Weaving A Gem Of A Life

Ah, Turkey Day. In addition to bringing to mind all the reasons we have to be grateful, for most Americans it’s filled with traditions. As a kid, I have a few essential Thanksgiving memories: my mom getting up early to begin drying out white bread in the oven, later to be cubed, mixed [...]

Although here in the northeast our gardens are pretty much done in October, traditionally November is a time of celebration for the past growing season. Thanksgiving is the culmination of this, and includes gratitude for many things beyond just sufficient food.
My November contest is in that spirit of gratefulness and abundance.
I made a talisman [...]

Joan called me a few weeks ago. She’s standing up for her friend’s wedding later this month and wanted a necklace to go with her new dress. She wanted me to design a custom necklace for her. We had a few false starts, but finally managed to meet so I could see [...]

My amethyst blog entry generated an interesting question, asking more about quartz. I’m betting that lots of people would like to know more about it, so instead of detailing another gemstone this time, I’m sharing my quartz answer.
Quartz is the world’s most abundant gemstone; in fact, an amazing 12% of the Earth’s crust is [...]

I love amethyst. I’m a real purple person, attracted to this color in all its many shades and forms, whether I’m looking at gemstones or clothing, wall colors or furniture. (You could certainly have guessed that simply by the colors of this blog.) The color of royalty and nobility, purple just makes [...]