July 29, 2010

Serving Up ...

Cabs! I thought I would share some that are on the menu. They have been set into magnificent jewels that I am utterly proud of and cannot wait to share with you. The jewels themselves will be posted shortly ;)





Apple green drusy - delicious!  
Labradorite - the iridescent blue luster is stunning!


Turquoise, Agua Nueva, Petrified Wood Opal 
with a sparkly drusy pocket (it looks like a little tiger)!


Pink Drusy - humongous! Turquoise, Imperial Jasper.


Ocean Jasper, Teal Drusy (even more beautiful in person)!




Seraphinite
and ...
the most striking collector's Dryhead Agate!

more to come ...

xoxo
Irina


July 16, 2010

And I am Back


Indeed, indeed, like a fabulous library book, a new blog post has been long overdue!  Yes, I must confess, I have been known on occasion to pay weighty library fines.  Sometimes I get so enraptured with worn pages, eloquent words and musty scents of well-loved volumes that 
I completely lose track of calendar days and … - well, you get the picture… but I digress.

I have been a very, very busy jewel fairy since we last spoke, and many, many delights are about to come your way!
In the next few days there will be regular posts with fresh treasures 
and recaps of my adventures over the last month. So let’s begin!

On the last day of the month of May I embarked on a challenging adventure – to surprise my best friend on her birthday.  “Challenging?”- You say. 
“What could possibly be so challenging about that?”
Well...

Tawny, the friend in question, has a 6th sense. She is impossible to surprise!  T can smell them from a billion miles away.  Maybe I exaggerate a bit, not a billion, more like a million miles away.  Many clever spirits have tried to pull one over on her and failed.  I was determined to succeed! 

In any surprise, the most important tactic is the misinformation campaign.  The subject of the intended surprise must be mentally prepared for the complete opposite of what will happen.

Tawny and I used to live less than 2 miles away and now 1200 miles connect us more than ever.  May 31st is T’s birthday and she was convinced that it was going to be just another ordinary day. For weeks prior to her B-day, every time T moped about the upcoming day, I kept stressing how unbelievably busy and crazy my life was (which it actually was) and that under no circumstances was it even remotely possible to get away, even for a day.  My accomplice, who conveniently happened to be T’s mom, also planted her own misinformation campaign. 
Between the two of us T had no clue of what was going to happen.

So, in the wee hours of the morning on the last day of the month of May, I flew to the gloriously rainy city of Seattle, Washington.  (Did I mention that I love, love, love rain? Well, I do!) With the help of T’s mom I appeared outside Tawny’s bedroom door and surprised her to tears (GOOD TEARS)!  Tawny has now become a convert and has learned to love surprises!

We spent eight whole days together bopping down the streets of Seattle.  Popping into coffee shops.  Getting deliriously lost in bookstores.  Riding ferries.  Running barefoot through ice-cold waterfalls.  Capturing wild flowers.   Playing with stunning cabs and gemstones.   
Eating lots of cake and chocolate :)

Here are just a few photos of our adventures …












T catching light at the end of the tunnel!













See you soon!

Many smiles and hugs,

Irina