Tip Thursday: Make It Pop!

Have I already done turquoise and sunstone before? I have? Well, here it is again, but this time-- a different take. Different shade of turquoise (the first posting was more of a green, where these beads are definitely more blue) and a completely different feeling for the resulting outfit.


Turquoise and sunstone (or... the color turquoise and the color deep orange) go together so beautifully... and while I hadn't originally thought of making another post where I talk about this combination, when I snapped this photo I realized that this necklace and outfit have a whole different "feel" than my very first Tip Thursday, so I figured you might like to see that difference!


This necklace has become a favorite of mine. I got the inspiration for the design from a necklace I saw in a magazine, but the final piece looks nothing like my original inspiration did! I'm glad for that, actually... I always worry about literally copying someone else's design, but I find that in the end... what I create is always ultimately my own, and 100% me.


This necklace is no different. I've had these special Sarah Hornik beads for a long time, and I've actually used them in several different designs, eventually ripping them all apart to make something more special, to show them off better. I think this little necklace does the trick!


I love that it's asymmetrical... and I love that it's modern and hip without being overstated or gaudy. I've actually made another necklace in a similar style that I originally had posted for sale... but I found myself wearing it, and have since decided to keep that sucker!


This necklace can be paired with a variety of colors. I've successfully worn this necklace with a white shirt... it really pops against dark brown... but I've also worn it with a dark turquoise, and of course, this deep orange shirt, which I think is my favorite thus far.


Tip: Orange looks good on me (and other fair-skinned blonds). But, to qualify, it needs to be a deeper orange... more of a "burnt orange" if you will. (Cue every University of Texas fan holding up the Longhorn symbol now.) The more pale or bright oranges don't work on fair-skinned folks, typically... when in doubt? Go darker rather than lighter.

Sunstone's metaphysical properties: The sunstone gem is a leadership stone, and brings leadership qualities to its wearer. It aids in dispelling fears and phobias and also decreases stress and lifts depression. Sunstone promotes grounding and protection. Sunstone gems also warms the heart and allows the person to get in touch with their life force.

Turquoise's metaphysical properties: Turquoise is porous, so contact with liquids, oils or even perspiration should be avoided. Turquoise is considered a good general healer for all illnesses and excellent conductor. Induces wisdom and understanding, enhances trust and kindness. Brings the qualities of mental and spiritual clarity.

Smoky Quartz metaphysical properties: Smoky quartz is a powerful healing stone. It protects against all forms of bad luck and promises a light at the end of what may seem to be a very long tunnel. After you’ve been sick or felt depressed, it can restore energy and optimism. It also aids meditation if you find concentration difficult. Smoky quartz is one of the best healing stones!

I urge you to push your color combination boundaries in 2011! I hope to make Tip Thursday a regular feature again. 


I have missed blogging... and I am also striving to be more open and honest and REAL in my blog, which means... a little bit more personal detail might be on the way. 

I'm tired of hearing, "There's so much more to you than meets the eye!" from everyone. While I think that statement is true... I realized that I have wanted to be a little bit more WYSIWYG, or what you see is what you get. A bit more transparent, in other words... which to me, means more authentic and real. Even online. 


It's a delicate line, though. I don't want to air out dirty laundry on my blog... but I would like to give you a little glimpse into who I really am, if for no other reason than because I need to do it, for myself.


Happy Holidays, everyone... and thank you to everyone who has purchased jewelry from me in 2010! You've made it a memorable year for me, and you've helped me at times stay afloat financially... but the biggest, greatest joy I get is seeing a face light up when they've put on just the right piece of jewelry. It's a special kind of connection, when a woman realizes that something I've created enhances her own beauty.


I'll be back for some end-of-year musings...

Tip Thursday - Fall Colors in Spring

(Please excuse squinty me, and be sure to click each pic to see larger versions of the necklace!)

Today’s tip is geared towards colors that you may typically think of as fall colors. I say, wear whatever colors you want, whenever you want! Ha!

Today we have a darker green and lovely orange with a hint of brown. The stones in this necklace are African green opal, sunstone, and smoky quartz… and that gorgeous, amazing focal bead at the bottom is an Australian boulder opal. It’s so shimmery!

I’ve actually had the African green opal for some time now. I’ve had the sunstone for almost as long. But… I just got that Australian boulder opal, and I was amazed at how perfectly it goes with the rest of the stones. This necklace packs a powerful punch!

