I did it again!

But, I have to say I was rather conservative. There were two additional strands I really wanted, but these are the only ones I need for a specific project that’s been in my head, bursting to come out, so I only ordered these. AND, I’m even sharing half the sillimanite with Sheela (Eclettica), so I’m really doing really good ... or so I’d like to think! Ha!

Gemaholic Anonymous

Yup, I'm the official charter member at Flickr! And as one of the true gemaholics, I have, yet again, splurged. At least this time I have an accomplice, as Emily, of Emily Gray Jewels, is splitting at least one of these strands with me.

London blue topaz and smoky quartz. Yum!

My drug of choice

And now, I’m putting myself on a buying ban. I’m NOT EVEN going to the Bead Show this weekend. There is no point …

Beadaholics Anonymous

Yeah, yeah, whatever! I know. But I got them anyway, so there! Microfaceted 7mm lilac amethyst rondelles and 8-14mm (!) smooth spessartine garnet pears. I’m in heaven!

I won, I won, I won!!!

And I spent, I spent, I spent! Yeah, yeah, whatever! We already know I have a ... whatever. Here they are! I got one in an Auction, the other as a Buy Now (on eBay, where else). I hope they arrive looking at least this good. The first one is a bottle green apatite, the second one aqua blue apatite.

Did I already mention green is my favorite color? Blue is a close second. Especially blue kyanite, which one of my dear Flickr friends has been tempting me with lately. Alas, I will have to stay away from any more bead shopping, if I intend to have any money to spend at the next Bead Show, which is April 5-6, which is a child free weekend for me. Yay!

A few purchases

My hands have been slapped (just joking, Lotta!) for not sharing my latest treasures from my local bead store, when they had a 50 percent, plus an extra 15 percent off sale for their member(s), i.e. me!

Here are my finds: faceted roundels of red spinel (raspberry red) and red spinel (redder red) and pink tourmaline. I have, as usual not had time to sit down and make anything with them yet, but … as I just finished my freelance project this week, I will be able to claim my own time again starting next week … if there is such a thing as “my own time” with my two little girls.



I also fell in love with these two strands from two wonderful Etsy sellers. The first one, smooth grossular garnet, from Wynna at glimmerbeadtrust.etsy.com and the second one, Oregon sunstone, from Derek at opalillusions.etsy.com. Yeah, well … I didn’t just fall in love with them, I ordered them. Got the first one and they were beautiful! And I got the sunstone, which I learned is real sunstone and not the manmade stuff most people sell and I stay away from. Let’s just say, “Wow!” They are fabulous! Absolutely gorgeous stone! Nothing at all like the commercially pawned sunstone ...if I may be so crass … and I may, since this is my blog! Ha!

Saturday Shopping!

I have a confession to make. I know, you’re thinking, “Again?” Ha, ha! I have a serious shopping addiction. I can’t stay off the precious gems sites on Etsy and eBay (forgive me all you serious Etsy people for mentioning the two in the same sentence). I would do just fine if I stayed off my computer altogether. I wouldn’t start looking if I weren’t already sitting here with nothing much to do but to look at pretty pictures of even prettier stones.

Oh, what’s the point!!!

Here’s what I purchased today from a fabulous fellow Etsian.

So, just shoot me!!!

Peas and carrots

So, I thought the lemon quartz I bought a few weeks ago needed a companion ...

Diane at A Cut Above does not disappoint with her gems. What you see in her eBay store photos is pretty much what you get. I wish that were true for other eBay sellers, but ... you live and learn. Not that I have been HUGELY disappointed elsewhere, but also not thrilled. Diane will certainly get my repeat business. Both on eBay and now on Etsy.

Oh yeah, this is whiskey quartz! In case you were wondering ... !

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!

A little bit of pretty

I’ve managed to tap into a little bit of creativity during the holidays. Nothing major, but at least a few new pieces. Earrings with amethyst, pink rutile and sapphire, and a pair with gorgeous aquamarine drops. Also, a double-strand bracelet with pearls and pink chalcedony, and one with really smooth nuggets of labradorite.

Where’s the inspiration?

So, if I can’t show you anything I’ve made lately, at least I can show you what my kitchen table has looked like that last couple of days!!!

After the Bead Show

So, nobody had any Thai silver for sale. That was the only reason I went to the bead show! However, I didn’t want to make the whole trip a total waste, so I bought a few beads … from left to right: green onyx in matrix, aquamarine, aquamarine, kyanite, aquamarine and ruby. Guess I had a thing for aquamarines today, huh?! As you can see, they are all different, though. From translucent to opaque.


And look at these two handmade glass beads, aren’t they just fabulous? I’ve never seen anything like them before! And if you enlarge the pictures, you can really see all the wrinkles in my hand. Ha, ha!

Big fat liar!!!

That’s what I am! I’m not sure how long “a while” is (see previous post filled with lofty assurances), but traditionally, when it comes to bead shopping, one should hope that it is more than two weeks. Not so, dear friend! Not in my case, apparently. I REALLY just went to my local bead store to use up the store credit I had there. You know, $17 just sitting there, when I could have $17 worth of beads at home instead. Well, I had no idea they were having a trunk show!!! I believe I am in serous need of help!


