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I’ve talked many times about planning ahead and my lack of a plan. To plan or not to plan. This past week I decided to quickly sketch out these earrings before I went ahead with them. I had two beautiful Peruvian opals and two Bisbee turquoise to work with. Let’s see how it came together.

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This is what the silver bezel looked like almost done. I still had to solder on the holder and clean up the mess before I oxidized them.

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These are the finished earrings. Looks like planning ahead on these worked to my advantage.

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Here’s an example of not planning ahead. I had a few disasters on this ring. The setting didn’t want to cooperate with me so I turned the negative into what I think is one of my favorite rings. This turquoise is from the number 8 mine. It’s a beautiful stone.

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I left the bezel open on this side….definitely not in the plan but it worked. You get to see how pretty the stone is.

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This is the back of the ring. I did reticulate the silver early on to give it an interesting look. The shape, the bezel, the little bit of silver on the edge….those things were not planned and I’m happy they happened organically.

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Finally…… two silver bangle bracelets with Bisbee turquoise. I wrote *inhale love, exhale gratitude* on one and *may my heart be brave, my mind be fierce & my spirit be free* on the other. Not really pre planned but they’ve been on my mind for the last two weeks.

You can find my work at my online shop or if in the Arizona area I welcome studio appointments.

Fill your heart with art

~manon

My name is Manon. (pronounced Man + O) Yes….my mom cursed me with my name. In her defense I guess she never though I’d leave Quebec. I’m a jewelry artist and painter. I’ve been creative as long as I can remember and things haven’t changed. I now live in Scottsdale, AZ with my man, Rob. I spend most days in my studio making pieces that speak to my heart. Thanks for stopping by!!

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Spring is a time of renewal…even in the desert. Even though we had a mild Winter you can still feel Spring in the air in Arizona. The cactus are starting to bloom, the days are getting longer and much warmer. I took the above picture as we were getting ready to go out a few days ago. I hope you can see the rainbow in the background. It was a really special moment that I wish I had my Nikon with me instead of my phone.

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Reinvention

I made these earrings last year and they never really inspired me. Since Spring is the time of renewal and new beginnings I thought I’d give these babies a renewal bath!!

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Sterling silver earrings with agate beads.

Here they are as beautiful new drop earrings with yellow agate beads for Spring.

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Silver earrings with yellow agate.

I really like the way they turned out. I think I’m the queen of reinvention. If it doesn’t work go in a different direction!!

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Spring Sunset

This is also an untouched photo of a sunset I just recently took. My phone did just fine for this one. I love sunsets year round here but lately the sky has just been amazing. Everything seems to be coming to life….including the snakes…..yikes. I love this time of year. Spring into Spring, renewal, reinvention and the promise of new things to come.

fill your heart with art

~manon

My name is Manon. (pronounced Man + O) Yes….my mom cursed me with my name. In her defense I guess she never though I’d leave Quebec. I’m a jewelry artist and painter. I’ve been creative as long as I can remember and things haven’t changed. I now live in Scottsdale, AZ. I spend most days in my studio making pieces that speak to my heart. Thanks for stopping by!!

©manon
Sentry Air Fume Extractor in my studio

Over a year ago I was reading a post by jewelry artist Deryn Mentock on her blog Something Sublime about a fume extractor that she was using. After many years of grinding glass and now soldering I was very interested in my lung health. I referred back to her post and called Sentry Air Systems about a fume extractor for my studio. The people were so very kind and helped me in making an informed desicion about which model to choose.

I recently received it and I love my new fume extractor. It makes a huge difference!! It also eliminates having to instal hoods and cutting holes in your roof and it’s completely portable for those on the move.

I was later contacted by a lovely lady named Joy from Sentry Air about doing a blog post about me for Jewel day 2015. Click this link to read the post JEWEL DAY.

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new work

This past week I’ve been playing around with new sterling forms. Kind of organic looking pieces. This one is called *three peas in a pod.*….lol.

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Nevada Blue turquoise necklace

I took a beautiful Nevada Blue turquoise and paired it with one of my organic pieces. It’s one of my favorite necklaces right now. I absolutely love how it sits.

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Nevada Boulder turquoise ring

Oh …how I love thee Nevada Boulder turquoise. This little pretty sold the day I finished her to my dear friend. It was purposely not my size…..grrrrr. I named this ring *a river runs through it*….I better stick to making these pieces and not naming them!!

It’s been a great week!! I have really awesome upcoming news!! Stay tuned!!

Fill your heart with art and clean air!!

~manon

My name is Manon. (pronounced Man + O) Yes….my mom cursed me with my name. In her defense I guess she never though I’d leave Quebec. I’m a jewelry artist and painter. I’ve been creative as long as I can remember and things haven’t changed. I now live in Scottsdale, AZ. I spend most days in my studio making pieces that speak to my heart. Thanks for stopping by!!

