Browsing through the gallery, I thought I would recreate one of my favorite Valentine’s Day themed pieces with an additional flourish. I just finished and posted them on the site today, so here are a few pictures of the earrings in process:

My tools and the jewelry components needed to create the earrings.

Sometimes, stones look great until you get them under the light…that’s where you can really see the flaws and cracks which make some stones unusable. Most wire work starts with a base frame. Depending on how much tugging and pulling you may do to create the piece, some jewelry frames need a little hammering or chasing to give them additional strength.

The dowel helps me create the original circular frame and aids me in keeping the design’s shape as I guide and tug the wire. Other tools have their jobs, too.

Once I’m satisfied with a design, I’ll find a place out of the way to clip and secure my wire. Otherwise, I work the tails into the designs until they disappear.

These earrings are the final result. You can find them here.

So, did you like my additional flourish?

This post is part of the 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion series by Tara Gentile of Scoutie Girl. If you’re interested in participating in the group, pick up her e-book today! You can start at any time.

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For the 12 Days of Holiday Deals, I’m offering one item on my site at a discount of 30% – 50% off the original price of the item. You only have until midnight EST to make your purchase on my limited edition pieces the day I post them on my blog. So if you want this item, don’t delay. Tomorrow, this deal will be gone!

And as a little extra to everyone who stops by during my 12 Days of Holiday Deals, for each item purchased or each comment left (1 each a day), you’ll get entered to win a $50 gift certificate to my shop! That’s 24 chances to win over the course of 12 days!

The Peach Holiday Garland Earrings…Bursting with a cluster of peach keishe pearls and deep pink rhodolite garnets, these disco cut smoky quartz balls are just to die for. Topped by a smaller smoky quartz faceted round, these earrings are festive for any occasion.

The earrings hang approximately 1 1/2″ (3.81 cm) from the top of the ball post. All metal is 14kt gold-filled or vermeil (22kt gold heavily plated over a sterling silver core.)

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For the 12 Days of Holiday Deals, I’m offering one item on my site at a discount of 30% – 50% off the original price of the item. You only have until midnight EST to make your purchase on my limited edition pieces the day I post them on my blog. So if you want this item, don’t delay. Tomorrow, this deal will be gone!

And as a little extra to everyone who stops by during my 12 Days of Holiday Deals, for each item purchased or each comment left (1 each a day), you’ll get entered to win a $50 gift certificate to my shop! That’s 24 chances to win over the course of 12 days!

The Green Holiday Garland Earrings…Bursting with a cluster of green keishe pearls and deep pink rhodolite garnets, these disco cut smoky quartz balls are just to die for. Topped by a smaller smoky quartz faceted round, these earrings are festive for any occasion.

The earrings hang approximately 1 1/2″ (3.81 cm) from the top of the ball post. All metal is 14kt gold-filled or vermeil (22kt gold heavily plated over a sterling silver core.)

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January

Garnet (deep red in color) – Symbolizing love & passion.

February

Amethyst (purple in color) – Symbolizing luck & good health.

March

Aquamarine (pale aqua in color) – Symbolizing happiness & understanding. An alternate birthstone for June is Bloodstone.

These pieces were made by Katja of Katja Adams Design, Debbie
of Crysallis Creations and Holly of Bijoux d’Odalisque, respectively.

April

Diamond (clear in color) – Symbolizing eternal love. For a less expensive piece, you can look for jewelry created with rock quartz.

These pieces were made by Ginger of MsBellee, Sheela of
Eclettica The Atêlier and Holly of Bijoux d’Odalisque, respectively.

May

Emerald (deep green in color) – Symbolizing love, fidelity & goodness.

These pieces were made by Asta of Anastassias Atelier,
Heather & Mel of Heather & Mel and Jo of Gemheaven, respectively.

June

Pearl (lustrous white in color) – Symbolizing peace, beauty, nobility & purity. An alternate birthstone for June is Moonstone.

July

Ruby (red in color) – Symbolizing love, strength & devotion.

