New for August.

A few new pieces for the steamy month of August...

Midnight at the Beach

Bracelet & Earrings

 

Vintage Lucite, Shell, Wood, Agate & Brass

Vintage Lucite, Shell, & Brass

Another angle...

More information on Etsy; click the links above.

 

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P R O V E N C E .

Regal, elegant, yet modern and understated...  

Yellow Mustard Jade, Faceted Lapis Lazuli, Blue Goldstone

Heavenly drape.

Antiqued Copper accents add a touch of rustic flair.

Available on Etsy.

Coming this week...

Here's a small preview of what I've been working on...

"Enter from the East" Earrings featuring cloisonne beads, lapis, orange jade, and 22kg plated accents

"East/West" Necklace featuring turquoise, carnelian, agate, copper & jade

Two new necklaces!  One features 24kg coated Mykonos beads, African trade beads, frosted pink glass, & pink quartz, and the second necklace. hanging lower, features rhodonite & moonstone

"Southwestern Sunrise" Bracelet featuring carnelian, agate, Baltic amber, and tie-dyed turquoise

 These five new pieces will be available on Etsy 

by the end of this week!

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I also take custom orders.  

Here are two two special order earrings I made for a friend...

Kathmandu Dreams II (is finally here)

Kathmandu Dreams II

Kathmandu Dreams II" is full of color and has a bold, geometric-inspired design.  It is the second necklace in my Kathmandu Dreams series. The focal point of this necklace is the solid brass pendant, which features a brass spiral design and turquoise, coral, and lapis inlay. The pendant, which was designed and handmade by a Nepalese artisan, marries geometric styling and feminine details.  Two sets of handmade Nepalese beads add texture and interest: one set is four sided with lapis and turquoise, and the second set is two-sided with lapis and turquoise.  Blue turquoise with lovely matrices, lapis with natural flecks of golden pyrite, faceted red jasper, and pyrite rondelles complete this necklace. 

 
Lapis and Turquoise are December birthstones, so this would make the perfect gift for the December-born woman in your life.

Lapis is known for its protective, stress relieving, and peace enhancing qualities. It also encourages self-awareness, self-expression, and enhances one's sense of confidence. Turquoise is a powerful healing stone that can help wearers with meditation, balance, and communication. It is also a protective stone that enhances love, friendship, and loyalty.

Coral brings peace, settles emotions, and protects against depression.  It also helps with intuition and visualization.  Jasper, a stone of selflessness, is considered the "mother of all stones bringing about Love of all mankind."  Red jasper helps relieve pain and bring calm. 

Pyrite, also known as Fool's Gold, is grounding, encourages positivity and the release of old emotional baggage. It is also a protective and enhances one's "intelligence, mental stability, logic, analysis, creativity, memory, and psychic development" (source: www.thatcrystalsite.com).

Including the artisan-crafted solid brass clasp, this necklace is an impressive 23" long, or matinee length.  The pendant is 2 3/4" long by nearly 2" wide.  The four sided beads are 1 1/8" by 1/4" and the two sided beads are 1 3/8" by 3/4".

Available on Etsy!

Mavi: OOAK Turkoman Tribal Necklace

Introducing...

MAVI

a one-of-a-kind statement necklace 

  

On a life-size bust

Mavi is the Turkish word for the color blue, and the lapis lazuli in this necklace is a deep blue with a hint of shimmer from flecks of naturally occurring pyrite.  Lapis is known for its  protective, stress relieving, and peace enhancing qualities.  It also encourages self-awareness, self-expression, and enhances one's sense of confidence.  The lapis is enough to turn heads, but all together with its large Turkoman artisan crafted focal pendant and accent beads, this one-of-a-kind necklace is a truly a statement piece. 

The Turkoman tribal peoples live in Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.  They make beautiful beads and pendants with semiprecious stone inlay using traditional practices by melting down old coins and hand designing each bead .  And because of their handmade nature, each bead is different, yet full of human-touched warmth and character. 

 

 

  

The focal piece of "Mavi" is a large 1 1/2" by 1 5/16" Turkoman artisan crafted goldwashed pendant.  A starry blue goldstone tube rests between the pendant's bails.  Although new construction, the pendant is crafted in an old, Afghani style.  

The jade is multicolored with shades of red, green, and golden hues.

Two smaller Turkoman artisan-crafted Afghani style beads with deep blue lapis lazuli inlay (slightly under an inch in size) are framed between two hand carved jade beads.




Jade helps one connect to her inner self.  It brings joy, protection, peace, healing, and balance.  Pyrite is grounding, encourages positivity and the release of old emotional baggage.  It is also a protective and enhances one's "intelligence, mental stability, logic, analysis, creativity, memory, and psychic development."

