Mystery Peony

This is my earliest blooming peony. I rescued the tuber from a neighbor's yard prior to them laying sod over their flower garden several years ago. It's quite large as you can see from the next photo and has only ever produced 2 blooms for me. It's quite stunning so if anyone is a peony nut out there and knows the name of this beauty, I'd love to hear it!

measuring about 6" across

New work

                                     3mm raw diamond cubes

It's been a busy Spring in my studio! The garden is finally looking good and I have a flat of lettuce and some flowers to get into the ground if the rain will just let up a bit. But, with all the rain we've been having it's been easy to stay inside and make stuff! I've been playing around a lot with raw diamond cubes ever since I bought some of them about a year ago to experiment with. I wanted to show some of the things I've been doing with them and also with my latest interest, rose cut diamonds. Still nice and rustic, but a bit fancier...

                                              rose cuts

I really like the simplicity of a single cube set in 18kt gold on a textured or hammered, heavy sterling band.

                                                                  
The rose cut diamonds are flat on the bottom with a few polished facets on the top. Perfect to bezel set and adding a touch of luxury without sacrificing their rawness.

I've been paring the diamonds up with other sumptuous stones and pearls to create "Treasure Rings".

boulder turquoise, raw diamond and pearl

Hells Canyon herringbone petrified wood, raw diamond, pearl

Keshi pearl, raw diamond

Keshi pearl, pear shaped rose cut cognac

I'm really excited to continue us these diamonds in my designs. So interesting and full of character!

A few of these pieces can be seen in my etsy shop, many have sold, but more will definitely be on the way, if I have my way...

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