A Fine Morning!

Good Morning readers! The sun is shining, it's a crisp cool 62 degrees out and I'm ready to create! I've been busy finishing up the semester but I'm glad its over now. I earned an A- in Human Genetics, a B in Physics, and an A+ in psychology. My physics final was brutal, but I did pretty well. I haven't had time to unwind though. Taking my grandma and siblings back and forth to school and work pretty much drains my whole day. On top of that, my sister graduated last Saturday with a BA in Political Science! I'm so proud of her. I'm counting down the days when I get my two BAs. Anywho! We all know why I'm posting. I've made a few things! I know it's been a while since my last post but I have been busy with new shiny sparkly things:

Ethereal Earrings:

I'm so in love with these earrings. I don't want to put them on etsy, but since I'm unemployed right now, I have to. I am experimenting with more angular shaped frames. I really enjoyed making them. Oxidized sterling silver, natural blue chalcedony, aquamarine, rainbow moonstone.


Cradle Earrings:

Oxidized sterling silver, neon blue apatite, mystic topaz, amethyst.


Pyaj Necklace (onion):

I fought hard not to oxidized this piece, but I wanted it to look really summery so I kept it bright sterling silver. Shaped into a little onion, and embellished with kyanite, vesuvianite, and citrine. I added little 2mm sterling rounds up the chain for extra flare!

That's it for now. Have a great week all :)

My Gift to Drew Barrymore

I don't know where my jewelry hobby is going to take me. My life path is just full of twists and turns...just like wirework!

I sent off my gift to the lovely Drew Barrymore. I entered the drawing for Drew because she seems so free-spirited. Looking through her pictures, I saw that she didn't wear many necklaces but she wore lots of interesting earrings. My previous post showed this opulent necklace but I toned it down so it wouldn't take away from the look of the earrings. Why did I choose paisley? Because it's whimsical and bold:







I knew from the beginning I wanted a cascade of sterling paisleys. It took me DAYS to chain and shape each one. I then embellished them with amethyst, turquoise, vesuvianite (from mount vesuvius in Italy), kyanite, and chrysoprase. I learned that her favorite color is green. I wanted to emphasize the green without it being extremely over powering so I did many shades of it.

For the necklace, which is EXTREMELY toned down from my original idea, I incorporated all the colors from the earrings into one cohesive piece. The flower in the middle was a happy little accident. It formed during layering. If you would like a similar pair of earrings or necklace don't hesitate to ask. I will be putting a listing on my etsy soon.





I packaged Drew's set in a box that I tea-stained, layered with stamps and embossing ink and wrote her a little note:



I am so happy I did this, it was my biggest challenge yet. At first I was intimidated by the amount of work I knew I was going to be putting in. I juggled this between school and homework. I gave it all my heart and soul and it was so worth it. Who knows, maybe someone will snap a photo and you'll see her wearing them somewhere! I think they'd be easy to spot. Keey your eyes peeled for me :)

Oh the Busy Life...

So sorry about abandoning this blog for nearly 5 months. So many things have gone on in my life since October. I finally was at my wits-end at my job. I searched high and low for another place of employment but just couldn't find anything. I did the unthinkable and QUIT. I decided to take out a loan and go to school full time. I feel so much weight lifted from my shoulders. I have more time to create and reflect on who I am now and who I want to be in the future. I gave my resignation in December. I do miss the children very very much, some of my friends who still work there say they ask about me often but I had to leave. I was being mistreated and used. So I started off the new year with a fresh new start, jobless and hopeful. Now the semester is in full swing, my heart is lifted, and so has my awareness of myself. I can finally tap into my arts and crafts without the stress of work on my mind while I create. Yes there's stress about school, however, that's expected.

I have some really great news: I was selected via lottery through The Artisan Group to send a piece of jewelry to the lovely Drew Barrymore! I am excited beyond words. I am documenting my journey from start to finish:





I decided to make her a paisley necklace and earring set. I was so intimidated at first because I couldn't decide what to make her. I browsed through her pictures on google and saw that she didn't wear very many necklaces but her earrings are always so stunning. I hope she likes this, so far I have put about 6 hours into this project. I have shaped each paisley individually and lovlingly wrapped each one by hand with wire and chain. Some of them are very small. I chose blues and greens to match her pretty hazel green eyes. She may not respond to my gift, but it does feel nice to know that a celebrity will have a piece of my heart. I will post another picture with the set complete.

