After several years of buying jewellery supplies, there comes an inevitable point when you simply have too many! Some things like books and magazines I have read and made good use of, but now I no longer need. Other items I bought and then wither used one or never used and just stored in a cupboard in my hoe office. I have an unfortunate tendency to hoard items but I (and my cupboards) have reached... 

I liked Shakespeare very much when we read it in school, and I liked the poems, or “sonnets” as they’re called. Sonnet number 18 is engraved indelibly in my memory for some reason. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date, Anyhow, I was thinking... 

OK so when you’re making jewellery it’s best to stick to a theme or a style or a certain discipline. But then when a spied these cute-as-a-button little beads I just had to abandon all that and use them! Funny thing is, I’m not a fan of junk food! But hey, it can’t do you any harm when worn like this. So if you’re a cupcake fiend then might I suggest you get your daily... 

Getting Off The Learning Treadmill When we’re at school and university it’s like we think we’ll feel relieved once the barrage of information and learning stops, that life will be so much more pleasant once we can stop learning all the time. Ha, what an idiot I was to think such a thing! Not only does the pace of learning pick up once you start working (at least that’s how... 

Out with the old, as they say. Well, I was getting a bit bored with that very dark theme. It was originally to match my packagaing- lovely, fine corrugated black boxes, but I think that might be a bit like cart-before-horse, at least that how I feel about it now. So here we are with a spanky new theme, customised with a new logo which reflects that it’s me (Tree) who makes all the jewellery.... 

Citrine Necklace “Laura” with Dragonfly, originally uploaded by www.virtudej.com. Ah more Spring things! This time, it’s lilac’s best friend- pale yellow. Citrine shows up in all shades of yellow from the palest and most see-through to deepest amber. Actually this faceted nugget reminds of the Jurassic Park gemstone that they find near the start of the film, well here I have... 

Amethyst Necklace “Laura”, originally uploaded by www.virtudej.com. Oh it’s lovely to see all the spring flowers and feel the warmth of spring coming… With that in mind I made a couple of pieces this morning with Light Amethyst. This is the necklace, it uses a large (20mm x 17mm) faceted pendant and little amethyst heishi beads. Because I used one of my gorgeous toggle clasps,... 

Platinum Pearl Earrings, originally uploaded by www.virtudej.com. Well my goodness it’s that time of year again! In case the weather wasn’t enough to tell you then TV certainy will. One of my favourite shows “Bones” just had their Christmas episode and the main character, Dr Temperance Brennan was wearing some lovely drop earrings. She wore them a few episodes ago so I set... 

Fuchsia & Black Bracelet, originally uploaded by www.virtudej.com. Ah the 80′s! Back in the 80′s fuchsia was one of those bold signature colours. This jewellery blends that shade of shocking pink with deep burgundy Garnet and black Onyx to bring it up to date and make it altogether subtler, but still on-trend. I kept it simple and just alternated a pink with black and used some of... 

Citrine Bracelet “Melina”, originally uploaded by www.virtudej.com. Most people associate Topaz with Novemebr, but Citrine is also a traditional gem for this month. This is probably because the two gems are very often mistaken for each other, but I’m just guessing. If you know someone who has a birthday this month then consider a Citrine gift- it’s a very pretty gem and ranges...