Dia de los Muertos

The Day of the Dead...

This yearly festival and traditional Mexican holiday is a time for families to gather together to remember those who have passed.

And it was also the theme for the very first challenge for the Etsy Best Kept Secrets team!

You can view all of the diverse creations for the challenge by my fellow team members on our blog post.  Amazing work by everyone!

And here's my contribution,

a sugar skull immortilised in sterling silver...

Every component of the skull was sawn, stamped and textured by hand...

A sparkly 3mm faceted ruby rests on the skull's forehead...

It is a bold ring, not for the faint-hearted!

As soon as I'd created the ring,

I immediately knew what I was going to use as a prop for the photos...

...an authentic headhunter's trophy skull from Papua New Guinea!

It's a rather macabre piece...

...you can even see the fatal blow mark on the skull...

We have all kinds of weird and wonderful trinkets in this house! ;-)

Oh, and before I forget, the ring is available here!

~*~

Do you celebrate Dia de los Muertos?

What have you been creating this week?

The simple things in life...

are always the best, are they not?

My children give me sweet, simple moments daily to tuck away into my memory banks and cherish forever...

(they *love* washing the dishes together...and I love that they love it!)

The simple pleasure of a day spent enjoying the sun,

relishing the feeling of sand between my toes...

(with lovely new coral polish, to boot!)

...watching Anthony kayaking with Jett...

...snatching a daydream or two in a peaceful moment...

...teaching India how to reel in a fish,

and smile for the camera...

...which is *very* serious business...

And simple jewels made with heart and thought...

my blog giveaway jewels!

Custom made for four very special ladies in different corners of the globe...

For Noemi,

garnets and ruby...

For Sharon,

prehnite...

For Heather,

amethyst...

For Jenny,

apatite...

Simple and sentimental,

with a wish for four women that their dreams may come true...

~*~

What simple pleasures are you relishing this week...?

Just because...

...he loves me,

he bought me a fan-dangly new camera...

A Canon EOS 550D, no less!

Oh husband, how I love thee ♥

Anthony is notorious for the best 'just because I love you' gifts,

but he outdid even himself with this one.

Now I understand why all the cool people have a Canon...

(including her, and her, and her)

They are unbelievably good!

So, I've been having fun re-shooting some pieces that have been sitting around in my shop...

The *Drop of Desert Sky* Necklace

{ SOLD - thank you!}

The *Petite Desert Flower* Ring in Tangerine

Available here

The *Moroccan Trinkets* Necklace

Available here

The Canon has also been great for shooting some new custom orders,

including this lovely Twilight Topaz and filigree ring...

...this all black version of my *Safi* Earrings...

...and my *Mosaique* Necklace, newly embellished with pebbles of 9 carat gold at the request of a lovely lady...

~*~

The camera was also a blessing for October 7...

our daughter's birthday...

Four!

I cannot believe our baby girl is four!

I will never forget the first moment I saw her,

I gasped because she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.

And she grows more beautiful with every passing year...

The hula hoop was a big hit...

she danced and twirled for hours...

...only stopping to ride her new scooter...

It's a Tinkerbell scooter,

naturally.

:-)

And when the new toys had been thoroughly broken in,

my budding chef helped me to decorate her own birthday cupcakes,

complete with sprinkles and princess decorations...

What more could a little princess ask for!

♥

~*~

I'm looking forward to sharing the culmination of my giveaway prizes with you soon as well...

they are coming together beautifully...

Stay tuned!

~*~

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend, my friends!

Don't forget to smile :-)

And the winners are...

Winners?  

You didn't really think there was only going to be one winner, did you?!

I just love surprises...! ;-)

Do you want to see what 280 dreams look like...

I can't tell you how touched I am...

I have been riding a wave of heart and hope these past few weeks,

cherishing every one of your beautiful dreams as they have been sent my way...

I wish for all of your dreams to come true, my friends...

promise me you won't ever stop chasing them, ok?

:-)

So...I enlisted the help of my trusty giveaway helper to aid me in the enormously joyous task of choosing the winners from these 280 dreams...

First, there is the winner of a custom made *Gemstone Trio* Ring, chosen from these lovely gems...

India was very excited to help...

...she could hardly wait to get her hand into the bowl...

...to choose the lucky winner...

CONGRATULATIONS NOEMI!!!

I cannot wait to bring your dreams to life in silver and stone! :-)

~*~

And then,

I had an epiphany...

...why not drawn three more dreams from the bowl,

each one rewarded with a ring featuring a single stone in one of their favourite colours...

A simple little something like this...

a perfect reminder of your dreams to wear every day.

So, I sent India back into the bowl...

and she chose three special ladies for a special little surprise...

Congratulations Heather!

Congratulations Sharon of Livewire Jewelry!

Congratulations Jenny of Silverlines Jewelry!

I will be contacting all of you lucky ladies shortly regarding your rings :-D

~*~

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter...

thank you for sharing your dreams with me...

and thank you SO much for your support of me and MY dreams!

Let's do this all again soon, ok?! ;-)

With much love,