 This bracelet has been available for awhile now in sterling silver and in a combination of sterling and gold but I have now made in availabe in gold fill! Gold fill is not plated and the thick coating of 14k gold will last a lifetime, giving the look of solid gold at a fraction of the price!
 I just added this to my shop - the larger bracelet in the familiar & beloved byzantine design. Class, elegant and, in the new larger size, a bold choice!
 After a fairly long break from jewelry making (no shows, no in person sales), I am back at it. Starting with some pretty cool bracelets. Click the button below to take a look...and stay warm out there, y'all!
 Valentine's Day is here so I wanted to show these hearts that I made alongside this new silver bracelet. As much as I try, I can't stick with just one "thing". I have made jewelry for a long time and I love it. When the lockdown came (almost a year ago now) and the simultaneous canceling of every art show I was planning to attend, I found myself with more time on my hands.
First I turned to knitting (wonderfully addictive, calming and just plain fun) then to an old love of mine, sewing. When I came across an idea for these little patchwork hearts, I just could not resist. I think I made about 10 of them. Aren't they the cutest?? Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!  Bracelets in silver and gold are my favorite thing to make. There is just something about getting into the rhythm of making a bracelet that is so satisfying that I don't get from earrings - not enough time spend on earrings to really get into the groove, I guess. Not as long as necklaces but longer than earrings. Perfect amount of time spent on handmade bracelets.
If you need a new bracelet, click below to shop now!  Turns out I really enjoying sewing small projects of functional things. Dresses & other clothing? Not so much but I LOVE sewing small things like project bags for knitting, makeup bags all sorts of bags for all sorts of uses. So much fun when you are stuck in the house!
These little bags are even great for jewelry - I have started keeping a little project or zippered bag in my car with the "essentials", as you see above...including jewelry for when I rush out of the house & forget to put on jewelry....just the basics, right??  I found a pattern online for these sweet little hearts and, since I have been pretty seriously into sewing during Covid times, I had to make a few. Seriously, I think I made about 10 of them. They are just soooo cute, you know?
 These little pliers right here are my favorite tool ever for making jewelry. A little on the pricy side, yes, but not terrible and the last a LONG time. Real workhorses. So worth the money. I have built my collection of tools a little at a time over several years; so good to have high quality tools!
 I have been thinking a lot about craft shows lately - mainly because they have mostly been canceled for the past year. Now it appears that they will be making a slow comeback; first, the smaller local shows (some of which never really canceled), a few newer (but still small) shows and then, eventually, the larger shows across the country.
I have family on the west coast who I have not seen for over a year and I have plans to apply for shows near where they live. Hoping to get into a few this summer so that I can dip my toes back into craft shows and visit my family too...WIN!!  I just made this super cute and Louisiana (or coastal anyway) themed pouch and it's useful for so many things. I sometimes have to remove a bracelet or two when I am doing certain things so I throw them in this little zippered bag to keep them safe. Sunglasses? No problem - they can go in the bag, too! Checkbook - right, it pretty much lives in this little pouch!
Then, the pouch goes into my bigger bag and, when I get home, I can easily pull things out to store them in their correct places at home! Win!  Rose gold jewelry (also known as "pink gold") was first popular in the 1800's when it was used extensively by the jeweler Carl Faberge in his Faberge Eggs. Rose gold later gained popularity in the United Stated during the 1920's and was worn in engagement rings and fine jewelry. Rose or pink gold is such a feminine metal - classic and elegant and a little bit different from what everyone else is wearing; it's a really nice alternative to traditional yellow gold jewelry! Want to stand out from the crowd? Try a little rose gold on your wrist!
Sign up here to be the first to know when the rose gold jewelry hits the website!  I spent lots of summer hours as a kid making jewelry out of whatever I had available, usually clover flowers or sometime yellow dandelion flowers (although those didn't work nearly as well as the clover flowers). This bracelet (and the entire Clover Collection) reminds me of those sweet times everytime I wear it!
Click here to see the entire Clover Collection & see if you remember, too! I love the look of these black chains - classic designs with a modern black edge, turning the classic into a contemporary design. Perfect with everything, even in the summertime because why not? You can wear black in the summer or accessorize with black! Click here to see the entire collection of black jewelry!   Do you remember those carefree days of childhood, when we felt a sense of joy around the simple things we did for entertainment - like making necklaces from clover or daisy flowers? Those are the days I was thinking about when I designed this jewelry collection - I wanted to put that feeling of joy into jewelry that you could wear everyday and be reminded of another place and time as you go about your day!
