New Work

Moissanite and recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

Fair trade California pink tourmaline and recycled sterling silver ring
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

Fair trade California pink tourmaline and recycled sterling silver ring
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

Fair trade sapphire and recycled sterling silver ring
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

New Work

California smoky citrine, recycled sterling silver, and recycled 14k gold ring, size 8

California pink tourmaline and recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

Fair trade Holley chalcedony and sterling silver pendant
{ custom order; sold }

California pink tourmaline, recycled sterling silver, and recycled 22k gold ring, size 7.5

Oregon sunstone, recycled sterling silver, and recycled 14k gold ring, size 7

New Work

Fair trade grape garnet and recycled sterling silver ring, size 6.5

Fair trade black spinel and recycled sterling silver ring, size 6.5

Fair trade Oregon sunstone, moissanite, and recycled sterling silver engagement ring
{ custom order; sold }

And finally, I thought I'd try my hand at some earrings, since several of my contest participants mentioned that they would like to see some earrings in my shop. These are teeny-tiny (3mm) fair trade California green tourmalines set in 14k recycled white gold.

New Work

Custom-order moissanite, fair trade sapphire, and sterling silver wedding set

(I really like how the band turned out.)

Thanks for the feedback!

I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who took the time to give me feedback on my new website. It's been really helpful to read your thoughtful comments, and this morning I made a few changes based largely on your suggestions. Take a peek and let me know what you think.

The biggest changes are the slideshow on the homepage and a longer slideshow on the gallery page. I'm particularly interested to hear whether these shows take excessive amounts of time to load on your computers. I have a reasonably fast connection, and they are fairly quick to load here at my house.

I also added some links at the bottom of each page to make it easier to find the pages that are not linked in the main title bar (my etsy shop, custom ordering info, fair trade stones list, and fair trade birthstone chart).

Hopefully these changes will be positive improvements; do let me know what you think!

More New Work

Moissanite, recycled 14k yellow gold, and recycled sterling silver ring, size 6.75

New Work

I'm actually planning to set an Oregon sunstone in the center setting of this ring, but I couldn't resist temporarily placing a moissanite there in the center, just to see how it would look. I love it! The center stone is 6mm (as compared with the 5.5mm stone I used in an earlier, white gold version of this design), and that half-mm really packs a punch - this one is a real sparkler!

Three-stone engagement ring, moissanite and recycled 14k rose gold

New Work

Lab-created ruby & recycled 14k gold ring, size 6.5

Custom wedding set - moissanite & recycled sterling silver

Recycled 14k white & yellow gold wedding band, size 12.5

New Work

'Pixie' ring - moissanite and recycled 14k white gold

New Work

Teeny-tiny sapphire ring, 3mm fair trade stone on 2mm wide 14k white gold band
{ custom order; sold }

Fair trade sapphire and moissanite ring, palladium sterling silver
{ custom order; sold }

New Work

Moissanite and recycled 14k gold ring

My New Website is Live!

Well, I've finally done it - now in addition to this blog (whose new url, by the way, is www.McFarlandDesigns.blogspot.com), I also have a fully functioning website at www.McFarlandDesigns.com.

I have worked really hard on the new site and am pretty excited about some of the new features, especially the information on placing a custom order, as well as the detailed list of available fair trade stones, plus a directory of fair trade birthstone options.

Sometime in the next few days, I'm planning to do some kind of giveaway or promotion to celebrate the official grand opening of my new site, but right now I have to get back to my 'real' work of jewelry fabrication for a few hours at least...

In the meantime, check out the new site, let me know if you find any bugs, and check back soon for something fun!

Changes Ahead...

I think I'm just about ready to launch my new website (previewed here). Sometime in the next few days (I hope), you may notice something different when trying to connect to my blog.

Up until now, either url - www.McfarlandDesigns.com or www.McfarlandDesigns.blogspot.com - would take you to the same place (i.e. my blog); however, once I implement this change, www.McfarlandDesigns.com will take you to my new website, and, if I can get everything set up the way I hope, www.McfarlandDesigns.com/blog will take you to my blog.

