Inman Park Festival 2011

 

ZAFIRO JEWELRY

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 Hope you can make it to the festival.  

It runs this weekend, April 30 & May 1 from 10am-6pm

Sneak peak of Spring 2011 collection:  Viva India!

{London blue topaz on gold}

Will Work For Beads!

In preparation for my upcoming job at the Tucson Gem Show,  I worked at The American Bead & Jewelry Show this weekend in Roswell, GA.This show travels around and hits Atlanta a few times a year. Arif was at a show in Tampa, so I assisted Natalie [his store manager] at this smaller show so she could train me on the pricing system.   We were the only vendor there selling faceted gemstones [like I buy for Zafiro].  Of course this was the perfect situation in terms of sales potential.  We were very busy on Saturday.  So busy, in fact,  that we had a lot of merchandise stolen from our table.  Fortunately, we had a good day of sales, but this was still disappointing.

Im not sure if this will become a regular thing for me, but I must say it was quite fun.  Plus, now that I am "in the family" I am receiving the lowest pricing on my supplies.  I couldn't resist and did some shopping while I was there working.  I just told Arif that I would like to be paid for my time in gems!

 Here is what I picked for my weekend of work.  I tend to gravitate to the same blues and greens, and one of my favorite stones labradorite, so this time I decided to throw in a few new [to me] gems.

 top to bottom: labradorite, lapis, chrysophrase, pyrite, green garnet, tourmaline.

I have one more strand waiting for me at Arif's store.  It is s the bulk of my "payment" for working the show.  He only had one strand so they did not come to the show with us.  I had to borrow this pic from internet, but like mine, these gold rutilated quartz briolettes are AAA grade and absolutely gorgeous.  I can't wait to wrap them heavy in gold!!

source

I know Arif would like me to do more shows for him in the future.  We will see how Tucson goes in a couple weeks.  Maybe Ernesto will like doing the shows too [although my prediction is that he will get bored quickly].  It could be a good source of extra money for us without the commitment of full time jobs.  And you know that is what we are shooting for!!  Work less, live more!  Viva Cindy!

Next Job for the Espinoza Team

The Tucson Bead and Gem Show is the largest gem show in the world!  Held every year in February, this show attracts thousands of people from around the world.  I was able to go back in 2008 for a quick shopping spree.  It was ridiculous.  I was so overwhelmed by the amount of gorgeous gems. There are more vendors than you can visit and the prices are phenomenal.  There is so much competition, they are ready to deal. 

This year I am lucky enough to be going again though it's going to be a very different experience.  Last time I was there for 6 hours.  This year I will be there for 10 days!  (Oh, the damage I will do!)  Also different, this year I will be a vendor.  Ernesto and I will be helping out my friend (also my supplier) Arif with selling his gems.    I volunteered for this months ago and last week Arif called to strike a deal.  I know all of the gems and Im a pretty good sales woman, so I will sell a lot for him.   Plus I'm sure I will get the vendor to vendor discounts.  Im totally excited about it!

As an added bonus [and part of the deal],  Ernesto and I will be driving to Tucson!!!  Can you say road trip?  I don't think we have ever driven more than 5 hours together, so this is going to be an experience! At just over 1,700 miles, this is a whole new travel test for us. 

On the trip out west, we will be taking just 2 days.  Considering the cities we are driving through in the most direct route (shown above) Im not too disappointed to be rushing through, none of the cities we pass through are calling out to me.   On the return trip, however, we would like to make a couple stops.   The route (shown below) hits a few interesting cities and because we won't be on a tight schedule (although i'm sure Arif will need his truck back in Atlanta), I wouldn't mind finally checking out San Antonio.  Ernesto's top city to see is New Orleans.  Oh, ok twist my arm.

Of course the other possibility is that Arif drives his truck back to Atlanta and Ernesto and I can leave from Tucson to........I don't know where? Albuquerque? San Diego? Thailand?  Just kidding.  Or am I?

If you are thinking about going to the Tucson Gem Show, you may want to take a look at this insiders guide to the 40+ shows that go on and make a plan of the specific shows you would like to visit.  Every show will not be a good fit.  For example, I do not want to waste my time with a show selling seed beeds and swarovski crystals.
Our booth will be at the To Bead True Blue  show which will be held Sunday through Friday, January 30 - February 4, 2011, 10am-6pm at the Tucson Doubletree Reid Park, 445 South Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85711.

