New Work

Nevada variscite and sterling silver necklace

California pink tourmaline and sterling silver necklace

California green tourmaline and recycled sterling silver ring, size 6.5

Fair trade Purple Sage Chalcedony and sterling silver earrings

New Work

Chatham lab-created emerald and recycled sterling silver ring

Oregon suntsone, recycled 14k rose gold, and recycled sterling silver ring

What's Old is New Again

Today's find on Ruby Lane -

Exquisite Vintage Open Back Crystal & Rhinestones Necklace, offered by Jacquelyn's Diverse Vintage

Can't you just picture this incredible necklace with an elegantly simple bridal gown? I can. :-)

High Time for a Sale!

It's been a while... what do you all say to a big old sale???

New Stones

Fair trade Zultanite, 6mm (1.35 carats)

Fair 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?

What's Old is New Again

This is the first in what I hope will be a regular series of posts highlighting antique and vintage jewelry finds on the net. I am hopelessly smitten by antique jewelry, partly because of its obvious beauty, but also because 're-used' jewelry is just about as green as it gets! You can click on the text links below to see more images, details, and prices for each piece.

Spectacular Deco Platinum 3-Diamond Ring, offered by Jeweled Rose

c. 1930 Antique Art Deco 10K Gold Filigree Ruby Solitaire Ring, offered by Laura's lifeintheknife

c. 1920 Antique Art Deco 14K White Gold Citrine Filigree Ring, offered by Laura's lifeintheknife

Fine Art Deco Era 18k White Gold .42 cwt Diamond Engagement Ring, offered by Precious & Rare Pieces

c. 1930 Vintage Art Deco 14K Gold Amethyst & Enamel Flower Ring, offered by Laura's lifeintheknife

14k White Gold Filigree Art Deco Ruby Ring, offered by Mur-Sadie's Jewelry

Antique Estate 18K White Gold Band with Sapphire & Diamond Ring, offered by The Gem Gallery

New Work

Enormous Oregon sunstone and recycled 14k gold ring, size 6.5

New Work

Fair 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.

California pink tourmaline and recycled 14k gold ring
{ custom order; sold }

This 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.

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)

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

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

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

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?

New Work

First 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 }

And 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...

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

On to another something new...

My first attempt at a handmade prong setting. :-)

I'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.

New Work

Fair 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 sapphire, 5mm

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

New Work; New Stones

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

Recycled palladium sterling silver wedding rings

Fair trade sapphire, 6mm

New Work

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

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

New Work

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

Hammered palladium sterling wedding ring
{ custom order; sold }

Holley chalcedony and sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

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.

Fair trade smoky quartz, 7mm

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

Fair trade rose quartz, 10mm

Fair trade peridot, 5mm

Fair trade Oro Verde quartz, 10mm

Fair trade green quartz, 10mm

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

Fair trade Purple Sage chalcedony cabs, 8mm