With Thanksgiving over, Christmas is breathing hard at my heels, and from now until Christmas Day actually comes, I feel as though I'll be playing catch-up. At least this year, I'm being a bit more disciplined about the situation. Of course, to make things even harder, we're usually out of the country every Christmas although it looks as though this year we may be in Washington - away from home, but not that long aching plane ride away from home.
I've been working mostly on custom orders lately and am finishing a wedding that will go out tomorrow. Lots of amethyst! Then, I have several other custom orders to get made (most for Christmas, so I'm doing okay there), but I've either sketched them out or know what I'm doing and where I'm going with them.
I've been working with different elements. The lampwork earrings above with lapis and carnelian (found in our Holiday Gift Ideas section match a fantastic bracelet on my Handcrafted Bracelets page.
The bracelet is made with freshwater pearls and Swarovski's newest crystals in a wonderful grey opal colour that I love. The silver freshwater pearls are perfect! The bracelet will be on our Swarovski Bracelets page.

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Aquamarine, Swarovski, Dichroic Beads, and Labradorite

I'm going a thousand different directions these days, seldom settling on one gemstone to work with (when I get to work), and with my mind full of all the changes going on at home. I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to have the house in order for Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday for good reasons: Great food, my favorite people, the house full of laughter, and plenty of good wine combined with a great tolerance towards anyone who decides that he/she must have a quick nap.
While I've been terribly flighty the last two weeks, I did manage to make some bracelets using aquamarines. I have some especially pretty blue aquamarine, both opaque and translucent, that falls into the category of gemstones that I want to use and have too. The first bracelet "At the Edge of the North Sea" features one of my favorite combinations: aquamarine and labradorite. Here I've thrown in a couple of ringers: special dichroic beads by Paula Radke and amethysts. This is on the Handmade Bracelets page.
The next two bracelets also have those lovely aquamarines; the first aquamarine bracelet has dichroic beads that look great with the blue aquamarines. The second aquamarine bracelet is for those purists who want only sterling silver with their aquamarines. Both of these are on the Aquamarine Bracelets page.The last two bracelets are made of Swarovski crystals. The clear crystal bracelet is made from the new shaped Swarovski beads in crystal Moonlight. The last bracelet has Indigo Swarovski crystals, Karen Hill Tribes and Turkish sterling silver. Both of these are on our new page Holiday Gift Ideas.
If you're cooking Thanksgiving dinner (as I am) , good luck with all those once-a year-dishes!

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