Spring is here, again!

Well... for us in the Southern Hemi, Spring is here! We had our first crazy rain/thunder/lightening/tornado storm the other day and it wasn't as bad as they said it would be, but there was still a TORNADO!!!!  I must have watched The Wizard of Oz one too many times as a kid, because TORNDOES freak me the *$@%^$& out.

Enough of that... here's some cool spring bling for you guys. Am putting these pieces up on ETSY today. (Now that I've said it I have to do it, right?) So check them out.

This is my favorite bracelet right now. I wear it all the time, the blackened sterling has a great patina now!

 This stunner features one white diamond for a little sparkle!

Ok, so these exact ones won't go up on ETSY. They are one of a kind with rose cuts and fancy cut white diamonds and they are mine... all mine! But I can do something similar for you if you'd like. I'm also thinking of doing these with some hot pink sapphires. They look incredible in blackened sterling.

Did you know that this design was actually inspired by last year's Monarch wing?

Happy Spring to me!
xoxo
Amery

Bringing long lost lovers together!

So I get a phone call from a current store today.

"Hi Amery, this is Amery from Destiny"

Wha??? Who from where???

her: "Isn't that funny?"

me (after a long beat of silence): "I'm so confused right now, help me!"

So, turns out that her name is Ammery- spelled with one more "m" than my name. How funny is that? And apparently the store owner bought a new store, called Destiny, in Salt Lake City.

Here's the good part.... Ammery used to date this guy when she was young and then she moved away. Five-ish years later, the young man in question now works at Destiny (are you getting this?) who carries my work.  Every time he shows someone my work, or polishes it, or straightens the case or even walks by it, he thinks of his long lost love "Ammery".

So he calls her. My case, my name made him call her after all this time.

Aaaaaaaand....... she moves back to town and now they are ENGAGED!!! Is that not the cutest thing you've ever heard?

I feel kinda responsible for bringing these two long-lost lovers back together. It makes me feel all warm and tingly inside.

I think I need to design a piece for the couple that was "destined" to be together. :)

Peace & Love! 
Amery

Breathe...

"Every day, think as you wake up, "Today I am fortunate to have woken up. I am alive, I have a precious human life. I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry, or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can." - His Holiness The Dalai Lama

I don't know about you, but I'm printing this out and posting it in my bathroom so I can see it every morning, and hopefully it will stay with me throughout the day.

I needed this about an hour before I saw it, I was stuck on hold with customer service at the bank for about 30 minutes while they tried to fix my problem. I was getting so worked up as each minute ticked by. Grinding my teeth and thinking "what an idiot"! What I really needed to do was breathe and relax. It's not the end of the world, this is not heart surgery, no lives are at stake. It's a credit card processing issue, that will either get resolved, or it won't. Let it go. Breathe....

Namaste everyone.

Sorry, Boss!

Sorry, Boss! Today I had to play hooky for an hour. I got up, drove Dave to work (we're sharing one car until we get everything sorted), went to Yoga, then had to run some errands in nearby Mairangi Bay.

Shucks. Had to run errands in a beach town!

Walking from one errand to the next took me right by the beach. I swear, I did not take a detour to purposefully walk on the shore. Really.

Cuppa in hand I just had to take a break. After all, it had been a hard day in paradise so far! So, I sat on the grass by the beach for a few minutes...
...watched a dog frolic in the bay (and then jump, dripping wet on an unexpecting couple), was cawed at by some beautiful seagulls (I'll get a better pic next time, but they are really pretty- they have red beaks and beautiful wings) and generally took in the amazing scenery.

Our beaches remind me a bit of the Monterey Peninsula: cypress trees, rolling hills, the faint truly salty smell of ocean and seaweed, and a crisp breeze with the sun warming your skin.

Differences? First of all, there are palms and ferns of all shapes and sizes.And did I mention that our water is turquoise?

So sorry, boss.. had to play hooky. But do you blame me?

Follow more of our adventures "down-under":
http://amery-notesfromthefuture.blogspot.com/

Bad Bad Blogging Chick

I'm a very bad blogger. Very bad. Been neglecting my "biz blog" for too long. Sorry. If you're interested to see what's been going on with my life, take a peek at my other blog:

http://amery-notesfromthefuture.blogspot.com/

To tease you, we have moved to New Zealand! But our operations remain US based with our fantastic production assistant, Carlie Mathews. So check out the blog to see more.

