The winner is...

Dannelle, #5!

Congrats to you on winning the Sunset Mini Necklace! Please email me the address of where you would like it sent so that I can get this out to you asap.

As of right now, I am "out of the office" pending the return of order to my new house. Hopefully by mid-month I'll be able to start making jewelry again, but for the time being everything is still packed, hence the hiatus. I appreciate your patience! If you need something done for Christmas be sure to let me know in the next couple of weeks so that I can work on that first when I come back. Thanks everybody!

Spotlight: Daisy Chain Dangles ($38)

Sometimes a plain old post just isn't enough. That's where these vintage earrings step in. Versatile, mod and lightweight, these vintage Avon earrings have been revamped with a white glass bead and new post. (In their previous life they were clip-ons.) Make them a part of your wardrobe today! (Available on Etsy now)

Materials: gold plated post (never worn), white glass bead, vintage daisies on vintage pins

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Giveaway: Sunset Mini Necklace ($22)

The crisp breeze sends a chill as you walk outside, bundled in your favorite sweater. Your boots crunch on leaves falling gracefully in shades of red, orange and yellow. You take a sip of your apple cider, it's earthy cinnamon spice and the cool air awakening your senses on this beautiful autumn morning.

Materials: high quality gold-filled chain, tiny agate coins (smaller than a pencil eraser), gold plated findings.

I love fall. Is it obvious? This month's giveaway is perfect for the season! Harvest hues of agate are hung from a delicate gold-filled chain, at about 17" long. This simple necklace is part of a collection, which I will be putting up on Etsy later today. You can win the Sunset Mini Necklace by adding a comment to this post anytime from now until Friday, October 29th. Good luck!

The winner is...

Julie, #15!

Congratulations! Please send me your address so that I can get this shipped out to you!

For everyone else...don't fret, there is another giveaway starting Monday so be sure to check back and enter again! Have a fantastic Friday and happy October!

New blog design coming soon!

My brother and I have been collaborating to come up with a new look for Ruth Parker and I am loving the new direction. It sure is nice to have a family of artists, lemme tell ya. Fingers crossed we will be rolling out the new design sometime next week! I can't wait! It's been a long time coming and I can't wait to see what everyone thinks. I have a couple of new items to post soon as well so keep checking back for those!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway,

follow me on twitter,

"like" me on facebook,

and suggest me to all of your friends! :)

Also, here's my jewelry inspiration of the day...gotta love those earrings and I am always a huge fan of Grace Kelly.

Photo courtesy of newcritics.com

Giveaway: Pink Lemonade

Giveaways are BACK!

This month I'm giving away a brand new necklace, the Pink Lemonade! It is simple and sweet and if you win this drawing, it can be yours FREE! Comment once on this post to be entered to win. The winner will be announced Friday, October 1st and a new giveaway will be posted the same day. Please leave a way for me to get a hold of you should you win. Thanks!

Spotlight: Pink Lemonade, Greek Goddess, & Those are not acorns

Here I am delivering, as promised! Three new necklaces on spotlight today, and one has already been featured on an Etsy treasury! For those who don't know, treasuries are a way for people to display they're favorite items in a collection and occasionally the editors at Etsy will pick their favorites to display on the front page! When you go to the Etsy homepage, the first thing you see is a treasury that someone created, so if they pick the lovely treasury I was featured in, it would mean a lot of exposure for me. Moving on...

Here we have Pink Lemonade ($24), my favorite new wear-everyday necklace! It is bright, fun and very summery, which is why I will be wearing it all through the winter when the snow starts falling.

Materials: glass leaves, opaque glass yellow bead, gold plated flower charm, fuschia glass bead, gold plated chain. Hangs right at the collarbone, about 16" long, not adjustable

Next in line is the Greek Goddess ($42) which is made of natural stones and hangs from two different chains. It is simple but still makes a statement!

Materials: white Malaysian jade, green turquoise, gold plated chains, gold plated bead caps. Hangs around 24" long, is finished off with a toggle clasp and is not adjustable

And last, but not least, is Those are not acorns ($26). You'll have to go to the Etsy shop to see why it has such a weird name. There's a story behind it. This one is made from a REAL, live pine cone that has been electroplated in gold. Every necklace will be slightly different because every pine cone is slightly different.

Materials: gold electroplated pine cone (While cone-like in shape, these are actually the flowers of the alder tree. As this is a natural product, size and shape vary.), dark brown wooden beads, gold filled chain. Adjustable; hangs from about 17" to 18 1/2" long

Scheduling...

