Pret-TY stoked!

I love doing things that are bit different, so I'm am excited to be working with different stones from my usual (diamonds).  I have a three orders right now that I will be making using unique stones.  One is with a natural silver-gray diamond.  It's gorgeous!  Even better than I expected, I almost squeaked a bit when I opened the package.  Gorgeous!  Almost opalescent, a light glittery fog.  I LOVE IT.  If I can get a good picture of it I will share it here.

The next project is with a lovely, blue-green Montana sapphire:

Lovely!  And I will use a blue diamond with this project as well, so I'm excited about that.  I really love colored stones.  You can't really tell from my Etsy shop, but I do really love the colored stones.  It is just a bit harder to work with them since they really vary from stone to stone, so it's hard to guarantee someone that you can get something exactly like they see in the photos.  Does that make sense?  But I would really like to see some more color in my shop, so I'm going to gradually add some in.  I am really digging on Montana sapphires at the moment, especially oval cut ones, so I think I might have to also make an oval ring to add to my shop.  I've been wanting to branch out in terms of stone shapes for a while now.  I think I'll start with oval and then add cushion.

And the last special project with a colored stone will be using a purple-blue sapphire that I have yet to pick out from my dealer, but I plan on doing that next week.  It is going to be lovely.  This is the same guy I blogged about earlier and he is fabulous, so helpful.  While I'm there I might pick up those smaller padparadscha I'm in love with.  I still need to make my wedding band, so maybe they will show up in that!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Sapphires Sapphires!

I've had a few requests lately  for unusually colored sapphires, so I made a treck downtown to see this stone guy who buys everything himself in Asia and brings them back to Portland.  I was looking for a greenish blue sapphire and a purple sapphire.  It was a big NOPE on the greenish blue, apparently he tries to avoid them since no one requests them.  Which makes me think he is selling to an entirely different group of people than I am.  Probably older, more traditional people.  He told me no one is interested because you can't get a true emerald like green from a sapphire.  I was thinking, that's exactly why I like them.  They are unique and more earthy.  Oh well.  There were some really pretty forest green oval stones that I might go back for, and some LOVELY light yellow round sapphires.  And some orange-pink ones that I think I want for a new eternity ring.  No pictures on any of those.  But I do have some of the lovely purples I am thinking of for a special project.

I'm also loving these lighter ceylon sapphires.

And he also had these gorgeous zircons, but they are too soft for wedding jewelry, unfortunately.

Absolutely LOVE the color though.  

And finally, these two tiny pugs that work at the studio with me want to say hello:

Have I mentioned

how much I love it when people send me photos of their rings/weddings/engagement?  I particularly loved this one:

How fun is that?  I would never have thought to stage rings this way, but I think it is lovely.  Maybe I should go out looking for a pine tree (although they are sort of scarce around the studio.  Industrial areas tend to be low on lovely trees).

I also love this one.  Nature and the woods seem to be a theme here.  Just lovely!

(p.s. I've been a little preoccupied with my new hobby.  Let's just say it involves a new machine and lots of gorgeous cotton fabric!)

Sea Creatures! Ahhh!

So, my future mother-in-law and her lady friends are throwing me a bridal shower (!!!) in October.  I wanted to do something nice for them in return, so I think I'm going to make them each a pair of earrings.  It's fun to experiment and do some stuff that is outside of my normal day to day job.  Of these two, only the first pair is for one of these lovely ladies, the second pair is a bit large and strange and I don't think they would really suit any of them.  But I have a few more things knocking around inside my head, so we will just have to see what comes out.

SEA CREATURES! AHHHH!

It is fun to be designing for a different audience.  I'm not sure if many women in their 60's are really shopping on Etsy (of course, I could be totally wrong).  They are probably not snapping up moustache decals, graphic tees, or mason jar up-cycled lamps.  So I don't really make many earrings with that age group in mind (ha!  I don't really make many earrings for the shop at all!).  Not that they all have the same tastes, but I don't think they would be too excited about giant silver hoops or super dangly earrings, so I have to keep things at a certain size.  That is really the only real restraint, I think.  Am I wrong?  Maybe some older ladies would like crazy earrings?  Maybe it's just that the women I have in mind share a more restrained style, maybe that is why I'm feeling like I need to keep things moderately small?

All right, I've started to ramble.  It's like my internal voice is eager to spill out all over the internet.  I went for a run this morning, and since then I've just been in the best mood.  Almost bubbly (which is unusal for me).  I had to keep myself from talking the head off of my chiropractor this morning and then I totally chatted up this kid outside a resale shop and bought the table that he was trying to put on consignment.  I always thought I was an introvert, but I think I'm becoming more extroverted as I age.  Anyhow, before I force any more boring details from my day onto you I'm going to sign off.

