A little late but I also started an Etsy site as jgoldstonedesigns–they don’t like my long name so I had to compromise on this.  www.etsy.com/shop/jgoldstonedesigns.  I’m not sold on it but I’m willing to give it some time.

The best news is that ABC’s Private Practice has more of my jewelry.  As usual I have no idea where it will show up so the DVR is programmed for the whole season.  You can bet when something appears on the show I’ll have a picture posted ASAP!

I’ve been doing a lot of special order designs lately.  I enjoy the challenge of designing something new for a customer that ends up being exactly what they want.  It does take longer because each step has to be approved by the customer before I can continue.  But eventually it’s done and on its way to another satisfied customer  That’s a good feeling.

While making a bracelet for someone I got the idea to make matching bracelets for my mother and my niece.  They’re very close and I think it would mean a lot to both of them.  It will be a birthday present for my mother and a belated Chanukah gift for my niece.  Not to worry–I made sure a gift got out to her so she’d have something more to open during Chanukah.

It’s beginning to look like we’re going to have a long, snowy winter here so I’ll have no excuse for not working hard on new jewelry.  I recently learned how to solder so that will give me some new directions to go in — I’ve had several designs floating around in my imagination for a long time now.

I hope you all will have wonderful, loving holidays with everything & everybody you hold dear and that the New Year brings you everything you wish for yourself!

I noticed that the popular circle jewelry is always the same single circle or circle within a circle design and I felt it should have a deeper meaning. The circle represents a powerful force in the universe. It symbolizes the perfection and strength of the individual…unity…eternity.

With both the world and individuals’ lives in turmoil many people are searching for something better. They want to focus on what’s really important—family, friends and a simpler, more meaningful life.

Reflecting this new direction I created jewelry that represents the importance of self and family.
I’ve taken the circle and made it personal by hand-wrapping it with semi-precious birthstones representing the wearer or a loved one.

I created several designs to fit my customer’s varied situations and they are available in either 14K gold fill or sterling silver.

A single circle is one life force.  Two side-by-side circles represent the spiritual joining of two people in love.  They remain individuals but their joining also creates a stronger, more vibrant, new force.

The natural progression of life is to create and nurture new life.  That new life force, created in love, is represented with a smaller circle. The child – an independent life force – is tied to its parents for eternity. Children’s circles can be suspended from a single adult circle or placed between two adult circles.

For those people who have found that “opposites attract”, I combined a circle and a square to declare that true love is controlled by the heart—not the mind.

The Eternity necklaces are offered exclusively on my website. You will also find a list of the semi-precious birthstones used and the powers attributed to the stones in ancient times.

I lost track of how many different designs I came up with but amazingly only two of maybe 10-12 different styles were ones I’ve made in the past. Now the million dollar question will be–do I remember what they all were so that I can recreate them for the website? I sure hope so!

Speaking of my website-I just realized that this October will be it’s 1 year anniversary. I can’t believe it’s been up for that long. It seems like only a few months.

This is a great website that searches out unique creations from independent designers all over the world.  You’ll find products for sale from bath products to pillows to purses to clothing to jewelry and everything in between.

I’m also keeping myself busy creating jewelery in a slightly new direction.  I’m adding a grouping of styles for those “dressy casual” occasions.  You’ll find more metal and less beading.  I’ve also started working more with semi-precious stones with a stronger presence.

Big chains are all the rage now and I’ve created several designs of my own.  You will find necklaces and earrings with natural semi-precious stones incorporated into the designs.  If you prefer gold instead of silver I can use 14K gold filled chain instead of the sterling silver.  The price will be different so please e-mail me at judi@judithgoldstonedesigns.com with your request and I’ll send you the new cost.

Most of the last month was spent taking care of an aging pet. This past Monday it was finally time to say good-bye to my wonderful cat, Mali. She was 20 yrs. old and doing pretty well until this month. I adopted her at the humane society in NYC when she was not quite an adult. She was a wonderful companion and a very special soul. It broke my heart to say good-bye to her but I could see in her eyes that it was time. My husband was away but, thankfully, a very good friend went with Mali and me to the veterinarian.

As I sat at home alone that night I knew there was no way I could be without a pet, so a couple days ago my husband and I adopted another cat at our local humane society. The amazing thing is he was brought in to the shelter on March 24th–my birthday and we adopted him exactly 1 month later.

I always prefer to adopt an older animal because they’re the ones that get left at the shelters while the babies are adopted. We thought our new choice was older but it turns out he’s only 10 months old–just very big. It seems he’s a Maine Coon cat. He’s not going to be full grown until he’s about 5 yrs. old and at that time will probably weigh in at around 20 lbs. That will be the end of my picking him up that’s for sure! LOL

It doesn’t matter. He’s a big, lovable, soft and cuddly cat who is now a part of our lives and we’re part of his life. He can’t replace Mali in my heart but he has his own place there.

Shugie

(an addendum) Shugie (short for mashugena or “crazy” in Yiddish) now has a girlfriend named Gypsy who he loves very much.  She’s a sweet, gentle cat we adopted this past summer and they immediately hit it off.  She’s older than he is and a good sized cat but look how small she is next to him!

On Monday the 24th is another first–I’m going to be 60 yrs. old!  I had a hard time believing I was a 1/2 century old when I hit 50.  Now I’m 10 years past that milestone!! LOL  My mind still thinks it’s 30 but more times than not my body knows exactly how old it is.  Oh well.  As my father often says: “Every day that I can see myself in the mirror is a good day”.  I have to agree with that.  At 30 yrs. old I would have never believed I was going to own a bridal store, get married a second time or start making jewelry and turn it into another successful business.  You never know what life is going to bring your way!

Most of the jewelry I make is pretty easy to care for.  Just rinse them off with warm water and gentle liquid soap, then dry them well with a lint free cloth.  That’s all you need to do to remove the oil, dust and every day grime that will cling to your jewelry.

The sterling silver jewelry should maintain its shine pretty well.  If you have a soft polishing cloth just buff your jewelry with it once-in-awhile.  I put my jewelry in little plastic bags for my customers and recommend they keep their jewelry in them to retard tarnishing.  Being exposed to the air and pollutants is what causes the silver to tarnish.

The Swarovski Crystals are beautiful but they are delicate.  I’ve been thinking about using them to make key chains but I’m hesitant because they’re fragile.  If you’re anything like me your keychain takes a lot of abuse!  I’ll have to try a couple and see how it works.  It’s hard to resist Swarovski Crystals when you love BLING!  They are soooo beautiful!!