2015 Jewellery Trend Predictions

Clockwise from top left.... examples of - rainbow and geometric (multi sapphire earrings) , layered necklace (lapis, Peruvian amazonite & iolite necklace) , wrap bracelet (prehnite, rose quartz and pearl wrap bracelet), geometric (onyx frame earrings), coloured stone and slim rings (peridot ring),  multistrand necklace (hematite necklace), vintage inspired and geometric clasp on a multistrand red hued necklace (red coral and garnet necklace), geometric, yellow gold and pink hues (rose quartz earrings).

Professional jewellery organisations around the world have been full of chatter about what will be “in” in 2015….to save you the time, I’ve summarised the most  predicted trends for you…

Statement necklaces -   whilst earrings once again reigned supreme in 2014, necklaces will finally take back their spot as a statement piece for 2015.   Yay! Don’t be held back by fashion rules for necklaces … if you like it, wear it!

Necklaces that you can layer – either multistrand necklaces that give you the layered look instantly – or multiple single necklaces worn together.  

Wrap bracelets for that layered look – with an emphasis on charms, gemstone, metal and leather. 

Statement cuffs – particularly embellished metals.

Rings that stack – the layering look continues to the hand – particularly multiple slim styles creating a big ring look.

Coloured stones – whilst coloured diamonds are the province of the rich and famous, coloured gemstones of all type will appeal to those whose wallets aren’t quite that large!

Motifs from the 1960s and 70s.   With the runways heavily inspired by these two decades, accessories featuring geometric shapes (circles, squares, zigzags) and bohemian themes (owls, beads, feathers, fringes) will go with these fashions.

Rainbows – a personal favourite of mine, rainbows will continue to be popular this year with  colourful patterns, trios of hues and multiple colours with one particular colour brought to the forefront.

Vintage designs.  Whilst they don’t have to be vintage themselves, designs that are inspired by vintage themes and shapes will continue to be popular in new jewellery.

Yellow Gold – with a drop in price (somewhat!) making the metal more affordable over the last year or so, and a trend on the runways for yellow… this mellow metal is set to become more popular in 2015.  

Pantone’s colour of the year, Marsala, is a kind of soft wine gravy colour … not that inspiring for jewellery lol, however on the colour wheel, the colours surrounding Marsala are appealing – think soft pinks, lavenders, purples and reds.  

Are you looking forward to any of these trends making an appearance?

Silence really can be golden!

Peace has returned to the house (well, between the hours of 8.30am and 4pm it has) as the children returned to school this week. The silence truly is golden and there's one thing to be said for the holidays - it has given me a new appreciation of solitude and quiet LOL.

As we settle in for another term at school, the children have to switch from holiday to learning mode (never an easy thing) and unbelievably, as the year is well into its second half, I have to start thinking about my spring/summer collection. Eeek! It's never easy when its cold outside with heavy frosts every morning, frequent rain showers and dull skies. But we have been fortunate to have some days of brilliant blue skies and warm winter sunshine and its not too hard to think of spring then! (But at night I'm gravitating straight back to that fire!!!)

The Connect2Mums 2010 Conference is on at the end of next week. I went last year and had an absolute blast, but timing is off this year with heifers calving left right and centre here on the farm (and therefore needing round the clock watching). But I have sent along a huge box of special things for the goodie bags they're giving to everyone who comes along, and also a prize of an amethyst, rose quartz and silver necklace (pictured above). If you're interested in going to the conference (held in Brisbane) there are still a few places available, so check it out here.

On to other things, my wonderful, talented and go-getter neighbour (she really is - the woman built her own combined chook shed/dog pen, a hanging cradle for her youngest, gardens like there is no tomorrow and cooks the most divine food that makes my mouth water just thinking about it!!! Anyway....) she introduced me to the world of bamboo clothing a couple of years ago. I had never heard of it before then and couldn't believe it could be so soft and luxurious. If you have a little one, or know someone who is having a baby, I can highly recommend these babyjo bamboo wraps from Your Cheeky Monkey. My girls (now 9) still play with their wraps from their babyhood (very good for wrapping up your toys in, as well as putting around your shoulders as a cape or even just wearing as a scarf!) so its a long-term gift, rather than something they'll grow out of and not be used again.

Ah, it had to happen, I've left this too long and the peace has been shattered by the return of the munchkins.... school is over too quickly some days!

