and for some more new earrings

these are meant to complement the new swiss blue topaz tear necklace and new green amethyst round pendant necklace. of course, they also may be worn alone. these, and all the other new items, will be available for purchase on the website shortly. they are both much smaller than they look. the tears are only about 1" and the green amethyst earrings probably are a little over 1" in length, when you take the dangling stone into account. i am starting to think i need model pictures for all the jewelry, so there is a better sense of scale. that is one disadvantage to having jewelry pictures with white backgrounds--it is hard to tell the sizes of the pieces.

some new earrings

these earrings are very small in size, so they were a little more complicated to make. they are made of oxidized sterling, citrine and iolite. they are made to complement the sunset necklace--posted one topic prior--but could certainly be worn alone. these will be on my jewelry site shortly. enjoy.

more new designs

not much new to say, but wanted to share two pictures. these are two more pieces in the new line. it is an extension of my bollywood obsession. i have also been into victorian-looking and antique items lately. i am trying to incorporate those looks into the current designs; hence the use of oxidized sterling silver. as always, i created these beauties using my hands, jewelry tools and a torch from raw materials and did not simply use cheap and boring store bought components that seem to flood the market when looking at jewelry that is available. call me a snob, but what is special about a piece that just anyone can make themselves with little effort? although it takes hours for me to make each piece, and i could probably make more if i just caved and made simpler pieces with manufactured components, it is worth the effort at the end. carefully handcrafted pieces just look nicer and more original. i am still debating if i want to offer the designs in gold.

although these are not on my jewelry site yet, you can check them out, along with the necklace seen a few posts below, at hitchcock in seattle. they are celebrating their 2 year anniversary today by having a party at 5:00 p.m. at their new location in the madrona neighborhood. although this is late notice, check it out if you can, or make it a point to stop by their shop sometime in the near future. they offer really beautiful and unique pieces and are just swell people.

this weekend, i shall be working on complementary earrings for the recent designs. i will keep you posted!

back to my nerdy roots

i will admit it. i was one of those kids who collected minerals. lots of them. while all the other girls would drool over thew newest barbie in the sears wish book, i was the kid who asked for the rock tumbler set. i had it all--pyrite (more commonly referred to as "fools gold"), tiger's eye, crystal, various types of quartz, etc. i didn't actually do much with these minerals other than look at them, which was enough for me. in the past several months, i have wanted to get back to my mineral loving roots and figure out a way to tastefully add things like druzy, geode slices, stalactite and dendritic agate to my designs. i have been casually sourcing for minerals that inspire me. i am in no rush since i figure my pieces will be one-of-a-kind and not part of any particular line i have going on currently. take a look at some of my recent finds. i have some preliminary ideas, but they require a lot of tweaking and planning before i jump in. these are amethyst from uraguay. aren't they lovely?

more odes to bollywood.

i love bollywood films. although i have no clue what the people are singing about, i just find everything about them fascinating--from the coy ingenues, to the group dancing, to the poor audio quality and often grainy pictures. my favorite part about the films are the vivid color palettes and the over-the-top clothing and elaborate accessories that the actors, mainly the females, wear. this obsession of mine has inspired many of my handcrafted jewelry designs, including the Maya earrings, which are my all-time most popular earrings to-date. they are also some of my most complicated earrings to make, as i hand form the spade shaped frames one-by-one.

it is now time to add to the collection with some new bollywood inspired beauties, as i have a sketchbook full of "ode to bollywood" waiting to be created. luckily, i am finally getting around to turning the sketches and concepts that have been lying around for months into reality. the below will be available at Yen Jewelry very soon. the hand formed pendant is constructed from sterling silver and various shapes of faceted sky blue topaz. the pendant hangs from 18 inches of combined chains--satellite chain and curb chain. the silver is oxidized and buffed to reveal some of the silver. i think this look helps the topaz stand out and also really highlights the intricate coiling details on the piece.


if all goes as planned, more of my sketches will come to life soon.