Addicted to Gemstones

Last Wednesday, my Doctor at the wound care clinic discovered that my leg wound had doubled in size over the past month. We have already killed off the Staph infection with IV antibiotics, and still it's getting larger. He decided to take a biopsy, because there was a possibility it might be malignant. Six days and five sleepless nights later, the biopsy came back negative! Praise The Lord! While waiting for the test results, I had a lot of people praying and did my best to not feed the stress (no binge eating, no potato chips, no buffets, etc.). But I did spend an unusual amount of time on ebay. I discovered that if you have enough time to waste, you can get some amazing deals on gemstone beads. I won 2 strand of Lapis Lazuli beads, a strand of faceted amethyst beads, a strand of red jade beads, a stand of red garnet, and a strand of emerald beads (all 6-8mm). The total cost is under $20.00 dollars. I've even bought a large black onyx cabochon to try to set into my tatting. I figure if people who crochet with wire can create settings why not tat one? So stay tuned for some silver wire and gemstone work.















Here are some Silver wire earrings with 6mm onyx beads and some with 2mm amethyst beads. Both designs are courtesy of the antique pattern library.

P.S. Still no sales on Etsy. Anybody have some advice?

I Found a Loophole

I found a loophole in my promise. My wife made promise her several years ago to stop buying her jewelry, not because she didn't like my choices, but because with all my medical bills we couldn't afford for me to buy her anymore jewelry.
The promise I made doesn't include not making her jewelry. So since she loves pearls I played around with some simple designs and ended up with a pearl bracelet and earrings tatted in silver wire, I even made the clasp and findings. She can't wait to wear them to Church on Sunday.
On the down side the staph infection in my leg has grown significantly this week and is weeping like crazy. I would appreciate everyone's prayers. Staph is a dangerous thing to play with.