Happy Valentine's Everyone,

  It's just a week and a half away, didn't we just celebrate Christmas? I am posting a very special blog today, just one in a series that I will bring to life over the next few days. It is dedicated to some new friends mine.Who you say? Well, that's an interesting question,  let me now present a Love Story to inspire you.

    At our last Show of 2012, also our Christmas Show, we met a lovely couple... Curt & Cherrie. Cherrie is an Artist in her own right, and had a lovely booth in that same show. Like my husband, Curt was there for moral support,and to help set up her booth for her. Then we all get a chance to wonder around and view each others booths.I was truly blessed when they dropped by ours. The nicest people one could meet.

  Cherrie spotted a necklace of mine in our booth. Later, Curt came by and secretly purchased that necklace. And in turn we started to have some great conversations throughout the show. It was a 2 day show, so lots of time to talk of stones. You can tell right off the bat, that Curt new his stones well, and the quality.  He also mentioned that he lived in New Mexico at one time, and missed it so. As many of you know, it is my favorite place too.
  
  To enjoy this story more... on the second day of the show, I brought a display of Fossils I am currently using in a new line I am creating. Bison,Walrus, Equus (horse) all from the USA. etc.(and a whole different Blog) and last but not least, my very best Nevada "Candelaria" Turquoise! Cut by my dear friend Terry Williams,who owns Lost Sierra Stones on Etsy,about 99% of my stones are hand cut,and mined by Terry.This is exquisite Old Stock Turquoise, some that will never be seen again! It was mined in the 50's-60's. Curt came by the booth later that day and eyed that turquoise... without words, I could see he knew it was very special. Then the show was over, a success, and we all parted and headed home.

  Remember the necklace Curt bought at the beginning of this story? I believe it was to be a Christmas present for Cherrie.Well... it didn't make it to Christmas. Curt just couldn't wait, and so a few days after the show he ended up giving it to her! They both called me individually to thank me, and to tell how much they loved it! As you can imagine, I was beaming. It's a wonderful thing when someone loves your work. During that same conversation, Curt asked if I still had the Turquoise stone he liked so much. Yes, I did ! And from there he commissioned another surprise for Cherrie.

  I sent 3 sketches to Curt.He love them all, but felt Cherrie should be the one to pick.Yes, the secret was to be, no more. Cherrie called me a day later and made her decision. I have to say, other than my folks, I have never seen a man so smitten and adoring as Curt. Did I mention they have only been married eight years? She is just as smitten as he is! One can only hope for a love like this. They are an inspiration to us all. Bravo!

  Starting today I will document the stages of the necklace in a series of Blogs.
  Hoping this love story will inspire my fellow artists & friends. Here starts the Journey....

Here are the three original sketches with the actual stone.I made the sketches to scale,which makes it so much easier when actually making the pendant.

And here is Cherrie's Pic !! 

The first step is building the bezel for the stone. The back plate is going to be fairly plain, so Cherrie and I decided on Hand Wrought & Stamped Bench beads (in a future Blog) that will be on the chain itself. I added the same stamping design to the bezel. The beads and the bezel will compliment each other nicely. Oh, and meet My Very Favorite Hammer... a Fretz "Janus" Chasing hammer.God Bless You Bill Fretz!

 

Tune in next time to watch the transformation!! See you soon!