Stormy Larvakite Dragonfly Necklace with Aquamarine & Onyx

I was looking over my bead stash three days ago, searching for a good combination for some gorgeous citrine nuggets I have. Nothing seemed right or good enough for them though, and so I may make them up into something all on their own.

Then I came across these beautiful Larvakite smooth rounds. They are dark gray, black and white with some chatoyancy of blue and white flashes. My first thought was keep it simple, make it a knock out classic like a Jackie O. strand of big fat pearls. So I tried putting them with only onyx, then added some black horn rondelles. The plain black did not do them justice though.

Finally I put them with some aquamarine and that was the perfect union. I still kept the design simple, but simple doesn't mean that it comes out fast or easily! It usually takes a lot of trial and error even to get a simple piece right. The aquamarine chips give it an edgey chic look. I kept the small onyx rounds for a nice contrast, added in bali silver daisies and finished it with a sterling silver bali dragonfly toggle. The overall effect is very appealing. It is 17 inches in length.

With all the grays and blues coming out in fashion this season, it should work very easily into a basic wardrobe that needs some good jewelry. This item can be viewed in my etsy shop here: Stormy Larvakite Dragonfly Necklace

Missouri Wildflowers Part III

This is a group of chicory in the meadow on our farm. I love this wildflower!
Chicory close up.
Close-up of red clover. Horses and cattle really love this sweet stuff, and so do the bees!


Queen Anne's lace, another favorite, so graceful and delicate looking.

Tree Frogs

Every Winter we forget how quiet it really is until Spring arrives. Our frogs make so much noise at night beginning sometime in March. It is a welcome, happy and lively sound along with the crickets at night and the song birds during the day.

We have a blue heron that visits the ponds and I'm sure he gets plenty of frogs to fill his belly. This bird has a huge wingspan and almost looks prehistoric when it flies by. Someday I hope to get a picture of it too.

Noah, my little guy, is absolutely facinated by the frogs, toads and lizards and will play with one for hours. He's learned to be very careful after one of his little frog friends got squeezed a bit too hard.

Green Tourmilated Quartz with Blue Topaz

Green and Blue is a favorite combination of mine and they came together very nicely in this bracelet. The faceted coin tourmilated quartz is separated from the faceted oval blue topaz by small olive green potato pearls. It is adjustable in length and finished in sterling silver. Please contact me if you are interested in this piece as it is not yet in my etsy shop. Tina@belleadorn.com

Missouri Wildflowers

These wildflower photos were taken down in Warsaw, Mo. There are so many photo opportunities with all the wildlife and greenery of the beautiful wooded area where my mother and father in law live.

I believe this first one is called crown vetch. I've noticed it's being used as a ground cover quite commonly. And why not, it's so pretty! It has purplish pink flowers and a fern like leaf.

This could be called butterweed. The tiny yellow flowers are so bright and cheerful.

This white one may be called a fairy wand.
One of my favorites, spider wort. It's just about finished blooming for the year.
This pink one is very sweet and I have no idea what it is. I'm going to check the library for a wildflower indentifacation book and will update this post when I find out for sure.

*update~Unfortunately I was not able to find a good field guide for wildflowers at my local library. If you know the name of a wildflower I have pictured here, please contact me or post a comment and let me know. Thanks Tina@belleadorn.com
I have so many photos I will have to do a couple more posts with wildflowers. One will be dedicated to Queen Anne's Lace exclusively. I got some really cool shots to share.

Brazilian Amazonite, Opal and Bronzite Silk Cord Necklace

This chic necklace has a longer length and has beautiful smooth blue green marquis shaped Brazilian amazonite, Blue Peruvian Opal puffed squares and round bronzite, all hand knotted on blue silk cord and finished with a sterling silver clasp and extender chain. If you like the natural ,rocky look of real semi-precious gemstones, you will love this piece.
This piece is available here:http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9684348

Belle Adorn
~Adorning You Beautifully with Unique Artisan Jewelry
Beaded Jewelry, Silk, Semi-precious Gemstones, Sterling Silver
www.belleadorn.etsy.com

Crocheted Crochet Beaded Wire Necklaces

Smoky Quartz Crocheted Wire Necklace is available here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9686662

Purple Flourite Crocheted Necklace is available here:http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9836784

Turquoise and Copper Crocheted Necklace is available here? http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9597273 These are all made with high quality artistic wire. The top necklace is made with smoky quartz on silver wire. The second piece is flourite, swarovski crystals and czech glass on amethyst wire. This last one is made with copper colored wire, turquoise, and swarovski crystals. Very fun and unique pieces of jewelry.

*Update ~ I've noticed quite a few searches for children's crocheted necklaces coming to my site. Please contact me, tina (at) belleadorn (dot) com, if you are interested in a custom piece. I do make children's jewelry and this artistic wire is available in lots of colors.

Belle Adorn

~Adorning You Beautifully with Unique Artisan Jewelry

Fun, Semi-Precious Gemstones, Art

www.belleadorn.etsy.com

Fresh Eggs

These eggs are just gathered and washed before I put them up.

The blue and green eggs are from our Aracana chickens. Aren't they pretty?!

The brown eggs are laid by our black australorps and yellow buff orphingtons.

We are getting more chicks this week from the Cackle Hatchery here in Missouri. The little peeps are so sweet, I'll be sharing them in a future post.

Bright Turquoise Beaded Jewelry

This bright colorful necklace was made with faceted and smooth, green and blue turquoise beads, hill tribe silver, and has as it's focal a beaded pendant made of dyed howlite, faceted turquiose rondelle and a pacific opal swarovski crystal. It is also adjustable with a two inch sterling silver extender chain and lobster claw clasp. It's available here.....http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9126650

BelleAdorn
Belle Adorn
~Adorning You Beautifully with Unique Artisan Jewelry
Fun, Bright, Colorful, Summery, Hot

Storm Clouds Before the Tornadoes and Children

I snapped a picture of the strange pouffy storm clouds we had last week. I've heard before what they are called, but can't remember anymore. I do know that when this type of cloud shows up we are in for strange weather and these occured the night before we had all that terrible wind and quite a few tornadoes around the Kansas City area.

So many natural disasters have occured in the last few weeks around the world. It's very sad to see.

Here are the children. I took this picture of them before the meeting at the same time we took the cloud pictures. Aren't they a good looking bunch?! Well, I am their mother. :)

Lovely Paua Shell Pendant with Pearls on Silk Necklace

Here is a piece of jewelry inspired by spring. Our weather has been so beautiful this past week. We had a very cold winter this past year here in Missouri and are so happy to see some warmer days finally.

And what says spring better than the purple crocuses, lilacs, hyacinths and green grass? I love the color combination of purple and green.

This is a lovely paua abalone shell pendant in the go go shape and has amazing swirling colors of green, purple, blue pink and black. The rice pearls, potato pearls and coin pearls have all been hand knotted into place along with tanzanite and olivine swarovski crystals on a purple lilac 100% silk cord necklace. The crystals add such a nice subtle sparkle through out the piece. The necklace is finished with sterling silver and is adjustable from 17-19 inches in length. Paste and copy this link into your browser if you would like to see it in my shop. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11148199

Belle Adorn

Adorning you Beautifully with Unique Artisan Jewelry

Beachy Bright Colorful Summer Jewelry