A winter's day of sunshine and cooking

It's another gorgeous winter day here on the Great Dividing Range. There are bright blue skies, not a breath of wind, but the air is bracing and there was a big frost this morning. The type of day when you just want to sit outside and soak up the warm sunshine and read a book (which is exactly where I'm going after this post!!) I hope you're having lovely weather where ever in the world you are too!

Thanks to everyone for the wishes on the show and the hints on surviving outdoor venues. Unfortunately it wasn't as successful as I would have liked - poor positioning meant no-one had reason to come near the traders area, unless they specifically wanted to have a look and there weren't too many of those! I would have been lucky to have had 100 people walk past in total over the whole weekend. But you live and learn and at least I got to see the showjumping, which was fantastic.

This means that all my work at my bench last week basically went unseen, however it holds me in good stead for two little shows I have coming up in the next month. Maybe I will take it a little easier as the children start their term break tomorrow and life is no doubt going to be busy as each of them vie for my attention. It will be time to change my name from "mum" by the end of the break I'm sure!

On the farm, the 70+ heifers are due to start calving this weekend so no doubt hubby will be in a grumpy mood for the next six weeks LOL. This doesn't always relate to problems the heifers may have, but just the general tiredness that comes from frequently checking out cow's rear ends. After six weeks it really takes it toll and hubby is due for a holiday!

I have also been doing lots of baking recently - I stumbled upon a cute little blog on 'sweet treats' (that I've since lost!) and wrote down their recipe (handed down from the blogger's grandma) for oatmeal cookies. I made them this week and the children are consuming them gusto. A neighbour's banana muffin recipe also got the thumbs up and our favourite apricot and choc chip biscuits were happily monopolised by the boys of the house. I just saw a great looking recipe on Your Cheeky Monkey for a muesli slice too which looks pretty yummy. Maybe that will be the next one I have to try out!

Well on that note, I think I will grab my book and head out into the winter sunshine. Ooops - almost forgot - the piece at the top is a bit scrumptious too - a necklace of black spinel and Kingman green turquoise faceted nuggets with silver.

Till next :)
Annette

Working up to spring and summer brights

I'm feeling all summery. I think the weekend of glorious weather - bright, sunny and mild - after some very cold, grey days. Plus the fact that I managed to spend a good proportion of that spring-like weather outside in the rose garden (weeding - yuk! and pruning - ouch!) may have had an effect. Now that I've recovered from the sore back from bending over and the stiff hands from gripping weeds, of course! A good dose of Vitamin D perhaps?

I'm currently finding myself being drawn to all things bright and cheery - like this gorgeous clutch by TiLT Creations and these pretty earrings by Kandi-o Designs and even this swimsuit that Brittany featured on her blog.

To match my mood, I've pictured some earrings made with natural apple green turquoise with fat white freshwater pearls. A fresh, bright mix, perfect for spring/summer!

I'm ordering new stones for summer designs at the moment and of course I'm being drawn to lime green (variscite, green turquoise, peridot), Aegean blue (Peruvian amazonite, Peruvian blue opal, turquoise, larimar, aquamarine) and some coral pinks too .... I love how colour can affect your mood and outlook.

I'm not the only one loving brights - in the latest jewellery news, I've heard that a very rare 5 carat vivid pink diamond is due to go on sale with Christies Hong Kong office in December and they expect it to reach a "stratospheric" price! Ahh to have that sort of cash lying about. Vivid pink is pretty hard to get in natural gems and the colour of this particular beauty is stunning.

Down on the farm, the heifers are almost finished calving and weeks of checking them three times a day is thankfully going to stop! The calves are terribly cute though :).

Of course, after calving we start thinking of our annual holiday. Yes, I know we've only just had term break, but hey, we can dream! I found a great post on the Tilda Virtual Services blog about surviving the school holidays - darn it, should have read it a month ago ;)

I guess I should get busy and before I know it spring will be here :) Have a great week everyone!

Dads

I seemed to have missed St Patrick's Day. My bloggy friend Michelle published a great article on St Pats Day that was picked up by the Chicago Sun-Times. Way to go Michelle! And I need any occasion I can get to feature green - so here are a pretty little pair of earrings in my favourite colour.

It has been a sad week for me. My father, who after many illnesses and ailments over the last few years finally passed away at the age of 87. A man who was bigger than life in so many ways - he will be missed by an incredible number of people.



Ingrid Cliff of Heart Harmony chatted about her dad on her blog this week - about how he would like Harley Davidson to make a mobility scooter so that he can still get his bike fix when he gets too old to get around comfortably. I reckon my dad would have got along just fine with Ingrid's dad!

Even if your dad is going along just fine, time passes so quickly - especially in these days of our increasingly busy lives. So give your dad a hug next time you see him - 'cause you definitely can't give him too many!

Earrings galore for the SAG awards

Last weekend saw yet another glittering affair with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. This event, at least for those of us peering at the jewellery, was a night of earrings. Small earrings, long earring, and even some HUGE earrings.

