Pictures of Hands

pebble ring

palladium and moissanite hatshepsut

three stone ring stack

spring evening pink gold solitaire

I love it when people send me a photo of their rings! It's awesome to see what I've made on someone else's hand (instead of my own, which can get pretty boring).  I also have pictures of smiling couples, which is also super awesome.  But hands are more anonymous and most people probably don't want me to give their image to the internets for all eternity.  But I LOVE getting them all the same.

I promised

pug photos, and I have to deliver.

I took this epic series of photos of Dieter a couple of weekends ago at the coast. I love the Oregon coast more than any place on earth (except for the Oregon countryside and Oregon forests and rivers. I pretty much love all of Oregon. With a passion. And I have to admit that I am pretty happy that the dismal, gray, depression inducing weather keeps the population down.)

(This is what the sky looks like 3/4 of the year, so

just keep that in mind when you are thinking of

moving here. I've seen the Oregon winter break

people and send them scurrying back to drier climes.

Hehehehe.)

This is what Dieter looks like when he is trying to get up to full speed. He's adorable. And he has to be, since he is also incredibly evil.

Gunter has three great loves: eating (obviously), fetching (as he is getting ready to do here), and staring lovingly at me (at least I think that is what he is doing, maybe he is just thinking about how succulent I would be roasted with an apple in my mouth).

Why so many pictures of Dieter? Has he displaced Gunter as the Tiny Pug Dictator of your heart? No, he is just more photogenic, plus he is around to take photos of. Gunter is usually off in the distance, chasing down his Evil Cuz toy (see the 4th picture down, upper left hand corner).

Dieter likes to eat sand. Gunter likes to dig in the sand. It is a symbiotic relationship. Gunter digs and Dieter stands behind him eating the sand chunks that land nearby.

Okay, I realize this is a pug heavy blog post. But they are irresistible and if you only knew how many photos I didn't post. They make my day, every day. (Geez, lady, get a grip.)

This is ostensibly a jewelry blog, so here is the requisite photo of jewelry.

I finished that pink gold solitaire yesterday and I absolutely love the combination of the pink gold and the diamond, which is K color. I've decided that K color diamonds are my favorite. So colorful. (I also love stacking jewelry together, it makes me feel as though I've accomplished something).

I've been debating whether or not I should get back into the eternity ring business. I put it on hiatus because I was finding them to be a huge pain in the tuchus, but I think I've perfected them now and I might be ready to sell them again.

Shows over folks, move along

No, not really. But that is sort of how I felt when I finished my engagement ring the other day. I don't know why. I seriously wondered if I would now completely lose my urge to make jewelry after I had made my own ring. Luckily that wasn't the case. :-)

I can't explain how nervous I was making this ring, especially setting the stone. It was crazy. I'm not a nervous person, so the feeling was a novel one. I hope it doesn't stick around.

I went this route because I wanted to wear a single ring and because I have gigantic ogre hands and wanted something substantial. Plus, it just sort of appeared in my head like this, and it felt like something I would be happy with in the long term. I'm easily bored with jewelry, so I needed to make a piece that would withstand my fickleness. I have one pair of earrings that I've never gotten tired of, I made them a thousand years ago and they are still my favorite. White faceted agate drops with two disks of turquoise stacked above. Super simple, but I looooooove them. And I needed to looooooove this. And I do. It feels like a piece of German engineered machinery. It feels like sunken treasure.

I totally crack myself up. While I want to share my ring with people, I also feel incredibly uncomfortable at the same time. I feel like it is bragging, I feel like I'm showing off. It seems a little gauche (man, I love that word). I just can't get too serious about the whole thing. It all seems sort of silly (I also feel this way about wedding dresses. But I'm going to be wearing a ruffled, pretty pretty princess dress, so I am a total mental hypocrite!). But then again, this is what I do for a living so I guess I get a pass? Plus, wedding rings are pretty, and I find them all interesting to tell the truth. I always find myself looking at hands when I am out and about.

(Mental process going on in the photo: okay, how do I get my hand in the shot without looking awkward. Just sort drape it across your chest. Like this. No. Like this. Just Look Natural. Okay. Too obvious. Relax your fingers. This looks dumb. Go with it.)

All right! Have a wonderful weekend. I plan on posting pug photos next week. We had an epically good trip to the coast the other weekend and I have to share a few of the best shots. Pugs are awesome. And so are giant gold rings. :-D