This post is dedicated to my male readers, in particular those who are clueless about what to do for their special someone on Valentines Day (which is February 14th, a Sunday, this year).

For Valentines Day, think romance, feminine colors, and hearts. For example, here are a few pieces of jewelry featuring the color red:

Red Jewelry for Valentines Day

Where to buy:
(1) Sunshine – Carnelian Ring by Little Bug Jewelry
(2) Crimson Red Frosted Glass Earrings by Glitz Glitter
(3) Garnet Danlgy Earrings by Michon
(4) Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, Pendant by 3 Squares

Tip: you can find a lot more beautiful handmade jewelry by going to www.etsy.com and typing “jetteam red” (or substitute whatever color jewelry you want for “red”) into the search box.

If you are anything like my husband, you detest wrapping gifts. With that in mind, I asked a few of my friends for their best gift wrapping and packaging tips. Check out this blog post from Jewelry by Solange for some ideas.

If you want your gift to come ready to give, many etsy sellers include a complimentary gift box with their jewelry. These lovely red glass earrings from Fucsia Bloom Studio, for example, come ready to give (as do most products in her shop):

Red Earrings & Gift Packaging

Seababe Jewelry also provides a lovely gift box with purchase, as shown here with their ruby ring:

Ruby Ring with Gift Box

If you mention needing giftwrap when you order from my shop, I’ll include a lovely handmade gift tag with a coordinating sticker on the gift box. Then all you need to do, once you’ve checked out the jewelry to make sure your gift arrived safely in good condition, is tape or tie the tag to the box and it’s ready to give! Don’t forget to write a romantic message on the tag, or at least fill in the recipient’s name and sign it.

Updates:
Here is #2, Tuscany
#3, Tomato Puree
#4, Violet
#5, Aurora (yellow)
#6, Dried Herb

I say, if you love it, wear it – don’t be afraid to show your personality.

I use a product called Ph minus for pickle, which is an acid that lowers the Ph level in pools and hot tubs. I dissolve a little of this in water, and it works well for me. I don’t bother heating it, since it works fine cold, just takes a bit longer.

Other DIY versions of pickle that I’ve heard of include using Simple Green (the household cleaning product), lemon juice, and vinegar. I can’t vouch for how well these work since I’ve never tried them, but they are all inexpensive and safe, so they might be worth a try.

To use pickle, drop your oxidized metal in and wait for the oxidation to come off. Avoid touching the pickle in any way with steel (such as steel tweezers) because this will automatically copper plate everything you are trying to clean. Copper tongs are available for dropping items into pickle and then fishing them out later. Since pickle is an acid, even if you use one of the milder at-home versions, you might not want to get it on your skin, so copper tongs or even some wood chopsticks are useful to get your jewelry in and out of the pickle.

And since this is supposed to be a jewelry blog, here’s a picture of my latest in-progress resin piece, using the top of an altoid tin as a bezel:

She was selling her beautiful enamel jewelry along with patinated metal creations like these earrings at the Southbay Soiree. I didn’t get a good picture of her enamel work, unfortunately, but you can see some of it on her dreams and jewelry website. Andrea is a metalsmith, so most of her jewelry is completely handmade from sheet metal, with either a patina or enamel adding color to her pieces.