The week just whooshed by!

December 9th, 2009

annis 2a

My oh my, its been another one of THOSE weeks. One that doesn’t just fly, it whooshes past in a blink and you sit back wondering how the whole week has just gone?

I had my Coolah show on Thursday and Friday – it was pretty hectic but fun to catch up with people. Lots of pieces including brand new ones that never made it to the site were snapped up. Orders both online and off have been flowing in and I still have many to finish. I AM slowly getting there, but its like fighting through thick air some days!

The children had their dance concert which swallowed up a day and a half with rehearsals one afternoon and then two performances the next day. The dance was “Cinderella” and the leads did a fabulous job. My kids were more chorus material and they did a decent job (although one of my bluebirds fell over at home on the pavers before the big day and had a rather puffy face. Make up worked wonders at hiding it, and luckily the semi-black eyes took an extra day to come out – post concert!).

I was home Monday and working on new stock and getting it up on the site when I found out I’d been hacked …. again! Luckily it was all recoverable and I was back up within about 36hours, but the energy these hackers waste. Can you imagine if they put that energy into doing something GOOD!?

Today I spent rushing around delivering jewels, finalising orders and I finally bought my Secret Santa recipient a gift! We’ve got a great little gift shop in town and it was the perfect place to get something beautiful – that wasn’t jewellery, of course! While I was there I got a great little sign that sums up my house pretty well….”I believe in Miracles…Keeping this place clean is one of them!” :)

Next week really isn’t looking good either. One day I have to go into town 3 times in one day!!! There doesn’t seem to be a way around it at the moment and that’s just appalling!

I read a great post at the Business Mums Blog tonight that says you should take the weekend off and recharge, and she’s just so right. I really shouldn’t be here at 10.30pm typing this either!!!

So, on that note, I will sign off for this week! Today’s photo is of a stunning rainbow necklace that went to a new home last month in Tamworth. The lady who purchased it just HAD to have it and I know she will love it dearly. I had only made it the day before on a whim too! Lots of delicious stones in it – corals, rhodochrosite, rose quartz, amethyst, chariote, amethyst, sodalite, turquoise, mother of pearl shell, serpentine, calcite, citrine, topaz and carnelian. Oh and lots of colourful freshwater pearls too!

Till next :)

Annette

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The Silly Season is here!

December 2nd, 2009

pink amethyst topaz pend a

What a week! I know its called the “silly season” for a reason, but oh my, this is bordering on the ridiculous.

Last week, my hubby and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. As it has been difficult to get away, we had a special 24 hours here at home. Hubby was NOT allowed to go out into the farm and we shared the kids out around friends and family. We were home ALONE. LOL. We actually got to enjoy our home – it was more like the vision we had when we first built it, rather than being the epicentre of work all the time.

So, after this pleasant 24 hours escape, there have been numerous trips around the countryside, collecting and dropping off things, plus we have cattle out on the roadside adjacent to our farm – its the best feed the mob have seen in months and they’re certainly tucking into it. It won’t last long of course, but makes a nice change – for that mob, anyway.

I’ve been busy making this week as well. Lots of sparkly goodness for my show in Coolah that starts tomorrow…. and I haven’t started packing yet!

A couple of days ago I noticed that I couldn’t get into a few pages in the back end of my site….then there was more and more I couldn’t do. It turns out a hacker got in :( Thank goodness for the wonderful Emma at Morris Bear who got me back up and running in 24 hours with no fuss and dealt so calmly with panic stricken me (especially when I saw the 50 odd new items I had put on the site had disappeared!). Luckily when all was fixed, only photographs were missing so it was only a couple of hours to get it back to normal, rather than a couple of days.

The children’s dance concert is on Saturday with a dress rehearsal on Friday afternoon and next week, frankly, doesn’t look much quieter with appointments, piano rehearsals and more!

Now, I know you’re all thinking about Christmas pressies (well, if you’re terribly organised and already have them, you might not be like the rest of us!) and the wonderful Connect2Mums has a brilliant Christmas promotion.

Shop at any stores with the Connect2Christmas pink banner (before 18 December), list your purchases at the Connect2Mums Christmas Promotion group and go into the prize draw to win over $300 in prizes! Every item purchased is one chance in the draw.

I’ve joined in and purchases from me count! PLUS you could win a gift voucher from me in the prize pack :)

Another of my favourites artists has joined in too – Elena from EP Designs (who also has a clearance sale on now!).

Click here to see participating stores in the promotion.

Before I rush off (have to go and help get the cattle in off the road), today’s photo is of a truly stunning pendant of pink amethyst. This is a non-commercial cut (so its very unlikely you’re going to find another like it!) and is half carved, half faceted. Topped with a little pink topaz gem its just so feminine and delicate and truly heirloom in nature! There are even earrings to match.

