Morocco Agate, Kamaba & Sandy Jasper, Butterscotch Quartz

A few more designs from the studio, a mix of natural gemstones with wire sculpture.


The first two designs feature Morocco Agate a very nice stone that is a conglomerate of colors; one design is 3 strands of floating gemstones; accented with glass pink lined seed beads. The second design features the same Agate but mixed with copper, Swarovski crystals, and freshwater cultured pearls. Both designs draw on the Morocco Agate, but give totally different looks when mixed with different combinations of beads, glass, crystals and colors.




The third design is mixing bold Kamaba Jasper with Butterscotch Quartz, Sandy Jasper and beige lined glass seed bead accents, and then finished with non-tarnish brass wire links.

You can see these and more of our new (and current) designs available for purchase on our website!

A Little New....More To Come

We’ve added a few new designs to our website! A couple in white howlite, turquoise, aventurine, and some with chain and some with wire sculpture. Check them out along with our newly designed website!

More designs will be for coming over the next few weeks. Even more will be available once we attend the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show in February!! Bookmark our site and check back often, we’ve added a ‘News & Special Offers’ banner to the front!!

Bold & Chunky Favorites

This year I was asked many times why I hadn't created many bold and chunky designs. So, after looking for larger gemstones, I created some of the following 'bold and chunky designs'. Here are a few more of my favorites of 2008; chunky, bold and charmed describe all three of these lovely sets from the collection this year.

The first is a chunky set done in Peach Jasper, Smoky & Cherry Quartz; where I have charmed the Smoky Quartz between the gemstones. The matching earrings are of Peach Jasper and then hand wired including the ear wires.

The second one is made from Kambaba Japser, Prehnite and Smoky Quartz nuggets. Again, I did the Smoky Quartz as individual charms between the Kambaba Japser and Prehnite gemstones. I custom made the earrings for this set in Kambaba Jasper, Smoky Quartz and a brass coil in non-tarnish wire.

The next set is a chunky set of yellowish clear glass chunks mixed between purple crystals; hung at the center is a Kiwi Jasper pendant with the same color schemes and I had enough of the chunky glass left over to make charmed earrings hanging from fishhook ear wires.

The last set is made from handcrafted wire links in non-tarnish brass wire dangled with Swarovski Copper crystals and accented with teardrop gemstones in Howlite. The matching hoops have a Howlite gemstone and a couple of larger round copper Swarovksi crystals.

Enjoy some of these and many other designs at our website.

Brand New Web Site

I’m so very excited to announce that I’ve gone E-Commerce!! I just finished developing and published my jewelry website – Timeless Designs! You will find an array of jewelry (necklaces, sets, bracelets, earrings), events (shows & markets we attend), general information (policies, favorite links, FAQs), and get to know the artist behind the jewelry (that’s me!). I can’t wait to begin developing more with the website and this blog, while bring some of my best and most unique jewelry designs to you.

Please bookmark it and visit often to see what I've done, new jewelry designs and purchase jewelry items available on the website. I will continue to have this blog where I will direct more posts to industry news, business series, gemstone finds, and much much more. So keep continue to “Follow The Blog” for Timeless Designs and visit our new jewelry website!

Thank you to everyone who helped makes this ‘dream’ a reality!

Sneak Peek

I’ve been busy at the studio making new designs for the upcoming fall shows. These designs incorporate some of nature’s real beauties, most exotic gemstones. Everything from Amazonite (right), Zebra Opal(bottom center), Moss Opalite,

Black Onyx & Jasper (below left), Red Jasper & Aventurine (below right), and China Mountain Turquoise (upper right). Most have been incorporated with either handcrafted wire links or wire wraps, copper or silver spacers, Tortoise glass, topaz smoky glass, and seed beads.

These are available for purchase via the upcoming shows (check the calendar below!) or you can email me directly and I’ll send a price, including shipping.

Gemstones In Agate Turquoise Ivoryite

Natural gemstones in navy blue Agates, Turquoise and Ivoryite (white buffalo Turquoise) make up this beautifully bold piece. I was lucky enough to come across the Ivoryite on the Tucson adventure and is not a common gemstone to find.

A little about Ivoryite; Ivoryite with the Silicate present, is a bit Ivory in color, hence the name. In addition to the opaque material in slabs, it can also be found in crystalline form, and can be faceted into a clear stone resembling a white Zircon. The stone is often referred to by Native Americans as White Turquoise or White Buffalo Turquoise, and it should not be confused with white Howlite, a more common found gemstone. So many geological chains of events must synchronize to create just one thin vein of turquoise that the mineral Turquoise can rightly be envisioned as a fluke of nature, so the white is considered by most to be impossible.

So what is called White Buffalo Turquoise, which should be correctly called ‘Magnesite’ or better yet ‘Ivoryite’ which forms near Turquoise deposits, but as a totally different chemical compound. Magnesite will be a pure white or creamy white in color, opaque and normally without any veining. It is so rare to find, that only a couple of dealers in the United States are allowed on the Shoshone Reservation where it is found to dig the material. Similar material can also be found in smaller quantities and size in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Nevada. Magnesite and Ivoryite however are not the same as Howlite, yet another gemstone meant for another educational lesson!

This necklace is a longer length than I usually design, it is 26.5” long and has matching hoop earrings. Some of the Turquoise has been caged in silver wire; then accented with beige lined seedbeads. The design will make a huge statement for anyone…causal with a jean blazer, t-shirt and jeans or dress up for an evening with a dark blue or beige dress. Any way you look, it’s a great piece to be adding to your natural gemstone jewelry collection!

