Thank You!

Thanks to all of you, this season has been an excellent sales season. Many of my favorite designs have sold and I am thinking about whether to use the designs again. I probably will with some small changes and different gemstones.

This season was also an excellent purchasing season so you will find many new and beautiful gemstones on my websites, at the HAA gallery and in my boutique.
One gemstone is Seraphinite, also called Angel’s Wings, and I fell in love with these beautiful, dark-green shimmery gemstones. Customers who were interested in their story fell in love with them as well and purchased my designs. I know that my designs went to very good homes.

Two new items that will be a part of your purchase will be a small jeweler’s cleaning cloth and a 3×5 inch plastic bag to store your silver jewelry in. After wearing my jewelry, clean the items with the jeweler’s cleaning cloth and store them in the plastic bag or in a tarnish-resistant jewelry box to keep the pieces from tarnishing. I’ve been able to keep my inventory tarnish free by storing them in plastic bags or wrapped in jeweler’s silver cloth. Also, storing jewelry with silica gel granules package that comes in a variety of items we purchase also helps to keep the tarnish away.

Thank you, again, for a wonderful season.

Needle in a Haystack

There’s a new show in town and it’s called Needle’s Haystack, a new jewelry-only marketplace now open for shopping. Already this new store has 45 talented jewelry designers showing their beautiful designs. Take a peek; you might find something you just can’t live without.
I’ve also listed a few of my designs including a sodalite necklace, bracelet, and earring set, a turquoise necklace and earring set, and blue chalcedony/smoky quartz necklace, bracelet and earrings which are sold individually. I also have lapis and malachite jewelry available as well. I just couldn’t resist the urge to show a few pieces there.

Designs for Pantone Spring 2011 Fashion Colors

Pantone Spring 2011 Fashion Colors

My last article was about the new Spring 2011 Pantone fashion colors. Since I wrote that article, as a jewelry designer specializing in gemstone beads I’ve been thinking about what jewelry to wear with these new colors. Well, I’ve decided to combine my best-selling necklace design, tweak it a little bit, and add some of my best-selling gemstone colors.

Tin cup style necklaces

Here they are. These are easy to wear with just about all of the colors, easy to adjust the wearing length of the shorter necklaces, and easy on the pocketbook since I’ve limited the amount of sterling silver used. Most of them use dark gemstones that will highlight this spring’s colors. The Rose Quartz necklaces will look smashing with darker pinks, blues, and brown.

From top to bottom, the gemstones used are:
A – Blue Labradorite rounds. Each bead was handpicked to present the most schiller or the play of color as the gemstone is moved in the light. (21 in long with 2in extender).
B – Rose Quartz rounds with light green Serpentine butterflies (20 in long with 2in extender).
C – Dark Blue Dumortierite ovals and rounds (26 in long).
D – Dark Blue Dumortierite coins and rounds with silvery freshwater pearl potato beads (19.5 in long).
E – Rose Quartz faceted ovals and rounds (27 in long).
F – Dark Blue Dumortierite nuggets and rounds (26 in long).
G – Blue Crazy Lace Agate coins, rounds and ovals (24 in long).
H – Manmade Blue Goldstone twist ovals and faceted rounds (21 in long with 2in extender).

Being a garden-type girl from way back I’m always interested in anything spring whether it’s plants, trees, and shrubs for the outdoors, or new clothing, colors, and jewelry for spring. Jewelry can make an outfit come to life and also set the tone for the outfit – whether formal or informal. I also know that many women have to wear “uniforms” to work and only certain style of jewelry is allowed so I have designed these pieces to be very wearable whether you must wear a blue or brown suit or you can wear more stylish clothing. Since the cost of sterling silver keeps going up and up I have limited the amount of sterling silver in these pieces as well.

Better pictures and fuller descriptions of the jewelry and gemstones will be available on my website, censtudios.net.

This simple type of necklace with gemstones spaced along the wire with high-quality glass seedbeads from Japan (many with special finishes) is definitely my best-selling style. It’s a cross between the tincup style which uses knotted thread and a station necklace using chain links. In thinking back over what gemstones have sold the best for me, dark blue gemstones whether natural, such as Dumortierite, or manmade, such as blue goldstone, have been my best sellers. I can see why since dark blue looks well with just about any other color except perhaps black. Also, dark blue sapphire Swarovski crystals sell well as bracelets and in necklaces. Come to think about it, I’ve read that blue is the most popular color.

Pantone Fashion Colors for Spring 2011

Oh, I just been looking at Pantone’s Fashion Spring 2011 colors and I am in heaven!

