Inspiration

Vintage Inspired Citrine and Carnelian Nuggets

Citrine and Carnelian are not stones I would normally highlight in my jewelry designs.

Yellow was my favorite color growing up because it was bright and cheerful.  The yellow walls in my teenager bedroom were offset by fairly dark olive green (shag!!) carpet, and my mom made me a quilt with yellow, olive green and orange rectangles.

Forty years later, that would be the LAST combination I would add to my interior design wish list. 

So what intrigued me about these particular stones?

• I LOVE the shapes; rough but with smooth facets, assymetrical and large in size. 
• Rugged and untamed, I knew they would make a statement, and lately I'm into making statement pieces. 
• The splash of orange tickled my fancy. 
• Vintage brass shed some warmth on the icy-looking Citrine
• They stood on their own with no need for crystals, pearls or glass.
• They were different from most everything else I've used in the past.

At the time I bought the Citrine nuggets, I also bought nuggets in Smokey Quartz and very light Amethyst of about the same size.  Normally I would have done something with the Amethyst nuggets first, but I had recently made a necklace with purple, olive green and yellow (Charoite, Swarovski crystals and Pineapple Quartz, a manmade glass), and I felt the pull of yellow like a sunbeam drawing me in with it's warmth.

The Carnelian beads are from a recent trip to Anoka to visit my friend and fellow artisan, Delayne. We stopped at The Garden of Beads on Main Street, where many new treasures decided they had to come home with me.  I love this beadstore; check it out here http://www.thegardenofbeads.com/  

The Carnelian beads are smoother and more polished than the Citrine, and seem to glow from within.  I only bought a few, though, so I had to use them sparingly.

Earthy, rugged and vintage have me in their grip right now, and I'm having fun.  Maybe I'm just designing with fall in mind. 

Now, to play with lemon chrysoprase and red, red coral!

Cheers!

Laurel

A Day in the Life of ... an Artist?

Today is Tuesday. 

I turned on my computer because I need to respond to an e-mail from my sister regarding moving some furniture from my garage to her house in San Diego.  Have I done that yet?

.... No.

After stripping the sheets off the beds, I started my first load of laundry for the day. 

There are at least 4 more loads to do.

These are the other tasks on my to do list today:

• Pay bills
• Pay my Dad's bills
• Vacuum and dust the house
• Clean bathrooms (two of three at the very least)
• Wash the kitchen floor
• Look for a job
• Make myself a new watch (I lost my picture jasper watch somewhere in my house and have finally giving up hope of ever finding it again)

Tasks that should be on my list:

• Clean my Dad's house
• Talk to a realtor
• Clean out my bedroom so I can move in my grandmother's secretary
• Sort through all the things in my garage (furniture, trunks and assorted treasures from my Dad's house
• Figure out how to dispose of some furniture, bicycles, tvs, 1959 encyclopedias and other assorted definitely not treasures

The washing machine stopped 10 minutes ago so I should go put the sheets in the dryer and start the next load.

It's already 9:56 a.m. 

Guess I'd better get moving!

But first I'm going to have breakfast...

Hope you have a very productive day!

~Laurel