Our Photographer & Model

Jewelry is so much more enhanced with a lovely model. I'm fortunate to know two talented sisters, Sam Kate Patterson and Alexa Hunter Patterson who work very well together. Sam Kate (right) is the photographer and Alexa (left) is the model. If you like their work, leave them a comment. I know they will appreciate it.

The Ultimate Dangle

This is the ultimate dangle. Each earring is designed with a perfect 23.54 carat madeira citrine faceted pear shaped briolette which has been hand wrapped with 14k gold filled wire and several layered 24k gold vermeil textured rings. The stone is showered with a multitude of tiny faceted gemstones including topaz, tourmaline, amethyst, prehnite and citrine, all individually hand wrapped with 14k gold wire and topped with additional 24k gold vermeil rings. The French ball and coil ear wire is 14k gold and the earring is approximately 2 1/2 inches in length.

  SOLD

Before & After - Rubies

Before

I had been holding on to these two strands of very high quality natural micro cut roundelle sparking red rubies from the Longido Mines in Tanzania. The stones total 186 carats of rubies cut into sparkling 3 to 5mm roundells. I've selected beautiful 18k beads with distinct shapes and two sizes to accompany the rubies. Now I have to decide if I want to twist the strands or leave them as two single strands. The picture hardly does these gorgeous rubies justice. They are truly spectacular!

After 

A little more than presto went into making this piece, but I finished it and it sold.  The stones look different color wise based on the material I lay them on.

SOLD

    Front of necklace with earrings.

This is the front and bacl of the necklace.

My Pleasurable Madness

That's what it is, this jewelry making. It's a pleasurable madness, a lovely addiction to color, sparkle, texture and design. 

It was my aunt whose jewelry first caught my eye when I was a child. She was a beautiful and buxom woman who dressed every day in gorgeous colors and clothes made of luscious fabrics and textures. Her makeup was subtle, her hair swept up with strands trailing around her face and neck. I loved the scent of her perfume and of course, I loved her jewelry. 

If the truth be known, my aunt fascinated me more than anyone I knew as a child. She was larger than life in my eyes. A woman who made spur of the moment decisions that often surprised and delighted me. Living with her every summer was a new adventure. But it was the jewelry and how she wore it that tickled me most. Costume jewelry, bright baubles and sparkling stones with birds in flight, and trees that glittered with emerald green and gold leaves with earrings to match, no less! Pearls than hung in strands and moved as she did. Pins that seemed bigger than my hand and sparkled as if the sun shone on them alone. It was a simple and pure delight to be with her. Her jewelry, her elegance, her wit and her hats - she wore hats long after they were out of fashion - were her external trademark. But I knew well the eccentric and hilarious dimensions of her personality as well. 

My aunt is gone now. She lived 97 years and for almost every one of those days, she dressed elegantly, perfumed herself subtly and bejeweled herself in a way that I have never forgotten. I am quite sure that if she were living today, she would tell me exactly what to make for her - and it would be spectacular. 

My blog is dedicated to her and to all of us who love jewelry! This picture, one I prize, since she rarely allowed her picture to be taken, was taken with her husband, standing, and an old friend. The antique locket she is wearing is now one of my treasured possessions.