Spring is a wonderful time for cleaning up, fixing that which is broken and refurbishing and repurposing jewelry you haven’t worn for some time, or perhaps ever. Now is the time to let the expert goldsmiths at Jewels That Dance help you polish up those pieces of jewelry that have been lying dormant and bring them back to life.

Jewels That Dance is offering a special discount of 15% on all repairs commissioned during the month of March. Now is the time to act!

As an additional treat, Jewels that Dance is also offering the same discount of 15% on all new custom designs commissioned during the month of March. All custom designs and repairs are completed in-house, from start to finish, in our state of the art jewelry studio. To learn more about the shop, please check out our videos in the “about” section of the website. Better yet, stop by and we’ll gladly take you on your own personal tour of the shop.

Candy hearts, chocolates, cards, flowers, and stuffed animals are all over the shelves for the upcoming holiday.  However, in other countries you won’t find everyone celebrating  Saint Valentine.  For example, the people of Wales celebrate Satin Dwynwen, the Welsh patron saint of lovers, on January 25^th. One traditional romantic Welsh gift is a love spoon.  As early as the 17^th century, Welsh men carved intricate wooden spoons as a token of affection for the women they loved.  Patterns and symbols were carved into these love spoons, each signifying a different meaning.  A few examples include horseshoes, which stand for good luck; wheels, which symbolize support; and keys, which symbolize the keys to a man’s heart.

So, if you’re looking for a unique gift for that special someone for Valentine’s Day, we don’t have love spoons but we do have this year’s one-of-kind heart pendant by Magick.  Only 125 were made and each is signed and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.  The 2018 design is a heart emerging from a lotus and rising toward the light.

We’re also having our 30th Annual Have-A-Heart Sale!  Stop in or reserve items online.

Believe it or not, jewelry isn’t all we think about here at Jewels That Dance this time of year.
Sweets and treats are also forefront on our minds – so – we thought we’d share a couple of our favorite cookie recipes with you.

Marlene’s Favorite:
Almond Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2/3 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 teaspoon milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth. Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Mix in flour until dough comes together. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger, and fill the hole with preserves.
3. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
4. In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies.

Patti’s Favorite:
Swedish Ginger Cookies

Ingredients

• • 3/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon clove
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 cup coarsely chopped crystallized ginger
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar for 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses.
4. Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and baking soda. Stir into batter. Stir in crystallized ginger. The batter will be thick. Roll into 1-inch (2.5cm) balls. Place granulated sugar on a plate. Dip balls into sugar. Place sugar-side up on cookie sheet about 3 inches (8cm) apart, as the cookies tend to spread when baking. Keep dough refrigerated between batches.
5. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cracked on top, slightly firm to the touch the color of gold. They will soften and crisp up as they cool.

Enjoy!

What inspires you?
The world around me — how can it not be the most inspiring thing imaginable?

If you weren’t a custom jewelry designer and jewelry store owner what would you like to be doing?
I would be making other forms of art – no doubt about it!

What talent would you most like to have?
I would love to sing.  My fantasy is to sing torch songs, in a tight red dress, leaning on a grand piano in a small jazz club.

How do you feel having received so many accolades over the course of your career?
Grateful and humble.

What do you like best about being a custom jeweler/goldsmith?
I love the relationship that develops with each client and the collaboration that generates a beautiful piece of jewelry.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Figure out what you do best, and then go do it.

If you could pick a super power, what would it be?
If you are talking about a “marvel comic book” superpower, I would fly.
Or I could be queen of the world and set things straight.

What book are you currently reading?
The Last Castle by Denise Kiernan and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.

What do you hear most often from your shoppers?
“I love this store, the jewelry is amazing and everyone is so nice.”

What is the most exciting (adventurous) thing you have ever done?
Kayaked the Grand Canyon in my little boat, spending 21 days on the Colorado River. WOW what an adventure!

Describe an ideal day off.
Fix something broken, have a picnic style lunch, dig in the dirt on my tractor and finish the day sitting by the river.

What do few people know about you?
I wanted to be a cowgirl, just like Annie Oakley, when I grew up.

Paula Dawkins
Jewels That Dance, Asheville NC 28801

Jewels That Dance welcomes a distinguished designer/goldsmith to the store for two days this October. We invite and encourage you to come and meet Barbara Heinrich, a fine jewelry artist and master of innovation and design during our evening reception on Thursday, October 26th from 5pm to 8pm or on Friday, October 27th from 11am to 5pm.

Barbara was born in Heilbronn Germany, and grew up in the vineyards of her family’s winery. To keep herself busy she says she collected dried noodles, pods, snail shells and broken glass, which she strung together to create jewelry. Heinrich graduated from the Jewelry Academy of Pforzheim and won a scholarship to study in the US. She earned a MFA from the University Of Rochester Institute Of Technology, after which she established her studio in up-state New York. There she creates distinctive and award winning jewelry pieces by blending timeless aesthetics with contemporary ideas. She is known for her soft brushed gold surfaces, juxtaposed with burnished lines and surface set gemstones.

If you would like to learn more about Barbara and her creative talent, please follow this link to read the cover article in the current ORNAMENT Magazine.

View jewelry by Barbara »

Jewels That Dance is excited to announce the arrival of a rare new gemstone. This gemstone is the lotus garnet. Unearthed in the Mahenge region of north Tanzania, lotus garnet was recently discovered in late 2015. Found in alluvial mines, the amount of rough is unknown and each production is small and has a variation in color with every pocket produced. The gemstone is a rare form of an orange-pink garnet similar to the color of morganite or imperial topaz. Lotus garnet, when viewed in the sunlight, has a slight fluorescence which can give the gemstone the appearance of color change. Stop by today to take a look at this new gemstone.