a month ago i wrote about wanting to run a fundraiser to help people in the gulf affected by the bp oil spill and hurricane katrina, people who are struggling to keep their pets.

to me, this is a devastating thought, having to relinquish your pet because you can no longer afford to care for them….and this is happening to so many people in the gulf.

unfortunately, spay and neuter programs are scarce as they are lacking the funds and “no kill” shelters are few and far between in the gulf right now. too many mouths to house…so to speak and so many people out of work are struggling to keep their four legged children.

thanks to all who responded when i asked for advice on this. i had been researching organizations, but not really getting the “feel” for any of them.
(thanks also to those who raised my awareness about the mis-allocation of funds by some larger orgs– i didn’t know!)

one of the kind people who responded to my post had just seen a segment on the Saint Bernard Parish SPCA, a shelter doing amazing work in really challenging times, and after checking them out online, i am really moved by their passion and mission. Please check out

Friends of the Animal Shelter of St. Bernard Parish!

not only are they actively working with their community to help people care for their pets in a time of crisis, they are also ardently working to achieve  another ideal of mine when it comes to animal rescue, a “no kill” status in their shelter.

“We will not give up until our shelter achieves a ZERO euthanasia rate for every healthy, adoptable dog and cat in their care. Warehousing animals will not work; less pets born and more adoptions will! You can be a part of the solution, too!”

as a former non profiteer (the jarvis reilly foundation, san diego 2000-2007), i think this shelter  is really making a difference, so

30% of all  jewellery purchased from heather-reilly.com/shop will be sent directly to the Friends of the Animal Shelter of St. Bernard !!

all custom commissions (wedding rings, too!), all ready to wear wishbones, om pendants, runes and peace sign jewellery, from now until i don’t know when– 30% of the sale will go to animals in the gulf through the Friends of the Animal Shelter of St. Bernard.

(i just cleaned the studio before diving back in (took the kids east for a grandparent holiday!) and have a few “sample sale” items appearing here over the next week that will be fair game, too)

for lots of us right now, life isn’t leaving much extra to help out the people, animals and organizations who need it in the wake of the gulf oil spill.  i would send millions if i had it already, but as a jeweller who is also a full-time mom right now, i need your help to send anything.

need a unique gift? time to spoil someone you love? early holiday shopping?

include yourself here :) and help me make a difference!

be beautiful and be so well,

heather

PS the direct link to my online store is heather-reilly.com/shop !

one can send money whilst specifying that it is to go towards helping people impoverished by katrina and our lovely british petroleum (i will never capitalize their name!), feed their pets.

if anyone knows of another org. that is helping to distribute food and low cost/free veterinary, PLEASE let me know asap so that i can investigate.

having had our own non-profit in san diego, i can only imagine how much it would mean to a small grass roots organization, toughing it out in the south right now and saving the lives of pets, otherwise bound for the (high kill) shelters.

thanks everyone, your response is great and i am so excited at the prospect of helping out, if only a wee bit!
xo
heather

i’ve been making these wishbone necklaces since the day in 1998 that my dear friend robert sent me the wishbone of a cornish game hen and asked me to cast him one in sterling silver. since then i have made so many different versions, including platinum and gold, some with flush set diamonds.
 
it makes sense– with mother’s day just around the corner (and the mother’s day gift decision), what mom doesn’t have wishes to make?
 
i was just reminded that graduations abound this time of year, too, so i’m sure many of you have multiple good reasons for your choice :).
 

and of course wedding time is here for many (at least i seem to be awash in wedding rings) and i’ve always thought wishbones make great bridesmaids gifts. weddings are all about good wishes.
 
so i would really like to express my gratitude for you guys, for spring, and for the magnolias with a special offer for all my facebook fans, my twitter peeps, and all of you really awesome people who have actually asked to receive my newsletter (click here to be one of these fab people).
 
so for all of you:
 
30% off all wishbones until may day!
 
Tomorrow, John will be sending all of you (on Facebook, Twitter and my newsletter list, anyway) a special link to my wishbone pendants (in my new online shop!) and a code for the discount. (The discount code will be good until midnight next Monday, May 2 for all you procrastinators.)
 
the heady fragrance of magnolia was intoxicating…i think i am to rendezvous with the lilacs tonight.
 
be so well and bring in the spring!
 
heather

in this garden/backyard of ours i envision a fabulous wee smithy of sorts, next to the pumpkins.
basically an amish barn that takes up residence in our backyard, providing a safe for me to work with fire.
a place in side for jewellery, outside adjacent, my 250lb anvil and my forge.
a smith adjacent to a jewellery studio!

grateful inside and out that our move is complete and psyched about setting up my new temporary studio (till i get this barn you know). back to work with a wave of really cool new clients (return of some old) and some new newsletter subscribers (thanks maureen-burke.com, for featuring the “life chain”!).

and i am thinking…
i want to send out a newsletter as a house blessing, create something for you guys, whilst manifesting a barn raising for me :)
but i would like your opinion.

what would you like to see me run a special on right now?
mother’s day, graduations, spring! all on the horizon,

would you like to see some OM pendants, wishbones perhaps…
on sale as they say?
so happy to hear anyone’s response.