Pictured from top to bottom of my pile of obsession are: green garnet (or grossular garnet, for those of us who have a serious addiction to gems!) impression jasper, aquamarine (these are luscious ... mm!), gorgeous polished chunks of labradorite, lava, white turquoise, pink tourmaline chunks, and lapidalite jasper.

I’m making no more promises of frugality. Nope! I’m sure I’ll be buying more beads in the next couple of weeks.

This is it!

I really, truly am not buying any more after this. At least not for a while. I need to sit down and make something—anything—before I add any more beads to my inventory, which, by the way, is taking up more and more of the space I don’t have!


Pictured are strands of labradorite (I know, I already got some, but this is a different cut), gorgeous tourmaline, beautiful white moonstone, and tiny iolite.

The Earth’s Bounty

Or at least bounty from The Earth Bazaar. So, they had a(nother) fabulous sale and I decided to make a major investment. It’s part of my feeling like I’m heading in a new direction with my jewelry. I still like doing what I’ve been doing, but I am also incredibly inspired by Magdalena Borejko and Iza Malczyk, not to mention Eni Oken, of course. I obviously don’t want to infringe on their styles, respectively, but there might be some way to do my own take on the wire wrapping. Granted, they have time. I believe all three of these lovely ladies do this full-time. And at least two of them have told me it’s highly addictive. I don’t have time for anything highly addictive! But I would still like to expand on what I’ve been doing so far. And I’m really tempted to integrate silversmithing, but haven’t quite figured out how yet. Kathy, of the soon-to-be-closed bead store KMarie Beads, is opening up a metalsmithing studio, with space and equipment for rent. The only thing is, if I have to start factoring all that into the price of my pieces, it adds yet another element to keep track of. I figured, I’ll start with buying LOTS of faceted stones and see where that takes me … so, whaddayathink?!


There’s amethyst, beer quartz, phrenite, peridot, hessonite, citrine, garnet, spessartine garnet, petro tourmaline, and mandarine garnet, and not necessarily in that order. While I was at it, I decided to attend a private sale with Sir Arun, and this is what I picked up from him. From the back: chrysocolla (this is a gorgeous strand), labradorite (best quality I’ve ever seen!), pink rutile (scrumptious), sapphire (pinks and greens ... mmm!) and, last but not least, black onyx. Can you tell I REALLY like the stuff I got from Arun? He truly has that little (!?) extra, in addition to the fact I get to hold and pick my own strands. I’m in bead heaven!

Coming and going

So, I downloaded, or is it uploaded? I really don’t know which direction the files are going ... could be side loaded, since the card reader attaches to the side of my laptop. Anyway! Whichever way they ended up in iPhoto, I came across this picture I took of a fun necklace I made a couple of weeks ago, and I realized I’d sort of prepared it for Etsy, but it never made it there. I took it to work, and one of my best customers snapped it up even without trying it on. She’s so funny, “I know it’ll fit.” Yes, but don’t you want to see if you like it ... ? She sees, she buys! Not that I mind, mind you, but I’m picky and sometimes I don’t even like what I’ve made if it doesn’t hang right. Right?

And more beads!

I just remembered I splurged on some beads at one of my local shops (The Colorstones), too! Here’s a picture of gorgeous chrysocolla, African turquoise, tiny pearls and tourmaline. My fingers are itching to make something, but instead I’m nursing a cold. Well, I’m going to nurse it right outta here this weekend so I can start making my stuff!

Beads, beads, beads

Look at these, aren’t they gorgeous? This was my first time ordering from Lima Beads, so I was a little nervous about the quality of their beads*. No need to worry, everything looks really good and the shipping was super fast. Now, all I need is time! Sound familiar? Well, I’m in the middle of my fall freelance project, so I really don’t have that much spare time to be playing with my beads. But, maybe there will be an evening here or there when the project will be temporarily out of my hands in the clients’, well, then you know what I will be doing!


And speaking of this project, I decided it was time to invest in a new computer, since I will have had mine for six years in another month (in computer language that means it’s older than dirt!). I bought myself my first laptop! Not sure how I’m going to adjust to working on it, but it sure beats spending the money on a new desktop system. I think my biggest adjustment will be getting used to the smaller monitor. I mistakenly thought my monitor was a 15-inch, but it’s actually a 17-inch. So, working on a 27-inch monitor all day at work and then going home to a 15-inch laptop is ... well, a little challenging. But, I’m sure the speed of the laptop will make up for the lack of image I can see at one time. Change is good!

*Oh, and in case you’re curious, the beads pictured above include: Canadian jade, dumortierite, rainbow soocho jade (also called antique jade), rainbow aquamarine, amazonite black tourmaline, monaco agate, green prase, and two yellow jade pendants.

Patience

Aren't these beads just gorgeous? Well, imagine my disappointment when I went to order some and they didn't have any left ... there was ONE left of the turquoise ones. I want more than one, I want five! They had three of the amber ones, but what's the point of splitting the order and paying for shipping twice.

I suppose I will have to practice patience and check back later to see if they have more in stock. I hate it when I find something that I want to create with "right now" and I end up having to wait. Wait for chain. Wait for beads. Wait for time.

Right now I have lots of time. But no access to beading supplies. Then again, I should probably not be doing that at work anyway. Hm!