Confusing, I know. But I'm warning you a little bit ahead of time because I really don't want to lose any of you in the transition. So remember to check back later this week and see how things are shaping up.

A straggler...

I made this ring several weeks ago but waited to post it so as not to ruin a customer's surprise. :-)

Fair trade sapphire, recycled sterling silver, and recycled white gold engagement ring

New Work

Amethyst, Afghan tourmaline, and recycled sterling silver rings
{ custom order; sold }

Fair trade green tourmaline, recycled 14k gold, and recycled, oxidized sterling silver ring, size 8

Fordite & recycled sterling silver cufflinks

What is Fordite?

Lab created padparadscha sapphire, recycled 14k white and yellow gold ring, size 6

{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

A few words about that beautiful lab-created sapphire...

Lab created stones (also referred to as man-made, synthetic or cultured stones) are NOT fakes. They are chemically and optically identical to their mined counterparts, but by growing them in the lab, many of the environmental and humanitarian problems inherent with gemstone mining can be avoided. This particular stone was created by Chatham Gems, a leader in created gemstones. According to the company, "Chatham does not make gemstones, we make environments in which crystals grow naturally." In other words, these are real gemstones that are cultured in a laboratory - natural components are placed in an environment created to duplicate nature's. Once the required combination of chemical and environmental factors is created, the crystals grow over the course of a year, the length of time depending on the gemstone. As a result, quality diamonds and gemstones are developed with identical physical, chemical, and optical properties to those found in nature.

New Work

Fordite & oxidized, recycled sterling silver ring, size 7

Fair trade California pink tourmaline, moissanite, ruby, & recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; sold }

New Work

Zultanite, moissanite, and recycled 14k white and yellow gold wedding ring
{ custom order; sold }

Fair trade Nevada turquoise & recycled sterling silver ring, size 6.5

Opal, pink rubellite tourmaline, chrysocolla, and recycled sterling silver ring trio
{ custom order; sold }

Star rose quartz, recycled 22k yellow gold, and recycled sterling silver ring
{ custom order; stone supplied by customer; sold }

New Work

I've had a lot going on lately, and have been having trouble carving out much studio time...but I finally managed to finish a few rings today, and a bunch more are in the nearly-complete stage. Hopefully I can wrap those up over the next couple of days. Anyway, here's the newest stuff -

Fair trade Nevada turquoise & oxidized recycled sterling silver ring
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

Fair trade Nevada turquoise & oxidized recycled sterling silver ring
{ to be listed soon in my Etsy shop }

Kyanite, rainbow moonstone, aquamarine, & recycled sterling silver stackable ring
{ custom order; sold }

The End of an Era (& the Beginning of a New One!)

Helen & moi

Well, it's finally happened - BestBeads has officially been transferred into the capable hands of Helen over at the new Etsy shop, 101BestBeads. I'm so happy to have found such a great buyer for my bead business - after spending several hours with Helen on Saturday, I can tell you firsthand that she is a truly capable and caring person who is enthusiastic about providing you all with great beads and super-friendly customer service. She's working over the next day or two to get all of the inventory from my old shop listed, so be patient - it's a lot of work! But it should all be up soon, and to celebrate the opening of her new shop, she's offering 20% off everything in the shop all week! So get on over there, say hello to Helen, and take advantage of the awesome sale!

Change is in the air...

As most of you know, I decided earlier this year to put my Etsy bead shop up for sale in order to devote my full time and attention to my jewelry shop. I am excited to tell you that I've found an amazingly sweet and talented buyer for the bead shop, and I'll be introducing you to her soon! We'll be working closely over the next few weeks to ensure a smooth transition.

My BestBeads shop will be closing temporarily this Friday night, May 8th, to perform inventory, and will re-open under a new Etsy domain within a few days. You can expect to enjoy the very same top-quality beads and cabochons you've come to rely on from BestBeads at the new shop, as well as friendly and attentive customer service.

Thanks for your incredible support over the last couple of years, and for your patience during this transition.