Beadie Critters

Did you ever wonder what a mother who makes jewellery does for her children’s school fair?

I had offered to work with the children to make items for their class stall and shouldn’t have been surprised when the teacher took me up on my offer.

Now making jewellery would be an obvious answer to what to do with them - but I didn’t want to be obvious and so spent some time making some simple critters with beads and craft wire. I had wonderful visions of what they’d be able to make, possibly with my stash of gem and pearl seconds.



I planned out what they’d need and sat down with my primary aged girls who play with my wire scraps and castoff pearls constantly to make 3 different critters – a doodlebug, a caterpillar and a spider.



Unfortunately I soon realised that sturdy craft wire and small drill holes (common in gems and pearls) didn’t go together. Then found my idea of the average 11 year olds abilities and reality didn’t match up at all. *sigh*

In resignation, I decided simple was best, so I sourced some colourful painted and dyed wooden beads, some beading elastic and then found myself at the front of a classroom last week with 30+ children listening to me instruct them in the art of making a stretchy bracelet.

It was rather fortunate that the teacher hadn’t told me that I would be “speaking to the class” as I may have run away. As anyone who knows me well can testify, when it comes to more than about a dozen people, I avoid being the centre of attention and become amazingly silent. I tend to be more a ‘doer’ than a ‘talker’. Public speaking is definitely not my thing although of course I can talk the leg off an iron pot in a one to one or small group situation!

But I survived the instructional phase at the front of the classroom and then relaxed as I got to work with a table of children at a time.

I was very impressed with the determination of the children and their skill in colour selection for their beaded bracelets and rings and feel sure that they will be able to use all their stocks of beads by the fair to make a good selection for fair visitors to buy.



But, not to be outdone, I took matters into my own hands and made a couple of dozen critters for the stall. I think they're cute (well, some of the spiders are a bit freaky I'll admit!) ... what do you think?

By the way, Dunedoo Show was huge last weekend – I’m still recovering, as well as making up orders from the day to be delivered on my way to set up at Mendooran Show this Saturday. If I survive this "5 shows in 5 weeks" stint I'll be due for a holiday!

A trunk show and a new handmade market at Scone

After a couple of months away from the face to face of shows while I concentrated on new stock and designs, I’m back in the midst of it all and loving it!

I had a home trunk show a week ago with a group of ladies who had only previously seen my jewellery on the hostess. They weren't shy though and snapped up many items – even having issues over the ownership of one bracelet! This sort of show is so much fun with ladies trying things on, comparing them on each other, having a chat and a glass of something bubbly!

Yesterday I attended the inaugural Scone Homegrown + Handmade market. It had great plans of being a stylish outdoor event at the Kerv Café, but the weather gods had other ideas!

I’m about 1 hour and 40 minutes drive west of Scone and was not overjoyed to hear rain at around 2am, particularly when I realised it wasn’t a storm and didn’t appear to be going anywhere. Nevertheless I got up at 4.30am checked the radar and saw that Scone was indeed dry however the rain band was heading there. With my trusty helper Trista aboard we set off around 5.30am into the rain and bound for Scone. The rain got heavier and I hoped that some wet weather alternative may have been made – otherwise all we’d be up for was a well deserved coffee and a long drive home!

The rain continued steadily – not sheeting down, but not exactly drizzling either. On arrival at around 7am there was a bunch of slightly bedraggled and tired stall holders wondering what to do. The organiser, the lovely Amelia from The Event Storeroom offered those with non-food products a small space inside the Café which I gratefully accepted. We all appeared to be set up by around 8.30am and it was certainly “cosy”!

Amazingly, people braved the weather and came to see us all (even those who decided to shelter with their goods under the cover in the outdoor area) and buy.

Being cosy was actually fun (apart from needing to dodge around everyone) as it gave the stallholders an opportunity to network, admire and buy each other’s items which you often don’t have time for at a regular show.

I had the chance to chat to my close neighbours - the warm and talented Emma of Elliepants who is making my girls some endless scarves for winter, the outgoing Tracy from Lilibits & Pieces who I got to chat about jewellery with and the vivacious Bec from Audrey Anne who was experiencing her first market and I know she’ll do well ... even Trista and I couldn’t help ourselves and bought something of hers!

I managed to taste some of Hunter Belle’s fantastic cheese, the delicious Lincoln Red Beef Direct (the best “burger” I’ve had in years!) the lighter than light macarons from Sweet Project and the tasty hot chocolate of the Kerv Café all whilst admiring the beautiful flowers from Stem. (Living in the country often means that the only fresh flowers you see are the ones you’ve grown – so in my house its roses or nothing).

There were many other stallholders and I was very impressed with the amount of talented people that Amelia had located and brought together for the event. Given fair weather I have high hopes for the next Homegrown + Handmade in June!

Next weekend I have the Dunedoo Show (24th March), the following weekend is the Mendooran Show (31st March) and then Easter Saturday (7th April) is the Mudgee Makers Market, so you see its all go, go, go!

