shape
carat
color
clarity

Mrs-B's whole curated collection...(more or less...)

DorotheaBrooke

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
705
Wow, mrs-b, the transformation is truly amazing! I cannot imagine what the previous owner was trying to achieve with those strangely placed and clipped shrubs. Looks like a totally different house now and so lovely. You obviously put as much care and planning into your garden as you do into your jewelry collection! Beautiful color and texture going on there.

I assume those are Limelights out front or very hearty Little Limes? I planted only one Limelight, but I wish I had planted more because it turned out to be my favorite among all of them. I have a small hedge of seven Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea around my back patio and the panicles are lovely but droop way down low.

I appreciate your focus on trees. I see a beautiful redbud in the front and is that a weeping cherry to the right of the front door and a Japanese maple to the left? I planted several trees, but have a long wait before they provide any shade. I am not planning to go anywhere, though.

I love roses, too! I planted over 40 of them here. This time of year, when the heat, black spot, deer, and Japanese beetles all converge, I think that was probably too many, but I am a sucker for roses, especially David Austin's English roses.

You have such a fun tradition to put up a number of Christmas trees around the house. A couple of years ago I bought and decorated my dream Christmas tree (faux, so it's ready every year). I enjoy putting up holiday decorations and then enjoy the clean and fresh feeling when I take everything down.

DSCF6177.jpg

Apologies for getting so off-topic. =)2
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
Wow, mrs-b, the transformation is truly amazing! I cannot imagine what the previous owner was trying to achieve with those strangely placed and clipped shrubs. Looks like a totally different house now and so lovely. You obviously put as much care and planning into your garden as you do into your jewelry collection! Beautiful color and texture going on there.

I assume those are Limelights out front or very hearty Little Limes? I planted only one Limelight, but I wish I had planted more because it turned out to be my favorite among all of them. I have a small hedge of seven Vanilla Strawberry hydrangea around my back patio and the panicles are lovely but droop way down low.

I appreciate your focus on trees. I see a beautiful redbud in the front and is that a weeping cherry to the right of the front door and a Japanese maple to the left? I planted several trees, but have a long wait before they provide any shade. I am not planning to go anywhere, though.

I love roses, too! I planted over 40 of them here. This time of year, when the heat, black spot, deer, and Japanese beetles all converge, I think that was probably too many, but I am a sucker for roses, especially David Austin's English roses.

You have such a fun tradition to put up a number of Christmas trees around the house. A couple of years ago I bought and decorated my dream Christmas tree (faux, so it's ready every year). I enjoy putting up holiday decorations and then enjoy the clean and fresh feeling when I take everything down.

DSCF6177.jpg

Apologies for getting so off-topic. =)2

Ooohhh Dorothea - you are SUCH a woman after my own heart!

Firstly, not off topic at ALL! I think a picture of a Christmas tree should be a mandatory addition for every PS post!

Your garden sounds wonderful! Can I ask what state you're in? I'm in MA, which means most plants die right back (or die off altogether) every winter, so David Austin roses are a huge favorite, as they suit our weather zone. Every spring my husband and I go to our favorite plant store and spend at least a thousand dollars or more, refreshing our beds and replacing what didn't make it through the winter. Then we pay our gardener another thousand dollars to clean up and mulch. And THEN we start the real gardening - extending, maintaining, tweaking; a beautiful garden, as you know, is a lifelong pursuit.

Yes, the hydrangeas at the front of the path are limelights. The Japanese maple is a miniature, so won't grow any higher and I'm planning on moving the weeping cherry; whoever planted it planted it RIGHT on top of the bay window, and it needs to come out from the wall a fair bit. I'd also like to put an arbor over the front path at the beginning, but I'll need to scale it in with the rest of the yard: if you think I'm persnickety about the proportions of jewelry pieces, you should see me when it comes to houses!!

We've done a lot in the garden and are about half way. We've done all we want to do inside, tho; the inside of the house had been done up a little before we bought it, but nothing substantial. We've done so much work inside, it's like a totally different house and very restful, light and airy. I really love this home - I just wish I could matter-transfer it to Australia....
 

DorotheaBrooke

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Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
705
An arbor over the front path will look wonderful! Do you plan to leave it bare or plant it with climbers? I think either way would be lovely. You mentioned you are only halfway done with the garden, and I would love to know what other plans you have, as it already looks so lush. I hear you on the expense involved. When my husband and I created a report of our spending last year, I was taken aback at the gardening total. I could have bought several nice jewelry pieces instead, but nothing brings me happiness like my garden (excepting family, friends, and cats, of course!). My plan now is to buy no new plants and focus on maintaining what I have - and weeding!