Click here to shop the entire collection of daisy chain (aka clover chain) jewelry!  This was one of the first peaches we got from a local market - so beautiful and they smelled wonderful!! I was really looing forward to eating these peaches .....unfortunately, although they looked and smelled great, they didn't much going for them in the taste department. I guess it's really too early in the year for truly awesome fresh peaches! We ended up chopping and freezing all our peaches - they are great in smoothies!!
That silver bracelet is on my website - available now - Click here to shop!  We LOVE fresh peaches but, then again, who doesn't? We were overjoyed when the first peaches of the season appeared at our local Costco! These are from California and they are kind of slow to ripen fully but I did cut one & have it in a smoothie - so delicious!!
That silver bracelet is available on my website - click here to shop!  With covid and stay-at-home orders, I was getting a little frustrated that I couldn't easily get out to the nursery to get my summer flowers. I'm not much of a gardener but I do love to keep blooming flowers in my pots on the deck. I was finally able to get to the nursery last week and feel safe about it by going as soon as they opened at 8 a.m. That's a little early for me normally but I was glad I did - I had the whole place to myself for at least 15 minutes and I had a list so I zipped in, got my flowers & got out again!
Side note, as I was leaving quite a few people were coming in & guess what? Very few of them were wearing masks...what are people thinking??? Anyway, that silver bracelet is available in my online store - click the button below to shop!  Big day today! I ordered these fine wheat berries from Palouse Brand in Palouse, Washington and I am ready! I have a grinder that I bought a few months ago so I'll be grinding my own wheat and using it to make sourdough bread!
I'm sure there will be a lot of trial & error but making sourdough is not hard so the new thing will be adding my own stone ground wheat. I'm guessing this wheat will be heavier so I'll have to see how much I can add without unintentionally making a doorshop! Anyway, that's the plan - I'll keep you posted - it's a grand experiment! Those silver bracelets (and lots more similar ones) are available in my online store - click here to shop the bracelets now!!  Oh, how I love the art of Tara Leaver! (www.taraleaverart.com) I generally don't feel like I can afford art so when Tara introduced these gorgeous notecards, I knew I had to buy. When I got them, they were even more amazing than they looked online.
The problem now? Do I send them out into the world or do I frame them & enjoy them as the little mini artworks they are? Need a closer look at the sterling silver bracelets? They are available in my online store - click here to shop the bracelets!  Covid cooking! I have discovered fresh wheat berries (from www.palousebrand.com) and have been grinding my own flour and using it to make sourdough bread. It's pretty coarse so I do have to use "regular" commercial flour with it but it gives the bread a nice texture and a wonderful taste!
One of the benefits of staying home - more cooking gets done and homemade bread is so yummy. Those silver bracelets and more like them are available in my online store - click here to shop all the bracelets!  Did you know that there is a really simple way to clean sterling silver jewelry, using white vinegar and baking soda? Soak the tarnished piece in a solution of 1/2 cup white vinegar and 2 tbsp. baking soda (it will fizz!) for two to three hours, then rinse and dry. That's it!
Click here to shop the sterling silver bracelets in my online shop!  The other day, the New Orleans Arts Market had a virtual art show and I wanted to do a little shopping/support my local arts community.
I searched around & finally settled on a couple of mugs by Amanda Proctor (amandaproctor.com). This mug and the other one I bought from Amanda will be gifts for later on this year! I am so happy with them - beautiful colors! Want to see more silver bracelets? Click here to see them all!  I love to read and I am always looking for something good. Ideally, I like to find a good series so that I am "in books" for a couple of months but those are so hard to find. The last series I read that I really enjoyed was the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.
Those books were everything I am looking for in a book - light-hearted, funny, interesting characters! Maybe it's just me (and I willing to bare my soul a little bit here) but I don't really want to think too hard when I read a novel. I just want to be entertained. You, too? Good! We could be best friends! :) That silver bracelet is available on my website - click here to get a closer look & shop!  I love to bake bread! For the past few years, I have been making sourdough bread which, once I got the hang of it, is SO easy! I add all sorts of thing to it like flax seeds, oatmeal & other good things. It sometimes takes a little longer to rise at first with the add-ins but it always does rise and is delicious!
I usually start it at night, then turn it several times & allow it to rise, the bake it the next day, often in the morning but sometimes at night. So good! Click here to see the silver bracelets in my web store! |
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