Till next :)
Annette

Rose Quartz and a bit more about Creativity

I had another brilliant day last weekend at the Scone Grammar School annual fete - lots of stallholders this time and a real market feel to the whole event. People kept milling about and there was a real reluctance for people to go home! I caught up with lots of clients, some ex-Coolah residents and sold lots of jewels. It's wonderful to watch people see "the" one piece of jewellery for them. (Of course, I have a couple of clients who find "the" one, each time they look LOL. Addicted to beautiful stones - what a way to be!)

I've had a few questions recently about specific stones and realised I haven't really written about the stones themselves for a while. So this week I thought I'd do a run down on rose quartz since I use it quite a bit in my designs.

Rose quartz, a member of the quartz family, is found abundantly in Brazil, Madagascar, India, Mozambique, Namibia, Sri Lanka, the USA and in smaller quantities elsewhere in the world. Of course, the grade of rose quartz varies considerably and it is often crackled and usually turbid rather than transparent. Some higher quality rose quartz is softly glowing pink and rather than completely clear it is often as if it's just a bit misty. With a hardness of 7 it is a sturdy stone although care should be taken to avoid hard knocks or impacts as these can cause conchoidal fractures - which will look like 'chips' to the naked eye.

Rose quartz is named after its pink colour and this colour is thought to come from titanium. Although its crystal structure is trigonal, it is usually found in a massive form (so found in chunks rather than crystals).

A popular stone, its use in jewellery goes back to 7000BC in Mesopotamia where it has been found in the form of beads. The Assyrians used it during 800-600BC and the Romans used it for seals.

Many cultures believed in its metaphysical properties, notably for love and matters of the heart. Egyptians believed it prevented aging (quick, give me some!). It is still used by crystal healers in a variety of ways, predominately to restore calmness, balance and clarity to the emotions.

All in all a pretty stone with nice connotations!

On to other things, the topic of creativity has featured prominently around here lately. I worked with the local preschool on a mother's day project where the children could make a bracelet for their mum. I took in a vast array of beads and my not-good-enough-to-use-in-my-jewellery gems and pearls, some memory wire (it springs back into shape) and my pliers. Over the course of a week, the children strung their selections onto the wire which I then made into bracelets. The results were incredible. There was the occasional mish-mash and the occasional child that obviously wasn't really interested, but most of the bracelets were amazing. There were some real stars too in the colour combination category! The feedback from the mothers has been overwhelming - the preschool teacher even called me last night to tell me how thrilled the mums were.

Is this creativity innate or do you think it's inspired by things they see or their play? Do you think it fades as we grow older or it just needs topping up?

I saw a great post on the Heart On My Sleeve blog about a couple of university graduates being so inspired by the often colourful washing hanging on lines that they took photos of clothes lines in over 22 countries! Some of the pics ARE inspiring too, particularly with the varying backdrops. And if creative play inspires, then I think the cute little knitted finger puppets at Your Cheeky Monkey would be just the thing to get the children in the mood.

Given the run down on rose quartz, today's photo is of a rose quartz and freshwater pearls sterling charm bracelet. Very feminine and very spring inspired (even though we're going into winter - like I said, the muse takes me where she will, regardless of what's going on around me! *sigh*)

Till next :)
Annette

Blink ... and another week is gone

Gosh the weeks are just blurring together. I always seem to be out and about during the week and before I blink the week has gone with not much to show for it! It seems to be a bit that way though - a frantic week with lots getting made and done and then a week that just whizzes past that I don't even get to my 'urgent & important' list! Maybe that means that next week will be an achieving week??? For some reason I don't think so...

Thanks for the many commiserating comments last week on the state of my weedy garden - it's good to know I'm not alone! The weather has cooled down dramatically this week (a good temperature for weeding - not that I've done any more!) and I've started dropping hints to hubby about 'firewood'. He hasn't taken me up on the hint though. Ah well, it will get cold enough eventually that he won't be able to ignore it anymore.

I played farmer again this week, fortunately only for a morning. Luck wasn't on my side though and my ignorance played against me - I ran out of fuel just after moving the stock. I pushed the bike about a km to the nearest cross-track and then walked the remaining couple of km home. Lesson learned. I'll check the fuel tank next time!

