A holly blue necklace and the fashion world.

I just read an amusing post on the Beauty Banquet blog - about the bitchiness of the fashion world and Anne's first hand experience of it... albeit at the edges of fashion. It's a sad but true fact that some people are like that - it's all about the image they project.

Now, obvious fact here - I make jewellery. And as such it is an 'accessory'. But I make jewellery that is BEYOND fashion (ooooh, those fashionistas may hate me now!)- I endeavour to make timeless pieces that you can wear for years and may very well even be handed down to your children. I like the fact that you can don a statement necklace and all of a sudden that little black dress looks a million dollars.

I have had the experience of some people buying my jewellery and then mistreating it terribly - because to them it wasn't expensive enough to look after! It was 'throw away' as it was priced in a similar bracket to some resin/plastic/acrylic/plated pieces in a local boutique. Hey, we're talking about gemstones, pearls and sterling silver here! I make my pieces to be worn to enhance their appearance, but also as items that will be loved and respected and like sharing my jewellery with people who can see that my designs are incredibly well priced for one of a kind REAL jewellery!

So, I'm with you Anne - real women of the world unite!!!! (Ahhh, that feels better :) )

Now, a piece for today.... let me see. OK, even though it's a tad on the wintry side today the sun is shining and the sky is a brilliant shade of light blue ... and the blue reminds me of this piece (which is rather spring/summery but we've all got to have something to look forward to!). Gorgeous holly blue chalcedony is the drawcard in this necklace and isn't it stunning? Separated by flat squares of rock crystal quartz and tiny silver balls. The whole effect is quite modern with its angular cuts yet the colour is dreamy and quite sofly romantic.

Have a great day!!

New flyers and a bit of a ramble.

Woohoo! Today I received the flyers for Craftfest - the show I am participating in during October. Don't they look great! A bracelet of mine is pictured behind the 'c' :D. Thats two years in a row that I have had a picture on the flyer which means either a) my photography skills are up to par or b) I make nice jewellery that they just HAVE to feature ;)

I fell victim to the dreaded flu that is going around this part of the world at the moment so creativity has been a bit low for the last week or so. I have however got a few pieces done - a lovely necklace with holly blue chalcedony that has some druzy visible; a fun, bright mixed piece including calcite, coral, amethyst, angelite, onyx and rose quartz; a couple of real stunners in the more traditional jewellery style - one with blue topaz and one with amethyst.

Since I am getting ready for show 'season' I have made a gazillion pewter bookmarks - well it felt that many, but I think it was about 40 actually! Plus I have made some rather classy phone charms/handbag charms/zipper pulls, with a gemstone focal and a little sparkle provided by some Swarovski crystals. The bookmarks are a perennial favourite for a little gift that is a bit different and I usually sell a few of these at each show. I am hoping the charms will help fill that void a bit further and keep up interest being something a little different to the usual thing you see.

I was surfing around some local sites today and found one on Mudgee Wine Events (http://www.mudgeewine.com.au/) . Mudgee is about 100km from me and my nearest 'big' town. I have quite a few clients from Mudgee - its a very pretty town that has grown a lot in recent years but has retained its rural roots. It is also a well known wine area and gets a lot of tourist trade. Anyway... I was perusing their site and was both excited and disappointed to see an Art & Craft Expo - advertised as an exhibition for local artists. OK, now I know I'm not IN Mudgee, but this is the first I have heard of this exhibition that is less than a month away. Living in a relatively small community you would think it would have received a bit of advertising, but alas no. We have virtually no venues for local artists and artisans, apart from single artist exhibitions at assorted galleries. To think a combined expo like this is happening and no-one knows about it is terribly disappointing. I wonder how many local artists and artisans don't know about it either? Definitely a case for improving communications don't you think?

Another site I found today via the Switchboards site is http://www.unearthedtees.com/. This is a great site that sells t-shirts with rock/gem related puns or sayings. Cute idea. Another wonderful thing the site is doing is "UnEarthing Kindness" where a decent % of the profit of sales from now until the end of September will go to earthquake relief in Peru. Way to go!!