After such a terrible year with all of the political animosity, killings, war, the downturn in the economy, it’s such a relief to see beautiful spring colors. These colors truly lift my spirit and for the first time in quite a while I am actually interesting in shopping for clothing again. I can’t wait to wear a blouse or a jacket in Honeysuckle, a suit or skirt in Regatta, shoes is Russet (on my computer it has pink undertones), a handbag or scarf in Coral Rose, anything in Peapod (a beautiful light blue-green), and a skirt or handbag in Beeswax. Of course I wouldn’t wear all those colors in one outfit. Perhaps one or two colors together, especially in a handbag or shoes and skirt. As I have “summer coloring”, most of these are “my colors”.

As a jewelry designer I am wondering what jewelry would we wear with these lovely spring colors. I actually left out a four colors: Silver Peony, Blue Curacao, Lavender, and Silver Cloud. Well, Blue Curacao could easily pass for turquoise and turquoise can be used with all of the six colors I mentioned in my first paragraph. Iespecially like turquoise with Coral Rose and with Beeswax. Hmmm, Beeswax looks a lot like Citrine gemstone! Citrine is a lighter tint and is transparent. Citrine with Regatta would be elegant, and Citrine with gray Silver Cloud would be a more modern, edgy look.

Silver Peony looks a lot like Rose Quartz (a lovely, soft pink gemstone) which would look great with Honeysuckle, Regatta, Peapod, and Russet. I think pink and brown look smashing together.

Lavenderspring color reminds me so much of the Tanzanite gemstone and could also pass for Amethyst in its many incarnations. I’m thinking of the pale Amethyst sometimes called “Rose de France”. Also Swarovski Elements have a Tanzanite color. I would wear a Tanzanite or Amethyst necklace or earrings with Honeysuckle. Also, why not wear Lavender with Coral Rose for a modern look.

Gray as in Silver Cloud is still popular. Of course, jewelry designers think of that color as the color of silver which is still the most popular metal today. Russet, though, reminds me of the vintage brass that is very much in demand by certain circles.

I could go on and on about how to wear these wonderful Spring colors, but I would also like to hear from you.

Asymmetrial Apatite Necklace

Recently I was looking through some of my older jewelry designs and I found a beautiful Apatite necklace. I carefully viewed it from a design standpoint and thought it needed tweaking. So I took one part of it apart and restrung it. Now it looks perfect to my eye.

I tend to like balanced asymmetry which goes back to my garden design days. The original design had too many of the rectangles making it appear heavy on the rectangle side. Now both sides are not the same but balance each other weight-wise.

Because nice Apatite is a rare gemstone, and it is difficult to find large gemstone beads, this necklace comes out at just under $100.00.  It doesn’t have too large gemstones, though; the flat rectangles are approximately 12×16 mm. I have a large closed ring as the centerpiece with gemstones and TierraCast’s “Spirit” bead attached to it.

This Apatite is dark blue with swirly darker and lighter blues. I even see a little sparkle in some stones. This shade of blue lookes nice with gray-green top. It also looks great against black, red, and brown.

Some information I’ve found about Apatite:

Apatite is a rare semi-precious gemstone. Colors range from yellow to green or brown and to colorless, violet or blue. Some of the blues show chatoyancy and can be cut as cat’s eyes. I’ve noticed some sparkle in the gemstone as well. It can be found as transparent to opaque and might have streaks of white to yellow-gray.  It has a soft vitreous luster. The name apatite is from the Greek word to deceive because this gem was often confused with other minerals. Apatites are found in Brazil, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Myanmar, Norway, Sri Lanka, South Africa and the United States. Care for apatite is similar to that for opals as it is heat and shock sensitive.

I found a new swarovski element!

Well, I don’t think it’s new on the market, but it’s new for me as a jewelry designer. It’s the Xilion 6428 pendant that comes in small sizes starting at 6mm and goes up to 10mm. It’s round and with a center point on both sides. The points make it hard to hold but they have so many possibilities.

I was getting tired of the standard bicone and stopped using Swarovski Elements. This Xilion pendant is perfect to add movement and color to any piece of jewelry, especially earrings and bracelets because they move around with us. Our movement causes the Xilion pendants to move as well. They’re small so they don’t overwhelm the jewelry. Actually you can’t just use one, but must use several to get the right effect. I think that’s what they’re all about.

The little pendants come in many delicious colors such as amethyst, as shown, aqua, rose, sunflower, Provence lavender, fern green, and many others. It’s fun to combine them with small bicones that light up your jewelry. I was looking for a picture of one of my bracelets that I made using these pendants, but, as usual, I didn’t take a picture of it. Of course, it was sold.

Well, I think I will remedy that situation and design and make more.

I Did It!!

I did it. I added beautiful new jewelry to my website. I’ve added Pink Tourmaline 3 strand necklace, African Green Aventurine, Harmony Jasper, Soocho Jade, Red Jasper, and natural Red Agate. among other gemstones.

