Purple + Pearls = Perfect

I've had this gorgeous dichroic glass, amethyst, and sterling silver pendant for awhile - the dichroic glass is a rich, deep purple color (dichroic glass NEVER photographs well - it's such a pain!) - and I just didn't know what to do with it, but an idea just came to me one evening, and when I got to the shop the next day, I grabbed the last strand of coin pearls (Sorry!) and strung it up with some tanzanite Swarovski pearls, and I just love this necklace!

It's simple, but bold.

Some classic earrings complete the set.

Which happens to be available on Etsy right now.

Coincidence? You be the judge...

Theory: Irish Step Dancing leads to hearing loss.

Evidence: The Irish Dancers of Augusta are conveniently located right next door to the Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired.

Ah'm not pissed, y'all - really, Ah'm not!

OK - I am still laughing out loud (lol) at what just happened in my shop:

This LOL (little old lady) just came in, with a necklace in her hand, and asked me to make a pair of earrings to match it.


And then she very calmly stated, "and Ah'm not pissed."

Well, OK then. She is a frequent customer here, and I am frantically trying to figure out what I could possibly have done the last time she was in, to piss her off.

So I looked at her LOF (little old face) and repeated, "and you're not pissed?"

And she said, "No, Ah'm not pissed."

So now I am totally confused, and she sees in on my face, and she says, tugging on her left ear lobe, "peah'ced, Ah'm not peah'ced - did you think I said ppp..... why, Honey, Ah don't even use that word!"

And then we both laughed, and laughed - at least she had a sense of humor about it!

What's blooming today

Spring is always pretty here, but this Spring I found a few surprises in my yard.

Like this gigantic magnolia tree blooming in the woods in my backyard - the tree is probably 30-40 feet tall, and I have never seen in bloom before.

And yes, I do remember planting it about 16-17 years ago.





And the blooms are HUGE - probably 15 or so inches across.

And they have a very nice, faint, sweet scent.










I do not do ANY work in my yard - no feeding, watering, pruning, spraying, no nothing. So I am surprised every year when this 17-year old neglected rose bush blooms at all - and this year it is just going crazy!









This close-up shows the beautiful red, white, and pink colors in this rose.

And evidently it rained at my house while I was at work today (where it didn't rain a drop!) - the only way I could tell, was when I started to edit these photos, and noticed the raindrops on the petals.








This is an ancient clematis vine I planted on this fence years and years and years ago - and it gets bigger and prettier every year.

This is the view visitors see from the street.












Close up of the clematis bloom - it is about 10-12 inches across.














This is a Scotch broom blooming in my front yard - a true tale of survivorship. I planted this bush, along with 2 gorgeous oranges ones (one on either side of it) about 15 years ago.

Then about 10 years ago, the truck driven by the guys digging my well just backed right over them, killing them deader than dirt. I left them, hoping something underground would survive, but they just turned browner and deader, so after about 6 months I dug up everything and left the area bare.

Suddenly, this year, the yellow one springs back, and it's huge!

Maybe there is still hope for the orange ones.

Wikipedia defines this plant as a horribly invasive weed. Oh well - one woman's weed is another woman's gorgeous shrub!


This is a late-blooming native azalea in my backyard. I don't know all that much about horticulture, and it has been over 25 years since I took botany (seriously - how can it be more than 25 years since I graduated college??) - but the only thing I know about native azaleas is that they have longer stamens than the other azaleas - so they have a fluffier look to them. At least, I think that's the stamen - but I could be wrong.

I planted a bunch of native azaleas when I moved into this house, and just neglect them like everything else - and like most of my plants, they seem to thrive.

Big week for custom designs!

A good friend is getting married in September (in Jamaica, and I get to go!) - and this idea for earrings for her wedding popped into my head Monday night, so I got to the store Tuesday and just started making them - I lost count of the number of wrapped loops somewhere around 50......

And so she came into the shop on Wednesday, and I surprised her with them, and she likes them, so yay!

One of my regular customers came in with the sterling silver pendant you see on this necklace, and asked me to design a necklace, bracelet, and earrings to go with it, and I just sort of got carried away.

It took 3 days to complete this necklace, and it is such a departure from what I usually make for her, that I actually called her in to approve it before I completed it, and fortunately she loved it, so I kept on going, and going, and finally finished this gorgeous necklace.



I designed this multi-strand bracelet to go with it,






And had just enough beads left over to create these matching earrings.

She came in to pick up the set today, and was thrilled, so that was great!




My friend who is getting married in September saw the turquoise and pearl necklace while I was working on it, and decided she wants a similar design for her wedding necklace, so we are going to start putting that together, with several different sizes of pearls, and lots of 4, 6, and 8 mm Swarovski bicones in crystal AB and in rose.

And today is Bailey's birthday, so happy birthday, sweet pea!