Your Daily Jewels

Monday, May 6, 2013

May is LUPUS AWARENESS Month

This month I am donating 100% of my profit from Your Daily Jewels on Etsy.com to The Lupus Foundation of America.

A Myriad of Custom Silver and Bronze Initials at Your Daily Jewels

"Help us solve the Cruel Mystery" is their latest campaign. Please sign the petition at CruelMystery.org asking Congress to fund more research for this incurable disease of which there is no known cause. I have been on the same drugs for 22 years. Only one new drug has come out for Lupus in the last fifty years.

I don't tell people I have Lupus until I have known them for a long time. I do this for me. It helps me avoid being known as "sick." I would much rather be known as "me" and once I know someone and feel close to them, I tell them. At that point I am "Norah, she has Lupus". I am not tagged as "My sick friend." It helps me not to have the tag of "sick" because I have to be careful not to buy into this myself. It would be too easy to drop out and say, I can't participate in life, I am "sick"

Oh, believe me, I do my share of loafing around and not participating, but that is because at that point I am really sick.

Lupus Foundation Image of the Classic Lupus Butterfly Rash

Me, Butterfly Rash and Hair Loss

Remission: Happy, Healthy in my Studio

People have asked me what the hardest part is about living with Lupus. The being sick part is not #1 on the list because that problem has solutions: treatment and time. Although, I have never had life threatening kidney involvement. The dreaded diagnosis Lupus patients fear everyday. At that point, or other life threatening situations that occur with lupus, this list will change.

The hardest part of having a chronic, unpredictable illness for me is:

Making plans. At 9:00am, I don't know how I will feel at 3:00 pm; never mind tomorrow or next week. Having important plans set in stone is very stressful for me because I am anxious about disappointing people I care about and love; and missing out on life. It is usually pain, fatigue, and a fever from nowhere that wipes me out. Stress exacerbates Lupus, and 'round we go.
Worrying when I am too weak to get down two flights of stairs to my jewelry studio, and my orders are running late.
Staying out of the sun. The day I was diagnosed, that was the first thing the doctor told me. "No more sun." She could have easily have said, "Tomorrow you move to Siberia". I grew up with baby oil and tin foil reflectors! Now I am fully covered, sun-screened, or inside all Summer. I do get an occasional spray-tan :) I have to wear sunscreen and a hat under my studio lights and in the car. I feel like I have the flu immediately if I have 20 minutes of sun exposure. This can trigger a Lupus Flare-up that can last a month

Living in fear. Since being diagnosed with Lupus I have been diagnosed with Sjogrens, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Raynaud's, Vasculitis, Hashimoto's, and Celiac disease.I have had bone, joint, and connective tissue involvement. Lung, heart, vision, skin, vascular, and very scary brain involvement. Everyday, while in remission the fatigue is staggering. But it is the fear of what might happen next that is difficult. It may be tomorrow; perhaps five years from now; maybe it will just leave?

I dream of living fearlessly

If you have Lupus, or think you might and you would like to connect with me, please do! If you would like to learn more, the Lupus Foundation Website (http://www.lupus.org) has great easy lists of what it is, what the signs are, how you can help, links to local Lupus societies, Lupus fundraisers in your area, and lots more.

Some of my jewelry pieces speak to me about my own journey with Lupus. Maybe they will speak to you, and 100% of your purchase price will go to The Lupus Foundation.

While I liveI'll Crow

Latin: Invicta: UNDEFEATABLE - 1800's Livery Button

"Alls Well" English Intaglio- year: 1850

Thank you so much for reading,

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Timeless, Classic, Beautiful Pearls

-->Pearls: freshwater and saltwater

Pearls fit into two categories: freshwater and saltwater. As their name implies, freshwater pearls are formed in freshwater mussels that live in lakes, rivers, ponds and other bodies of fresh water. By contrast, saltwater pearls grow in mollusks that live in the ocean.

I have to send a special thank you to Lynn of Urban Pearl Studio on Etsy.com for finding me these beauties. I can't wait to see what they will become.

Urban Pearl Studio is THE go to for handmade artisan wedding jewelry, from pearl strands, to earrings; multi-strand necklaces and bracelets with gorgeous gemstone box clasps, and so much more.

