Moving sale...

(taken on my phone)

This Summer has been an interesting one...to say the least...and is going to end with a bang...a good one! That picture up there of that door will mean nothing to anyone but me...that is my new place...I bought a loft I have been thinking about for awhile and will be moving soon! I am so, so excited!

But I am packing up and will be closing up my shop for a bit until I get settled.

So I am having a sale and then will go into 'vacation mode' at the end of the week.

I am offering everything in my shop at 30% off!

just use coupon code: moving

www.mbjewelry.etsy.com

If you have had your eye on anything for awhile

this would be a great time to scoop it up at a great price. 

While I hate moving, this is an exciting one for me so I will be back with updates!

Sunday...what to do?

When I got up this morning all I wanted to do was work on jewelry...I have been working on jewelry more and more lately...which is good. I thought I had lost the desire to make jewelry for awhile there. Anyway, as I sit here and sip coffee I realize tomorrow it is back to the office and now I am not so sure about staying in and working on jewelry. I feel like I need to get out, take pictures and do something that will stretch this weekend out just a little bit longer!

I did finish up a few new things yesterday...

This cute little faceted Rose Quartz cab has been sitting in my workbench drawer for probably 2 years so I decided to finally use it. My hesitation to use it I think came from the fact that it is a pink and a little dainty...but the wide Sterling band balances it out nicely I think.

I was trying to figure out what to do with some thick Gold filled wire I had left and I LOVE the way these necklaces came out. I love the contrast of the gun metal ball chain and the brightness of the Gold.

This necklace is very simple but so cool.

the necklace below is actually really long...it hangs down below the chest. I need to get some better photos of it (being worn) because these pictures really don't do it justice!



Of course Penny was by my side...bored to death. She is staring at the window in this picture like, 'Can we please go for a walk now?'

But now I have been on my computer waaay too long this Sunday morning and need to get up and do something. Monday mornings come too fast.

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

I'm here, I'm here!

It has been a long time...too long, I know. So let me attempt to put an end to this blogging lull of mine! A super quick re-cap...what the heck have I been doing?

Well...I am desperately trying to practice taking better photos. I am participating in an online photography workshop and have been trying to keep up with my attempts at 'self-portraits' for my Flickr group. Here are a couple...

...but I have been taking photos of others too! This is my neighbor Keeley on her way to an Indian wedding...she was so gorgeous!

and then there is Penny...she hasn't moved much since I last blogged!

and a few new pieces of jewelry...

One rainy day I didn't really feel like working at my bench...I just wanted to play so the results of putting a few random bits together from here and there were...

So there is the quick re-cap. I have been keeping up with many of you...although I haven't really been commenting much! I am going to really, really try to get back in the swing of things as far as blogging.

Hope this jogs your memory on who I am...will be back soon! :)

I love patina...

Mostly, the only time I use patina is to bring out details on things that I have stamped (I use Liver of Sulfur gel and I really hate the smell) but lately I have all of these ideas for oxidized pieces.  Here are a few things I made this weekend. I had planned on oxidizing all of the silver pieces but I chickened out...I couldn't resist a few shiny Silver pieces!

And this bracelet...yeah, this one is for me. I am not keeping it because I love it so much, I am keeping it because I made it to small and this thing isn't coming off of my wrist. I do love it though! I wear it with my set of Gold bangles.

I can't wait until I have some time to work on some more new things. I think the gunmetal patina would look really cool on Men's pieces.

Custom order and new rings...

Sunday was a productive day...until I was forced to go with friends to sit on a patio and have margaritas. :) It was such a gorgeous day and I had gotten a good amount of work done so I figured it was ok!

The custom ring I worked on was a version of my 'live' ring...

The request was to have 'Vero' stamped on the ring {short for Veronica}. Here are a few shots of the work in progress...

and the finished ring...

Lately I have really been wanting some new cabochons. I have sat down at my bench and looked at what I have and thought, "I don't like any of these!". But two popped out at me all of a sudden and I made these two rings.

This druzy cabochon is so sparkly, I love it.

and this ring is perfect for those of us that tend to wear

 a lot black. :)

I like the way the rings came out, I need to start trying new things with my bezels.

So I got a little work done, but my shop is pretty bare after filling a wholesale order {yay!} so I need to keep plugging...or hammering along!

Out with the old...

and in with the new...pictures that is. I re-took some pictures of some necklaces I made quite some time ago...

and pictures of some new things...

a pretty new ring...

Here are two more of my brass plate rings with 'just be' and 'create' stamped on them.

My new 'Soul Shakedown' necklace. I love longer necklaces like this because they are so easy to just throw on but can really spice up an outfit.



This weekend is going to be a busy one, but I hope to get everything listed in my sometime this weekend. Now, I am off to the grocery store to pick up food and drinks for my Super Bowl get together tomorrow. I don't even watch football really, but any reason to entertain is a good one! I am going to try out some new delicious looking recipes from the Picky Palate. If they come out good, I will share!

Hope you all are having a good weekend!

I didn't know whether I should laugh or cry...

Sunday I was working on this ring and I was SO excited about it...I mean giddy excited. Kyanite is one of my favorite stones and I was so excited that my attempt at putting the silver accent balls all around the bezel was successful. It was certainly an exercise in patience. I was even thinking, "maybe I should just keep this for myself..." and then quickly dismissed that thought because it was really in my opinion one of the prettiest rings I have made in awhile.

So I am carefully running the burnisher along the bezel with a huge grin on my face...and then my hand slipped...and the stupid burnisher chipped the Kyanite. And this is the point where I wasn't sure if I should cry (well not really) or laugh. I mean, I had an excuse to keep it now right!? So I laughed. And now I have a new ring. There have been several times where I have met someone and told them I make jewelry and of course the first thing they ask is "really!? what do you make?" and I have none of my jewelry on so I give them my card and tell them to check out my shop...horrible opportunity lost and frankly...embarrassing. So now I will have something to wear.

See the big chip right there towards the bottom??? And it is not just a surface scratch...you can really feel it when you run your fingers along it.

I mean look how good it looks on!!!!

Ok, I am over it. Promise.

 I also finally got some ideas

on how to use some brass sheet I got in Philadelphia and made these rings...

I am excited to make something else using the ball accents around the bezels. I am thinking that I am going to be doing that a lot. And I have a lot more ideas for the brass sheet too...now all I need is time! One of my resolutions (because it is only a week into January and I have a lot of them) is to spend a lot more time making jewelry...

Here is to sticking to our New Years resolutions! 

I decided to go with simple...

In my last post I mentioned I wasn't sure what to do with this labradorite pendant...whether to hang it from a simple sterling chain or hang it from wire wrapped beads...

...but last week I wanted to wear it and quickly

put it on a silver chain...and it was perfect ...all by itself.

Oh! And I finished this ring...finally. I had tumbled it last week and saw some spots that didn't look so good...I needed to sand it a little bit more. But it is done and I love the way the Ruby looks against the oxidized silver. One side of the band has 'dream/live' hand-stamped on it and on the other 'live/love'...I love the way it came out!