I am in North Carolina, which has a pretty good gardening climate, since I can continue to work outside for most of the winter, but stretches of summer heat can be brutal. I have lived in my house for four years, but the first two years we focused on the interiors (which close but still is not complete), so my garden is only on its second year. My inspiration style is English countryside garden, which relies heavily on everything growing big and fluffy and reseeding around, so I am looking forward to the fabled third year leap.
 

yssie

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Aug 14, 2009
Messages
27,239
Hi @yssie :wavey:

I'll look forward to sharing with you! :))

I think I mentioned to you a while ago that I was collecting small opals. In the next month or two I'm hoping to start a pair of opal and diamond drop earrings to add to my rose gold collection as a dressier pair of earrings than plain hoops - which is all I have in rose gold for earrings at the moment.

I'm doing opal and diamond drops: a bezeled trio of 3 point diamonds, then a bezeled opal, then same diamond configuration - then another opal - then diamonds - then opal. So - 3 opals and 9 diamonds in each earring. I have all the opals and diamonds - I just need to get them made now. I'm STILL working on She Who Will Not Be Named (ie my enamel and gold charm bracelet) - but when that's done, I'll be moving forward - posthaste!

I'm finally back here with time to breathe.


I adore collection threads.

They tell you so much about a woman. The pieces that she shares showcase her style, of course. Her luxury priorities. I knew you had a number of pieces but I didn’t appreciate just how many, @mrs-b! And yet they all fill some unique niche - I don’t see many aesthetic duplicates. Something for any occasion.

Then there’s how she decides to organize her thread - does she share by sentiment? By look and feel? By utility? By gemstone genre? By era? By how often they’re worn? I can honestly say that it wouldn’t have occurred to me to organize my thoughts the way you have here! But this methodology is so You ::) It’s interesting, you and I, we both think in sets, but we don’t define set in quite the same way: I default to organizing by which part of the body pieces adorn - fingers, ears, wrists, other… Probably because my sets involve having at least one ode to each era I’ve decided I need representation of. Your sets are more practical - complete looks for various occasions. And doesn’t that just fit our personalities perfectly :)) The backgrounds… @mrs-b, woven white linen, again - how very You! :)) Simple and subtle. Mine are always floral - in fact, in many of my photos bright flowers draw first focus. More parallels.


Okay. Your casuals. All your whites, actually.


How do you wear that asscher band? Do you pair it with your three stone or EC, or is it a standalone?
I’m loving those stud-&-teardrops, but for me they overlap stylistically with your cluster studs - I’d wear either with a blouse, jeans, and boots. I’d probably wear neither with a dress - for a dress I’d go to either your hoops or your SS drops. what sorts of events our outfits disambiguate them for you?

How often do you wear your 0.33ctw studs? I confess, my eyes go straight to those giant SSs - white body, silver overtone! They must be fabulously bright in-person. I very recently got a pair of SS studs of my own - similar size, but I asked for as strong pink overtone as was possible. I didn’t think I was a #LargePearlStuds type of person, but they are GLORIOUS in the ears, and I don’t know that I’ll ever wear my smaller white pearls again!

I’m glad you went with platinum for your diamond bangles. Am I allowed to say that? ::) My skin tarnishes silver in astonishing fashion, so I can’t wear it regardless of personal opinion, but soft and malleable silver holding diamonds scares me! I know it was the norm for many eras. It scares me anyway. I have only one diamond bangle, much smaller than yours (1.15ctw), and that thing sparkles like it’s trying to light the room up - I can imagine what your pair must look like in-person… At night, across the dinner table…

But y’know, I think you need more blue and white! Just one band does not a set make!! :bigsmile: Your light skin and fair hair would set blue in the ears off beautifully. Sapphire halo studs?


Your yellows…
Your wedding pendant is so sweet ::) And I remember your Dixon memorial, of course. I hope these two are getting lots of wear through whatever your Covid day-to-day looks like these days. Sometimes there really is just no match for sentiment.
Can’t get enough of that opal. I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing your other opal projects come to life. Hurry up H!! :bigsmile:

I think your dressy yellows are where your collection and mine have most in common. That EC. Not nearly enough words… No, actually, a full sentence of words: I cannot wait to try this on in-person one day :cool2:

Are the GSS bezels in 18k YG too? The gold colour looks a little different. Might just be the photo, or my monitor.


Your pinks are pretty different, aren’t they? Here's your nod to vintage. What’s the remainder of this story? It got cut off -
The opal and ivy leaf one is made from a combination of the last anniversary gift my father gave my mother (opal ring) and the 10th anniversary gift from my DH to me (ivy leaf studs with tiny emerald cabachons). Unfortunately

That tourmaline is something special. I hope you wear hats. I hope you wear this in those hats. This stone needs head-time! I was going to say “this stone needs sunlight” - well, that won’t be any problem when you’re in Australia, but knowing where you are right now, I compromised ::)


Oh! Re-reading prior posts. Why are you splitting your charm bracelet up?


Maybe I'll do a collection thread of my own one day. Honestly, my collection seems very... well, I do see it every day, so it's very normal! Not esoteric. Not something that anyone else would get terribly excited about. But everyone who creates these threads sees their collections every day, and I know how much I enjoy others' threads! Maybe one day, after some sleep!
 
