By Now You Know . . .

I make jewelry and sell it online.

For a limited time there is free shipping on any item purchased from my shop as long as there is a Celtic symbol in the item and it is mailed to a USA address. Use the code CELTIC at checkout.

To see a group of these items, click here.

St Patrick's Day for Free Spirits

Calling All Free Spirits!

So you feel compelled to wear something green for St. Patrick's Day. And you know you just hate doing something because it is expected. What to do?

I created this double strand necklace just for folks like us. We like to follow traditions, but just a bit and not too much. The double strand necklace boasts silver Celtic knot beads, so very right for St. Patrick's Day. But this necklace is not typical green, it is a gorgeous shade of blue and includes jasper gemstones as well as crystals. 

Blue is known as a calming color and who doesn't like that! So with this necklace you can mock tradition and dress up elegantly in a color like faded denim. I call that just fantastic.

To see more images of this necklace and for purchase info click here. To see some of my other Celtic-inspired necklaces and earrings click here.

Just made today

Hot off the Workbench

Did you ever wonder about how something like this comes to be? Sit back and listen to the story of this necklace.

The beautiful swirling pink and purple pendant, made of dichroic glass has lived here for a while and never quite found compatible beads to be part of a creation. So it waited.

Recently some gorgeous beads appeared on the horizon and they were available in many wonderful colors. I got some blues, some greens, and some great earthy colors. But pink is not one of my favorite colors at all. I suppose it is a credit to the beads that I even looked at the pink ones! They are not solid color, but swirl with various pink shades, some light, some dark and some nearly transparent. Each is unique.

I do know someone who loves everything pink and so I thought of her when making this necklace. I now had the pendant and the larger pink beads, but what else would work? if you don't know anyone who works with beads, here's a little secret -- they are hoarders and collectors. So eventually many, many candidate beads were pulled out, lined up, threaded on a wire and examined for compatibility. They all failed the test. Some nice colored beads looked good -- they were on sale when purchased -- but they were erratic sizes and crazy damaged shapes. No. No. No.

Then the lowly translucent amethyst beads stepped up, somewhat shy, and they were so perfect to showcase those pink beads. To see more pictures and for purchase information click here.

St Patrick's Day Gear

Are You Ready for St. Patrick's Day?

Check out my St. Patrick's Day gear. Here are just twelve of the fun designs that are available on a range of items from shirts for men, women, kids and dogs, to mugs, hats, cards, postage stamps and more.

There are other designs, but these are a good sample. I found myself disgusted with so many fun St. Patrick's Day shirts with bogus stereotypes being promoted. So I came up with these designs.

All are from a genuine Irish gal with roots through Philadelphia, Boston, Cambridge and Canada.

To see more click here.

Created Yesterday

How Cool Is This!

When you create jewelry there are a lot of bits and pieces that get put away and forgotten when a current project gets all the focus.

I ordered some new beads and was looking for elements that were already here and which would work well with the color of the new beads.

Voila! This pendant surfaced. The pendant is turquoise jasper and the photo shows how it seems to have daubs of light and dark greens and blue and near white colors. It was purchased for the pleasant appearance but never really got any attention, until now.

My new beads seem to have the same colors! Blues, greens, areas near white. I thought this was an amazing combination and created this necklace yesterday. The beads are czech faceted rondelles and I used beads caps to separate them from sets of 3 seed beads. The seed beads are light and dark green. This is a stunning piece and the mix of blue and green is soothing and yet spectacular.

To see more photos and information about this necklace and pendant, please click here.

New Item, Created Yesterday

I recently purchased some interesting beads and these earrings are one of the results. The faceted beads are a mix of green and blue colors with a picasso finish that adds a bit of browns here and there. The result is that these manmade beads look like gemstones!

I added three seed beads--the center one is a bit lighter than the other two--and bead caps north and south of the beads to create the drop on these dangling earrings. The leverbacks are gold plated. To see more about this item and for purchase information, please click here.

Check the Calendar, Next Month Is St. Patrick's Day

Spring is almost in the air now and the world will soon start to get a tint of green. I created this double-strand necklace to celebrate spring and St. Patrick's Day as well as the heritage of the mythic Celtic women who guarded the tree of life.

The necklace uses Celtic symbols and several kinds of gemstones. I added a dime to the image here to show the relative size of the elements used. For more info and photos as well as purchase specifics, please click here.

Incredible Colorful Necklace

Add Some Sparkle to Your Life with Color

I was amazed to discover this incredible handcrafted necklace online this morning. The vivid colors and variety of bead shapes combine for an incredible piece of jewelry.

To learn about the various elements used here, see more images, and access purchase info, click here.