30 Days Hath September, Day 13

Today, I created something intangible. Photoshop is still a mystery to me in many ways, and I keep playing with it. I do some basic digital editing on my photographs for the business, but many of its ins and outs still elude me. So today, after reading a friend's LJ post, I was inspired to create this image:



Thanks, Dany!

My new namesake

Let me introduce you to one of my fellow Jewelry on Etsy (JET) teammates, Vanessa. She has three (!) shops, a jewelry store (Vandiva), a bead shop (Vandivalicious), from which I got the sardonyx beads I used in this necklace, bracelet, and earrings set, and MaBelleCherie, in which she sells gorgeous clutch bags. She recently bought a brooch from my vintage shop, and used it as an embellishment on this piece, which she named after me:



Check out some of these other beauties, also named after fellow JETs!

Debbie/TheBrassHussy



Susan/cserpent

30 Days Hath September, Day 12

Today, something for me. Before I started my love affair with the color burgundy, green was my color of choice, after black of course! I got this gorgeous green glass fused pendant from a wonderful shop on Etsy, Combustion Glassworks. She does amazing things with glass. Check out her berry sorbet dessert plate!



And these lovely peacock dichroic glass earrings:



So this pendant has been sitting around for a over a month now, and today I finally strung it so I can show it off, with black crystal beads and sterling silver.

30 Days Hath September, Day 11

I stayed up entirely too late last night working on the beadwork for the parasol I mentioned a few days ago. I'm hoping I'll finish it this weekend. I'm in the process of picking out the flower pattern in iridescent clear seed beads with a black core. Here's a teaser shot:



So for today, another simple piece to keep the momentum going. This piece is done in green aventurine, for a special reason - green is the color long associated with good fortune or money. My husband was just told yesterday that his office will be closing in January, so we can definitely use a little good fortune here. The style is one of the first I came up with when I started making jewelry almost 10 years ago, wire-wrapped beads interspersed with Celtic knots.

30 Days Hath September, Day 10

A few weeks ago, a gentleman of my acquaintance informed me that I am neglecting his gender, and that I needed to add a few masculine pieces to my collection. I've been keeping this in mind, and playing with concepts in my head, but nothing came of it until this past weekend. One of our regular Sunday routines is a trip out to one of the beaches in our area, where the munchkin spends hours happily chasing seagulls and pigeons, playing in the sand, and collecting rocks. If we'd let her, she'd bring home half the beach in water-rounded pebbles every week, so we have a tradition. She can collect as many as she likes while we're walking and playing, and before we leave, she lines them all up and we have a rock-judging contest. The two rocks that are judged the best, she can bring home. The rest, she tosses back in the water before we head back to the car.

This week, in her collection, were two beach pebbles that begged to become pendants. One is a matte white, probably a siltstone or a very fine calcite, and the other is a calcite with inclusions. Here are pictures of the almost-completed pieces:







I don't have them listed in my Artfire shop yet, as I need to acquire some cord on which to string them, but they should be up hopefully tomorrow or the next.

30 Days Hath September, Day 9

I'm on a burgundy kick. Not surprising, as it's my favorite color. I even dye my hair burgundy. Two necklaces today, one made with wonderful beads that have a sparkle to them than never shows up properly in photographs, and another with freshwater pearls.



Interestingly enough, earrings made from these very same beads were the very first thing I ever listed in my Artfire shop!

30 Days Hath September, Day 8

Feeling a little under the weather today, so I just completed one pair of earrings, garnets - my favorite stone of all time. These briolettes are absolutely stunning. It's a shape of bead I haven't done too much with to date, but I'm thinking that may change.