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?

A rainy day and a Valentine heart

*sigh* Its raining. Its been raining for a couple of days. Its not stormy, or even that gloomy, but its constant and its wet. Isn't it amazing how the weather can affect your mood? I feel as if I could curl up on the couch and watch a movie (but the children would jump on me!).

In my need to find something fun to brighten up my day, I found these at Beauty Banquet - these soaps look like food - I swear I could munch right into that coffee cake (but I'm sure I'd regret it!!).

Before the weather turned all dank on me though, the sun was shining and it was positively hot - more like our usual summer weather. The bright clear days and the thought of sunshine glinting off the sea, inspired me to make some simple valentine jewellery. I rarely use anything but naturally occurring gemstones (although some may be treated), but I thought these were so pretty and after all, what better way to get the message of love across than a heart and a sparkling, Swarovski one at that!

Swarovski crystal is the diamond of the manmade crystal world - and many of us would have a Swarovski trinket somewhere in the house. Now because they are so brilliant, they really don't require much extra adornment and are really shown off best all by themselves, so I simply made this gorgeous heart into a pendant with sterling silver and hung it on a sterling silver omega chain.

Wouldn't you like to receive one from your loved one?

A garnet necklace and Audrey Hepburn

I can't believe another week has passed - but this time instead of being busy making jewellery, I have been busy having friends visit and stay, spending time with the family and so on. Really quite relaxing although my routine has flown out the window and getting my basic chores done is proving to be a bit of a problem!

One of my visitors this week is a great friend who in the past has made some stunning jewellery. She has been published with her designs twice and I have had some of her beautiful dichroic pendants on occasion. She has an affinity with gems as well, so of course I had to drag out some of my stones so we could ooh and ahh together! As a consequence I started to feel the old stirrings of desire to design and make some more jewellery.

So, this week I did make two necklaces - one of which is pictured above. It is 5 strands of beautiful, sparkling dark red garnet which feels glorious against your neck and is a pleasant weight - enough to know its there but not to overwhelm. To contrast the darkness of the stones and to add interest to the simplicity of the style, I have used a delicious sterling silver clasp that has a great amount of detail. Of course the clasp can be worn to the back as well. Do you like it?

When I design, I like to think of elegance and sophistication and one of the most inspiring figures to me is Audrey Hepburn. She was style personified (as well as a true humanitarian) and I have many pictures of her adorning my studio. 'Would Audrey wear it?' is a common question I ask myself during the design process! I also have quite a collection of books on Audrey, so was quite excited when I saw Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years on one of my favourite online gift stores, Tonic Gifts.

Smoky Quartz and relaxing with the family

Well, we seem to be well into 2008 now and I have had a wonderful, family oriented time! We have visitors - relatives and friends, some outings and lots of time together as a family. I don't tend to realise (until we get the opportunity to spend such time together) that my husband works so much and rarely gets time to do things with us. Living on a farm is like that - always something to do if it is light (and sometimes even when its dark!). But it seems acceptable at Christmas/New Year to take a step back and provided there is not something that badly needs fixing, to realise that it will still be there to do tomorrow and that family time is indeed precious. I found this lovely quote on the Modern Goddess Blog - “As far as living a healthy, happy life goes, I hold loving and being loved right up there with fresh air and water.” Oprah Winfrey. How true!

So, what have you been up to over the early part of the new year? I have been doing relaxing things like reading and watching the odd DVD when the children are off playing contentedly, or asleep. You may recall my almost breathless praise of the recent BBC production Jane Eyre when I managed to catch the first episode on TV in late November. I ended up missing the second episode and so bought the DVD so I could see it in its entirety!

I finally got to watch it just prior to Christmas and was so taken with it - the wonderful cinematography, the incredible acting by the two main characters of Mr Rochester (Toby Stephens) and Jane (Ruth Wilson) who really made you feel as if you were evesdropping on their lives, that I decided to the read the original Bronte story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and if anything it enabled me to enjoy the BBC adaptation even more. I can highly recommend watching the BBC production should you like historical dramas with a touch of romance (eg. if you liked the BBC's Pride & Prejudice - well you will LOVE Jane Eyre!)

On the jewellery front, things have been a lot more relaxed with orders the only new things being made, although having shown my rather extensive stash of gems to visitors lately, I can feel their pull and may have to indulge in my gemmie addiction shortly!

Today's picture is of the most divine smoky quartz. Huge lozenges of almost inclusion-free smoky quartz are so striking that they needed little in the way of extra adornment. So I linked each stone simply with some large linked gold-fill chain to create a timeless necklace suitable for every age.

Look out here's 2008!

How was your Christmas? Ours was the usual routine, but the children do make it a special time! They were to bed early on Christmas Eve as they couldn't wait for Santa to come, and as expected, he came sometime through the night as their Santa bags had lots of pressies in them the next morning :)

Then there was usual ripping and tearing of paper frenzy before going to my in-laws mid morning... for more ripping and tearing before lunch! The kids played happily with their gifts all afternoon and in fact the whole time since (although I will not be surprised when the "I'm bored" statement is eventually uttered!).

My girls (the twins) are still on a high, as their birthday is just around the corner - on New Years Day. This of course means a huge bonanza for them at this time of the year, although the rest of the year is a little light in the present department!

It is really hard having children with a birthday on a public holiday so close to Christmas (I feel totally sorry for those who have their birthdays actually on Christmas Day!). You want to do something for them that is special, but in our case, everyone is tired after the festivities of New Years Eve and most of their little friends are involved with family things or away on holidays.

Last year we had a pre-party for them the week before school broke up and that seemed to work well. But you still have to do something for their actual birthday too.

We always have a cake (two actually) and have in the past had a New Years Day brunch or lunch with friends and relatives that happen to be around. This year, we are going out for New Years Eve and the children will be staying with Grandma. So we are proposing a BBQ style lunch at our house with the cake afterwards. (This gives us time to sleep in a little and get everything prepared ;) ). I've been looking at what I can cook and found this scrumptious looking recipe on the My Day Off blog. Perfect for a hot summer day when everyone is a little tired!

I've included a picture of a beautifully bright coin pearl bracelet that would be perfect for New Year's celebrations. The colours in the photo are quite true to life and set off beautifully by the silver.

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! ;)

Christmas cards and Variscite

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

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

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

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

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

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