Tahoe Treasures {Earrings-of-the-Month}

For my April earrings-of-the-month selections, I drew inspiration from our recent trip to Lake Tahoe. We spent the first week of the boys' Spring Break sledding, hiking, skiing, and just enjoying the alpine environment. I loved the color of the iced-over Cascade Lake, the almost turquoise waters near Logan Shoals, the various evergreen shades from the Ponderosas to the junipers, and the steely grey of fractured granite.

This month I created one-of-a-kind pieces for my subscribers that mirrored those colors of Tahoe, using recycled blue glass, green onyx, green aventurine, milky moonstones, icy aquamarines, and vibrant peridot.

I hope the gals love their Tahoe Treasures!

True Blue. Wild 'Bout Hyacinths.

Having worked as a florist in college, flowers and their meanings are important to me. So, when I got married - 13 years ago this month - the flowers I picked were not random. The guys sported boutonnieres featuring grape hyacinth, a flower whose meaning is 'constancy' and 'sincerity.' True blue seemed a fitting flower for a wedding. Besides, it's one of my favorite flowers and one of the first to herald the coming of Spring. In climates where snow falls, it's a dramatic, gorgeous site - that vibrant bluish purple peeking through stark white ground.

I handwired amethyst, purple chalcedony, violet glass, and blue iolite together to form these one-of-a-kind creations. They'll be in the mail tomorrow to my Earrings-of-the-Month members. Hope they like them... Happy Spring!

'A Little Love' Bracelets

I made some bracelets as Valentine presents for my favorite little girls. Upcycled sterling silver chain, sterling heart motif findings and lobster claps came together with faceted chalcedony briolettes, prehnite rounds, and faceted jade. Hope they like them!

Oh, Honey, Honey!

These are in the mail this week for my earrings-of-the-month club members. I picked HONEY as my theme for February's EcoChic Designs creations for a couple of reasons: I love honey; and I am currently working on an article about honey and beekeepers. I have always told my boys that their job of learning and stretching their minds never ends. So, I have to live up to that goal as well. Last month I went to a butchery seminar for an article. I have never had any illusions that meat just appears in the grocery store, headless, legless, and wrapped in paper or plastic. Many of my friends are hunters or fisherman, so deliveries of homemade sausages, cuts of wild boar, and whole fishes and crabs are not out of the ordinary. However, until EcoFarm's 2013 Butchery Skills Seminar, last week, I have never seen a whole carcass broken down into saleable cuts.

But this isn't about meat. This is about honey. Sweet, golden, delectable honey.

These earrings are one-of-a-kind creations, inspired by HONEY. Golden chalcedony, faceted citrine, lemon quartz, recycled yellow glass, and amber are handwired with sterling silver for this month's pieces. They hang from hammered sterling earwires.

Fun and Functional: Eyeglass Holders

When a friend from high school contacted me about making some eyeglass holders for her that were both fun and functional, I jumped at the chance to create them. She said, "No pastels and nothing that makes me look like an old lady!" Points taken. ;) Here's what I made...

Rough emeralds, green aventurine, blue freshwater pearls, Burmese rubies, neon blue apatite, yellow jade, amethysts, recycled yellow glass, lemon chalcedony, garnet, moss agate, faceted citrine, faceted blue topaz, amazonite, and orange crystal...all handwired with sterling silver. It closes with two repurposed sterling silver pieces; her eyeglasses can hang from a sterling silver circle in the middle.

I just heard from her. She loves them! And I love having a satisfied customer. Thanks for the order.

Persephone's Passion

For my January EcoChic Designs Earrings-of-the-Month pieces, I found inspiration in this pomegranate pendant. Since the deep red color of the pomegranate arils gave rise to the naming of the garnet - January's birthstone - I handwired garnets galore with sterling silver. Some pieces are garnets alone, other include recycled red glass or watermelon tourmaline. These lovelies are in the mail next week to my members. Enjoy!

That's a Wrap!

I just finished creating tags for the January shipment of my earrings-of-the-month creations...well, for current members. I do have three new members - thanks to a generous Christmas elf who doesn't like her friends and family to have naked lobes! - whose style and length preferences I don't yet know. So, those will go out next week.

But this month wraps the first 12 months of this venture, EcoChic Designs' Earrings-of-the-Month club. I've had a lot of fun and look forward to another years of inspired earrings for my members.

January's Pieces are inspired by the pomegranate...

"Ardent for Arils"

Originally from Persia, the pomegranate is one of the oldest cultivated fruits. Ancient Romans used the skins in the process of tanning leather. Perhaps due to the fruit's princely blossom crown, it has gained distinction as a royal fruit. Chaucer, Shakespeare and Homer have all extolled the virtues of the pomegranate in literature. The Moors brought the seedy fruit to Spain where Granada was named for it. The first pomegranate was planted in Britain by King Henry VIII. It reached our shores by way of the Spanish conquistadors.

The deep red color of the pomegranate arils gave rise to the naming of the garnet gemstone, January’s birthstone. So, for this month, garnets galore are handwired with sterling silver and hang from handmade, hammered sterling ear wires.

Photos of the pieces to come....