Ancient style silver and Moonstone Pendant necklace

Sometimes I like to play with ancient styles of jewelry from the past. I remembered the movies I used to watch with kings and queens wearing these large heavy rich necklaces, and felt I simply MUST make one of my own. The result of this urge is this Large silver pendant with stones:

Riorita - Large Sterling Silver Pendant Necklace with Moonstone and garnets. 

 I sawed two flowered shapes from a flat piece of sterling silver, the higher piece was made smaller so that the lower part can be seen from the top. I connectied the two parts in the middle with a sterling silver silver tube, on upper flower I soldered 4 small flowers which I handcrafted and cast beforehand. I set the top with a beautiful moonstone in the center, and four small garnets in the flowers. Then added a thick sterling silver cable chain.


That's what happens to a metalsmith like me when she watches too many historical movies! What will ever become of me?!


It is International women's day  and I was somehow reminded of a wonderful  song , one of the best I've ever listened to, written by a woman - Sandy Denny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2xODjbfYw8&feature=fvwrel 

BESTeam Features Week of 11/13/11

    

 I think I have some luck with the weather. It was raining cats and dogs in the morning, with strong winds howling outside. I stayed home with my cat, nice and cozy for a few hours. Then I felt that nothing doing! Storm or no storm, I must go out to do what I have to do - go to the post office to send a few parcels,  to the supermarket,  the bank, etc., I picked my umbrella, and what do you know? - the rain had stopped as soon as I walked out the door, and the sun was peaking here and there between the clouds. I stayed out for about two hours and returned home. As soon as I unlocked the door - a heavy shower! So what do you have to say to that? I guess somebody up there likes me... (only every once in a while I think)

. As for my handmade jewelry workshop, I've been a little more productive this week. I handcrafted two pairs of ear studs and goldplated them:

I would like to present to you three of my BESTeam (Boosting Etsy Shops Team)members and their unique shops:

Danielle Saletzki
http://www.etsy.com/people/ChickyDs
Danielle is a professional graphic designer and works at a local newspaper near her home. As much as she loves her job, she enjoys creating with her hands. She loves to handcrafte fashionable hair bows.

In her shop -Chicky D's,  you will find various accessories and gifts for women of all ages.
You will find her on Facebook and Twitter::
http://www.facebook.com/ChickyDsAccessories
http://twitter.com/#!/Danizabeth2

The next shop is Cindy's - CK Silver
http://www.etsy.com/shop/cksilver

In CK Silver you will find classic, well made handcrafted elegant silver jewelry,to be worn with pride. Cindy puts her heart into every item she creates. You can see this in her shop's images:

The shop's specialities are sterling silver, pearls, semi-precious stones, and Swarovski crystals.
Cindy is primarily inspired  by the beauty of Nature, and the amazing richness of creation. She mainly loves earth tones and other colors found in the landscapes surrounding her.

AbsolutelyKismet
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AbsolutelyKismet
When I first viewed the wine charm  in this shop, made of empty brass shell castings. I felt a shiver go through my spine! It immediately reminded me of the following verse from the Bible:
Isaiah chapter D
"... And He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. ..."

Perhaps you will think that I am being TOO dramatic. Please let me say this of AbsolutelyKismet - if every weapon in this world was turned into a beautiful item, such as the small example in this shop, the world would be a much nicer place to live in!

AbsolutelyKismet can be followed here:
 Facebook and Blogger!
http://www.facebook.com/AbsolutelyKismet
http://absolutelykismet.blogspot.com/


 More handcrafted artisan jewelry:
http://etsy.com/shop/riorita




Have a great day everyone!

Scorpion's Ear Hoops and Besteam favorites - week of Oct. 30th

I am a Scorpion. Anyway - that's my sign, as I was born on November 2nd many years ago.

I do not know whether all Scorpios have an obsession with ear hoops. But it definitely is the case with me when it comes to hoop earrings. I was not so aware of it until I entered my Etsy shop of handmade jewelry designs and counted them. I have spontaneously designed so many of them. It is true -  I love earrings in all shapes and sizes, but what happens is I always go back to - hoops. I love to think of an Ethnic design and present it in my own version:

                                                     

http://www.etsy.com/shop/riorita?section_id=10283301

But before I let my hoops take up all of the space in this post, let me tell you about a few Etsy shops I love:

KCDagonfly http://www.etsy.com/shop/KCDragonfly?ref=pr_shop_more

is a shop run by Kristine Cherry. Kristine has taken a close look at dragonflies and feels that something inside her identifies with them - their neverending search for something. Kristine's studio has in it a whole lot of books beads and fabrics. If you find, in her shop, something which you cannot resist, and feel you must buy it - it is the sign for her that you have found the perfect design! But truthfully, Kristine simply enjoys to create things which would make people say : "Ooooo, that's pretty!"

Another favorite shop on Etsy  is Creativitybugs. It is run by Sandy and Sue, who are two sisters with a passion for crafting. They began by creating gifts for family and friends but now it is turning into a business venture.

Sandy and Sue create  paper crafts  and gifts, handmade cards, paper craft kits and supplies, holiday gifts, doll clothing and accessories, and a whole lot more.
The materials they use are of the highest quality!

When I read the names of Etsy shops, many times they 

capture my imagination. Such is the shop name Ourhometoyours. What immediately comes to my mind is a warm cozy place which is someone's home, and it offers some of its warmth to us - visitors to their shop. What a nice inviting name this is!

It is run by Debbi and Amanda who are mother and daughter. Debbi is a mom is to 3 children who still live at home, and has a grandson who is almost 3 years old, about a year older than my own grandson. This sounds like a lot of fun! Debbi is one of these people who enjoys her job! On one hand - she lovingly creates things which other people enjoy, and still has time to spend with her family.

Daughter Amanda is a photo specialist at Wal-mart but I has a Masters Degree in Graphic Design and would like to pursue that as her career. Her background is Fine Art  and she is offering her drawings for sale along with her crafts. Amanda designs all the banners and avatars for their shop, and hopes to have agraphic design business of her own some day.

And we have a lovely jewelry designer's shp here too- jaynemarie's shop

Janynemarie Crawford started making jewelry when her daughters were small. I had made them clothes and,  accessories. She discovered about herself that she enjoys designing and handcrafting jewelry.She began by creating it for herself and when people started to compliment her for her designs, she decided to begin selling it. Jaynemarie enjoys the lustre and shapes of gemstones and fine pearls and various silver and gold chains.

For her work she uses only the highest quality gemstones and pearls.

More handcrafted artisan jewelry:

http://etsy.com/shop/riorita

Thats all  for today folks. Hope to see you here again in my next post.