"To Bead True Blue is the major event of its kind in the U.S., representing 500 artists and artisans who will be showcasing a fine assortment of beautiful handwork, including antique beads, designer components, nomadic textiles, art jewelry, gold and silver, precious gems, handmade beads, ethnographic art, metalwork, ceramics, hats, wearable art, and extensive selections of wholesale bead and jewelry supplies."

GEMS and MORE GEMS!!!!

Yesterday was a great day!  Two of my former Delta co-workers came by my place for a Mexican  lunch and some Zafiro Jewelry shopping.  It's great to hear feedback from friends and they both found something they wanted to take home!  Thanks chicas!

MENDY BOUGHT IOLITE ON SILVER AND MARIETTA MALACHITE ON GOLD

After my friends left I checked my "to do" list and thought it was a good time to go to the Mart. I made a list of the few things I needed and headed out.  I live less than 2 miles so I walked.  I love walking on a beautiful day, plus the parking is expensive downtown!  (btw: This walk also served as my warm up for a hellish Crossfit WOD)

Fortunately and unfortunately my supplier carries the most beautiful stones.  The variety is vast and ever-changing, something I always appreciate.  I bought a lot of new gems I haven't used before, but still picked up my tried and true favorites!  The only reason I say unfortunately is that I always walk out with WAY more than planned.  Budget?  Speak more of this.  I can't resist, everything is so pretty!  This time I even felt a little guilty as I walked home with hundreds of dollars worth in my bag [hoping not to get mugged]!  OK this is it for shopping until next year! 

SOMEBODY STOP ME!

First the greens: (from top) Flourite, green amethyst, chrysophrase rondells, chrysophrase briolettes, and last but not least emeralds!  I have bought emeralds before, but these are even more vibrant.  Beau-TI- ful.

And the neutrals: lemon topaz, citrine rondells, and whisky topaz. The whiskey is a new one for me and I love the rich color, I have so many ideas brewing in my head.

 And of course I had to get the Zafiro "classics."  Above:  labradorite.  Below: turquoise

Below is a picture of the items that were on my "list" to buy.  Gold findings. Things that I NEEDED.

I have never been good at "sticking to the plan."  Pretty things happen when you veer off, right?

Jewelry Bust Project

It all started with this post on DesignSponge.  That blog inspires me so.  Kate Pruit, an artist from CA wrote about several jewelry storage projects and this wood bust really grabbed my attention.  I am happy to say I finished this project with Neto's help of course!!  They are so damn cool I want to make more!

The directions are clearly written out here, but I will give you a quick abridged version.  You can print out the template, but Neto thought it would be more personal to use a "well known" silhouette. ha! We blew it up to 140% on a copier and traced it onto the board.  (a pre-treated pine shelf from IKEA. It is big enough to make 3)  We also bought a $4 piece of thin cork board at Home Depot and made two bigger busts with it. 

You can find an inexpensive jigsaw at home stores for under $30.  Instead of using the blades that come with, we bought smaller finer blades to make sure they could whip around the curves and tiny spaces.  It was incredibly smooth and took no time at all to cut 5 of them.

 

We lightly sanded the wood before adding a primer and finally two coats of semi gloss white paint. What do you think?

I was so excited with the finished products, I set up a table in the garage just to see what they all look like together! 

LOVE LOVE LOVE

A NEW WEDDING RING!

Hooray! I have completed #9 on the list of things to do before I am 39.

9. Replace lost wedding ring

Although I am still excited about the free ring I got one week ago, it doesn't replace my original wedding ring. ** ring history at the end of post

The original was handpicked by Ernesto [without any help from me] almost 10 years ago and of course had a lot of sentimental value. He surprised me at his college graduation party in 2000 by getting down on his knee in front of everyone. Both of our families were with us.

(It's funny- in the "during" shot, it looks like I am taking a drink while Ernesto is proposing, but really I was so surprised I put my hand to my mouth. Mi suegra is trying to take the glass from me.)

For the last 4 years I had been searching on and off for a replacement, but nothing seemed special enough. Finally last summer I was having one custom made here in San Diego, but it did not turn out as I specified - twice. Discouraged, I let that project fall to the wayside.

