Holiday Wishes

Hi everyone!

I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who has supported me over the last year, whether it by purchasing my jewelry, for being a friend or just by visiting here and reading my blog even though I haven't been keeping the blog up to date lately.

I'm looking forward to a new and exciting year. Next year is going to bring upon a few changes, both personal and job-wise. John and I are planning on moving to the southern part of Norway which I am super stoked about. Looking forward to being closer to my family and being able to catch a plane pretty much anywhere in Europe for next to nothing. Living up here makes it VERY expensive when one wants to travel by plane. It pretty much triples the price anywhere in Europe, never mind just catching a plane to Oslo. It's absolutely ridiculous how expensive it is to fly within Norway.

I am also working on some new jewelry designs that I am very excited about. Going to try some etching as well. I have to say I am a little bit hesitant about working with strong chemicals like that, but will see what kinds of results I will get. Might have to invest in a more environmentally safer procedure instead.

John and I are going to celebrate christmas tonight with a nice traditional Pinejkøtt dinner. The reason we are going to celebrate tonight is because John has to work the nightshift from the 24th-28th of december. This way we can relax and enjoy a night with good food and some movies. Both John and I don't have family close by, so it will be just the two of us which will be quite cozy.

I will have some pictures later on either this evening or tomorrow...
In the meanwhile I hope everyone is happy and content and enjoying the season.....

Peace and love to you all,

Sabine

New Shop

My gosh, it feels like ages since the last time I blogged. To be honest I have not had much time in the past couple of weeks. I also injured my back a few days ago that since has gotten worse. Today I finally went to see the doctor who prescribed me some pain meds. I had no idea how awful back pain can actually be. So it's been a bit tough sitting behind the bench crafting new items.
I am though working on a LOT of new designs once these painkillers are kicking in :D

Actually a couple of weeks ago I started work on a new, more affordable line of jewelry. A fusion of Scandinavian simplicity and modern international trends. I have started to list some of the first few items. Please take a look if you will and let me know what you think I hope you will like these first few items. I will be adding more in the next few days.
I will of course still keep my regular shop where I will list mainly larger bezel set pieces.
This will also give me a chance to feed my ever changing creative need.

Hope all is well in your parts of the world!

Love,
Sabine:)

4 year anniversary

Today marks my fourth year in Norway and my anniversary with my lovely boyfriend John. So, I am going to offer a HUGE sale in my shop until the 1st of November.
So hop on over to my sale section for a 20% off sale celebration!

This will be my last sale before christmas, so stack up on those presents! :)


I am off celebrating by doing a round of pilates! :D

Happy monday everybody!

Love,
Sabine
xx

New lovelies

Yeah I know it's been a while since I last blogged. I think I am hit with the sleepy sickness. Perhaps it's the season, especially now that the days here are getting much shorter. Pretty soon we'll be having the arctic darkness again which I usually embrace because I thrive creatively during the winter months, however, I think this is the first year since having moved to the north of Norway that I am feeling the effects of the approaching season. I could take countless naps throughout the day. I think I might have to pull out my daylight lamp again and see if that will help.

I have however been very busy in my studio. I am almost caught up with all of my custom orders and will be able to spend some more time behind my messy bench. I am waiting on some gorgeous Picasso jasper cabochon and beads that I'd like to incorporate into some earrings. I hope they'll get here in the next couple of days so I can start filling up the shop. I will be offering some smaller and more affordable items as well.

Here are my two latest pieces:

A picasso jasper necklace that I bezel set and oxidized to bring out the gorgeous color of the stone. This is a beautiful stone and I thought it would look best in a simple setting.

The other one is a shadow box ring featuring a stunning green-blue turquoise cabochon that is set in a pure silver bezel. For a more rustic look I added a textured band around the baseplate. This ring is oxidized as well and given a nice smooth finish.


I hope these two beauties will find their way in the hands of a new owner that will love them just as much as I do!

Happy sunday everyone!

P.S. I will have some pictures of Tromsø in the next couple of days!


♥
Sabine

Leafs

I guess the many walks I take got me inspired to make some rustic nature inspired pieces. I have more on the way, but I thought to give you a little sneak peak to what I have been up to lately:

One necklace features a hand sawed oak leaf silhouette pendant with a 14 carat gold pebble along with some textured marks to outline the design and give it some definition. Reminds me of those crisp cold winter nights here with the moon illuminating the rugged terrain.
The other necklace is flanked by a hand sawed Gingko leaf and a stunning orange carnelian cabochon. This also has been textured with tiny hammer marks and some "grass" on the bottom.
Then we have a pair of the sweetest earrings ( well in my humble point of view ) that are my new favorites: A pair of hand sawed oak leafs that are shown off by a molten sterling pebble. Just delightful and so unique. If they sell well I will make more of them.

All of these pieces have been oxidized and given a nice selective brushed satin finish.

Hope you'll like them as much as I do!

I'm going back behind my bench now and try to finish some more pieces I have started earlier today! It's just going to be a wonderful creative day! I think I will just skip my walk today ( it's raining ) and listen to Michael Bublé's new album while I saw away....sounds great, doesn't it?