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OboeGal

Brilliant_Rock
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Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
916
@mrs-b, I can't thank you enough for posting all this. I've never seen so much beauty in just one thread. I'm overwhelmed by the beauty, the planning, the intentionality of all of it - your jewelry, your home, your garden......I find myself, as time goes on, as much if not more interested in the psychology - the "why's" - of others' choices of their jewelry as I am in the technical details, and you have provided such a delightful feast of that here. And as much as I'm enjoying all the beauty and thought behind your jewelry, I was surprised to find even more delight in your home and garden!

I have a few questions, if you have a moment and don't mind, about your garden in particular (as I just had a bit of an uneven first summer attempt at some serious gardening myself): have you done all the planning and design yourself, or did you consult an outside professional landscape designer? It certainly looks utterly professionally designed - but considering how you've designed your jewelry, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if you are entirely responsible for the garden as well! :)) If you have designed it yourself, is that something you have a fair amount of prior experience at? I love what you've done with it, and I would like to create something similar with our yard, but I find myself utterly overwhelmed at the magnitude of both knowledge and effort I would need, and I'm curious how you got to being so good and knowledgeable on these matters.......
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
I'm finally back here with time to breathe.


I adore collection threads.

They tell you so much about a woman. The pieces that she shares showcase her style, of course. Her luxury priorities. I knew you had a number of pieces but I didn’t appreciate just how many, @mrs-b! And yet they all fill some unique niche - I don’t see many aesthetic duplicates. Something for any occasion.

Then there’s how she decides to organize her thread - does she share by sentiment? By look and feel? By utility? By gemstone genre? By era? By how often they’re worn? I can honestly say that it wouldn’t have occurred to me to organize my thoughts the way you have here! But this methodology is so You ::) It’s interesting, you and I, we both think in sets, but we don’t define set in quite the same way: I default to organizing by which part of the body pieces adorn - fingers, ears, wrists, other… Probably because my sets involve having at least one ode to each era I’ve decided I need representation of. Your sets are more practical - complete looks for various occasions. And doesn’t that just fit our personalities perfectly :)) The backgrounds… @mrs-b, woven white linen, again - how very You! :)) Simple and subtle. Mine are always floral - in fact, in many of my photos bright flowers draw first focus. More parallels.


Okay. Your casuals. All your whites, actually.


How do you wear that asscher band? Do you pair it with your three stone or EC, or is it a standalone?
I’m loving those stud-&-teardrops, but for me they overlap stylistically with your cluster studs - I’d wear either with a blouse, jeans, and boots. I’d probably wear neither with a dress - for a dress I’d go to either your hoops or your SS drops. what sorts of events our outfits disambiguate them for you?

How often do you wear your 0.33ctw studs? I confess, my eyes go straight to those giant SSs - white body, silver overtone! They must be fabulously bright in-person. I very recently got a pair of SS studs of my own - similar size, but I asked for as strong pink overtone as was possible. I didn’t think I was a #LargePearlStuds type of person, but they are GLORIOUS in the ears, and I don’t know that I’ll ever wear my smaller white pearls again!

I’m glad you went with platinum for your diamond bangles. Am I allowed to say that? ::) My skin tarnishes silver in astonishing fashion, so I can’t wear it regardless of personal opinion, but soft and malleable silver holding diamonds scares me! I know it was the norm for many eras. It scares me anyway. I have only one diamond bangle, much smaller than yours (1.15ctw), and that thing sparkles like it’s trying to light the room up - I can imagine what your pair must look like in-person… At night, across the dinner table…

But y’know, I think you need more blue and white! Just one band does not a set make!! :bigsmile: Your light skin and fair hair would set blue in the ears off beautifully. Sapphire halo studs?


Your yellows…
Your wedding pendant is so sweet ::) And I remember your Dixon memorial, of course. I hope these two are getting lots of wear through whatever your Covid day-to-day looks like these days. Sometimes there really is just no match for sentiment.
Can’t get enough of that opal. I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing your other opal projects come to life. Hurry up H!! :bigsmile:

I think your dressy yellows are where your collection and mine have most in common. That EC. Not nearly enough words… No, actually, a full sentence of words: I cannot wait to try this on in-person one day :cool2:

Are the GSS bezels in 18k YG too? The gold colour looks a little different. Might just be the photo, or my monitor.


Your pinks are pretty different, aren’t they? Here's your nod to vintage. What’s the remainder of this story? It got cut off -


That tourmaline is something special. I hope you wear hats. I hope you wear this in those hats. This stone needs head-time! I was going to say “this stone needs sunlight” - well, that won’t be any problem when you’re in Australia, but knowing where you are right now, I compromised ::)


Oh! Re-reading prior posts. Why are you splitting your charm bracelet up?


Maybe I'll do a collection thread of my own one day. Honestly, my collection seems very... well, I do see it every day, so it's very normal! Not esoteric. Not something that anyone else would get terribly excited about. But everyone who creates these threads sees their collections every day, and I know how much I enjoy others' threads! Maybe one day, after some sleep!

