Affordable Quality Jewelry Gifts with Sterling Silver and Stones

I have a tendency to design my handmade jewelry, trying new ideas, not considering the cost of components but just go on excitedly to create  items which would beautify women. Of course not all these more expensive designs are popular with buyers. I just take a chance by using various stones, some more expensive and some - less.  But  then it gets to pricing. I realize I might have to give them a higher price, as there is more silver in them.( Of course, the more silver you add to an item, the more expensive the item turns out to be). Then I have to consider the price of stones and the work invested....so I have to go back down to earth and say to myself "think about your customers dear, after all, you want to sell this. Don't you?"

So here I am, thinking as a gift buyer: " I need to buy, say, 10 gifts. I want people to enjoy my gifts.  I cannot spend more that $25-27 for a gift. My girl friend likes silver earrings and stones, but I cannot afford to spend more!" 

As I know now how a gift buyer thinks, I decided to handcraft a pair of earrings which I would like to wear myself, and which would not be too costly!  I created two small triangle sterling posts and added small lovely Red Agate beads to dangle from their edges. A simple design but - sometimes the simplest ideas are the best!

I believe I have handcrafted  a  lovely pair of affordable earring studs with authentic stones. I can honestly tell you that if someone would have given these earrings to me on Christmas eve, it would make me very happy. I'd feel that the person who gave them to me, thought of what I would love to have. He thought of ME when he bought these.

Attached is a photo of a lovely model - Meital who is wearing these earring posts:

The same earrings can be made with other beads too, such as small fresh water pearls, mother of pearl beads and lovely Aqua Marine beads.

Thank you for watching!

Silver Gold and natural bead hoops on Handmade Artists' Shop

Silver Gold and natural bead hoops on Handmade Artists' Shop

Tourmaline and Silver Flower Earrings - Pink and Blue green

I have returned from my vacation, have rested for a few days and then decided it was high time I became creative again, as  my grand kids and creativiy, are the things which get me going in life. I began by thinkung "this is September. I will make September stone earrings with sapphires". I searched through my small  collection of stones, but could not find Sapphires which would go with earrings. As it was too hot and damp outside, I gave up the idea of going down to my favorite shop, where I buy stones for setting and between you and me - I've become a too lazy to walk in this summer's unbearable weather.

While searching through my stone collection I found a few Tourmaline cabochons, one was blue green and the other - pink. I had an idea of a pair of earrings in my mind. So I spontaneousely got to work at my table and this is the outcome:

The earrings are somewhat longer than the standard dangles, but not too long. I am a small woman and I felt that I could wear these earrings too, as they are in proportion with the length of my own neck.

As I like to search other people's shops too, I  have searched "pink and blue green" on Etsy and found quite a few lovely items under these tags. Here are a few of them:

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The last wonderful unique item comes from Finland, out of a shop named ForMyDarling where you may find mittens,bags,homedecor, owls , birds and wedding decor. The following
are a lovely example of the warmth and love invested in them:

The owner of "ForMyDarling" loves to work mainly with wool, she collects all her materials in flea markets, and creates her felt by using her washing machine.

I guess I could find many more beautiful items on Etsy under the tag "blue green and pink" but there are so many shops there, and I do not wish to tire you with a too lon post!

My visit to Venice

For many years I've been wanting to visit Venice in Italy. After having read  the history of  this wonderful unusual city, viewing a few movies photographed in it,  and reading a few books having to do with Venice, I decided it was high time for me to go and see for myself.

I therefore joined a group of people whose common interest was art in Venice, and travelled there. We arrived at Milano and on the way to Venice had visited Mantova where we viewed the palaces of the Gonzaga family. Then we drove on to Venice.

 The excited emotions I felt when approaching the city on the long bridge the "Via de Liberta" connecting  between the mainland and the city,  are beyond compare to any other I felt when arriving at a large and famous place.

The Ponte della Libertà, was designed in 1932 by Eugenio Miozzi and opened by Benito Mussolini in 1933. It is 4 km long and the only way one can arrive at Venice by car or bus. There is also a railroad which was constructed in 1846. Before this, one could get to Venice by boat only..... 

When the bus could not go any further, we took a boat to our hotel in the Giudecca Island in the Venetian lagoon and as it was late in the evening we started touring the city the following morning.

This postcard shows an ancient map of Venice from 1565.

As there is a lot of information in Google concerning Venice, I will only say in short, that there is the venetian lagoon and There are about 177 canals, 354 bridges and 118 islands connecting to one another in it . 

