Stacking Rings, My New Favorite Things

It's been a while, sorry... but what can I say?  Well, mostly I got in over my head with some various and sundry commitments which side tracked me from this blog.  And I kind of lost focus on my goals for this blog and my Etsy shop.  I have a lot of new items to add to my shop, but haven't even taken photos of them yet.  It's on my "to do" list; high on it.

Also, I've really been excited about sewing lately.  It is my favorite hobby and I have missed it for so long!  After having two children 18 months apart; it became difficult to find free time for any artistic endeavors.  Plus there are the dangers of sewing.  The hot iron is always on, scissors are always out, straight pins fall on the floor, and while sewing, I'm facing the machine with my back turned to my children.  It all seems like the perfect recipe for an unattended child to prick or burn themselves, fall down the stairs, climb a bookshelf or worse. But, now they are both old enough to safely entertain themselves while I stitch a few seams and it's wonderful.

But, I digress.  Perhaps my sewing is a topic for another post... or another blog actually.
In addition to my reinvigorated passion for sewing, I also want to focus some more energy on my Etsy shop.  First and foremost I'll be getting my new products photographed and listed, rather than just continually renewing my current inventory.  And I want to maintain this blog on a monthly basis, at the least.  So, here I go.

I've really been eyeing some stacking rings lately.  I like rings because they are the least hindrance to everyday activities.  I do love necklaces and bracelets very much also.  However, even though my girls have quit pulling on my necklaces, they now want me to "share" with them.  And by share, I mean let them wear the jewelry for a few minutes before they take it off and then drop it randomly some place around our house.  Then the scavenger hunt to find my belongings ensues.

Aside from my children, I particularly have an issue with bracelets in the workplace.  My job as a database analyst requires me to be typing on my computer for the most part of each workday.  I can! not! stand! having a bracelet banging on the desktop all day long as I type.  Drives me crazy!  Sometimes I will still try to wear a bracelet to work.  I end up taking it off before 10 AM and then just look at it sitting on my desk all day long.

I'll discuss earrings at some other time. I have another whole diatribe on earrings and why certain kinds bother me.

Rings!  Rings are not obtrusive.  Having the slight extra weight on my fingers makes typing feel ... actually more fun???  It sort of reminds me of the pleasure of typing with acrylic nails, except the rings aren't annoying your cube-mate with the constant tick-tick-ticking sound of fake nails on a keyboard.

Well that's enough, blah, blah, blah from me and onto the stacking rings I've found in various places around the web that I hope you agree are fantastic.  I know, I'm surely late to the party on this trend.  But for the record, I did add this topic to my list of things to write about a LONG time ago, ...I just never made the time to actually do any writing.  My apologies if you've already seen these rings.

I found this set of rings on Amazon.  I think they are very versatile and very reasonably priced at $99 for sterling silver.  The URL to purchase these rings is here.

My favorite gem may be labradorite. It's gray so it goes with a lot of my clothes. But then when light hits it, flashes of blue and yellow shine within the stone. It's a really cool effect. I don't see labradorite rings often, the stone is primarily used in necklaces and earrings. Certainly I just never saw a labradorite ring that really caught my eye like this one.  I'm really into bohemian interior design right now and these stacking rings seem to have a boho feel to them. Then add the complex coloring of labradorite and I'm sold!  You can buy this ring from Stella & Dot at this link.

I really do love the chevron shape, but I think the pattern has been overdone during the past year or two.  That being said, these rings are still really cool.  They are designed by Rebecca Minkoff and can be purchased on shopbop.com at this link.

Of course, I love, love, love to shop on Etsy for all kinds of things, especially jewelry.  A new trend I noticed on Etsy is the above knuckle ring.  They aren't not specifically stacking rings, although many times they are worn that way.  I particularly like this delightful heart design.  This ring isn't shown stacked, although you certainly could wear it that way.  And many sellers on Etsy offer their above knuckle rings in a set of three.  You can purchase the heart ring below at this link.

Until next time, happy beading, stringing and/or adorning yourself!

My Birthday Present To Myself

Druzy has been the "new thing" as of late, so naturally I have wanted to buy a druzy necklace for myself.  I have posted a few pictures on my Pintrest account of druzy necklaces that I LOVE.  I will share those here as well.
This one is an Etsy find:

I just love this pendant. I have been in a "purple" phase as of late. If I had extra money to spend on jewelry right now, I'd wear this to death. You might look at it and see purple and assume its some sort of amethyst, the "go to" purple stone, but the description of this necklace says its actually treated agate.