Very few necklaces made an appearance - instead, imitating them were bejewelled necklines instead. Although I must say that most of the ones I saw didn't come up to the sparkle and glamour that a statement necklace could have made. Ah well. It is the awards season, so I will keep my eyes peeled for the next event and may be rewarded ....

The children have finally gone back to school after their summer holiday and it is amazing how quiet the house can actually be! I can hear the birds trilling again - well I hear them in the mornings when its not too hot. I think they go and find a cool place to hang out during the heat as all I can hear then are cicadas! That loud buzzing sound really reminds me of my childhood summers.

The heat also makes me tired and that means I keep putting off getting back into the swing of work. Does it have that effect on you? Elena of EP Designs is taking matters into her own hands and is throwing herself back into work. She has a talent for recreating old treasures into new - I love the brass planter pot that she has made into a very attractive trinket bowl.

I have made some progress on my website and have been uploading information on gemstones. I now have information - facts, lore and some pictures - on agate, amazonite, amber, amethyst, andalusite, anyolite (aka ruby zoisite), apatite, aquamarine, avenunturine, azurite, beryl, carnelian, chalcedony, charoite, chrysocolla, chrysoprase, citrine, coral, diamond, dumorterite, emerald, fluorite, garnet, hawk's eye/ tiger's eye, hematite, hemimorphite, howlite, hypersthene and iolite. Phew. And I've got a lot still to go!

The picture for today was selected since 1) they're earrings and the SAG awards attendees (or their stylists!) seem to love earrings so much 2) they're able to make a statement all by themselves and 3) they're green. And you know how much I love green! Yes, I know, it's almost an addiction ;)

Because they're a longer style, these earrings would look great with a lower neckline or an off the shoulder/strapless design, particularly in black, white, cream to taupe, or most shades of green. The pearls have an incredible lustre and definitely aren't small so wouldn't get lost - even if you have your hair down.

Ciao till next time!

Photography and magnesite

Christmas is over for another year, in fact another year is almost over - only hours to go until 2009 shows its face!

Our christmas was very family oriented and the children had a wonderful time, as they always do. Did you receive anything you just LOVE? I did! I received an autographed copy of the wonderful book A Grain of Sand by Dr Gary Greenberg. I've mentioned it on my blog before as a wonderful look into something so mundane yet so startingly beautiful that you will never look at sand the same way, ever again! Not just a gorgeous coffee table book, there is wonderful information on both Dr. Greenberg's microphotography and on sand itself.

I was contacted by a fellow who saw my admiration of macrophotography and sent me a link to his photos on flickr. He has taken some wonderful shots of stones that would make great wall art.

Bright blue-greens are always popular in summer and I found a great strand of treated magnesite (pictured above made into a necklace) that gives that wonderful aegean green colour. I haven't dealt with magnesite before and was interested to learn more about it. It is commonly found in a massive form (more rarely as crystals) in white/grey/yellow-brown. Fairly soft at 3.5-4 it has been used for sculpture for thousands of years. (A small Mesopetamian lioness sculpture made of magnesite c. 3000-2800 BC was sold by Sothebys in 2007 for over US$57 million!)

Metaphysically it is said to bring deep peace to meditation. It promotes a positive attitude, stimulates ideas yet has a calming effect on emotions. Said to detoxify the body it acts as a muscle relaxant, treats bone and teeth disorders, speeds up fat metabolism and helps deal with fevers and chills. Sounds like I should save a piece for the medicine cabinet! ;)

My family (and I imagine half of Australia) are off to a New Years Eve celebration tonight. If you have such a gathering to attend I hope you have a wonderful time and I look forward to catching up with you in 2009 ;)

Happy New Year!

Only six weeks to Christmas!

Someone mentioned to me that it is only SIX WEEKS till CHRISTMAS! EEEK! Now I feel really disorganised!! I've been concentrating so much on my spring shows that I haven't done anything about Christmas - not even a gift list. I'm really flat out for the next few weeks, so it's just going to have to wait. Hope I can find my thinking cap at the same time I find some time ;)

I had a minor setback in my health recently and all those treats I've been letting myself have have to be kept as 'treats' rather than as everyday food! It has made me realise, again, just how much our bodies are affected by the environment and the foods we eat. I've tried to go as natural as possible in the products I use and was pleased to find that Aussie company Joliv produces completely handmade, natural skincare and home cleaning products.

Now I'm obviously still in a 'green' phase as the picture I have selected today is a lime green and creamy white blister pearl and icy rock crystal quartz torsade. Totally scrumptious for a fresh, cool look. And I'm so organised it's already on my website!

I will be at the Peel Street Handmade Market in Tamworth this Sunday from 8.30am to 1pm, so please come and see me if you're in the area or visiting the market to pick up some wonderful handcrafted goodies for Christmas.

