revamp!

i made these earrings last year after i came back from the detroit rock show. that was where i first saw drusy quartz stones. it was love at first sight. i bought these beautiful gold ones and made a pair of earrings for myself. i loved them and wore them all the time but after a while i got tired of the look of the post flat against my earlobes. 

i didn't want the beautiful (and expensive!) stones to go to waste so i decided to change them. i made these using freshwater pearls, gold plated beads and jade stones. i'll definitely be wearing these more often now!

crazy crusty crystals

i have had this drusy quartz for probably two years now. i was so afraid for the longest time to bezel set it because i wanted to make something really cool using it and because i was so afraid i was going to make a mistake and ruin it. i finally decided i just needed to make it into a simple necklace because the stone speaks for itself. isn't it just beautiful? i bought it from the detroit rock show. i should've bought more drusys...i don't see them often. i was told this particular stone was coated with titanium to give it an ultra sparkly dark finish. i'm pretty happy with outcome, although i'm toying with the idea of putting it on a slightly heavier gold filled chain.
i have another similar looking drusy that's more of an irregular oval shape. perhaps i will work on that one tomorrow...

up

i took these pictures on sunday at the close of ella's birthday party. what a sweet way to end the night..balloons flying off into the sunset.

dMd

i made this necklace as a gift for dina from her hubby. he called me up and said that dina loves my jewelry and would i make something sentimental for her? so this is what i came up with. i stamped dina's, derrick's, and mia's initial in disks i had punched out of silver sheet..i used a couple copper heart beads to connect the silver chains and i made a second necklace in gold that attaches to the longer one. i used sapphire beads (dina's birthstone) to connect the gold chains.
wear it well, my friend. ;)

renaissance (doesn't) rock

a few weeks ago, a few of us made the mistake of going to the renaissance fair. i had never been and neither had alex. i knew we'd hate it, but alex kept repeating, "but i like medieval shit." so we went. and we hated it. but i came away with two good things:

 this chunk of citrine...

 ...and this geode.

yup. that's it. i guess i just can't understand how the renaissance meshes with samurai swords and goths. i don't get it. 

here are some other things that will accompany my new rocks. i got these two thingamajigs from aunty fatin's stash of awesomely cool stuff. the egg opens up and is velvety inside. i'm not really sure why that shell has metal ends, but i think it's pretty sweet. 

 i can't remember where these guys came from. i have a feeling alex brought one or both of them back from thailand a few years ago.

 these don't go on the same shelf as the other objects, but i figured since we're looking at small things we've acquired...we received these as a gift for our wedding shower. i absolutely LOVED them and had to have them. alex, on the other hand, thinks they look like a certain part of the male anatomy. he doesn't understand why i needed to have gold-plated fig salt and pepper shakers. :)

spark

aside from gathering inspiration from my surroundings and from the semi-precious stones i so love, i am always inspired by other artists. i recently bought this pair of earrings by kevia at hanan's (where i work). hanan and samia are so consistent in their buying eye. they always choose one of a kind, gorgeous pieces to fill our jewelry cases. my eyes couldn't get any wider when i was looking at kevia's collection. her work reminds me of middle eastern jewelry from decades ago but i also feel it's modern and evokes a simple beauty. check out her site here.

blurg.

hello friends. i apologize for my long absence. i've been working on lots of jewelry and we took a trip to chicago last weekend. here are some pictures i've been meaning to put up. 

i hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the gorgeous fall weather!

 something from my aunt fatin that i attached a chain to and have been wearing as a necklace.

 a bracelet i made for miss reina with one of the druzy quartz stones i recently loved and bought.

 a bracelet i made for myself which i subsequently gave to jehan while she was visiting. those are agate beads and a pave ceramic bead that's a beautiful shade of midnight blue..the picture does not do it justice, unfortunately.

 one of the many bracelets i've been making thanks to andrea!

 a knotted lariat necklace i made using the gold, silver and oxidized silver plated pyrite stones i have.

a close-up of my halloween costume from foof's bachelorette party last night. i was a fairy. my coworker, jeff, made me look ethereal and glittery! i absolutely loved it and wouldn't take my makeup off until i was almost falling asleep.