Photo at top is pair of sterling, tourmaline and peridot earrings that sold at the trunk show last week.

A busy November...

OK, how did it get so busy all of a sudden. There I was, in post-holiday glow, enjoying slowly getting back in to things and then BAM all of a sudden I have so much on, bespoke orders and pieces to rejuvinate into something else and am surrounded by gems, pearls and all things gorgeous. (Of course, I cope admirably with being surrounded by all the pretties!)

I haven't forgotten about the Italian diaries - I just haven't had time to refine them, but I'll get there eventually :)

The show at Muswellbrook was great fun. It was a manageable drive over there (even if we got home after midnight) there were many other stall holders with different items and the organisers were lovely. A few ladies were thrilled with some new jewels for summer and I think I will be warmly welcomed back in that district.

The "Balabudgee" garden weekend was extraordinary - sublime weather, a garden that all at once made me feel inspired and depressed (inspired because it looks achievable... and depressed because I just know that I won't do it!!), and such genial hosts. It was busy with people both days and lots of lovely ladies got to take home quite a bit of new jewellery with them!

I had planned to attend TAS last weekend (The Armidale School's Spring Fair) but unfortunately one of my girls came down with high temps and a headache the evening before and it just wasn't possible to leave her with someone else the next day when she felt like that. Hubby was off at the NSW Aerobatic Championships in Temora so couldn't be on dad duty. But that's what happens I guess. On a high note, hearty congratulations to my hubby who is now the NSW Aerobatic Champion! Woohoo :D

I have a busy show schedule for November - the Dunedoo Central School is holding its ladies shopping night on Friday, 11 November from 5-8pm. Enquiries to the school. The Tamworth Christmas Fair is on Saturday, 19th November at Tamworth Racecourse from 9.30am-4pm and then I have my annual summer show in Coolah on the 25th November.

The last couple of years I have held my show at the local dance studio, but have been offered to hold it the air-conditioned comfort of Noni B's Giftware this year - given the heat we've experienced in past years, I'm looking forward to a comfortable temperature this year! I will have a special preview the day before (24th November) for clients and will be sending invitations out to people in the Coolah area - if you're outside the district and would like to come, do let me know and I will pop off an invite to you!

I am trying to get to the website this week to update with some new stock - a few technical things are holding me back that will hopefully be resolved soon!

Today's photo is of a stunning pair of amethyst and mixed gemstone (blue topaz, pink topaz and peridot) earrings.

Till next :)
Annette

Italian Inspiration

I've been busy, busy, busy creating - particularly bracelets, petite pendants and lovely high quality gem earrings.

Italy certainly has had a wonderful effect on my inspiration. I made a video (its actually a slideshow to music) that shows some of the photos from our trip and a few of the pieces that have been inspired by the colours and textures we saw...



I promise to continue with the tale of our Italian adventure soon.

In the meantime, I have two shows this weekend - Muswellbrook tonight (at the PCYC 7-10pm for the Muswellbrook Preschool A Night Before Christmas Shopping Night) and then the weekend in the courtyard of the beautiful Balabudgee garden, Frog Rock, near Mudgee.

Till next :)
Annette

A Glimpse into a Country Show

I recently attended the local agricultural show which is about 45 minutes drive from my home and thought some of you (particularly those who don't live in a rural area - or even Australia) might like a peek into my day.

An "ag show" here has horse events, cattle and sheep showing, competitions in poultry, wool and produce, art, cooking, handicrafts and flowers. And probably more that I didn't see!

I attend up to four ag shows a year with my jewellery and at Dunedoo I had an area in the ladies pavillion. Needing to be there from 8am on the last day of daylight savings (which is at least 6 weeks too long at either end) meant that the sun still wasn’t up when I left home. The sun did come up on my journey there though


and the countryside looked lovely bathed in the early dawn.



While I was waiting for the steward to arrive I had time for a quick look around some of the pavillion’s exhibits before it opened to the public.







There was a constant stream of people through the pavillion all day, admiring all the talented ladies (and some men's) work … and a bit of my jewellery too! (I was wedged between the flowers and the photography).



It quietened down a bit over lunch so I took some shots from the pavillion entrance. Here is a glimpse towards the carnival side of things … go a bit further down here and you would arrive in side show alley.



Some weary looking competitors in a horse event - they look like they need lunch and a shady tree don't you think?



Children find out some of the perils of the pet show - so exciting for the competitors at one end of the leads I think.



But a lot of the show is about catching up with friends, whether you're young, or not.





The show went on til evening when the pavillion turned into a frenzy of people packing up (including me) and collecting their items and prizes. As I wearily headed home into the dark night, my rear view mirror caught a few fireworks lighting up the sky.



A lovely end to the day - hope you enjoyed your outing to the show!

Till next
Annette

PS I will be in Mudgee next week, Easter Saturday at the Makers Market in the grounds of St. Mary's, pop in and say hello if you're in town!

