New Sunstones

These gorgeous stones just arrived in yesterday's mail. Most are available for custom orders (email me for details). The stones are all mined in Oregon, and are cut by a small family business in Sri Lanka. My local suppliers have worked directly with this same family for many years and are committed to helping to improve their lives by paying them a fair and professional wage for their work and supporting their ongoing professional education, so you can rest assured that these stones are not the product of cheap mass production done by children in India or underpaid factory workers in China.

Oregon sunstone - 5mm (0.52 carat)

Oregon sunstone - 5mm (0.5o carat)

Oregon sunstone - 5mm (0.49 carat)

Oregon sunstone - 5mm (0.50 carat)

Oregon sunstone - 6mm (0.92 carat)

Oregon sunstone - 6mm (0.87 carat)

Oregon sunstones - 5mm (approximately 0.50 carat each)

New Work

Oregon sunstone and recycled 14k white gold engagement ring
{ custom order; sold }

Shown with the wedding band I posted the other day.

Miso Soup, Two Ways

I've been eating miso soup almost daily lately, and I've settled upon two ways to prepare it. First I'll give you the fancy version, then the quick-and-dirty. :-)

If I have time to invest 10 minutes in preparation (sad to say, it's not always the case, though I'm trying to do better), here's what I do -

Miso Soup
serves two

2 cups water
1 carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 dried mushroom
1 tablespoon wakame flakes
~ 1/4 cup cubed tofu (any kind will work)
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger
1 rounded tablespoon red miso

In a small/medium saucepan, combine water, sliced carrots, sliced green onions, mushroom, and wakame flakes. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. While you are waiting for the water to boil, combine ginger, miso, and a splash of water (maybe 1 tablespoon) in a small cup or bowl and mix until the miso is creamy/dissolved. After you remove the water/veggies from the heat, stir in the cubed tofu and the ginger/miso mixture. Spoon into two bowls and enjoy!

The next option is for those times when you're feeling a bit peckish in between meals and want to have something healthy and warming to tide you over until lunch or dinner.

Super-Quick Miso Mug
serves one

2 teaspoons red miso
a pinch of ground ginger

Boil some water in a teakettle. While you wait for it to heat up, combine ginger, miso, and a splash of water (maybe 1-2 teaspoons) in a mug and mix until the miso is creamy/dissolved. Pour hot (almost boiling but not quite) water over the top to fill the mug.

New Work

Moissanite and recycled 14k white gold wedding band

Shown with matching mens band.

New Work

Oregon sunstone and recycled 14k white gold ring, size 5.5

Moissanite and recycled 14k white gold wedding band
(notched to accommodate setting for engagement ring - it's going to be worn with this one)

Food Ramblings

I haven't taken the time to post much vegan food related content here on my blog lately and I'm curious - do you miss it? I don't have a good sense of what percentage of my readership is here for the jewelry vs. here for the vegan food/lifestyle stuff (and I suppose there's probably some overlap). Anyways, I've been giving food a lot of thought lately so I thought I'd post a bit.

Basically, I've been inspired to put a stronger emphasis on whole foods in my diet after reading The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone, and I've also been slowly incorporating more macrobiotic recipes and philosophies into my diet and lifestyle.

One of the things that Alicia stresses in her book is that while processed whole grains (breads, pastas, etc.) are certainly a superior choice to white/refined grain products, we can do even better nutritionally by putting a higher priority on the grains in their truly unaltered state. This is one of those ideas that sounds so obvious and simple that I can't believe I have never heard it anywhere else, or thought of it myself. Yes, whole wheat bread is better than white bread, but a bowl of barley or brown rice is even better.

The book also encouraged me to incorporate more vegetables into my diet - both in sheer volume and in variety. I feel like I've always done a pretty good job of eating a decent amount of fruits and vegetables, but I go through phases where I do better or worse, and I think I have a tendency to go with more of the sweet fruits and less of the veggies.

And finally, I'm trying really hard to drastically reduce my processed sugar intake. It really is nasty stuff that does yucky things to your body. When I do have a craving for something sweet, I've been experimenting with using agave nectar or maple syrup in place of granulated sugar.

I've only been doing this for a few weeks but I feel really good about the changes I'm making and if there's any interest from you guys, I'd be happy to share some of the recipes/ideas that are bringing me the most enjoyment. Let me know. :-)

New Work

Moissanite, recycled 14k yellow gold, and sterling silver ring, size 6.5

{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

This is a pretty simple design, but one that's been bouncing around in my head for a while. At first the whole ring was 14k gold, but the more I looked at it, the more compelled I felt to make it look more organic and antique, so ultimately I decided to melt some sterling silver solder all around and in between the bezels, which I then oxidized to give the piece a blackened, 'ancient' kind of feel. I'm not completely sure how I feel about the finished effect; I'm curious to hear what you all think... does the oxidized silver add or detract from this design?

New Work

Chatham lab-created alexandrite, recycled palladium sterling silver, and recycled 14k white gold engagement and wedding rings
{ custom order; sold }

Chatham lab-created padparadscha sapphire and recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

Recycled sterling silver and 14k yellow gold wedding band
{ custom order; sold }

Fair trade yellow sapphire and recycled palladium sterling silver ring

{ custom order; sold }