Multi Strand Keshi Pearl Necklace with Kyanite Box Clasp

Lynn has another shop where you can source out your own gemstones, TexasBeadz, or purchase more of her wonderful artisan gemstone jewelry at BeadzNBling, also on Etsy. Thank you again, Lynn, for finding me these gorgeous pearls!

Natural pearls are those pearls that are formed in nature, more or less by chance. Cultured pearls are those in which humans lend a helping hand, such as in China’s dominating freshwater pearl farms. Today more than 99% of all pearls sold worldwide, both fresh water and salt water, are cultured pearls, "designed" from the start to be primarily flawless.

The Different Types of Pearls

Akoya Pearls are the pearls most people think of when they think of pearls. Perfectly round, gleaming and lustrous, white Akoya pearls were the very first cultured pearls available anywhere in the world. The classic look still reigns today as the definitive standard of the pearl industry. Akoya pearls are saltwater pearls from both Japan and China, and generally range in size from tiny 2.0-3.0mm seed pearls to the largest and rarest 9.5-10.0mm sizes.

Black Tahitian Pearls are rare black pearls from French Polynesia, shimmering with vibrant overtones that are unmistakable and unforgettable. Popular overtones include Peacock, which is a green-gold mix tinged with rose, to Aubergine or deep eggplant; silver and steel tones, and aquamarine or shades of blue-green, all laid over a palette of dove and dark charcoal greys..

Traditionally ranging from 8.0mm up to 16.0mm in size, their glamorous sizes, combined with their unique, naturally-occurring range of greys and blacks make these pearls very desirable.

South Sea Pearls: large and luminous in white and golden from Australia and the Philippians are the largest and rarest of all cultured pearl types in the world. Pearls cultured in the Pinctada maxima saltwater oyster, which can grow up to a foot in diameter at maturation, routinely obtain sizes that range from 9.0mm up to an astonishing 21.0mm! The pearls’ golden and white colors are completely natural, needing no dyes or artificial enhancements.

Cultured South Sea pearls are also known for their soft, satiny glow which is due to their thick nacre layers, acquired through as much as 4 years’ cultivation time. Gorgeously glowing. They truly draw me in.

freshwater

Freshwater pearls come in a variety of colors and shapes to suit every taste, occasion, and budget; from perfectly round, gem-quality pearls to cute button-shapes. Known for their natural pink, lavender and classic white hues, freshwater pearls are an affordable choice that brings the beauty of pearl jewelry to many, without sacrificing quality.

Fresh water pearls are usually dyed or irradiated and it is not difficult to tell whether a pearl's color is natural. There is even a tutorial in Fire Mountain Gems on how to dye your own freshwater pearls!

There are several different types of Freshwater Pearls that you may be familiar with:

Biwa Pearls

The most famous type of freshwater cultured pearl is the Biwa pearl which used to come from mussels grown in Lake Biwa, Japan’s largest freshwater lake which is now polluted. These grow to become what we know as “stick” pearls

Keshi (sometimes spelled Keishi) Pearls ( my favorites)

Keshi Pearl Necklace by Your Daily Jewels

Keshi (in Japanese it means "poppy seed") may be salt or freshwater and are sub-products of the pearl. Basically, pearl garbage. When the oyster rejects a nucleus or a pearl, the fragments of epithelium may yield keshi, baroque-shaped pearls of small diameter which have no nucleus. Keshis come in different size, shapes and coloration.

Mother of Pearl

Mother of Pearl is the iridescent substance that forms the lining of the shells of some fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks. Mother of Pearl jewelry is made from the inside part of the oyster shell. Like the pearl it is a secretion of the mantle, (nacre). Among the chief sources are the pearl oyster, found in warm and tropical seas, chiefly in Asia; freshwater pearl mussels, which live in many rivers of the United States, Europe, and Asia; and the abalone of California, Japan, and other Pacific regions.

To learn more about pearls, how they are made, their role in history, how they are graded, etc. there is a beautiful exhibit, full of really interesting info. at the online site of the American Museum of Natural History-online .

also, great information on PBS at The Perfect Pearl.

Here is a hint of what will be coming from those lovely pearls I got from Lynn.