OK, must dash! Till next,

Annette

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Posted in Family, Farm life, Gemstones, Getting to know me better, Shows | 2 Comments »

Fairs and shows despite the heat

November 27th, 2009

zoe 2a

I can’t believe it’s less than a month to Christmas – eeek. Life is spiralling out of control…. of course, it does that each time I get mega-busy, so no real surprises there.

The Christmas Fair in Tamworth can be summed up as ‘incredibly hot’. The 40+ conditions continued throughout the weekend so all of the stall holders stood (or sat) and just perspired (well, it was more like sweating, but the air was so hot we didn’t look wet…. just dishevelled!). There were fewer people attending than in past years, and considering the heat, I really can’t blame them! I did meet some lovely new ladies though, who still liked to look at pretties despite the heat, and I also got to see people I’ve got to know over the last couple of years in that district.

After it was over and we were packed up (thank goodness my long-suffering husband came with me to set up and pull down) we went to a pub as I needed somewhere dark and airconditioned. It took about 40 minutes for my body temp to cool down, so I must have been rather over heated!

Not one to rest on my laurels, in the past week I have attended my children’s end of year school play, photographed and put lots of new stock on the site, celebrated my 20th wedding anniversary and am still in the midst of making more jewellery.

Next week is my annual one day show in Coolah. I do this once a year as a way for my local clientelle to come and see my jewels, rather than have to attend a specific event that I am appearing at. It starts with a preview on Thursday 3rd and then Friday 4th I’m open to the public all day.

A venue is always a consideration – this is the sort of show you would normally do in your studio. But I live 25km out of town, so that’s not really practical.

I love to see the set ups people have for their show displays and loved the conversion of Sandy of Midnight Creation’s home recently into a shopfront for her home show.

Once again I will be located in the Dream Dance Academy’s Studio. This studio works well as it is empty most of the time I am there and has a glass frontage so I can be seen by passer-bys. Of course champers and nibblies are a required part of the day(s) too! So, if you find yourself in downtown Coolah next week, come and visit :)

I love the necklace pictured today – these wonderful plump globes of rock crystal quartz just make you feel cool looking at them, even in this heat. For a little subtle colour I’ve added some little smooth drops of grass green peridot and light purple amethyst and finished it with a heavy square sterling silver toggle clasp.

I’ll endeavour to write again before my show next week, but if I’m remiss, you’ll know I’m just ‘flat out like a lizard drinking’ ;)

‘Till next

Annette

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Hot, hot, hot weather

November 20th, 2009

stick pearl er 1 a

It’s hot, hot, hot here in the central tablelands of NSW. The temperature has been in the 40s (celsius) for a couple of days now with no relief at night. All I can say is, it’s awful! And it’s only spring!! We have the odd few days like this in January/February, but not in November!

Both yesterday and today there have had afternoon thunderstorms, but there’s hardly any moisture in it. Husband has just been called to a fire down at one of our other properties and its even too hot for the flies – they’re all sitting in the grass in the shade!

And to top it off the forecast is for more of the same for a couple of days yet!. I really need a tired out little emoticon ;)

Anyway, regardless of the weather, life goes on as normal. The children have their school play tonight and I have a show tomorrow. I only hope it’s a little cooler in Tamworth compared to here and the heat doesn’t stop people from coming out (although who could blame them!) The heat does encourage a bit more blog-surfing and I can highly recommend Her Business Life - it’s a great magazine style blog that is both interesting and thoroughly readable!

Apart from the heat, though, I’ve had a busy and productive week with some new stock being made in preparation for pre-Christmas shows. I’ve had a bit of a love of turquoise at the moment – something about summer and turquoise just goes together – and a few pieces featuring pearls or mother of pearl shell. The earrings pictured above a beautiful natural pink/mauve colour of ’stick’ pearls. They have an exquisite lustre!

Following on from last week’s post about the Sotheby’s auction, I can report that the Roxburghe ruby suite sold for a whopping $5.77million, which was five times the estimated price. The fancy coloured diamonds also sold well, with a vivid green 2.52ct stone selling for $3.08million, a 3.17ct intense blue diamond went for $2.52million, and a 74.8ct vivid yellow diamond ring brought $3.13million. The green and blue diamond sales set a new record price per carat for these coloured diamonds. Overall, the sale tallied to $36.68million – not bad in these financial times!!!

Better go and finish packing for tomorrow’s show. Till next :)

Annette

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Some famous gems on the auction block

November 15th, 2009

jamila side African prehnite necklace

I’m still struggling to get back on track here! I did have a small flurry of jewellery making earlier in the week, but life keeps getting in the way. It’s not going to get better either with Christmas less than six weeks away!

