What's new for October?

My lovely dapped chain finally arrived..........and I love it.

Can't wait to get making some lovely new necklaces with it, but in the meantime, I have a plain dapped chain on right now. Who needs gems when you have this gorgeous dapped silver?

I also just bought this beautiful druzy window cushion cabochon. Oh. My.

I think it's going to be a ring, but it's a one of a kind, so I need to think about this one........

And I also just got these stunning green tourmaline stones, 6mm, made into dinky studs. I love 'em. Not on the shop yet but they should be tomorrow.... the stone is that little bit special, and I'm not sure I'll be getting any more of them. But we'll see - I'd love to know what you think of them!

Russian Wedding Ring

Years (and years ago), my Auntie Sara bought me a Russian Wedding Ring as a birthday present. I'd wanted one for ages and I love it just as much today as I did then. I love the fluidity of the rings as they roll over each other. More than that though I love the look of the rings all nestled together. I also like how you can fiddle with it, and move it around when you're wearing it. I've realised I'm a real jewellery fiddler. Surely I'm not the only one?

I'll get around to making a russian wedding ring someday, but in the meantime I made a russian wedding ring style bangle. I do love a nice bangle! Somehow the way they are inter meshed adds a lovely relaxed style to them.

The traditional russian wedding ring is made of three types of gold, white, yellow and red and are said to signify the Holy Trinity - or I've also heard that they mean For then, For now, For ever.
I also found a story about the meaning on this blog in which a mum tells her son about the meaning behind the rings...

"She told me that the ring was a symbol of this love, as all wedding rings are.
But, she told me, this ring brought together the three most important things of a loving relationship.

The white gold ring, she told me, is softer than the other golds. Being softer, it will take the shape of the finger. "Love is like that", she said. "In the journey through life, two people in love have to change their shape. They have to give some things up, and take other things on. To become a family each one has to move towards the other". So that's what the white gold represents: bending towards each other.

Yellow gold, on the other hand, is very hard. You can bump it and knock it, and afterwards, all you had to do is to give it a hard rub, and there it would be: all bright and shining again. "Life is like that" she said. "It's not easy. Sometimes things are really difficult. Then you have to support each other. Sometimes love has to be hard". So this is what the Yellow Gold represents: the strength to get through life, and then come out on the other side all bright and shiny and new.

Then she was silent for a time. So I asked her "what about the red gold mommy?"

It took her a moment before she answered.
"Have you ever seen red gold before?" she asked softly.
"No", I replied.
"Well," she said, "Red Gold is rare". "And love", she said "is just as rare. When you find it, when you finally have it, you must look after it. You have to protect it. If you lose it it might never come back to you again". And that is what the Red Gold represents: that Love must be cherished, because life is short and every moment spent without love is a moment lost forever."

Do cheesy moments like that really happen? 

Hmmmm. I wonder if my kids will remember any of my stories when they're older - or to be honest, whether any of them are worthy of remembering (note to self, must come up with better explanations for things).

I might venture into mixed metal designs, though I think right now, gold will be just for commission pieces. I'd love to know what you think of them though. 

This months winner...

I just wanted to say congratulations to Kathy who won this months' newsletter subscriber giveaway.

This month the prize was....

..These dainty sterling silver earrings, with a glistening hammered circle holding a sterling wire wrapped jet black swarovski crystal (6mm).

I love these earrings, they're one of those designs that is perfect to dress up or down, and I've got a new batch of  swarovski crystals in a range of lovely colours - so look out for more in the shop soon (or let me know if there's a colour you'd particularly like to see!!).

Next month I'll be giving away a pair of teeny tiny stars, take a sneek preview here...  http://www.beckypearcedesigns.co.uk/beckypearceshop/prod_2378010-Fine-silver-teeny-tiny-stars.html

April Birthstone - Diamond!!

"She who from April dates her years,
Diamonds shall wear, lest bitter tears
For vain repentance flow."

I do love a diamond, nothing bounces the light quite like them, but wow do they cost!  

Incidentally do you know how to spot a fake? Apart from weighing half as much as cubic zirconia (commonly used in place of a diamond and a whole lot cheaper) you can do the fog test. Put the stone in front of your mouth and fog it like you would a mirror. If it stays fogged for a couple seconds, it’s probably a fake. A real diamond disperses the heat instantaneously so by the time you look at it, it has already cleared up, or if it happens to be a little dirty, it still clears much faster than a fake. Use a stone you know is real next to the suspect stone and fog both. 

So if it's that hard to tell some other stones from diamonds, there are obviously alternatives that the April birthday girl could wear that look similarly stunning, without eating beans on toast for the next 6 months.

White topaz is a lovely alternative birthstone, which shines and shimmers, yet is affordable. And another alternative I'm using this month is rock crystal. I have some stunning new onion briolettes (and I mean stunning.... watch this space) on my bench which I'm using in designs at the moment. I'll hopefully get a few listed in the birthstone section of my new shop shortly!! 

I do feel slightly guilty for not offering any real diamonds in my shop.... maybe in a few years. But for now, I hope you'll agree these'll do just fine.