It's February...what happened to January?

While my days are literally dragging on, I am having a hard time watching the calendar flash on by so quickly! I looked high and low for inspiration the entire month of January. I am absolutely blessed with an amazing studio that I have stocked through the years with so many wonderful tools...

I tried everything to find my mojo - I would sit at my chair, and literally go through all my stones and cabochones.  I looked at hundreds of photos of previous work; Pinterest...anything for inspiration. I tried to find an online class to take, but nothing even struck my fancy.  I truly have never had a creative block that has dragged on so long.  So, I decided to stop thinking about it, and I went onto my first love - cooking and baking. I have been at the stove since I was 10 years old (thats half a century people!!!) I tried several new recipes;  baked loads of bread; even tried a few Keto-friendly recipes. By the way, I know how healthy it is to eat Keto/Paleo --- but....it's just not my favorite! Although I cook with lots of  varieties of meat, very little of it hits my lips. And I can only eat so many vegetables before my taste buds BEG for something else!  But, we keep trying! 

Back to jewelry. I very recently purchased two pairs of earrings from Deryn Mentock (link here). Several years ago, I took an online class from Deryn and her jewelry is amazing.  She posts previews on Instagram of her new jewerly days-to weeks in advance of her upcoming sales -- and once available, they sell quickly! 

Aren't they stunning?!  I love these prong settings - which allow the stone to  reflect the light and are perfect for these gemstones!  And then ... inspiration finally came!  I happened to have a carved Labradorite gemstone, also procured through Deryn's shop....sometime in the past year or so.

The so called "Labradorescense" is perfection and it deserved to have a setting that enhanced both the hand carving and the beautiful colors that eminate from within the stones itself.  So, I crafted a "simple" prong setting (picture below is pre-polish).

I think it turned out so pretty! It's available here.  I recently added an Carved Amethyst necklace to my shop (link here) and intentionally kept the setting very simple.  These are hand carved gemstones - I think the translucency of the gemstone adds to the beauty of that hand carving.   

I have two more (maybe three) hand carved gemstones that I believe would be perfect for a prong setting. - Citrine and Aquamarine.

The back of the citrine is somewhat rounded and not completey flat, so that is another advantage to a potential prong setting.  I am not normally a "yellow" person...but show me Citrine and I instantly melt!

The Aquamarine is really special - the hand carved design is different on each side of the stone.

Interestingly, there is also an indentation carved all the way around the center of the aquamarine - a benefit if this stone were wire wrapped. Not the best picture, below, but I am not sure if this will impede whatever design I may come up with.

These last wo carved stones may just be the kick in the pants/inspiration I need to get creative for 2022.

However, I also played around with some pearls. I purchased several sets of so-called half drilled pearls eons and eons ago. I call them so-called half-drilled pearls because the drilled hole in the pearl was so slender...a thin sewing needle would not even fit! So, I finally got up the nerve to re-drill the holes so I could finally put these pearls to use.  Why did I wait so long to do that??!! These pearls finally found a home in a pair of earrings.

If you stare long enough at the pearls, you see a rainbow of colors in that nacre! These are perfect for everyday (I am talking sweats for me!) or the extremely rare occasion these days where a bit dressier attire is required! They are available here.

Between the hand carved gemstones, and the two pair (three??) of half drilled pearls (waiting to be redrilled of course), I at least have inspiration for the next few projects.  It's a start!

I hope 2022 is going well for all of you.  Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read!

xo

Patti