Sunshine Inspired Earrings

What a fabulous day this has been!  It is one of those at home days where I got some things done around the house and found time to create some new jewelry.  Here in Colorado, we often have breezes even when the weather is hot.  Such was the case this afternoon.  One of my favorite activities is to take a beading project out on the deck and create beautiful jewelry while I enjoy the beautiful weather.

The lampwork beads in these earrings have been sitting in my collection since early last fall.  The black eyed susans and shasta daisies blooming in our yard inspired me to create my own sunny garden earrings.  These earring are spicy hot, with fabulous movement in the way the crystals dangle beneath the lampwork beads.  

Enjoy the eye candy!

Spicy Yellow and Orange Lampwork Earrings

Sugar Plum Delight

I totally enjoyed designing and creating this necklace.  For those of you who enjoy creating jewelry, this type of necklace is a great way to improve your wire wrapping skills   Each of the sweet plum colored Czech crystals are individually handwrapped with sterling silver 24 guage wire and dangle from a strand of delicate pink seed beads.

For more information and to purchase  - Sugar Plum Delight 

Crystal Dreams - Very Vintage and Victorian

I made multiples of the earrings below.  They are just so Victorian and vintage looking to me.  I call them Crystal Dreams, and I posted them today on Etsy.  Hope you like them!  Happy Independence Day!

Black and White Twist

Here is one of my new creations.  I went outside of my normal comfort zone and style to create this bold chunky necklace from some lovely white howlite nuggets.  The nuggets are streaked with gray, and I decided to do the black and white theme.  When I made this I tried to offset the nuggets on the three strands so they lay well on the neck.

Copper Glow - Summer to Fall

Most of us are looking for accessories that we can wear for multiple occasions and across the seasons.  I am so pleased with this necklace and earring set.  The copper is great with clothes in summery yellows, oranges, pinks and reds.  Then the copper is equally good for fall browns, golds, rust and plum colors. It all hinges on these warm glowing shimmery square Czech glass beads.  These are square and backed with a bright copper metallic color.  The top of these beads are glass so the copper shines through and just glows.

I chose soft white shimmery freshwater coin pearls to compliment the coppery glass beads, and then added champagne and amethyst color faceted Czech crystals to give a touch of color.  Wear this necklace with a dress or shirt with a scoop neck, or place it over a sweater in the fall.  The earrings can go with just about anything.

I must admit, I am not always thinking about this type of versatility when creating a new design.  If you are a jewelry designer, do you try to create items that are versatile either regarding colors or transitioning seasons? From a marketing perspective, do you prefer to create lots of neutral pieces or do you design mostly with colors that are trendy, fashionable, etc.?

Breast Cancer Survivor

As I mentioned yesterday, one of the reasons I have been away from blogging is due to my health.  In February I discovered a lump in my left breast.  After a visit to the doctor, a mammogram, ultrasounds, biopsies, and breast MRI, it was determined that I had breast cancer in the left breast.  The wisest course of action appeared to be a mastectomy of the left breast.  I had this surgery done on March 30 with reconstruction at the same time.  Two lymph nodes were removed at that time also.

After all pathology reports were done, I am so relieved to know that the cancer did not get to the lymph nodes.  We caught this very early.  There were several cancerous cells in the left breast both DCI and invasive.  Many tests have been done post surgery, and I have been given the good news that chemotherapy and radiation therapy are not needed.  I will take hormonal therapy for five years.  I have a prescription for Arimidex which I will start taking in several weeks.

I am thanking God for this positive outcome.  I am joining the large band of survivors of this disease.  My chance for recurrence is small.

To all women - please take the time to do a breast self-exam each month.  Please do not ignore anything that feels unusual.  It can save your life!

Back to Blogging

I am back to my blog, and thankful to be here.  Since I last wrote here in my electronic journal, my life has changed immensely.  My last post celebrated the birth of my wonderful grandaughter, Maggie.  Her Papa and I dote on her so much, we moved from St. Louis, MO to the Fort Collins, CO area to be near her.

What an adventure and huge undertaking that was.  Papa is retired, but I needed to find full time work in Fort Collins that would approximate my income at the job I had in St. Louis.  We prayed about this, and I asked the Lord to either open the door wide to allow us to make this move, or if it was not the right thing for us to do, I asked that the door be strongly shut, slammed, in my face.  God is so good.  I sent out about three resumes total.  The one position for which I thought I was best qualified was the one for which I interviewed over the phone.  I was offered the job a few weeks later.  I now work for Poudre Valley Health System in Fort Collins, CO.  It is one of the best places to work in Colorado.  It won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award for 2008.  This is a very high honor and is indicative of the commitment they have to provide patients with the best possible care and provide their employees with the best possible work environment.
I have worked there full time since January 11 as the Clinic Compliance Risk Analyst.  This is truly the best place I have worked, and I have been in the workforce for well over 20 years.

Needless to say, the physical move to Colorado and the attention to my new position left me with little to no time to create jewelry or to blog about it.  In addition, a major health issue intervened.  More about that tomorrow.

Here are some photos of Papa and Grandma with Maggie.