Have a nice Friday everyone! 

I guess it is decided

I won't be changing my business name.  Yet.  Thanks for the feedback everyone!


So, there have been a few additions to the studio that were a long (too long) time in coming.  Seriously.  You would think I would be more concerned with my own health and safety.  And I am.  But for some reason these changes were always pushed to the end of the list of "Things To Do".

So, there they are:

I'll tell you what, if you are in the market for a new office/studio chair, I would recommend this very highly.  I got this a back pain speciality store.  I'm sure you've seen your doctor or dentist on one of these.  It is fabulous.

I am embarrassed to admit how long it took me to get a pair of these.  Especially considering how much hammering I do.  I will probably have hearing problems later in life.  Maybe.  But now I'm protected.  Thanks Amazon American Express points!

Perhaps you are under the impression that jewelry making is a glamorous job.  Well, maybe some jewelers are glam and style-ly, but I am generally wearing clothes that should be going to the Goodwill, and covered in the disgusting grit created by silicon polishing wheels.  It is the worst feeling ever to have this grit all over your face and neck.  So I finally snapped and bought this shield.  If I wear it with my apron (not pictured here) it blocks all the grit spray from adhering to my face and I can go home without grime all over.  It's a bit heavy, but if you are sitting you can sort of prop it on your chest.  I would recommend something like it if you HATE polishing dirt getting on your face. (Also an Amazon purchase.  It was pretty cheap.)

Hehehehehehehe.  This is for stone setting and carving wax (for me anyway).  It's a magnavisor.  I like it pretty well.  I think I might upgrade to those little glasses dentists have sometime in the future.  You have to get measured for those, so that has sort of deterred me.

And this is an air purifier with a HEPA filter.  It just makes the studio air seem fresher somehow.

And this is a picture of two exhausted pugs.  Sleeping on the couch and eating treats all day sure is rough.  They shed like you wouldn't believe.  Many a perfectly staged photograph has been ruined by a stray pug hair.  But I wouldn't give them up, being alone all day would drive me batty.

And the requisite picture of jewelry:

                            

I like the tapering band.  I am going to add it to my shop, I just need to find more photos.  I recently purchased an external harddrive (another shop improvement!  I feel more and more like a real adult!) and moved most of my photographs onto it.  But the thought of sifting through all of those photos searching for this particular ring makes me tired.

So!  I have new earrings to share!  But I am not going to put them in this post.  It's already too long and I'm sure you have better things to do than waste any more time listening to my ramblings.  I will probably post on Friday, I hope to have a few more to add to the two designs I have now.

Possible name change?

When I first started my business in Feb. 2009,  I didn't really have a plan.  I was just flying by the seat of my pants really.  I began by hanging out my shingle (so to speak) and making a few things to sell.  It's hard to really describe how it went after that, it all went so fast.  But I hadn't really given my business name that much thought.  I actually had a website for my drawings and that is where the singleB came from (indirectly, it was singleB in the first place because of my nickname, Bean).  Now I am regretting it, a bit.  I want to change it something a little more, I don't know, evocative?  Grown up?  A name that makes more sense?

But I'm afraid that I can't!  I'm so heavily invested in my Etsy shop, with the name singleB (or singleBbeautiful....another accidental name.  I had previous etsy shop with the name singleB, and when I opened the jewelry shop, I couldn't use just singleB so I tacked on the beautiful.  It has caused some minor confusion.)  Argh.

Some people have lovely, dignified, romantic, memorable names.  And they just use their own name, or a version of their name.  But don't feel that I can do that.  Justine?  Ugh.  It sounds like it came out of a Harlequin romance novel (which, according to my mother, it did).  I can just see "Justine" as some aristocratic young woman (with self-esteem issues and/or who is strong willed and never thought she would find a man who thinks she's beautiful and/or who was confident enough to put up with her having her own opinions) who gets abducted and then falls in love with her pirate/barbarian/bandit/rake kidnapper, because he is so noble and gentlemanly underneath the gruff exterior.  (LOL!  LOL!)

Anyhoo, so Justine Collins Designs, or Justine Collins Jewelry is out.  I just don't like the way it sounds. It sounds hokey.  No?  Am I crazy?  It just seems sort of generic?

This is what is in my mind at the moment:

I don't really know why, the name just calls to me.  It means "bright" in Hebrew.  I love the way it sounds (at least the way I imagine it is pronounced: baa-here-ah?) and the way it looks printed out.  And I could keep my little lady head logo too.  But I have a built a little bit of name recognition with singleB, so I'm afraid to give that up.  I don't know.  This has been tormenting me for some time now.  I need outside opinions.  Have you ever changed your business name?  What do you think would be a good name for my business?  Do you like BEHIRA?  Or is it silly?  Hard to pronounce?  Hard to remember?  Weird?  Pretentious?

