And the winner is...

I've selected an entry from my $100 gift certificate giveaway contest (via Random.org) and the lucky winner is Gabriel J.!

Thanks so much for playing, everyone! It was lots of fun for me as well. Feel free to continue to pass along your thoughts and suggestions about my new site as I continue to make little tweaks and adjustments.

Don't Miss Out!

In case you haven't already done so, please be sure to enter to win a $100 McFarland Designs gift certificate! The drawing will be held in one week. :-)

As promised...

I had some technical difficulties during the past couple of days that prevented me from getting this posted earlier like I promised, but better late than never! Without further ado -

Enter now to win a $100 McFarland Designs gift certificate to celebrate the launch of my new website!!!

Here's how to enter - check out the new site, then leave a comment here on the blog - feedback on the site itself is appreciated, or you can let me know something you like (or don't like) about any of my designs, or make a suggestion for a new design you'd like to see me create.

If you want to enter more than once, you can post about my giveaway and/or my new website on your own website, blog, or on Facebook, Twitter, etc. To register your additional entry, just post another comment with a link to the blog post (or Facebook post, tweet, etc.). You can enter up to five times, provided that each entry after the first includes a link to a legitimate post promoting my work or this contest. (Please, only one post per site, ie, one Facebook post, one Twitter, one blog post, etc.)

A winner will be drawn at random on June 15th. Good luck!

UPDATE - June 4th:
You can register additional entries (still with a maximum of five) by becoming my friend on Facebook or following me on Twitter. After you've done so, come back here and leave additional comments letting me know.

UPDATE - June 15th:
And the winner is... Gabriel J.!!! Congratulations Gabriel, and thanks everyone for participating. I got some great feedback and met some nice new people. This contest is now closed but check back for another in perhaps a couple of months.

Since I'm sure you've all been waiting on pins and needles...

...to hear the results of my most recent contest, I probably shouldn't keep you in suspense any longer, even though I don't have a resolution yet to the question I posed.

(Drum roll please...) I chose at random, and the lucky winner is - Ellie! Ellie, you have $25 to spend in either my bead shop or my jewelry shop. Email me to let me know how you'd like to use your credit, and congratulations!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated. You guys had some great ideas, some of which I'm considering for my new line. Some of my favorite suggestions were the Sanskrit words, which was something I had never considered -

• Karuna (which means kindness in Sanskrit)
• Inika (which means little Earth in Sanskrit)

I have one other idea floating around in my head - a name nobody mentioned, so I'm curious to hear what you think of it...


To me, the word 'legacy' is really appropriate because it reflects the idea that everything we do (both in our business and personal lives) has an impact on the people, animals, and environment around us. It encourages a measure of consciousness about how our choices today will affect those who follow. And last but not least, it is appropriate to the jewelry as well, since these are higher-end, heirloom-quality pieces that can be passed down from generation to generation. (Also, down the road, I'd like to offer a service where you can send in old pieces and have them re-worked, and/or possibly start incorporating re-worked estate pieces that I find myself.)

Oh, and the layout I used above is totally preliminary - I'd play around more before settling on fonts, colors, etc.

So, I'm still undecided, but at least I have a few ideas. Please let me know what you think of these possibilities - both positives and negatives. :-)

New Rings { and a CONTEST } !!!

As you probably know if you've been reading this blog for more than say, a week - I recently learned some new stone setting techniques that have me all excited about new design directions. I've spent the last couple of weeks ordering supplies and getting my studio better organized, and finally during the last two days, I've had a chance to try out these new techniques here on my own.

The results have been mixed - for every success, there have been numerous failures and frustrations, but I know that with practice, it will all become easier. (I remember how difficult bezel setting seemed at first, and now I could practically do that in my sleep.) Of the several pieces I have attempted in the last few days, two have turned out well enough to sell. Without further ado...

California pink tourmaline and recycled sterling silver ring
(5mm faceted stone on 5mm flat band, textured satin finish)
click here for more photos

Moissanite, recycled 14k gold, and recycled sterling silver ring
(5mm faceted stone on comfort fit band, textured satin finish)
click here for more photos

If you're not familiar with moissanite, allow me to blather on a bit regarding what I've learned about this amazing material. Moissanite was originally born from a meteorite over 50,000 years ago, and was first discovered by Dr. Henri Moissan in 1893 in material collected from a meteor crater in Arizona. These incredibly brilliant sparkling crystals might have been considered "diamonds from space," but Dr. Moissan's research actually identified them as a new mineral find - silcon carbide, whose chemical composition is SiC (diamonds are made from carbon). This stunning jewel is extremely rare, and almost impossible to find in nature. So rare, in fact, that the dream of using it in jewelry was an impossibility until man discovered a way to create and craft these incredible silicon carbide crystals here on Earth.

