January round up....

January  - it's usually so grey, and dark. And with Christmas (and most of my money) gone, it usually makes for a pretty low key month.

This time around though I planned ahead. First of all we bought the girls a trip to Harry Potter Studios for their Christmas present. They've got so much "stuff" so I thought an experience would work well as a gift for them. We loved it - have you been yet? It's just amazing to see all the detail on the sets. How much work and expertise goes into the making of the sets and props. Just stunning.

Diagon Alley

Minerva McGonagall's Office

4 Privet Drive

I also planned a night away with some buddies, way back in November (so it was all paid for and sorted before Christmas shopping had really begun). We just popped up to London and stayed in Camden, and went to the Roundhouse to see the Fuerzabruta show. It's the one that hit the news the very next week when this bit of the set fell onto the audience.

 

 Still on the night I went it was fab. That followed by dancing to until 2am (a time I had forgotten existed) was a definite cure to the January blues. 

As ever, every day starts with a dog walk. Rain or shine... and there's been one hell of a lot of the wet stuff round here,  it's always good to get out and about.

And then we get to the jewels... new for January was this amazonite pendant, this rolling ring (based on the russian wedding ring design but with 5 bands rather than three). Plus some more amethyst and garnet goodies - the perfect gemstones to cut through the winter gloom.

Amazonite pendant

Rolling ring

A++ Garnet earrings

 

Amethyst - February birthstone

February is usually my least favourite month, it always feels like the gloomiest weather wise (even more gloomy than January), but I'm expecting good things from this month. Snowdrops and cyclamen are popping up, the birds are making a racket, and the evenings are already that little bit lighter. Bring it on!

Birthstone Goodies for January

I've been working on some garnet goodies recently, as garnet is the January birthstone.

I always think the rich deep red of the garnet looks gorgeous next to that dark sheen of oxidised silver. What do you think?

I know lots of you prefer shiny silver so I tend to offer both options on my goodies. It makes such a difference to the look of the piece. Even if it's not stated on the listing, just ask - I probably just forgot to add it on as an option.

This ring is usually shiny silver, and I think it looks stunning, so I guess it depends very much on each individual item.

Another shiny silver  - last years' January favourites were these pearl and garnet dangles. The creamy pearl with the sparkle of the garnet is such a classy combination.

More info on the January birthstone on this post!

As well as the gorgeous garnets I've been looking head to February, the amethyst birthstone always brightens up that greyest of months.

Click on the pics for a closer look!

What I've been up to....

Every blog post I write seems to start... "crikey it's been a while since I last posted..." so I won't start this one like that. Nope.

But

well....

you know.

Anyway, what have I been up to? Well, lots of looking after this little bundle of fun..

And getting my christmas stock ready for action.

Bridesmaid Gifts

I've been asked to make a few gifts for bridesmaids recently. So much so that I'm going to set up a few bridesmaid packages in my shops over the next week or so, to make it easier for the bride to be!

With all the lovely gemstones out there it's usually pretty easy to find a gorgeous stone to match the wedding colours perfectly.

I can make matching bridesmaids jewellery using many of my designs, but the big favourites have always been my leaf pendant, the lily pendant and matching wire wrapped earrings.

This set, made for each of the three bridesmaids at a Surrey wedding, was to compliment a rich purple theme. We chose these gorgeous facetted amethysts which matched beautifully. The bride also showed me some hair combs she had already chosen for the bridesmaids which had some delicate pale grey pearls. I found an identical coloured pearl to tie in with the jewellery design.

Another of my favourite designs for bridesmaids gifts is my lily pendant. I made these recently for a bride in York.

The pale lime green of the peridot was perfect to match the fresh green wedding colours. The facetted gems are small, but add a gorgeous touch of colour to the simple lily design. The bride was so happy with them that she ordered a further peridot pendant to be given to a friend who was doing a reading at the service.

I do hope the bridesmaids liked them!!

Amethyst - February Birthstone

The February-born shall find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion and from care,
If they an amethyst will wear.

From light pinkish violet to a deep dark purple, the Greeks believed these beautiful stones could prevent intoxication hence the name; the word amethyst comes from the Greek word “amethystos” meaning “not drunk”! Medieval soldiers wore amethyst amulets as protection in battle because they believed amethysts could heal people and keep them cool-headed. 

Because of their beautiful colour and relative hardness, amethysts have been used in jewellery for many hundreds of years, in fact beads of amethyst have been found in Anglo-Saxon graves. But although it is quite a hard stone it's still only 1/15 the strength of a diamond. 

The most expensive amethysts are the darker purple, which look gorgeously regal,  but I have to say love the lighter violet and pinky colours too.

Did you know some types amethyst can be meters long. In 1900 in Mexico a stone was found which measured 33 feet, by 16 feet, by 10 feet and weighed over 8 tonnes.Not your jewellery grade amethyst you understand!!

January birthstone info

More information on the other birthstones

Giveaway alert!!!

Well I did promise that when I got to 50 facebook fans I would do a giveaway....oops I'm now on 57 so it's time I got myself organised and got on with it.

I have been meaning to get this started for a couple of days but just could NOT decide what I should giveaway. Some people suggested a gift certificate, but I decided (finally) to offer a choice between 2 necklaces.  They are quite different, so hopefully you will like 1 of them!

First up is the amethyst and silver necklace..

Sterling silver wire wrapped around amethyst nuggets, linked on a sterling silver chain, with a toggle clasp.

I do like these nuggets - they're quite irregular in shape, size, and shade. Amethyst is the birthstone for February.

Choice number 2...  a double brass chain holds a brass swallow and bloodstone beads.

Bloodstone is my birthstone (as well as aquamarine - March seeing as though you asked) and I was never that keen on it when I was younger, but I really like the variety of colours and the splashes of red that appear in the stones. Maybe it was just the name that put me off, jasper sounds better. It does seem to go very well with brass too. 

 
I went for an asymetrical design as it just seems fun, and nice and easy to wear.

Sooooooooo how to enter......

1) First of all choose which necklace you would prefer, and leave me a comment here, with a name for that necklace. (I have such trouble thinking of good names for the etsy shop!)


2) For a second entry into the draw, blog about this giveaway with a link, and let me know!

3) For a third entry into the draw follow me on Twitter (redbirdjewels) and Tweet about this giveaway - I'll add your name in again for every tweet (but please no more than 1 tweet per hour!! - I won't count it!)



I'll put all of the entries into a hat (I have my woolly one ready) and will pick the winner on Sunday 17th January at noon.

Ooooooh my first giveaway - I'm really excited!!!