I was reading a post today at Dana's about vintage items and a woman returning a 1960s purse that she was unhappy with as it wasn't 'new'. Poor Dana feels sick about a customer not being happy, and I can certainly sympathise with that - we all want our customers to be thrilled. But I would imagine it's a little hard to find 'new' and 'vintage' unless you come across a warehouse of untouched stock?

I've not really dealt with vintage before - unless it is a restoration job on someone's favourite old jewels, which probably doesn't count! There seems to be a fair population that do though. Do you buy vintage? If you do, I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts on vintage - both the positives and the pitfalls - are.

My extra good news this week is that the Mega Mums Giveaway was drawn and one of my entrants won it! Jenny from Mendooran is the lucky recipient and is still stunned by her win. Her husband thinks she's never won anything before except an argument with him, so it sounds like it is well deserved!

Next weekend I am off to the Scone Grammar School's annual Fete. I have attended the last two years and last year already had some 'regulars', so I'm looking forward to catching up with them again. They have changed the set up this year with lots of outside vendors so it should be a fun market-like atmosphere. If you're in the vicinity, drop by to the school on Saturday between 10am and 3pm.

Today's photo is of a handmade chain of sterling silver, dusky rose rhodonite nuggets, chocolate jasper ovals, big rectangles of rose quartz and huge white freshwater pearls. It's a long necklace with chain at the back but as you can see is easily doubled to a chunkier shorter style.

Till next :)
Annette

Gardening, cooking and renewable energy...

Another week has flown by. I'm getting worried. I'm sure I'll turn around in what seems like a couple of weeks time and Christmas decorations will be up! Someone told me the other day that it was only 130 days till Christmas. Since that wasn't TODAY, its even less now....

We have continued to have quite glorious winter weather here - lots of blue skies, sunshine, soft breezes and mild temperatures. I have spent more time in the garden planting gazanias (I think that's what they are - ask my neighbour - I just do as I'm told!) underneath my roses to help keep the weeds at bay. The knowledgeable neighbour assures me that they will form a thick mat and choke out the weeds. BUT I have to be very conscientious for the next few months and water them regularly (not my strong point, I'll admit). Oh the responsibility! LOL

I also seem to have spent a lot of time in the kitchen cooking - brought on by an abundance of eggs from my mother-in-law's very happy chooks (chickens). Everytime she pops in, she brings another couple of dozen eggs so I was up to NINE dozen and really had to step in and do something with them as the odd boiled egg or omlette just wasn't enough. So I've made an almond and carrot torte, a mega-sized chocolate mud cake with chocolate glaze and two slabs of chocolate brownie. That used up two dozen. Then we had a crustless quiche one night and I made double to have for lunches so there's another dozen gone. The torte and cake have already been eaten, so no doubt the family will want me back in the kitchen cooking as soon as the brownie is polished off!

What do you think of renewable energy? Specifically wind power? We have two companies in our town at the moment attempting to sign people up for wind turbines. The turbines are an impressive 80 metres high - and that's just to the hub - plus the blades on top of that! Massive. They came out to visit us today and we find that we're not quite high enough, although we could be considered for a secondary development once the main wind farm is established on a nearby ridge line. There is lots to consider though, one of which is our very scenic views will change quite radically to very scenic views with masses of wind towers. I like the idea of green energy but I'm not 100% about having it surrounding me every time I go outside.

I have also spent some time at my bench although I haven't got as far as taking photos of the new pieces yet. But there are some bright and fun pieces for a lighthearted touch of summer. I really struggled doing the first one - it is a completely different mindset to doing 'bright and fun' compared to 'understated elegance'! But after hours upon hours of moving stones around I achieved the first one and the rest just happened :)

I've been busy loading some recently made stock onto the website now that spring is just around the corner too. AND I've been on facebook, but I'm keeping it under control. I only pop in for a half hour in the morning. I'm happy to say I've already exceeded 100 fans in a week which I'm pretty impressed with!

Today's picture is of a very pretty bracelet - I try to avoid the word 'pretty' as it is just so easy to use for so many things, but it just suits this piece! Palest pink faceted rose quartz and mauve-pink freshwater pearls linked together with 12ct goldfill.

Holidays and vacations seem to be in the air in blog land - two new blogs I've started to check in on recently - Critical Mass and Shwanda.com have both been away and there are lots of wonderful holidays snaps to admire. I love seeing what people go to see and do in other countries!