@yssie-girl -

Firstly - YES! You WILL do a collection thread some day! ( - and I love collection threads, too!) I asked you to in a different thread somewhere, but I don't think you saw it. Your collection deserves 'collation and presentation'! Please do; PriceScope would be the better for it.

You know, Covid and my own health issues have been an interesting thing for me. I want life to be easy and familiar. I've had enough of the unknown, and I want comfort and - dare I say - habitual at this point. The hoops, the SS pearl studs and my bangles get worn almost every day. The larger dress earrings, bigger diamond rings, diamond bangles - are saved for going out. But I've found that the middle stuff is not getting a look in so much, so I've recently sold a few things, and am paring down. There is no pain in this - I have plenty to pare down from.

Projects I have in with DKJ at the moment:

1) Rose gold opal and diamond earrings (and I'm going as fast as I can and don't get too excited anyway because YOU have the definitive drop opal earrings and mine will be pale by comparison.(

2) A halo'd purple / grey spinel in platinum. I'm REALLY looking forward to getting that and think I will wear it a lot.

3) She Who Will Not Be Named - ie my enamel charm bracelet. We're currently working on the last 2 charms and the connecting chain, which will be no small thing, let me tell you! This thing had better be MAGNIFICENT. I've never seen anything quite like it and I hope to wear it a lot - often with my yellow gold bangle, but it's been a headache from go to whoa - 'go' being years ago. That one piece of jewelry exhausts me!

4) I sold my 1.02ctw studs and am having a pair of tiny diamond cluster studs made with a ruby center. They will go with the teardrops and also with a lovely pair of Tahitian pearls given to me completely unexpectedly by a wonderful woman. The pearl drops will be simple, but will go beautifully with...

5) My antique diamond heart, ruby and blue SS baroque necklace that I expect to pick up in LA this month while I'm out there.

6) I'm re-setting my gypsy ring. I keep remaking it larger! I love it so much - I'm trying to hit the *exact* right size for 'casual but, yep, I can still see it'.

7) I sold the side stones on my 3-stone ring. I have 10 perfect F colored 26/27point diamonds and am planning to do a cluster. That should be substantial....think: almost 6ctw substantial. This will be with CVB.

8) A tri wire band to go with my new EC ring

9) A pair of yellow gold drop earrings because...because...because I can!

10) I also have enough leftover diamonds to do another sparkly doo-dad, so i might do that as well.

And yes, I got distracted when I was talking about the ivy leaf and opal pin! What I had wanted to say was that the color of the opal didn't show up at all in that photo. It's a lovely opal and looks wonderful in that pin.

I'm wearing the .35ctw studs at the moment, in fact. They're BGD signature studs in platinum, and I have 3 holes in one ear and one hole in the other. The baby studs get worn in my two outer holes in the ear with 3 holes when I want that look, and I have the larger OEC from my gypsy ring that I'm going to set in a stud, and when I only want to wear one diamond with my hoops or pearls, etc, I'll wear that.

The gold in the bezeled diamonds with the GSS drops is 18kt. But those earrings were made by BGD, whereas most of my pieces are by DKJ, and their alloys are different, I think.

And lastly, I'm splitting up my charm bracelet because, for my aesthetic, the enamel charms and the other charms just don't 'go'. I also dislike charms that hang (which is, currently, all of them!) and want to set them end to end. When done like that, the bracelet would end up being about 12", and they still wouldn't 'go'. So I'm doing the bracelet with enamel charms only. It will be a hugely colorful piece, which I'll love. The remaining charms might go back onto the charm bracelet, or they might not. Unsure at this point. I suspect you'll be seeing a lot of the non-enamel charms in the Preloved section shortly.

And re my white linen - we overlap on the floral thing, I assure you! That linen was hand embroidered in France with...you guessed it!...flowers! See? Flowers in the embroidery, on the china, on the table, etched into the vase (which is from Tiffany, just btw!) - flowers everywhere! But yes, my taste verges to soft-but-stripped-back, I grant you!

And your collection is so far from 'normal' as for that comment to be ludicrous! Girl, have you SEEN your asymmetric briolette earrings?? I die!

And by the way, that EC ring is a size 6.5. When we finally get together and you try it on - the only way you'll be able to wear it is as a tiara! Probably too big for every finger on either of your hands!

20170219_085038_resized.jpg

20170219_085052_resized.jpg

20170219_085211_resized.jpg

And lastly - here's a recent photo - 5 days ago - after I went to the hairdresser. I
LOVE blue and white together, but am wondering if my coloring would set it off very well. I bought a gorgeous sapphire from Gemfix to set into the middle of my gypsy ring, but the blue didn't seem *quite* right, so I'm staying with diamonds for now. As someone once said to me "Diamonds are where my heart lies...."