Getting into the Christmas Spirit!

Well, it's here. December! No ignoring it now - I'm getting into the Christmas spirit! No, the tree isn't up, and no the letter to friends and cards haven't been written, nor is the shopping finished. But it's been hard to resist the Christmas music, tinsel and glitter, red dresses and imagining fun filled parties and gifts.

If you want to get into the spirit of the season too, do pop over to this picture post on Bush Belles - and have your sound up so you can look at the wonderful pictures along with perfect music. It's so uplifting - guaranteed to make you smile!

Working with the red Christmas theme, I spent quite a bit of time yesterday photographing - trying out different sets, angles and jewels for a December front page photo for my site. I'm really happy with the shot I eventually chose - what do you think?



And then I made a bright red necklace (top) - I've had so much interest in red bamboo coral the last few months that I keep selling out of them, so thought I'd better have one to hand - this one is bamboo coral and sterling silver.

My open day last Friday in Coolah was fantastic and there are going to be lots of little white boxes with violet ribbons under the trees around here this year!

Since the weekend though, all it has done has rained. Has it been raining where you are? We've had well over 7 inches so far and today the sun is struggling to put in appearance. The highway has been cut by floodwaters in numerous places although we can still make it into our local town (much to the children's disappointment since they've still had to go to school)!

We had temporary waterfalls as the water ran down the hill and over the top of the retaining wall near the pool - the ag drains just couldn't cope with the quantity of water that fell in a storm that lasted about an hour.

Our dam is so full it is overflowing and the road near the gate is a few inches under water with water streaming out our front gate. Our sandy drive has washed away and left rocks in its place and I'm positive the cattle are happy the farm is on high ground!

I was planning on attending the Mudgee Art Vine Christmas Art Fair this Saturday - hopefully the flooding will subside so I can actually make it in there!

Till next :)
Annette

It's creeping up on me.... Christmas!

Arrrghhh! Christmas is starting. I can feel it. It's there in the FIRST christmas card of the year (it's always by my ultra-organised friend Lynda) that arrived today; in the holiday music and people in Santa hats I saw in on TV yesterday; in the email that my sister in law sent me giving me this year's Christmas draw ; in Monique's post with her rum balls recipe ; in the fact that my jeans are getting tight (and that's just after two recent functions that weren't even Christmas related... can you imagine what another month will do - eeek!); in the weather - it's finally heating up, although with all the rain its just kind of steamy; and last but not least in the children asking when they can write to Santa..... (not much gets past them LOL).

I think I've just been too busy to even contemplate it. (Having a show every week is wearing me out - this weekend it's a private party at nearby Leadville. There's going to be shoes (I love shoes!) and me with jewels. Plus some champers to sip on the day. What more could any woman ask for?? )

The Christmas cards that I was so pro-active in getting TWO MONTHS ago, haven't been touched and absolutely no presents have been purchased (actually they haven't even been thought about yet!)

So, how are you going on the Christmas front? Are you being bombarded already with Christmas images and music or is something more subtle reminding you it's getting closer? Alternately, are you blissfully unaware and determined to stay that way a bit longer?

OK, what photo for today? I think I might go a bit glamorous with these stunning AAA grade rock crystal quartz earrings - soooo sparkly and perfect for Christmas parties!

OK, off to ignore all the Christmas things, well at least for another few days ;)

Till next
Annette :)

Shows - the trials and tribulations

OK, I think I need to just stop. For a few minutes anyway.

This time of the year is unbelievable - even one of my girls last night asked when my next show was, and the next, and the next and the next.... Her eyes got bigger at each one I mentioned. Luckily they're kept busy at school and when they're home they're playing together, doing piano practice and reading. Lots of reading (I think I gave birth to book worms not children sometimes!). And I have a husband that is flexible enough to look after them (and if he is not available, then, thankfully, there is always Grandma!).

I love doing shows - I love getting out and about and meeting people, sharing my passion for gems and pearls and hopefully brightening people's day with some 'pretty' jewels. Even better when I can extend that happiness by having someone take something they love home.

I have another outing this afternoon - just a small one, in my neighbouring town, Dunedoo, about 45min drive away, for a 'ladies afternoon'.

Last weekend I wended my way to Armidale with my friend Trista in tow (to keep me awake as well as help me at the show) for the TAS fair. We had a wonderful time, met some lovely people and sold some jewels, but, as often happens, there was just too many people selling jewellery for any of us to do really well and the poor people attending the show had glazed eyes at the literally hundreds of strands of necklaces that must have been there. Of course the quality, material and styles varied immensely, but at first glance, all people saw was "more jewellery".

This, I must admit, is one of my pet peeves about doing shows. I realise that these shows are organised by time-poor volunteers, but as organisers they CAN and SHOULD dictate what people can sell. In the case of last week, two stall holders mentioned they sold jewellery amongst a myriad of other things (such as clothes, shoes, homewares etc.) but they displayed mostly jewellery. The result is that the show isn't as successful as it could be - the stall holders don't sell as much as they might if there were less of the same category there, and the attendees get limited variety and boredom sets in early.