Melbourne Cup and green amethyst earrings

It always seems as if I'm busy these days. Even though my calendar is fully booked for the next few weeks, I'm already looking forward to summer when I can sit back and just be a mum (well, most of the time, anyway!).

I did have a lovely day off this past week on Tuesday when I attended a girl's luncheon for the Melbourne Cup. If you're not in Australia this is our 'national' horserace and it is tradition to have a bet or a sweep, perhaps get dressed up in the best race inspired fashions (including the hat) and watch the cup (yes, most business in Australia stops for a few minutes on the first Tuesday in November each year)! The state of Victoria even has a public holiday to celebrate it ;). So this year it was lovely to be in the company of some great women who live around here and have a good old chat and a few laughs!

As this is only a quick post (my time management skills are severely lacking this week!) I will get straight to the pic of today.

I was very fortunate recently to get a shipment of AAA-grade gems. They are absolutely delicious and I have made a few of the absolutely stunning long faceted drops into some very classically styled earrings. The pair pictured above are green amethyst that I have matched with smooth and lustrous freshwater pearls. They sparkle and just exude quality and I'll be loading them onto my site soon.

OK, back to my 'to do' list...hope you're having a great day!

Back to school bliss

Ahh, the children are back to school after the summer holidays *bliss*. This has meant that a few hours of each day have been free to get "organised" in my workshop. I still have a couple of days worth of tidying/moving around until I feel completely comfortable but am really looking forward to getting back into my normal routine.

The children have jumped back into their school routine surprisingly quickly - although its early days yet, so I think a week or so and they won't want to get up in the morning! They have also started back at dancing and in my travels around my favourite sites, I saw the most gorgeous little ballet boxes featured on My New Shiny Shoes. Mmmm, they would be right up a budding ballerina's alley!

The world's weather seems really out of control lately. I am hearing of absolutely ghastly weather in the USA and UK and here in eastern Australia we have had unseasonably cool weather for most of summer. We usually have extended periods of daytime temps in the 40s (celsius) / well over the 100 farenheit mark. This past week though we had some brilliantly clear and hot days and so instead of posting a pic of jewellery, today I thought I would post a pic from my front verandah. Do you like it? It is showing our typical brilliant blue summer sky for all of you on the other side of the world experiencing masses of rain, snow and wind.

Of course, this type of view is rather inspirational, although it could lead me to make MORE green jewellery (and you know how easy it is for me to be sidetracked down the green lane *giggle* )

Christmas cards and Variscite

Yes, its that time of the year again....I have started to receive Christmas cards from well-meaning (and organised) friends that serve to make me feel very inadequate!!! They must write them in the middle of the year and send them out on the first of December!? I usually stumble around and eventually find some suitable cards, then hastily write our yearly letter (summary of our lives for the last twelve months) and post them off in the absolutely last post available (that postmarks them before Christmas Day)....if I'm lucky. *sigh* Okay, I might not be as organised as I would like but at least I have started looking for cards! I found these very nice ones at Jenni's Papercraft Designs. I note she made them back in November. I wonder if she sends them out before Christmas Eve?

Last week was an absolutely mad week with 2 days out in neighbouring towns (140 and 100kms away - each way) respectively. Add to that two visits to friends/neighbours, a P&F meeting, a Christmas drinks party, delivering and making orders.....you get the picture I'm sure! I was seriously considering doing a pre-Christmas show in Mudgee, but I just don't have the time. Instead, I am concentrating on getting all the orders done this week so that I can spend the week leading up to Christmas with my children. I felt I actually missed out last year as I was so busy with work, so I won't be making the same mistake this year!

Do you like the necklace pictured today? I have to admit I am a 'green' girl. I just love green. When I look at my stock the green far exceeds other colours - I just can't help myself and have to buy green stones!!!! LOL, this reminds me - I received a great sweatshirt today that I ordered from a favourite geology related site - UnEarthed Tees, who I have mentioned before. It says "As a matter of fact I do have rocks in my head, I'm a gemmologist" Ha ha! Ooops, off the track there....

OK, today's necklace is a simple yet totally stunning piece. Grand in size, elegant in shape and vivid in colour. The wonderful stone used is granny-smith-apple-green variscite, together with lightly oxidised sterling silver bars and tiny silver balls.

Variscite was first described in the early nineteenth century and its name comes from the Latin name for Vogtland "Variscia" in Germany where it was found. Very early beads of Spanish variscite that date from around 4500BC have been found in the Italian Alps, along with articles of green jade that seemed much admired and desired. (Maybe they liked green too!) Deposits of Variscite are also found in the USA and in Australia and it is often confused with green varieties of turquoise. Gemmologically it is a phosphate mineral and its colour comes from chromium. Metaphysically, it is classed as a 'worry' stone - it is used extensively to calm busy minds and nervous systems, helping with anxiety, stress, depression, fear and worry. It also encourages truthfulness, courage and hope.

Till next time :) By the way, don't forget free worldwide shipping if you need a special piece to wear for Christmas!