Feature - Crystal Impressions

I always thought Lucia was a beautiful name, full of passion, maybe it was the influence of books, but, the person's name behind Crystal Impressions is Lucia, and the kind of jewellery she creates is the kind I would imagine Lucia to create - passionate, elegant and full of colour and textures. It's full of vigour, and life. It's jewellery for a woman who knows herself and what she likes.

Peacock Treasure - Necklace Karen Hill Tribe Floral Focal Pendant, Fresh Water Peacock Pearls,and Sterling Silver $85

December Blues - Earrings Deep Blue Topaz Quartz Briolettes, White Topaz, Light Blue Sapphire Swarovski Crystals, and Sterling Silver $40.60

Putting On The Glitz - Necklace 18mm Swarovski Rondelle Focal Crystal Beads, Smoky Quartz, Oval Citrine, Beer Quartz Rondelles, and Sterling Silver $198

Black Beauty - Earrings Elongated Briolettes Jet Black Chalcedony, and Sterling Silver $42

Featured - 3squares

I know someone who loves to play with shapes and metals just as much as I do, maybe just a tad more. Her name is Jean, and what she creates can only be described as - stunning! I wish I could make something like what she makes, but I have no idea how she does it, to me it's magic, like something created in a deep dungeon by a wizard with a blacksmith's tools. Ok, strange analogy, but have a look at her pieces - they are prime examples of some sort of alchemy experiments that have actually gone right and created absolute gold from lesser metals.

Featured - malves1009

One of many things that attracts me to Michele's shop are cameos. Cameos have always had a special allure. They are a very feminine element to work with and require a certain way of incorporating them into a design. Michele excels at it. Her jewellery is vintage inspired and created with lovely attention to details. It is also extremely affordable, making the latest trend available to a small budget. As can be seen from the photos, her workmanship is very good and her pieces are much better than any high street shop bought ones. What's more, they are created in her home in the USA, by herself, with lots of love and care, making this jewellery that little bit extra special to wear and treasure for years to come.

Cameo Necklace $18

Flowers in Bloom Necklace $18.75

Yellow Sparkle Earrings $15

Pretty Pink Moonstone Earrings $16

Featured - Rachel Lucie

Rachel has a unique flair for combining gemstones, shapes and colours so as to showcase each one of them in the best light. Designs are often fairly minimal with just a few carefully selected gems, but they have an amazing impact. They are full of life and colour and will rival any high end designer piece. In fact, they are way better as each design and choice is given a careful consideration, only the best stones and metals are chosen and each piece is created by Rachel's hand right here in the UK.

Glacier. Ice Blue Amazonite and Green Garnet Sterling Silver Earrings. $25

Warm. Smoky Quartz, Freshwater Pearl and Garnet Sterling Silver Wire Wrapped Earrings. $23

Cherry Trio. Red Agate Sterling Silver Choker Necklace. $42

Ceylon. Pyrites, Chrysoprase, Tourmaline, Garnet and Amethyst Sterling Silver Necklace. $48

Featured - Grandma Marilyns

Beads woven in mysterious ways, colours blended and contrasted, tiny beads made into large designs - the kind of jewellery you will find at Grandma Marilyns is the kind that takes patience, lots of patience, and a precision of a skilled craftsman. Each design is carefully contracted and lovingly made.

Stained Glass Cuff $53

Copper Luster Earrings $20

Rootbeer and Amber Diamonds and Triangles Cuff $70

Metallic Iris/Green and Lt Blue AB WonderDome Ring $29

Featured - Marcie Jane Designs

Abundance of natural elements, unique stones and original designs is what you will find in Marcie's shop. Earthy colours and organic shapes are predominant and are carefully crafted into designs that show off each element to perfection.

Carved Woodland Flower $42

The Forest Floor-artisan ceramic pendant and multi strand seed bead necklace $68

The Oyster and the Pearl Necklace $39

Black Beauty-black tourmaline gemstone and sterling silver earrings $31

Featured - Combustion Glassworks

Tara's work speaks volumes - it's bold, full of colour, full of ideas and originality. In her shop you will find many items that will make you fall in love with them in an instant. From pendants and hairpins to wine stoppers, plates, and re-cycled bottles that are made into spoon rests - there is plenty to choose from and each item will make a wonderful addition to your accessories, your home or a truly unique present for someone special. As she puts it herself:

My work is certainly out of the box and I take full advantage of an artform that is so customizable! Dichroic glass & Copper used in the funnest ways, lots of smashing, and a ton of love!