Near the ends of the necklace are two more Turkoman artisan-crafted Afghani style tribal beads with floral detail.   

 

This necklace closes with a simple, yet elegant Bali sterling silver clasp.  I've designed the open part of the clasp hook to face upward, as I think this position is more secure while still being pleasing to the eye. 

Buy "Mavi" on Etsy!

 

In low light with no flash.  You can also see the blue goldstone tube that supports the pendant.

A few preview shots...

My latest design...

Slightly off center on the mannequin!  But, it's almost 1am!

Artisan made Turkoman Pendant

The colors are amazing together!

I'll share all the details after the sun comes up!

Illuminated Twilight Bracelet: Custom Order

A very special custom order.... 

Illuminated Twilight

The owner of the original Twilight bracelet was in a serious car accident, and sadly lost the bracelet to what we believe was the force of the airbag's impact.  Thankfully, she survived the accident with no serious injuries and was able to salvage a few pieces from original bracelet from the wreckage of her totaled vehicle.  She wanted me to incorporate pieces from the original bracelet into a new design and "Illuminated Twilight" was born.

Deep blue with flecks of gold pyrite, Lapis is known for its  protective, stress relieving, and peace enhancing qualities.  It also encourages self-awareness, self-expression, and one's sense of confidence (source here).  The green shell stimulates "intuition, sensitivity, imagination and adaptability" along with providing "insight into decision-making [and] cooperation between the self and others, as well as within the self"(source here).  A Tibetan silver toggle clasp and two dangles made with Preciosa pressed Czech glass in an iridescent purple complete the new design.  A lot of love and energy went into this design and we are both happy with the result!

If you're interested in a similar design, check out my 13/20 bracelet.

A Gathering of *SOLD* Pieces

All of the pieces featured in this post sold at my line launch back in May, but I thought I'd share pictures and a few details about each one to showcase the kind of designs I love to make.  These are all one-of-a-kind pieces, but similar sister designs may make their way to my Etsy site in the future.  Enjoy!

The EarthLandSea Necklace

 This necklace features  turquoise jasper coin beads, blue mosaic turquoise rondelles, a one-of-a-kind clay bead, African bone beads, gold-plated spacers, and a gold tone toggle clasp.  The colors are a meeting of earth, land, and sea.  I seriously love this necklace!    I'm glad it has a beautiful friend to wear it!

Moroccan Lantern Earrings

 I intended these earrings to be limited edition, but supplier problems rendered them one-of-a-kind.  These earrings feature purple acrylic beads with a contemporary (yet reminiscent of Moroccan) design.  Antiqued copper floral beads and tiny purple seed beads complete the design.  You may see a similar design soon, but these are the only ones for now!

Napoli Necklace

 

Named for the Italian city of Naples, this choker echoes the colors in Naples' flag.  The necklace features oval red and green jasper beads that are a rich hunter greenish-black and steel gray with spots of green and red throughout.  Each bead is different, making this necklace truly unique.  Carved red cinnabar flowers and a golden flower clasp complete this elegant design. 

This necklace has a matching bracelet that I will post for sale on Etsy soon!

Teagan Bracelet

 

I take the time to name all of my pieces and choose names that reflect a piece's spirit.  I named this bracelet featuring blue-green mosaic turquoise and an antiqued copper focal bead "Teagan" because of its flecks of rich teal.  So, I hoped to capture the color I loved in this bracelet within its name.  I may make copies of this bracelet, but because each hank differs in coloration, each bracelet will ultimately be one-of-a-kind.

The Lucky Find

 

 

I love this bracelet!  It gets its name from the antique curio shop in Cristina García's novel Monkey Hunting.  This bracelet features a carved black lucky cinnabar fish of Asian design, frosted yellow fire agate rondelles (that change color in water), lava rounds, silver-plated spacers, and an awesome Tibetan silver lucky fish clasp.  As with Teagan, I may make copies of this bracelet (because I seriously love it).  But, as I said above, each hank of stone differs in coloration, so each bracelet will ultimately be one-of-a-kind. 

Twilight Bracelet

 

 

I love lapis lazuli and I love the dynamic energy of this bracelet.  This bracelet features lapis lazuli stick beads of varying sizes accented with silver-plated spacers and completed by a Tibetan silver toggle clasp.  As with Teagan and The Lucky Find, I may make other bracelets in this style, but, to risk sounding like a broken record, each hank of stone differs in shape and coloration, so each bracelet will ultimately be one-of-a-kind. 

Look for more lapis lazuli items on Etsy soon!

Blue Empress Necklace

 

Read the story behind the Blue Empress necklace here.

Check out items for sale at my Etsy shop!