AdoptTrouble

So this is so not about jewelry, but it is about my life which is what blogs are all about, right?

Many of you don't know that the reason I've been so busy is that we've been fostering a very sweet dog. He followed my husband and our two dogs, Spike and Ruby home from a hike a few months ago.

We tried to find his owners, but he had no tags and no microchip. We waited a month for an owner to surface before we had him fixed.

Not only was he "intact" but he was not housebroken at 10-11 months old, so he walked into our house and lifted his leg- yikes! But he also didn't know the word "no". Since then, he has made great strides. Mostly through Dave's diligent work with him. He sits and lays down on command, is becoming a great heeler on the leash and is learning "stay".

As much as we've enjoyed having him around, and Ruby and Spike have loved him as well, we simply do not have the time, money, energy to keep a third dog and do him justice. So we're looking for a forever home.

Please send this to your friends, even if they are

not looking for a dog, they might know of someone who is. You can also go to facebook and "like" our AdoptTrouble page and ask your friends to do the same. Even if you are not in the Los Angeles area your friends or friends of your friends might be. He is a lovely dog and we'll miss him when he's gone so hopefully the forever home will be local and we can have Trouble over for play-dates and the occasional weekend.

here's the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AdoptTrouble/114431301947467?ref=ts

Here's the flyer I've been sending out:

Please help me find my forever home!

Hi my name is Trouble. My foster parents found me abandoned at a popular dog hiking spot and have taken me in until they can find me a forever home. But my time is running out and I need a home ASAP.

I am very sweet and cuddly and also have loads of puppy energy. There is not a mean bone in my body, I'm the first to roll over at the dog park.

I am male, neutered and believed to be about 11 months old. I love, love, love other dogs and kids, but I'm still a little rambunctious so for now, it's best if the kids are bigger than me. Did I mention that I love to cuddle?

I'm a neutered male lab/pit mix, weigh 55 lbs. I have all my shots and paperwork.

My foster parents would love to have me back for visits and the occasional weekend if the situation works out, so you'd have a built in dog sitter!

Contact info: Amery Carriere 213.413.8813

located in Los Angeles, CA

amery@amerycarriere.com

Butterfly Girl

Spring is here!

You should see my backyard, it's teaming with life, bees, hummingbirds, butterflies of many colors.

It's amazing. The roses are blooming, the tomatoes are planted and it's my little oasis. So inspiring, in fact, that I abandoned all of my nearly completed pieces to take on a whole new project- oh about 2 weeks before my Vegas show. New stacking rings just had to take a back burner for a day- the butterfly must be set free! It must!

I've always been a butterfly girl at heart- ask my mom and my sis. It has made present shopping for me soooo easy- if it has a butterfly on it, it's perfect. What can I say, I'm easy.

I was struck by the beauty of the monarchs in my backyard this past week. (I mean, come on, how can you not love a butterfly in flight?) We normally don't get too many of those, but this week it's been glorious. Incredible how they dance from blossom to blossom, warming their wings in the sun. I had to do yet another butterfly inspired piece. It was imperative.

First I did a sketch of an entire butterfly, but I have whole butterflies... what about a single wing?

So I traced only the wing with my trusty "dripper" and set about making my new pendant. A quick wax lesson: I place the clear sheet wax over my drawing and trace the lines with the "dripper". Carving away any excess wax from the wax sheet. My original intent was to have the lines raised, the background recessed thus grabbing the oxidization.

But then I realized that I had a few solid butterfly designs and it might be nice to have something open and airy. Free, if you will. :)

So I cut out the white sheet wax leaving an outline of what's normally the black of the butterfly wing. Can you tell that the white sheet wax has been carved away? A tedious process, but necessary to achieve my desired pendant.

Then I thought...Hmm... the black of the butterfly wing? Maybe it'll be blackened with some sparkly diamonds or white with rubies? Augh! Too band I don't have a pic of that yet.

Patience, grasshopper. Or shall I say "Patience, Butterfly".

Peace, Namaste and happy spring to all!