I also saw on the Michabella Creations blog that she won a print - it's just the most adorable little dachshund picture! I've seen old family photos and recall stories from when my parents had one of these cute (if somewhat strange looking) little dogs.

And continuing the "green" theme - Cherry Mag has a great articles Top Tips for Keeping Green Around the House which has some great, sensible advice.

Ooops, nearly forgot again!!! I have been very remiss in not mentioning a recent award I received! Thank you to Super Mommy to the Rescue for a Friends Award :)


the Rules:

This award is bestowed on to blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. deliver this award to six bloggers who must choose six more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award. I will pass this award to some of my bloggy friends that I find exceedingly charming…

I would like to pass this award onto:
Julie at Momspective
JenJen at Gotta Love Mom
Jackie at 3 Little Ones
Tess at Six Feet Under
Jennifer at Its A Beauty Filled Life
Tammy at Cappucino Confessions

Till next :)
Annette

Spring jewels and farming life

Another week has rolled around - gosh they seem to go so fast! A combination of more time spent weeding and pruning in the rose garden, co-ordinating a large buy of gems for a group of fellow jewellery designers and keeping the good ship 'family' afloat has just swallowed up the time.

Oh and did I mention Facebook? I've been quite avidly trying to stay away from potential time-drains such Facebook and Twitter as I really spend more time than I have to spare on forums and checking out things online. But I succumbed to the temptation and joined Facebook this week. I still have very vague notions of how it all works, but I have worked out how to put up a personal page and a business page. I'm surprised at the number of friend requests I have had from people who I don't know! And for only being up and running a couple of days I'm surprised with the number of fans my business page has already attracted. BUT I can see time disappearing with continued use, so I'm trying to be sensible. So far. *ahem*

Two blogs that proved interesting reading this week for me were Silver Rose Blog which had an interesting bit on International Friendship Day. What a lovely idea- but I've never heard of it!!! So much for being 'international' ;). The other is Your Cheeky Monkey - Monique does some great work and I know my girls would adore these Tote Bags made out of rescued furnishing fabric!

Onto farming life, I had a request for a picture of the darling little calves that we have dotting our paddocks at the moment, so I have obliged:



They're actually quite difficult to get close to - a little skittish - so photographing them proved more of a challenge than say, the dog ;)



This is our working dog, Patch :) He's a very tall short-haired border collie, with, would you believe by his size - a pedigree? Maybe he had deerhound as one of his ancestors and he's a throwback?

Spring is only a couple of weeks away now so I've started loading the new spring-inspired stock onto my website. Lots of work ahead, but satisfying :) If I can find the time to do it of course!! The picture above is one piece that went up yesterday - a torsade of plump pink-peach freshwater pearls, sparkling rock crystal quartz and lovely big drops of faceted rose quartz. It would look great with a floaty dress in spring or summer or even as a bridal piece.

OK, best be off. That nose has lifted off the grindstone a tad too high and I'd better get it back in place ;) Till next!

Clothes Lines and Artisan Markets

As promised in response to some comments recently, here is my clothes line. Just an ordinary clothesline - although I do believe it folds up - not that it ever has! The bucket is for my pegs - it's tied on, so has to be tipped out when it rains and fills up with water. We are mid-winter here, so no snow, just cold weather some grim looking clouds. Sometimes there are cows over the back fence, but not today.

It appears from comments I received, that having no clothesline is a bit of an American phenomenon. It seems that many people aren't happy with the way clotheslines (full of clothes) look. We Aussies tend to tuck clotheslines out in the back yard, or in higher density areas they might be a retractable set up. So they're not really that obvious in the big picture.

More and more people are thinking 'green' and energy conservation, so the use of a clothes line makes good economic and environmental sense, providing its not raining or snowing outside. I believe this is a driving factor behind the "Right to Dry" groups in the US.

I personally do not and never have owned a dryer. If it's wet for an extended period and I really need what's still dripping on the line, then I get it off, respin it and hang it around the house for a day or so! The wind is pretty strong here since we're situated right atop the Great Dividing Range, so delicates tend to be hung on a rack in the laundry all year round, otherwise they'd either get damaged from the excessive flapping or end up down the paddock where they might get eaten by a cow!

A few of my friends do own a dryer, but they tell me they rarely use them - only on those occasions when they've forgotten to wash something they need for the next day (and its already 10pm) or if something is not quite dry after a day on the line in winter. In my case, I just have to find something else to wear!