Of course, some shows are very well organised in this department and they are usually very successful and enjoyed by everyone. These go on to run year after year and I'm fortunate to be a part of some of them. I noted on the Business Mums Blog a week or so ago that some of the markets/shows in Melbourne do great promotion for their participants too. Ah, sometimes I want to live in a city and get those sort of benefits. But then, I love my peace and quiet and rural life too much!

I also noted on the Busy Mum blog, that she's wishing for summer to hurry up and come. Given the cold weather we keep getting here, I'm wishing for a bit of summer too!

Well, I must dash and put my busy hat back on. I still have to finish packing for my outing this afternoon and I only have an hour and a half left before I leave! Today's photo is of pearls - I've felt a bit 'pearly' the last week or so, so made this strand up a few days ago. Rich dark brown pearls with a peacock sheen, enhanced by the addition of some rhodolite garnet, amethyst, iolite and peridot. Yum!

Till next :)
Annette

A Weekend out at the Gardens

Wow, what a week! I've been go, go, go and I'm starting to get dizzy!

I was at the Riverlea Open Garden outside Mudgee last weekend (picture of my set up above). And what a stunning garden it was. Relatively new (the current owner expanded it about 4 years ago) she has done such a lovely job. This was my view for the weekend - not bad, eh?


The weather on the Saturday was idyllic - warm temperatues, light breeze, bright blue skies. Perfect for browsing around gardens and even though it clouded over in the afternoon, the spits of rain held off until well after the garden viewers had gone home and we even managed to have a sociable drink and chat on the gravel drive :) .

Sunday, however, was miserable. It was cold, wet and windy. Only the most die-hard gardeners came out on a day like that (not being one of those gardeners I know I would have stayed at home!) and we shivered through the day. I don't think anyone thought the worse of any other person there when we all packed up a little early.

I did, however, meet some of the lovely people of Mudgee and surrounds and managed to catch up with a few clients who I only see rarely. One woman who mentioned that she had been meaning to get some of my jewellery for years but really had no idea what might suit her. I love that this lady actually told me this, as it CAN be difficult to know what to go for if you're unsure of colours and style, particularly if you've been a chain/pendant necklace and stud earring wearer for many years.

We ended spending about an hour trying various colours and styles on. She was surprised to see some brighter colours suited her and colours that, although she loved them to look at, really didn't do her skin any favours. She ended up with two lovely necklaces - a special amethyst one for wearing out and about and an everyday one of black onyx and white pearls for when she didn't have to think of what might go with what. She was also so thrilled she wore the amethyst one immediately and I had so many comments from other people about the "lady who had just bought a gorgeous necklace".

I had numerous other conversations with ladies about what might suit them too and they were excited to learn more about jewellery - what to wear with different necklines, what went with their face shapes, what suited their personal style and more. I do have quite a bit of this information on my site too - if you want to know more, click here to go to my Style Tips page :)

All in all (if we ignore the inclement weather on Sunday) it was such a lovely weekend. I have since run into some of the ladies I met on the weekend and they've all expressed how happy they are with their new jewels, which I love to hear!

I am off to Armidale this Saturday where I will be at The Armidale School Razzamataz fete in the TAS Emporium (situated in the Hall). I will have to leave at around 4.30am to get there in time to set up since it is just over 3 hours drive away. The fete is open from 10am to 3pm, so if you're in that area, please come and say hello.

OK, better get back to putting that nose on the grindstone - always so much to do at this time of year!

Till next :)
Annette

Spring, Gardens and News from the Gem World

Wow, what a week its a been! We've had gale force winds, rain, snow (albeit 'sago' snow), icy winter temperatures as well as the expected sunny skies and pleasant temperatures that spring brings. Luckily we got through the wind, rain and snow BEFORE the open garden that I attended with my jewels on Sunday. It was still rather chilly though and the garden presented beautifully, even after the inclement weather. Everyone had a fabulous time and lots of money was raised for CanAssist.

On the downside of the spring weather though, all the girls in the house have succumbed to hayfever, so we really can't get out and about and enjoy it. The Coolah valley is renowned for its ability to give people who have never had it before, hayfever, so we've really got no choice in the matter! My next show (this weekend) is at the Riverlea garden at Mudgee that is open as part of the Australian Open Garden Scheme. I know Tamara will have a beautiful garden and if you're in the district, you'll find me in the courtyard, possibly sneezing!!! The lovely Julia of Bushbelles has some information on this garden and the other Mudgee garden (Mullamuddy Park) open this weekend in her post here.

I've been catching up on my gem news and there are so many fabulous things happening in the gemmie world at the moment!

