Coral Slide Pendant Necklace

I designed this necklace specifically for a party I was doing back in October. I wanted to designs something that younger women might be interested in. It has chunky pieces of genuine coral, some really spectacular sterling beads and a beautiful sterling silver oval chain with a lobster clasp. Being that it is a One of a Kind piece and so beautiful and unique, I thought it would sell quickly. I was extremely sad when it didn't sell at all. Now I'm not so sure about it or why it didn't sell. Maybe someone reading this can tell me. Any feedback is welcomed.

My husband and I are enjoying our new grandchildren. They are so much fun and are so cute. My grandson, Horatio has been living with us for the past month due to his parents having some problems with drugs and coping with being parents. We decided to remove the baby from that environment and get social services involved in order to get the parents some help with the drug problem.

Getting up in the middle of the night for feedings, round the clock diaper changing, feeding and looking after a newborn is really stressful at my age and with my disabilities. Due to the late night feedings, I decided to go off the Trazodone medicine that I took for sleeping (Fibromyalgia causes loss of REM sleep) because I was afraid I wouldn't here my grandson in the middle of the night. Since I've been losing REM sleep for the past month or so, my Fibromyalgia has flared up and is causing numbness and pain in both legs.

Things are going to be changing soon and my grandson will be reunited with his mother under supervised conditions. I'll be able to get back on my medication and also get back to the business of designing jewelry again. I miss the thrill of the design and watching it come alive. Business has been slow but I'm hoping with some promotional help, things will pick up soon. I'm in the process of setting up a myspace to help promote my etsy shop.

English Lavender Garden Bracelet

Can't you just smell the lavender in bloom? I love the lampwork beads in this bracelet. I bought these beads from FerrariOriginalBeads at Etsy. http://ferrarioriginalbeads.etsy.com/. They have gorgeous beads so check them out. I'm sure you'll find something you like. I handwrapped these beads in sterling silver wire and added a couple of fancy sterling beads that I had been saving for that something special. This was that time I think. The square beads are a beautiful amethyst crystal glass that I also have had for some time. I finished the whole piece off with more sterling rings, bali spacers and a very lovely floral sterling silver toggle clasp. If you're interested in purchasing this bracelet, please check out my Etsy Shop at: Naturally Charming .

My Etsy Trades for Baby Things

Etsy is such a great place to shop or sell handcrafted items. I have two grandchildren who will be born sometime in September. My son and his fiance are expecting around the 15th of September and my husband's daughter and her fiance are expecting around the same time. It has gotten to be kind of comical because it appears that the race is on between the two families now.

Each week, as the girls go to their doctor appointments, I get a new report of how they are each progressing. Recently, both doctor's have figured they are both further along than realized therefore, the due dates have changed frequently. Unfortunately, since these will be our first grandchildren....it's become a bit of rivalry for being the first. The good news is: my son is having a boy, my stepdaughter is having a girl...so at least, we'll have one of each. Maybe if we're lucky they'll both go into labor at the same time and they'll have the same birthday.

Anyway, I've been doing some shopping for baby items that I want to buy for my new grandchildren and I've been doing it on Etsy. Yesterday, I posted in the forum asking for baby items that I might be able to trade for. I got several responses and I've made a few choice trades. I traded a beautiful rose quartz necklace for a lovely rag quilt and I've also traded two ankle bracelets for two chenille bibs with little fishies on it.

I'm going to leave you with both of their shops on Etsy. The quilt was from:Susan's Treasures and the bibs are from: Our Kid's Boutique . I want to say Thank You to both of you for making this such a wonderful transaction.

Gray Mist Lampwork Bracelet

I am so pleased with how this bracelet turned out. The focal bead is a One Of A Kind lampwork bead created by Cindy Craig at: Artglass Adornments . The gray part of the bead is kind of transparent with swirls of white and blue colors going through it but the beautiful part of this bead is on the inside: a luminous color of aquamarine/teal blue and it is so sparkly and beautiful to look at. It shows through both sides of the beads. I decided to add some sterling silver bali curved tube beads, rose beads, a couple of twisted rings and some 6mm Swarovski crystal bicones to add to the sparkle and luminosity of the focal. I finished it off with an extension chain and lobster clasp of sterling silver with a small handwrapped charm at the end of the extension chain. I tried to get the camera to pick up the dazzling colors in this bracelet but I think it didn't do it justice. It truly is a beautiful bracelet and it has a mysterious quality to it. If you're interested in purchasing this bracelet, you can do so in my Etsy Shop: Naturally Charming. I have more wonderful lampwork beads by talented artist on Etsy and I will be showing them off as I complete each design so stay tuned for more surprises.

Lemony Flower Jasper Olive Jade Pendant and Earring Set

This is the other pendant that I had so I decided to do something unique and unusual with this one as well. I started with some sterling silver cable chain and handwrapped some olive ab czech glass crystals and a oblong tab of flower jasper. I continued on with that theme along one side of the necklace and on the other side I added a couple of larger olive czech glass crystals and some beautiful sterling silver beadcaps in between the flower jasper beads. The end result is very beautiful, I think. I added a simple pendant of olive jade as a focal point for the necklace.