See, I already made a necklace with the African green opal and sunstone, and I sold it a while back. I held on to some of the stones to make myself a necklace someday, but I wanted a killer focal. I sure got it!! And I really need to get better photos of this necklace (I snapped these with my phone) so you can see the detail in the stones, and especially in that focal. It’s so shimmery, and you know I’m a total sucker for sparkly things.

I’ve worn this necklace a handful of times, and I get numerous compliments on it every time! One woman even had a conversation with her friend about this necklace. I didn’t know that’s what they were talking about, just that they were conversing and turning around and looking at my chest (!). Finally, the friend said, “Just go ask her!”

So, she came over and said, “Can I look at your necklace?”

Of course I obliged her!

Now… what could you wear a necklace like this with? Well, how about: green, gray, brown, blue (denim), white, ivory, orange, tan, etc?

So, there ya go. Green, orange, and brown. Maybe it sounds like a fall combination, but here I am, wearing it in March!

Australian Boulder Opal metaphysical properties: Boulder Opal represents purity and intensity. It assists in emotional and mental balance, calms the inner soul. Facilitates actualization. Excellent stone for progress, expansion, and development. Helps one connect the conscious and subconscious, providing for a clearing understanding of oneself. Facilitates communication, stimulates healing, and stabilizes energies.

African Green Opal metaphysical properties: My Google Fu fails me, and I can’t find anything compelling about metaphysical properties for this stone!

Smoky Quartz metaphysical properties: Smoky quartz is a powerful healing stone. It protects against all forms of bad luck and promises a light at the end of what may seem to be a very long tunnel. After you’ve been sick or felt depressed, it can restore energy and optimism. It also aids meditation if you find concentration difficult. Smoky quartz is one of the best healing stones!

Sunstone metaphysical properties: The sunstone gem is a leadership stone, and brings leadership qualities to its wearer. It aids in dispelling fears and phobias and also decreases stress and lifts depression. Sunstone promotes grounding and protection. Sunstone gems also warms the heart and allows the person to get in touch with their life force.

Tip Thursday: Spring Edition

Let’s talk about SPRING! It’s here, in good ole Texas. It’s here and it’s beautiful. The trees are budding, grass is starting to grow, and we’re certainly getting our fair share of rain. But on days like today, when the sun is shining bright, it makes me smile and remember all the things I love about Texas.

So, the colors this week are yellow and blue. Yeah, I’m aware—yellow and blue make green. So throw a little green in there, too! These colors go so well together. Really, anytime you mix a primary color (yellow and blue are both primary) with one secondary color (green), it’s a good thing.

I particularly love this sky blue combined with the almost-golden glowing hue of citrine. And add some lovely green of that peridot, and this necklace has some major wow-factor! It’s absolutely one of my favorite necklaces. I wear it in the spring or summer, but I also wear it in the fall or winter when I’m tired of all the gray.

In fact, I wear this necklace with gray a lot, because it really pops against gray. It also pops against white, and even a lighter brown. Wear these colors with any neutral, and you won’t go wrong. But you can also wear these colors with each other, like you see in the photo—with a coordinating blue shirt… or a pale yellow shirt… or a peridot-green shirt.

And remember, anytime you wear citrine (especially when combined with peridot)… you’re going to attract some (positive) attention!

Peridot metaphysical properties: Peridot is a general healer. It’s also one of the most fortunate stones, indicating an in-flow of money, love, luck, and peace into your life. Use peridot to flood your mind, body, and spirit with a sense of peace and well-being.

(Source: The Illustrated Directory of Healing Crystals by Cassandra Eason)

Citrine metaphysical properties:  One of my favorites! This is such a lucky, attention-getting stone. Anytime you wear citrine, prepare to get some attention. It boosts self-esteem and protects against negative energy. It also promotes clarity. It brings light to the wearer and helps fight against depression.

Tip Thursday: Playing Favorites

This edition of Tip Thursday shows off one of my favorite color combinations: pink and blue. Not just any pink and blue, though. Peruvian blue opal with pink. Hot pink, baby pink, purpley-pink, or any other pink.

I love pink, but this particular combination really pops. Whenever I wear this necklace, I wear it with baby pink or a purpley-pink shirt, and I let the Peruvian blue opal pop all on its own.

The opal shows up rather pale in this picture, but it’s really more of a robin’s egg blue. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and anytime I get to show off one of my favorite gemstones with one of my favorite beads (yes, I made that focal bead!), it’s a happy day.

So… try wearing a pop of light blue with pink. It’ll definitely brighten your day!

