Capturing the magic....

Yesterday was the perfect day.  The girls were beyond happy, my husband cooked and cleaned.  I took not one, but two naps on the couch.  And it snowed.  In Texas!

I got a new camera and braved the cold to capture the magic.  I'm hoping to learn great things with this camera!

Enjoy the rest of the year!  :)

Time to relax

Except I can't. I've been working a lot since October and I'm having trouble switching from production mode to relaxation.





This is the 2nd in a series of pieces I have dubbed "Rustic Royalty". The first I listed in my shop and it already sold.

I have more faceted silver focals in process and hope to have a collection by 2013!

Today my girls are having their annual Holiday party at our house. Pray for me. 12 girls for 5 hours. ;) they are sooooo excited.

My husband is delayed in New York. :( I'll be ready to fully relax when he's home. Until then cocoa and cookies are in order!

Happy weekend all!

Duck Dynasty

Do you guys watch this show on A&E?  I discovered it about a week before Thanksgiving.  And I gotta say I am head over heels for this family. 

Getting older has it's advantages in that you begin to really understand things.  Things about yourself, and things about other people.  My personality is such, that often I either like something.  Or I don't.  I don't have a lot of gray area room.  I can also get a bit obsessive. 

Needless to say, I am obsessed with this show.  I really love it a lot.  I've done some analyzing, and I think I've figured it out. 

1)  A strong family unit.  This is something I really think is great.  I always fall in love with shows that have strong families. 

2) They are good ol fashioned Red Necks, and don't give a hoot what everyone else thinks of them.  I come from a long line of Red Necks.  For years I ran from it, trying to be someone I used to perceive as being classy.  Don't get me wrong.  I am still a big proponent of social propriety.  This family just makes me realize that you can be a clean living educated red neck and that's ok. 

3) Their Faith.  They believe in Jesus Christ and they ain't afraid to tell you.  Do you know I read an article online that the production company used to cut out all references they made to Jesus?  That to spice up the first episode, they purposely threw in a couple of "beeps" so it would appear that Willie and Korie were cursing?  I guess Jesus doesn't sell and cursing does.  The later episodes do keep in the references to Jesus, and shows the whole family praying before meals.  Guess what?  Faithful Family Fun does sell!!!  Who knew??? ;)

4) Mostly, I can watch this show with my kids.  Phil is a dirty old man, and makes a few lewd comments.  I just preview before I watch it with the girls, and if Phil gets to talking about taking Ms. Kay to the back room we skip it. 

5) It is pure comic relief.  I laugh my butt off watching this show.  And let's be honest.  Lately there hasn't been much reason for laughter.  Sometimes you just have to forget about the cares of the world and just laugh. 

The clip above is with Si and Jase.  These two are my favorites.....I die with laughter!

Giveaway!!!

Sterling Silver and Amazonite.  

18" chain

I am a bit slow this year in getting this made and posted.  This is the giveaway piece in my annual Holiday Thank You giveaway.  I'm not going to make you jump through any hoops to enter, simply leave a comment on this blog.  Leave a comment on my Facebook page, give me a shout out on Twitter.  Email me.  

I just want to tell you all Thank You.  From the bottom of my heart Thank You.  Thank you for your support this year.  And I don't just mean financial support.  I mean thank you for commenting on my blog.  Giving me a like on FB,  or Instragram.  Sending me private messages.  Just Thank You for being here and accompanying me on this journey called life. 

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Holiday.  A Happy New Year.  I hope you will continue on with me for many years to come!  

I will draw a winner on Monday December 24th!  Good luck!

Let the giving begin!

In the coming weeks I hope to be adding Birthstone stackers to my shop.  I just got all the birthstones in!  yippee!!!  I happened to have December and January in stock, so I got a jump start on those.

I am hosting a monthly giveaway on my FaceBook Fan page!  I'll be giving away the birthstone of the month in a sterling silver stacking ring! 

Click here for the link to this months giveaway!  :)

https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=552642164764554&set=a.207069592655148.57338.204699059558868&type=1&theater

A few new...

I always seem to have half started projects around my bench.  This week I took a little time and put some affordable necklaces together.  All are listed now in my Etsy shop!

Holiday Shipping Information

 I'm once again kicking myself for not starting to prepare for Christmas much earlier. 
I did good trying to get the inventory up in my jewelry shop, which was one of the lessons I learned last year.  I have all my shipping supplies on hand.  Other than being behind from Thanksgiving week, (ok, it was more like 2 weeks) I feel good about handling my work load.