Well, I'm glad it is Friday.  I'm going to go home and have a glass of wine and not worry about this for a while.  Have a great weekend everyone!

The Grass is Always Greener

Readers.  While I looooove my sunken treasure engagement ring,

sometimes, when I finish making a set of rings, I feel like this:

and I wish that reality was more like this:

rather than this:

Oh well.  I knew that I would have a hard time pleasing myself, no matter what I made.  If I had made that other one rather than the one that I did, I would be "waaah, I wish I had made this other one instead.  Or maybe that other one....or that one.  Maybe that one."  Darnit.

Happy Friday!

Friday, the goodness edition

And just because I love this pug insanely.  Have a happy Friday!

Big Sky Sapphire, Dual Tone Project, Rambling post

I love it when I get to make something a bit different from what I am usually doing.  There have been a few things things this summer that I was really pleased to work on.  The first was a lovely wedding set using a Montana sapphire.  The second was a dual tone wedding ring set with a big fat diamond and 18kt yellow gold.  

When you take photos only with natural light, the time of day can really change the feel of the photograph.  The first photo was probably taken in the early afternoon.  The second photo was taken in the evening, just as the sun was just starting to ease off.  I love the cool blue tones.  It doesn't work for everything, but I do love it.  I am going to take pictures of rings in the second photo again today, when the sun is really shining and see how different it looks.

I'm really happy with how the two tone turned out.  I think the color of the diamond, which is on the warmer side, looks really great with the 18kt yellow gold band.  It seems to help tie the two colors together.  I personally love mixing yellow and white metals together, but it definitely isn't everyones cup of tea.  Most people seem to prefer white metals.  I did a little survey a while back, and that was certainly how it played out.

White metal wins by a  mile!  But maybe I should have added a dual tone category?  My instincts tell me it wouldn't have won many votes, but maybe I'm wrong?

Unrelated:  I want to use one of these for something:

It's a "rough" diamond.  I just love the cloudy, silvery, foggy character.  Anyhoo.  I was supposed to be adding new stuff to my shop this morning, so I should probably get back to it. 

Conquered platinum, but shortly thereafter melted into a puddle

Dearest readers.  I am hot.  But I love it.  I would rather be hot than cold any day.  At least in the heat your muscles can relax.  Cold just ties me into knots.

So, I finally finished my first project in platinum.  See below:

I don't know why I was so reluctant to start making things in platinum.  It just seemed intimidating for some reason.  I remember when I first opened up shop.  I had so little experience!  It is shocking when I look back on it.  I was so nervous about EVERYTHING.  Everything was a cause for worry.  There was just so much I didn't know (it's still that way, incidentally) and it made it hard to know what to expect.  I like to know what to expect.  I'm not a nervous person, not at all.  But I NEED to know what to expect, even if it what to expect is bad and hard and intimidating.  As long as I have a general idea of how it will go, I'm fine.   

Anyhoo, I shouldn't have been nervous.  It was bit harder to finish (i.e. polish), but the stone setting was very similar to palladium.  I really liked the color as well.  It was very white, and the weight!  I love the weight of platinum.  I'm toying with making this ring in platinum for my wedding band:

All right, I think I need to wrap things up here, Mr. Gunter is trying to give me a hint about his needs and desires:

(That is the door that he is leaning against.  Subtle, very subtle.)


p.s.  I had my first fitting for my wedding dress yesterday (I'm having it made by a Cambodian tailor).  It is going to turn out fantastic.  Almost exactly what I was picturing!  It's a bit excessively pretty, pretty princess, but I'm throwing caution to the wind (along with my radical feminism, apparently).

Jewelry maker finds it hard to return to work, decides to read a fantasy novel instead

Damn you George R.R. Martin.  I might be able to make a living if you didn't write such beguiling tales of epic/tragic heroism.

So, I am finally back into the swing of things, having just finished the newest Martin book.  Yes, I'm a huge and geeky fan.  Luckily, I'm also a quick reader, so when I fall into a fantasy induced stupor it doesn't last very long (I think bought it on Sunday, finished it last night.  I can't believe it!  So and so can't be dead!)  I think I might start from the beginning (again).  Or maybe I should save that for the month before the 6th book comes out. (Unrelated, but was anyone else terribly disappointed by the final Harry Potter?  What a let down.)

All right.  This is what I've been meaning share with you all:

In case you were wondering

I enjoyed my vacation.

I think I will schedule one for every two or three months.  I just feel so much more positive about my life and my job after having a bit of a break from both.

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.