Black Onyx Re-Design

Sometimes a design just doesn’t work and I take the time to redesign it. This particular set looked like the first picture, a nice design with small links in different shapes.

In discussing this necklace with someone, she noted that it needed a ‘chunkier and black’ look. So, after spending time working through different necklace designs, this is the new design with Black Onyx. The new design still has the Dichroic pendant as a focal point, then accented with black Onyx gemstones, brass non-tarnish wire links in heavy 16g wire and Swarvoski crystals. I also expanded the necklace from it's original length of 19.5" to 24.5"

Let me know what you think, it is available for purchase in my Etsy shop along with many other designs!

Gemstones in the Raw

Looking to add to your gemstone collection of raw material or want something new to add in those photographs? New listings in my Etsy shop for gemstone material in the raw. These particular pieces are chunky small sizes and come from Arkansas and Arizona. The chunky bunch consists of Petrified Wood, Green Fluorite, clear crystal Quartz, and a sandy/peachy/pink crystal Quartz. The single teal piece below is Chalcopyrite from Arizona. Each piece has been identified and categorized by a Registered Gemologist here in San Antonio, Texas. For any questions, please contact us.

Visit my Etsy shop; we’ll be adding more loose raw gemstone materials and loose faceted gemstones for purchase.

Coils, Spirals, & Links Oh MY!

I took a wire class last March and found that my jewelry making passion was in wire. It has become almost as addicting as my passion for silver jewelry! My instructor told the class that if you can push a string into any type of a position, then you can ‘push and pull’ wire into any design as well. There are the more traditional forms of wire work done by wire wrapping a cabochon gemstone pendant…several can be seen in my Etsy shop. I do enjoy wire wrapping, however I’ve found that wire sculpture is more my style and passion.
I call it wire sculpture because you are literally sculpting the wire into any design. Working with the wire to create any design in any direction is much more ‘free form’ for me. It lets me mold the wire into anything my imagination can create. Whenever possible, I try to incorporate wire into my designs, whether via a simple link or a more in-depth spiral design. And I don’t limit it to just necklaces; I also use the wire sculpture in earrings and pendants.

You can learn to work with wire by taking a class at your local craft/hobby store, buying a book or by visiting one of these sites: Wire WigJig or Wire Sculpture. As for me, I’ll be back in class as soon as I can learning much more advanced techniques from my favorite instructor!


For jewelry designs in wire, visit my Etsy shop!
Note: Etsy prices are shown in USD.

Balance to Mind, Body, & Soul

Bring balance to ones life through the use of gems and crystals has been both legend and history. People from all cultures and continents have practiced harnessing the balancing of the spiritual and healing powers of gems and crystals; dating back as far as the legendary lost city of Atlantis, through the ancient Mayan and Indian civilizations, and reaching into Far Eastern and Native American. For centuries these cultures have used gems and crystals for religious, physical, and spiritual healing purposes. Today, meditation and fitness mixed with the use of the energy points is said to promote health, happiness, and well being within a person’s life. Is it legend or truth…..try it and you decide.

Here is a small listing of the properties within the gemstones I use in my jewelry:

·Agates: Balancing physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual energies; perceptiveness, strength, inspiration, awakening talents.
·Aventurine: Healing, money, mental agility, visual acuity, peace, opening heart, motivation, leadership.
·Carnelian: Precision, analytical capabilities, physical energy, verbal skill, peace, spirituality.
·Coral: Diplomacy, quieting emotions, visualization.
·Crystal Quartz: Intensifying energy, spiritual development, healing, raising consciousness
·Dumortierite: Self-reliance, stamina, patience, recognition of potential, understanding, communication of ideas.
·Fossil Stone: Accomplishments, improvement of one’s environment, communication, innovation. ·Hematite: Mental attunement, memory, calming, balance, focusing energy and emotions, peace, inner happiness, transforming negativity.
·Howlite: Awareness, calm, emotional expression, observation, patience, eliminating negativity.
·Jaspers: Protection, nurturing, joy, awareness; balancing of physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual energies.
·Labradorite: Alignment, spiritual connection, transformation, clarity, peace, progression, discernment.
·Lapis Lazuli: Wisdom, intuition, awareness, objectivity, clarity, creativity, expanded consciousness, dreams, purity, courage, serenity.
·Mother of Pearl: Mental clarity, intuition, sensitivity, imagination, adaptability, cooperation.
·Onyx: Self-control, decision making, intuition, recognition of personal strengths.
·Opal: Creativity, spontaneity, relationships, memory, happy dreams and changes.
·Pearl: Purity, faith, charity, innocence, integrity, focus, wisdom, spirituality, sincerity, fertility.
·Rhodonite: Peace, generosity, attention to details.
·Smoky Quartz: Dissolving emotional blockage, clearing the mind, cooperation, personal pride, joy in living, attentiveness to the moment, protection.
·Sodalite: Wisdom, logic, calmness, healing, stress reduction, companionship, self-esteem.
·Sunstone: Alleviating fears, energizing, cleansing.
·Tiger Eye: Practicality, peacefulness, clarity, intelligence, intuition, new experiences, financial stability, calmness, releasing inhibitions.
·Tiger Iron: Artistic endeavors, beauty, vitality.
·Turquoise: Spiritual attunement, cleansing, healing, protection, valor, soothing, peace of mind, guidance through the unknown, romantic spontaneity.