Curation Nation Natural History Treasury Challenge: Winner

I am thrilled to bits that I was chosen the winner of the Curation Nation Natural History Treasury Challenge!

Due to being the winner, these gorgeous Center Drilled Maroon Garnets from my Etsy Supplies Store were chosen as this week's featured item on the Wednesday Item Treasury Challenges. These beads have been featured 19 treasuries as I write this...and counting!

Being featured brings a lot of exposure and traffic to our online stores. You could be featured in an upcoming Wednesday Challenge too! The featured Wednesday item is picked from the winning shop of the Saturday challenge. Everyone is invited to play - these challenges are open to all, not just to team members of Curation Nation. Please check out the details on the Curation Nation blog.

Making a treasury following the simple rules is really very easy. So please make one and drop a comment on the Curation Nation blog. Just tell them that Som send you.

BRIDAL PORTFOLIO - JENN

I am so thrilled to have received some professional pictures from my gorgeous bridal customer Jenn! Wow! What a beautiful wedding and what fabulous pictures!


(Pictures used with permission from Danielle Aquiline Photography.)

Jenn wanted a pearl and rhinestone Flower Necklace. She also requested that the pearls used on the side be smaller than the ones I used in the Cubic Zirconia component for a sparkly yet delicate look. I made her necklace using genuine Freshwater pearls, Cubic Zirconia components and solid sterling silver parts. The Cubic Zirconia and pearl component was based off an earlier best selling design, just replaced the central Cubic Zirconia with a genuine freshwater pearl. More pictures of the necklace can be found here.



Keeping with the delicate angle, I included these petite pearl earrings as a thank you gift!


It’s such a great experience making jewelry for brides!
Thank you Jenn!

A gift from Jamie Bowers of Viola and Jean

I received these gorgeous earrings as an unexpected gift from my customer Jamie Bowers of Viola and Jean. What a pleasant surprise!! These earrings traveled all across the globe and I immediately wore them although was still in my PJs. They were so lightweight and comfortable that I wore them all evening too.


These playful earrings are a slight different take on her Cinderella earrings. Jamie describes them as "The color combination has the distinct feeling of sunset. A Baroque white pearl starts the tassel made of Gunmetal and Silver Chain with Tundra Sapphires in red, orange and taupe, a deep yellow Tourmaline and Tiger Eye, finished by a silver pearl hung from handmade earrings hooks. They’re perfect for flagging down a ride and finding glass slippers. Never feel stranded again."

Thank you so much Jamie, for this wonderful gift! I will cherish these earrings forever!

Rooted in Love

A very special customer of mine had a concept called "Rooted in Love". She wanted me to make pendants reflecting this concept, so I picked up my pen...em...my mouse and set to work.

Earlier prototype.

Final design of "Rooted in Love"


Final design of "Mini Rooted in Love"

I gave these designs to my manufacturer, who cast them in sterling silver to make these lovely pendants.

Final design of "Rooted in Love" cast in Sterling Silver

All pictures © 2010

New Concave cut Gemstones are just in!

I am super excited to receive a whole bunch of specialty concave cut faceted briolette beads that are just plain gorgeous!

Smoky Quartz Concave Cut Briolette Beads - Hearts

Lemon Quartz Concave Cut Briolette Beads - Hearts

Rock Crystal Quartz Concave Cut Briolette Beads - Hearts

Pink Amethyst Concave Cut Briolette Beads - Pears

Prasiolite or Green Amethyst Concave Cut Briolette Beads - Pears

Lemon Quartz Concave Cut Briolette Beads - Pears

Beer Quartz Concave Cut Briolette Beads - Pears

I received some other regular gemstones too, as requests.

Rainbow Moonstone 3-D Teardrop Briolette Beads


Tanzanite Rondelle Beads


White Topaz Faceted Pear Teardrop Briolette Beads


White Topaz Faceted Pear Teardrop Briolette Beads

All of these gemstones will be also be available at my gemstone store on Etsy starting tomorrow.

Colors of the Sapphire Gemstone

Think Sapphire. Think Blue? Think again!
The Sapphire gemstone can be blue, green pink, yellow, and a whole lot of other colors!

Sapphire is a mineral called "Corundum". Chemically Aluminium Oxide. Interestingly Ruby is also the same mineral/ chemical compound. Color is what distinguishes ruby from sapphires. Rubies are red and sapphires are either blue, or another color such as green, orange, pink, yellow, purple, colorless or black.

Sapphire when used by itself generally refers to the blue variety. In its highest quality, this blue sapphire is more expensive than other varieties.




Padparadscha Sapphire is a pinkish orange color and is the rarest and most prized of all fancy (non blue) sapphires. Most Dealers agree that pink and orange hues must be present to be a true padparadscha.



Pink Sapphire is the most highly prized next to the padparadscha.


Other colors include Orange, Yellow and Green.




Colorless Sapphire or White Sapphire is made by heat treating light colored sapphire and is a popular diamond substitute.

This week's treasury challenge by Curation Nation is : Sapphire. Details of the challenge is here. This is my take on the "Colors of Sapphire".


Reference: Gemstone Buying Guide: How to evaluate, identify, select & care for colored gems by Renee Newman GG

Tourmalinated Quartz or Black Rutilated Quartz Gemstone

I received the most spectacular Tourmalinated Quartz or Black Rutilated Quartz gemstones from my supplier today. These will be also be available in my gemstone store on Etsy from tomorrow.






Tourmalinated Quartz or Black Rutilated Quartz Gemstone is basically rock crystal quartz which contain rutiles as inclusions. The chemical composition of rutile is titanium oxide. The needle like rutiles form beautiful and unique matrices, because of which they are sometimes called as 'Venus hair' or 'Angel hair'.

Rutilated Quartz is another healing stone and is believed to aid in dealing with depression and loneliness at the same time enhancing creativity, potency and self-healing.

Peruvian Pink Opal Gemstones

I received the most gorgeous gemstones of Pink Opal. I think these are my new favorites. All of these will be available in my gemstone store on Etsy from tomorrow. Today, you and I get to exclusively feast our eyes on these.








Peruvian Pink Opal is found in the Andes Mountains near San Patricio, Peru. The pink color is derived from trace amounts of quinones. Some stones contain fernlike dendritic inclusions that show depending on the cut of the stone.

Pink Opal is the birthstone for October, the lucky stone for Libra. Opal is a powerful healing stone and is associated with the energies of Love, Healing, Power and Good Luck.

SNEAK PEEK

I know that I have been gone for a while and for good reason too! I have been working around the clock on my new Bridal line of jewelry. This is a sneak peek to what is to come soon.








All of these have been made using very high quality Cubic Zirconia components and Swarovski pearls in pale Ivory and White. All hardware are solid sterling silver.

More pictures can be found here.