Sunday, February 28, 2010

Givin' it Away

In April, Notre Dame is hosting a silent auction to benefit Relay for Life. You can learn more about it by visiting Relay for Life's website. I think it's going to be a big event - they are holding it in the football stadium!

I was asked to contribute a handmade piece of jewelry to the auction, and I've been working on putting something together just for the event. I wanted to make something unique, but not too outside of the "mainstream". I can sometimes push the boundaries of what most people would wear, so... I wanted to scale back on the funkiness this time around.

I decided to work with sterling silver as my base. I have a few of these amazing faceted beads that I picked up at a bead and gem show a while back. They are called opalite turquoise, and are just stunning.

I thought that moonstone would be a nice addition, since they are a white shade with a hint of blue glowing from the center.
Putting those two stones together with the silver had a nice look, so I decided to go with it. I started with these components as my design base.
Personally, I love chains that have round links, as opposed to oval. It feels fresh and fun to me. Maybe a bit hip, versus something more traditional. I happened to have two different sizes of sterling chain with round links.

Plus, I had these two free-form ovals that I had picked up at my local bead store.
I thought they might be fun...

Adding in some bundles of dangling moonstones was the finishing touch.
I used the smaller chain along with a lobster clasp in the back. This will give the owner options of how close to the neck she wants to wear the necklace. I even had one teardrop moonstone, which is hanging from the last link of the smaller chain. It will sit at the back of the neck, or hang a bit down the back, depending on how tightly the necklace is worn. 


I love little extra touches like this when I buy jewelry. For someone with shorter hair, or for anyone wearing their hair up for an evening, what a treat! Some decoration at the back.


I thought it would be nice to make my donation a set, so I put together some simple sterling silver earrings, with moonstones. When you're wearing a statement necklace like this, I think it's nice to keep the earrings simple. You don't want to look like a crazy person, now!

The silent auction takes place April 16-17. It starts at 6:00 pm and goes until 9:00 am! What fun!! Are you interested in helping out? It's not too late - you can contact Jed Hanawalt at Hanawalt.1@nd.edu to make a contribution yourself. Join in and help the American Cancer Society.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Finally Finished

A while back, I put together a necklace that I was very excited about.
I posted about it My Newest Creation.
I call it, simply, my flower garden necklace.


I then decided that the necklace desered to have a sister necklace. So, I began the process of creating another flowerful necklace. I began by putting the flowers together. You can see the progress on my previous blog entry, Dreams Run Amuk.

Putting together this necklace was a bit more tricky. I tried a couple of things that I didn't end up liking. So, after a few adjustments, cutting it apart and switching out stones, I finally have it in it's finished state.

So, what do you think?

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Pretend that we're Warm

It's Carnaval time in Brazil! It's a lovely time of year for me to pretend I'm somewhere warm and exotic, instead of in the Midwest in February. One of my part-time jobs is teaching a Brazilian samba dance class at Notre Dame. So, I get really excited when Notre Dame hosts a carnaval party by bringing in a band and dancers from Chicago.

The band, Chicago Samba, is wonderful.


In Brazil, carnaval is a really big deal. It's like Mardi Gras times 100. Bands and dancers parade through the streets. No one goes to work for a week. The whole country stops life to party, drink and dance.



I can't lie and say that the carnaval celebration here in the Midwest is quite that big. But, we do what we can when we have to walk through a foot of snow to get there. My friends and I pretend to be warm and go out for a fun time.

{A flower in your hair makes a girl feel warmer. I'm on the right.} {My friends, enjoying the music at carnaval.}

{It's hard to get good pictures when they won't stop moving!}
Such a fun night. I've been hating the snow and cold lately. So, a night where I could pretend I'm on the beach, in Brazil, was just what I needed. Hopefully, it'll be enough warmth and fun to last me for the next couple of months...

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Lust and Desire on Etsy

My secret lust on Etsy... browsing through the really high priced jewelry. This week I want to share some of the most amazing, gorgeous pieces that I have found there. This is enough to start my mouth watering and me fantasizing. Ah, whatI would create if price were no limit! It inspires me, and makes me dream.

Check out this amazing necklace, created by Katinka Pinka. It's a beautiful collection of lemon quartz, lemon topaz, citrine, and other luscious golden gems.


I love the colors in these earrings, found in Scarlett Shoppe. A rich combination of black spinel, iolite, amethyst and citrine are warm and lovely.


I found some beautiful treasures at Seafairies Jewelbox. Just look at this necklace, rich with smokey topaz, pink tourmaline, pink topaz, pink quartz, and other gorgeous gems.

Another amazing Etsy shop is Febra Rose. There were so many gorgous pieces to look through, and this bracelet was one that really caught my eye. It's full of rubies, along with gold vermeil.



This shop is full of the most gorgous jewelry - Sky Dreams. I just enjoy spending time gazing at these earrings. The ametirine is amazing, topped with sapphire and blue topaz.

Another fun and sparkle-filled shop is Kalliope Jewelry. I love these earrings, with dangles of sapphire, tourmaline, and garnet.
Finally, I just recently found this shop - Lee Ohio. Take a look at this necklace of Peruvian opals and saltwater keishi pearls.
I hope you enjoy looking, and check out some of the other amazing pieces of jewelry that these shops have, just waiting to be oggled!
Have you seen other sparkly shops that I might love?
Leave me a comment!