Hope you are all doing just swell!

Love,
Sabine

Winner Announcement

*Drumroll****...and the winner of my October giveaway is: Pippirose!!! Congratulations! You have won one of my "dreamer" rings.

Thanks again to everyone for participating! I appreciate it more than you'll ever know!

Love,
Sabine

Thank you! Merci! Tusen Takk! Gracias!

Wowsers!

I can't believe how many of you entered this giveaway! Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who let me know which piece you like best, who twittered, who became my blog followers and facebook fans! I am so touched that I wish I'd be able to give each one of you my "dreamer" ring!
I will be announcing the winner later on today, after I am finished with writing the 131 entries down. As a special "thank you" to all of you who participated I will offer $10 dollars off the "dreamer" ring until the end of this month.

Stay tuned for the winner announcement....

Later tater!

❤
Sabine

October Giveaway

Hello!

I'm having a giveaway this month where the lucky winner will get one of my "Dreamer" rings.

1. To enter visit my shop and leave a comment letting me know which piece is your favorite!

For additional entries:

2. Twitter this post
Leave me a comment here so that I know you did so.

3. Blog about this contest; linking to this post
Leave a comment here so that I know you did so, and don't forget your link!

4. Follow my blog

5.Become a fan of Sabine A. Jewelry Design on Facebook,
and leave a comment for me here so that I know you did so.

You have a total of 5 possible ways to enter this GiveAway.


This contest is open to everyone.

DRAWING:

Midnight ( Eastern time ) on Sunday, October 18th!

Good luck!

Is this Justice?

I have long been thinking that the Norwegian judicial system needs some serious upgrading in many ways, but one upgrade that sends a very serious message to all the child molesters here in Norway.
Not much more outrageous me than child abuse.
Just now read a story in one of the biggest newspapers here in Norway ( Dagbladet ) that a man got sentenced to 60 days in jail for molesting his own daughter, his step daughter and a friend. This kind of sentencing sends out a message that it is basically okay to molest a child. I'm just outraged every time I read this sort of thing. I'm worried for all the kids out there that have to endure this kind of horrible abuse with the perpetrator walking the streets again in just a few weeks.
How frightening it must be for a child to know that this person will be out of jail in next to no time. So much anxiety, never mind the psychological aspect of it all. Just incredible. I feel I just can't sit back anymore and let this happen. The laws need to toughen!
We need to protect the children!

Just needed to vent!

xx,
Sabine

Amusing adventures of metal

And then we have another beauty. An eco friendly ring! Bezel set Fordite* see story about it below! Will be in the shop tomorrow!
Fordite:
Fordite, also known as Motor Agate, is a unique automotive enamel material with an interesting history. The original layered automotive paint slag "rough" was made incidentally, years ago, by the now extinct practice of hand spray-painting multiples of production cars in big automotive factories.The oversprayed paint in the painting bays gradually built up on the tracks and skids that the car frames were painted on. Over time, many colorful layers built up there. These layers were hardened repeatedly in the ovens that the car bodies went into to cure the paint. Some of these deeper layers were even baked 100 times. Eventually, the paint build-up would become obstructing, or too thick and heavy, and had to be removed.
As the story goes, some crafty workers with an eye for beauty realized that this unique byproduct was worth salvaging. It was super-cured, patterned like psychedelic agate, and could be cut and polished with relative ease! Wow!

“RECYCLE IT!” seemed to be the resounding sentiment. And so it was...
As word got around about this remarkable material, it's been said that rock hounds started showing up at auto factories, offering to help remove that problematic paint!
Bezel set Ocean Jasper. I'm in love with this one. The colors are just so organic and earthy. A true gem*.
Sadly, the techniques that produced this great rough years ago, are no longer in practice. Cars are now painted by way of an electrostatic process that essentially magnetizes the enamels to the car bodies. This leaves little, or no overspray. The old factory methods that created this incredible material are long gone.
Voilá!

New Pieces

*EDIT: The Lapis necklace has sold!

Rolling mill gone rusty

While I was in Germany I purchased myself a new rolling mill. It was so much easier to purchase one there since we were there with the car. That way we avoided outrageous amounts of shipping and duty costs.
Well, I finally got it mounted onto my studio table and when John tried to change one of the rollers, one of the bolts holding the roller broke right off. Underneath and the area surrounding the the bolt had tons of rust on it. I wonder how long this machine has been sitting in the warehouse of this rather large jewelers supply company. I will have to try and find a metalworker here in town that might be able to get the rest of the screw out. I just hope I won't have to send the machine back to Germany. That would be a costly procedure. I am sure they won't cover the cost of shipping. The machine weighs in at whooping 55 pounds! Wish me luck! I won't want to have to buy a new one! Those items don't come cheap.

This story breaks my heart.

I am lost for words. No child should EVER suffer in the hands of an adult. There are absolute no excuses when it comes to child abuse. P e r i o d !!

Strasbourg

Here I am with my incredibly funny and cool sister Anja

Cozy little cafés in some of the lovely cobblestone side streets. I want to go back!