It's lovely to hear from you, my friend. ox

Bangs_3.jpeg
 
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springerspaniel

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Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
1,260
@mrs-b your new hairstyle is very flattering! Such a beautiful smile.
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
An arbor over the front path will look wonderful! Do you plan to leave it bare or plant it with climbers? I think either way would be lovely. You mentioned you are only halfway done with the garden, and I would love to know what other plans you have, as it already looks so lush. I hear you on the expense involved. When my husband and I created a report of our spending last year, I was taken aback at the gardening total. I could have bought several nice jewelry pieces instead, but nothing brings me happiness like my garden (excepting family, friends, and cats, of course!). My plan now is to buy no new plants and focus on maintaining what I have - and weeding!

I am in North Carolina, which has a pretty good gardening climate, since I can continue to work outside for most of the winter, but stretches of summer heat can be brutal. I have lived in my house for four years, but the first two years we focused on the interiors (which close but still is not complete), so my garden is only on its second year. My inspiration style is English countryside garden, which relies heavily on everything growing big and fluffy and reseeding around, so I am looking forward to the fabled third year leap.

@DorotheaBrooke -

Why is it that perspective is always so lost in photos? Ideally, I would always prefer to plant climbing roses on an arbor. But, just out of the shot, there is a tree on either side of the path, and when they grow the one on the left will be substantial, but the one on the right will be massive. So climbing anything is out of the question, I suppose. Something I *do* want to do, tho, is to put a row of stone along the edge of the property, then a capping piece on top of that. It would edge the lot nicely and, hopefully, would stop the crab grass seeds a little from blowing in from the neighbor's lawn across the road.

The first 2 years we were here, my gardener told me regularly that I was putting his son through college. So I hear you on the overall expense. But - what a lovely thing a beautiful garden is! I'd not spend money on jewelry before I refrained from spending on my garden - no contest!

North Carolina has always looked wonderful to me. Gorgeous public spaces and so gentile in so many ways. I'd love to get down there one day; perhaps we could meet up at that point? I'd love to meet you!

And - needless to say - English country gardens are my all time favorite as well. Did you ever see the photos of my little house in Australia? It has a very English-y feel to it - I suspect you'd love it! :))
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
@mrs-b, I can't thank you enough for posting all this. I've never seen so much beauty in just one thread. I'm overwhelmed by the beauty, the planning, the intentionality of all of it - your jewelry, your home, your garden......I find myself, as time goes on, as much if not more interested in the psychology - the "why's" - of others' choices of their jewelry as I am in the technical details, and you have provided such a delightful feast of that here. And as much as I'm enjoying all the beauty and thought behind your jewelry, I was surprised to find even more delight in your home and garden!

I have a few questions, if you have a moment and don't mind, about your garden in particular (as I just had a bit of an uneven first summer attempt at some serious gardening myself): have you done all the planning and design yourself, or did you consult an outside professional landscape designer? It certainly looks utterly professionally designed - but considering how you've designed your jewelry, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if you are entirely responsible for the garden as well! :)) If you have designed it yourself, is that something you have a fair amount of prior experience at? I love what you've done with it, and I would like to create something similar with our yard, but I find myself utterly overwhelmed at the magnitude of both knowledge and effort I would need, and I'm curious how you got to being so good and knowledgeable on these matters.......

Hi @OboeGal :))

All my life I've been a fan of beauty - and homes and gardens are my absolute obsession. Jewelry pales into nothingness compared to my love for a beautiful home. I started designing homes when I was 5 years old, and have just run with it ever since.

I have a highly visual brain, and can picture things accurately and clearly. Consequently, I've been asked to design weddings from go to whoa (the invitations to the dessert!), houses, gardens, parties - and so on and so on. I've been asked to do this a lot - both for friends and occasionally professionally, despite this just being an interest. I do love it, tho, and always enjoy it. I've done some work for real estate agents on properties that weren't selling, and I have a saying: ambience can be bought. (True, too!) I did over the house of my best friend in the US when he was selling. His house was hugely undercapitalized and very plain looking for such a great property. So I asked him to give me $80k, and in 2 months I did over his house from top to toe. It was exhausting! I had 2, 3, sometimes 4 groups of tradesmen there on any given day, but 2 months later the house sold, full price, on day one of its listing - for $350k over what the agent had told him it would sell for. Anyway, that's just a few examples of the sorts of things I've done; all aesthetic and/or design orientated.

So - all that to say, yes, I designed all the garden beds and the layout and so on. I had a landscaper come and put it all in for me, but I chose all the plants and did all the design and so on. What I've learnt, I've learnt through experience, trial and error, talking to professionals, and endless, endless reading. And let me be clear: I'm an utter amateur at gardens! There would be a thousand women on PriceScope better at gardening than me! But visuals are my strong suit, and that's where I come into my own.

Beauty is restful and I find that soothing. So I actively aspire to filling my environment with it. I like an environment that doesn't look like there's a bunch of things than need to be done. That equates to living in the middle of a jobs list for me and is the antithesis of restful.

Does that answer your questions, OboeGal? Tell me if I've missed the mark on this.
 

pearaffair

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 15, 2015
Messages
3,445
Loving all these thoughtful responses and questions!

mrs-b you are making me consider setting a purple-grey spinel in a setting I have. It’s such a fabulous colour! Can’t wait to see the result!!

