February Birthstone: Amethyst I’ve been trying to add more sterling silver into my jewelry repertoire, and today I found some time to make this amethyst and tourmalated quartz bracelet. I wired all the beads on 22 gauge, half hard sterling silver wire, and used gray Swarovski pearls as accent beads. Two different cuts of tourmalated [...]

Our local bead shop is closing its doors because the owners are retiring, and a few weeks ago, I picked up these pretty turquenite rectangle beads during their going out of business sale. Mineral database and mineralogy reference website Mindat.org defines turquenite as “an artificially-colored blue variety of Howlite or Magnesite dyed to resemble Turquoise [...]

I live in the Midwest, not too far from Lake Michigan, and in January into February, we’re subject to lake effect snows and gloomy gray skies. I like snow, and I don’t mind cold, but I do hate the month-long stretch of unrelenting cloudy weather. I miss the sun, and it’s made me somewhat depressed. [...]

Image via CrunchBase The other day a friend asked me to recommend some organic style silver pendants from Etsy designers. Here are a few of my favorites from that list. Organic style… by konceptsbykaryn Items in this Styleboard Mud pot pendant in silver with… Details Personal Ivy by westbyron on Etsy Details Fine Silver Tree [...]

For Christmas, I received some gift certificates for beading supplies. Yay! And I happily spent the money on sterling silver findings and wire, since I’m nicely stocked with a variety of beads at the moment. But boy, I couldn’t stretch my Christmas gifts far! Right now, Sterling Silver is about $28 an ounce, and likely [...]