Picture Blog of Jewelry and Horoscopes

It's Friday and poor DH spent more than seven hours snow shoveling and pulling snow from the roofs yesterday (we got dumped on with a 4" snowfall from 6:00 until 11:00 am. It was crazy fast snowfall that whipped through here like lightning but left lots of cleanup behind. Because he worked so hard and it's a Friday (and I'm feeling lazy) I'm doing a photo blog today.

I'm bouncing all over with my pics today, but who can resist true
love? This little Tim Burton contribution will remind you that
Valentine's day is fast approaching. 

Happy New Year! Today begins the Year of the Horse, the fifth time in
my life this year has come around. It is my personal year and I'm
delighted, since I adore horses. I hope the Year of the Horse is a
good one for all of my friends. 

I got word this morning that Valeri Tomofeev has died. A Russian-trained jeweler, he
made some of the most exquisite plique-a-jour enamel work I've ever seen.
Take a look at his website and drool. We've lost a real treasure. 

Plique-a-jour is magical and one of my favorite enamel techniques. When
done well, it looks like small pieces of stained glass put together, but
instead of cutting sheet glass to make the item, you are making small metal
cells and filling them with powdered enamel which you then melt under
very high heat. If I am ever able to actually retire, I look forward to being
able to work on my enamel work again. 

And because we are saying good-bye to the Year of the Snake, a lovely
golden snake embellished with precious stones for all of you to enjoy. 

Have a great New Year, and take a larger look at Chinese Astrology here. Curious about your own sign and forecast? You can plug your numbers in here for your personal Chinese horoscope.