 These gemstones are all natural and from the earth and they are all aeons old. I can’t imagine what the earth went through (tremendous heat, tremendous pressure, and possibly millions of years) to make these gemstones. They are now here for us to admire and wear proudly.  

 Take a look. You may find just what you have been looking for. Maybe you weren’t looking for African Green Aventurine, but now that you’ve seen it, perhaps you need it. I felt that way when I saw all that mica sparkling back at me. I wanted more but wasn’t able to find more.

You’ll find a little history as well as a description of what the jewelry contains.

If you have any questions, let me know.

Crystals and Rocks

“I will admit it. I’ve had a long-time love affair with gemstones whether lapis lazuli, ruby, sapphire, opals or the many lesser-known gemstones that lie buried in the earth. They lie buried for aeons of time and then are discovered and mined by rock hounds or large corporations. I love them all. Some of them, such as rubies, have beautiful colors that resonate with me. Others trick me into infatuation because of their inner fire (such as the labradorite from Labrador) or their cat’s eye tendencies (smoky quartz is one of many). Others tell fabulous stories about their surroundings like picture jasper and some of the other new jaspers. Others remind me of far-off lands such as the Sahara jasper and Botswana jasper.

“All gemstones have a story to tell. Take the journey with me and learn about these fabulous ancient crystals and rocks which have been taken from the earth and cut into various shapes for us to wear and enjoy. In each description I will pass on what I know about the gemstone used. I hope, too, that you will enjoy reading about and wearing your new gemstone finds and pass your new-found knowledge to your friends so that they will want to know about them and enjoy them as well.

“Make it yours!! As you look through this website, keep in mind that changes can be made, such as length, gemstone changes, other color changes, etc. Email me with your request and I will let you know if I can make the requested changes for you and what the cost will be.”

These are the opening paragraphs to my latest edition of the CEN Studios website. I just can’t leave my website alone. After four years of learning, designing and selling jewelry, I am narrowing my vision. Natural things “from the earth” and “from the sea” are what I want to work with. Glass has to be special too. Glass that takes more than one process to make, such as adding “aventurine” to beautify a plain glass bead. No more ordinary glass for me. I must say that my taste in metals is enlarging though. I am intrigued by antique brass so I will be adding more of that to my inventory. Gunmetal is very alluring but, alas, it contains the dreaded metal, nickel.

I will be mixing metal colors more which I haven’t done in a long time. Metals should be mixed so that a piece of jewelry can be worn with our wedding jewelry or our handbag which might have goldtone or silvertone hardware on it.

Change is good. I am embracing this change and I will be working on my website until the end of this year – 2010 – making these changes.

African Aventurine and Bronzite

Recently I went to a local showing of a national bead store’s traveling bead show. This  is my second year attending and it was packed. It looks like even more people are interested in making bead jewelry! Oh well, the more, the merrier, I hope.

Bronzite - a natural gemstone

I went to the show with the thought of purchasing beads that I didn’t already have, faceted beads to go with those smooth ones I have in inventory, and anything else that caught my eye. Well, everything “caught my eye”. I did pick up some nice Bronzite beads in various shapes and sizes so that I could design several different necklaces. Bronzite beads are brown and usually have a chatoyancy similar to tiger’s eye beads. If you like Pietersite and Labradorite, I’m sure you’ll like Bronzite as well.

While I was waiting to check out I was looking at the beads on the table next to me and I saw African Aventurine. Who needs more green aventurine? I certainly don’t as I bought a lot of it when I first started designing with beads and I still have a large inventory of it. These African stones looked interesting as they sparkled in the sunlight. I bought a strand. Upon returning home the African Aventurine was the strand I designed with first. It has mica in it which makes the sparkles we see when light hits the stone. I wished at that point that I had bought more strands and more styles. The national company doesn’t have any inventory and I only found one company online company that sells it at this time. Oh, well. African Aventurine is now one of my new loves in natural gemstones.

If you have a chance to go to a “bead show” do it; you won’t regret it. I understand the very large ones like the Tucson show in February/March are overwhelming. Try a smaller show first. Even if you don’t buy anything, you’ll come away with more knowledge about the many natural and man-made beads available to jewelry designers today.

Jewelry Care

Information on how to care for sterling silver and gold-filled jewelry can now be found on Carole Novak Designs , my website for the best in bead and metal jewelry.

Jewelry care can also be found on CEN Studios my website for a variety of bead jewelry.

Having this information on both sites will help customers to decide what type of metal–sterling silver or gold filled–is right for them.

Sterling silver requires a little more work in keeping the jewelry pieces fresh, but I think it is well worth it. Gold-filled jewelry is low care but earrings, especially, should be cleaned when removed so they will be ready for the next wearing.