Pretty in Blue Topaz!

 

London Blue Topaz Gemstone Set in Sterling Silver Floral Ring band

Well, it's been a bit of a crazy year for me.... selling a retail store, a home, and then building a new home has been challenging, yet, rewarding too. I am so glad to have finally made it here.  The best feeling is getting out of a ton of debt that was weighing us down.  We were able to sell our home at market price and retain our down payment so we can move on.  After struggling with such a hard economy, it made us realize where we really needed to be with our finances.  Making jewelry is such an honor, but still, working for yourself is always more risky and getting out of this debt has allowed me to focus just on my jewelry business alone.  Thank you GOD! I am doing what I love!

After enduring the hard recession, we decided to cut way back.  We built a new home one that is smaller with a smaller mortgage.  We now live south of town, instead of the prime west side.  We decided that we had to really evaluate what it is we needed and what was important.  We moved into the new smaller house of July 2014. 

I am finally in my brand spanking new workshop...and it's warm and cozy.  I was able to get a few cabinets in that were cheap from a remodel with Bank of the Cascades and now I have industrial cabinets in my shop.  Pretty nice.  I have NO more excuses. I need to start letting my creative juices flowing now!  (pictures to come)

Lately, I have been posting pictures to my Facebook account. Not sure I like FB, but I am finding it difficult to manage a web store, blog, FB, twitter and Instagram...oh and Pinterest too.  It's just too much...to much socializing!!

Ok, well I promise to touch base much sooner then the last post.  I have a lot of ideas in mind and I am going to focus on maintaining FB and the blog for now.  I miss my blog! So stay in touch.

This ring above was fun to make and I would love to make it again with other stones too..so if your interested contact me through Etsy and we'll chat about it.  

Thanks for reading...

 

I build jewelry...they build the house!

Ruby in Gold Bezel Silver Chunky Ring

 Lately, I have had the honors and joy of making some new pieces.  I love setting stones and of course some are easy and some are challenging.  Wide ring bands are beautiful, but getting the bezel to curve just right on to the ring is somewhat challenging for me still.  I admit, it's like anything else..it does get easier.  

The ring above is a genuine "travenier" irregular cut ruby gemstone.  It is a beautiful stone, but it does have some inclusions and would be labeled near the industrial cut of a ruby.  It's organic and rough..in it's own way.  Very pretty, and organic looking.     I had a lot of fun watching this come together.  Need something special?  Let me know! I would love to try to make something really special for you.

 Green Prehnite Gemstone Silver Ring

This gorgeous prehnite gemstone is just amazing as well.  Did you know that it is a natural occuring colored gemstone?  It's beautiful. Sometimes I think diamonds are just so over rated.  Go figure.  Of course I still love diamonds too...don't get me wrong!

The house is coming along as well. The roof is on and the plumbers have been out to install the bathtubs and showers already!  Today the HVAC guy was working on the heat/air system.  Gosh, at this rate maybe we can move in a little earlier? 

And the walk to the house at lunch today was just beautiful. The canal is running and wow is it just a spectacular day to feel well and alive.  I am sincerely grateful.

Enjoy your day folks!  I will check in next week!

Cheers!

Framing the house...and yes..more jewelry too!

 Front of the 1952 Adair Home

 Well, here we are!  The house is starting to come along and the framing of it is going faster then I thought.  The trusses are not yet on, but hopefully tomorrow they will be up and going!

So far the process with Adair Homes here in Central Oregon has been awesome! I can't complain. Building a home can be so hard as there are many many many aspects that come along.  Together, with Adair and their team of people we are able to make each step happen with little strife.  

I did a LOT of research and I mean a lot of foot work when I shopped for a builder for this home.  My husband and I have been through this process once before and we felt we needed to work with a builder who would give us the greatest value and quality for our money. It is not cheap to buy or build a house today..so we wanted to be sure we could work well together.

Adair was great about exposing their suppliers, which are all local name brands.  We were also able to see several model homes and view the guts of the home all the way up to major upgrades.   Importantly, the customer service is great. People answer their phones and they do call you back pretty quick.

Back side of the 1952 Adair Home

We were able to buy an acre in Deschutes River Woods for a much much more affordable price then on the "prime" west side of Bend.  Although, we love the west side of Bend,  we decided that we wanted space to have an organic garden and chickens...a few workshops so we can make things and room to just be free!  It's very earthy out here.  We don't have as many Bend Park and Rec ammenitys...but we also don't have to pay those taxes either.  There are some great bike trails down the road and we are very close to the river as well.