If you're near New York, did you go to the Christie's Jewel Sale yesterday? Included in the auction was a Vanderbilt diamond necklace that sold for $626,500; a Mouboussin sautoir pendant that went for $1,106,500; a 17.86ct Harry Winston diamond ring that sold for $1,818,500; and a Bulgari vivid blue diamond ring that sold for a whopping $15,762,500, which was an absolute bargain as they had hoped to go as high as $50 million! See a short video on these jewels here or click here to see the whole catalogue on the Christie's site.

Christie's is also hosting a gemstone sale in Dubai on 27 October. This twice yearly auction is apparently a highlight of the Middle East's social calendar (and rightly so!). Included in this sale is a private collection of more than 40 parures (jewellery suites), the largest selection ever to be sold at auction. Highlights of this collection include a 26ct Kashmir sapphire ring, and two Ceylon sapphires of 180ct and 130ct. Another highlight of the sale is the second largest orange melo pearl to be offered at auction (only 9 of these have ever been auctioned). The melo pearl, named after the mollusc melo amphora, is found in the waters of the South China Sea. For the Emperors, who wore the Imperial colours of yellow and orange, a Melo pearl was highly prized and its image is often found on Imperial robes with the symbol of a dragon chasing an orange or melo pearl. Another rare gem on offer in the sale is the Paraiba tourmaline. First discovered in the Paraiba State of northern Brazil in the early 1980s, it has a unique turquoise green colour not found in any other gemstone. There will be a ring and a pair of earrings made with this gorgeous electric blue stone in the sale. Click here to see a slideshow of the sale pieces.

OK, enough drooling over all the Christie's goodies!

If you like historical jewels and artifacts and are in the UK, check out the "Buried Beneath the Beaney" exhibition at the Museum of Canterbury. The archaeology exhibition showcases nearly 2,000 years of history after Canterbury Archaeological Trust conducted a major dig in, of all places, the High Street! Highlights in the exhibition include a Roman gold bracelet and a Turkish carved gemstone. Wouldn't it have been a thrill finding these.

In other news, The Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB), touted as the world's largest diamond trading centre, opened at Bandra-Kurla complex in the Mumbai, India, yesterday (20 October).India is already a world leader in the export of cut and polished diamonds.

Tanzania has temporarily lifted the ban on exporting uncut tanzanite till next year to give their jewellery and lapidary sector time to establish themselves. I just love tanzanite - its a pretty purple-blue stone and there is a small one in the photo above (along with pink topaz and rock crystal quartz)... ok, they're not anywhere on the same page as the Christie's beauties, but hey, I've got to be realistic!

Whilst nothing at all to do with gems, I loved this post by Monique of My Cheeky Monkey on "Why doesn't an igloo melt inside?" - if you've got younger ones, check it out! And a shout out to the Business Mums Blog - a great resource if you're a small business.

OK, I must drag myself away from the computer (and the Christie's site... yes its still open!) and get to my bench.

Hope you're having a fantastic day!
Till next
Annette

Back from holidays

I'm home from a wonderful, relaxing holiday in Queensland *sigh*. I was full of energy first day back, yesterday I hit the post-holiday low and then today I'm feeling a bit more 'normal' LOL!

We drove north west (instead of north east) and went to visit family in Bollon (west of St. George) in Qld. They live on a magnificent property "Woolerina" where they run sheep, cattle and horses. Last time we visited it was dry and dusty no matter where you looked, this time it was green! We're farmers and graziers but their operation is at a whole new level. Typical outback living and we all enjoyed our short stay immensely. The children can't wait to return.


We then turned east and eventually north-east and made our way to Woodgate and the beach.

There was lots of time for all of us to read, time to play games with the kids and daily walks along the beach. I saw dolphins which was a real thrill, hubby and son saw sea turtles and the twins are cross they didn't manage to see either!


I even managed some exercise - a bit of a shock to the body I'm sure! I was up every day around 5am and off for a jog. The warmer weather (but not hot) made it easy to commit to doing this daily!

The kangaroos were often entertaining too - if you haven't heard me talk of Woodgate before it's a rare town, situated between the beach and national park and there are kangaroos everywhere - on the streets, in the yards nibbling the lawns, on the beach in the mornings. Usually they just look cute (or in the case of the big males, rather intimidating) but these pair were having a fight in between our house and the neighbours...


The weather was consistently warm - even on the one day it rained it was still warm (very bizarre having come essentially from winter here on the farm) and the clothing layers reduced to one light one.


I even got to go shopping in a big town - with lots of shops yippee! - weekly. Such a rarity for me.

The weather a couple of hours drive south of us was atrocious with falls of 200mm in 24 hours. This was our destination on the return journey as my brother in law was getting married. The day of the wedding was gale force winds and rain, so the wedding moved indoors and the pool party became a normal party watching the rain sheet down!

So, I'm back in the saddle now, as they say, and have to wait patiently for another year till we can get away again.

I have a show (eek), this weekend, at the "Mayfield" open garden at Birriwa - a fundraiser for CanTeen. Lots of people say they're coming so it may be a very busy day - the gardens are supposed to be gorgeous and cover 3 acres, so it will be lovely to see!