With more fire than any popular gemstone (including diamond), no other stone or jewel compares to Moissanite. In fact, fire can be measured scientifically and moissanite has nearly 2.4 times the fire of diamond. Moissanite also has 10% more brilliance and luster than diamond. Proven to be harder than ruby, sapphire or emerald and second only to diamond, moissanite is also extraordinarily heat resistant, durable, and tough. It is extremely resistant to scratching, abrasion, breaking and chipping. And because these phenomenal stones are grown in a laboratory, you don't have to worry about the ethical problems involved with harvesting diamonds and other mined gems.

Pretty cool, huh? :-) I doubt that my pictures adequately capture how pretty this material really is, but it's truly amazing - so sparkly and gorgeous! This ring also reflects my first attempt at including gold in any of my work - a trend I hope to expand on as my budget allows.

Okay, I know what you're thinking - enough already, what about the contest? Be patient, grasshopper.

Here's the thing. I've been spending a lot of time lately thinking about my business and where I hope to be a few years down the road, and I've come to the conclusion that I want to work toward a couple of goals. First, I would like to begin creating some higher end pieces, using really amazing stones (including more moissanite) and different varieties of recycled gold, and second, I want to begin using exclusively earth-, human-, and animal-friendly materials. I already incorporate many of these ideals in my current work, abstaining from using any animal-derived materials, and using mostly recycled silver, but I want to take it further. I'm hoping to create a new collection that uses 100% recycled metal and stones that are either (a) lab grown, (b) mined in the United States, or (c) mined in other countries, but have been independently certified as not involving mining practices that are destructive to the environment or dangerous to workers.

Here's where I need your help. I'd like to come up with a name for this new line that somehow encapsulates all of these ideas - both the ethical aspects and the higher-end feel. To enter this contest, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post with a suggestion for a name for my new collection. I have a few ideas of my own already but nothing I'm attached to yet, so throw out any words, phrases, tag lines, etc. you can think of. The winner will be chosen at random in a couple of weeks and will be awarded with a $25 credit to be used in either my jewelry shop or my bead shop.

Yay! Thanks for playing!

This Month's Winner

Thanks everyone for all of the name suggestions for our new rats! There were some great ideas put forward, and I did use some of them. I've decided to name the girls Petunia, Violet, and Rosemary. And the winner of the $25 credit to be used in my jewelry shop or my bead shop is Lee! (11th post down) Lee, I don't know how to get in touch with you, so if you read this, email me to let me know how you'd like to use your prize.

Okay, time to spill.

Obviously this will not come as a huge surprise, but yes, Willy is building me a NEW STUDIO!!!!!! Eek! I am so excited. Thanks to everyone who guessed. And this month's winner is - Lotta! Yay Lotta! Email me to let me know what you'd like to use your $25 towards.

I was kind of surprised at how unanimous the guesses were - I don't know what I was expecting - I guess maybe I thought more of you would guess that we were adopting again or something. {We're not.} But then I realized that all of you who guessed probably don't know how small our house is, so you wouldn't necessarily know that enlarging the family would require enlarging the house... :-)

Anyways, construction is coming along fabulously. The sheetrockers are delivering their supplies as we speak and if all goes according to schedule, I could possibly be painting the interior walls by next weekend! And I haven't chosen colors yet so if anyone knows of any good inspiration sites for that kind of thing, please share. I want to do something colorful and pretty. It's the only place in the house that's 100% *mine* so if I want to get all girly-girl, this is the place.

A couple of days ago, we went and bought some super sexy workbenches for the studio at Costco, and today or tomorrow I'm going to order my new desk. We'll be moving our current computer out to the studio and getting a laptop for the house. One corner of the studio will be devoted to office space and processing bead orders (my current setup is woefully inadequate) and there will be separate work areas for beading and metalwork. There will be a sink, a heater, an exhaust fan over my soldering area, and as you already saw, a window with a nice view. Heaven!!!

A room with a view, and some cute duckies too

Our mystery construction project is coming along nicely. Framing is done, plumbing and wiring is just about finished, and the window opening got cut out today - very exciting!!!


The window itself also got delivered today and I'm hoping it might go in tomorrow...

{view from inside - you can't tell in this picture, but you can see all the way out to the ocean}

Sheetrock and siding should be happening soon. I'll probably spill the beans any day now about what the project is, so if you haven't already made your guess, time's running out!

I can't believe I haven't posted about this yet, but we got ducks! I haven't been able to get any really great pictures of them yet because they are really shy; they seem pretty comfortable in their pen but don't really like to venture out. We've opened the door up several times so they could go explore the larger yard but even the promise of fresh green grass and big juicy slugs doesn't seem to tempt them; they just stay in their cozy little pen even when the door is open. Maybe when we get our chickens they can teach the ducks to be a little more exploratory.


So, between the difficulty of photographing them through the wire of their fence and trying not to scare them, and my embarrassment over the fact that we haven't thought of names for them yet (any suggestions?), I guess that's why it took me a week or two to show them off. But aren't they the cutest? I love watching them swim and bathe and peck in the grass, and it's so nice to have that quacky background noise to listen to when we're out in the yard.


