Mother's Day Gift Idea!

Our Tree of Life Jewelry is a cherished Mother's Day gift! Customized with additional birthstones to symbolize children, crafted out of 100% recycled Harmony Metals and 5% of each sale donated to Jewelers For Children!

Mother's Day is one of our busiest holidays. It's still a couple months away so if you'd like us to create a heart felt, custom gift for your loved one please place your order now. Each piece is made to order by the two of us. Please check out our Testimonial Page to see what our customers have said about the orders they've received.

Looking forward to creating a special gift for the amazing Mom in your life!

Turquoise - The Color of 2010!

We are thrilled that Pantone chose Turquoise as the color of 2010! We'll be seeing so much of this vibrant yet soothing color this year in fashion and interior design. We've all had intense winter weather and Turquoise conjures up feelings of peaceful, tropical waters.

Two of our favorite stones to work with are American Turquoise and Gem Chrysocolla. There are many Turquoise deposits in the world occurring with Copper Mining - some of the biggest in China, but we prefer to showcase stones from America. They are rarer and part of the history of our country. Native Americans have revered this stone in their culture. Called "Sky Stone" it has been a symbol of happiness and health utilized in sculpture, pottery, jewelry and ceremony.

Turquoise is available in many different grades. It is typically a soft stone - often treated to harden or enhance color. We seek out Hi-Grade pieces, hardened by Mother Nature with no enhancements or treatments - that is also why you'll see ours set in gold. When the stone itself is rare due to its grade it deserves to be set in gold. Most turquoise settings are Sterling Silver.

If you are thinking of investing in a quality piece of Turquoise Jewelry we urge you to check out this publication Turquoise Unearthed. It covers everything from the history of the stone, to educated purchasing, and descriptions of all the domestic mines and their characteristics. We bring this book to every show we attend as an educational tool.

Nurses Week Gift Idea

Every year from May 6 (National Nurses Day) through May 12th (the birthday of Florence Nightingale) we celebrate men and women in nursing. Celebrations are held across the country in appreciation. We would like the opportunity to make a custom Tree of Life Jewelry piece for the special nurse in your life.

Nurses Week is a only a couple months away so if you're looking for a meaningful semi-custom gift please place your order now. http://www.blackmountainjewelry.com/

Southwest Arts Festival, Indio, CA

We've had quite the adventure this last week - escaping the snow at home and driving to Indio, CA for the Southwest Arts Festival. It was an experience being at sea level and seeing the beautiful snow capped 10,000' mountains ringing the valley. The show itself had some of the most talented artists in the US. There were lots of fine jewelry artists too - amazing work. Once again we were blessed with great neighbors and made some new friends.

Our morning commute to the show. Surreal. Dessert, palm trees and snow.

Our one neighbor Jack Charney. Jack's not only a ceramic artist but also a writer. His pottery is vibrant, colorful and free-spirited just like him. Please check out his website for more info and his show schedule. www.jackcharney.com

Jack's Acrobats are really cool!

I was really drawn to Melissa Graves Brown's paintings of trees and groves. Colorful Aspen trees reminded me of home in the fall. I hope we cross paths again in the future, I would love to purchase one of her pieces. Please check out her website www.melissagravesbrown.com

Kent Kraus and his partner Susan were directly across from us. New friends from Santa Fe, NM. :) Kent's ceramic sculptures and fountains are flowing, organic, abstract floral designs. I was coveting his bronze finish Calla Lilly Candlesticks. Please check out his website at www.kentkrausstudio.com

It felt so good to get back to Mark's Sister's home after the show. Sam was really happy too because he could play again with his new friend Riley. All three of us are relaxing and enjoying being here - not looking forward to going back to our snowy frozen home.

Gifts of Grapefruit, Tangelos, Tangerines and lemons from Kath's yard. Taking them back to our neighbors that have been looking out for us while we've been gone. I'm used to picking tomatoes and other veggies, growing up in NJ but it's really cool to go into the back yard and pick buckets of citrus fruit off the trees. They're so sweet and delicious too!

So that's it. Don't want to leave but can't wait to get back home and work in the studio again. It was a great trip and an experience from the snow storm before we left, to the show and the relaxing times with Family in Phoenix.