So do you think the model had to have her hand propped up on something?

Cause that's quite a rock! It's the 59.6 carat "Pink Star" diamond, and it just sold at auction for a record breaking almost $74 million. To put that in perspective, most women's engagement rings are 1 carat or below and even with all the buzz about it, Kim Kardashian's latest big ol' hunk of rock is only 15 carats.

But as the saying goes, it's not just size that matters with diamonds. Pink is a rare color for diamonds and this diamond has an exceptionally intense color.

In any case, if you would like to see other pretty giant sparkly gems, take a look at this slideshow from MSNBC.

What's new...

I spent this past Monday making a whole rainbow of gemstone stud earrings. I just love all the different colors of stones out there! I've been restraining myself from confiscating the sky blue topaz pair for myself.

There also seems to be a lot of stuff that I made in the last few months that I haven't shared here. Part of it was that I was hoarding all of it for my November craft show and didn't get around to taking great pictures of it.

Here's a labradorite ring that just recently sold. The buyer was giving it as a gift to someone who apparently loves labradorite almost as much as me!

Here's a close-up picture the big fossil coral and viking knit necklace:

I was a bit sad when this bracelet sold at the craft fair. I kinda wanted to keep it a little longer just to admire it! I'm just going to have to make a couple more with different colored stones!

And a sort of vaguely steampunk-ish amethyst pendant. I have to confess that the gear-like overlay came about because I accidentally messed up and cut too big of a hole in the first disc I tried to use. I was originally going to decorate it with more of a filigree design made from twisted wire, but I hate wasting silver, so I cut a gear pattern in the messed up disc and domed it to fit over the (correctly cut) bottom disc. Happy accidents, right?

And just tonight, I made a prototype ring out of copper. I had an ugly goldstone (I think?) cabochon that I keep knocking off my desk and new copper solder that I wanted to try out. I like how the design turned out and it was a good color test of the new solder. (Much better than silver solder!) I think I'll make something similar in silver (with a nicer stone!)

I'm also very excited! After my last "learn all the things" post, I found an Intro to Casting class in Tacoma and decided to sign up! I probably won't be doing any casting at home in the near future because flinging molten metal around is both slightly scary and expensive. But I have always wanted to know how to do it and this is my chance!

I guess that's it for now... I have a trunk show coming up in December at the gallery I show at (hopefully I'll have info to share on it soon!) so tomorrow I'm going to go digging through my cabochon stash to make some more "arty" pieces.

Learn ALL The Things!

(And buy ALL the tools...)

No, really! I've been reading some jewelry books and magazines lately and I have a very long list of new techniques I want to try. So long that I don't even know where to start! Making my own prong settings for faceted stones? Or maybe enameling? Oooh, wait! Maybe digging out and trying the metal clay I've had in a drawer! Or chasing and repousee? Let's go back to stone setting: flush setting small stones! Or reticulation, or keum-boo, or mokume-gane! Or how about lost-wax casting?!

So when are my lotto winnings going to start rolling in? (Especially for that last dream of learning casting!) Because I think I need a bigger studio for all of the new shiny equipment I would need for all these new techniques. (Which would mean a bigger house! Ha!)

I guess I should pick just one to start... hmmmm... Maybe prong settings... Although there's a kiln online that's been calling my name, and that would be a dual purpose tool: metal clay AND enameling! So many choices!

Craft Show Aftermath...

Ugh... it took me two days to work up the energy to get the remainders of my craft show display containers out of my car. I was just tired of dragging the bins and boxes from one place to another, so I took my jewelry inventory and cash box inside and left the rest covered up in my trunk. Good think I live in a safe neighborhood! I just keep reminding myself that I make probably the most portable crafted item possible - it could be much worse! I could make something heavy or breakable... like pottery or stained glass

Anyway, my latest craft show was a success. It was looking pretty dire about 15 minutes before the show was about to start when the power completely went out in the venue. Luckily it came back on in a minute
and only flickered a few times during the rest of the day. Saturday was unfortunately a super stormy day here in the Seattle area, so some of the surrounding towns completely lost power. I think that kept a lot of people home, so there weren't as many shoppers as there should have been. But it was still a good show overall.

Here's a picture of my table!

I added a sale section of older stock I would like to move and that seemed to be a big draw. And of course, rings. Everybody likes to touch rings! Every craft show I do is a little bit more I learn about what kind of stock I should bring and how I should set up my table. I'm still working my way into having enough inventory to be able to start planning on selling at larger outdoor summer craft fairs. Next year hopefully!

What To Bring To Your Craftshow - A Checklist

I'm working on getting ready for a craft show this upcoming weekend. Between making extra inventory, I have been checking my displays and making sure I have everything organized so I don't end up at the show missing something important (like my jewelry inventory!). Since I make lists to keep myself organized, I thought I would share what I bring with me to craft shows.

