New Stones

Just came back from purchasing some incredible looking stones from one of my favorite stone cutters here in southern Germany. I'm in trouble. I have never spend so much money for stones in one day. Expensive, but incredible qualities and cuts.

Here is a little preview:

Variscite

Variscite

Chrome Opal

Chrome Opal

Chrome Opal

Chrome Opal

Argentinian Rhodochrosite 

Argentinian Rhodochrosite 

Argentinian Rhodochrosite 

Argentinian Rhodochrosite 

Montana Agate

Montana Agate

Montana Agate

I will be heading to a gem show this weekend. Apparently there will be a couple cabochon dealers there. I absolutely love picking stones first hand instead of over the internet. 

Can't wait to get started sketching some new designs.

Do you use hand cut stones intend of mass produced ones?

Have a super fantastic day everyone!

xo- Sabine

New work

A perfect day to spend in my studio. Day off work, cloudy skies, tea on the kettle and Michael Franks playing in the background. I am so glad I finally managed to finish a large custom order for a very sweet lady. Three sun pendants with amber. What fun they were to make. I hope she'll like them as well as I do. I also made one for the shop. A beautiful lapis necklace in a scalloped setting on a textured baseplate. So lovely. The chain is adorned with blue quartz beads. These blues look so good against the darkened silver. I'm in love. The lapis teardrop I purchased on my last trip to Germany at a local lapidary hobbyist. He cuts and polishes stones as a hobby and occasionally sells them. I am so looking forward to going to Germany soon to visit my family. John and I will be driving "down" which will involve taking a 3.5 hr. ride on a ferry from here to Denmark. The rest of the trip will take approx. 10 hours to get to the southern part of Germany. There will be laughter, shopping and most of all good food. My mother has a hand built wood fire oven in the basement where she bakes wholesome breads in all shapes and sizes. Can't wait to dig my teeth in one of those delicious creations.

There will also be trips to some stone suppliers which one will find by the dozens around that area. The southern part of Germany has many stone enthusiasts. My dad is an avid stone collector and used to go to caves to search for rocks. When he got from those trips he used to use his stone cutter machine and sliced open different jaspers, often to reveal incredible druzy formations. it was always very fascinating for me, the anticipation for what might be inside the stone. I learned a lot from my dad when it comes to stones and never lost my desire for them.

Off to clean my ridiculously dirty studio. Will post some pictures of my studio space sometime this week.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Thanks for reading!

~Sabine

Some holiday pictures

My sisters Bianca ( middle ), Anja ( right ) and myself sharing a few laughs at my parents place




My dad and I sipping champagne during a private tour of the local winery




John chillin´at a café




My mothers home made bread baked in her brick lined oven

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John stealing apples

Germany

I'm in absolute heaven. Finally arrived in Germany late sunday night after three days of driving ( 36 hours of driving ). It was incredible to drive all the way through sweden which has the BEST highways in the world. Stockholm is utterly beautiful and I hope we get to spend some time there on our way back. I was so amazed how big and vast Scandinavia is. I'm so lucky to be living in such a beautiful place.
The german Autobahn is an absolute nightmare and a fascination at the same time. With no speed limit you can only imagine how fast people are driving. We were stuck in traffic jams several times in 30 degrees ( 86 fahrenheit ). John and I switched driving several times during the long drive on the autobahn because of the high amount of stress and concentration we needed to keep up with these speeders. I even drove a few times about 160 km/h. It felt good actually, but a tad scary.

John and I went to an italian ice cream parlor for lunch today. Oh how I missed my italian ice cream. Simply delicious.
Afterwards we went on a stroll down main street and found a rock shop with incredible cabochons that I have never seen before. Of course I had to spend a big pile of my Euros to get me some. I could've bought every single one of them. They were all really gorgeous. I will have an update and pictures tomorrow!

I'm off for a trip around the country side!


♥
Sabine

Oh boy

I'm in trouble! My heart sings with utter joy and skips a few beats when I get to play with some stones. And boy, I can't wait to pick up some new stones ( especially Ocean Jasper ) when the Mr. and I get to Germany next month. I put in a HUGE order and am also thinking about selling some of my stones in my supply shop. Oh I just can't wait to go to some cool jewelry supply shops, get myself some new tools and tons of stones....*sigh*. I am working on a couple collections that are still in the sketching stages, involving pearls and organic sterling silver "woodsy" type pieces. I think it will be a nice collection, just in time for the holiday season. I think the trip to Germany will bring upon newfound inspiration in many ways. The Mr. and I really need some downtime. We both have been working hard this past year and can not wait to start driving, taking some pictures, putting up a tent along the coast in Sweden and listening to the waves crash in. Nevertheless it will be a fun trip.

My Etsy shop has been really slow in the past month or so. I don't think it's a good idea to keep on posting new items all the time if they are not selling right now. I am hoping things will pick up again after the summer. I am really glad to have a steady customer base here though. That keeps me busy throughout the year.

I've had a long day. Been up since 6 am and it is now 10:30 pm. Need to get some sleep which is not easy with the midnight sun in its full glory. However, it is quite spectacular to be able to sit outside past midnight with the sun shining brightly. Today we had 24 degress celsius!! Gorgeous day! Life is just great! Sometimes I really need to pinch myself.

I am grateful for being able to share my life with someone that could not fit me more, that believes in me and encourages me to pursue my dreams. He often helps me with new design ideas and once in a while sketches out a design idea he's been thinking about, like this one
I'd be so happy if someone would purchase it. It would mean a lot to me and to him, I'm sure :-)
I'm just saying....:-)


Ciao for now,

♥

Sabine