My love affair with silver and gemstone

I just won a giveaway!!!

2011-02-10T06:15:00.000-08:00

It doesn't happen often! I won a giveaway by a wonderful artist and a jewelry maker Anastasia celebrating her 1 year anniversary with ETSY!!! Take a look at her beautiful store L'accent nou

I particularly adore her ceramic and pebble jewelry. It looks so natural and organic!
I wish Anastasia all the best!

Thanksgiving SALE!!!!

2010-11-21T05:52:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is just around the corner! Black Friday sales are everywhere! Christmas is looming!

I am pleased to announce sale in my Etsy Jewelry Store. Just use this coupon code BLKFRDBL2010 and get 10% off any item in my store! This coupon is valid through Monday November 29!

Happy Holiday shopping, everybody!

Lucky charms and soap

2010-06-19T07:25:00.000-07:00

Today my featured seller is Anna Pereira, who owns a lovely etsy store. I met Anna on twitter. After I retwitted some of her tweets she sent me free samples of her wonderful soaps AND bought my Lucky Penny necklace. She said that she could use some luck! As a token of my appreciation I included one of Anna's wonderful soaps in my treasury. Amazingly that treasury was chosen on Etsy front page the same day! Being on the front page gave Anna tremendous exposure, and she sold a large number of her soaps that day. The windfall continued later on!

I don't know if this was the lucky charm or her hard work finally paid off. But I wish Anna all the luck with her store!

Wildlife explosion at the Uconn campus

2010-06-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

It's been raining all weekend, going hiking was out of the question. Going for a stride on campus is the next best thing. We went there a couple of weeks ago on sunday evening. The school year has ended, and the campus seems deserted during weekends. Well, it is deserted by the humans, while different inhabitants come out of the hiding. Every lawn was occupied by some critter: squirrels around every tree or a trash can, a family of rabits around the juniper brush, and numerous grounhogs around every old building. Last time we went for a walk there, their babies were very young and couldn't always run away from us fast enough. One of them froze when I approached only a few feet away and was just sitting there, pretending that he was an inanimate object. He was unbelievably cute in his fear, and i didn't have my camera with me! This time I was smart (or so I thought) and brought my camera. What I forgot, however, was my telephoto lenses! In just two weeks the babies have grown and learned that humans are danger. This is a good thing from the evolutionary standpoint, but not good when you are trying to take pictures of these adorable creatures! I could see them feeding and frolicking from a distance, but the minute I would approach to take a shot they would run.
One family let me get closer than the others.

The same story with the rabbits! Two weeks ago the little bunnies were not afraid, and now they've grown and learned!

That bunny had a point, though. There was a stray cat hiding in the bushes nearby. We weren't sure if a cat could eat a bunny. I hope not!

It is almost hard to believe that this is the same campus, just a few hundred yards away!

Note to self: next week don't forget to bring telephoto lenses!

My summer collection

2010-05-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

I am making new items for the summer. Here is the new addition to my store - the Pretty Petals sterling silver earrings

See also my Lotus Pod copper earrings

Hope everyone is having fun this summer!

My new collection

2010-04-10T07:28:00.000-07:00

Spring is in the air! It is hard to stay home and work!
Recently I've venturing deeper into working with sheet metal. Here are some samples of my latest creations.

I've also been enjoying metalstamping. Recently I ordered a Zodiac stamp set, so in the near future I am planning to add new items with Zodiac symbols! I cannot wait to recieve that set!

Hope everyone is enjoying the weather!
Have a great weekend and thank you for reading!

My work is featured in this beautiful treasury

2010-04-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

My copper quote bracelet was featured in this beautiful treasury by BuckToothedBunny entitled Wendy's Whimsical World

Happy Easter everyone and thanks for looking!

Donating money to the Doctors without Borders

2010-02-28T06:07:00.000-08:00

First Haiti, now Chili... As an earth scientist in my real life i feel deeply for the victims of natural disasters. Therefore i donated a part of the proceeds ($50) from the sales from my etsy store http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlueberryCream to the Doctors without Borders organisation.

I will continue to donate portion of my sales in the future!

Thanksgiving deals on Etsy

2009-11-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

I am having a BUY ONE GET ONE 1/2 OFF SALE in my etsy jewelry shop until November 29!
The less expensive item gets the discount.
Or 20% off individual items!

I broused through other etsy shops and found other great deals. Check them out!

50% off on all digital Holiday cards from LoveLeighDay
More cards and paper goods by whimandfolly
More cards by kavali8
Keep yourself warm with hand knit goods by socksandmittens
For the little ones cute baby items by babysewhappy
Buy ANY 2 reusable baggie listings and get one FREE from bellsandunicorns
Origami ornaments by localcolorist
Steampunk jewelry by CatherinetteRings
Free earrings with purchase from mgfashionjewelry
BOGO on destash jewelry supplies from MagneticallyYours
Home made soaps from countrysoapsbymarlen

There is something for everyone!
Happy shopping!