Till next :)
Annette

Shows, an Airshow and now its almost holiday time!

I’ve been a very bad blogger. I’ll admit it. I’ve been going along at a 110% (which we all know is totally unsustainable) so things started to drop off. I miss being online. I feel like I’m falling behind by not keeping up to date in my fellow blogger’s worlds!

And just to compound my discomfort offline, I am off on our annual holiday in a couple of days time. YAY for the holiday – lots of reading, lazing around, beach walks, bike rides and family time. But BOO to no internet coverage!

Since I last wrote I’ve had two, two-day shows. Quirindi was the first. The show was great fun and many husbands said “oh no, not you!” but their wives smiled widely :D . The second show was at Merriwa with gorgeous weather, lots of familiar faces and ladies keen to look at and partake of the new collection. It’s so lovely to be welcomed by the ladies so warmly!

Country shows are great fun and as I’m situated in the ladies pavilion, I get to see all the local talent – the green fingered ladies with their flowers, the cooks with their cakes and preserves, the patient ladies with their needlework, embroidery, sewing and knitting, the artists with their paintings and sculpture, the budding younger artists with their drawings and the avid photographers with their creative photos. It’s always great to see the men having a go too – Merriwa always has a brave gent or two competing in the cooking arena and lots of them in the fresh produce department.

Naturally there are the horse events, cattle judging, pet parades and more. Merriwa had a ute muster and with all their big lights and myriad of aerials, I assume these young fellows are very lonely and scared of the dark! They also had a roving magician as part of the entertainment and I had my own private little show at one stage with some incredibly good card ‘tricks’ – a polished performance, I still have no idea how he did it.

We finished the weekend off with a visit to the RAAF Williamtown Airshow. The last one we attended there was in 1985 and when I told this to one young airman he made me feel incredibly old when he told me he hadn’t even been born then!

The show was quite spectacular, starting off with Matt Hall, of Red Bull Air Race fame; two incredible formation flights of aeroplanes from different eras (the poor old Neptune at the front must have been going flat out compared to the F111 in the same flight!); the last public performance from a F111 that was awe inspiring and made everyone jump when he sneaked up on us all; and a fantastic solo by an F-18 that showed so much skill and control in such a powerful machine. Of course there were many more air displays that we all enjoyed but the ones above were amazing! All in all a fantastic day, although it was soooo long with a three hour drive each way added on to a full day at the show. Truly memorable though and worth it.

So, please forgive my absence, including one for the next couple of weeks. But I promise I will think of you while I’m walking along the beach, playing games with the kids, reading a huge pile of novels and snoozing regularly … well, maybe a passing thought now and again ;)

Till next
Annette

PS. Today’s pic – this one found a new home last weekend - from my Beach Party Collection, it’s fun and bright mother of pearl shell, sterling silver and freshwater cultured pearls.

The pre-spring merry-go-round

Life is a merry-go-round at the moment. And that merry-go-round is spinning faster and faster and won't let me off! Even blogging suffered when I couldn't find time to sit down and write here for an hour or so last week.

I've been totally caught up in creating for the past couple of weeks - designs have been flying out of my head and I have to get them down on paper before they flutter away! I've been making as many up as I can but even I have my limitations - too many late nights and overloaded days and I turn into a grumpy mother and wife, regardless of how well the design side is going along!

I still have a few things I want to try but the majority of designs for spring and summer are basically finished. There are summer brights in pink, green, yellow and purple; bold statments in red, orange, black and teal, stunning red-carpet worthy creations in sparkly aqua, straw yellow, lavender, white and icy clear; some solid pieces in earthy tones and some lustrous pearl and paua designs too. Sheesh. No wonder I've been busy!

It can be pretty full on in this pre-season rush to be ready but I guess I make up for it at other times of the year when I wind right back - its just hard to remember those times at the moment! I also want to re-organise my existing pieces into collections in line with the new stock and to change my display quite dramatically according to these collections. Considering my first spring show is less than two weeks away, it might not happen that way unless it's at the last minute (or even while I'm there!)

I'm glad to see, however, that others go through similiar things - we all get busy, don't we and hurry through before some sort of deadline? I love to read Amanda's blog Busy Mum 2010 (aptly titled!) and my life seems positively tame compared to hers!

I've done a bit of a sneak peak on my spring/summer range in the photo above - there are so many new pieces its hard to choose just one to feature this week!

Right, I need to get my nose back to the grindstone!

Till next :)
Annette

Massive jade boulders, wet weather and thoughts of spring

Do you know how some things happen (almost) in your backyard, but it takes a news story from another region or even country to bring it to your attention? Case in point - the Jade Buddha of Universal Peace. I had no idea that this 8 foot high 4 tonne gem quality 'polar' (nephrite) jade carved statue even existed, let alone an Australian sculptor had a hand in the design, it was blessed by the Dalai Lamai in Sydney and its eventual home be in Bendigo, Victoria!