I've also been working on updating my packaging. I've come up with an old-world look:







For these, I took plain white jewelry boxes, tea-stained them, stamped them with a red-gold ink, them embossed them with peacock feathers in various colors. I did the same with the "thank you" notes. I burned the edges for an antique look.

Happy Friday all! Have a crafty weekend :)

It's all about Earrings

Yess! Fall is here! It's my favorite season! I just celebrated my 25th birthday last week. I spent it with my fiance and his sister and then went home the next day and celebrated with my family. Needless to say, it was a great birthday. I have created a few new earrings. Hope you like!






These are my Fall Plumberry earrings. I shaped them from sterling wire, I oxidized and left the inner wirework bright silver for a nice contrast. I used amethyst, rhodolite garnet, amd honey citrine.


Sterling silver lotus posts, tourmaline, garnet, and citrine.


Made these for my sister, sterling silver, and onyx.


Citrine kites, sterling.




Made these for my sister's birthday. Sterling silver, rose quartz, freshwater pearls, aquamarine.

Thanks for reading my earring post! :)

More Colors!

I'm excited that I'm beginning to pick up followers! My goal is to have 500 followers so that I can start my jewelry give-aways.

I decided to go a different direction with this post. Today I will be showing you a bit of my faceted stone stash. These are the ones that are the most striking to me. Keep in mind this is a SMALL portion of what I've got to work with. Enjoy the color show!



Stone Stash: amethyst, ametrine, apatite, aquamarine, citrine, chyroprase, chalcedony, green amethyst, iolite, kynite,labroradorite, moonstone,prehenite, smokey quartz, rutilated quartz, pink topaz, london blue topaz, mystic topaz, tourmaline, sunstone, rose quartz, swiss blue topaz, pink druzy, onyx

then I got a little creative...







A happy little rainbow out of my favorite stones. Til next time readers, have a great week!

Something a little different

I decided to step away from my usual wirework and gemstones for something a little more on the whimsical side. Sit back and enjoy the color show!











UFO Circus Bracelet and Earrings:

I made this bracelet from handmade lampwork beads by Sandra Helm of Buckaroo Beads these beads have so much character in each one, the colors are just fantastic. I also added little saucer beads and swarovski crystal onto a sterling silver chain. I made the ball pins myself and I also made the hook clasp. Hope you like it!




Whimsical Flowers:

Plexiglass flowers, czech glass leaves, and swarovski crystals. Findings are all sterling silver.

I hope you enjoyed my lil' jewelry post.

Til next time, have a great week :)

So they Say it's Monday!

Well it's almost the END of Monday. Today was a better start to the week than the last two weeks. I am feeling a lot more positive. I have been applying for jobs like crazy to get foot in the door at a hospital. I hope one calls me back. Of course they're all looking for someone with experience.

But anyway, on to the point of this post!







Inspired by Empress Mumtaz Mahal. She was the most beloved Empress of Shah Jahan, ruler of the Mughal Empire. She passed away during the birth of their 14th child. His love for was so great that he built the Taj Mahal in honor of that love. To this day, the Taj Mahal stands the test of time and is a symbol of great love.

This is my second paisley pendant. I used 14kt gold filled wire and carefully shaped it into a traditional paisley. I added my lovely signature scrolling motif to the center with a little peacock colored freshwater pearl as an accent. The stones I used are apatite, green amethyst, kyanite, peridot, iolite, turquoise, and flourte. In total it took me 5 hours to create.





A reshoot of my Chai Tea Necklace. Oxidized sterling silver, beer quartz, tourmaline, garnet, honey citrine, smokey quartz, freshwater pearls.

Hot Chai tea is It's warm, sweet, spicy and earthy. Grab yourself a cup in the winter and it's pure heaven!

Till next time...have a great week :)