So Many Stones, So Little Time

Ahhh Summer . . . the slowest time of the year from a retail perspective, but a great time to work on all the projects I've been dreaming about.  One of my goals this year was to expand my inventory of stones and I'm very happy with the results. 

Now all I need is an extra 8 hours a day to keep up with all the ideas swirling in my brain!  Here's what I put together so far:

Sweet rainbow moonstone and tanzanite pendant with handmade sterling silver leaf design mounting.  

This pendant turned out so cool and I love the beautiful twig accent.  It was a bugger to get soldered so it looks natural, but well worth the effort in the end.

Keeper of the Queen's Chocolate

If I were Queen, I'd hoard the finest chocolates in the world, and treat them like the most precious of my jewels. There would be a special room - nay, an entire wing - in my castle, dedicated to housing my precious morsels. I'd appoint a Keeper of the Queen's Chocolate to safeguard my treasure from marauding bands of chocolate thieves, and the key to the keep would be a jewel in its own right.

Design details:
A handmade reliquary style open bezel mounting of copper and bronze showcases a vintage rhinestone key brooch with an embossed copper background. Vintage brass stampings frame the focal at the top and bottom, with a faceted genuine topaz and rhinestone dangling from the bottom. Alternating antique gold-filled 1/4" textured flat cable chain and 5/8" wide hammered sterling silver links are the foundation of the neck chain, as well as stations of sterling silver wire wrapped chocolate pearls and another faceted genuine topaz surrounded by vintage rhinestone spacers.

Hand forged sterling silver hook and eye clasp features a single chocolate pearl with vintage rhinestone spacer, dangling from a short gold filled chain. The necklace can be worn shorter by hooking the clasp into any of the links along the chain, and the loose end adds a lovely asymmetrical element when the piece is worn as a choker. Maximum wearable length of 28", the focal dropping an additional 4 1/2".

Available in my Etsy shop here.

The Saving of the "Very Good Signs"

So we've had a guy here this week doing some earth moving around the farm - cleaning off the creek, cleaning out a branch that runs into the creek, etc. Last night hubby tells me that he's also covering up part of the garden as part of his attempt to reduce his compulsive overworking in the summer, which sounded great to me. Last night, that is. This morning I realized that he meant the garden patch which contains my "very good signs". Whaaa?????

I ran outside with a bucket, a rake, a hand trowel in.the.rain. and started picking up everything I could find. I'm proud to say I didn't throw a hissy fit . . .but I was prepared to lay down on the spot in protest and dare them to bulldoze over me!! Thankfully, hubby was open to a compromise and had the guy scoop up 7 or 8 huge scoops full of dirt from that area into piles at the edge of the woods for me to sort through.

The things we do for our art, eh?

I think it was completely worth it:

ShesSoWitte Romantic Art Nouveau Inspired Labradorite Heart Necklace

ShesSoWitte Romantic Art Nouveau Inspired Labradorite Heart Necklace by shessowitte featuring a victorian lace dress