When I lived in Sydney (too many years ago to admit) in an apartment, there was a laundry on each floor with a washing machine and dryer that was coin operated. Although they still did have a clothesline tucked away in a corner of the grounds :)

I'm finding this topic rather fascinating, so do let me know what you think about clothes lines, if you have one, if you've ever had one, or even if you want one!

***

Getting on to other things, I admit to being in a quandary about the lack of good artisan markets anywhere close by.

A few months ago I found that Canberra has Handmade - a quarterly market for artisans, designers and artists to show their wares. I was thrilled to see this - its the closest one yet! Perth is blessed a similar market and Sydney has the established Paddington Markets for new, hip, indie and handmade.

Yesterday while cruising around my blog list, I saw that Margarent of Konstant Kaos is attending her first Sisters Market and she also linked to Made n Thornbury - both handmade markets. How wonderful!

Now I know I live in the middle of nowhere (or everywhere?) so I've been looking at the major nearby towns with reasonable populations. There are plenty of galleries, but they only want 'art' and then at the other end of the spectrum there are general markets that have either imported goods or craft. It seems to be a case of And never the twain shall meet.

I appear to be falling through a gap in the market place. I have a great clientele and many admirers of my work, but I still have to get it out there and be seen to attract new clients.

So, what to do? I can see a need for something in say Mudgee - it's a good size town with wineries that attract a lot tourists all year round. But they very much have the gallery/market divide. As the town isn't that huge I wouldn't see a need for something frequently - but even a Christmas Designer Market would be fantastic. There are some very talented artisans in the district that surely could benefit! Am I the only one that sees this gap, and if so, do I REALLY want to be an events co-ordinator!?

OK, enough with the deep & meaningfuls! Think I'll look for a pretty picture instead to brighten my mood....



Ahhh much better :D Till next week!

(Rose quartz and amethyst sterling silver handmade bracelet with freshwater pearls in pinks and purples!)

Ooops, almost forgot to add - I've got 100 followers - YIPPEE! Thank you to Natalee of Raising Normal Kids for being number 100 :)

Winter mistaken for spring - but not for long!

I did it, I did it! I spent two whole days in the most disorganised room in the house (see post last week) and it is now pristine! I threw A LOT of stuff out, re-organised and moved things around and I feel so much lighter in myself!

Hubby is really pleased as he finally has his table back in his possession and although he hasn't finished re-organising that little area it is well on its way.

Of course, the rest of the house is suffering somewhat in comparison now...but I think I'll attack that another day.

The weather has turned very icy here - although the skies are a vivid blue and the grass is green due to rain we've had over the last month. So it is easy to lull yourself into a sense of spring from the warmth inside the house - until you go outside of course! Then you feel the wintry bite and retreat inside very quickly.

The springlike looking weather has inspired me to work with a burst of soft, pretty colours so I thought I would share these delicately coloured earrings that are of new jade (serpentine), freshwater pearl and rose quartz.

I found a great group - Unique Women in Business at the by Earth Expressions blog. I love the idea behind this group - it's fantastic to see women banding together to help each other towards success!

Recently, I received the same award from two fellow bloggers - Miriam from Angelshair and Terry from Magicalbeadstalk gave me this:



The rules of the award are:
Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award."

So here are my 15 newly discovered 'lovely' blogs!
thirtysomethingLand
Theta Mom
Mommy Words
5 kids, 2 labs, 1 lizard and a hermit crab
Piece of Cake Decorating
I'm Still Standing
Shabby Chicks
Paris Couture Antiques
My Insanity
Inca Kids, Fair Trade & Sustainable Living
Keeper of the Cheerios
Click Here
The Crazy Suburban Mom
Sweet Serendipity
Witchetty Art

Gosh, that's a list and half!

Cheers for now,
Annette

Supporting each other ... and a rose quartz charm bracelet!

Supporting fellow businesses and artisans is really important - apart from a networking perspective, supporting them through times of economic doom and gloom is important.

Heather on her blog Heather's Ramblings recently posted on The Stone Soup Challenge. Using the folktale, Stone Soup, as inspiration this movement is encouraging artists and crafters to spend a little each month and purchase from one another.

