I've Been on Vacation

I snuck away last week to spend a few days visiting my oldest daughter and my grandson in Indiana. I couldn't go without a few surprises for Gabriel, and this cute shirt was one of them. (I forgot to take my camera, so I'm hoping someone will snap a photo of him modeling this and send it to me. Yes, dear, that's a hint!)

I found it at Bella's Sweet Boutique, and everyone has "ooohed" and "ahhhhed" over it! Bella has a great selection of things for your little darlings, in fact I had a very difficult time not buying half of her inventory. Click on over and have a look around, and make sure you check out the bargains in the sale section!

Maybe I Am a Fan of Vintage

I searched and searched for a thermometer to hang in my studio--got to keep an eye on temp in there! I've always been a fan of new and shiny things, but after spending more time than anyone should looking for the perfect thermometer I discovered this gem!

It's perfect! You may remember that Mr. LuckyGirl and I got married in a hot air balloon over Niagara Falls. I've got this lovely old thermometer hanging in my studio now, a reminder of that wonderful day every time I check on the temp. And I get to learn temps in Celcius--a Fahrenheit scale is there, but it's much smaller, so the Celcius temps are easier to read from a distance.

And I found it on Etsy! Is was at Fab Pad, a shop with a delightful collection of vintage treasures and terrific customer service. Go check it out!

New Tri-Color Braid Chains

I've been itching to get busy in my studio, but for the past few weeks the arthritis in my hand has been making it impossible. This week Mr. LuckyGirl had lapband surgery, so I've been a little busy as a one-armed nurse. Between the two of us I'm not sure that we equal a single able-bodied person right now, so life's a bit extra challenging. Mr. LuckyGirl is adjusting nicely, and I've got a thumb-joint replacement in the schedule, so things should be humming along here soon.

The good news is that I've been sorting through a huge shipment of sterling silver chains. I love this tri-color braid chain! It's sterling silver, with one strand left shiny silver, one plated in rose gold, and the third strand plated in yellow gold. It's a flat braid, about 5mm wide, and I have them in 16-, 18-, and 20-inch lengths. They look fabulous alone and with a large-bailed pendant, and coordinate beautifully with most other jewelry.

Weekend Gem and Jewelry Show

Mr. LuckyGirl and I drove to northern Virginia this past weekend to shop at a huge jewelry and gem show. There were hundreds of booths, thousands of shoppers, the prices were high, and surprisingly the majority of sellers were less than friendly. I learned a lot about how not to treat your customers, both in the wholesale and the retail sections of the show.

We came home with some blue topaz cabs, a few pretty pink tourmaline cabs, some things I've already forgotten, but my favorite find was the cabs in the photo. We met a couple who cut gemstones and they had an amazing collection of cabachons in their booth. They called these cabs Wedgwood agate. I've never seen stones quite like these before, and they're really lovely! Don't know what we'll do with everything yet, but it will be fun designing with them.