I am working jewelry making back into my schedule and am excited to start showing off some brand new pieces. I have decided not to take any classes this semester; with a toddler now running around and another bundle of joy on the way, it was just too much to handle. I am working out a child care routine so that I will have some time to myself to really devote to my business and I am so excited about it. With the little guy out of the house I can finally experiment with some resin and do some drilling...it might not sound like a big deal, but it is to me! I had a couple of sales this past week so that too was very motivating! You will be hearing from me again soon! :)

Sunny Inquisition ($26) and Indigo and Lace ($42) Earrings

I'm baaaaaack! Today is going to be short and sweet; I'm in the process of packing to go out of town for the 4th so I'm short on time.

Two new pairs of earrings available this week: first I have the Sunny Inquisition earrings, which are Spanish inspired, with a glass yellow bead and a dark green jade cabochon encircled in a gold plated filigree setting.

Second are the Indigo and Lace earrings, Native American inspired, with carved bone, indigo blue and chocolate brown beads. Both are available on Etsy today so be sure to stop by and check them out!

I hope everyone has a fantastic holiday weekend! Happy 4th of July!

Hiatus

As you've probably noticed, I've been off the radar here for a few weeks now. I have gotten the itch back to start making some pieces again and am looking forward to it. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who missed me; it meant a lot! I am hoping to post some new items next week, and fingers crossed, we will have another giveaway in June. Thanks guys! I'll see you soon.

Winner!

Congratulations to Renee, number 4! She's the lucky winner of March's giveaway. Be sure to check back next week for the new item up for grabs in April!

Spotlight: Madrid Necklace ($58)

As one of the most powerful, populated cities in all of Europe and the most influential in its' own country, one might expect Madrid to have a showy, dominant looking coat of arms and flag. I did, at least. While researching Madrid as the namesake for my newest summer necklace, however, I found that their city emblems portray a standing bear at a tree with red fruit.

No swords? No crazy medieval helmets? After a little more digging, I found that the city of Madrid was founded by the Moors in the 9th century and was known as "land of the bears". Turns out that the tree pictured on both the coat of arms and city flag is called a Strawberry Tree, and is native to the area. The bear and the strawberry tree shield is thought to date back to 1212, when it was first used at the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa. (an important battle for Spain during the Crusades) Little red beads, strawberry tree...Madrid is even more of a perfect name than I had thought! The thing that I love about this city (and what makes me want to visit even more than I already did) is the fact that they honor their history. Not just with the symbols of their city, but also the city itself. There is a lot of emphasis and importance put on preserving the historical buildings and streets throughout Madrid and I most definitely respect that. In a culture where most of our history gets torn down to accommodate the new and modern, I appreciate a place that restores and preserves their past. I hope you like the newest addition to my International Collection:

the Madrid Necklace.

Materials: glass beads, gold plated 5 strand clasp

Only a few more days to be entered into the Giveaway for March! You have until Thursday, the 25th at midnight to be entered to win! Just click on the giveaway button to the right, comment on the post, and that's it! Good luck!

Spotlight: Rancho Palos Verdes Necklace ($42)

Materials: Clear quartz, chrysoprase, peridot, serpentine, glass, ceramic, and acrylic beads, gold plated chain & toggle

The city of Rancho Palos Verdes lies south of the heart of Los Angeles, on a gorgeous peninsula with spectacular views of the Pacific. A couple of fun facts: the affluent suburb is the home of the Trump National Golf Club (in case you were curious as to what it looks like...wow!) and many scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean movie were shot right off the coast and on their bluffs. It truly is a gorgeous area, which is why I named this gorgeous necklace after it! (And for those of you who aren't familiar with Spanish, "verde" means green.) It is almost entirely gemstone beads, and this is the ONLY ONE available EVER so if you love it, you need to snatch it up before it's gone!

There's still a giveaway going on so don't forget to add your comments to be entered to win!

Over the past few days I have been working on updating my Etsy shop, making new items, and getting my taxes together. All fun, except the taxes. My sister was here for a (very) short time last week and was able to get a few new pictures taken of my jewelry, so you should definitely head over to my Etsy shop and check them out. I have a couple of new necklaces going up later this week so check back often! Also, don't forget to enter the giveaway for the Cleopatra Earrings! This month's drawing will end Friday, March 26th so don't wait!