In the tale Stone Soup, a stranger comes to a starving village and looks for food. He puts a boiling pot on the water and adds a stone, telling everyone he is making stone soup. Gradually, the villagers come forward with ingredients to add to make the soup. The contributions are items that the villagers are hoarding due to their fear of starvation. Each villager only contributes a small amount, but the end result is a soup that feeds everyone.

It's a wonderful example of co-operation and grassroots economic stimulus and I for one have already joined in! Please visit The Stone Soup blog to learn more and spread the love!

Another way to support each other is to network. Through Melissa at the Business Mums Blog I found out about the Business Mums Conference in June which would be a great networking and learning opportunity for those in Victoria.

I had a wonderful time at the Dunedoo Show last week :) I met lots of wonderful people that only live a stone's throw away ... but in a different direction than I usually go! A big thank you to the Show Committee for having me and for already inviting me back to next year's show.

Of course I'm supposed to be finishing off my winter collection working with rich and darker colours ... but creativity leads you on a journey of its own and this week has been no exception with pinks calling to me *sigh*.

So from this creative burst of pink, is the bracelet pictured above. A handmade chain of soft-pink rose quartz faceted discs and argentinium sterling silver (argentinium is tarnish resistant - brilliant stuff!) with little 'charms' of purple amethyst, grass-green peridot, freshwater pearls in white and bright pink and sterling silver charms of flowers, dragonflies and a butterfly. Very spring-like (in autumn - oh well!).

Catch you on the flip side!

Rose quartz 'charm' bracelet

Here is another bracelet in the "charm" style ... this one has the underlying structure of rosy-pink rose quartz linked together to form a handmade chain of argentinium sterling silver. The "charms" are vibrant purple freshwater pearls, glowing white freshwater pearls, peridot the colour of new grass, icy rock crystal quartz small nuggets and dark amethyst balls.

To add some extra interest I have added Karen Hill Tribe (handmade in Thailand of high content silver) charms. Near the clasp there is a little elephant, then a cute decorated moth, a horseshoe for luck, a jolly looking turtle, a rose bud and a fan. The colours are inspired by the season of spring (even though we are in autumn here in the southern hemisphere) as we could always do with a little lightness and brightness in our lives.

Rose quartz is a perennial favourite - its soft pink glow flatters most complexions and it is universally considered a stone of love. For a great read on the metaphysical qualities of rose quartz, visit the The Modern Goddess at her blog post here.

Till next :)

Back at the Bench

I'm back at my bench this week and have so enjoyed the creation process once again. It was hard to sit back down after a rather lengthy break, but now that I've overcome that hurdl, I can't wait to get back there! Of course, too many family and social obligations are still to be met and so I can't seem to get back there fast enough for my liking!!

How did you fare on Valentine's day? Did you get a card or flowers, chocolates, jewellery as a gift? I often find the card offerings are a bit boring and in my search for cards, came across a brilliant history of cardmaking on Jenni's Papercraft Designs.

Do you like today's picture? It is a feminine necklace of rose quartz and rock crystal quartz which has been sandblasted to a matte finish with then a row of facets along the rim which sparkle beautifully. Although the stones are quite large, there is a balance of delicacy brought by the fine silver twists in between each stone. It is actually a long necklace which can be doubled as that is a way I love to wear mine, giving it an air of casual elegance.

Till next!

Random acts of kindness and a pearl and gem necklace

It's the last week of the school holidays and we made a mad dash to the coast for a few days to catch a little summer weather and let the children go to the beach - a rarity reserved for once or twice a year. We also managed to catch up with two sets of good friends that moved that way a couple of years ago and our children are still 'best friends' regardless of the distance. Its wonderful to see them pick right up where they left off and play and play and play and play.....

I was saddened to hear this week of Heath Ledger's death. This Australian actor obviously had a lot of talent and ability. He appeared kind, down to earth and was from a normal Aussie home in Perth, Western Australia. He even attended the same school as one of our family members, which makes his death a touch personal. His death is still being investigated but it certainly brings a dose of reality to our lives - we never know what is around the corner and we should make the most of every day.