After a long walk through the streets of the Piazza San Marco, a visit to the Academia gallery, the Peggy Guggenheim museum, the Scuola di san rocco, the church of Santa Maria dei Frari (The Frari Basilica) and  churches with some of the most beautiful and amazing famous art pieces, (OK - not all in one day!!!) My friend Rina and I decided to sit in one of the many restaurants and cafes there and enjoy a nice cup of coffee.

I guess the waiters took a quick look at us, and rightfully assumed we were too tired to change our minds about sitting there, and had us spend some 63.00 Euro together on two cups of coffee,  apple pie with cream, a little music, a tip, and the visit of a cute pidgeon who wanted to share with us....Well as this was a once (or twice)  in a lifetime  experience we did not take it too much to heart).

I cannot show all the 200  photographs of Venice I took there, but here are a few of my favorites:

View across our hotel

Portrait of an old woman in the Academia Gallery in Venice by Veronese

Enlarged detail of a base of one of the pedestals in Piazza San Marco

Spiral house belonged to the rich family Cantini in 1499

We were luckily  permitted to enter the the Grand Teatro La Fenice in Venice. I've been to a few grand theatres before, but this is one of the most impressive:

This is just a small sample. One should see the place.
It drew quite a few "WOWs" from us when we entered.

An excerpt from a  column in the Doges's palace in Piazza San Marco

One of my favorite writers, Henry James, who enjoyed long stays in Venice  where he had written the novels "The Aspern Papers" and  "The Wings of the Dove" (which takes place in Venice, and which was  filmed and  nominated for an Academy Award) and  also completed there the writing of the novel "Portrait of a  Lady", wrote with regard to the statue seen hereunder in front of the church of Saint John and Paul:

Bronze statue of Bartolommeo Colleoni, the condottiere By Verrocchio (1435-1488)
Height of the statue is 395cm without the base.

One of my favorite writers, Henry James, who enjoyed long stays in Venice  where he had written the novels "The Aspern Papers" , finished writing "Portrait of a Lady" and  "The Wings of the Dove" (which takes place in Venice, and which was  filmed and  nominated for an Academy Award) wrote about the statue by Verrochio seen hereunder in front of the church of Saint John and Paul:

"The statue is incomparable, the finest of all mounted figures, unless that of Marcus Aurelius, who rides benignant before the Roman Capitol, be finer......he continued to look far over my head, at the red immersion of another day- he had seen so many go down into the lagoon through the centuries - and if he were thinking of battles and stratagems they were of a different quality from any I had to tell him of.He could not direct me what to do, gaze up at him as I might..." 

********

Many thanks to our guide Dr. Efi Ziv, who saw to it that we do not miss a single art piece of the great painters Tizian,Tintoretto,Veronese, statues of Donatello and more, and took care of every detail in our little trip.

Thanks to my dear friend Rina Karmoush who helped me remember a few almost forgotten details.  

I could write more about Venice and the genius grand art we saw and learned to appreciate there,  but this is only a post in my blog. I can only tell you  that it has not been my last visit to Venice, and I itend to go there again sometime in the future, as you can spend many days there and never lose interest.

On our way back to Milano we had visited Ravenna,Padova,Verona...but I shall leave these unforgettable places for  another post...perhaps!

August birthstone - Peridot

I have just taken a look at my last post and was rather shocked  - July 3rd! How the time flies! I feel as if it was only yesterday!..Where has the time gone?.. well, now it is already August, and as time cannot be brought back, I shall try to concentrate on the future!

August birth stone, as we all know, has a beautiful green color  -  the Peridot!.

Here are a few Peridot greens which I have found on the Etsylush team on Etsy:
Let me begin by offering my own Peridot earrings handcrafted with  gold plated silver and Peridot beads:

These earrings can be worn all year round, they are light and will beautify you all summer especially in August!
You will find my shop here:
http://etsy.com/shop/riorita

Melojane is the name of the Etsy shop owned by Melissa Jane from Melbourne Victoria in Australia. She is a full time university student who is studying visual arts. Her love for bright colors can be viewed in her beautiful quality  items created with various fabrics. Here is a favorite of mine. It is a flowers dots clutch purse:

AngsanaSeeds is a shop of some beautiful Nature photography, home decor, the city  and more. The photographs are  either in Black and White or in color. The owner enjoys travelling and and collecting memories in photographs. My favorite photograph is this:

It is Gorgeous! I hope you agree!

Now for the next shop OneRustyNail which is run by husband and wife Maranda and Arnold. The shop reveals to us some very special vintage treasures and finds. Maranda and Arnold enjoy goint to auctions and estate sales, and love to find strange colorful objects. As I love to roam in flea markets myself, I can easily  identify with the enthusiasm in finding special items. Here is one my  favorites from their shop. It is a Peridot alright!

