Love is in the air!

Yep - Valentine's Day is fast approaching and I've got some earrings in my shop that are perfect for the love of your life if you want to give her hearts and diamonds ... intrigued??? Well here they are:



I combined pearly white Czech glass hearts with beautiful faceted garnets in a diamond shape. All are securely wirewrapped onto that wonderful heart link chain. Aren't they purty?

Mardi Gras!

I've never been to Mardi Gras myself but it sure looks like a lot of fun. I even had to look information about it up on the web to see why some lampwork beads I purchased made me think - Mardi Gras! Turns out it's the colors in them that remind me of Mardi Gras - purple, green and hints of gold. Here are some of those gorgeous beads by Daniel Echeverry in my Mardi Gras bracelet. The depth of color in these lampwork beads is just amazing!



I added wonderful sterling silver Mardi Gras themed charms. A wonderful large New Orleans charm hangs next to the ornate toggle clasp. I love the way this turned out!

Jewelry on Etsy Team Trunk Show

The Jewelry on Etsy Team will be hosting their first Trunk Show on Thursday, February 5, at 12:00 noon EST in the Etsy Virtual Labs. Come join us in The Gallery. Twenty of the JET members will showcase a wide variety of fine handcrafted jewelry, from beaded creations to metal work. Be the first to answer a trivia question and win one of the many door prizes we'll be giving away! Below is a sampling of just a few of the JET creations that you'll see at the show. Come find out what special Valentine sales our JETs are offering. Hope to see you there.

We're back home!

Ah - it was great walking the dogs without having to bundle up in a thick coat, warm shoes, gloves, scarf and hat. Just some sweats, a t-shirt and crocs! It's great to be back in wonderful San Diego!

On Wednesday we made it to the Mephisto store (yes I bought some hiking boots and no they weren't on sale) and Angelina's. I wore the boots out of the store and my feet did NOT get cold. The evening wander was MUCH more enjoyable than previous wanders when my feet were getting numb from cold. The hot cocoa at Angelina's was YUMMY! Sooooo rich! They close relatively early (7PM) and, fortunately, we just squeaked in before closing time. Then we went to the Vesuvius italian restaurant and had dinner. Finally we headed back to the apartment, finished vacuuming and arranging the living room and hit the sack!

Tomorrow I head out on a surprise trip with my mom (I can't say where we're going in case the person we're going to surprise is reading this ...) and I'll be wearing my new boots again since it's supposed to be cold and raining where we're headed.

Enjoy your day and I hope you, too, have nice weather!

And today in Paris ...

Today is the day the "SALES" or, as the French say, SOLDES, start in Paris (maybe in France?). Many stores have items at 50% off starting today. After cleaning up the apartment (vacuum, dust, mop, ...) we're going to visit the Mephisto shoe store and see if I can get a pair of nice, well insulated hiking/walking boots so my feet won't FREEZE here. My old boots bit the big one when we were hiking on Maui and, since they are about 25 years old (if not older), I figure it's about time to get a new pair. If they don't have anything at a reasonable price then I'll just buy some from Land's End when I get back to the States. After we visit the Mephisto store we're going to have hot cocoa at Chez Angelina. This is actually quite a well known place for hot cocoa done right. I'm anxious to give it a try and I'm sure I'll be ready for something warm by the time we get there. We went looking for it yesterday but all I knew was that it was near the American Embassy. We finally found that (and they have VERY French hours - only open in in the AM and then one day from 1-2PM). There were a ton of gendarmes all around the Place de la Concorde, apparently getting ready for a protest.

OK - off to clean!