A Gentle Winter

Snow on Sagebrush

The colors in these earrings make me think of snow on sagebrush--a high desert winter. A gentler kind of winter. A Cathy Lee Crosby-riding-a-horse-in-a-Velamints-commercial kind of winter. The celadon-hued ceramic gear links are by Karen Totten--I love the matte finish, with hints of light blue and amber at the edges, and the gingerbread-brown stoneware-feel interior. They do indeed make me think of the desert. And Cathy Lee Crosby. The sandstone-colored lampwork spacers are from The Spacer Shop. It had to be sterling silver with my winter theme--so I took my torch to some sterling wire and made headpins and earwires, and capped the lampwork with little Hill Tribes beadcaps.

For more information on these earrings, click HERE. You can see more of my work in my Etsy shop, HERE, or visit my blog, The Cerebral Dilettante, for a peek behind the scenes.

High Desert Eden

Golden Nest Earrings

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all.

-Emily Dickinson

Sometimes you just have to the let the charms do all the talking - I paired my tiny golden nest charms with  a little spring of brass chain and 3 entwined brass jump rings. 

Golden Nest Earrings

Heather Powers blogs at www.humblebeads.blogspot.com and her work can be found in her Etsy shop.

Put A Ring On It

Supporting causes that are dear to my heart and also supporting other artisans is something that is important to me.

Marsha Neal is one of those artists who makes some beautiful ceramic components. She has an Etsy shop called MyMomPattie in honor of her mother who passed away in 2007 from a rare form of leukemia. I am one of a handful of artisan jewelry designers who use Marsha's beaufiful ceramic components in jewelry that we donate to the shop. Each purchase at MyMomPattie gets Marsha a little bit closer to her goal of $5000 to set up a place of honor at a bird sanctuary that her mother loved to go and care for sick or injured birds.

I created Put A Ring On It using Marsha's midnight blue swirl ceramic disk charms and thought that since they were mini-works of art, they deserved a pretty frame in an etched brass ring.  

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her new line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

Fire and Ice

Ice and fire - reason and passion.

It's best to keep a little of both in everything you do.

Earrings feature Arte Metal leaves in a graphic design.  Poised above them are branch beads in fiery copper and rhinestones and Czech glass in the frosty shades of ice.  A tiny flower pokes out of the top, tempered by both elements in shades of muted peach.

And a bracelet to match, using a collection of seed beads and a mirror of the earring components used as charms.

Heather Powers blogs at www.humblebeads.blogspot and her work can be found in her Etsy shop.

Embellished Jewelry Boxes

Here is a super quick and easy DIY tutorial on embellishing a simple gift box with velvet ribbon and treasures found from nature.  (Or maybe treasures from your local craft store, visit their floral department for natural elements.)

I could see using some moss and a faux birds nest - Hobby Lobby has cute tiny ones.

Or try a collection of shells with a pink or teal velvet ribbon for those mermaids on your gift list.

Ceramic Earring Holder Bowls

Let's file these under painfully clever!  These ceramic earring holders are a sweet way to show off and organize your favorite earrings.

The first one is from Barbpots, who offers these in a wide variety of colors to match your decor.  Oh, and wouldn't they make a sweet holiday gift!  

 This one is from Kismet Pottery and would also store a bracelet or two or your favorite lipgloss.

And this cute little one from Miss Pottery keeps your earring collection all nice and tidy on the inside of the bowl.

Avril's Amber

I made these earrings with the gorgeous amber stones that my friends in Brightlingsea England sent to me! They ventured up to Suffolk to go to The Amber Shop & Museum Southwold where they specialize in real amber that is between 40 and 50 million years old. My friend Avril bought me these beads to make something special for myself and I immediately knew that they would make stunning earrings. I paired them with Czech glass beads in a shade of blue/green that reminded me of the ocean.

I think they would look great with this fun and summery outfit!

My plan is to wear them to Brightlingsea one day when I visit my friends. I can just see myself lounging at their beach hut adorned with these beauties.

These earrings are not for sale, but I do have a similar pair HERE. 

Kristy Abner blogs at Kristy's Kreations Jewelry Blog and to see more of her work or to contact her, please visit her website.