Along this line, I vote for some random acts of kindness to make the world a better place to live! I found some great examples here at the Rainbow Designs blog. Have you done any of these? I am pleased to report I have done the majority (though am yet to pay for someone else's toll!!) and I can guarantee they will make you feel better! Go on, try one :)

I haven't made any jewellery this week although I keep looking at my bench longingly. With children back to school next week, perhaps I will have some time to sit there then. In the meantime, I have posted a picture of a piece made a couple of weeks ago in a summer frame of mind. You all know I love pearls and this necklace combines them in the wonderful colours of lime, palest pink, white and lolly pink. Scattered throughout is some rose quartz, rock crystal quartz and peridot gemstones and it is finished with a simple sterling silver toggle clasp. Do you like it?

In readiness for Christmas

Woohoo! Only a few days until Christmas :) I have taken a quote I saw recently on the Small Business Diva blog, to heart. It stated “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot”. So, even though it meant a lot of busy days I have achieved a few things in time for Christmas....all my Christmas orders have been completed and sent, christmas cards have been written and sent(this in itself is a huge achievement - see my last post!), Christmas gifts have been purchased (thank goodness for online shopping) and wrapped and sitting under the tree and the house has had a pre-Xmas clean and the obligitory moving around of furniture ;) . Surprising the end result of having everything under control has given me a real lift, rather than the tired, run-down feeling I was expecting after all that rushing! Maybe I'm on a Christmas- high?

The children finish school tomorrow and I am really looking forward to spending a fun Christmas with them - the girls are really into Christmas and Santa and are so excited its quite contagious. My son is starting to question the whole Santa idea - he told me a few days ago "I know you're really Santa - you dress up like him and put the presents under the tree" LOL, I honestly told him that "I have never dressed up as Santa". He saw my sincerity and so is happy to go along with it for now!

I started our own Christmas tradition when the children were very little. We had a lovely Santa/North Pole style snow globe that was only allowed to be touched leading up until Christmas. Each night before bed, we would lovingly bring it down and shake it, gaze at is as the snow settled before doing it again. Then we would read one of our special Christmas books - lovely picture books about Christmas, Santa, elves and so on. Just to get into the Christmas spirit. Unfortunately, Meredith in her absolute adoration for the globe broke it last year and I haven't found a replacement. But we are still reading the Christmas books. Now that the children are older I have also started reading a small Christmas themed novel out loud to them which they seem to be enjoying. My in-laws have their own traditions which we share with them on Christmas Day. Do you have a Christmas tradition in your family?

Today's picture is a bracelet that would make your wrist sparkle on Christmas Day (or any day of the year!). Soft pastel hues of lavender, pink and white freshwater pearls, icy rock crystal quartz and pale pink rose quartz combine in a two strand twist with an adorable sterling silver heart toggle clasp.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a peaceful and loving festive season... and I hope Santa is good to you! ;)

Nerves, challenges and a flower necklace

I'm off to Nyngan tomorrow for my first spring showing and I'm running around like a 'headless chook' as my Dad says. At least I now have a huge pile of boxes/bags to put into the car, so I am almost there. But I'm a bit worried about the drive - getting there on time and safely and a little nervous about the show itself! I have so much new stock that I have never displayed before, so the whole display will be different and new and take some 'tweaking'. A couple of shows in, I'll know exactly what has to to go where and I will feel like an old hand at it again!

I've been reading more blogs (yes I know - I should be working *guilt* LOL) but I loved this post on The Tall Poppy blogsite http://thetallpoppy.blogspot.com/2007/08/reach-for-sky.html. It initially got my attention with the picture and story of a cow (since I'm surrounded by them on a daily basis, they're a bit hard to ignore ;) ) Anyway, is a brilliant, uplifting story and does indeed make you wonder what is possible if you put your mind to it!

Keeping that idea in mind, the piece pictured above is one that took a lot of courage/commitment to make. I have made a couple of the gem 'flowers' before but they're difficult for someone who doesn't do a lot with wire wrapping and in the past very sore fingers from manipulating the wire has been the side effect! Nevertheless, I had this picture in my mind of a feminine choker or necklace made of flowers and I think it worked really well. It took well over a day to make it plus time to refine the design. And yes I did get sore fingers and a few broken nails too. But it just went to show that 'doubting' part of me that I can succeed if I try!

The necklace is made of many feet of sterling silver wire, the flowers are made of amethyst (purple), rose quartz (pale pink) or rock crystal quartz (clear), the centres are citrine (pale yellow) and the ends are peridot (green) representing the foliage. It is ended with an extension chain so that it can either be worn as a choker done up fully or as a necklace utilising the extension chain.

Do you like it?