Giveaway: Cleopatra Earrings ($12)

Materials: gold plated laser cut fans, jumprings, earwire

This month's giveaway is an amazing pair of chandelier earrings called Cleopatra. For those days when you don't feel like doing anything at all but laying around on your chaise lounge, getting fanned with palm fronds by loyal servants, and eating grapes on the beach. (Or when you wake up: sitting on a plastic chair, getting splashed by the kids, eating raisins by the kiddie pool) Either way, these earrings are great for whatever luxurious (or realistic) plans you have this spring and summer.

The winner is...

Brooke #8!

Congratulations on winning February's giveaway! A new giveaway will be up on Monday- everyone have a great weekend!

(Hopefully with some better weather all around the country? Please, Mother Nature?)

Spotlight: Italian Mosaic Necklace, ME!

I have been working on a custom necklace for a friend of mine that I wanted to share with everyone today. I liked the design of it so much that I'm going to duplicate it with something else. The way the chain sits reminds me of a vintage feel thin collar dress, like this one atModCloth.

Also, this week I was featured on Glamour weddings. Check it out here. Kind of crazy, right? Thanks to an awesome photographer, amazing shoes and my husband for helping me make that very unique and memorable cuff and earrings set for our wedding day. It's really cool to be noticed, especially by a company as huge as Glamour! Thank you, whoever you are, for adding me to the mix this week!

Only 2 more days to enter to win this month's GIVEAWAY! All you have to do is add your comment to the post to be entered to win. See ya Friday!

Growing up in California definitely had it's perks...namely, NO SNOW. But you have to have seasons, right? WRONG! I lived most of my life perfectly happy without them. Sunshine is never boring in my book. And so it is, that right about this time every year I hit the winter wall. It hasn't even been bad in Utah this year and I'm still over it! That's how much of a wimp I am. I'm always freezing. (I hate layering and wearing socks) Everything else is frozen. (I refuse to go for a walk if I come back colder than I was when I left) There's no color anywhere. This week, instead of feeding my depression, I thought I would share a few of my favorite things that have inspired me lately and are helping me get through these last few weeks (hopefully!) of winter. (You will soon see the products that came from these inspirations too!)

My very favorite: Sunshine, and lots of it

Grass, preferably freshly mowed

Sailing

Water in general...pools, beaches, running through the sprinklers

Strawberries

Camping

Also, I want to thank my friend Renee for spotlighting me on her blog last week. Her site is one I check often because she has a great eye and excellent taste! I love seeing what she's going to post next. Be sure to check it out here.

Don't forget this month's giveaway ends on Thursday at midnight! Get your comment in and win a FREE necklace! See you Wednesday for another Spotlight!

Another Feature!

I was featured on another blog this week: One Crazy Stampin' Mama. It is the site of my friend Julie who is an amazing crafter and stamper extraordinaire. I just wanted to come on and thank her for the love and spread a little of my own her way. Check out the post she did on my jewelry here.

My sister just moved away from me last month, but she's coming back in two weeks! The reason why I'm telling you this (aside from the fact that I think you should care) is because she has decided to get into photography and is going to help me out by taking some WAY better pictures for me while she's here. I don't know what I'm supposed to do when she leaves...but we'll have to figure something out. It's super hard because I don't make a ton of any one thing and whenever I create something new I need a picture like, yesterday. Totally. If I was into mass producing it would be a lot easier, but alas...that goes against everything I am about with this little endeavor of mine. Since I only have one or two things to photograph at one time, it makes it a LOT difficult. (As opposed to a little difficult, in case you were questioning my grammar.) I need a live in photographer...ok maybe not that extreme...perhaps an on call photographer. Everyone start buying more jewelry so that I can afford an on call photographer. Thanks. :)

Spotlight: Ice Castles Necklace ($78)

Materials: clear quartz, glass, silver plated findings and chain

Who doesn't love a wedding? With spring drawing near and so many weddings on the way, I thought it would be appropriate to share the first necklace in my bridal collection. This one of a kind stunner is made with clear quartz and glass beads, and is highly adjustable thanks to a very long cable chain at the back. If you are looking for a statement piece of jewelry that will definitely get some attention on your wedding day, this is the necklace for you. It is anything but traditional, and simply extraordinary. I hope you like it!

Don't forget to add your name to the list for this months giveaway. Simply click the button to the right and make a comment on the post to be entered to win!