Viola Necklace Detail
Originally uploaded by maugustawoodland
I just wanted to put a place marker in to say that after a month or two of being backed up, I am finished with all custom orders and resizings as of this minute!
Now I just have to get ready for the next Craft Saturday and Christmas! Eek!
Originally uploaded by maugustawoodland
Three AAA-grade Mozambique emeralds on sterling silver! I’m so pleased to be able to work with these lovely stones.
Purchase here
About a month ago I started collecting pieces for this necklace I have in my mind. The problem is that I have two versions of what the necklace looks like in my head! This tends to be a hurdle for me, because I see all the variations of a necklace in my head before I start to make it. It’s always a choice I have to make. Fortunately this is a piece I still need to make the filigree for, so I have a little bit of time to figure it out. This will be a dark design for the Rara Avis Collection.
Right now I’m just wrapping beads until my fingers fall off and hoping that eventually I’ll be brave enough to put together a full necklace.
Beads include: London Blue Topaz, Garnet, and Keshi Pearls.
Originally uploaded by maugustawoodland
Be a femme fatale in these gorgeously dark earrings. The checkerboard-cut black spinel briolettes reflect light effortlessly, making them twinkle and sparkle like the night sky. They’re topped by wonderfully clear gold rutilated quartz, peacock seed pearls, and more black spinel.
All metal is gold-filled. Measures 1 ½” from top to bottom
Available at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13819227
Originally uploaded by maugustawoodland
Inspired by the beautiful colors of the Iowa summer prairie and wildflowers, the Wildflower Necklace springs forth with a riot of green, orange, and purple. They fall from a handmade hammered ring. Dark oxidized sterling silver causes the colors to pop and take center stage in this daring and beautiful necklace.
Amethyst, carnelian, peridot, and green onyx fall deliciously down to a clear, twinkling Brazilian amethyst briolette measuring 10×10mm.
Necklace measures 16”. All metal is sterling silver, including handmade headpins and ring.
Since I’m happily filling the traditional role of the domestic arts in my relationship, I’m always happy to find short cuts to the tasks that aren’t as fun as I’d like them to be. For instance, I’m hate doing dishes, so I delegate that task to my significant other.
Another thing I’m terrible at is meal planning and making out the grocery list. It never fails that the weeks drag on until I burn out on one particular food (Taco Tuesday, anyone?), and at the grocery store I always forget five or six very important items.
Enter Saving Dinner the Vegetarian Way by Leanne Ely to save my life. You see, we have a vegetarian household (I’m only a part-timer, though), which was adding to the chaos of figuring out what to make every week.
Since I’ve started using this great cookbook I’ve yet to leave something out on the grocery list. Said grocery list is broken up into sections such as “produce” and “dairy case.” The recipes are broken into seasons, so it takes advantage of produce being in season. This summer has been filled with peaches, asparagus, and delightful zucchinis.
I’ve also found the recipes to be absolutely delicious. There’s yet to be a meal I haven’t enjoyed completely. Of course, I substitute where things aren’t to my liking – I have a very special hatred for lima beans for instance. And when I don’t think a recipe sounds good I just stick in something left over from the freezer, making cooking dinner even easier!
I highly, highly suggest the Saving Dinner series of cookbooks. I’ve not had the chance to test the recipes in the other books, but they look pretty good from skimming over them.
Another plus? In the last four weeks I’ve lost five pounds. Now if that’s not delicious, I don’t know what is!
Check out her website here.
Originally uploaded by maugustawoodland
Graymoonstone and sterling silver necklace! I love this one because it’s pretty simple for my style of jewelry, so it can easily be worn every day.
Available here
As a member of the Artisan Beaders Street Team of Etsy, I’m now writing a weekly article on gemstones and their metaphysical properties. I’m really excited about this project, and I look forward to having a lot of fun with it.
Check out this weeks gem adventure: Ruby.
In Renaissance Europe, royalty and the affluent began collecting wonderful bits archaelogy, natural history, geology, ethnography, relics from religion and history, art, and antiquities. They were placed into cabinets of curiosities, originally cabinet meaning a room, and were used as a sign of wealth and power. One of the other names for these amazing collections was Wunderkammer or Kunstkammer. These cabinets were ancestors of natural history museums.
One of the most famously described cabinets was a 17th century collection by Olaus Wormius, also known as Ole Worm. Noted not only for his collection of curiosities, he was contributed the first study of Rune stones. His collection included artifacts from the New World, taxidermed animals, and fossils. He was the man to conclude that the unicorn did not exist, but instead the horns that were being collected at the time were those of the norwhal.
My newest jewelry family is trying to invoke the spirit of these old and magnificent collections. I think all too often in our global community we lose the innocent wonder over small bits of other cultures and the natural world’s mysteries. Most of us don’t understand how a plant really works, and there’s something all too magical about the truth of it.
How many of us have actually been to Nigeria where some of the most common trade beads are made to this day? What if that relic of religion is real and unicorns really do exist?