Oceanside Picnic Platter $90

Decadence Rainbow Winestopper Gift Set $50

Beer Bottle Spoonrest $15

Featured - BrookeJewelry

With good eye for detail and colour, Brooke creates amazing pieces that are exceptionally crafted by hand. They are simple enough to go with with anything, but not bland to blend in and disappear. They will complement both the outfit and the wearer and will stand up on their own as unique, beautifully done jewellery pieces that can be passed on from generation to generation.

Featured - Cool Jewelry Design

"Welcome to my asymmetrical world of color and texture! Original and one of a kind...like you."
Pam's shop is a treasure chest of great finds with colours combined in amazing ways in designs that are original and unique. There are lots of great pieces to choose from, but what I think she has a knack for is making stunning bracelets, just my personal opinion of course, but if someone was to tell me that I can choose any bracelet I like, this is the shop I'd head to first!

Some Like it Hotter - Sterling , Citrine and dichroic pink explosion bracelet $45

Street Smart - Iolite, Carnelian, Coral, cobalt lampwork fusion bracelet $65

Triboro - fire roasted Coral, Sterling, and Citrine bracelet $65

Yours Beverly - sterling wirewrapped sunstone and aquamarine nugget necklace with lampwork pendant $135

Simplicity

To simple things in life - ok, not so simple & maybe just a bit essential, and some even fundamental.

Featured - ErikaPrice

Daring and totally beautiful is how I would describe Erika's creations. They are simply stunning and are perfect for summer with all these amazing colours. They will separate you from the crowd and get you noticed in any place.
Each is created by Erika herself in the beautiful English countryside. And the additional reasons to shop here? She gives all profits to charity and offers free shipping!

EPD Sonata in Sunshine Orange Lampwork, Opus 136 Earrings $22

EPD Sonata in Red Sunflowers, Opus 68 Earrings $18

EPD Symphony in a Cottage Garden, Opus 27 Necklace $65

EPD Sonata in Spring Yellow Disks, Opus 134 Earrings $25

New Bracelets

The time before the trip is running away and I still keep on thinking about designs and making jewellery - hopeless!

Here are a few things I've been up to:

June

With May almost half-way through I keep on thinking about June - in our family it was always a month of birthdays, including mine, so, maybe, that's why the things that I associate with June took over head and dictated this treasury. Cherries, strawberries, the abundance of blue skies and swifts flying by, oh, yeah, and more cherries!

Summer Skins

A song by Death Cab for Cutie got stuck in my head, & the thoughts of the coming summer keep looping in my head. The result? This treasury. The strong light of the sun, the colour of cherries and berries, the greens, the perfect weather for light dresses, the perfect mood for traveling, water warm enough to get into, oh, yeah, and the upcoming summer birthdays :D

Lady's Head

If you ever wondered just what sort of things you might find on the beach, this one is probably way down the list - a decapitated lady's head. Not a real head, that would be way too disturbing & I probably wouldn't be able to take a photo of it for you, never mind keeping the actual thing. I'm talking about a porcelain one. Chopped off by the pirates, nibbled by sharks, caressed by the sea until washing up with seaweed and pebbles on the shores of an island - this lady didn't seem to have much luck! But, with any luck, it will soon be converted into a pendant - a true and crazy one of a kind kinda thing that no one else is bound to have. Here are some pics of the head (you can see I've already began drilling at the top into one of the 'feathers'):

Giveaway

Just thought to let you all know that you can enter a giveaway for a pair of my earrings at http://jleighdesignz.blogspot.com/2009/04/ovgillies-designs-custom-made-jewelry.html

Entry is open until 15th May so you still have plenty of time!

Good luck!

Waking up at sunrise

It was an absolutely gorgeous day yesterday - sunny, not too windy and wonderfully warm - perfect for a forest walk, during which I took the opportunity to take some photos of Cowberries (Lingonberries) in flower :

And, considering the weather the previous day, there was a lot of promise for a stunning sunrise and not too much rain this morning, and that is exactly what happened.

Here's what I got up at 5am for:


It was mainly to take some photos of the stunning tulips (and yes, it was raining a bit this morning and the light is that of the sunrise), the boats and the rainbow were something of a bonus!

Metal Obsession