Charlotte, NC

I'm sorry I've been silent for so long, but things have been going at a constant whoooooooooosh for months now! You may remember that Mr. LuckyGirl got a job in Charlotte, about a 3-hour drive from our home. That contract job turned into a permanent job, so we found an apartment in Charlotte and moved just in time to get the kids started in school here. Then the search was on for a place for my glass studio, and another round of packing, moving, and unpacking. We're just finishing up getting our house ready to rent out (know anyone looking for a house in Durham with a terrific studio space?), and still trying to organize the new studio.

I've been trying out some new things with glass, and Mr. LuckyGirl has been creating new metal designs. I'll have more to show soon--I promise!--but in the meantime here's a soap dish that I can't stop looking at.

A Half Century

It's been along time since I've managed to post here--the summer has been crazy hectic--but it's not been quite 50 years. :-D

August is my birthday month, and the half century I'm referring to will be my age in a few weeks. I'm totally excited! The only thing more awesome than being a half-century is turning a full century, and I have a long time to plan that celebration.

To celebrate I'm having a Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off sale in all my shops all month long! For each item you purchase I'll take half off the price of a second item (discount will be on the lowest-priced item). Send me a Happy Birthday message via the venue you shop at and I'll either adjust prices for you or send you a refund.

Celebrate with me at LuckyGirlTrading on eBay, LuckyGirlTrading on Etsy, or LuckyGirlTrading on ArtFire.

I've got some new creations to show off, and a few more birthday celebrations to share, so check back in a few days to see what else I have going on!

How Much Gold is in Your Gold Jewelry?

I'm getting ready to restock my chains and have been searching for some new suppliers. I only have a couple of chain styles available in gold vermeil, and haven't been interested in adding gold-plated or gold-filled pieces, but I do want to add more vermeil. Mr. LuckyGirl and I ended up having a huge discussion about the differences between plated, filled, and vermeil jewelry, and to settle things I did a bit of research. I thought I'd share my findings with you (while sparing you a recap of the bickering).

• Gold plated jewelry has a fine layer of gold coated to the outside of a metal base (often nickel). The gold layer must have a minimum thickness of .5 microns.
• Gold electroplated jewelry has a fine layer of gold coated to the outside of a metal base (often nickel). The gold layer must have a minimum thickness of .175 microns.
• Gold filled jewelry is created by using heat and pressure to permanently fuse a layer of gold over a metal base. The minimum layer of gold must equal 1/20th of the total weight of the finished item. An item stamped with "1/20 14k GF" means 1/20th of its total weight is 14 karat gold.
• Rolled gold plate is similar to gold filled, but the quantity of karat gold is less than 1/20th of the total weight of the finished metal piece. An item stamped with "1/40 14k R.G.P." means 1/40th of its total weight is 14 karat gold.
• Heavy gold electroplated jewelry has a thick layer of gold coated to the outside of a metal base (often nickel). The gold layer must have a minimum thickness of 2.5 microns (100 millionths of an inch).
• Gold vermeil jewelry has a thick gold layer over sterling silver with a minimum thickness of 2.5 microns (100 millionths of an inch).

I prefer vermeil: it's much more affordable than solid gold made completely with precious metals.

What about those karats and colors?

24 karat gold is solid gold, with no added metals. It's too soft for most jewelry, so the gold is mixed with other metals like nickel or zinc for hardness. The number of karats tells you what fraction of gold was used in creating the metal of your piece. For example, 14 karat gold is made of 14 parts of gold and 10 parts other metals. Copper is added to create rose gold, silver to create green gold, and nickel or palladium are added to create white gold. Much of the white gold being produced in the U.S. is also plated with a thin layer of rhodium to give a brighter white color.

New from the Kiln

Things have been so hectic here with My LuckyGirl working out of town and me still learning to fill the role of full-time wicked stepmother that I haven't been able to list many new things in my shops. I've been making new things, but most are stuck somewhere in the line-up of taking photos, cleaning up photos, and writing descriptions.


So you get to see some of my new favorites here first! The incense burner and the plates will make it into my Etsy shop soon, but if you're interested in something before then just let me know.