Last week while at Gem Faire in Del Mar, I saw this unique 1920's Art Deco-ish ring and knew it was the one! I love that it is an antique and it has a European cut diamond (similar to a more modern brilliant cut). There is a tiny hole in the bottom to reflect light. They don't cut diamonds like this anymore. For years people have been buying these diamonds and re-cutting them smaller without the hole, but in recent years more and more people are looking for antique wedding rings.

So without further adieu....

I'm in love.....with.....Ernesto of course.

We have been together now for over 10 years (married for almost 9). We did a little reenactment in front of our families this morning...just for giggles.

Ernesto asked, "Will you marry me?"

Cindy replied, "I did."

Im going to do my best to keep this one on my finger...even when I put on lotion.

**It has been 4 years since that shitty day when I lost it.

Here is how it happened. While at a work convention, I set my wedding ring [and my grandmothers ring] on my lap to put on lotion and then got up for lunch. (we were testing new lotions that would be on the airplanes) About one hour later I realized they were missing and I ran back to that spot. Another group was meeting in that room and my rings were gone. Announcements were made, but no one turned them in. So really, they were stolen, not lost.

With This Ring......

I swear I didn't do anything to warrant this gift. Lo juro. I was just being normal, friendly Cindy. You know how I am. I have met so many nice people by just starting a simple conversation. Sometimes it starts with eye contact and a smile. This has always been so easy for me.It seems I am rewarded by my friendly behavior all the time. Most of the time it's walking away feeling good after a nice conversation with a stranger. But never, until today, have I walked away with a diamond ring on my finger. That's right my friends. Today I was given an 18k gold diamond anniversary band by a total stranger.

Today E and I went to Horton Plaza downtown and saw Alice in Wonderland. (It was pretty good, by the way. It was my first 3D movie...but this post isn't about a Alice.)

Its about this elegant little ring. We parked right in front of this pawn shop and we were curious to see what they had. Ernesto got bored in 2 seconds while I was looking at all the vintage jewelry. The owner was friendly and asking where Im from... yada yada yada.

When I tried on the ring I liked a second time I said "I really like this, it's elegant."

He said "Good, I would like you to have it."

"WHAT?!"

"Now, I don't want to offend your husband, but I think you are so friendly and beautiful, please take it."

" I can't accept this."

"Yes you can, it makes me feel good to give it to you, please have it."

"OK" (I mean really, how many times would you refuse?)

Thank you, it was nice meeting you. [hand shake] Goodbye!

Are you smiling? I was too, I couldn't believe it! Nice, nice people in this world.

Funny thing, even though I could easily wear this new ring as my wedding band, I happened to find THE RING I would like to buy. (I had been working with someone on a custom ring since last summer, and the process has been dragging on. I don't even want that ring anymore.) I saw it at Gem Faire that is going on this weekend in Del Mar. I wandered though the isles for a few hours and I picked up some beautiful gems for Zafiro and on my way out the door ...I saw it! A 1920's Art Deco platinum wedding ring. More to come on that!

PS. another good thing that happened to me as a result of being friendly is that I was offered a job working at some of these gems shows if and when I want. $100 a day and a DEEP discount on the gems I purchase. Done!

Flying to Tucson

It had been too long. 41 days since I had been on an airplane! Luckily there is always somewhere to go. My brother Tim invited us out to Tucson to cheer him and his buddies on in the 24 hours in the Old Pueblo endurance bike race. Thousands of people camping in the middle of nowhere while a 24 hour mountain bike race goes on? Ok, that sounds pretty darn exciting to me. More coverage on that coming in the next couple days. The flight to Tucson was 4 hours. A big thank you to Delta for a smooth [cheap] ride. I never mind long flights [with the exception of red eyes]. I turned on my musica, ordered a coffee and dug out a project from my bag. I love to fly!

As you may know I love turquoise and over the years I have accumulated lot of left over pieces from other necklaces I have made. I cut a 18 inch piece of heavy textured silver link chain and started to wire wrap random pieces on it. A jumble of sorts. I think I will call it pila (since I don't think there is a word for jumble in Spanish). As you can see I had a great little workstation on my tray table. I will post a picture of the finished necklace soon.

Quite a few ladies stopped by me to see what I was working on and asked questions. I recommended they go to the Tucson Bead and Gem Shows which are still going on until the 14th. If you haven't ever been and you love sparkly things, plan a trip. It is the biggest show of its kind, held annually in February.

