Julie

How do you know if she is the best friend in the whole world?  When she graciously volunteers to be your model/victim for product shots.  She never says a cross word as you have her poke 30 earrings through her poor little ear, drape her over and over again with necklaces, and push her this way and that way to catch the light.  All in a rush as you try to get this done in a 30 minute lunch break!

The best part of all?  She happily offers to do it again next week!  THANK YOU JULIE!

New Pretties

What's new in the studio this week?  These drops of chrysocolla set with gemstones - white topaz (left) and pink sapphire (right).  Such yummy colors!  I already have big plans for the one on the right, but I think I might have to keep the one on the left for myself.....

Saturday Progress

It's a rainy day down here in little Mauriceville, TX.  Its been raining all week...I'm so ready for it to move on.  On the bright side, I've managed to make a bit of progress in the studio.  Here's what I spent my morning working on courtesy of Instagram...

I'm loving the black geodes with the sage green quartz drops.  I love the sugilite too - the purple color is gorgeous.  

Time to head back into the studio.  I hope you're enjoying your Saturday as much as I am. Bye!

New Gemstones. Winter Sale.

Well, the holidays are definitely on the way! Things are crazy-busy in the studio, but in between orders I'm planning out new pieces for 2013.  I'll try to pop in here and share news when I can...like these sparkling beauties that arrived the other day...

Olive quartz, ametrine, and teal quartz

If you're looking for a gift or want to treat yourself, drop by the shop for my annual Winter Sale...

Save 15% off orders at KristinaHenning.com or at my Kande shop on Etsy.

Sleeping Beauty Turquoise

Well, I'm still toiling away in the studio in preparation for the upcoming holidays. Thought I would drop in and share one of the lovely pieces that found its way in the shop this week.

Giselle Earrings with Sleeping Beauty turquoise, gold and a touch of silver

These turquoise drops are from the Sleeping Beauty Mine in Arizona.  Wonder what the heck that looks like?  Well here are some pictures:

Sleeping Beauty Mine

By the way, I've had several questions this month about sales for the upcoming holiday season so I thought I would throw this out there for all to see:

* I will be having my annual Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale this year from 11/23 - 11/26 (on my website & on Etsy)

* Yes, there will be a coupon code especially for my FB fans to use during that time...but, no I don't know what it will be yet

I haven't figured out all the details, so that's all I can say about it right now. I will release the details of the sale on Monday 11/19.  Check my Facebook page for details http://www.facebook.com/KandeJewelry

Lapis & Gold

With the holidays rapidly approaching, things have really picked up in the studio.  I'll be posting sporadically over the next two months as I try to keep up with things - sorry in advance!

This past weekend, I wrapped up a pair of lovely lapis drops for these earrings...

Peyton Earrings with lapis and gold

From time to time, I thought it would be fun to show pictures of the different gemstones and metals that I use in my jewelry in their "natural state" - before they're cut, polished, heated, etc.  Sort of like a view of each in the wild!  I did some searching and found these beautiful examples of lapis and gold au naturel....

Lazurite from Sar-E-Sang, Kokscha Valley, Badakshan, Afghanistan - Arkenstone

Gold from Colorado Quartz Mine, Mariposa County, California, USA

Gorgeous, huh?  I found both of these specimens on a fabulous site called Arkenstone.  If you're a rock lover like myself, you could search their website all day and never get bored.  Check them out if you get a chance at http://www.irocks.com/index.htm.

Elizabeth Necklace. Ametrine.

I wrapped up some lovely projects this weekend including the newest version of my Elizabeth necklace.

In case your wondering, the purple and yellow stone is called ametrine.  Ametrine is a naturally occurring mix of amethyst and citrine.  It is one of my favorite gemstones.  Here's an example of what it looks like in a more natural state...

 

Image via Pinterest

Now I'm off  to clean up my studio. I found myself in a bit of a creative whirlwind this weekend and moved into each new project without putting up the elements from the previous projects.  Now the top of my jewelry bench is a sparkling, cluttered mess!

Work in Progress. Green and Teal.

I thought I'd try something a little different here on the ol' blog - sharing pics of works in progress.  These will be quickie shots taken with the Instagram app on my phone to keep them spontaneous.

So here we go...

I was almost through with this design before I got struck by the idea of a work in progress shot.  This pair of earrings includes green tourmalinated quartz, antique leland slag in teal, vesuvianite, labradorite, moss aquamarine, peacock teal quartz, freshwater pearls and silver.  I made all the fine silver head pins myself with a torch.  I also made the ear wires (no pictured) by hand. Tomorrow morning I'll oxidized the silver in this pair of earrings and then buff it.

It was a wonderful day in the studio!  Along with the earrings above, I finished two more pairs of earrings with cascades, two more Hudson necklaces, two pairs of Peyton earrings with carnelian and lapis, and a pair of Gesine earrings with a huge pair of marquis carnelians - the unwrapped drops are a long 2 inches!  My thumb joints are killing me but I'm happy as can be.  I'm hoping to be able to finish an Elizabeth necklace with a large teardrop of ametrine in the morning.

Hopefully the sunny weather we had today will hold out for tomorrow afternoon's photo shoot.  The last couple of Sundays have been overcast and the photos haven't turned out as well as I had hoped.  If the weather cooperates, I'll reshoot some of the previous pieces while I'm at it. Look for the new pieces to start making their way into the shop on Monday.

Now its time to head off to bed so I can get an early start in the morning.  Good night all!

Going Long

I found this article in InStyle magazine's June 2012 issue.  Wow!

 

I'm torn between loving them and knowing that these would quickly become a pain to wear (literally).  They are gorgeous though!  Right now, I happen to be in love with long earrings and have several pairs that I switch between.  My son likes to call them "cheek slappers" and yes, he does insist that I vigorously shake my head back and forth so he can see my earrings smack me in the face.  Here's a pair of cheek slappers I made for myself back in May.

 

I love these earrings and wear them constantly. I think this is the first design I made in which I mixed rose gold with darkly oxidized silver.  They are about 3 1/2 inches long from the tops of the ear wires to the bottoms of the geodes which is a good length for me.  I wanted a lot of movement in these earrings so I added the rough diamonds to dangle from the main wire wraps.

I think I might have to make a pair of the really long danglers soon...just to try them out. The ones in the articles range from 7 1/2 to 10 1/4 inches long.  I'll share some pics here on the blog when I get around to making a pair.