Designer Jones: Valentine's Day Countdown

I'm still working busily on Valentine's Day jewelry and am just taking a moment to post a few things in the last minutes. I have a Valentine's Jewelry page that I am trying to complete (yes, I'm just as last minute as many of those men who wait and wait to buy their gifts although you would be surprised at how many will get in touch with me a month ahead of time: I've been impressed!).

The first picture is of a gold ankle bracelet made with rubies and goldfilled charms and beads. It's called "Turtle Days and Starfish Nights" after the little sea themed charms hanging from the tube beads. Next is a pair of earrings made with heart-shaped freshwater coin pearls (I call them "Baroque" because they have little extra tabs of nacre on them so while they are definitely a recognizable heart shape, they are a little "off", too). The earrings have Karen Hill Tribes butterfly beads and rest on a cabochon freshwater pearl that is bezel-set in sterling silver. They hang from sterling posts with a swirling design and another bezel-set pearl on the front. They would look great with the pearl and Swarovski crystal bracelet below created from the same freshwater pearl hearts and Azores (my favorite very pale blue) crystals.

And of course, I have more red jewelry, a must for Valentine's Day jewelry since red symbolizes love and passion. The Swarovski crystal bracelet below features lampwork beads by Robin Weber, her fire opal beads that are a deep red laced with sterling silver for the ultimate in shine. I've mixed them with the darkest red Swarovski crystals, pretty Bali silver, and Karen Hill Tribes charms, including a garnet charm that hangs beside the heart-shaped Swarovski crystal in the middle of the bracelet. This bracelet can be found on the Swarovski Crystal Bracelets page as well as theValentine's Jewelry page. The bottom bracelet features red also, only a lighter tone this time. The sparkling silver-flecked lampwork beads are by Lynn Nurge of Laffinggull. These Swarovski beads are a lighter red tone to match with the lighter coloured lampwork beads, but they are still large (10mm) as are the ones in the bracelet before. This bracelet can also be found on the same pages.

Back to work I go! And if you've been reading about all the terrible weather and the storms, yes, those were in my part of the country, the worst in Jackson, Tennessee were just across the Mississippi River from us (we're 3 miles away from the Missouri line to the north and to the east about 3 miles is the Mississippi River). The terrible storms were also just an hour south of us as well, but luckily we escaped harm although the winds here were strong enough to turn over our heavy metal patio chairs.