This lovely set is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Purchasing & Selling Jewelry Online

Buying handcrafted jewelry isn’t always easy and can be a challenge. People like to touch, feel and try on the jewelry, looking over every aspect of the piece before making a final purchase. To sell and purchase jewelry online here are some questions to keep in mind:

*What makes people buy?
*What makes people shop with the same jewelry artist again?
*What designs and price ranges would fit best into a potential buyer’s budget?

One of the main reasons that people purchase online is for the love of handcrafted jewelry. It has become much easier to acquire fabulous and unique pieces that you normally might not see in a traditional brick-n-mortar store via online websites, blogs, or shopping venues. Some people see handcrafted jewelry as a wearable form of art, often reflecting their own personalities with individual custom designs. One comment I’ve heard lately from buyers is “If it’s one thing I don’t want is to see my jewelry coming and going.” Meaning, they see the same jewelry they have purchased everywhere they go; home, office, church, and general outings.

Many buyers are drawn to handcrafted jewelry because of the way it feels. This refers to the level of skill it took to craft the piece along with the creativity and how the entire piece (necklace, earrings, bracelet, etc.) all work together. This gives the buyer the ability to purchase from a variety of specialty artists with unusual talents and designs.

Other reason is the ease of shopping online. When shopping online, the prices and policies are well visible to the buyer. Nothing is hidden, no missing tags or not priced all together. Online, prices are reflected with ever piece and they know what to expect. There is also no ‘pressure’ from a sells person hover over them to make a sell. It gives the buyer an opportunity to shop around for jewelry and prices from many different artists, rather than the single mass produced pieces found in brick-n-mortar stores.

Shopping online offers the benefit of less stress; especially to those who don’t live close to any major shopping venues. It gives the buyer time to browse around the internet at any time of the day or night, at their favorite online shops from the comfort of their home or office. Most buyers will admit they will do anything to avoid driving and traffic, long lines and crowds to the easy and convience of shopping from home or office via the internet. Buyers will continue to purchase from the same artist because of craftsmanship, fair pricing, and unique designs. For these reasons, keep these things in mind when selling your jewelry online:

*Make sure you have quality craftsmanship; check all findings, settings and fittings to make sure they are all tight.
*Price your jewelry accordingly; we all want a fair price for our works of art. However, be fair and price jewelry pieces according to the market and consumer you are targeting.
*Retain your own personal style and let it be reflected in your jewelry making. Don’t be afraid to try different techniques and styles, even beyond your tastes. Never know when it might catch the eye of a potential buyer!

Above all be unique and unusual; offering what others may not and you will keep the buyers coming back. Handcrafted jewelry is coming back in, especially if designs reflect the personality of the individual that no one else can!

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!

Spiked Mother-of-Pearl

Brand new from the design board and studio! This lovely bold piece is made from natural creamy white spiked Mother-of-Pearl, mixed between greenish/black glass seed beads and highlighted by two brass wire caged Prehnite gemstones. At the bottom of the necklace are several non-tarnish brass wire spikes, as a mimic to the mother-of-pearl. Inspired by the ocean and nature, it is available in my Etsy shop along with many other of nature’s delights!

Turquoise Gemstones

Turquoise is another of my favorite gemstones to design in my jewelry collection. Discovered by Crusaders in Turkey, for which is it named, it has long been considered a holy stone by American Indians. It is believed to have magical powers to provide protection against harm. Later discovered in Egyptian and Greek tombs, Turquoise was considered a protective stone in antiquity; to protect both horse and rider on long journeys. In the Middle Ages it was thought to give women a sense of happiness, contentment and guarantee success and power to men.
Mystical powers of Turquoise symbolize beauty, virtuous and loyalty; linked to Aquarius as a star sign. It can be found in Arizona, Mexico, Tibet, Myanmar, China, and Israel. Turquoise colors range from light blue of a robin’s egg to deep matrix greens. Today the traditional gemstone properties of Turquoise are spiritual attunement, cleansing, healing, protection, valor, soothing, peace of mind, guidance through the unknown, and romantic spontaneity.

Visit my Etsy shop for more designs in Turquoise. And if you prefer a custom piece, please contact us!

Agate Gemstones a Worldwide Beauty

Agate gemstones are one of my favorite and most versatile gemstones to design many of my jewelry pieces. Agate is the Mystical birthstone for September, the birth stone for the Zodiac sign of Gemini and the accepted gemstone for the 12th and 14th wedding anniversaries. Agate, a hard stone can be found in all colors of the rainbow, though green and blue are quite rare. It is a variety of chalcedony formed from layers of quartz which usually show varicolored bands, usually occurring as rounded nodules or veins. Some of the beauty of an Agate comes from the tiny quartz crystal formations within the stone, each one causing a uniqueness and individually to every stone. These pockets of crystals are called drusy and lapidaries often cut the drusy from the agate as cabochons to accent with stones in jewelry designs.

Common varieties of Agates include; moss agate, eye agate, plume agate, and Mexican lace agate. Some named varieties are: banded agate, blue lace agate, Botswana agate, crazy lace agate, fire agate, turretella agate, and Indian agate, just to name a few. There are literally thousands of localities worldwide where agate specimens can be found and mined. Many of the agates are named for the localities from which they are mined. Most common places are Africa, Asia, Brazil, Egypt, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Napal and the United States.

Agate is believed to discern truth, accept circumstances, and is a powerful emotional healer. Legend says that Agate improves memory and concentration, increases stamina and encourages honesty. Agate is said to be particularly beneficial to people born under the sign of Gemini as it helps them to remain calm and focused
It is believed to prevent insomnia and insure pleasant dreams, to enhance personal courage and protect one against danger. Agate provides a calming influence, improves perception, concentration and helps to develop and increase one's analytical talents.

Visit my Etsy shop for designs that include the Agate gemstone.