I’ve been catching up on gem news and in just a couple of days time (November 17th) there is a sale of rare fancy coloured diamonds and historical gems. Approximately 400 lots are set for the Sotheby’s auction block, estimated to fetch more than $29.5 million!

In the section headed “Jewels of Important Historical Provenance,” some highlights are

*a ruby and diamond necklace from the 19th century, owned by Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe and is accompanied by the original hand-written documentation and the original velvet fitted case.

*a sapphire and diamond demi-parure, circa 1900, inherited from Grand Duchess Maria Pavlova which left Russia just before the 1915 Revolution, includes a brooch and a pair of matching ear clips.

*a sapphire, diamond and emerald Iris shaped brooch c. 1940 owned by Daisy Fellowes, a former editor of Harper’s Bazaar, Paris.

Wow, wouldn’ t it be would be an amazing auction to be at!!!

Well, we all can’t have such amazing gems in our own jewellery boxes, but we can still have some glamorous pieces! I love the piece pictured above. It just reeks of understated elegance. Isn’t it just the most beautiful pale green colour? Made as one long strand that can be doubled, it is made of African prehnite and would be perfect to wear with a pastel dress in summer, a crisp white shirt in spring or autumn and in winter it would create a stunning contrast if worn over chocolate or black.

I will be at the Annual Christmas Fair organised by the North West Branch of the Australian Brain Foundation this coming Saturday, 21 November, at the Tamworth Racecourse. This is an eagerly awaited annual event, so I’m looking forward to a great day. Perhaps I’ll see you there if you are in the district?

Till next

Annette

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My brain is finally back in gear!

November 5th, 2009

carmen 2a

Well, I’ve finally cleared my fluffy ‘holiday head’ *sigh*. It was bound to happen, and it NEEDED to happen, but still…. Part of me, of course, still wants to find a quiet corner and read a book, but responsibility has returned – with gusto!

Last weekend I ventured forth with the family to the south-western NSW town of Temora. The event was the NSW Aerobatic Championships, where, thanks to my husband I was the Contest Secretary (how did THAT happen!?) This is what really made my brain switch back “ON”. It was a huge weekend with really long work days and over 2 1/2 days we launched 110 flights made by 34 pilots. The children were troopers – the girls helping me when required sorting papers and my son helping the Starter and running errands. We all suffered with the late nights and a lack of sleep and were so glad to return to our own beds!

Recycling and being ‘green’ is becoming more and more important in our society and our family does its best too. I’m angling at the moment to get our own wind turbine to generate our own power. (Believe me the wind on our ridge is more than sufficient to turn one of these turbines!) Of course, not everyone has the land available to do this, and its important to be green in whatever way you can! When I recently met Monique of Your Cheeky Monkey and saw some of her fabulous products I thought the Fregie Sacks were brilliant. An alternative to those annoying plastic bags in the fruit and veggie aisle, these are reusable, breathable and long lasting! I couldn’t resist and bought a couple of packs :) Do yourself and the environment a favour and get some too!

Today’s photograph is of a fun, bright necklace of sunny yellow calcite, bright red bamboo coral, lime green chalk turquoise and rich purple amethyst. Perfect with a white sundress in summer or a black turtleneck in winter.

Of course I love gemstones – being a gemmologist it’s an occupational hazard (!) – but there are some amazing artists out there making their own versions – I’m very impressed by this one of a kind polymer clay leaf made by Israeli artist Viktoria of Visart.

OK, off to be productive!

Till next :)

Annette

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Stuck in holiday mode

October 28th, 2009

I can’t help it… I still have a fluffy ‘holiday head’. My brain has gone to another plane of existence where it all it wants to do is read or do other, mindless relaxing things! A client came over earlier this week to design a necklace and earring set and it felt quite bizarre for me to consider stone selections… then bookwork that usually takes a day to do took me three days… and so it has continued.

Obviously my holiday must have been fantastic since I don’t want to return to my midly stressed normality, even though my body is definitely here LOL.

To help keep me in holiday mode here is a pic of a kangaroo – mother and baby that were on our front lawn one day.

Kangaroo and joey

I know I have decisions to make – such as when to hold my Coolah show. People have been asking which is great, but oh my, I need to get organised! Someone actually told me that there was only 58 days to Christmas – eeek!!! If that doesn’t push me back into reality fairly soon I don’t know what will!

I HAVE, however, had time to browse around some of my favourite blogs.

I just adored the little video that Anne featured at The Tall Poppy. To see if people would use the stairs if they were made ‘fun’, rather than the escalator, they changed the stairs so that they played a tone akin to a piano when people stepped on them! It worked – 66% more people used the stairs!

