A Fruitful Meeting

I was so lucky to be able to meet up with Jess of RosyRevolver last weekend at Raleigh's semi-annual Handmade Market. Jess and I talked via convo a few times and she had the wonderful idea of meeting and going to look at handmade goodies together.

Jess of RosyRevolver

We met for coffee and then Jess was nice enough to show me a local bead store which was a fortunate event as I picked up some brass charms which inspired a new line of gemstone and brass charm necklaces in my shop, and here you will get a sneak peak!

I drool over Jess' gorgeous filigree work and she was kind enough to bring some stones for me to pick out for a custom necklace! She was also wearing such a gorgeous ring that I think my mind is almost changed about wearing large rings. Jess and I had a lot in common and much to chat about but only a limited amount of time to do everything as we both had kids to get back to. She knows a lot of people in the handmade scene as she usually sells at the Market. It was very interesting and educational to me, as I don't do shows, and I still don't know if I will! I really enjoy shopping them a lot more. This time I ended up with a few small post card art prints from Jaime Zollars and cup of homemade hot chocolate.

Jess also attended the extremely elite North Carolina State University School of Design and you can see her vision and beautiful aesthetic sense reflected in her work. All of her pieces have a gorgeous cohesiveness and each are so different from the other. The settings she designs around each stone perfectly complement the textures and tones of the stones they are set around.

ElenaMakesThings

There were several Etsy sellers at the Handmade Market including a few former featured sellers. I also met the lovely Elena of ElenaMakesThings whose shop and lovely Sweet Pea scarf I have long admired.

I will have several necklaces with hand patina brass charms over the next few weeks. Jess was kind enough to direct me to a company where I could obtain everything I needed for that, and I am grateful! The first necklace coming to my shop is the Aviatrix, which features a vintage brass airplane and a large Whiskey Quartz briolette on Oxidized Sterling Silver.

The Aviatrix

The second necklace I am introducing doesn' t have a name yet, but it features a hand patina brass owl charm with green Rutilated Quartz and a small Whiskey Quartz briolette on oxidized sterling silver.

Hooty

Fairy Tale in Crimson and Scarlet

My latest Treasury West

Bow Chikka Bow Bead Porn

I didn't do my usual gem show rounds this fall (well one round, one show, hehe) because my husband was laid off but I saved up some money and placed a bulk order. I have never ordered from India before, but I was quite pleased. Shipping took only a week via UPS but I paid quite a chunk for that shipping. I liked the security of having UPS ship though as I had never heard of the other company they offer. Okay prepare yourself.


The envelope arrived and I ripped it open to find this cloth covered box sealed with wax.


All of the gems are AA and AAA, micro faceted. So here we have some Labradorite, Rubilite Garnet, Mookaite Jasper and a little Fluorite pear peaking out over there in the right corner.

Beer Quartz, Zircon, Blue Topaz, Imperial Topaz and Vesuvianite carved leaves.


Rock Crystal Quartz


Fluorite Leaves, Garnet hearts and Garnet pears.


A better look at the Imperial Topaz pears and the leaves.


I can't wait to sit down with everything!

My Latest Bunneh Treasury

Come check out these wonderful bunnies.

Earth and Sea Bracelet is New in my Shop

Bracelets are fairly few and far between in my shop. Here is my latest, I have been thinking about making one with this color scheme for months but just came around to it the other night. I love the earthy combination of the glass beads with the sea green Fluorite. Earth and Sea Bracelet.

The Shining

Fantastic book and movie, here is my latest treasury, with all 16.
Come see it here.

SparkCon

Every year for the past couple of years we take the kids down to SparkCon, a celebration of creativity. The city shuts down a few streets for a few days, galleries open some shows, people gather to draw gorgeous pastel chalk drawings, and artisans sell gorgeous jewelry, pottery and fine art. Next year I may head down one day with out the kids because there was so much I didn't get a chance to peruse. We packed a lunch and went down. Usually we head down on Sunday, when the chalk art is complete, but this year we went on Saturday and we were able to see the creation in action. There were a lot more people this year signed up to draw as well.





Bottle Cap Car



Here is a "Barrel Monster" that a local NC State University design school student creates. He was actually charged with larceny for past creations and had to perform community service for making the monsters, which are pretty cool. Renegade art I suppose.





An old former hardware store downtown.



This was my 4 year old's favorite chalk art. He loved the "rainbow petals"



The boys saw some children getting their faces painted and for the first time showed some interest. My 4 year old chose a tiger, and my 2 year old followed suit.

It tickles!





So ferocious!



His brother wasn't so patient and the face painter did a wonderful job of making it quick.





Then he ran down the street growling at strangers.