The second and third pieces were made by Anna-Karin of små blå
and Holly of Bijoux d’Odalisque, respectively.

August

Peridot (pale green in color) – Symbolizing success, dignity & protection. An alternate birthstone for August is Sardonyx.

These pieces were made by Amy of Amy Olson Jewelry,
Catherine Marche Jewellery and Susanna of Suzy Q Jewelry, respectively.

September

Sapphire (blue in color) – Symbolizing purity, truth & sincerity. An alternate birthstone for September is Lapis Lazuli.

These pieces were made by Anna-Karin of små blå,
Catherine of Modeste Parisienne and Lotta of Silverknuten, respectively.

October

Opal (rainbow in color, but also found in blues and pinks) – Symbolizing beauty, success & happiness. An alternate birthstone for October is Pink Tourmaline.

November

Citrine (yellow in color) – Symbolizing hope, fidelity & health. An alternate birthstone for November is yellow Topaz.

The second and third pieces were made by Ann of Beadiful Things
and Jennifer of Lee Ohio Designs, respectively.

December

Topaz (orange/brown/blue in color) – Symbolizing wisdom and courage. For a less expensive piece, you can look for jewelry created with Whiskey Quartz stones. Sometimes they are the same as jewelers may not know the difference between the quartz and topaz stones as seen with the naked eye. An alternate birthstone for December is Turquoise.

From traditional to modern, ancient to mystical, there are sure to be numerous variations in charts. Ultimately, the best stone selection is one that has meaning to the recipient, whether that happens to be their birthstone or not.

Are there any differences in lists that you use for selecting birthday stone jewelry? Let me know!

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That doesn’t mean that I’ve been doing nothing, though! Check out the earrings I just finished for one of my customers:

Much darker than the pair of earrings they are modeled after, but as far as I’m concerned, they are even more captivating and exotic. Can’t wait to hear back from her when she sees them!

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More goodies just came in today. I’ve been waiting for these since March. So excited! Pictured from left to right:

• rhodolite garnet rondelles
• prehnite rondelles
• almandine garnet rondelles
• apatite rondelles
• iolite rondelles
• almandine garnet drops
• rhodolite garnet drops
• citrine drops
• black spinel drops
• amethyst drops
• prehnite drops
• crystal quartz twists
• peridot drops
• rhodolite garnet hearts.

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Light and Airy Hessonite Chandeliers

Notice, I also used the Hessonite I purchased on my previous spree. What do you think?

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I know I’m not the only other blogger who feels this way. I just happened to read a very engaging post on The Switchboards forums about this same thing…a new blogger was wondering if anyone was reading her blog. She saw people hit the blog, but with no comments, she was getting very discouraged.

So, after taking a look at my blog, I do realize that there are things I can improve. One of them was the comment leaving process. For a while I was getting sooo much spam that I felt the need for a trip to Las Vegas to gamble! I installed a CAPTCHA module (a random number verifying system, for those not familiar with that term), but even I was having a hard time reading the numbers. It’s my blog and I will persevere in trying to leave a post, but I’m sure others would not do the same.

Say “bye! bye!” to those annoying numbers! With a little bit of searching, I’ve installed a new spam filtering module. Yay! I hope you will all join me in commenting now.

Oh, and since I like pictures in my blogs, here’s a quick picture of three pairs of custom earrings I made for a friend of mine. She likes dainty drops and I think these are about as dainty as you can get.

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So, guess what appears in my mailbox the other day? Her package with a note that says “Undeliverable as addressed”:

She and I got a good laugh out of that, even more so since the package was addressed correctly. :)

As it turns out, my style has slow been morphing into something that is uniquely mine. And while little drop earrings are still my first love, I knew that I had to do something different with the pearl drops. Very inspired by nature, leaves and flowers (since I spend so much time inside staring at my computer), I decided to make these sweet but oh so fabulous Flower Drop earrings. I told my customer and she said she wanted to see a sneak peek, so here it is:

I hope you like these Annie. I see the little pearls and they remind me of you. :)

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