updates

i went for my first wedding dress fitting yesterday! i love my dress more every time i look at it. my mom and aunt basima are working hard to make it just right. it looks gorgeous so far! 

 (this is just the lining, by the way. :)

alex picked up our bands today. do you like mine? i love it. :)

and on a food note, i would like to make my own meusli because lately i can't get enough of it from the beverly hills grill and they only serve it on saturdays. mmm...

circles

 1 3/4 inch hammered gold-filled hoop earrings.

dangling gold-filled chains.

two necklaces in one.

16 inch gold-filled circle link chain

with beaded necklace of garnets and hematite stone threaded through.

plans!

i've been really busy arranging wedding plans and registering for gifts and making phone calls and going to michael's and going to the fabric store and.....

...so i've been really busy with wedding stuff basically. it's fun and i'm super excited, so i'm not complaining! 

but in between everything, i've managed to make a few pieces here and there. (oh and i started my stone setting techniques class i'm taking at the bbac..love it so far!)

here are just a couple things for now:

oops, my hair is covering the earring, but you get the idea.

3 inch gold filled hammered wire with a garnet drop.

this is made from pieces of a gold filled circle link chain.

1 inch gold filled chain with chalcedony.

isn't this dress pin gorgeous?? i found it at my favorite antique shop in berkley, oddfellows. it's a trifari from the 1930's. the funny thing is i got it for $40 and i just found it on ebay where they're asking $250 for it!

duck tales

sometimes i want to pop gorgeous stones in my mouth because they look like juicy pieces of candy..and other times i want to have a kazillion little beads so i can dive into them like scrooge mcduck dove into his gold coin vault at the beginning of duck tales the cartoon.

you have no idea what i'm talking about, do you? well anyway. here is some jewelry porn.

yum.

i love mondays

mondays are a good day for me. i love waking up and having my coffee, checking email, eating a bagel...then i love having the entire day to work on jewelry. (i cheated for a few hours and went to the mall with reta..but hey, best friends are allowed to hang out!)

tonight i made a necklace that i have a few finishing touches i still need to get to, so you'll see it later.

i also made these earrings w/ my favorite stone: pyrite. i know i use it a lot in my jewelry, but i can't help it. it looks good with everything. the semi precious drop is a prehnite, which is said to be a protective stone. wear these earrings and you will be invincible. ;)

3 inch oval gold filled hoops.

pyrite stones & prehnite drop.

i also experimented a bit with my wedding hair comb. i still have to make a trip to the antique shop to possibly find a vintage broach to use or just to get some inspiration. 

terra

"victoria" necklace.

40 inch rose gold chain w/ six pyrite stones and gold filled wire.

(these pictures don't do the pyrite justice..the way the light hits them is beautiful.)

in a day's work

choosing lipstick colors...i like them all. :)

st. augustine

 st. george street

 st. augustine cathedral

 nights of lights

lulu on our way to stogies

 me...

...and mish enjoying an annual cigarette at stogie's.

one of my favorite places in florida is the oldest city in the u.s...st. augustine. although over the years it's become a bit more commercialized w/ ghost tours and such, i still love walking the narrow streets and absorbing the mysterious air that surrounds the nearly 500 year old town. 

one of the best places to have a glass of wine is stogie's. it's a tiny two story house that they've converted into a jazz club complete w/ cigars, wine and beer from all over the world. if you're claustrophobic and scared of the dark, do not enter this place. if you love live jazz and cozy leather furniture, be their guest. 

overall, my short florida weekend trip was bittersweet. it felt melancholic to be there and not see my grandpa joe. he had such a comforting smell that i cannot describe with words and he had an intangible warmth that nobody else can ever encompass. 

we will miss you and cherish our memories of you always, jid. :)

remembrance

i'm not really sure why i'm still up since i have to be ready to leave our house at 6:30 am! i'm always like this before i travel. i'm restless and i don't relax until i have everything packed..which is not possible until the morning of.
we'll be honoring grandpa joe (or jidoo jozef as we call him in arabic) this weekend. it's going to be strange visiting florida and not going to my grandparent's house to visit them...everything is different now.
i'll see you all next week. have a safe weekend.

diy

today i went wedding dress shopping and ended up with the third dress i tried on! i wanted to get something that i loved but would love even more once my mom put her stamp on it. i'm so excited to start working on my hair comb and veil. yes, i'm making it. i will also be making the cake topper, possibly the ring bearer pillow and maybe even alex's boutonniere! i love diy projects!

soul catcher

today my grandpa joe took his last breaths on this earth. he was a poet, an artist, a businessman, a father, a husband. he wasn't perfect, but he was an amazing man. he smelled like aftershave and comfort. he always wore a three piece suit, even when he wasn't working. he spoke half a dozen languages and he loved chocolate. we love you and we will always remember you. you are in my heart always.

strange days

happy new year to you all! we've started out 2011 with some strange weather. it was so nice and mild the last couple days and today is FREEZING. i took this picture while driving the other night (obvious and dangerous) because the mist was gorgeous and the sky looked like a painting.