Lots of Little Tidbits

Whew! I just spent a couple of hours getting caught up on listing things in both my bead shop and my jewelry shop on Etsy... it feels good to get some serious work done, and my shops are now showing a more full array of my actual inventory. So go take a look!

I also came up with a fun idea today - I'm going to start a monthly giveaway of a $25 gift certificate, good in either of my shops, which you will register to win right here on my blog. Finally - a reward for putting up with all my blabbering! I haven't quite figured out all the details but most likely I will post near the beginning of the month and you'll just leave a comment or something to enter... check back near the beginning of September to possibly win a prize, and I promise I'll have it all set up by then.

Here is a new wire wrapped ring I made the other day... when I received these turquoise cabochons I was a little disappointed because I was expecting them to have more of the dark matrix I tend to like best in turquoise, but then I started thinking about how nice this smooth, light finish would look in contrast to the oxidized wires of this ring design, and as it turns out I think it turned out pretty darn nice!



I also made this pair of spinel hoop earrings just for ME. I don't do that too often but I needed to do some practice work on this design and, well, you know how much I love these beads, so I figured I should have something made out of them to keep for myself.



The spinel rondelles are clustered almost the whole way around the hoop, just leaving enough room for your earlobe, so the look when worn is an endless loop of chaotic gemstones, tiny sterling beads, and sterling silver wire.



The first time I played around with a design similar to these was with these junior bridesmaids' earrings, and I liked the effect. Ever since then I have been imagining an even gemmier interpretation, which is what led me to these. I used pre-made sterling silver hoops but I am not totally happy with that aspect - they don't seem to keep their shape as well as I'd like, and with all those clustered gemstones, it's a little hard to fasten the hoops closed. I think I will play around with making my own heavier gauge, hammered hoops to use as a base next time.

And finally, I have a couple of new types of beads in stock. Both are new to me - hemimorphite and Brazil chrysocolla - have you ever heard of them before?