But there you go - a newspaper article in a Canadian paper alerted me to its existence and I've now discovered more about 'polar' jade as well. I have previously heard of and had some 'BC' Jade from Canada which is a dark translucent green nephrite jade, however in the late 1990s a new find of jade was made near the Yukon border in Canada.

Inspired by its surroundings this find was called 'polar' jade. When tested it was found to be harder than normal nephrite jade and could be polished to a high shine, making it very desirable for jewellery and objects d'art. In 2000 an 18 tonne boulder of 'polar' jade was found and the noted gemmologist, Fred Ward admitted it was the largest gem quality nephrite jade boulder found to date. The planning for the statue started in 2003 and it was finished in 2008 and is valued at a whopping $5 million! The face by the way, has been painted in gold, in the tradition of buddha statues in Tibet and Nepal.

I then went on to discover that a 35 tonne jadeite (not nephrite) boulder from Myanmar was purchased by a Vietnamese businessman who plans to also have it carved into a statue of Buddha that he hopes will be approximately 16 tonnes when completed.

All I can say is WOW - they are two darn big rocks, eh!?

On the home front, it is currently wet. Very wet. I worked at the local saleyards canteen today (the school runs the canteen) and the cows and people were all soaked. Dry old drizabones that looked very stiff, had been dragged out and I'm not sure how much protection they afforded those who were wearing them as I'm pretty sure their waxed finish had well and truly gone LOL.

However we have had some lovely mild sunny days and I started to get all excited about spring and found myself working on my spring collection with lots of lovely bright colours in mother of pearl and freshwater cultured pearls. But naturally the dull weather has made me lose all interest in that. Maybe next week will be sunny again and I can take up where I left it all!

This weekend I have my last outing before spring - at the St. Luke's Fair in Scone, on Saturday from 9.30am to 2.30pm. If you're in the vicinity I'd love to see you there!

Today's pic - well I was sure I had a photo of the BC jade necklace I made once upon a time, but after almost an hour of looking I just can't find it! So, instead here's a pretty necklace - mossy quartz which has, from a distance, a slight lavender tinge is matched with silver and iolite.

Till next :)
Annette

Term break stresses, gem snippets and a pretty fluorite necklace

The children are driving me crazy. Can I sincerely request that the teachers cease their holidaying and open the school doors so I can get some peace and quiet? My children don't know the meaning of those words, it's all about noise, noise and more noise! I even had to shush them when we were walking down the street in town the other day. They were talking so loud it was almost as if they were yelling! Ah well, at least school is back next week, so I'll just continue stoically on (I wish!) in the meantime.

I attended the new Mudgee Upmarket at the Fairview Artspace last weekend. The weather was absolutely miserable with a heavy drizzle most of the day so the gallery owner brought us all inside - I was in the entry/coffee shop (yes it smelled of great coffee all day long!) along with a sculptor displaying her 'ladies'. The rest of the artisans were scattered throughout gallery rooms, wide hallways and verandahs. There was a steady stream of people that came regardless of the weather and lots of visitors from Sydney and interstate.

When I've not been the taxi service or peacemaker with the children this past week, I've been busy finishing orders, so there is not much new in the wild flights of fancy department a.k.a. my bench! But I have seen some fascinating gemstone trivia - well, trivia might even be too grand a word, lets just use 'snippets':

New York, the city that never sleeps, has introduced gemstone facials. One spa has a preference for amethyst - that pretty purple variety of quartz - which they use as a serum, eye cream and powder. They say it reduces skin inflammation and radiates infrared rays in order to stimulate healthy cell growth. The skin is supposed to be instantly firmer and brighter and all at a mere $275USD.

Another spa uses emeralds, rubies, sapphire, citrine, and gold. Emeralds are used to correct skin tone imperfections; rubies and gold are supposed to hydrate and smooth; citrine is supposed to plump lips; and sapphire is supposed to lift. The treatment supposedly leaves a shimmer on your skin and also runs at $275USD.

Yet another spa recommends their exfoliating paste of pearls - apparently to prevent dark spots on the skin by slowing down the growth of melanin. Compared to the others this treatment is a bargain at only $120USD!

So, okay, you don't want gems pulverised and put on your face (Wise woman. Much better to wear them!) But perhaps you might like to visit a house in Texas that reportedly has a turquoise kitchen sink!?

OK, enough with the truly reported, but rather silly state of gem news ;)

Today's photo is of a newish necklace (made a couple of weeks ago) and it gathered many lovely comments at Mudgee last weekend. Little fluorite cubes in green and purple shades and lots of sterling silver.

Till next :)
Annette

Gem Mineral Found on the Moon

Life has been hectic with children on holidays but relatively quiet on the jewellery scene - because of the children! We're still in the midst of a cold snap and the sunshine is watery at best. Good weather for reading a book near the fire!

To break up the monotony (hardly!) of the term break, I have a show on Sunday at the new Mudgee Upmarket, held quarterly at the Fairview Artspace. It will be my first outing there and I'm looking forward to it.

