Noaki Jewelry Contest

Head on over to www.zenadiadesign.blogspot.com for a Noaki Jewelry contest! And while you're there be sure and check out her amazing custom stationary. It's just stunning.

Engaged!

My little sister just got engaged!!! My sister and I are about 9 years apart and, while it sounds cliche, she's my best friend. We talk at least twice a day and often much more. How cute is she on the right -- so young and unwrinkly! Expect more wedding related postings in the future...

Grace's Birdcage Wedding

Noaki Jewelry was just mentioned in the fabulous Grace's Birdcage Wedding blog. This divine blog is about all things pretty and wonderful, including weddings. Thank you!

http://gracesbirdcagewedding.blogspot.com/2008/08/noaki.html

Victorian shoe clips

Do you ever get as fascinated as I do with antiques? I often find myself amazed at the worksmanship of years past.

I have just discovered steel cut shoe buckles from France made during the Victorian era. They're really the most stunning things I've come across in ages. Can you believe people wore these on their shoes? On their shoes?!

They're a dark steel color, very solidly made and look incredible against black or gray. You can seriously wear them with anything. I made my sister a bracelet with one of these buckles, black pearls and a thick band of antique brass.

I've often seen them at $50 to $100 a piece but recently managed to find some at a reasonable price. I'll be sharing some of these soon...

My new favorite necklace

So I just finished this custom piece for the mother of a bride. Apparently the bride and her fiance took a trip to India and decided to weave jewel colors throughout her wedding. (What a fabulous idea!)

I spent a couple years living in India as a kid (my dad was designing computers at the time) so this really resonated with me.

The funny thing is I actually bought the pendant even before I got the custom request. I found the brooch in a tiny antique store in some teeny town in Colorado and just fell in love with it. It was a little more expensive than what I usually spend and I'd no idea what I'd do with it, but I just thought the colors were too stunning to pass up. It reminded me of a vintage Chanel brooch I once saw but a little more subdued.

Anyway, just thought I'd share it before it goes...

Random Thoughts

Sad times, our worms tried to escape en masse. And we made such nice beds for them too...We later learned that apparently there may have been too much citrus in our compost -- likely lemons from our martinis. This made me a little concerned that maybe the real message the cosmos is trying to send us is that we drink too much. I ordered another pound of worms this morning...

Onto some happier news. I've got a couple secret surprises lined up but for now I still can't share them. I'm terrible at keeping secrets so I'm sure I'll leak something soon.

In the meantime, however, I do have some really adorable pictures to share that a bride and a coworker gave me (I can't seem to make them any bigger :( ). Jennifer, the bride, is wearing one of my bracelets and my friend Alicia is wearing a custom necklace I made to go with a dress she wore at a wedding. I almost never get to see my pieces once they get stuffed into boxes and get shipped off -- so this was a real treat.

Worms!

This is completely unrelated to jewelry, but as some of you may know my real job is writing about environmental issues. And, at times, it's hard not to get sucked into the enthusiasm of trying out something new that I've just written about -- like vermicomposting.

My husband, Joe, is a big gardener and has been wanting to get worms for some time now. He's completely transformed our yard that was buried in concrete when we bought it, turning our side yard into a native garden with a deck and fountain and our backyard into a lush flower and vegetable garden. (He also thankfully took over my orchids, which were fast becoming a stick farm because of a recent rush of custom jewelry orders.)

Anyway, after writing about vermicomposting, I finally agreed and became the best wife ever after surprising him with something called "The Worm Factory." The worms will eat up all your compost, torn junk mail and newspaper bits and apparently produce great fertilizer in the process.

Joe prepared for the arrival of these worms like they were new pets or houseguests -- asking when they'd get here, preparing their "bedding" of newspaper and even buying a shredder that is basically dedicated to the worms. They finally arrived on Tuesday and, well, you can see what kind of reception they got. Yeah, that's them wriggling around in that little bag.

Pretty cute huh? (My husband, not the worms)