Never say NO to wrapping

Once in a while, you can find a really neat piece of shell that just HAS to be wrapped.

 

 

This piece is so smooth - it feels like a worry stone.  Pat's husband found it down the beach from the condos and asked if I could wrap it for her.  I said "of course I can" and did.

 

 

Never day no to a wrapping challenge!  You might surprise yourself at what you can come up with.

Sunsets on the Sea of Cortez

Sunsets in Mexico, at least the ones we see on the Sea of Cortez, are one of the most beautiful things we experience each evening.  We have never seen a "bad" sunset.  There are some, like this one, that are beautiful, but not overly exciting and then when we have storms, the sunsets become breath-taking.  Fair weather or foul, there is nothing so soothing as the Mexican Sunsets on the Sea of Cortez.

Do You Know What I am?

This is my home - do you know what I am????

I have claws and I can scurry around the beach very fast.  I have to be fast so the gulls won't catch me and eat me!  I'm not very big and some call me funny looking.  I even get called names.

What am I???   I'm a crab.  I come out when the tide is high and eat little creatures.  I make my home in the damp sand when the tide is out and enjoy the lapping of the tide when it comes in.

Do you know what this is?

See the little blue thing in the center of this photo?  Do you know what it is?????



It is a baby jelly fish.  They sting and the irritation stays with you for about 10 yours.  This is the only one we've seen so far, but when there is one on the beach, you can bet they are out there!

The weather is in the 90's and the water is 82*.  Yep - just right!!!

This little gull just kept walking right in front of us while we were out for our "evening stroll".

I don't think he found much to munch on - the beaches are pretty clean right now.  We need a good storm to get things churned up and get some good shells on the beach. 


Check back tomorrow for some more pics.

Vacation!

Here we are on the eve of our vacation.  I have been organizing, packing, working, and doing laundry for the past several days.  You'd think I'd be able to just sit back and relax.  Well, "Relax" will just have to wait until my buns hit the sand tomorrow afternoon.  Tonight, I still have to complete an update on a commerial web site.  I hope the web gods will take pitty on my and let me get things posted in an expedient manner. 

Then there is the matter of going to bed and getting some sleep - uh, yeah, and wake up at 4:45 to be at the air port by 6:15 to take off at 7:15.  It all sounds so slick and smooth - so I just hope it all goes as it sounds.

I will do something this year that I have not done before - I am going to make myself post at least one "Pic of the Day" and let you see "Our Mexico".  We have a wonderful beach condo on mainland Mexico between San Carlos and Guaymas.  It sits right on the Sea of Cortez where the water is 85-95* every day.  We will be doing some snorkeling in some of our favorite places and will be taking pictures of whatever sea critters we can find.

So stay tuned and look for  pictures to come.

Hasta Luego!!!

Keep up with your Galleries!!!

One would think that after doing bookkeeping for 30+ years, I would take better care of my small jewelry business.  But for some reason I seem to just let dealing with the galleries nice enough to show my jewelry get past me and not keep up with what is going on.

Example - I have a wonderful gallery just 10 minutes from my home.  I haven't been there for a couple of years.  Yea, you read that right!  A few days ago I got a phone call from someone there saying they found a bag with my jewelry in it, they cleaned the pieces up and put them back out on display.  They asked if I would come by and be sure that the pieces were priced right.

So, today I went out, took my pricing materials with me and repriced to today's metal prices.  Now here comes the good part.  I had originally taken pictures of all pieces, typed descriptions and set prices.  I had a copy of each page for the items left at this gallery.  When I had taken the jewelry out there, I made sure the gallery manager had a copy of the pictures and she signed and dated the pages showing she accepted the pieces.  This is one of the smartest things I have ever done!

We couldn't find some pieces and since we had visual documentation of what pieces were left at the gallery - they marked the missing pieces "SOLD" and cut me a check.  Ya gotta love Payday!

OK, now I am able to get up and move.  And it's a good thing, too.  Our garden is very prolific this year especially with Yellow Crookneck squash!!!!!  I have sliced some and dehydrated them making Squash Chips for dip and eating with sandwiches.  They are really pretty good.  They have a sweet taste and are very good with dips.  So I will count this as a success.

I have also been bottling green beans, tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, and salsa.  Tomato season is just starting so I haven't even begun to really get into doing them.  I am sure I will have my fill before the snow flies.

I wish you all abundance and health!

This summer after having hip revision surgery, I  needed to have someone come and stay with me while I recover.  Well, I have some beautiful grand daughters who have graciously given of their time and have helped me out.  We needed something fun to do since all I can do is sit around

South West Moon

I have called these earrings South West Moon.  They are made with dyed branch coral, stabilized turquoise and sterling silver.