*Note about Peruvian Blue Opal and Peruvian Pink Opal* These stones are brittle and can break/chip easily, unless you wear them regularly. Like pearls, they require the natural oils of your skin to keep them vibrant and healthy.

Peruvian Blue Opal metaphysical properties: Relatively rare and comes from the Andes in Peru, it is a moderately translucent stone with a blue-green color quite similar to the Caribbean Sea. This stone has soft relaxing energies, and lore tells us that it has the ability to remove the tension from any communication to help ideas to flow freely. It is told to soften the impact of stress from the outside world, helping one to release the trauma of old wounds, facilitating facing the future with a tranquil self healing nature. It is good for quieting the mind and helpful in aiding sleep. [Source]

Oh, wait… I should mention that I’ve also put peridot in this necklace, which is another of my favorite stones. Who knew I’d come to love green so much?

Peridot metaphysical properties: Peridot is a general healer. It’s also one of the most fortunate stones, indicating an in-flow of money, love, luck, and peace into your life. Use peridot to flood your mind, body, and spirit with a sense of peace and well-being. (Source: The Illustrated Directory of Healing Crystals by Cassandra Eason)

Tip Thursday: Coloring Outside The Lines...

One thing I've noticed, time and time again, when I'm at a craft show or otherwise when I'm selling my jewelry to people, is that most folks don't know what colors can pair together. If someone buys a colorful necklace from me, they often ask what they can wear it with. I then rattle off a bunch of options and they walk away satisfied.

That got me to thinking, though. Not everyone is so adept with pairing color. I'm an artist, so it's to be expected that I'm good at pairing colors.

And since I'm not a particularly selfish person (well, not about this, at least!), I thought maybe I could help others by offering some tips, complete with a photo.

What do you think?

Yeah?

Ok. Here we go.

First tip: Today I'm wearing a green shirt that has shades of turquoise to it... and my necklace is sunstone, which is a gorgeous stone with shades of dark orange, with turquoise accent beads. So... try dark orange with turquoise green. It's an awesome combination!

Sunstone's metaphysical properties: The sunstone gem is a leadership stone, and brings leadership qualities to its wearer. It aids in dispelling fears and phobias and also decreases stress and lifts depression. Sunstone promotes grounding and protection. Sunstone gems also warms the heart and allows the person to get in touch with their life force.

Turquoise's metaphysical properties: Turquoise is porous, so contact with liquids, oils or even perspiration should be avoided. Turquoise is considered a good general healer for all illnesses and excellent conductor. Induces wisdom and understanding, enhances trust and kindness. Brings the qualities of mental and spiritual clarity.

So...

Is this helpful? Let me know what you think!

My Latest Pieces

Ok. Here's the piece that I'm very proud to show you. The focal gemstone is citrine! I love this necklace and I have already decided to keep it. You can't change my mind. At least, not at this point in time. ;-)

I really pushed myself with the color combinations in this necklace. As soon as I saw this bead, though... I knew that yellow had to be the central color of the necklace, with lots of other fun colors added in.

This is another with a Sarah Hornik bead, named Fantastico! as the centerpiece. Isn't it a lovely one? 
I also used peridot and shiny Swarovski crystals, with sterling silver wire. This necklace makes me feel happy and light. It reminds me of my time in Italy, which is fitting, since Sarah made the focal just after we all got back to our respective spots of the world after Murano Magic.

Now, for my next piece... this one uses gorgeous Peruvian Blue Opal as the main gemstone, with a couple of pieces of citrine, and Swarovski crystals. Another Sarah Hornik bead as the focal. I love this necklace too, and have also decided to keep it. I always end up keeping my best pieces!! Even when I don't mean to!

Check out the matching earrings, too.... this glowing Peruvian Blue Opal is magical, isn't it? It's even better in person, too!

For Lampworkers and Jewelry Designers Alike

For all my fellow jewelry designers and lampwork artists (or, anyone who uses lots of color on a regular basis!), I'd like to pimp out my friend Sarah for a moment. She's made a pdf and a calendar of her 12 favorite color schemes and why they work. You can buy the calendar here:

Alternatively, you can order the pdf by going to her blog post, here.

One of the most frequent compliments Sarah receives is about her color combinations. And, they are spectacular. She experiments and pushes the envelope with color combinations more than any other glass artist I've seen. I think it's because she's fearless. She has certainly helped ME push my own envelope when it comes to pulling colors together for jewelry design. I see color combinations in a whole new way because of her beads. And, as most of you know... her beads are often my favorite ones to use. ;-)