Rose Gold and Biker Chicks

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I’ve been getting a lot of requests for rose gold and white gold recently, so I’ve decided to offer all three colors of gold in my shop. All of my solid 14k gold earrings are now available in yellow, rose, and white gold. Just let me know which color you want when you order!

I got some shots of my Sprouted Mini Curls in rose gold yesterday. I shot these on some agate slabs I picked up at the gem show. It’s nice of the agate to be useful as props until I get a chance to set it. I’m tempted to leave it as is for a while, because it makes such a great background.



I’ve also started offering more of my designs in larger gauges. The newest pair up in my shop are my Mini Curls in 14 gauge. Of course, you can get pretty much anything you want in a wide range of gauges just by asking me (aren’t I nice?), but it’s fun to make some up and photograph them. I shot these on black leather, because I wanted them to feel a little industrial and a little edgy. Suddenly I’m feeling all biker chick…

A Virtual Planetoid

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I can get much better closeups with the fantastic new macro lens I got for my birthday. Which is fabulous, because I’ll be able to get shots of my smaller earrings. Happy me!

I have to say, though, it is quite weird seeing my head this large. Not quite as bad as the time that my face was taking up the entire big screen at a major league baseball game. That was truly horrifying. This one’s just weird.

Those are my Winter Rain earrings, made of hammered sterling silver. There’s a 14k gold version and a 14 gauge version, too.

Happy Birthday to Me!

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It was my birthday yesterday, and Andy told me I could to do whatever I wanted all day. Well I wanted pictures of the two of us together. I wasn’t going to let this opportunity escape. Andy makes a great captive subject, no?



The dogs, of course, insisted on wandering in to add some character to the shots. In case you’re wondering, I’m holding up Ditto’s head here, because the minute you touch her she melts into the floor. Mushball. And that’s Kenya staring off to the side for no apparent reason. Or maybe she wants us all to admire her long, long nose.

Edible Rainbows

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Rainbow obsidian is an incredible stone. Born in the fires of a volcano, lava sometimes cools without any crystal growth, creating a translucent dark volcanic glass called obsidian. Occasionally, patterns of gas bubbles remaining from the lava flow align along layers in this obsidian, creating a fantastic rainbow effect that constantly changes in the light. No two stones are ever alike.



It took me about 30 shots, but I eventually got a couple of good shots without too much reflection, showing the different colors that this stone flashes. I love rainbow obsidian. And I still have 4 or 5 more of these to set. Yummy.



You can find this utterly delicious, one of a kind necklace in my shop.

Rainbows and Shrapnel

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I spent yesterday in the frantic pursuit of art. My new necklace design finally snapped into focus in my mind, and I suddenly, desperately needed to get it out of my head and into metal. This led to a crazy, 12 hour marathon workbench session, during which I barely surfaced to eat and drink. Poor Andy barely got a nod when he got home (at 9:00 pm he said “you haven’t said hi to me yet”, poor boy). But I’m overly ecstatic with the result, which is this gorgeous necklace.



I used that middle rainbow obsidian cabochon for this necklace - the small one with the violet and gold concentric circles. It’s crazy gorgeous. I’m going to have trouble letting these necklaces go, I can tell that now. Anyway, for those of you who don’t know, obsidian is a volcanic glass. Rainbow obsidian occurs when the bubbles line up just right while the lava is cooling, which causes it to refract light once it’s cut into a cabochon. No two cabochons are alike, and the ones I have are hand cut, so they’re not even the same size and shape. I’m going to have a lot of fun making these into necklaces. The only tricky part will be only keeping one of them.



Of course, my poor workbench looks like a bomb hit it. It took me a half hour just to clear this up today so that I could work. Yikes!

There are more pictures of this piece up on my Flickr page. Once I can drag myself away from my bench long enough to get a studio shot, it’ll be up in my shop, too.

All Bangled Up

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I can’t get enough of the bangles! They’re so much fun to shoot. But I must work out this earring thing. I’ve got piles and piles of them that need to be photographed.

First problem is I have too much hair. My earrings just disappear into it. Then add the fact that it’s really hard to focus on a close up in a self portrait, because you’re behind the camera instead of in front of it when you’re setting up the shot. Hmm, I have hopes that the new lens I might be getting for my birthday will help with this one…

Oh, that’s my Fly Free necklace I’m wearing, plus a pair of 1 1/2” Skinny Hoops hiding in my hair. The Skinny Bangles will be in my shop soon.

Mellow Me

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Mellow me seems to have put on an appearance yesterday. A friend of mine commented on how relaxed I looked. I guess she was right, because I’m practically comatose in this picture. I’d love to carry the mellow through the week, but today’s going to be crazy. Can’t stop to chat, my hair’s already on fire…

If you’re desperate to own the jewelry I’m wearing, those are my 2” Skinny Hoops, which you can find in my shop, and my Cherry Blossoms Necklace which is coming soon.

In the Studio

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The fog rolled in before the light got good yesterday, so I had to drag my studio light out to take my photos for the day. Why have I never tried this before? Well, to be honest, probably sheer laziness. And this idea I had that natural light is always better, which obviously isn’t true. Now that I’ve seen the results of shooting with my studio light, I think I’m addicted. I love the drama. And it opens up whole new areas of my loft for shooting which don’t get much natural light.



I got some pretty good shots of my bangles, as well as a nice one of my 1 1/2” skinny hoops. Looking back through my Flickr page for the last couple of weeks, I suddenly feel a bit narcissistic. All of the pictures are of… well… me. But what the heck, I like ‘em. And they’re coming out really well. And I think there’s a real value add to seeing jewelry on someone. So I’m just going to keep on shooting until I run out of ideas (or designs).

I’ve been chatting with Andy recently about going out and getting some portraits taken. How have we been married this long without having professional photos done? We both take photos, so we have a lot of photos of each other, but almost none of us together. But you know what, looking at these shots, I think I’ll try to do them myself. My portraits are suddenly looking quite professional, and I’m sure I can convince myself to cut me a great deal on the price…

In Disguise

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“I believe that everyone else my age is an adult, whereas I am merely in disguise.” - Margaret Atwood

Nice Look

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“You know, I could do with some Indian food,” I thought, grabbing my hat and jacket and heading out the door. Andy doesn’t like Indian food, so every once in a while I’ll hit the buffet while he’s at work.

I headed out of the building and crossed the street. There wasn’t much of anyone around, apart from good looking guy in his 30s, who was headed my way.

“Nice look,” he growled in my ear as he passed me.

Nice look? What exactly did that mean? Was he admiring my jacket? Insulting my hat? Did he think I’d given him a “look”?

It’s an odd, odd world out there…