Gingerbread House

The girls and I successfully completed our first ever gingerbread house!!! It looks nothing like the suggested house on the box, but we are unique designers, are we not?!

And yes, it is a wee bit after Christmas isn’t it, but that’s what happens when two of the designers are away for a week! I guess we will be eating a lot of gingerbread house in the new year!

First Christmas Gifts 2007

Superb!

That’s what the quality is on the individual gems I ordered from The Earth Bazaar. They are simply gorgeous! And the single Green Gold one that I received (bottom picture in my previous post) is so thick! These are not “flimsy” stones (if a rock could be considered flimsy!), and as far as I can tell—without actually working with them—the drilling is first class as well.

The same goes for the two strands I got from A Cut Above on eBay. Superb gems (as well as super fast shipping!!!)! Now I’m seriously itching to sit down and make something very “gemmy!”

I’m like a drug user needing his fix!!!

No more beads!

Just a mangle. A mangle? Yes, a mangle. It’s a bangle for men, but I didn’t let that stop me. It’s very comfortable. In fact, it’s so comfortable, I don’t even take it off at night! I NEVER used to sleep with jewelry, not even wedding bands, but this one ... it stays on! And I only bought one, despite the fact that several look quite nice together ... hm! You can find them at www.jessitaylor.etsy.com (for some reason, it won’t let me make a link today! Bwahahaha!)

I have a serious problem!!!

Does anyone have the number to the local chapter of Beaders Anonymous? Oh, yeah! I guess if you do, you wouldn’t be very anonymous anymore ... as if what I’m doing is any great secret! Ha! It’s been pretty obvious since I started this blog where my sickness lies. Hm! OK. So, these gems ended up in my shopping cart at The Earth Bazaar. I have not bought individual gems from them before, so I’m curious to see if they look as good in person as they do on the photos, AND how do they compare to the full strands I’ve bought from them in the past? So, this is really research and NOT an obsession. Yes, that’s right.

Are you convinced yet?

Didn’t think so! Oh, well! All I can say is, I have plenty of materials to work with now. No excuses for not making stuff every chance I get.

Oh, and I didn't buy ALL these beads. Just one each of three of them and two of the faceted coin ones in the third picture. I already have an idea ... !

Indulgence

I’ve been scanning the gems at eBay for the last week or two, and finally stopped scanning and purchased something today. I sure hope they look at least as good as they do on the screen. What do you think?

And in that vein, I will try to actually make something this weekend, while the girls enjoy a visit with their dad. I have a few ideas, but whether any of them come into fruition, or I end up creating something completely different, remains to be seen!

Ruby Clusters

I finally had a chance to sit down and create something I had been noodling for quite a while. I wish I could sit for about a week and just make all the things that are still in my head ... Thumbnails? Nah, never been much for those, not even in my design work. I like creating on the go! I like seeing it take shape on the screen, when I do layouts, and in my hands, when I work with beads and gemstones.

So, I’m pretty pleased with how these pieces turned out, considering I don’t usually make sets. And I’m not selling it on Etsy as a set, either. But, they do go together nicely, don’t you think?! Lots of rubies and large faceted amethysts in a truly unique shape.


And here are the earrings I made during my last session (see previous post), but didn’t get a chance to photograph until now. You can really see the blue flash in the labradorites this time. I learned a trick to photographing labradorite, but I need a light box for that and ... well, I’m not really in a place where I can set up a light box at this time. Maybe one day ...

The other stone in these earrings is chrysocolla, which I had not seen in this magnificent a blue prior to buying these.