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Ceramic oval by Lisa Peters Russ, pyratized ammonite cut by Gary Wilson; both set in sterling silver

There are a couple of pendants I made in the last year that really connected to my love of nature. The first I'm sharing is a piece I could not part with: Rainforest Talisman. It reminded me of our years spent in Port Angeles, outside the Hoh Rainforest. "The Hoh Rain Forest is located in the stretch of the Pacific Northwest rainforest which once spanned the Pacific coast from southeastern Alaska to the central coast of California. The Hoh is one of the finest remaining examples of temperate rainforest in the United States and is one of the park's most popular destinations." National Park Service

When you are proud of a piece, because of all the effort and technique that went into it, gets published in an artisan jewerly magazine it's like sweet parental approval. I'm excited to share this wonderful news and encourage anyone that loves unique jewelry to check out this beautifully photographed and written magazine.

Despite the name of my business I don't create many bee focused designs. Since they are my namesake I am careful to not go cheesy with a bee design. I've created a few though and this set of honeybee brooches are by far my favorite thus far.

I love all kinds of stones for their color, but give me one with imagery and my imagination is stoked to create. Ocean jasper is one of those gemstones that never fails to help the process.

Ocean Jasper comes in a wide range of colors as well as quality. I seek out stones that usually have a distinct pattern. Those tend to be from old stock and are expensive. Of course! Veins have been found in Madagascar as early as 1922, but only small deposits are being found today. For decades no one knew where it was found as it would pop up and then disappear. In 2000 it was brought to the Tuscon gem show and it was an instant hit. In 2006 that mine that was found by Paul Obenich was mined out. It had been tricky to mine as it was only seen at low tide.