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I have a stash of beautiful turquoise that I work with. I thought I’d give some facts about turquoise today. Turquoise is very old among gems. The oldest known use of turquoise dates back to 3000 B.C.; turquoise embellishments have been found on Egyptian graves from this time period. Gemstone jewelry incorporating turquoise was also popular in ancient Egypt, and ancient Aztecs, Persians and North American Indians used turquoise in jewelry and ceremonial attire.

It is a blue to green-gray mineral that consists of copper aluminum phosphate. The mineral is a hyrous phosphate of aluminum, which includes a small percent of copper. The copper is what gives the turquoise its blue coloring. When the turquoise mineral has iron you get the greenish turquoise. If it contains zinc, it will be a yellowish color.

Turquoise is the stone of sky, stone of water, stone of blessings, good fortune, protection, good health and long life.

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Turquoise is found in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia Utah, California and Nevada. Turquoise is considered one of the highest value minerals in the world by many collectors and turquoise made in southwest is now known as one of the most valuable in the world. The above pic is a map I have in my studio for quick reference of exactly where my turquoise is from.

Many turquoise are fakes made of powered turquoise and epoxy around a base of rock. There are some shady local dealers that will make composite masses of these materials and pass it off as legit. Also, another way turquoise is made out of magnesite and howlite. If one doesn’t have much knowledge about turquoise they can be easily fooled. That kind of *turquoise* is cheap and the only thing turquoise about it is the color and even that’s wrong.

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Rob surprised me a couple of weeks ago with an array of collectible turquoise. This piece is stunning. It’s from the Number 8 mine. The Number 8 turquoise mine in Carlin, Nevada was first mined in 1929. In its prime, Number 8 produced some of the largest nuggets of turquoise ever found. The color of Number 8 varies from light blue, blue with shades of green to beautiful dark blue. It is found with a black, golden, red or brown matrix. With the black and red spider webbing being the most valued. Today Number 8 turquoise is one of the most valuable stones that can be collected. High-grade Number 8 turquoise is by far some of the finest turquoise to ever have come out of Nevada. It hasn’t been mined since 1976 by Dowel Ward.

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Here is another pic of some of my new turquoise from my love. The large piece is a Royston turquoise and one of the pieces is B25 mine and the rest are Carico Lake.

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I recently took this large turquoise that is from the Kingman mines and made a ring. I stamped the words *trust the universe* on the back but I almost put *go big or go home* on it…lol. This ring can be found in my shop.

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I made these earrings with Kingman turquoise beads. In most retail bead stores if you’re buying beads that are really cheap and they say turquoise chances are that you’re getting magnesite or howlite. Turquoise will be much more for a strand. Always ask if it is genuine if you are unsure.

There is so much to learn about turquoise and I am by no means any kind of expert but with a basic knowledge you can start to enjoy the beautiful qualities of this stone.

fill your heart with turquoise.

My name is Manon. (pronounced Man + O) Yes….my mom cursed me with my name. In her defense I guess she never though I’d leave Quebec. I’m a jewelry artist and painter. I’ve been creative as long as I can remember and things haven’t changed. I now live in Scottsdale, AZ. I spend most days in my studio making pieces that speak to my heart. Thanks for stopping by!!

Turqouise gemstone cabochon ring
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I truly love making gemstone cabochon rings. I was initially intimidated by them but as soon as I got over that fear I couldn’t stop. The larger gemstone cabochons are my favorite to put in the settings. I had this large Bisbee turquoise in my turquoise stash and I immediately knew it had to go into a ring.

Prehnite cabochon ring
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This is another Prehnite cabochon. It’s a really pretty stone with greens, yellows and whites. It makes for a gorgeous ring.

Bumble bee jasper ring
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I’ve worked with a few of these Bumble Bee jaspers. They’re bright and bold and look terrific on!!

Labradorite cabochon ring
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Labradorite cabochon ring
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The two rings above are labradorite. A friend of mine purchased the square one. He told me of a wonderful story of his dad. The labradorite mines in Labrador had been almost ruined by the mining that what happening there. The Inuit cut them off. In the 90’s my friend’s father and his crew approached the Inuit and told them that they would mine in an ethical way. They were allowed to mine until his dad passed away. He believes that some of the labradorites that I use might in fact been touched by his dad. It makes me happy to know this when I use these beautiful stones.

Have a wonderful week ahead!! You can find my work HERE.

fill your heart with art

~manon

My name is Manon. (pronounced Man + O) Yes….my mom cursed me with my name. In her defense I guess she never though I’d leave Quebec. I’m a jewelry artist and painter. I’ve been creative as long as I can remember and things haven’t changed. I now live in Scottsdale, AZ. I spend most days in my studio making pieces that speak to my heart. Thanks for stopping by!!