Gearing up.

It's been over a year since we've made the trip out to my favorite vacation spot – Las Vegas! Well, we're getting ready to head out there for 4 days, but with a twist this time around.

We're taking with us my in-laws, grandma and one of her good friends and my mom. I'm feeling a little anxious about the whole thing. Seven people and trying to coordinate all of the things we want to show them... My father-in-law is out there a few times a year for business but isn't the type to go gambling. My mother-in-law has been there once for work, but didn't get to see much of anything. Grandma was there long ago, when the Mirage was new! I'm not sure about her friend, but I get the impression she has also been there. My mom hasn't ever really been on a real vacation. Well, she's getting thrown right in on this trip!

We have two rooms lined up at the Venetian and one at Flamingo. My in-laws have a rental car reserved – a van, no less – which will be quite handy with all of these people! We've got a decent amount of sight-seeing planned, which is cool for me since I've never seen any of these places! So far on the agenda are Red Rock National Conservation Area, Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon, Ethel M's Chocolate Factory & Botanical Cactus Garden, possibly Lake Mead and of course all of the cool things right there in Las Vegas. We're going to see Cirque du Soleil's Mystére at Treasure Island and the ladies want to go see one of the Rat Pack tribute shows. Somehow I've got to work in some pool time and my husband and I will likely have a couple late night poker sessions sprinkled in there. I'm sure we'll manage.

Right now I'm trying to get everything done at home... cleaning, packing and trying to get some more pieces listed in my shop. I'm really getting excited about hitting the desert for a few days though! Of course I will bring back many photos and a trip report (be warned, I'm sure it'll be a long read!).

A good morning.

It was probably close to 7 pm last night when I checked in with my shop last. I checked out early to go play cards with some friends. We got home very late and went straight to bed. This morning I woke up to a sale (yea!) and also to see that I now have 100 Etsy members who 'heart' me! It's a baby milestone for my shop. It always feels good to wake up to a sale, but I was hanging around just under 100 hearts for a few days and was wondering if it would ever flip over to 100!

One of my favorites.

A few years ago in the fall, we planted two trees in our front yard which replaced some aging evergreens. They were not in the best shape and were big enough to pose a threat to everything around them. One, a mountain ash, which is shaping up to be a lovely shade tree, and a saucer magnolia. I've always loved magnolias. They come in so many varieties, each one more beautiful than the last. I happened to find one on sale for around $25 since it was the end of the season. Each spring it produces more and more sweetly scented, soft pink flowers, but they don't last very long! More times than not, we get a cold snap and the frost takes away the blossoms. Today, I was lucky enough to be off work and figured I had better snap a couple pics while there was still time! Happy spring! Enjoy!

Loving the PMC...

These are a few pieces I finished up Sunday (meaning I finally put some of my PMC elements actually into some designs!). I've been such a slacker lately, so it feels fantastic to get some new pieces made and I'm really happy with how they turned out too. Not bad for my first attempt. I will be adding them to my shop before long, but I need to get some more photos. After that, I'm going to be purchasing some more clay and working on my technique. I'm very excited!

First up is a fine silver pendant paired with a AAA amethyst briolette. I had two of these little guys and they are stunning stones. Just have to figure out where the second one will live now. I finished the chain with a hand-formed clasp and two tiny faceted peridots.

Next is one that I'm especially fond of.. I had this teardrop shaped pendant and couldn't quite figure out what to do with it until I sat down and dug through my gems. I came across this beautiful garnet and it just spoke to me. Really a lovely piece, if I do say so. Also finished with a handmade clasp and two faceted garnets.

Last is a pair of earrings. 'Lace' is their name. AAA pink amethyst, fine silver discs and hand-formed sterling earwires. Perfect for spring!

Yikes! I have no jewelry of my own!

For a while now, I've been trying to concentrate on keeping my shop full and fulfilling custom orders. It dawned on my that I haven't made anything for myself in quite a while. After visiting a bead show last weekend and finding one of my new favorite stones, I decided to make myself a new favorite necklace.

Red Creek Jasper is absolutely stunning. The variations of color and pattern throughout each bead are quite striking and unique to each, so much so that they required little work from me to produce this beautiful piece. I only bought a single strand and if I can find more, you'll likely see something similar in my shop before too long. But I'm keeping this one! :)

A few custom orders... finished!

For the last several weeks, I seem to have been suffering from some sort of jewelry creating block. It didn't help that I had a few things hanging around that I needed to finish either. Luckily, with the help of visiting a couple traveling bead shows, I have managed to work through it.

This first piece I designed for my neighbors' kids' school fundraiser. I'm not sure looking back if she asked me for a necklace or any type of piece in particular, but I felt that might, well... raise the most funds. I had a hard time at first even selecting beads for to get started. Sometimes I look into that bin with the strands in it and don't see anything I really like or care to work with at the time. Such was the case this time. I ended up using a strand of large rose quartz ovals, tiny dark pink garnet teardrops in threes as spacers and a beautiful pink/purple moukaite jasper as a focal nestled between two sterling hammer-finished circles. I added a hook clasp that I made and am really happy with the results. I wish I had gotten a better photo of it. The lighting was not the best and I didn't drag out my light box. Lesson learned!

Next is a pair of earrings for a friend of my husband, who purchased the Desert Walk bracelet from me around Christmas time. She asked if there was a matching pair of earrings. Not a problem. I just love these! A mix of yellow wonderstone, green turquoise and copper. I adore wonderstone... so many color variations to be seen in it!

Also for our friend is this necklace which started with the focal bead that she had purchased years ago. She just never got around to putting it into a design and asked if I would like to do it. After much debate at my local bead store, I ended up combining it with a couple sizes of matching turquoise rounds, new jade faceted rounds and rich, cocoa brown Swarovski pearls. I fashioned a swirly copper bail and added the copper and sterling rings for a bit of brightness and color. (Plus I know she likes copper!)

I figured it couldn't hurt to make a pair of matching earrings as well!

Could it be?

Today has been a beautiful, sunny winter's day. I think it reached 45º. It's not as warm as I'd like, but it sure beats the 20's and 30's we've been seeing. I was fortunate enough to have the day off work, so my mom and I got together for lunch. Mmmm, Angilo's Pizza!

I was standing outside chatting with my mom as she was leaving after her visit this afternoon and happened to glance over at my neighbors' flower bed. Actually, mom pointed it out to me. A beautiful little pop of purple coming up from the mulch! Could it be that spring is around the corner? Please, say it's true!