I’m also wondering how much I should invest into classic pearl earrings. They do seem like an easy thing to wear regularly.

Feel free to post more pics of you modeling your jewellery! It’s all divine. This thread reminds me of Liz Taylor’s love affair with jewelry book- she even had a charm bracelet in there, I think!
 

pearaffair

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 15, 2015
Messages
3,445
Hi @OboeGal :))

All my life I've been a fan of beauty - and homes and gardens are my absolute obsession. Jewelry pales into nothingness compared to my love for a beautiful home. I started designing homes when I was 5 years old, and have just run with it ever since.

I have a highly visual brain, and can picture things accurately and clearly. Consequently, I've been asked to design weddings from go to whoa (the invitations to the dessert!), houses, gardens, parties - and so on and so on. I've been asked to do this a lot - both for friends and occasionally professionally, despite this just being an interest. I do love it, tho, and always enjoy it. I've done some work for real estate agents on properties that weren't selling, and I have a saying: ambience can be bought. (True, too!) I did over the house of my best friend in the US when he was selling. His house was hugely undercapitalized and very plain looking for such a great property. So I asked him to give me $80k, and in 2 months I did over his house from top to toe. It was exhausting! I had 2, 3, sometimes 4 groups of tradesmen there on any given day, but 2 months later the house sold, full price, on day one of its listing - for $350k over what the agent had told him it would sell for. Anyway, that's just a few examples of the sorts of things I've done; all aesthetic and/or design orientated.

So - all that to say, yes, I designed all the garden beds and the layout and so on. I had a landscaper come and put it all in for me, but I chose all the plants and did all the design and so on. What I've learnt, I've learnt through experience, trial and error, talking to professionals, and endless, endless reading. And let me be clear: I'm an utter amateur at gardens! There would be a thousand women on PriceScope better at gardening than me! But visuals are my strong suit, and that's where I come into my own.

Beauty is restful and I find that soothing. So I actively aspire to filling my environment with it. I like an environment that doesn't look like there's a bunch of things than need to be done. That equates to living in the middle of a jobs list for me and is the antithesis of restful.

Does that answer your questions, OboeGal? Tell me if I've missed the mark on this.

Omg email me if you’re ever looking to design my dream vow-renewal-elopement celebration!! I’m awful at the visual stuff! I can appreciate beauty but I’m dreadful at picturing it ahead of time! Part of why your thread is so amazing for inspiration.
 

springerspaniel

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
1,260
Thank you, @springerspaniel! But - let's be honest - so many TEETH!!

Your stiffles are in good shape, your fur is shiny and feathered nicely, your canines are lovely--you are one awesome bada$$ bitch, my dear!

(Since you are a dog lover, I was hoping you would not be offended...)
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
Your stiffles are in good shape, your fur is shiny and feathered nicely, your canines are lovely--you are one awesome bada$$ bitch, my dear!

(Since you are a dog lover, I was hoping you would not be offended...)

Laughing here....

I just love a fellow dog show aficionado!!
 

mwilliamanderson

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Aug 13, 2013
Messages
1,221
Beautiful, beautiful jewelry collection! Thank you for sharing it with us. That Australian opal is my favorite and that silver tree in front of the mirror!
 

MakingTheGrade

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 2, 2009
Messages
12,936
Oooo. Another doodad?! We would be doodad sisters! Hehe
 

yssie

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Aug 14, 2009
Messages
27,239
I'm the same way with regard to visualization - geometry, calculus, and multivariate were a breeze! Statistics, on the other hand... :???:I can see "it" in my mind, whatever "it" is. I can see it, I can turn it, I can tweak it, like it's a live model... I really can't draw, though, and I never put the time into learning CAD, so I've got no good ways to get what's in my mind out of my head and over to anyone else :lol:

Your haircut is dandy :cool2: Easy carefree chic! And goodness knows you've earned time to be carefree these past two years. I can definitely understand wanting more predictability, more routine, more foresight - and if paring your collection down gives you a little more of what you're looking for then I'm all in. My collection is still learning what it wants to be - it has many to emulate! ::) I think I'm a lot like @OboeGal's description in that the sheer magnitude of an undertaking is sometimes so overwhelming, it paralyses me into doing nothing at all. Mentally "unsealing the file" on those sorts of projects, breaking them up into smaller portions, executing on each part without worrying about everything that's still to come, setting reasonable expectations, not "closing the file again" on failure - I think I'll always have to consciously work on thinking these ways! The only projects like this that I'm not tempted to sit on eternally are work-related. So from my perspective your story about taking on turning that house inside out, which netted your friend his full asking price - is just such an incredible achievement. Thank you for sharing! :appl:

I don't know why I'm surprised that you've got eleven projects in progress :bigsmile: How does DK handle your concurrent projects? Does he execute one at a time or do parts of all finish in parallel?