"The cabochons is not dyed, it is vapor coated at a molecular level with metals such as Titanium, which changes colours as it is moved in the light. The stone underneath is all natural agate drusy and the coating is permanent. It will not come off & is very hard wearing". I need to learn more about this treatment for stones. Clearly, it produces a very cool effect!

I found this necklace quite a while ago, I can't believe it is still available! I can only assume that is is due to the price, $182. That's the only thing that prevented me from buying it. By no means is that is dig at the seller, LolaAndCash, and their price point. Good quality druzy isn't cheap and this one is particulary lovely. Also, it says that they used top quality findings for this necklace; sterling silver for both setting and chain. I think the price is appropriate for this necklace... sadly, I'm just broke right now.

As previously mentioned in other posts, I recently bought another fixer-upper house (probably 5 years worth of upcoming projects ranging from caulking moulding that is showing cracks to a total master bathroom gut and remodel) and on top of that I have two kids in a 5 star daycare. I think I'll be broke for a while. So, I only get nice jewelry when I birth a baby (push present) and "that ain't happenin" again for at least a couple more years! Considering I'm not making hardly any sales on my Etsy shop, TheJewelFarm, maybe I should start making jewelry for myself again. Lord knows I have enough beads and findings sitting around. Unfortunately I do not have any druzy in my stash. :(

Below are two other pictures I found of druzy I like, but are no longer available through their original links, so I'm just embedding my Pintrest pins.

This picture really feels artistic in the design of the photograph. I would gladly wear any of these necklaces. Actually, I would like to have every one of them. A rainbow of druzy to match whatever outfit I'm wearing! Sounds great!

I like the unusual shape of this necklace and the ombre effect of the colors. It is also sort of a different presentation of druzy than I normally see (mostly I see the two styles above). But this pendant is only of the exposed crystals. I like it a lot.

Now, for my birthday present to myself. I went to visit my sister in Atlanta the weekend before my birthday.  I took my youngest daughter with me, who is only 3 months younger than her cousin/my niece.  It was a short trip, but we managed to drag the girls around with us on a successful Saturday shopping trop.  My sister is the only person I like to shop with. 99% of the time, we are completely on the same page about where we want to go, what we like, how long to stay in a store and how long to stay gone for the shopping trip in total.  On this trip we went by the co-op where she is selling her greeting cards, The Beehive.  Kate bought a brass necklace with a bullet pendant and I finally bought a druzy necklace.  It is not as fabulous as those pictured above.  But two things I like a lot about it are that it is a neutral color, so I can wear it with a lot of things.  And it is long.  I am really tired of half the necklaces I own falling at the same point as the neckline of my shirt, then getting halfway stuck inside my shirt. Its so annoying.  As I mentioned before, I'm into long necklaces right now and this one is that.

So, who is with me on the druzy trend? Or is it passe already?  If it's the later, let it be known that I've been wanting to buy a druzy necklace for at least 6 months or more, I just now got around to going on a real shopping trip and also posting a blog about it... or any blog post for that matter.

By the way, the holidays really threw me off course this year.  It felt like quite a whirlwind.  Of course, it was wonderful to see my family and entertain and decorate.  I love all of that stuff.  And then we had catch-up visits with family and friends that we didn't get to see at Christmas during January.  But, things are back to "normal" now, so hopefully I'll be on top of my game with this blog for the rest of the year.  And hopefully I'll do a better job next year managing all the holiday festivities.  Who knows though, I am a perpetual procrastinator.

Until next time, happy beading and crafting!

Update To "A Month Passed By Quickly"

Update to my post regarding my month off, due to moving, processing new inventory, etc.  I did get the desk cleaned up last week and here's a picture.

So, a little while back I showed the inventory I worked on sitting on the back side of this nook.  Its a wall of cabinets with a counter.  There is a small sink and a space for a mini-fridge, which we need to purchase soon.  Right now its just an empty hole.
I love this work space.  It is nook at the top of the back staircase.  On the other side of the staircase is the girls' playroom.  So, hypothetically I could work while the girls are playing and still be able to keep a close eye on them.  But, I decided to quit my work from home job for an office job right at the same time we bought this house.  Oh well, this workspace will still be here when I am able to sell jewelry making supplies full time... whenever that may be, probably a long time from now.

Here's a picture of my girls playing in the area to the right of this built in desk.  Oh, they do love making a mess of their toys!