Rockhound at heart?

I think all jewelers have a little rockhound in them, or at least a little Magpie. I stopped by my local rock shop today with the intention of quickly picking up one or two stones for an upcoming project. It's kind of out of the way, but any drive up here is pretty beautiful, so I didn't really mind. 

Two hours later I left with these:

And that was without going into either of the two gallery rooms or asking them to pull out any of the cabochon trays. I think I touched about half of the other rocks in the place. Aside from the two smaller cabochons these are all destined for some tab settings.

My friend Sarah (you can check out her awesome work at her new shop Lily Cobra) just invited me to go to the HUGE Tucson Gem and Mineral Show with her early next year. I'd say I'm a definite maybe.

Thanks for reading!

2013 Gift Guide: #HandmadeHour

Here's to supporting small business and the artisan community this year by shopping handmade! This is the latest in a series of gift guides featuring works from makers on Etsy. These artists also hangout on Twitter for #HandmadeHour.

I'm relatively newish to Twitter. I've had an account for years, but I rarely use it. Mostly because I'm already juggling a FB page, blog, Website, Pinterest, etc. and the idea of one more social network to keep up with was... well you know. Also, Twitter moves fast. Even with the lists and hash-tags the variety of content can be overwhelming. Then I found #HandmadeHour! It's fast paced, but in a good way. Most of the artists/makers are from Europe, but they welcome makers from everywhere. It's like a mini vacation via the internet!

My Top 5 from #HandmadeHour

1. Upcycled bullet brooches from Lucy Ann Smethurst of ChangeTheRecord. Love these! 

2. Aileen Clarke of AileenClarkeCrafts creates colorful textile art from her cabin in Fife incorporating hand-spun and dyed wool from Scottish Islands featuring Scottish landscapes. She also sells prints, mugs and calendars featuring her original works.

 

4. How about a pin from Farah Shah of Fawa1 to stuff in that stocking? Bright illustrations created using colored pencils on shrink plastic. 

3. Louise Jenkins of illustratorlou creates fantastic water color paper cuts inspired by the English countryside.  

5. TheOriginalThread has just the thing to trim tree this year. Two handmade Christmas robins from an original pattern. So Sweet!

I love that all of these pieces are inspired by the natural world. There were so many great items to choose from over at #Handmadehour it seems kind of silly to label these my top five, but I guess that's been true of this entire series. So much creativity out there!

Check out my other 2013 Holiday Gift Guides: 

 

For the Sports Lover

For the Host/Hostess

For the Jewelry Lover 

For the Kids 

Thanks for reading! 

Belle Armoire Jewelry

I'm very excited to announce that I have two articles in the Winter issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry! If you've ever wondered how I make the Eyelet Lace or Beach Pottery pieces you can take a sneak peek of the issue on their website or pick up a copy for a more detailed look.

Thanks for reading!