What a lovely item! Just looking at it, cools off the exceedingly hot weather outside by 2 degrees at least. So refreshing it is!

Now let me hand you a lovely fresh flower! A definite Peridot for your August outfit!
You will find it in Stephanie Thompson's shop Stephanieh02. Stephanie is from Chelsea Michigan. She handcrafts original handmade greeting cards, fabric flower accessories and more.

I hope you will love all these items as much as I do. Have a pleasant, breezy and not too hot summer!

July Birthstone Ruby and Friends from Team Elite

Finally summer is here and  I have this happy feeling of freedom, watching people stroll along the beach, going out with their kids ,outdoor shopping, fairs, out door swimming,etc.,  but with it comes, the sometimes hard to bear heat which causes us to  stay indoors with the air condition   avoiding  the strong UV rays and the humidity.

So - welcome July with your good and your bad! (and whose perfect?!) I accept you as you are! I love your Ruby red birthstone, and will show some items which have to do with your birthstone! All creators are members of the Elite team on Etsy which I have joined only recently.

I'll begin with my own stuff (yours humbly!)

I have handcrafted these Ruby Red Sea glass earrings. I simply picked two pieces from my beach glass collection box and set them in sterling silver bezels, soldered  the ear wires on their backs ,added hooks for the ear wires. They look like two raw Ruby stones hanging from the ears of the young lady who will wear them (this includes all ages of us ladies, as we are ALL young! -in our hearts at least that is!).

Ruby Red Sea Glass and Silver earrings by Riorita

 I have checked a few items among the Elite team members which would go well with July Birthstone and have found two more lovely items:

The first is this awesome scarf from seno's Shop . This shop belongs to Senem from Ankara Turkey, and includes handmade accessories. A mother of Ada who was born in 2009, she sells handmade beauties crafted by her aunt, sister and herself. I have entered her shop and loved each item. The photos are beautiful too!

Scarf by Seno

Now for a stunning photograph I found in the third Elite team member's shop named SassInc:
owned and run by Christy Harrisson from

Photo by SassInc on Etsy

I find that this dramatic romantic image fits perfectly into my July Birthstone post.

In Christy's shop  SennoInc you will find Fine art photography, invitation and stationery designs,candles, soaps and more.


Christy is  a freelance photographer, and takes photos of everything she likes as she believes in the importance of documenting moments in life with photography! She also designs card invitations and more. You will find a variety of her art in her shop.

So kind folks, until my next post - adieu!


http://etsy.com/shop/riorita

Once in a Blue Sea glass ring and Friends

It has been a long time since I've visited this blog of mine. I do not know why, I guess I wanted to take a small break, refresh the ideas in my mind or whatever...

Lately I've added a new Blue Sea glass and Silver ring to my shop:

Silver Metalwork and Blue Sea Glass Ring

I picked this unusual piece of glass from a collection I have in my studio and looked it over from all angles then decided to handcraft  a ring with it. Here's a compliment I received from one of my friends :"Everyone knows I hate blue, but this ring I would wear gladly!".... Funny girl. But sweet - don't you agree?

As it is rather boring to write only about my own stuff,  I looked around my Etsy favorites under the term "Blue" and found some gorgeous items which I believe you would love too.
I'll begin with this awesome blue card:

Blue Card by Dr. Batsheva Gillat

I picked it up from the Bold Folds shop run by Dr. Batsheva Gillat 
 As the shop owner tells us, her art began as a passion which became an obsession. She invests endless hours of love in her wonderful hand made cards.
She has been doing these amazing art works for no less than 40 years!

In her work she uses various techniques, such as Cut-out.Pop-up,Unit or Modular Origami and more.

You will find more interesting details in her shop page.
Personally - her shop is one of the most unique I have found on Etsy! Way to go Batsheva!

The second unique art piece was this Beautiful Ketubah

Ketubah birds of Paradise by Anna Kronick

I have found artist Anna Kronick in my  "On Fire for Handmade" team.
The Ketubah is a traditional document-agreement  written in Hebrew which every Jewish bride  receives from her groom upon their wedding, in which he commits himself to take care of her for the rest of their life together.

This papercut by Anna Kronick is a unique design which she  hand cut  from a single piece of silkscreen paper, then embellished it by a mosaic of colorful paper, Whimsical birds and traditional motifs. It is a beautiful work of art and a keepsake.

You will find this item and more beautiful ones in her Etsy shop.

Well folks, I hope you enjoy my choices for this post, at least as much as I did.