The home we are building is shown here in this link: http://www.adairhomes.com/homes/plan/1952    The home will be the upgraded signature series.  I think it's going to be a very nice home myself!  I am truly grateful.

Although building is a lot of work, we decided to go this route because we did not want to have to find extra funds to remodel a lot of the older homes on larger lots that were in our price range.  It ends up being a lot more affordable to build...and were helping to put people back to work in our community!

IN THE SHOP:

 Mother's Necklace - Gold Letter Alphabet Charm Necklace

I have been adding a few new things to the shop...although not as much as I would like.  With the house stuff and jewelry orders I have been keeping pretty busy.  But, once I get moved in within the next 3 months...I can't wait to let it all out! 

Gold is just beautiful. I wish it were not so crazy expensive!

Mother's Ring - Gold Engraved Birthstone Ring- Name Ring

Gold is also harder for me to photograph. I don't know why.  Anyone have any tips?  But this ring is so much more beautiful in real life...   Setting flush set stones in the gold ring band was also a bit more challenging, but this ring came out great.  Colored stones are softer then diamonds and gold is harder then silver..but it worked out!

Mother's Day is just around the corner folks! I better get busy now!

Thanks for stopping in...please check back as I update the progress of the new house and yup my new workshop!  It's why were doing all of this!

It's a new day! We're building a new home with Adair Homes!

Well the day has finally come!  We are beginning the building of our new home and work shop!  Yes!  Did I say work shop?  I did!  

The year 2013 has been a glorious ride!  I spent last year selling my retail store business and our home.  My husband and I made the decision to get out of debt and to start over at a much lower cost housing situation. And, so.....here we are.  I really wanted to focus on my jewelry business and by getting out of debt, I am able to do so!  YAY!

I have to admit..I had barely a moment's chance to blog about all of this.  Honestly, it wasn't much fun and it has been tough with moving and moving and moving...  I felt really negative a lot because selling my last home was emotionally tough and I could not find anything really happy to "talk" about then ..so it felt.

But, we have made it through all the selling of stuff! It feels liberating.   I am now free to really focus on my jewelry business and getting the new home built with our builders... I am excited again and will be blogging about the process and all. 

 The footings to the foundation were set last week finally!  We actually started our construction loan process in November 2013.  By the time all of the construction loan and county building permits were finally done, we then had to wait for the weather to finally work with us. It's now March 2014...it's about time!

Were excited!  The home were building is on Adair Homes  web page here: http://www.adairhomes.com/homes/plan/1952

We are building a signature series home with a few upgrades.  It will have an enclosed work shop space that will be insulated and warm!! Yes...warm!  We were able to pick out an affordable 1.1 acre lot 10 minutes from downtown.  We plan to have a small organic veggie garden and chickens for eggs!

 

Sterling  Silver Druzy Cross Bracelet

 

I have spent the last year handcrafting jewelry which mostly was ordered on Etsy as well as a few here and there local custom orders.  I was able to squeeze in a wax carving workshop, but have not had a chance to really get into wax so much because we were selling the house and I could never get into it with so much cleaning for the process!

Now that I am in a pretty small rental, I am limited still ...so once I am all snug in the new shop...I am planning to carve wax! I honestly can't wait.

Sterling  Silver Druzy Cross Bracelet

I have to admit that life has it's process and every good plan takes time.  I feel extremely happy and grateful to be where I am it with my work, family, friends and home.  My husband and I feel relieved to be in a much more affordable mortgage.  We are "starting over" but,  we actually can now see the "light" at the end of this tunnel of debt.  It has taken some hard lessons and emotions for us in the last 7 years especially dealing with such a terrible economy.

Chuck and I can look at each other and feel good about things.... we have endured.  And to me, this alone lends a great feature to our relationship.  Love just means so much more when you endure and accomplish things together.  I know my faith in God has grown stronger because of it as well too.

I am going to be blogging regularly about the process of the home with Adair.  So please check back!




 

What's in your heart!

New in the shop! A gorgeous sterling silver heart with your favorite gemstones!!!

This piece would be great for a Valentines gift or Mother's Day gift.