The earrings carry the same theme with the olive ab czech glass crystals and flower jasper beads. I added the olivine swarovski crystal bicones to give it a little more pizzazz. The ear wires are french style and sterling silver. If you are interested in buying these you can do so by going to my Etsy Shop at: Naturally Charming.

Turquoise in Motion Necklace

This is a little different style for me but I wanted to try something quite unique with some pendants that I have. I thought they required a chain but with some added flash. I handwrapped some turquoise and red mountain jade beads into the sterling silver cable chain and attached a beautiful heart toggle in sterling. Then I wirewrapped the pendant in sterling silver wire and added some jade charms and another larger round turquoise bead with a Hill Tribe silver bead cap. I think the end result is very stunning. The pendant is quite unique as it has a very nice striation of lines and markings all the way through the stone to the backside so that the back is just as beautiful as the front. If you are interested in buying this pendant and necklace you can find it listed in my Etsy Shop: Naturally Charming .

Bracelet Forest Wonderland

This is such a beautiful bracelet. The focal lampwork bead is by: Sun Daisy Gems. She makes lovely beads. This one in particular has a luminous glow to it. The colors are so clear and true. I added a dark green cat's eye beads to bring out the greens in the focal bead. Sterling silver bali curved beads, barrel beads, spacers, a lobster clasp and sterling extension chain for adjustability. You'll find this wonderful bracelet in my Etsy shop.

Well, the 4th has come and gone, and so my birthday as well. The holiday was a huge success at my daughter's home. Lots of family and friends, terrific food, lots of fun, great music and entertainment. The weather started out a little rainy but only for an hour, then it rained itself out for the rest of the day. Bright sunshine and clear skies. My daughter, Nellie and her boyfriend were the perfect hostess and host. A good time was had by all...

On Friday, my birthday, Nellie took me out for a late lunch at Red Lobster. It's been a long time since I've eaten at Red Lobster but they only get better each time I go. I had the lobster and shrimp linguini alfredo, a caesar salad and of course, their wonderful cheese garlic biscuits. I tried a new beverage that was tea and cranberry which was delicious. (No sugar added) We had a wonderful time chatting, catching up on the past couple of days since the party. She brought me a beautiful birthday present - which I will keep a secret for right now until I can photograph it and show you. It will be worth the wait, I assure you!

My husband's been in Wisconsin/Minnesota for a few days now...we have decided to move back to the northcountry again. We are from Minnesota originally and miss the lakes and trees and the change of seasons. Living in Florida is nice but we are both tired of the heat, the heat, and the heat....and the weather in general which is usually hot and humid. Anyway, he's looking for a house for us to buy and also has a big job interview with Miracle Ear Inc selling hearing aids. It's a great opportunity and my husband loves working with the elderly and he's a great salesman.

My son and his fiance are expecting and their son is due Sept 30 of this year so we want to be home in Minnesota for the birth. This way we'll be able to play grandma and grandpa to our new grandson. We also have a granddaughter who will be born in October this year. We've been anxiously awaiting grandchildren for some time now and we finally get our wish. I will continue to update any information we get on both pregnancies.

Earrings "Mystic" Blue Larimar Clear Quart

The bracelet looked so lonely without earrings that I decided to make a pair. Loads of quartz crystal chips and blue larimar beads all handwrapped with sterling silver wire. I attached them to a sterling silver chain and sterling ear wires. They look so classy and elegant, just the right touch. I love making chandelier earrings. Since I enjoy making the little handwrapped charms, it's something that I've gotten pretty good at, so it makes sense to me to do the chandeliers. They take a little more time and effort than the regular ones but I think it's worth it when they're done. Spent the day doing some promoting, but most of my day was spent fixing computer problems. I was on the phone with Road Runner for about 3 hours, trying to figure out why my firewall kept locking me out of the internet. Turns out the firewall was faulty, not me this time...now it's fixed and it's working wonderful. I'm not a complete idiot about computers but when it comes to software problems, I don't have a clue. Well, back to the designing board...have some more ideas spinning around in my head...need to get them down on paper before they go flying out the window. Fibro fog sometimes hinders the creativity channels...I've learned to make alot of lists.

Bracelet "Mystic Dragonfly"

Oooh, I love this one so much. The gorgeous clear quartz crystal nuggets and the sky blue color of larimar gemstones makes this bracelet such a wonderful piece. I like the mixing of chunky with graceful and elegant. Lots of sterling silver square bali spacers, sterling chain, lobster clasp and topped off with a beautiful silver Thai Karen Hill Tribe dragonfly. Then I handwrapped some larimar, sterling silver bead caps and Swarovski crystal bicones into cute little charms. This is truly going to be an eyecatcher. You can find this piece for sale at: Naturally Charming Today was a great day for designing. Some of my new beads arrived so I've got some really great pieces coming up. I found a couple of great thrift store finds today also. Little miniature domino pieces and a scrabble board with all the tiles. I'll be using these things in some of my new designs I'm working on. I love using things that I find on my little hunting trips in my jewelry.