Skip a few years...

Hello to all who take the time to read this post!

I guess it has been a while. Life has taken a few windy paths and here I am sitting in front of  a keyboard feeling the need to let you know what those windy roads were. I bet you all thought I had slipped off the face of the earth! Or died, well I did get pretty close there! As I mentioned in my first post I was diagnosed with Crohns disease, a 'chronic' disease that the doctors told me was incurable, had nothing to do with diet, and there was nothing they could do for me, except pump me full of pills for the rest of my life. I would have had to take immune suppressants for the rest of my life. This scared the living daylights out of me, as have always been scared of medicine anyway, but this is something that would leave me wide open, and some small usually insignificant bug could potentially kill me. Plus I only have one kidney as one was removed when I was still a baby, and one of the side effects of this medicine is kidney damage. So I never took the immune suppressants and lived off painkillers, basically just scraping by every day. I was still working, was still creating some pretty things. But my life essence was draining away, in a big way. I had to take painkillers in order to eat, and then it would be like a bird. I was tired, and on dangerous grounds.. even though I never increased the recommended dosage of the painkillers, and only took them when I absolutely had to, I had been taking them for 2 and a half years. And I could feel my one kidney aching more and more every day. My body was about to give up the ghost.

Now for the silly part, at the time of deciding not to take the immune suppressants, I did a LOT of research online about the wonders of eating the way we were intended to eat. I had found the GAPS diet, got the book and read it from cover to cover. In fact I understand what happens in a dysfunctional body really well. I have after all read the internet from cover to cover too! The diet called for me to stop eating all sugar, grains and starchy carbs. I would do great for about 2 weeks, feeling better than ever! The solution was clear, diet was the way to get better. But like a thief in the dark my sweet tooth would get its way again, starting with just one thing because I 'am so much better', and the next moment I am eating junk again and lying on the couch cringing and not able to eat anything again. Until last year (2012) November, I stumbled across some HELP after following a couple of twins who were conducting an experiment on the different effects a Low-carb-high-fat and a Low fat diet had on their genetically high cholesterol. The HELP program was at an addictions clinic. Jip, I had to accept and face up to the fact that I was a sugar addict, and the effects of my addiction was devastating my body. I was so lucky, with the help of a guardian angle and a little help from my medical aid, I was able to go 28 days. I took my last painkiller a week into being at the clinic, and being on a low carb diet. And that was in January! Soon after I quit smoking and started to realise just how much abuse I have been putting my body through. Now, 7 months later, I am eating big plates of healthy REAL  food, and best of all I have energy all day long! I am no longer sick, the dark circles under my eyes have just about cleared up, I do yoga, and have started training for a fun 5k run in October called the Colour Me Crazy run I am super exited to know that my body is actually able to do it again, after slow-dancing at the edge of a cliff with Death himself! And best of all, my kids will have their mom around for a long time still! And I am able to create jewellery without feeling like my battery is running out!

Oh! And lest I forget we now have an Etsy shop shop for internationals, and a Hello Pretty Shop for South Africans.

Turkish Puzzle rings

One day long long ago, a Turkish Nobleman was looking at his beautiful wife... thinking.

In his eyes she was by far the fairest of them all.

His heart skipped a beat with every breath she took.

But a restlessnes was creeping up from the depths of his lovestruck heart.

If he could see her divine beauty, so could the rest of the villages men.

Jealousy was rearing it's ugly head, like it does when beauty is strong.

The way this nobleman saw things was: either he takes out all the men in the village's eyes,

or he could devise a way to ensure she is faithfull.

And so he had the local jeweller make a ring to equal his wife's beauty,

but with a twist, if she took it off it

would fall apart, and if she did not know how to put the puzzle rings back together,

he would know she took it off and was posibly unfaithful.

Sounds like a fairy tale. Whether this is the real origins of the turkish puzzle ring is unclear,

but what is clear is that if someone hasn't shown you how to put the puzzle back together, you will struggle.

And they are beautiful, twisted, and if given to someone you intend to spend the rest of your days with, it certainly does symbolize the beautiful puzzle that life in a relationship is.

A couple of months ago, on a Saturday, I had a couple ask me if I can make puzzle rings. At that point I had never. But I told them to come back on the Monday and I would tell them if I could.

Over that weekend I searched the far reaches of google to see if I can find a tutorial. It seems those who know how to make them keep it a very closely guarded secret. The closest to a tutorial I could find was more for the clients benefit and very roughly outlined.

But a deffinite starting point for me. By ten o'clock Monday I had made a silver puzzle ring that even had a setting on for a garnet. Reverse engeneering Reinette Style.

It is hugely satisfying to look at the photos of the puzzle rings I have made, indeed I solved the puzzle of how to make them.