I laughed out loud at your description of your enamel - "This thing had better be magnificent!", complete with touch of self-directed "or else" :bigsmile: Will one of the motifs be the pansy that you were talking about several months ago? I remember that it was to be inspired by one of JAR's works? I classify my pieces as either wearable art or artistically wearable. For pieces that are the former, well, I expect them not to shatter if I sneeze on them, but not too much beyond that. For the latter, though - jewellery that's supposed to be artistically wearable but isn't doesn't ever get auto-promoted to wearable art! If your charms weren't wearable, and you wanted them to be wearable, then you *know* the extra headache of making them wearable after the fact will be worth it ::)

What's this about an antique diamond heart - have we seen this stone? Edit - I'm searching your threads, I don't believe we have, cough it up!! :love:

And apropos of nothing - I LOVE seeing sterling in use!! #Satisfaction.
 
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OboeGal

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 22, 2017
Messages
916
Hi @OboeGal :))

All my life I've been a fan of beauty - and homes and gardens are my absolute obsession. Jewelry pales into nothingness compared to my love for a beautiful home. I started designing homes when I was 5 years old, and have just run with it ever since.

I have a highly visual brain, and can picture things accurately and clearly. Consequently, I've been asked to design weddings from go to whoa (the invitations to the dessert!), houses, gardens, parties - and so on and so on. I've been asked to do this a lot - both for friends and occasionally professionally, despite this just being an interest. I do love it, tho, and always enjoy it. I've done some work for real estate agents on properties that weren't selling, and I have a saying: ambience can be bought. (True, too!) I did over the house of my best friend in the US when he was selling. His house was hugely undercapitalized and very plain looking for such a great property. So I asked him to give me $80k, and in 2 months I did over his house from top to toe. It was exhausting! I had 2, 3, sometimes 4 groups of tradesmen there on any given day, but 2 months later the house sold, full price, on day one of its listing - for $350k over what the agent had told him it would sell for. Anyway, that's just a few examples of the sorts of things I've done; all aesthetic and/or design orientated.

So - all that to say, yes, I designed all the garden beds and the layout and so on. I had a landscaper come and put it all in for me, but I chose all the plants and did all the design and so on. What I've learnt, I've learnt through experience, trial and error, talking to professionals, and endless, endless reading. And let me be clear: I'm an utter amateur at gardens! There would be a thousand women on PriceScope better at gardening than me! But visuals are my strong suit, and that's where I come into my own.

Beauty is restful and I find that soothing. So I actively aspire to filling my environment with it. I like an environment that doesn't look like there's a bunch of things than need to be done. That equates to living in the middle of a jobs list for me and is the antithesis of restful.

Does that answer your questions, OboeGal? Tell me if I've missed the mark on this.

You've answered them perfectly! And with such thoughtful answers - thank you so much for taking the time.

I think you and I have a lot in common. I've always been drawn to the visual, as well. Lots of drawing when I was a child and young adult, and fascination with how people designed weddings. I would have to say that visual design is up there with music, dogs, and reading as my favorite things in life. When DH and I got married and set about rehabbing my childhood home that I inherited - which was in terrible shape, both house and yard - I found myself falling in love with interior design and landscape design. This was only 13 years ago, though; I was previously unaware of how it would captivate me, I think because as a poor musician I never was living anywhere where I had the power or funds to do anything at all with my living environment. So, unfortunately, between lack of experience on my part, limited funds, and limited talent in the people we've had available to hire at our budget, the results have been pretty mehhh (and are still not nearly done). Although it is a darn site better than it was, if I try to look on the bright side. Besides lack of funds and experience/knowledge, I'm also struggling against my general tendency to prefer to sit around and plan/think about things than to actually implement them, my ADHD, and my pack-rat tendencies that I inherited from my parents, but which are in complete opposition to my preference for very clean, uncluttered, modern design aesthetics! So......it's an uphill battle, but I shall soldier on, as, like you, I find beauty and intentionality soothing and restful - and DH and I need all the soothing and restful we can get! ;))
 

JoangA

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 16, 2003
Messages
187
Your collection is fabulous! I’m very interested in getting a bangle like your platinum and diamond ones. How do they hold up? Where did you get them?

thanks appreciate your help.
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
Your collection is fabulous! I’m very interested in getting a bangle like your platinum and diamond ones. How do they hold up? Where did you get them?

thanks appreciate your help.

Hi @JoangA -

I had them made by DKJ. They hold up pretty well, tho, when I had the second made, I took the first one in as well, and they replaced a few cracked diamonds. Not sure how that happened, but there you go.

Do you have a budget, JoangA? If you'd like to share it, I can tell you if you're in the ball park with these.
 

JoangA

Shiny_Rock
Joined
May 16, 2003
Messages
187
Hi @JoangA -

I had them made by DKJ. They hold up pretty well, tho, when I had the second made, I took the first one in as well, and they replaced a few cracked diamonds. Not sure how that happened, but there you go.

Do you have a budget, JoangA? If you'd like to share it, I can tell you if you're in the ball park with these.

Thanks for your feed back, I do have a budget. 10k, that should get me one. I want to stack with my existing bangles.
What do you think? 228FCB54-23AA-487A-9DE9-34C73D8E4599.jpeg
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
Yes - that should cover it. They're around 8k each.