it would be great to finally have the opportunity to finish the astrological pendant line.
john is a huge proponent of these little guys and i daresay, they are so simple and pretty, charms indeed.
was thinking that i could offer a really great discount to all who commission the first of their sign (leo and sag are the only ones finished).
any and all thoughts are so welcome and appreciated.
i love making OM’s, wishbones and peace signs, but perhaps you want a discount on custom creations or just good old peace signs?
so many possibilities….:)

now i must to garden exploration with my wee companions and baby wolf. the snow is melting so that i can actually see soil.
hooray

shine sun, shine
xo
heather

so a BIG APOLOGY to everyone who has encountered problems.
personally, i have little patience for difficult websites and when buying online, i want it to be easy.
a huge thank you to all those who have persevered and called me on the phone! i so love that.

and for now, i am disabling (read, john is disabling) the shopping cart.
if you fancy a lovely little hand forged bauble,
peace sign, wishbone, rune, OM or astrological pendant…call me.
phone is always better in my opinion
xx
heather

oh wait, this is for your sister, right…sorry :)

does this gift commemorate an event, i.e the birth of a baby, a wedding anniversary? if so, can we incorporate anything symbolic in the design?

ideally, i like to listen to the answers to these questions over the phone…subtle nuances that help me to free form/brainstorm. from here i can begin to design.
ideas at first, conceptualizing the feel of the piece…

here is a good example.

dean called, wanting to custom design a piece of jewelry to celebrate the birth of their first child, due in a few days. as i listened to him just talk about his wife, i immediately saw a necklace. as a new mom she wasn’t going to be fussing with jewellery, so something she can put on and not have to take off seemed appropriate.
as the mom of two little ones, i immediately saw nursing infant, ripping at shiny golden gems. note to self, sturdy chain with a pendant soothing to the touch.

dean mentioned that they had been married for some time and were excited to become a family of three. this made me think, it would be cool to represent all three of them in the piece…how about three forged yellow gold rolling rings, interlinking circles, attached to a sturdy gold snake chain.
dean wanted to incorporate his son’s birthstones. i want to incorporate stones to represent him and his wife as well. i see these interlocking rings in my mind, “sort of like the olympic rings” and he says, “perfect!” dean is involved with the u.s. olympic sailing team and he and emily spent a blissful time together in china during the summer olympics.
:)
i flush set one side of the center link with imperial topaz, november’s birthstone, and the other side with three white diamonds, graduated size to represent him, her and bambino.
here is what she said:

“Thank you so much, Heather, for your beautiful work! I love the three rings — both their style and their meaning. The topaz and diamonds are the perfect combination, too. And the chain makes the whole thing come together beautifully.”
Happy New Year,
Emily

often, someone who finds me on the web, emails…just wants a “quick quote” on a piece that has excited them. sorry, not really possible.
all of the portfolio pieces on my site were designed especially for someone. a unique piece of jewellery is going to have as many custom variables as the person for whom it is being designed.
pretty fun process
be so well
heather

to be able to make something that is inherently beautiful, even more so…
ahh, indeed one the the great feelings that creating art brings to the spirit.

this is the joy of remounting a really beautiful stone. taking a special, or not so, piece of jewellery, disassembling it, and designing anew.
and in this economy, i think so many of us are looking for ways to refresh and rejoice without breaking the bank (isn’t it because the banks broke that we are looking for ways to conserve!)

so i am totally loving the wave of engagement ring re-mounts that i have been rocking here in the studio.
first a beautiful round solitare diamond that belonged to her grandmother, he wanted to remount the solitare onto one of my simple forged concave bar rings, but the cost of gold and platinum weren’t working themselves into his budget. always loving diamonds and silver together, i made the suggestion. such an economical way to get something so pretty.

after all, silver is very reflective. even more so than gold of any color. thus, a hefty silver bezel mount will greatly enhance the light, color and cut of a diamond.
**main drawback is that the silver will tarnish (so will gold for that matter), as always, just keep a good silver polish handy and give your ring a 3 second dip every once and awhile (connoisseurs is good brand).

so they had me forge a substantial sterling concave bar ring and gave me liberty as to how to set the stone. i ended up forging a second band to match for him and it was such fun getting to rough up the silver. and while not for everyone’s taste, i find this really gives the ring depth.
you gotto love this request from a client.
“…just make it unique, make the diamond shine and give it a sexy hand wrought feel”

after making a full bezel, i cut out away at the silver to allow more light to shine through the diamond
ultimately, what i love about the final piece is the uniqueness of the ring. there is no other quite like it, simple as it is, and the symmetry of the band is offset by the cut outs of the bezel.
okay, sorry no photo of this ring yet. however, he is a professional photographer and has promised to take a good picture of the ring this weekend and i will post it then.

i do have a photo of another sterling diamond ring that i was forging at the same time.
a sterling silver remount with the prettiest, whitest, princess cut diamond.
the ring used to be this pretty little princess cut diamond in a very elegant, very delicate white gold band.
lauren, petite and beautiful, happens to be an ice hockey player.
a bit hard on her rings, continually misshaping the white gold band and she was worried about the integrity of the setting, not wanting to lose the stone.
i ever so gingerly forged a really substantial sterling bezel around the diamond, mounted it onto a really dense, hand forged band, and damn, if this stone doesn’t look fabulous.
sparkling beyond…and one day they can set a pretty princess cut stone into her original engagement band (i save the original ring to reuse whenever possible…special if they have a little girl someday) and later on, lauren can upgrade to platinum.

so if you have been longing to re-do a special ring, engagement or other, consider sterling.
at under $500, you can seriously rock a whole new look for your stones!