Living in what is considered the South Western U.S., there is a lot of Native American influence all around.  Coral, Turquoise and silver are just naturally paired because of this influence.

If you are interested in these earrings, please contact me.

"THE" color for this summer.....

I don't watch much TV during the day but I do like the Nate Berkus show.  There is a lot of fashion advice from true professionals.

Last week, Nate had a special guest who is an editor for one of the top fashion magazines and her take on "THE" color for Spring, Summer and Fall, is TANGERINE.  (Sorry - the font colors offered DO  NOT include Tangerine). 

It can be brightened up with lemon, lime, bright turquoise.  Or, it can be tamed down with tans and browns.  Gold is a great color for your jewelry.

So enjoy your Spring and Summer with Tangerine and some beautiful new gold jewelry.

See ya soon!

.999 Fine Silver over Copper Core Wire

Like many of you, I am always trying to keep my eyes open for new and interesting materials to use in my jewelry.  At the last Gem Faire in Sandy, Ut., I found some wire that is .999 Fine Silver over a Copper core.  They also have 24kt Gold over the copper core.  I did not purchase any of the gold as I really didn't like the yellow color of the 24kt Gold.  I guess I am too used to 14kt. gold.

I purchased some of the silver wire in 16ga., 18ga., and 26ga., and have been using it in some new pieces.  It works pretty much like you'd think.  You need to be really careful so not to get tool marks on the surfaces.  

My grand daughters have fairly sensitive ears and cannot wear a lot of the "cheap" ear wires.  So I had them try this wire and there seems to be no problems.

If you are interested in trying these Silver over Copper core wires, you can find them at
www.usbeadwarehouse.com

If you do decide to use their products, please post a message here so we can all benefit from your experience, good or bad.

See ya soon.

Look right for more jewelry.....

OK, I'm not real sure what's going on, yet.  But when you view my blog through FB, you only get the most recent blog post.  Going to go in and check out the settings in FB's RSS Graffiti.

So, for now,. if you want to see my other new pieces of jewelry posted today - please look to the right and under my picture you will find several new listing.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope to see you again soon.

Lampwork Kindey

OK, here's a little something different.....
These beautiful lamp work beads are on a more traditional ear wire. These unique earrings are made with sterling silver wires that have been soldered and "balled" together then shaped into a "kidney" style wire.

Omegas

Sterling Omegas with fire polished beads make for a fun and funky piece. These earrings go great with jeans as well as dresses/skirts or even a great bohemian look.






These great copper earrings are just another variation - ya gotta have options!!!

Pearl weave

Now these I have saved for me. Woven wire, chain and very nice pearls in Sterling Silver.
They are a somewhat large woven hoop and are great for dressy occasions.

Amethyst copper

These are a more cost effective version of many other earrings. I like to make pieces available in sterling silver and copper. These light amethyst fire polished beads are a very subtle compliment to the copper wire.

Yani's earrings

My beautiful daughter requested I make these for her. They are sterling silver, fire polished beads and dark blue tourmaline. Great for casual or dress.

Amethyst weave

Just sold these woven and coiled sterling earrings to a good friend. She fell in love with them at first sight.

The beautiful Amethyst crystals really shine when they hit the light.

Haylie

My #2 Grand daughter liked these woven earrings. They are sterling silver and just the right size for young teens to ladies.

Swinging Tourmaline

These are one of my favorite "Dress-up" earrings. Made from Sterling Silver, Watermelon Tourmaline and Swarovski Crystal they swing and sway and with all the colors, match just about anything you can wear.

This is one of the earrings shown in The Earring Style Book. The differnce between mine and the author's styles is I left off the little dangles she had on them.

These are an intermediate task and are wonderful to wear.

New styles of earrings for me.

I may wear jeans and T-shirts most of the time, but I am not "dressed" until I have on my jewelry! Earrings being my mainsay.

I have been making several new styles and love them. They are swingy and fun.

I recently bought The Earring Style Book by Stephanie A. Wells. It shows several basic frames for earrings and ways to decorate these frames. Of course, you can use your imagination and decorate them any way you want.

This is a great "idea" book. I would suggest you make a few of her designs - just to get the hang of it then branch out on your own with your ideas. I think you will find these to be a lot of fun.

Time to get serious!

What can I say - I haven't been a very good blogger!

I started this blog several years ago to share pictures of jewelry, ideas, techniques, designs, and anything else I could find regarding jewelry making. I've heard it said that if you didn't get "it" done in the past, how is a great time to start. So here goes!!!!!

I am aiming for 1 blog per week with either new photos of my work or if you'd like to share your work, I'd love to feature you.

I will do my best to find new ideas, techniques, and even share failures. I will share what works for me and what doesn't.

If you have questions or just comments or critiques, please leave a comment.

So here goes.......