Even though I haven't had much time to play at my bench, I'm always on the lookout for new information on gemstones. And I was fascinated to read a report earlier this week that mentioned the mineral olivine - of which peridot (pictured above) is the gem member of the family - has been recently identified on the moon in a large impact basin. Amazingly, I went on to read, abundant quantities of olivine have been found on Mars and that olivine is also a constituent of comet dust. Olivine as well as peridot itself has been found in meteorites too!

I've never really thought of gems being found on other planets but if you let your imagination go, you can't but help consider the amazing and wonderful possibilities of new gems on new worlds! I'm imagining stunning colours, colour-change stones, incredible patterns... how about you!?

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

Pre-show frenzy, the piano arrives and a pretty paua bracelet

I'm in full headless chook mode (aka running around trying to be productive but not really making it!) as I try and get ready for a three day show this weekend.

Out of character, I have committed to an outdoor event, it's currently cold and wintry and the thought of leaving my tent up for three days in possibly gale-force winds is not comforting. If you have any hints or tips on outdoor events, particularly in reference to tents and keeping them down, please comment NOW! All will be very gratefully received!!

The battle with the elements is one of the reasons I prefer indoor shows. However, I was asked by a client to bring my jewels to this event (it's the Gunnedah Showjumping Festival) and how could I say no when she told me others like her would be there!

Although only a few years old it's already a fairly big event in the Australian showjumping circuit with over 200 competitors booked. Add on their support crews / families / friends and of course other people just coming for a look and you can see its not a small get together. When the ladies are tired of the horses and associated products they can come and refresh themselves with looking at some pretties! So, fingers crossed it is successful for me as well as the festival itself and the wind and rain stays AWAY for the duration of the show!

As you know, the search for the perfect piano (well, as perfect as it could be within financial limitations!) was pretty consuming for a couple of weeks. It all culminated in it's delivery on Saturday afternoon and we celebrated by having the piano teacher and her family over for lunch so she could check it out and hopefully tell us we did OK. (We did! *phew*)

There was much excitement as they brought in the pedals, then the legs, then the lid and finally wheeled in the piano.



Hubby had taken the railing down off the verandah and their truck had a ramp that could be raised or lowered to various heights so it rolled out with hardly a worry (well a small delay as it inched forward as it only just fit between the ramp and the roof of the truck).



They put it together in minutes, moved it slightly to the desired spot and it was all done! Ahh, the joy of professionals!



The children drew straws as to who would get to play to first and they were followed by the teacher :) Here is Langdon trying it out:



And here is the teacher, Telly. She is really the one who deserves a grand piano rather than our children in their current stage of musical ability, but hopefully having a good instrument will spur them on to greater achievements! If you want to see a very short video of Telly playing it, you can see it on my facebook page. (20 seconds of her playing Ballade Pour Adeline). Her fingers just FLY!



Needless to say the children have been fighting over who gets to practice on it first. If its not one thing, its another....

Before I go back into my frenzied mode in getting ready for the weekend, at the top is a photo of a bracelet I made yesterday (before the headless chook mode struck and post piano excitement) with sterling silver, paua shell and freshwater cultured pearls in blue, green and purple to reflect the glorious colours in the shell.

Cheers!
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

Something colourful for World Colouring Day

I really should be abed - I have the show in Scone tomorrow, but I realised I hadn't blogged this week and with the show Saturday, Mother's Day on Sunday, plus a jaunt out on Sunday afternoon for the children's eisteddfod rehearsals, it's now or never ... but I will keep it short!

I've had a wonderful creative week and so its been very satisfying. It didn't start off that way and I spent many hours trying to make it to the bench but was either too busy, unwell with a rather nasty case of the flu or just not feeling in the mood (creative types can be so annoying eh?!). But eventually I just sighed and sat down to finish some half finished earrings off after the kids left for school and the next thing I knew the kids were walking back through the door and the day was almost over.

Naturally the muse took me where she will and I ended up with a variety of styles and colours, but I've learned to take this in my stride these days. Do you find that you have the desire to create anything - a piece of art, craft or even just doodling or making dinner and you end up doing something completely different from your first idea? Yep, that's me ;) Of course, this tendency plays havoc with custom orders where I have to fight my instinct and stay on track to what the customer wants!

Did you know that one day this past week was World Colouring Day? According to the Business Mums Blog it was May 6, so if you did something colorful, or your children did, good on you! Even though I've officially just missed it by a day, I've decided my contribution to this day can be my photo for today's post - a bright combination of red, yellow, black and teal blue. It's a long chain linked necklace with bright red bamboo coral, black agate and lava, yellow aragonite, citrine and honey jade and blue-green Xianjiang and Hubei turquoise. And of course, masses of sterling silver. It coloured my day, how about yours?

Hope you have a lovely weekend and Happy Mums Day for Sunday!

Till next :)
Annette