jewelry fix with a scouring pad

last year the husband purchased a couple pairs of earrings for me that i wear all the time.  unfortunately, as silver often does, i noticed that they were starting to tarnish. without thinking about it, i grabbed a silver polishing cloth... and discovered that it removes brushed finishes. was i supposed to know not to do that?  did you know?

oops. 

i guess i shouldn't have done that. 
i mentioned this at craft boston when i was speaking with bree richey designs, and they shared some most useful information on how to fix my mistake, without sending it to a jeweler or buying fancy supplies. 

scotch-brite.

so the last time i went to the grocery store,  i picked some up - technically a brand called pure power. 

i cut off a sliver and went to work. brush, brush, brush.

i tried taking before and after pictures, but wasn't able to capture the difference.  however, i can definitely tell the difference in person.  they aren't quite as beautiful as they were in their original state, but they are much improved. 

craft boston

on sunday, the husband and i made our way boston's seaport world trade center to visit craft boston.  the show runs twice a year, once in the spring and once in the winter.  while i would have hardly called it spring-like on sunday with temperatures still hovering in the 30s and low 40s, at least it was a sunny day, and the show was indoors.  something funny i noticed is, exactly a year ago, we visited the bayou city art festival in houston.  what are the odds?   anyway, the show had about 200 artisans and we easily spent a few hours admiring everyone's work.  it was incredibly hard to walk away without doing serious damage to our wallets, but i managed, even though it still hurts to remember all the beautiful items i had to leave behind.  

cinnamon cottage fever

one of my favorite items to shop for on etsy is jewelry. there is an incredible amount of amazing artisans out there, and i am repeatedly blown away by their talent. the store that i have been most recently ogling over is cinnamon cottage. the jewelry is simple, modern, and whimsical, a combination of everything i love. so, as you can guess, i was delighted when the husband bought me a couple pairs of her earrings for my birthday.

the earrings were adorably wrapped in this little box, with what looks like hand cut and hand written backings. so lovely + charming.

aren't they beautiful? i think they are perfect. exquisite craftsmanship too.