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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Delicate Pipe Boulder Opal ring and a Turkish dish

My daughter asked me today to help her with the cooking. " Something vegetarian" she said. So I am cooking a  Turkish dish with Bulgur wheat, tomatoes, eggplants and parsley, which I copied from my favorite cook book. I will tell you how it came out at the end of this post. While it is cooking, let me tell you about my new delicate Pipe Boulder Opal ring.

I set this lovely small pipe Boulder Opal stone which  I bought on the internet, in a DELICATE bezel on a thin band. I am writing the word "delicate" in capital letters, because usually I have a tendency to handcraft large bulky rings with big stones. I really love large stones becuase you see a portion of  the riches of the earth, but this stone has it all - multiple colors and mysterious electric flashes. The stone is a pleasure to watch.



I also found that it can be worn with a couple of stacking rings:



While the band of the ring is created with sterling silver, the stacking rings are gold plated brass rings which I handcrafted for this purpose.


Well, now the Bulgur wheat dish is finished and ready to eat.
Just tasted it. Yummy!


First I'd like to show off a bowl I bought from my friend Naomi, the ceramicist. This is the" before" photo of how it looks . I will put some of the bulgur wheat in it. Aint it a beauty? 




And now for what I cooked:




Do these photos of "before" and "after" remind you of what they show you when they want to convince you to make a face lift? (LOL!) So tell me now - which one looks best?....
Here's the recipe for you guys from a book called "Fast and Fabulous"  by Benny Saida:


Portions: 
1/4 cup olive oil
2 thinly sliced onions
2 cups of bulgar wheat
4 tomatoes - peeled and sliced
1 tablespoonful tomato paste
Salt, Freshly ground pepper
1 tea spoon of sugar
1.3/4 glasses of water
2 eggplants, sliced into squares and fried
1/2 a cup of chopped parsley.


First you fry the onions in the olive oil, in a large pan.
You mix in the bulgur and fry on for 2 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste and the salt and pepper
Add the water (or broth) and bring to a boil.
Cover the pot and cook for 20 minutes on very low heat until all
the juices are absorbed.
Remove from the cooker and leave it for 20 minutes more.
Add the sliced eggplants and the parsley.
Mix everything up and...


BON APPETITE!


Served to you with love!

Friday, March 30, 2012

More Solid Natural Opal Rings

Most silver jewelry shops in my country have beautiful showcases with stunning jewelry items with Opal stones.in all sizes. The stones are mostly light blue with tiny flashy pieces in them. These Opals are actually a very thin layer of Opal stones with a piece of silicone attached to the back to strengthen them. Without the silicone these stones simply fall apart.


In contrast to the a/m stones, the ones which I use myself for setting in my own jewelry are totallty solid Opal stones, which I purchase directly from their cutters.


Recently I have handcrafted three new Koroit Opal rings from Solid Opal Stones which come from the Koroit Opal mines in Queensland Australia




This stone is amazing. The colors are brown horizontal strips with stunning ochre in the middle and a spray of turquoise which glimmers with tiny hints of red .Reminds me of a miniature abstract painting.
The sterling band of this ring is wide rounded and thick and proportionate to the size of the stone.
The stone  is amazing. Very unique!!
The colors are brown horizontal strips with pale sky blue stripes and a deep turquoise one.


Do I sound like I'm in love with these stones? - You bet I am!
I believe if you saw or held them in your hands, you'd love them too!

Saturday, March 24, 2012

My heart is by the Sea of Galilee

Every two weeks or so, I pay a visit to my mother who lives in Tiberias, a town by the Sea of Galilee. My mom is 95 now, and we go out together to a fish or Thai food restaurant in the vicinity, to enjoy some time together.
I visited there last Saturday. Spring was in the air. It was so pleasant and warm, and I took a few photographs.
Eucalyptus grove in the restaurant's backyard



Tiberias is a small city  located  on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee  in Israel.  It was built in 20 BC and named after the Roman emperor Tiberius.

The Sea of Galilee, or as we called it in Hebrew - The Kinneret (in Hebrew the word "Kinor" means a violin , and the shape of the Kinneret is that of a violin) is located in the east side of the Galilee Northern part of Israel, near the Golan Heights in the Jordan Rift Valley. It is a fresh water lake. and is the largest freshwater lake in Israel. As in the past there were quite a few earth quakes and volcanic activities in the area,  there are many basalt rocks in Tiberias, and in the lake itself. 

If you have read the New Testament of the bible you may know that according to the gospels, The ministry of Jesus upon the earth centered around the Sea of Galilee. He spent most of the three years of his ministry along the shore of the Kinneret. Many of  his parables were given here and the Sea of Galilee is where many of his miracles were performed.
Myabe all this will explain why I am so attracted to this are. Beside it is also one of the most beautiful places I know, I grew up there, and - this is where my mother resides.

Window of my mom's bedroom


View to the Sea of Galilee

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More view to the Sea of Galilee




It is Spring! No doubt!

As I was driving back home from my Mom's I heard John Martyn's " May you Never" on the radio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOi_wxypeGc&feature=fvsr
What a loss! he is not around us anymore!

Happy Spring to you all!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Primitive earrings silver and gold plated brass handmade jewelry design - $69.00

Primitive earrings silver are inspired by ancient ethnic earrings but the idea is my own.



These oval earrings are handcrafted from 925 sterling silver.

In the center I soldered two halves of a loop. Through the loops and through the earrings from top to bottom, there is a 22k gold plated brass strip. In side the two sides of the loops I drilled a few holes. On top of the earring, on the ear-wir...

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Long dangle earrings - handmade 22k gold plated sterling silver jewelry - $68.00

Long earrings combined from gold plated with 22k gold 8mm hammered sterling silver disks.

Inspired by Ancient history designs.



The disks connect to each other with loops.



Length: Abt. 7 cm.



Will be packed in a lovely gift box.

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This is what was said about them by a buyer:



"Oh my...

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