It's About Time

I am so happy to have new work to post. I feel like it's been a really long time. I suppose it has been! The following is a mix of jewelry I've made for the galleries, my etsy shop, and a couple things I made for myself. Enjoy!


I made the "Evelyn" necklace shortly after she was born. I was aching to make my 'momma' necklace my entire pregnancy. But that's hard to do when you don't know the gender of the baby. I gotta tell ya...this was a difficult necklace to make. Any little mistake in the stamping led me to re-melting down the gold, re-hammering it back out flat, re-polishing it...etc. I probably did this 4 times before I got it right. When it comes to jewelry, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. That fact makes my life difficult sometimes! Ugh. The moldovite necklace is something I made to layer with the Evelyn necklace. I LOVE moldovite. It is the most stunning shade of green (love). I bought 4 stones about 2 years and have not been able to part with them. I also made a pearl pendant to layer with Evelyn but I forgot to take a photo of it. Anyway...

Vessuvianite and variegated green amethyst.

Crazy lace agate (this stone is AMAZING in person).

The most beautiful green/gold freshwater pearls knotted on matching green silk.

Chalcedony

Earrings to match

Pearl studs...love these!

Little rustic hoops

Mmmmm, paisley and pearls. Does life get any better?!

An authentic 100+ year old Indian charm (called "Patri").

Silvery-aqua freshwater pearls

I love this color combination of pearls...it's fresh.

And some bracelets to match!

There you have it. New jewelry. Now I need to attack my next project, new tags for the gallery jewelry. I have no ideas so far. Hmph.

Other than that--life continues to be good. Take care ; )

A New Life

Nearly 8 weeks have passed since the birth of my sweet, little girl. In some ways it feels like it's been a lot longer than that--for example, it feels like it's been a lot longer than that since a decent nights sleep! At the same time, part of me wishes time would slow in passing. Evelyn has out grown all of her newborn clothes, diapers, and even the need to be swaddled. My heart broke a little while cleaning out her drawers, putting the teeny-tiny newborn clothes away to make room for the 0-3 size.

This new life as a mother has been beyond rewarding. Even though it comes with it's challenges the blessings have been abundant. Things I struggled with for what seems like forever are starting to come easy to me (time management being a big one!). Every little smirk and smile fill my heart with joy. Every diaper, feeding, bath...every opportunity to serve my little one makes me love her more.

I have had some time to play around in the studio here and there the past 7 weeks. I FINALLY got to make my 'momma' necklace : ) My camera is currently full to the brim with pictures of Evelyn so I have yet to photograph some of my new work. Hopefully that will happen soon. I think February will be a fresh start in the studio. I am anxious to re-open my shop and get some new jewelry to the galleries (which is actually in progress...yay!). My husband will be my new assistant. That is he will be in charge (feedings and all) while I work in my studio a few nights a week. I cannot wait to get started!


Love and Hugs!

It's a Girl!!!

Evelyn Grace Armstrong was born Tuesday, December 7th at 8:55pm. She weighed 7lbs 3oz and measured 20" long. The labor and delivery were 'text book' (according to the nurses)--everything went just as I hoped and prayed it would. We have been blessed with a perfect, healthy little girl and words cannot express my gratitude!


Evie and I locking eyes for the first time--she is so beautiful.


She already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. Have you ever scene such a look of love?


She ALWAYS has her little hands on her face and every now and then she gets her thumb in her mouth. It's so dang cute to watch her suck her little thumb.


Amos is so interested in her and shows very cautious interest. We've noticed his protective instincts have doubled since we've brought her home. He is already very sweet with her.

So now we're just trying to get adjusted to life with a baby here at home. So far things are going well. But the last 5 days are starting to catch up with us and we're pretty tired today. I'll continue to be in touch but it might be spotty (much like it has been the past 9 months!).

His and Hers

A friend/customer commissioned me to make her and her boyfriend a 'his and hers' necklace set for Christmas. It was such a fun and challenging project because I had never made anything for a man before. After doing some research on etsy (of course) I found there are some really awesome designs out there for men. I just might bust into that market one of these days. Enjoy the pictures (and ignore the reflections in the stones...there was no way around it!).

Hers & His

We chose to use onyx as the stone because it represents constancy, steadfastness, permanence, & courage (among many other things).

Debbie--this one is yours. It features a 25mm onyx stone set in a very feminine setting with a 18" textured chain (that matches the wire detail around the stone).



And here is Phil's. I *hope* the setting is masculine enough. This is also a 25mm stone and is on a 3mm thick natural leather cord that measures 20".

"love of my life"

Let me know what you think! I hope you love them. I'll send them with Mike Wednesday wrapped and ready to go : ) Thanks Debbie!

New Work

I finally took some pictures of recently finished projects. Enjoy!


Labradorite. One of my favorite stones, e v e r. This is a particularly beautiful stone. I put it in a very simple setting to not distract from the stone itself.


