for May babies

Happy birthday May babies!  The green, lush qualities of spring are certainly represented by your birthstone, emerald.  These modern emerald earrings are very wearable with a hint of drama in the length.  I love the pin connection on these bezel set emeralds, the hand wrought look of the gold-filled wire connections, and the rich color and inclusions in these marquise shaped emeralds.

for April babies

Happy birthday April babies!!!!  Your birthstone is just incredible!  One could get lost in the sea of diamond jewelry available, so it was a hard choice to narrow down for this month's post.  But one of my favorite combos is diamond slices paired with faceted diamond accents... the best of both worlds!  These drop earrings are a beautiful example.

Outfit those drops with a pair of diamond slice ear crawlers and your earring game is a whole other level!

for March babies

Happy birthday March babies!  Let's all take a moment to collectively sigh over these AMAZING aquamarine earrings by Annoushka!  Not only are these aquamarines absolutely stunning, pairing them with apatite and blue tourmaline creates the perfect trifecta of beautiful blues.  The pave diamonds set this to a whole other level of glamorous-ness that I can only dream of one day achieving.  The price tag definitely reflects the quality of stones and materials, but it's fun to dream a little dream and admire this truly outrageous masterpiece of jewelry design.

for February babies

Happy birthday February babies!!!  Some might think that amethyst is such a blasé stone but these incredible Plukka amethyst earrings beg to differ!  The champagne diamond pavé drop is the perfect compliment to the outrageous purple hue and so-right irregular shape of these amethysts.

for January babies

Happy birthday January babies!  My best friend falls into this category and she has received some seriously nice garnet jewelry over the years.  The deep red of garnets pairs beautifully with a rich higher karat gold.  These stunning Cathy Waterman earrings feature domed garnets set in 22k gold.  I absolutely love the matte gold wheat leaf design... earthy and sophisticated.

holiday etsy wishlist 2016

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!! I am so incredibly excited for this holiday season.  My family is coming in from CA and it will be the first time we have all been together in 4 years.  This year I've been trying really hard to cut back on my shopping, so my wishlist is relatively long this year.  And as always, jewelry is the top contender on my list.  So once again, here is my annual holiday etsy wishlist:
1) Antique yellow gold engraved band-  This has been on my wishlist for awhile now, but I think I have finally found the perfect one!
2) Vintage large oval marcasite ring- In my dreams, I have been pining for a large diamond cluster ring but this is my reality option.
3) Art Deco marquise banded agate yellow gold ring- The key to this ring is the extreme marquise shape and the lily setting on the sides of the stone.  I've looked for this setting with other stones, but the banded agate seems to be the most readily available option out there.
4) Small flat yellow gold hoops- I desperately need some good basic yellow gold earrings and I pretty much wear hoops every day.
5) Flat circle yellow gold studs- Would pair perfectly with other gold earrings and are the kind of studs you could wear for eternity.
6) London blue topaz yellow gold studs- These weren't even something I was looking for but ones I stumbled across while looking for my December birthstone post.  I love this stone, it is such an incredible color, and I love the unique shape of these earrings.

for December babies

Happy birthday December babies!  I know you may have to share your birthday with a whole month of holidays, but at least you have a stunning birthstone to call your own.  Traditionally, blue topaz is a true bright baby blue, but if this were my birthstone (oh, I wish it was!) I would fully embrace the London Blue topaz.  I mean look at the color of these stunning earrings!  And the hexagon cut just puts these over the top.  So beautiful!

for November babies

Happy belated (second month in a row!) birthday to all November babies!  Things have been less than cheerful the last week or so, and it's been hard to focus on much else.  But jewelry can always cheer a girl up (at least definitely this girl!).  And who doesn't love a good Melissa Joy Manning piece?!  These stunning earrings, featuring rough cut citrine set in two simple gold bands, keeps all the focus on these beautiful stones.  The rough cut of the stones along with one of the most prominent characteristics of MJM's design aesthetic is all about capturing the one of a kind look.

for October babies

Happy birthday October babies!  Sorry if I am a little belated.  I've been doing these birthstone posts for two years now and I have no intention of stopping!  I am going to shift gears a little this year and not only focus on earrings but modern design.  (I feel like I have been giving antique jewelry an overwhelming share of the attention!)

October babies have the pleasure of having pink tourmaline as their birthstone.  The varying colors and shades of tourmaline are unmatched.  And these pink tourmaline slice earrings by Pamela Dale are a stunning example of tourmaline's wonderful shade of pink!  I have long been a fan of gemstone and diamond slices and their organic nature.  The addition of rose cut and brilliant cut diamonds and peach gold drips is just the icing on the cake!

a sprinkling of newness

I have quite a few lingering projects hanging out in my studio, all planned out and supplies sourced, but I finally got the time to execute some of them last night.  I've been obsessing over oxidized silver and yellow gold for some time now but had the epiphany that this combo I love could also be created with black stones and gold.  Henceforth the onyx bracelet and thread earrings were born!  I've also been craving a pop of blue with my necklaces and whipped up this small wire wrapped blue topaz.  Perfect for layering!

threaded wire earrings

My studio has been sorely neglected lately.  But all of a sudden yesterday, I experienced a surge of motivation that made me feel like if I didn't make something new soon I was going to burst!  Although I had minimal time to complete said newness after feverishly completing my daughter's Halloween costume, I was able to bust these hammered wire GF thread earrings out before crashing into my bed for the night!  But my goal for this weekend is to create a much needed shopping list of jewelry supplies to make a whole lot of more newness in the upcoming weeks!

thread earrings

I am so unbelievably excited about the earring trends surfacing right now!  Ear jackets and ear climbers and thread earrings, oh my!  Thread earrings are subtly dramatic, most often simple in design but with a dramatic length.  The above earrings by AveryBlake on Etsy are right up my alley with their oxidized sterling silver, yellow gold detail and aquamarine combo!  Here are some additional glamorous options...

