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Monday, August 31, 2009

New Work

prince mine nevadaNevada variscite and sterling silver necklace

pink tourmaline necklaceCalifornia pink tourmaline and sterling silver necklace

green tourmaline ringCalifornia green tourmaline and recycled sterling silver ring, size 6.5

purple chalcedony earringsFair trade Purple Sage Chalcedony and sterling silver earrings

Sunday, August 30, 2009

New Work

emerald silver ringChatham lab-created emerald and recycled sterling silver ring

oregon sunstone ringOregon suntsone, recycled 14k rose gold, and recycled sterling silver ring

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

New Stones

princess cut zultaniteFair trade Zultanite, 6mm (1.35 carats)

zultaniteFair trade Zultanite, 8mm (2.26 carats)

Happy Things

I am feeling very fortunate today...

Last night's dinner - the most amazing grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had - Daiya cheddar shreds with CSA tomato.

We live in a tiny town. Really tiny - the only businesses we have on the main drag are the post office, a tiny grocery/liquor store, and a butcher (yay! not.) - so a new business opening up is kind of exciting, and we just got a new bakery. I stopped there for the first time this morning and bought a loaf of sourdough. Isn't it adorable?

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

New Work

zultanite ringFair trade Zultanite and 14k recycled white gold ring, size 7
I love Zultanite so much! I think it makes for a really unique alternative to diamonds or moissanite for a wedding ring.

square moissanite ringThis one isn't quite finished yet (the stone hasn't been set; it's just temporarily perched atop the bezel) but I thought I'd share it with you all anyways. It's in its second incarnation (original here), and I like this re-worked version so much more than my first attempt. I've given it a heavier, tapered handmade bezel, and I've narrowed the band down in front to meet the new, narrower base of the bezel.

moissanite ring

Monday, August 24, 2009

New Stones

I did some quick shopping this morning -
most are currently available for custom orders

Oregon sunstone, 5mm square (0.56 carats)

California smoky citrine, 7mm (1.01 carats)

California quartz, 7mm (1.05 carats)

Oregon sunstone, 5mm (0.47 carats)

Oregon sunstone, 5mm x 7mm (0.79 carats)

California pink tourmaline, 7mm x 9mm (2.54 carats)

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Feathered Friends

I know I have been slacking on the bird photos lately...

Bonding under the rosebush

Chuck Norris with his lady friends

Blosssom

New Work

rose gold moissaniteMoissanite, recycled 14k white gold, and recycled 14k rose gold ring
{ custom order; sold }

sapphire engagement ringFair trade sapphire, moissanite, and recycled 14k yellow gold ring, size 6.5
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

Friday, August 14, 2009

The County Fair

I've long since sworn off of zoos and circuses with animal acts, and yet, when the fair comes to town, I feel compelled to take Carlos. I have mixed feelings about the fair. One one hand, it seems like such an all-American classic summertime activity - a fun way to spend an afternoon as a family - but on the other hand, there's this...


... beautiful animals, well cared for by (one would assume) reasonably caring and well-meaning adults and children - displayed with pride, and for may people, I daresay love. And yet subjected to indignities and cruelties like painful horn removal, I'm sure without anesthetic.


Ouch. And worse yet, so many of these animals will soon go to auction and slaughter. I will never be able to understand the dissonance inherent in this situation. These 4-H/FFA kids spend huge amounts of time taking really good care of their animals, learning lessons about selflessness and responsibility, growing attached to their charges and experiencing the joy of inter-species relationships, only to be forced to learn the 'ultimate lesson' that none of this matters - that it's okay to betray a friend - that it's necessary to inflict pain and suffering on others in order to become a mature, responsible adult. It's incredibly sad, and I just don't get it.

Marji at Animal Place posted a great article on this subject the other day if you'd like to read more.

I beg to differ.

The whole atmosphere of the fair is disconcerting to me. I feel like even my choice of attire is a loaded issue - if I wear my usual animal rights themed t-shirts, would I get weird looks? or perhaps even rude comments? Even my 'love animals / don't eat them' bumper sticker makes me wonder if my car might get keyed in the parking lot. Weird thoughts to be having at a festive place like the fair, right?

So what do you think, fellow animal activists - do you go to the fair when it comes to your town? I'm especially interested to hear from folks with kids. Am I exposing Carlos to a harmless afternoon of fun, or am I subtly showing him that it's okay to exploit animals?

Thursday, August 13, 2009

New Work

chunky sunstone ringFirst off, a ginormous (8mm) deep red Oregon sunstone ring.
This gorgeous stone is set in white gold. Size 6.
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

moissanite gold ringAnd here, I've tried something new for a custom order; in order for this narrow-banded engagement ring to sit flush on the floral wedding band, I notched the wedding band. I think it turned out rather nice...

floral wedding bandI'm going to add a couple of little flush-set moissanites to the band soon.

On to another something new...

gold sapphire ringMy first attempt at a handmade prong setting. :-)

sustainable jewelryI'm not 100% in love with it... especially this first attempt, since my prongs are not quite uniformly sized, but it was fun to try something new.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

New Work

palladium sterling silverFair trade grape garnet, lab-created Padparadscha sapphire, and palladium sterling silver ring, size 6
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }


New Stones

fair trade sapphireFair trade sapphire, 5mm

malawi sapphireFair trade sapphire, 5mm
(see the pretty darker striations in this one?)

Friday, August 7, 2009

New Work; New Stones

gold chalcedony ringPurple Sage chalcedony and recycled 14k gold ring, size 6.5
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

palladium wedding bandsRecycled palladium sterling silver wedding rings

fair trade sapphireFair trade sapphire, 6mm

New Work

One more straggler... green tourmaline has been popular lately!

tourmaline engagement ringCalifornia green tourmaline and recycled sterling silver engagement ring
{ custom order; sold }

Thursday, August 6, 2009

New Work

ethical wedding setGreen tourmaline and moissanite wedding ring;
Scroll patterned men's wedding band
{ custom order; sold }

hammered wedding bandHammered palladium sterling wedding ring
{ custom order; sold }

lavender chalcedony ringHolley chalcedony and sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }


Tuesday, August 4, 2009

New Stones!!!

I am quite excited - I got some new stones yesterday - not just new pieces of the same things I've always had (well, yes, some of those too), but some new types of stones that I've never worked with before.

I'm 100% committed to using exclusively fair trade/ethical stones, but since I officially made that transition a few months ago, I have missed that wonderful feeling of discovery that comes with finding new stones to work with. Well, thanks to my awesome vendors, I'm riding a new-stone high once again. :-) Now I just have to find time to add the new ones to my fair trade stone directory.

ethical smoky quartzFair trade smoky quartz, 7mm

ethicalFair trade rutilated quartz, 10mm
(Yowza! Can't you just imagine this in a big old chunky gold ring?)

ethical rose quartzFair trade rose quartz, 10mm

fair trade peridotFair trade peridot, 5mm

oro verde quartzFair trade Oro Verde quartz, 10mm

ethical green quartzFair trade green quartz, 10mm

ethical grape garnetFair trade grape garnet, 6mm
(I also got some more 5mm.)

purple chalcedonyFair trade Purple Sage chalcedony cabs, 8mm