This stone has such beautiful 'flash' (aka labradoresence)...blues, grays, greens, golds. Lovely!


This necklace features a 100 year old Indian charm, called a Patri. The stones are varigated blend of green amethyst (another personal favorite) knotted on thick, brown silk. I used soft deerskin suede for the bail.

Diamonds, anyone? I used some of the raw diamond beads I bought at the last gem show in this necklace. My new trick--using silver 'drop' beads layered on a sterling hoop for a lovely rustic effect. Here's a pendant and earrings to match.

Other than that my studio time has been taken up with custom orders and some odds and ends repairs. I am feeling a huge relief having just finished up the last of my custom orders (which will appear in another entry today)--the baby can come any day it wants now! We're going to be 38 weeks this week so I am REALLY hoping the baby will decide to come soon. We shall see ; )

"Okay...it's time to slow it down."

Do you remember that from high school dances? You'd be dancing to some crazy, fast song with a group of your friends and then all of a sudden the DJ would say "...it's time to slow it down..." and the lamest slow song would come on. The atmosphere in the room changed as everyone either scurried off the floor to avoid the embarrassment of not having someone to dance with or, if you were one of the lucky ones, you'd start scanning the crowd for your date. Okay--that's totally random, but that's what this post is all about!

Well...it's time to slow it down here in the Armstrong household and in Karena Bella studio. Since I started feeling less nauseous and more motivated at around 5 months I decided that I'd get as much done as possible both at work and in the studio up until the baby comes. Here we are at 31 weeks and my body just can't keep up. We've learned that I just can't handle the stress of "getting as much done as possible" anymore. So I've cut back (per doctor's suggestion). I notified the galleries that what they have is it until early spring. I've notified people at church that I'm cutting back on my responsibilities there. And well, work is work. But it's so part time that it shouldn't be much of a problem. However, we did decide that I will be done December 16th. I will then be a stay-at-home-mom and run my jewelry business on the side. We're going to take it one day at a time and just go from there. I've got to say it feels good to eliminate stress. But now I don't quite know what to do with myself. I suppose rest and enjoy these last couple months of pre-parenthood freedom.

Here's a recent family photo taken by my sister while visiting her in the Chicago area. I'll try really hard not to mention that I look like crap! Oops. We were going to be in the car all day so I didn't do much with myself. But as always, my husband and dog are adorable : )

Battle of the Bumps! I think I win this one. (I love my baby bump by the way : )

Well anyway. I suppose that's it for now. I have some new work to take pictures of...hopefully that'll happen soon. And I also hope that I'll find the motivation to play around in the studio. As much as I was looking forward to my Holiday line for the galleries, it's such a relief not having that deadline looming over head. I do plan to still work...just for fun (which is the best ever!). Catch ya later!

The Loot

The gem show came and went. I've got to say that there have been better shows--not that there wasn't some gorgeous stuff! There is always that. However, being low on funds, being 7 months pregnant, tired, and bumping in to everything (people...tables...displays...people--it's always jam packed) I was hard pressed to find the energy and excitement I usually have at the show. I wouldn't have survived it if it had not been for my incredible husband who carried my heavy bag and waited in long check-out lines so I could continue to shop. He's the best!

This show I had to focus on the necessary items that aren't much fun to buy but you have to have (findings, chain, etc). I did score on some beautiful crazy lace agate cabs (pictured above), a strand of rough diamonds, and a few other fun finds.


Diamonds!!! Not your typical faceted and polished diamonds--but diamonds nonetheless. For Christmas Mike bought me 5 sets of these tiny rough diamond beads and I love them. I made myself a little something special with them but wished I had more to make stuff to sell. I found a great deal on an entire 17.5" strand in lovely silvery tones. In the middle of the diamonds is a sapphire, green zircon, and amethyst--my husbands, the baby's, and my birthstones. This was my special purchase. I am going to make a stacking mother's ring with them!


I love, love, love these silver "drop" beads. I bought some at the last show and use them all the time. They are heavy, organically shaped, and add the perfect rustic touch to my designs. I just had to get some more.



The "necessary and not so fun to buy" stuff. This is always the most expensive stuff too. Some chain, crimp ends, attach rings, and head pins. As I was putting all of this away I realized I already had 600 of the same head pins (a few years supply for me) in my silver supply stash and could have saved nearly $20 on a length of chain by buying it online. I felt really stupid. I usually have a list of what-I-don't-need-at-the-gem-show and do research beforehand to see what the things I do need are going for online. I didn't do that this time. I'll blame it on my "baby brain".


And last, but not least, a couple strands of frosted glass beads. I admit I settled for these. I wanted ancient Roman glass but it's REALLY expensive. This was the best I could find that was similar. I kinda wish I'd have not bought them. I have no idea what to do with these??? Oh well, they were cheap.

Well, that's all folks. You'd never believe it if I told you how much all of this cost. It sure doesn't look like much. The next show will be more fun. I'm starting to save for it now and I won't be pregnant (but I'll have to find a sitter!). Later--