A couple of rings

Despite numerous setbacks in my workshop lately, I did manage to churn out two rings, after much swearing and moaning and eye rolling (it's been that kind of week)... The first is a special order labradorite ring, and the second is a dainty little rustic garnet ring which I will go list in my Etsy shop momentarily. Thanks for looking!

New Stuff

Here are a few more clear quartz cabochons with interesting mineral inclusions, which I bought yesterday...

Aren't they cool? I'm going to make more rings like this one:

I haven't made any earrings in a while so last night I cranked out a few new pairs while sitting on the couch watching TV.

Bali silver earrings

Bali silver and prehnite earrings

Aquamarine and Swarovski simulated pearl earrings

Catching up a bit

Well, I survived my little craft show. It was fairly busy on Friday but totally dead today, which sucked. Still, it was fun to hang out with my fellow crafter friends and have girl talk and cookies. Here's a picture of my booth setup; the house where we had the show is so cute... everything looked really nice.


I have been thinking a lot about the role veganism plays in my life and how I can better integrate it into the other aspects of my personality, my family, social networks, etc., so I decided to try a few things at the craft show. First, I made a ton of yummy vegan cookies to serve to our customers, and printed out the recipes (clearly marked 'vegan' - gasp!) to set out next to the plates of cookies. And second, I put out a couple of stacks of 'Try Vegetarian' brochures with my jewelry, like so:


The results were fantastic! Without being pushy about it (I hope), I was able to help spread the word about the benefits of a vegan diet, and hopefully made the word VEGAN itself, and the concept, a little less foreign and scary to at least a few dozen people. I saw a lot of people take the recipe cards, and many thanked me for them and complimented me on how tasty the cookies were. And better yet, a fair number of people took a brochure, and a couple of them even struck up conversations with me about veganism.

My cookies and brochures (as well as the fact that I brought 'Slaughterhouse' to read during the slow times) even sparked some lively conversation with my friends who were doing the show with me. They may never decide to go vegan themselves, but it was cool to at least talk to them more about it than I probably ever have before, and to introduce some facts and ideas that they clearly hadn't considered in the past. Hopefully I didn't overwhelm them with my, um, enthusiasm for the subject matter.

Oh, and I probably should post about Thanksgiving! Carlos and I had a lovely vegan meal with my dear friend Kristina and my mom and step dad (Matt had to work). I neglected to photograph dessert (such a shame), which was chocolate peanut butter pie and pumpkin cream cheese pie (all vegan, of course). I'll try to remember to find links or post those recipes soon.

My dinner plate - clockwise from top: mashed potatoes with gravy, homemade white whole wheat rolls, neat loaf from 'The Peaceful Palate', yams with apples, cider, and ginger cookie crumbles, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and green bean casserole (center). And to think some people out there still think of veganism as deprivation!

A tragically blurry picture of Carlos chowing down on a roll...

...then working off said roll...

...then relaxing with a good book and a belly laugh with Grandpa Joe.

The best of the best

Of all the stones I bought in my recent excursion, these are the most amazing. In fact, they might just be the most incredible stones I've ever owned (they are definitely the most expensive!)... so I thought they deserved their own post.




I have never before seen tourmaline beads this flawless. They are very uniform in size (one strand's beads measures 7.5-8mm and the other is 8.5-9mm), with gorgeous faceting and stunning color. I'm definitely going to use some myself; we'll see if I can part with any for my shop...

New Cabs

I also got a few nice cabochons for making rings yesterday... pretty, pretty!!!

Cloudy aquamarine cushion cabochons

More labradorite... I just can't resist the stuff!

These are all available for custom ring orders, just email me!

Shopping Spree!

I went shopping yesterday and really went overboard! I got some awesome new stones for my bead shop, and miraculously managed to get them photographed and uploaded to give you a sneak peek today. I have a craft show this Friday and Saturday so I won't get a chance to list these on Etsy for a while, so I guess this is just a teaser...

Huge ruby rondelles, 5-9mm

Sapphire rondelles, 3-4mm

Faceted sunstone rectangles, 10-14mm

Tourmaline marquis briolettes, 14-21mm

Barrel faceted tourmaline ovals, 10-13mm

Labradorite briolette drops, 9-11mm

Lemon quartz marquis briolettes, 19-23mm

Lemon quartz barrel faceted twisters, 15-17mm

Pink opal marquis briolettes, 16-18mm

Prehnite marquis briolettes, 13-18mm

Smooth golden opal rondelles, 11mm

Gigantic green garnet faceted nuggets, 14-18mm

Smooth graduated fancy jasper rondelles, 8-14mm

Kyanite heishi beads, 5mm

Smooth kyanite rondelles, 7mm

Amethyst pear briolettes, 11-14mm

Large faceted aquamarine rondelles, 9-10mm

Peruvian blue opal flat oval-ish beads, 9-14mm

Faceted chrysoprase rondelles, 3-4mm

Citrine marquis briolettes, 12-16mm

For all of you wire wrapping fanatics out there...

I found this gorgeous tutorial on Etsy recently and felt the need to share it with you. Iza is an incredibly gifted artist, and I'm excited to see her selling this awesome looking tutorial!

Ethnic Ring - Step by Step tutorial by IzaMalczyk, $10

...and another variation from the same tutorial.

I can't vouch for the instructions themselves, since I haven't bought it yet (but plan to do so after the holiday madness has passed), but based on Iza's obvious talent, I'm sure it's great. I love the versatility of the design - be sure to click on the link to see even more possibilities. If any of you try it out, let me know how it goes!