Forest 3 Coins in the Fountain Necklace

The title of this blog entry is self-explanatory...



...and I know we've seen this necklace before...


...but I really love these new photos I took.



I shot these using natural light coming in through my bedroom window.



That means the photos contain some shadows, but I really do feel like transparent glass beads look particularly striking, and much more accurate and true-to-life, in sunlight.



And here's the whole enchilada, as they say. Unfortunately, I like this photo the least.







Price: $38.

My Necklaces at VIX

Ok, do you see that crazy white branch-looking thing on the middle of the glass display case?



I was looking at some newer pix from VIX Emporium here in Philadelphia, and I thought: boy those necklaces look a lot like the ones *I* make!




And then I realized that they look alike because they ARE alike. Exactly alike, in fact. Those are my necklaces!






I see some of the round facted crystal bead and sterling silver necklaces (green and red) as well as some of the 3 Coins in the Fountain necklaces (something in an aqua and something in an amethyst). If you click on the photos above, you'll get close-up views that make the necklaces easier to see.

Magazine Submission Necklace

And, the final piece of the suite of jewelry I made and submitted for publication.




And submission is as far as the exercise went, I believe, because I've never heard back. Personally, I find that to be poor form. An acknowledgement of receipt would have been nice and that's certainly a service I provide when people send me submissions for various things, but...


So, this necklace is approximately 19 inches long and features the clasp in front. Pearls are always nice, but they're traditional and I wanted to mix things up a bit. It can certainly be worn in the more traditional clasp-in-the-back way, but I picked a streamlined and circular pewter clasp and added 2 pearl dangles to it to accent the clasp and give the necklace more visual interest.


The pearls are 12mm Swarovski crystal beads, in shades from white to grey to tahitian grey to black. The pearls are very striking because of their size and color.



This is a great necklace to wear in the cooler months when I wear lots of blacks and greys. I've worn it with all sorts of bright solids and neutrals and have received a lot of compliments on it because it's unusual and people notice that.

And sometimes, when I'm running out the door in the morning, it's just nice to grab something that clasps in the front instead of messing with something hard to put on!

ps: and, I know I broke every rule of photography, but I love how you can see me in the pearls' luster!

July's Birthstone

Ruby is July's birthstone.

The word ruby comes from the word ruber, Latin for red. It is a variety of corundum and a red version of the stone we know as sapphire. Rubies are found in Kenya, Thailand and Burma. They rank a 9 on the Mohs scale.

Because of its red color, folklore tells us that a ruby can heal ailments of the blood or even assuage bleeding. Rubies are also thought to be protective of one's home and land as well as improving harmony with others.

Virtually all rubies (like many colored gemstones) are heated to enhance their color and clarity. Rubies come in a variety of shades of red, from a light pink-red to a deep wine-red. It is rare to find a cut ruby with a weight over 5 carats, but those that exist are very valuable.

Magazine Submission Earrings

As promised, here are the earrings that match the suite of jewelry I submitted for publication.



For this set, I used Swarovski crystal pearls in a kind of greyscale from white to black. The beads used for these earrings are 5mm rounds and 8 by 11mm pear shapes. The rounds are dove grey which complements the charcoal grey of the bottom bead.



These earrings feature sterling silver findings and are approximately 1 and 1/2 inches in the drop. The double hinge gives them a lot of swing, but I wanted to be sure not to overpower the necklace and braclet, which are made up of larger pearls.

My New Kiva Entrepreneur(s)

Meet Isidra Nolasco and her group!












Here is the information for Isidra Nolasco's Group (made up of Isidra and 4 other female entrepreneurs).

Group Members: Bilisma Yan
Charles Chistemene
Maricela Beriguete
Carmelita Joseph
Isidra Nolasco

Location: Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Primary Activity: Jewelry
Loan Requested: $1,475.00
Repayment Term: 6 months - repaid monthly
Loan Use: Purchase jewelry and clothing for her business.
Date Posted: Jul 6, 2008


From Kiva's description of Isidra:

Isidra defines herself as a positive woman and a responsible mother, who is prepared to make the utmost sacrifices in order to provide good education and well-being to her kids. Actually, loast year two of her four children moved to the Dominican Republic to start their University studies, and Isidra had to leave Haiti to be with the kids. She says her children are very responisble for their age, but she feels better being close and taking care of them.

Once she arrived in the country, Isidra assembled a group of women, all of whom are operation small businesses in order to make a living. Isidra started selling costume jewelry, and some months later she added women's clothing to her business. Currently, her business is very profitable and her clientele keeps growing.

The entrepreneur would like to increase her inventory. She's requesting a loan to add a greater variety of pants and jewelry to her business so that she can increase her sales volume and her income. Isidra is very confident, and she says that her business will allow her to support her studies and her children's educations. Isidra hopes that next year she'll be able to move into her own house.



For more information on Kiva, click on the Kiva box to the right of this Jericas Jewelry blog post.

Magazine Submission Bracelet

Back in April, I submitted a necklace/bracelet/earrings suite to a magazine in hopes of having my design published.

I have yet to hear back from the editorial staff--not a good sign. I can hope they're simply slow to respond, but it doesn't look good. But I thought I'd give everyone a look-see at what I came up with.




Here's the bracelet:



Check back to find out the materials I used and how I came up with the design.

Happy Independence Day!

A very happy long weekend (4 days for me, as I'm taking Monday off from work as well) to all of you who celebrate the 4th of July.

A New-ish Photo from VIX Emporium

I just ran across this photo...I'm not sure how I missed it before!

If you take a look at the top rung on the display on the right, and squint real hard, you should see a few pairs of coin drop earrings (green and blue)... There are a few other pairs of my earrings hanging there as well, but it's too hard to pick them out. Even I have trouble seeing anything.

That reminds me: I need to head back to VIX Emporium for my earnings checks for the last few months.

Black Spinel Earrings

I've been on a loose-stone-buying kick, lately.


I recently purchased this pair of matching 6mm round spinels. Spinel comes in all of the primary colors as well as brown and black, and my stones are a shiny and completely opaque black. Before the ability to test and identify stones, red spinel was confused for Ruby. A famous ruby in the Crown Jewels of Britain (the Black Prince's Ruby) is actually a red spinel. Spinel is more rare than ruby, in fact.



I combined the spinel stones with a pair of 6mm sterling silver earring castings that I already had in my collection.



And voila! Instant class.