These yellow gold bullet thread earrings are the perfect edgy everyday wear option.

I am such a sucker for a starburst!  A diamond encrusted starburst thread earring?  Even better!!!

Oh my LORD!  Pure perfection with black diamonds!

peek-a-boo

Another take on interesting stud earring designs (like the ear climber or ear pins I have been seeing a lot lately).  The diamonds on these earring jackets peek out from behind your ear.  For those of us that have multiple holes in their ears, this leaves an awesome opportunity to "outfit" our ears with an interesting collection of earrings.  FINALLY something good coming out of having all those piercings again!

climbers

Cannot get enough of ear climber earrings!  How outrageous are these by Jemma Wynne?!  I keep searching for my perfect pair but I am seeing some really good designs for this hot trend, it has been very hard to choose!

not those kind of bar studs

I love the look of these bar stud earrings (also referred to as ear climbers).  I'd love to see how they look on my ears.  I wonder if they would pleasantly cover up or look completely gross with the multitude of piercings I have in each of my ears due to being a teenager in the 90's.  This kind of photo makes me lament that my ears look like Swiss cheese!

P.S.  My apologies in advance for my sporadic presence on here.  I am working on some rather large projects over the next few weeks (and the last few weeks) and as a result will have very little free time to dedicate to posting.  I'll try to be on here as much as I can though to help you with your jewelry fix!

marcasite love

When I was first starting to get into the world of antique jewelry, a lot of my first purchases were vintage marcasite sterling silver jewelry because it was all I could really afford at the time.  To this day, I still love these pieces.  You get a whole lot packed into one piece of jewelry (beautiful metal patina with age, a lot of sparkle, and great design and craftmanship) for a very reasonable price!  Even in my recent searches I am surprised at how low many of these pieces are selling for!  (All items featured above are for sale on etsy for under $50!  Ring from here, earrings from here, and pendant from here.)  Interesting fact, "marcasite" jewelry does not contain the mineral marcasite, which is too brittle for use in jewelry, and is actually composed of the mineral pyrite.

as seen on TV: earring search

Do you watch Once Upon a Time on ABC?  I can't really explain why but I am in love with this show... I am hooked with the storyline, woven from many different fairy tales we all know and love but are twisted in surprising ways.  One thing that has caught my eye (other than Colin O'Donoghue!) are the earrings Tinkerbell wears in every episode.  They look like a gold bezel set pear shaped opaque green stone, suspended from a gold hook and chain, that has a row of gold chains dangling from the bottom.  I have searched high and low for the designer of these wonderful earrings with no luck.  Any leads, please comment them below!

holiday etsy wishlist

The holidays are already on my mind!  Maybe because of daylight savings, maybe because I am determined to get my holiday shopping done early this year, maybe because I am SUPER excited about Christmas with my baby girl, or maybe because my mother is already hounding us for our Christmas wishlists!  Last year, I created an entire holiday wishlist from etsy and I am inspired to do so again this year.
1) Labradorite eternity band- I seriously want to increase my stacking ring wardrobe and this ring will add great dimension and color!
2) Tiny diamond studs- I am still sticking to mostly stud earrings everyday and my stud collection is seriously lacking.  Although I already have a pair of diamond stud earrings, these little studs are hard to resist!
3) Black diamond and gold band- The picture featured above is of Pompeii's super thin diamond band (which I own and LOVE!!!) and I have already reached out to them to see if they can make the same ring in black diamonds and gold (which they can!).  Yet another ring to add to my stacking ring wardrobe!
4) Labradorite stud earrings- I can't get enough of this stone!  And they would get so much wear since they will match my plethora of labradorite necklaces and rings!

everyday diamonds

I am always curious to know what one piece of jewelry someone would invest in if they had to choose.  Instinctually, I would say I would invest in a good ring above all else yet those are the pieces of jewelry I swap out the most from day to day.  Lately, I have been wearing the same earrings, necklace and bracelets every day... so wouldn't I want to invest in really good pieces of those instead since I would be getting more out of my dollar per wear?!  Still I would rather spend my money on a really spectacular ring.  So I'm curious readers... which piece of jewelry would you choose to invest in?  A ring that could work for everyday?  A great pair of earrings that works with everything you wear?  A necklace that makes you feel fantastic every time you wear it?  A bracelet that goes with all of your other jewelry effortlessly?  (Images from here, here, here, and here.  P.S. How unbelievable are those Asscher cut diamond studs?!  I am DYING over them!)   

north star studs

I wear the same pair of diamond studs just about every day now.  I would love to add a few more stud earrings to the rotation and these earrings by Erica Weiner would be perfect!

P.S. Today my blog is 4 whole years old!  Wow, it does not seem like it has been that long but it has been an unbelievably rewarding experience!  Thank you to my readers, new and old!