Last time I posted, I forgot to mention one of my latest pieces. Shocked, aren't you? So now I have that one to show you, a birthday piece, two new sets and a modified older piece.

I'm still trying to figure out how to add a wish list feature to my website. I have found some that would be great if I could understand the coding process. I used to be able to build a website from scratch and now...well, now I can't. What I have found is an application similar to a gift registry. It would add buttons to my website to allow for users to select an item to put on their wish list. I have a lot of investigating to do yet. In the meantime, you may want to check out http://www.thethingsiwant.com/. It's super-simple to add things from all over the web and the people that are shopping for you simply view your list and can shop straight from it (basically).

Okay, back to the jewelry.

My mom's birthday was last week. Her birthday necklace is made of blue-dyed tree agate, Czech glass, and silver-plated aluminum nuggets. I call it "My Blue Heaven."

The previously forgotten "Distant Shores" is made up of citrine chips, hematite, porcelain, shell, and glass pearls. I made the hook and eye clasp from sterling silver wire.

The old piece that I've modified is "Tigress." I added earrings and shortened the bracelet. I mean, come on, how many people can wear a 9" bracelet?? Now, I hope it isn't too small. When measured end to end, it's about 8". Still sounds big, but the beads are so bulky that when its circumference is measured while closed, it comes out to be about 7", a much more common size.


The first of the new projects is "Tortoise Shell." I had a necklace in the early stages of construction when I decided it wasn't working. It was becoming more artsy than jewelry and not very wearable. So, "Tortoise Shell" was the result of bead cannibalism. I named it that because the slightly overlapping circles looked like scales. The glass beads were also similar to tortoiseshell. Any other allusion to a reptile would probably turn off a lot of people.

That artsy piece? Well, it did undergo the aforementioned cannibalism. It was minimized to perfection! I can't remember if I mentioned the inspiration behind my "Star-Crossed" necklace ("Twilight"). This necklace is similar in its inspiration. The book "New Moon" (second in the Twilight saga) focuses more on the werewolf characters. I think you'll be able to see some of that in the necklace. But, it stands well on its own without a book reference! This is "Instinct."

As always, there's more to come.

Tonight is the skating party for grades K-2. Both girls are bouncing off the walls from excitement. It starts in about 40 minutes and I still have to figure out what to feed them. This should be fun!