And I think it would be a lovely addition to any diamond bangle stack!
 

DorotheaBrooke

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
705
@DorotheaBrooke -

Why is it that perspective is always so lost in photos? Ideally, I would always prefer to plant climbing roses on an arbor. But, just out of the shot, there is a tree on either side of the path, and when they grow the one on the left will be substantial, but the one on the right will be massive. So climbing anything is out of the question, I suppose. Something I *do* want to do, tho, is to put a row of stone along the edge of the property, then a capping piece on top of that. It would edge the lot nicely and, hopefully, would stop the crab grass seeds a little from blowing in from the neighbor's lawn across the road.

The first 2 years we were here, my gardener told me regularly that I was putting his son through college. So I hear you on the overall expense. But - what a lovely thing a beautiful garden is! I'd not spend money on jewelry before I refrained from spending on my garden - no contest!

North Carolina has always looked wonderful to me. Gorgeous public spaces and so gentile in so many ways. I'd love to get down there one day; perhaps we could meet up at that point? I'd love to meet you!

And - needless to say - English country gardens are my all time favorite as well. Did you ever see the photos of my little house in Australia? It has a very English-y feel to it - I suspect you'd love it! :))

I have not seen photos of your house in Australia, but would certainly love to see them. Do you still spend time there? Please do let me know if you ever visit NC! My family is actually from the Boston area, and I hope to be up there in mid-January for my aunt's 60th birthday celebration, although I have to wait and see how the covid situation looks by then.
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
I have not seen photos of your house in Australia, but would certainly love to see them. Do you still spend time there? Please do let me know if you ever visit NC! My family is actually from the Boston area, and I hope to be up there in mid-January for my aunt's 60th birthday celebration, although I have to wait and see how the covid situation looks by then.

@DorotheaBrooke -

It would be wonderful to meet you! Do let me know if you make it up to Boston in the New Year.

I don't often get home to Australia, but hope to go home more often when this pandemic has settled. There are photos of my Australian home - a few, anyway - in my thread about the Australian bush fires.


It's a tiny little house, but if we move there permanently we'll put on a second story and extend a little out the back, and put on a large verandah to one side. It still wouldn't be huge - only about 2200 sq ft of living space, with a 300 sq ft workshop downstairs for DH and another 400 sq ft or so of verandah - but we'd be happy. Not sure when this will happen - but it'll happen one day and it's something to look forward to till then.
 

Polabowla

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 15, 2019
Messages
1,866
Mrs b i love the sapphire & diamond eternity! It's just so elegant and unique.
An eternity band but different in the most beautiful way!

Oh & the holiday pins too
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
Mrs b i love the sapphire & diamond eternity! It's just so elegant and unique.
An eternity band but different in the most beautiful way!

Oh & the holiday pins too

Thanks, @Polabowla! I love that ring, too, have never started a thread on it, and basically have never had a single comment on it! Yet it's a gorgeous ring - colorful, beautifully made, substantial, easy to wear... The whole ball of wax. And for someone who would prefer to live their entire life in denim jeans and a white shirt - it's about the perfect piece!

And as for my pins - thank you for your comment! :)) I very fond of them and have collected them with great sentimentality over the years. I don't have a bunch of them, but the ones I own are precious to me.

And now, if you wouldn't mind, perhaps you could post a gazillion more photos of your heart ring?? I LOVE that ring and will NEVER get tired of more photos - of which, frankly, at this point, there have been not nearly enough!!

:wavey:
 

Polabowla

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 15, 2019
Messages
1,866
Thanks, @Polabowla! I love that ring, too, have never started a thread on it, and basically have never had a single comment on it! Yet it's a gorgeous ring - colorful, beautifully made, substantial, easy to wear... The whole ball of wax. And for someone who would prefer to live their entire life in denim jeans and a white shirt - it's about the perfect piece!

And as for my pins - thank you for your comment! :)) I very fond of them and have collected them with great sentimentality over the years. I don't have a bunch of them, but the ones I own are precious to me.

And now, if you wouldn't mind, perhaps you could post a gazillion more photos of your heart ring?? I LOVE that ring and will NEVER get tired of more photos - of which, frankly, at this point, there have been not nearly enough!!

:wavey:

Wow thank you so much that is truly a compliment!

Idk why no one commented on that ring, it's so perfect imo.
Do you have a handshot?

The pins are fun but elegant & perfect little fun things to brighten a dreary winter day.
 

mrs-b

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Aug 18, 2013
Messages
11,542
Wow thank you so much that is truly a compliment!

Idk why no one commented on that ring, it's so perfect imo.
Do you have a handshot?

The pins are fun but elegant & perfect little fun things to brighten a dreary winter day.

I'll happily take a hand shot of that ring and post it tomorrow. I'm going out to dinner this evening and your comments have inspired me to wear my holly and ruby pin! I'll post a photo of it later as well. :))

But if *I'm* going to post some more photos - *you* have to, too! :mrgreen:
 
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