The Cathédrale Notre-Dame-de-Strasbourg or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg

The Rhine river

Strasbourg

Hi!
I just went through all my pictures from our trip to Germany/France and thought to share a few more delicious looking pictures.
These ones were taken in Strasbourg. Gosh, was REALLY hard to pass up on all these goodies. I already ate too much while we were there. I couldn't possibly stuff in more even if I wanted to! Bummer!

A little thank you!

I'm having a 10% off sale of any item over $60 dollars in my Etsy shop for my facebook friends only! The sale lasts until sunday October 4th.
Just use the code "facebook" upon checkout and I will reimburse you the 10% via Paypal.

Come become a fan! :)

This sale excludes any "on sale" item!

Cheerio!

Love,
Sabine:)

Mushroom mania

Howdy!

Don't let the title confuse you!

All this rain we've been having lately has brought with it HUGE mushrooms in the bush surrounding the house.
I'm sure they will be covered up with snow soon. Yes, just like I predicted yesterday. We had snowfall today! Not a whole lot, but enough to pull the sheets over my head and stay in bed for an extra while longer.....brrrr. Not great to have snowfall at the end of September. Yikes. I think this will be our last winter up here. We are planning on moving to the southern coastal part of Norway next year. That way we will avoid the L O N G 7-8 month long winters, the arctic darkness and the midnight sun.

Now I am off to making some dinner. I'm starving! I'm thinking tomato soup with chopped up Norwegian sausages. Sounds frightening I know, but is a darn good meal on a cold and rainy day.

Take care everyone and be cozy wherever you are!


Love,
Sabine:)

oopss, I almost forgot about this one:

This lovely piece features a gorgeous Mookaite cabochon. Will be in the shop tomorrow! :)

Going to lay on the couch with a few new magazines I just bought, hot chocolate and watch some Telly.
It's back to rain, I guess I won't be able to shoot the other pieces of jewelry outside tomorrow :( Oh well, back to the light box I guess.


Nighty night!

xx,
Sabine:)

This morning I awoke to an ever so close approaching snow line. It is already quite cold and winter is just around the corner. Today was the first day in about three weeks without rain. A beautiful sunny day, cold, but very cozy. I went for a nice brisk walk this afternoon trying to take in as much sunshine as possible as the days will get much shorter and therefore darker in the coming weeks.
I've been contemplating about taking new pictures of my jewelry. So today I took a few of them outside to re-shoot and I actually like them better now than the other ones. If the weather holds up tomorrow I will try and shoot the rest of them. We'll see.
I'm also thinking about purchasing some Alpaca wool so I can knit some christmas presents and perhaps a shawl for moi. I am seeking balance in my life which I find truly difficult lately. I know that I really need to eat more healthy ( the mountain of sweets that we brought back from Germany is almost gone ) and exercise more. I used to be so disciplined. Right after work I used to go straight to the gym to work out for an hour. I felt great, although I had to take a LONG nap afterwards, but I was in the best shape ever. I miss that feeling. Funny since I always say that instead of complaining about a problem one has to either accept the situation as it is or move on and do something about it. Well, my promise to myself is to get back in shape to be healthy. No more excuses! I'll inform you about my process...

Now for something completely different:
I've gots a new beauty to show off today! A gorgeous golden rutile quartz necklace! Click here
There are more pieces on their way into the shop this week, just got to finish them up and take some pictures!

I wish you all a happy monday with tons of positive thoughts!

xx,
Sabine:)

Coin Magic

Howdy!

I went through my boyfriend's coin collection and got to choose a couple of coins to use in a new design idea. I absolutely love this piece and might have to make a few more if they are well received by my lovely customers.
The coin featured in this piece is a 1916 british half penny featuring King GeorgeV. The coin is in really good condition. I cleaned it thoroughly and gave it a nice shine with the finest steel wool available.
The setting around the bezel is somewhat organic which I think suits this piece perfectly. I wanted it to look like one of those wax seals and I think I achieved that to my liking! :-)

It will be in the Etsy shop later today!

Picture Window

Hello everyone!

Here is my latest fall creation featuring a picture window with a bezel set brown mother of pearl, a hand sawed curtain and two faded flowers on organic, textured stalks. Oxidized and selectively brushed to bring out the detail.
I love this piece. It is uncluttered and has clean lines as I like most of my jewelry to be.

Hope you like it as much as I do! :)

It will make its presence in my Etsy shop sometime today!

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog!

xoxox

Sabine:)

Ahhh the fall has arrived with new items...

Isn't she lovely! I love this piece. Made myself one as well! :) This loveliness is composed of sterling silver and a ocean jasper focal bead. I stamped the butterfly myself by using my rolling mill. It is a tad oxidized to bring out the texture. It will be in the Etsy shop sometime this weekend! :)




Simple and beautiful. Sterling silver and ocean jasper.


Bezel set goldstone cabochon necklace. Simply stunning! I picked this stone up in a lovely shop in Strasbourg, France. Utter delicious:)




Listing:

Orange calcite donut, bezel set. Absolutely stunning if I may say so myself:) The colors are really intense. In fact. it reminds me of the orange flavored life saver candies...mmmmhhh yummy!



Listing:


This ring will be in the shop sometime this weekend!





Listing:





Listing: