Good day for shopping in Quincy

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Two negligee necklaces from Traci's new Thrift Shop. And a collar necklace from the soon to be closed Finishing Touch. We are so lucky to have Traci's back in business after a fire destroyed her entire former store  because we are losing Village Antiques as well as Finishing Touch.

spice

Spice up your wedding band sets with a snake! Richard and I really like our new matching snake bands. It's an accent you can add to rings that can feel sort of ignored since you wear them all the time. The snake is a symbol of eternity so a pair of snake rings can add a lot of meaning for two.

cleaning house

I was helping my mom and stepfather clean out some stuff and found these two beautiful Nevada sandstone pendants. Then I came home and helped Richard clean out the shed and found this awesome religious medal. I immediately put them all on. I love the sandstone so much. It depicts a fractal image of the whole Nevada desert itself. The Virgin Mary and baby Jesus (or perhaps Isis and Horus) medal goes well with my other sacred charms!

I want this ring

I wouldn't mind owning this diamond as well. Although I like the previous one best. This goes on the auction block at Skinner's tomorrow.

diamond ring

Lot 152 is an even larger diamond, weighing in at 4.68 carats! The center stone is a modern round brilliant set in platinum, with VVS-1 clarity and K color. Again, the band is delicate and understated, which is very en vogue right now.

This is the ring I want. It was auctioned off by Fellow Auction House last Thursday. Thanks to Gem Gossip for the info.

gold bands

You can never have too many gold bands. I wear a couple almost all the time, either as ring guards or to enhance the richness of some costume piece. Two of these bands belonged to my great grandmothers. I just got lucky, and my own grandmother gave them to me. I'm sure I have a few more so that is why I am starting to collect them on a piece of ribbon. In my jewelry box they are always hiding, and since I use them so much I spend too much time searching for them in the mornings. It gets frustrating. I'm not a very organized person, but this little trick I think I can handle.

cats

I ordered these two cat rings from two different vendors on Etsy. They are made like the rings I'm thinking of putting up for sale on my Etsy store, Beaus and Eros. These rings are light weight and fun to wear. They're handmade but the opposite of the serious goldsmithing I got from Joe who made my stag's head ring.

Fabulous stag

I made the above ring for myself from a button Richard gave me, and while I liked it, I wanted something more permanent. I looked up "coin ring blanks" on the computer and found Joe. We went back and forth over the phone about how to go about this project. Joe is a super nice guy and really understood the sentimental value I have for this stag's head. In then end we decided on this really simple gold design. Joe (I still don't know his last name) did a lovely job, and as I begin wearing this ring, it grows and grows on me. I am simply delighted. Richard gave this button to me when he was broke and it reminds me how we've always lived a life of abundance together regardless of what kind of money we held in the bank. Many thanks goes out to my sister Amy who funded this project as payment for a writing seminar that I will be holding for her two boys in the next couple of weeks. Love you Amy!

Fabulous snake

I had been jabbering on about my love for the snake ring fad and that had been the first time Richard had really shown much interest in a ring for himself since we got our wedding bands. I found  ring on eBay and fell in love with it for Richard. The auction lasted for six days, and I was the only bidder until the last hour. Then a bidding war ensued that went down to the last 22 seconds, but I had my position covered with a hefty back-up figure and so won the game. I was thrilled when the ring actually arrived and was even better than it had appeared online. It is signed, made in Mexico and was shipped from Texas. So this is a real Western ring. I love the pictures here of Ricky's hands as well. I love his blunt fingers.

I added the yellow stones for the snake's eyes. Before we got the ring Richard said he wanted it to have yellow eyes. I didn't have any small yellow stones, but I said, "I'm sure they are on their way to us." Low and behold my mom called and told me she had some old jewelry for me. I asked if there were any pieces with small yellow stones. She said, "No, nothing like that." But in fact the first box I opened held little earring with yellow stones just the right size to be scavenged for this Western snake.

Betsey Johnson

I just love Betsey Johnson designs, especially for teenaged girls. The two rings above are mine. I can only wear them to parties because they are really too young for me. I love the little monkey above but only on a tween. There are just some great designs out there for young girls. Just really whimsical and really well priced on eBay. If you are looking for a gift for a young teen, you can't miss with Betsey. Just for fun you should look her name up on eBay to see what you would have loved to have had at that age.

additions to my purple collection

I'm really into non-amethyst purple rings. The center one on my left hand is new to my collection. I got it at my favorite vintage shop, the Junkee Exchange, in Reno. I'm working on developing my Etsy store as we speak. It's called Bows and Eros. I plan to list just eight well chosen rings in all prices ranges. This is a work in progress, and my sister, Cary, is working on a designing a picture for my store's banner. So I'm still in the early phases of this venture as you can tell. I'm not sure whether I can part with any of these purple rings right away. Write and tell me if you are in love with any one, and I'll consider it.

tys