Any suggestions on how to befriend shy ducks? For now I've just been giving them their space, and today Carlos and I fed them little pieces of bread. Carlos is being really good with them - he knows not to chase them or scare them. Pretty cute, all three of them.

What's Willy Building?

This is Willy, our trusty contractor. And this is our house. Well, technically, part of our garage.


I'm sure my regular readers have noticed that I have been remiss in offering my usual monthly giveaways these past few months. The only excuse I have is extreme busyness (is that a word?)... but I'm ready to get back on track. I like to make you work for your prizes (especially by guessing random and obscure things about my life - hmm, self-centered much?), so here's your assignment - leave a comment on this post guessing what Willy is doing to our house. After a few weeks, I will randomly choose from those of you who guessed correctly and one of you will win $25 to spend in either my bead shop or my jewelry shop.

The fine print: If you know me in real life and I've already told you what's going on, no guessing for you!!!

Monthly Contest, with a twist

Okay, it's that time again... are you ready to compete for my monthly $25 gift certificate giveaway? This time I'm going to make you work for it. Here's what you have to do... visit my bead shop and my jewelry shop and scour my listings until you find the one item that contains the message "happy holidays" within the item description.

The first person who identifies the correct listing by posting the name of the item in a comment on this post wins $25 to spend in either of my shops! Happy hunting...

{Drum Roll Please...}

Okay, before I unveil my new tattoo and announce the winner of this month's contest, I have to say, c'mon guys, what's up? I only got nine guesses, compared with 23 entries last month! Maybe it's because I excluded friends and family this time, or maybe you're all more shy than I give you credit for, and actually asking for a little more interaction sent you to your scary place. Whatever the reason, the good news for those of you who did enter is that your odds went way up this month! :-)

I probably should have waited a few more days to post because it's still a little pink, but I am excited and want to show it off. At least it's not crusty anymore.


As you can see, I got the word 'vegan' tattooed on my wrist in white ink with some pretty swirlies above and below. Do you like it? I do. It has several spots that need to be touched up and filled in with more ink, which is pretty typical with white ink, I guess. So lucky me, I get to go in again in a week and get all scabby again. Yay!

So now what you've really all been waiting for... I have decided to award the $25 gift certificate to chinababe2004. Three people guessed the word 'vegan,' but only chinababe2004 included the idea of it having some kind of design around it, which it does, and I wanted people to give specific little details like that. So chinababe, email me and let me know what you'd like to use your credit on! Congratulations, and thanks to everyone for playing my silly little game.

Monthly Contest, with a twist...

Don't worry, I didn't cut my wrists. I got a new tattoo!!! I thought I'd celebrate by putting a bit of a twist on my usual monthly $25 gift certificate giveaway.

This month, in order to enter, you have to guess what my new tattoo is. You can guess up to three times. Be as specific as possible to help me determine a winner in case more than one of you have similar guesses. If nobody guesses correctly, I'll choose a winner at random like I usually do.

Once my tattoo is healed well enough to show off, I'll unveil it here on the blog and announce a winner. Oh, and in case this little contest is new to anybody, you're competing to win a $25 gift certificate, which you can use in either my bead shop or my jewelry shop.

The fine print: If you are a friend or relative of mine and I have already told you about my tattoo, you don't get to play this month - sorry!

And the winner is...

momojojo is the winner of this month's $25 gift certificate giveaway! momojojo, email me to let me know what you'd like to spend your credit on - it's good on anything in either my bead shop or my jewelry shop.

Thanks to everyone who participated, and check back at the beginning of November for another chance to enter to win!

It's that time again!

Time for my monthly drawing for a $25 gift certificate, good in either my bead shop or my jewelry shop! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post, then check back around mid-month for a new post announcing the winner! (I won't contact you directly, so don't forget to check back and see if you've won!)

And the winner is....

{drum roll please}

The lucky winner of my September $25 gift certificate giveaway is...

Wan!

Wan, email me (or convo me through Etsy) and let me know how you'd like to spend your $25 credit, either in my bead shop or my jewelry shop. Congratulations!

Everyone else, check back around the first of October to enter next month's drawing.

Don't miss out!

There's still time (but not much!) to sign up for my September $25 gift certificate giveaway - register here - and if you've already signed up, don't forget to check back here this weekend, when I'll announce the lucky winner! Good luck everyone...

Register to win a $25 gift certificate here!

As promised, I'm instituting a monthly drawing for a $25 gift certificate, good in either my bead shop or my jewelry shop. To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post. If you're posting anonymously, please be sure to give me a name or some way to identify you. On the 15th of the month, I will choose a winner at random and post their name here on the blog. You will need to check back here to find out if you won, so don't forget to return on or after the 15th. Good luck!

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?