And Tonya at Lucky Girl Blog Design asked what movie you would like to live in. She chose Sleepless in Seattle and I must say the photograph of the city she pictured is gorgeous! I recently met a wonderful lady who is from that part of the world so its great to see a pic of the locale!

I’m not sure what movie I’d like to live in – I tend to rewatch period romances more than other types of movies – such as BBC’s 1995 Pride & Prejudice, BBC’s 2007 Jane Eyre or even ITV’s 2008 Lost in Austen. But knowing my luck, I’d end up in the movie as a downtrodden pauper you see in small background shots occasionally LOL. Do you have a favourite movie you’d like to live in? It’s fun to consider the possibilities!

Hmmm, a jewellery pic for today….these are a pair of earrings I made before the holidays – gorgeous summer colour with Peruvian Amazonite.

peruvian amazonite earrings

I’m off to the NSW Aerobatic Championships this weekend, so catch you next week :)

Cheers

Annette

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Back from holidays

October 24th, 2009

We’re back from holidays and I’m feeling relaxed and refreshed – finally a holiday that worked ;)

Woodgate was beautiful – first pic below (the haze on the horizon is the remains of yet another (but smaller) dust storm. I was up just after dawn each day when the rest of the family was asleep and doing some exercise. Then I’d walk down to the beach (sometimes with children in tow if they had woken) and do some running on the sand. Needless to say, by day four I could hardly walk LOL. But I recovered enough to keep going!

woodgate beach to the north

I read a book a day for the first few days then added in a little bit of maintenance housekeeping (someone had to do it, and there wasn’t anyone else willing!!)

The children all had a lovely time back and forth to the beach, on their bikes and so on. I even managed to hire the local community hall for an hour a couple of times a week so they could practice the piano! I still think the piano teacher is going to ‘tut’ at their lack of practice over the last few weeks. Oh well, everyone needed a holiday!

On the return journey we deviated via Noosa and the Gold Coast, visiting family and I then attended the Connect09 seminar where I met some truly wonderful women, including the wonderful Kelly of Vital Earth Traditions – I am sure to become an avid user of her beautiful organic products – and the gregarious Sally of Strawberry Jam Designs – I have ordered some of her great floor cushions, the kids will love them and I’m sure they will never sit on the couch again!

Getting home was lovely although the children did NOT want to go to school today! Not surprising really. The only drawback is that the cedar trees are in full bloom and all of the girls in the house are battling hayfever – we’re succeeding so far, but it is early days yet.

bold necklace of lava, hematite, onyx and rock crystal quartz

I suppose I must get back into the swing of my regular life and really must put masses of stock to put on the website that I made in September and just ran out of time to do anything with.

Today’s photo is a piece I made just prior to holidays – a wonderful bold mix of black and clear using lava, onyx, hematite and rock crystal quartz. The three strands at the merge into a single strand at the side so its not too bulky at the back of your neck.

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Holiday time!

September 30th, 2009

ophelia 1a

Yay, its that time of the year again – spring holidays! This is the one time of the year that we manage to get away from the farm and we all can’t wait! I’ve spent the last couple of days giving the house a thorough clean from the dust storms we experienced last week (twice!) and doing all the washing and ironing so we have everything ready to pack.

Tomorrow is packing day and no doubt it will repacking day as well, as odds on it won’t all fit in the car – think children’s bikes, linen, clothes, beach gear, some groceries for the first couple of days….

AND I’m taking my jewels with me as I will be stopping at the Connect2Mums seminar on the Gold Coast on the return journey and have booked a product display. Maybe I can tempt some people with my pretties?

The trip up is a massive drive – about 12 hours / 1000km! The lengths we go for a holiday, hey!? But our house is a mere couple of hundred metres from the beach and the children just love running backwards and forwards. The village is small and we’re going out of peak season so its quiet and they will ride their bikes up and down the Esplanade and dodge the kangaroos. Yes, kangaroos. They’re everywhere as the town is a thin wedge with the beach in front and national park at the back. They lay about on everyone’s lawn, eat the grass and anything else in your garden. The females and joeys are cute but the big males can actually be rather intimidating, and of course, dangerous if they feel they can’t get away. Many is the time I’ve opened up the back door to go and hang out washing and been confronted by a large kangaroo that just looks at me. LOL.

So, if you don’t hear from me for a couple of weeks, I’ve got a perfectly valid reason – no internet connection at the house! I will try and get my emails every few days via hubby’s laptop when we venture into an area that has coverage, but otherwise, I guess I’ll just have to relax, read a book, go swimming, soak up some Vitamin D and if I get really keen, go for a pushbike ride with the kids!

And maybe I’ll wear something like the bright red bamboo coral necklace above for a visit to a seaside café with a white sundress!?

Catch up soon with some holiday pics!

Posted in Family, Getting to know me better | 5 Comments »

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September 24th, 2009

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