Our ride from the airport should be here any minute. I am going to run to the restroom since it will be the last "real" toilet I will see for the next 3-4 days. Nothing like roughin' it!

New Jewels

Kate returned from her 3 week trip yesterday. She was in Haiti then Washington DC then to Colombia. She had showed me a few pairs of GOLD GOLD earrings that she bought in Colombia on a previous trip, so I asked her PLEASE can you get me a pair....and she did not dissapoint!!! Look at these beauties!!!

They are replicas of an original Pre-Colombian piece that remains in the Gold Museum there.
Thanks Kate! I love them!

While she was gone all that time I was busy creating some new designs of my own. This new style of chandelier earrings is my favorite. I have made several pairs with different gemstones. Here, green amethyst hang from textured gold filled chaing with a gorgeous blue kyanite briolette in the middle. I have a BEAUTIFUL necklace that goes with these.......but it doesnt come cheap kids.......this is gonna cost you! Serious inquieres only..........

Tucson Bead and Gem Show

I was debating whether to journey out to Tucson for their annual bead and gem show. It is the biggest show in the world! I can't believe I haven't been out there before. #1 Tucson is BEAUTIFUL. The mountains are visible from everywhere in the city. Here is a pic I took from the plane 5 minutes before landing.

....and #2 it is the biggest show in the world! Its not just one show in a convention center. It is about 5 million shows in different buildings with a shuttle running between them. I almost didn't go because my itinerary really sounded crazy (even for me). I flew into Tuscon Friday and arrived at 1pm. I took a taxi and was shopping by 2pm. Problem was that the show I went to at Manning House closed at 6pm. So I would only have 4 hours of shopping at the biggest show in the world? I spent 5 hours in a small before. But, I knew that Greg and Cynthia from Green Girl Studios were there selling and also my friend Arif, from Only Beads who sells all the beautiful gems that I lust after. I met him at the Intergem show a year ago in Columbus Oh, and we really hit it off (plus I spent a bunch of $$ with him:) Last year he was in Atlanta for a show and I was out of town that weekend (hard to believe, right?) anyhoo, he came to my house that Monday night with all his gems! Now that is service!! Arif gave me the best news when I was shopping at his booth yesterday.....he is moving to Atlanta from NY and opening a store! OMG!! That is so great! I could really be in trouble now...its going to be way to easy to spend money on gems now!

Boy did I do some POWER SHOPPING in those 4 hours! Arif took me to one other show that was open till 8pm. After that, I hopped on a shuttle from Tucson to Pheonix airport for the red eye flight at 12:45am and arrived Atlanta this morning at 6am. I slept from 7 to 10am and then broke out all my loot. It was soo exciting to go through it all, there were even a few things I forgot that I bought. This is all the damage I could do! .

Its scary to think what I could buy if I was there several days. Im feeling very inspired to get started with some new designs I have had in my head for weeks. Brrrian and Jen are driving here to visit from Asheville right now. It will be a great weekend of creativity!!

Professional Photographer??

This weekend was spent on PLUMA. Preparations for our upcoming show in Inman Park, and taking photographs for our website. I must say, it was VERY frustrating!! Out of the 5 million shots i took in 2 days, only about 5 were acceptable for the website. I was also teaching myself photoshop...this one I love.....it will be on the first page of the website. There will be several pics that flash for a few seconds each. At least I got a few good ones, we wanted to have some pictures up before the show so people actually have something to look at...we hand out our business cards and our site address is on it..........

Mas Aretes!!! (more earrings)

This weekend I did a little experimenting with my new camera.

Im still trying to figure out what backgrounds to use, and how to perfect the "close up" photo. As you can see, ill need some practice as we will soon be posting pictures on our new website, and they need to be GRRRRREAT!!!!

Emerald Rondells on Sterling Silver Hoops

Apatite Rondelles on GF chain

Faceted Black Onyx briolettes on GF Links

Green Onyx Briolettes on small GF Links

Some Jewels

Last weekend I tried my hand a photographing some of my jewelry and I do believe they turned out pretty damn good!!! These are faceted carnielian dangles on gold. I was experimenting with different backgrounds, and I thought that this beautiful reindeer moss created a nice contrast. More to come......

ps. They are for sale @ $46