Yay Michigan!!

Recently, I got in touch with a bunch of wonderful fellow Michiganders on Etsy! I was delighted to see an array of very creative stores on threads started on the Etsy online forum called Michigan Trolls and Calling all MICHIGANDERS!! If you are from Michigan on ETSY, please respond on these threads. I would definitely love to check out your store.

I was also able to link to some Blogs from these store. Please check these out. Let's support each other and our community!
Yay Michigan!!

60 Miles Closer more...
Angie's Design Shop
Deanna Blogs (dedeetsy)
Fish Princess Designs
Queen Be

Subzero Temperatures and Icy Blue Topazes

So the beloved weatherman warns of Michigan in deep freeze. Apparently the northern part of US is being plummeted by the Arctic blast. Wind chill further lowers the temperature to sub zero levels. The current temperature is 6 degree F which 'feels like' -8F. That is -22.22 Celcius for y'all!! Brrrr.

Bundled up in layers of thermal and fleece, out door activities are pretty much out of the question. Which brought me to listing some 21 lots of gorgeous AAA London Blue and AAA Swiss Blue Topazes. I adore Blue Topaz. According to Wikipedia, Pure topaz is colorless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities.

There are several varieties of blue topaz common to the jewelry industry:

• Sky blue topaz, often simply called "blue topaz", it is the most common seen in jewelry. Its color is fairly similar to that of top-quality aquamarine, but without aquamarine's gray components. Its also available in a wide range of sizes.
• Swiss blue topaz, which has a electric blue appearance. It has a more saturated color than sky blue topaz. I was extremely lucky to have my paws on an unbelievable strand of AAA Swiss Blue heart briolettes. Can you just believe the color of these??
• London blue topaz, which is a deep steely grayish blue color. It is the darkest non-coated variety available on the market. Its name does not imply its origin. London Blue topaz is by far one of the most sought after gemstones I have ever sold. I think the rich grey-blue color adds depth and sophistication to any jewelry creation.

So its back to the hot soups and hot cups of tea every hour. Its supposed to be -20F (with wind chill) at 7am tomorrow. And how am I supposed to deal with that?!

WireWrapping in Copper

Emboldened by the number of years I spend making jewelry, I recently started on the technique of wire-wrapping. I started with wrapping Swarovski Crystals around simple brass hoops. For, my second project, I used Copper colored Swarovski crystals on Copper components. While the Swarovski crystal in itself has a orange/ yellow tone, the actual copper component is rosy. The addition of black wire adds a nice contrast. I adore anything asymmetrical, which is why I thought it would be a nice point of interest to add the tiny Swarovski crystal beads in an unbalanced fashion around the Copper Circle. Wire wrapping is something i would like to continue for my future projects, but for now, these two are my ode to Wire Wrapping in Copper.