But I am dying to make more ornaments, and just can't find the time.  I'm just going to have to squeeze it in there somewhere.

A few pics I've snapped so far this Holiday season.  iPhone shots....

Rumor has it I'm getting a new camera for Christmas.  Yay!!!  I'm just going to have to become one of those people who just always have their camera with them.  Carry it around like a purse and all.  Maybe I can even make myself a cool case that doubles as a purse for it!  I'm nervous about getting to know it.  I hope we get along right away! 

Well, now down to business.  Shipping deadlines.  I ship everything USPS.  First class with delivery confirmation.  I find it usually to be nearly as quick as priority and more affordable.  According to the USPS website, packages in the US need to be sent by 12/20 First class in order to be delivered by Christmas.  It seems awful close to me.  Don't wait until the last minute to get those gifts ordered!  (I need to do this myself!)  Ready to ship items in my shop are ready to go.  I'll even send them straight to your recipient with a message from you.  Anything Made to order is taking me 5-7 business days to get it out the door.  That means you must order made to order items by Wednesday December 11th!  Golly that's close....

International to Canada and Australia/New Zealand has a deadline date of December 10th.  In my experience, USPS is very slow to Australia.  I think this one will be cutting it too close. 

I've not been blogging much lately, but I do have a sale in my jewelry shop right now.  Pretty much everything is marked down.  If it's not on sale, the price has been lowered to as low as I can go.  These are all mainly my made to order items.

I'm still trying to work out a Holiday giveaway.  I hope you didn't think I'd forgotten!  I'm just working on an idea I have for a MONTHLY giveaway.  :)  Will be back soon with something to give.  It is after all the giving season.  :) 

My jewelry can be found by clicking here:  http://amynicoles.etsy.com

Christmas collaboration

My daughter made the painting, I made the ornament. Merry rustic Christmas! :)

Today

My dad handed me these today and said "these would make a pretty piece of jewelry". He is always looking for and finding interesting tidbits.

Star seed pods! I was struck by how similar the shape was to my original star seed pod inspiration...





The centers of each form a perfect star. I am so happy to have been the recipient of his treasure hunt today. :)

I love new tools

My latest acquisition is a digital caliper!  I've been wanting one for ages and finally decided to get one.  So glad I did....

 It came in a nice little storage box.

 Nice and secure for when I just chuck it in my drawer!

 Here it is in action. 

It even has a handy conversion chart on the back!

I bought this caliper from Rio Grande.  You can find it here.  I originally purchased it to help me measure wire for rings.  Since getting it I've been measuring virtually everything!  Stones and beads.  I've even been using it while designing to place components equal distances from each other.  

If you have ever thought that owning a digital caliper would be handy, the answer is yes!  I wish I had gotten one years ago.  There are many brands on the market, and many with more options than this one has.  I find this one to be perfectly suited for my needs and would recommend it.  

Custom

 My lovely client asked for a long necklace with a  large feather, the apatite and feather detail at the closure.  I modeled this piece on my "Embrace Change" necklace.  :)

A few new...

Sterling Melanite and Almandite Garnets

The setting was inspired by my recent Earth Moon Sun cuff.  The Melanite is a really thick cut, so I played a little with raising some of the other elements.  The faceted garnet on a thick slab platform, and the Woodland Rose on a pedestal.

 I love running things through my mill to get beautiful textures.  This one is a sea weed pattern.  Sort of scaly.  Sea dragons maybe?   Yes.  Now that I think about it they look like sea dragon scales!

 While making charm catchers for custom order necklaces, I decided that they would make great earrings as well!  This pair has already sold, and I like them so much I need to make more!

 More playing with textures on my rolling mill.  

 22 gauge sterling

20 gauge sterling

And last but not least, a few new pairs of fancy headpins for Ruby Mountain Metal

If you'd like to view my jewelry, it can be found by clicking 

Here :)

Turquoise Star Seed Pod

I've had this piece of Nevada Turquoise for nearly 4 years now.  I've always called it "The Robin's Egg" 

I had a request to make a star seed pod necklace with Turquoise and my client chose this beauty from my Turquoise collection.   I'm sad to see it go.  But at the same time I feel like I have done it justice.  This piece came together beautifully, and I really do love the star seed pod setting.  Especially since I have mastered the art of making the silver bullets.  :)

Copper Headpins

New Copper decorative headpins!  Just listed in my Artisan Findings shop.