I ♥ surprises...and sawing

A mysterious parcel arrived on my doorstep the other day...

I love surprises...don't you?

I cautiously peeled open the box,

sifted through the packaging peanuts,

and there was a letter from the lovely people at Rings & Things...

Sweet!

I was one of the lucky blog partners to win a February goodie pack.

Look what they sent me...!

Some honkin' great big slabs of Lime Magnesite...

...these are seriously gorgeous,

seriously BIG,

and I'm going to create something seriously cool with them! ;-D

I also received some colourful Fair Trade Ugandan Paper Beads...

...and the sweetest little Raw Brass Flowers Charms...

I'm going to have loads of fun creating with all of these goodies...stay tuned!

If you like surprises too, then you'll want to sign up for the Rings & Things Blog Partner Program :-)

~*~

This week, I have been busy in the studio with custom orders,

including one which definitely satisfies my insatiable need to saw!

It started with a few sketches,

a turtle and a lily...

(which will be a bracelet and necklace set for two sweet little girls)

...I can't tell you how much fun I had sawing these...

(I know, I really need to get out of the house more...)

...and then I got to try out my brand new 2.5mm letter stamps...

...and the necklaces are starting to take shape...

Such fun!

Have you had any lovely surprises this week...?

Gem-O-Rama

This week there has been a serious Gem-O-Rama going on in the Saville household...

Oh, yes indeed!

The postman and the courier and the DHL driver have paid me more visits than I can count on my two hands.

(Gosh, that sounds rather excessive doesn't it!  And the crazy thing is that there is more to come!)

So, wanna see the stash?

Of course you do!

It started with some cabochons...

Variscite, Sleeping Beauty Turquoise (the most PERFECT shade of turquoise!) and a very interesting Lapis & Laguna Saginite doublet (two layers of stone, forever joined in perfect prettiness)...

Rhodonite and Porcelain Jasper...

(pretty in pink)

And then there were the faceted gems...

(this is just a select few...I couldn't bring myself to pull 40 odd stones out of their teeny tiny bags and then have to put them all back again LOL)

There is fluorite, Mexican opal, citrine, spessarite garnet, watermelon tourmaline, peridot and ruby...

...and just for fun, a couple of excessively large lab-created madeira citrines...

and amethysts...

These are big with a capital BLING!!!

What do you think about lab-created gems?  

These ones are perfectly faceted, perfectly coloured and perfectly flawless.

And the price is oh-so-right!

The funny thing is, it costs nearly as much to create a stone in a lab as it does to mine natural stones from the ground.

So, what am I going to create with this excessive collection of gem loveliness?

Something like this...

...and perhaps something like this...

But more on those later ;-)

I hear little tummies grumbling so it must be dinner time!

She of the pink boots and the wild hair...

These boots were made for walking...

...and jumping...

...and shouting...

...and leading...

...and stomping on Autumn's leaves...

...and collecting sticks...

...and the odd, stray golfball...

(living near a golf course must have some perks!)

Only She could get away with wearing ballerina-adorned pink boots...

I hope She is always so fashionably carefree ♥

New to the shop

Despite being struck down with the flu,

(and having two sick little munchkins to boot)

it has been a rather productive week in the studio...

...and I have finally been able to update the shop with some new listings!

The Petite *Desert Flower* Rings I showed you last week are finished and listed...

They look good enough to eat!

The Azure ring is a fraction under a US ring size 7...

The Saffron ring is a US ring size 6.5...

...and the Tangerine ring is a fraction under a US ring size 8...

I also finally got around to listing these *Treasures of the Souk* Earrings which I finished a few weeks ago... 


...with the help of my gorgeous husband!

I gave him a lesson in Soldering 101...

he is a natural with the torch...

he didn't melt anything...

and he was most definitely the teachers favourite ;-)

Wishing you a wonderful weekend, lovelies!

Sterling silver and drusy ring...and a workbench that is abloom!

I knew I had to have this stone as soon as I saw it...

Can you blame me?

It is spectacular with a capital 'WOW'!

And now it has a sparkling new home built of sterling and fine silver...

layered and lovely...

terrifically textured...

painted with a pretty patina...

(and doesn't it just make the layers and textures leap out at you!)

...and ready to be worn and loved!

The only thing I love more than working with beautiful gems such as this,

is working with gems of people such as the new owner of this ring.

Thank you SO much for letting me create this special ring just for you, Triz!


This stone is *nearly* half as lovely as you are ♥

~*~

My workbench has also been abloom with my Desert Flower rings this weekend!

I'm working on a custom made Desert Flower ring for a lovely, lovely lady...

...and I had the idea (some time ago) to create a 'petite' version of this ring.


The original is a sweeping 37mm in diameter.


And the petite version will be 31mm in diameter :-)
(no, really, it IS petite!)


I couldn't decide which colour to start working on...


...so I started with three...

Tangerine, Saffron and Azure.


Delicious!


The ring bands haven't been attached yet, so send me a message if you'd like me to make one of these lovelies in your size :-)


Wishing you a wonderful week, my friends!