New Design Geode Earrings

Although my favorite piece of jewelry has been the ring... every day rings, cocktail rings, and bold, modern, sculptural, in your face rings, I want to break from the ring to post a pair of earrings from the new collection. Continuing on the path of raw and rough stones is the split geode earrings. There are a few pairs of these earrings in this collection, all added the last minute. This is due to my late discovery of a new source for them. I was only going to choose a few sets of the geodes but ended up with quite a bit more. "Why not?", I discovered, seems to always be my motto when faced with tempting choices. I guess it's ok since I am rarely moved by many stones anymore. Good thing I don't like sweets...I can only imagine where that would lead me...

Here are some split, polished sets of tiny geodes clutched in matte sterling just as organic as the rocks are. I like the back almost as much as the front.

New Collection Lapis Lazuli Ring

This is another ring from the new collection soon to be released. This is a perfect half geode of lapis lazuli of intense blue with a star burst in the center. I have both halves of the geode was was saving the set for a pair of earrings with 22k gold when I unintentionally sculpted the ring base for this ring. Being the impulsive, spur-the-moment person that I am, I decided to cast the ring. I would have preferred 22k or 24k gold with this intense blue but this coil design satisfy enough of my desire to see lapis in ancient treasure settings...anything ancient Egyptian or Chinese.




Raw geode lapis lazuli, Rough gemstone organic ring. Hand sculpted cast sterling.

Preview New. Sale of Old

A collection is gathering and a date for the photo shoot has been set. It is an uneven collection with mostly rings, a few necklaces and no bracelets and earrings so far. I might leave it this way. I think only what I truly love and am naturally inspired to do should go in my collections. And when I can, I try to balance the collection out.

A sample sale is coming before the new Spring Summer Collection arrives. As always, Newsletter subscribers get advanced notice of the sale before it goes public.

Here is a peek at one of the new pieces...Amethyst Stalactite Tip Ring. A light amethyst stalactite tip wrapped in hand sculpted wax then cast in sterling with all the imperfections and finger prints. Sterling is left in a soft matte satin finish for the organic look.

What's Been My Problem

I've not gone this long without putting out a collection before and it does not feel right. It also doesn't feel right to not grow or progress with each collection I put out thus the stand still. I have been discouraged by the lack of improvements of a situation and the obstacles I can not seem to get past. It would be easy to put out a sell-able and understandable collection if it didn't feel so pointless to me. Why add to what's already out there.


If I insist on what I would like to do then it might be a while before I can put forth anything at all. I think I might to do a mini suite for now with what I can access. I know it might feel like somewhat of a stand still collection but hopefully I'm just more critical of my own work.

I see that I've been breaking my own rule of providing pictures of with each post. I've dug up some OLD designs of the past. I think it's appropriate to post them since we will be at a stand still mode. I think these are from 2004.

Pre Holiday Sale Coming

A sale in time for the holidays will be announced soon. Newsletter subscribers always get first dibs and exclusive deals so if you are not on our list you can sign up here. This is your chance to get what you really want for Christmas!

Ruby, Pyrite and MOP Suite

Aside from the Kyanite suite and the Amethyst Geode Suite there is the Burmese Ruby, Pyrite and MOP suite. These rubies are different then what's been available on the market. They are Simple Cut, which is one of my favorite shapes, especially for a traditional stone like ruby. They are also a bit more milky in color which I was surprised to find I liked so much. Now pyrite, here's a stone that I've never had much affection for but fell in love with in these old fashion shapes with it's worn, decrepit looks. They also looked so good with the off looking rubies. Then there's these antiqued looking mother of pearl beads I've had from the beginning of my jewelry career. I was very attracted to their raw and unearthed treasure appearance and understood why they were so much more expensive then all the other MOP strands I've seen. I've been keeping them for a special use. With the Burmese rubies and decrepit pyrite they are perfect.

Sliced Amethyst Geode Suite

These amethyst geodes are sliced to show the different layers. Since I relate everything to food I see them as bacon slices or watermelon slices. They are wirewrapped horizontally or vertically and suspended on chains like perfect specimens. It is the best way to display these delicious, translucent jelly candies.

Kyanite Suite

There are a few suites in this recent collection that were unexpected and it turns out I really like them. Two of these suites were last minute additions. I was just cruising a trade show with nothing in mind and saw someone carrying a tray with some of these stones. The combination of colors set off a spark in me so I stopped to take a look and it ended up with me getting stones that are not usually of interest to me. I've not been a fan of kyanite because most of the kyanite (blue and green) I see are full of inclusions with a dry and faded look and I'm all about lush and rich. These kyanite slabs were not only beautifully rich but also shaped uniquely with the holes drilled in an unexpected way. The usual way being through the thickness of the stone. Seeing these immediately gave me flashes of how they'd look finished but in an abstract, none exact way. Actually, it was a feeling of how I would feel when I looked at the finished piece. This is what usually happens when I'm inspired by the stone. Then I go chasing that feeling by putting together the right ingredients in the right way.

Here are the kyanite pieces. They are really amazing to feel and stroke in one's hand because their shapes suggest that they should be metal, like a dog tag but they are translucent with streaks running through them.

New Look

It's not that I liked the way my blog looked before. I am just entirely not fluent in html or code or anything technical so I had to put up with the least offensive template I could find. It's not that I'm entirely happy with the way it looks now but I am glad to have thought to go into the template and start making up numbers in the color code area. I compared these color code numbers with Photoshop but of course those are not the same color codes so I just input random numbers and chose from there. One day I know I will end up with the clean, modern and non-sterile look I want. In the meantime, I think I like these strange colors together. For now.

Sample Sale Vintage Anne Maa

I am finally tackling the project I knew was inevitable...going through and deciding what to do with all the samples from past collections. I mean real past, as in 2004 when I first started. I designed two collections with glass beads before moving to gemstone beads. I have a special attachment to those early collections when I don't usually like to even look at past designs much. I think making jewelry felt magical to me then. I really stumbled on to it by accident. It was confusing, exciting and full of possibilities and I had no idea where it was going to lead. My fashion design past life gave me the structure of thinking I needed to put out collections. It also kept the idea of selling to friends and family completely foreign to me. I started to learn how to use a computer (didn't know how to turn it on or off, or what a browser was) and also learn how to type so I can sell online, which was the only place I wanted to sell. I loved to be anonymous and not deal with real people. I still feel the same way and I'm glad I don't feel lonely in my work in that respect.

I've slowly started to put some pieces in a new Etsy store. I'm realizing I can't just hoard those samples forever and there's no reason to do so either. I've been 'shedding' in many ways in my life at this point and find that I don't need or want much now. It's a freeing place to be...though it is a lot of work to 'shed' sometimes.

Here are some designs from the early collections. These will be listed or may already listed.


















I never thought of having a store on Etsy but now I have two. I can't say how long these stores will last. They might start to feel too tied down for me or I might find them too tedious to upkeep. For now here they are:

Sample sale - www.AMDsamplesale.etsy.com

Supplies - www.AMD.etsy.com