Russian princess, another Cameo and more

Hello again! I guess I need to get into the rythm of

when to post, and how long between posts, but

hey, I am not pretending to be some great blogger, I need to find my way

around it all still. I have been rather

busy, with some very

interesting designs, and some ultra mundane things that I dont really feel like sharing. The ring on the left is part of a whole bunch of things I am making for a new client, who is a lovely Boere- Russian princess. ('Boere' means 'farmer' in Afrikaans, but has been used to describe white South Africans as a whole, but mostly Afrikaans speeking people) Altogether I have enjoyed designing for this lady, we seem to have very similar taste. This ring was made in 9k yellow gold, and contains diamonds. Here are just a few of my work in progress pictures:

And some more pictures of things I am busy with Firstly a Kruger Rand coin frame for the same lady, made from 9k yellow gold, I will post pictures again when it is done.

And then another Cameo setting for one of my longest standing clients, another lovely lady with a selection of collectors jewelry to die for. I made this for her son in Cape Town.

And because I know you love it, some work in progress

pictures. On the second one you can see how I refine the design on the metal, I think better in metal, if that makes any sense.

Delicious Diamonds

A diamond is a piece of coal that managed to give its best under extreme pressure! For those that don’t understand the true significance of why the diamond is the most sought-after, cherished and popular gem world wide, the diamond is a small piece of crystallized carbon that is the hardest substance known to mankind, Right at the top of Moh's scale of hardness, the hardest substance in the world. As far as symbolism goes, the diamond is the perfect symbol for the everlasting love you promise when you get married. It can be past down from generation to generation and after having your great, great aunt spending years scratching in her potato patch, you inherit a diamond in perfect condition.

Before we started using diamonds to cut and polish the diamonds we mined, gem cutters would strike the stones with sharp blades to cleave pieces off, and thus “cut” them.

Once it was reserved for the sole use by kings but now we too can trundle off to our local jeweler to get one of our own. In the space of a year about a tip truck of diamond are mined on earth, of this only about a wheelbarrow are of a good enough quality to be cut and used in the jewellery trade.

In ancient times only when a diamond was freely given was it believed to bestow invulnerability on its wearer. The birth stone of April, it also symbolizes innocence, and when translated to Italian means “lover of God”. The Greek God of Erotic love “Ethos” used them on the tips of his arrows to get people to fall in love.

When purchasing a Diamond of any size larger than a quarter of a carat, please ensure that you are being supplied with a certificate for the particular stone. Not only does this give you a guarantee of the quality and size of stone you are purchasing, but it increases the value of the stone and ensures that you have a precise record of your particular diamond.

Us women have had stars in our eyes about diamonds since we first set our eyes on them, I guess it is the same sparkle we see in diamonds that intrigue us, and convinces us in no uncertain terms that they will bring us happiness.



Some of the most famous diamonds in the world include the Blue Hope diamond (45.52 carats),
the Great Star of Africa (530.20 Carats), the Centenary Diamond (273.85 Carats) and the Regent (140.50 Carats) but those are all stories in themselves, and belong on their very own blogpost.
Thanks for reading!

I have always been very intrigued by Cameos. These delicately carved works of art has been telling stories 300 years before the birth of Christ in Alexandria, Egypt. But was ultimately made popular by Queen Victoria of England.

Did you know that you can tell if a master carved the Cameo by the signature at the back? The apprentices weren't allowed to sign their names.

Even though I do not carve Cameos myself, I do have a nice little collection of these beauties, it was not very hard to design for this shell Cameo. I decided on using Sterling Silver.

The feminine lines of the Cameo lends itself beautifully to my style of designing. Although my style has changed and matured over time, I have always been drawn to vintage jewelry, I believe I put a slight modern twist to it. I had a lot of fun cutting out the pattern, it is a theme that repeats itself on many of my pieces. I drew the design out on the metal, drilled 0.9mm holes and cut out the negative spaces, its almost like drawing with a saw. What a medium! Oh, and everything down to the chain was handmade by me. :)

Hi to all! Let me introduce myself, my name is Reinette Greyling and I have been making jewelry since I was 16 years old. I am 34 right now, so it has been a little while. My mom was one of those who sent me off to all the possible crafty classes she could find. I did basket-weaving, pottery and art classes and..and..and. But when I started doing jewelry classes, I knew this was for me.I loved it! There was something about the primal satisfaction of working with fire to create an adornment, that just felt right.

Currently me and my partner, Zak, who is also a goldsmith, live and work in a little town called George, in the Garden Route in South Africa. We are very blessed to be able to live in this beautifull place.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's desease recently, and it has made it a bit harder for me to create my little beauties. Crohn’s disease is an ongoing disorder that causes inflammation of the digestive tract, also referred to as the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. But I will not be held back any more. Open the creative floodgates! Bling it on!