Sunday's Feature

"To inspire & promote each other, we build, imagine, dream & we deliver a magnificent online zine. "

The mission of Skwigga-zine Magazine, an on-line magazine that encourages and supports the starving artists among us created by Missy, a talented illustrator and designer. I have blogged about Skwiggazine before, and I'll blog about it again because I believe in its message and mission. Please drop by and spend some time with us!

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My take on the red/turquoise color combination that was expected to be big this past spring, but I didn't see much of it in stores, only in the upscale fashion rags. But then again, that may mean we'll see it in our stores in the spring of 2009.

This handcrafted necklace is made of amazonite, red coral, and 14k gold-fill. It's a long piece which can be doubled, if desired. Feel free to click on the picture to get a larger, detailed version.

It's available here in my Etsy shop. If you decide to purchase, put "DHBlog" in your message to seller at checkout and I will give you a 10% discount. The discount will be refunded through PayPal. If you have any questions, feel free to convo me.

Fall 2008

I've been avoiding thinking of the fall season. When the temps stay around the three digit levels, even looking at the upcoming fall fashion lines makes me break out in a sweat! But as a designer of handcrafted jewelry, my head keeps telling me to stop delaying! So this morning I went to the Pantone Fashion Color Report Fall 2008 and printed page 2. The ink is still wet on the paper. Good thing I installed a new color cartridge earlier this week!

What a pleasant surprise! I love the colors and it will be a joy to start designing pieces to suit ... once the temps outside dip below 95F. It looks like I'll be using a lot of amethyst and lapis lazuli and smokey quartz. I need to replenish my lapis supply.

The Pantone color reports are important for the small-time designers to consider. Fortunately for us, we can wait until the freebie report is released on the Pantone website. If you're a designer catering to the retail and boutique market and sell at the accessories shows in the major market areas, you need a head start. Pantone offers "membership" to obtain reports well in advance, but it's expensive. Since I sell direct to the wearer, I can afford to wait.

Pantone is the leading manufacturer of dyes in the world so if they say Blue Iris, Royal Lilac, Shady Glade, etc are the colors for this upcoming fall, they will be the colors you see in the stores for fall. Withered Rose is my personal favorite. It looks like a Dusty Rose which was the best matched color for my eyes, hair color and skin tone when I had my colors done all those decades ago. (I wish I was very html-savvy so I could use colored text for the color names I just typed!)

How about these handcrafted earrings? I think they "read" Withered Rose. They are red aventurine and Golden Shadow Swarovski crystals made with 14k gold-fill. I have more red aventurine in my supply so I'm looking forward to putting out new pieces featuring that stone. Aventurine isn't an expensive stone, but it's beautiful. Colors range in green, peach, reddish, brown and blue. It's a quartz with inclusion of mica so there is a subtle shimmering effect called aventurescence.

I'll need to be heading over to Elle.com and check out the runway shows for Fall 2008 (which happened in February 2008) to see what all the trends are showing. Hopefully there will be some Withered Rose!

Good Monday

It promises to be another scorcher! Another good day for getting lots of work done, on-line, at the design table, with the digital camera, laundry and ironing ... or maybe a good day to just hang loose and watch a movie.


Even Nino says: "It's HOT!"

Heatwave

"An excessive heat warning is in effect for our area."

No kidding. It's so hot the silk plants are wilting.

While temps of 104F and higher may not seem like much to those living in the desert areas of California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico, at least y'all cool off in the evenings. We wake up to 85F temps at 5:00 am.

I suppose I should take the forced indoor opportunity and get some photos of my new pieces done. I'll leave y'all with a photo of one of our neighborhood friends:

Pretty Rock

"Opal Fire Agate" is what this pretty is being called. Perhaps because it looks like a merging of Peruvian Opal and Fire Agate? Whatever ... I found it exceptionally intriguing. Between the coloration and the crackling of the stone, it brings to my mind a chrysanthemum captured by stone. I used pewter, brass and just a wee bit of Swarovski crystal to bring it together into a very gorgeous piece.

I haven't listed it yet ... I plan to roll it out at an open house that I'll be showing at in August. I have only one upcoming show scheduled so I must work on getting more dates planned. Summer is very slow around here because it's just plain HOT and very little happens until the shorter days of fall give us a more bearable atmosphere. I'm always open to private home shows so if anyone is living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and would like an opportunity to receive FREE jewelry, much of it one-of-a-kind, drop me a line.

Here's a view of the entire necklace:

Do you know the three types of jewelry!

Do you know what class this piece falls into? It's made of sterling silver, rhodonite and hematine (man-made version of hematite).

First of all, there is fine jewelry. Traditionally made from gold at puirty levels of at least 14k, often 18k or the solid gold 24k. Also platinum and sometimes titanium are used if a silver color is desired. I suggest you avoid white gold ... the silver color wears away over time and the piece needs to be redipped.

Fine jewelry also uses the precious gemstones, the crystal clear, non-occluded stones that are expertly cut to catch and refract light in a blazing display. Quality diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, topaz ... these are the glittering rocks that makes our hearts thump a little harder.

Fine jewelry usually costs in the $1,000s and $10,000s and will last many lifetimes. They are generally designed to stand the test of time, being fashionable in any season at any time in any era.

Then there's costume jewelry. Costume jewelry is made from base metal, generally nickel and alloys such as pewter and brass (these days without lead). The baubles are made from glass, paste, acryllic and plastics of all sorts.

Costume jewelry came to its own during the Depression Era, being designed and marked with a seal of approval by none other than the Grande Dame of fashion, Coco Chanel. While glass and paste of been used for centuries to make copies of precious pieces so the royals and the rich could wear their ornaments daily without concern of loss, Ms. Chanel catapulted the costume pieces into the forefront of fashion and made them entirely acceptable to wear with flair. Costume pieces are trendy ... they go with the fashions of the day. Which means they are outdated within a year. But that's OK, they usually cost well under $100 and eventually if they are cared for, they'll make a comeback. If they haven't fallen apart, that is!

Finally, there's bridge jewelry; so named because that is exactly what it is ... the "bridge" between fine and costume. Bridge jewelry is traditionally made with all the materials we label "semi-precious" such as sterling silver, 14k gold-fill, gemstones with occlusions (imperfections), quality glass, ceramic and crystals.

Bridge jewelry is designed to follow the trends, but has a tendency to keep its fashionability over several seasons, especially since it is made from better material than costume. With proper care, your bridge pieces should last you a lifetime, even though they are not classed as heirloom in quality. Prices run a wide range from the $10s to the $100s depending on material and workmanship.

Most of my pieces generally fall on the bridge. But I have to admit, with the economy headed in the direction its going, I've recently purchased components that will put some pieces square into the costume category, but what the hey ... we still want to look gorgeous no matter what the dollar is doing! Besides, if the price of crude keeps rising, plastic is going to become very precious.