Inventory to sell- I keep all my jewelry inventory organized in trays in a gray travel bag

Display Components

• Table - if not supplied by the venue
• Tablecloths - I layer a few different colors to make the table look interesting and have my base black fitted tablecloths in 6 and 8 foot sizes so I'm ready for whatever size table the venue gives me.
• Display racks/components - Luckily jewelry displays are pretty small. I have a mix of store-bought and handmade displays. If you sell other types of items, you may need to get creative about how you make your display. Think vertically, too - everything laid out flat gets boring.
• Banner/Signs - make sure people know who you are! I haven't gotten a vinyl sign yet but I made a pretty nice one with a 11x14" sheet printed at Kinko's that I mounted to poster board and sealed with acrylic spray. It works just fine for smaller indoor shows but I'll have to upgrade when I graduate to larger shows.
• Clipboard with sign up sheet for mailing lists
• Business cards & holder
• (For outdoor shows) - Canopy & sidewalls

Packaging For Sales

• Boxes, bags, etc - make sure to put your branding on them! I use clear address labels with my logo and website printed on them.

Business Forms, etc

• Copy of business license - important, especially at bigger shows where there might be inspectors coming around to check that you have all of your paperwork in order with the state.
• Extra price tags
• Extra price stickers
• Spiral notebook
• Sales list - make a table that you can write what has sold, for how much, and how much sales tax you collected
• Custom order forms
• Extra paper for signs
• Photo album w/ pictures of past projects, behind the scenes
• Craft show information sheets - print out or gather up all the flyers and vendor info sheets the venue has sent you
• Receipt book
• Ball point pen

Office Supplies - because you never know when you are going to need to McGuyver a part of your display together...

• Phone charger 
• Pens (lots) 
• Pencil 
• Sales receipt book 
• Sharpie 
• Stapler 
• Twine 
• Binder clips & paper clips 
• Scissors 
• Tape 
• Glue stick 
• Box cutter 
• Lint roller 

Cashbox/Money Bag/Vendor Apron

• Enough cash for change. The amount varies depending on how much you think you will sell. I aim for $150-$200 in small bills and coins. I guarantee people will pay you with $20 bills, so make sure you have enough $1's. I'm pretty sure the teller at my bank thought I was going to a strip club the last time I got cash for a craft show... 
• Square and Paypal Here credit card readers - there are so many people who forget to carry cash (me!), or spend all their cash, then fall in love with one of your items and only have plastic to pay for it - so being able to take credit cards will bring you more sales. The transaction fees on both of these are pretty low and they are secure and easy to use. (I bring both because sometimes my Square reader malfunctions) 

Cleaning Supplies

• Small bag for trash 
• Wet wipes 
• Napkins/paper towels 
• Hand sanitizer 

Food

• Bottle of water 
• Granola bars 
• Other simple snacks/food - go for non-messy, non-staining, non-sticky foods... no meatball subs or Cheetos 
• Coffee in spill-proof mug

Personal Items

• Makeup for touch-ups
• "Feminine items" just in case of emergency
• A few band-aids
• Contact solution and case - I got dust under my contact in the first hour of one of my previous shows, and spent the whole day squinting with my eye watering because I didn't have my contact stuff with me. Now it goes everywhere with me.

Extras

• An in-progress project to work on during down time - I usually bring supplies to work on chains. It gives me something mindless to do, is portable, and people usually come over to my table just to see what I'm working on. It also displays that I really do handcraft all of my items.

Why, hello there!

Buried in custom orders and building up inventory for my craft fair, but I though I would share a little bit of what I've been working on lately...

(clockwise from top left: Red Creek Jasper and Copper Collar, Bumblebee Jasper, Peridot, Citrine & Sterling Silver Pendant, Fossil Coral and Sterling Silver Necklace (with viking knit chain), and Turquoise and Sterling Silver Pendant)

Sorry! I Haven't Really Fallen Off the Face of the Earth...

I've just been on vacation. Then recuperating from the massive cold I caught while on vacation... (Thanks Mom & Dad!)

I was in Michigan visiting my parents and the Chicago area visiting a friend, so here's a picture of part of a cool historical fishing town in northern Michigan and a bonus picture of a blowfish in Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.

In addition to helping my husband's little brother settle into junior high (and settling myself into having a teenager in the house!), I'm trying to get back in the swing of things with my shop and also starting to get ready for an upcoming craft fair.

(Which I guess I should start to promote a little bit, so here that goes...)

If you are in the Seattle area and would like to see my shiny things in person, and support the funding for the Northshore School District Special Education Parent/Professional Advisory Council (quite the mouthful, but they support the special education programs in my local school district), come visit the SEPAC Woodinville Holiday Craft Fair on November 2nd from 9-4 at Woodmoor Elementary School (12225 NE 160th, Bothell, WA).

And if you are the type of person to think waaaay ahead for holiday shopping, I will also be participating in a trunk show with Studio 54 Furniture and Fine Art Gallery in Enumclaw, WA on December 14th.  I'll have more information about that in a week or so.

I also have new fall dates scheduled for classes at Beadworld in Seattle (check out their website for the updated class list) and I also agreed to be available for private lessons through them as well. So I'm going to be one busy girl through the holidays!