And the winner is...

2009-10-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

Cassandra Watsham! Her pick was the copper and pearl bracelet!

Congratulations to the winner!
You can check out her blog at http://designbycassandra.blogspot.com!
Thank you all for playing!

Fall Giveaway!!!

2009-10-02T15:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new Fall Giveaway!

As before, you can win the item of your choice!

To enter the givaway:

1. Go to my etsy store http://www.blueberrycream.etsy.com and pick any item priced at $10 OR LESS! Then post a comment at the end of this announcement telling me what your selection is. Please mention your email adress so I could contact you in case you win. This info will NEVER be used for any other purposes!!!

2. Retweet the following message and post a comment mentioning it (just copy and paste the following into the twitter window):

RT @blueberry_cream FALL GIVEAWAY! Pick yr own prize! Visit my blog http://www.gemstonegirl.blogspot.com/ Pls RT

You can retweet as many time as you want, but make sure post a comment here about each retweet!

3. Link my etsy store www.blueberrycream.etsy.com to your blog and get 5 entries (again post a comment about it).

3. No purchase is neccessary, but if you happen to buy something you will get extra 5 entries (as before post a comment about it).

The winner will be chosen by random drawing on Monday October 5!

Good luck and thanks for entering!

And the winner is...

2009-06-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

And the winner of my June Giveaway is Lisa of Vintage Fashion Library!
Check out her beatiful blog at http://thevintagelibrarian.blogspot.com/.
She chose the copper and aventurine earrings as her prize.

To express my gratitude to those who entered the contest, I offer you a limited time 50% discount on any item in my store. This offer is valid until Sunday, June 28.
Please, convo or email me first, and I will adjust the price and reserve it for you!!! Mention your name and this contest!

Thank you for entering the contest and have a great day!

2009-06-21T05:48:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my June giveaway!
This time i decided to let you choose your own prize!

To enter the givaway:

1. Go to my etsy store http://www.blueberrycream.etsy.com and pick any item priced at $8 OR LESS! Then post a comment at the end of this announcement telling me what your selection is. Please mention your email adress so I could contact you in case you win. This info will NEVER be used for any other purposes!!!

2. Retweet the following message and post a comment mentioning it (just copy and paste the following into the twitter window):

RT @blueberry_cream JUNE GIVEAWAY! Pick yr own prize! Visit my blog http://www.gemstonegirl.blogspot.com/ Pls RT

You can retweet as many time as you want, but make sure post a comment here about each retweet!

3. Link my etsy store www.blueberrycream.etsy.com to your blog and get 5 entries (again post a comment about it).

3. No purchase is neccessary, but if you happen to buy something you will get extra 5 entries (as before post a comment about it).

The winner will be chosen by random drawing on June 25!

Good luck and thanks for entering!

Yoga teacher training graduation

2009-06-20T05:33:00.000-07:00

Last week I completed my Yoga Teacher Training. Now I am a setified yoga teacher, among other things!
I am grateful to my teachers and to my fellow yoga students for helping me through that!
Namaste

Featured artist - Jodi Bombardier

2009-06-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

Jodi Bombardier is a self-taught jewelry designer of 8 years who discovered wire wrapping in 2005 and knew that she had found her niche. Her jewelry is currently sold in stores in Arizona and Utah. Jodi is also a well-published jewelry author, writing for Interweave - Step By Step Wire magazine since 2005 and she also is a co-writer for the book Wire Style 50 Unique Jewelry Designs. Jodi is currently writing her own book on wire jewelry with a publication date of November 2010! Her love for baskets inspired her to begin weaving with wire which has led to her most recent line, Hilltribe. The success of the Hilltribe line has been amazing and Jodi continues to design stunning woven wire jewelry.

Jodi's works are sold on Artfire and on her website Jewels by Jules. Here you can find tons of useful information about jewelry, tutorials and see her beautiful creations!

Check out her amazing bracelets made of leather cord, silver and gemstone.

She also owns a medical transcription service. The service is ran by her manager which allows Jodi to design new jewelry, work on her book and continue writing for Step By Step Wire magazine.

Hearts

2009-06-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

My new additions. I was in the mood for "broken hearts". There was no particular reasons, maybe because i just bought some garnet teardrops and wanted to do something new.

Tell me what you think!

My new treasury

2009-06-04T12:26:00.000-07:00

Please take a look at my new treasury!
I love impressionist paintings, and recently I found several nice works on Etsy. And I was lucky enough to get to my computer just in time when the treasury opened.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

And the winner is...

2009-06-02T08:45:00.000-07:00

And the winner of my May giveaway is macmama! Check out her blog http://macmama.wordpress.com/

The winner was selected by random drawing (Using my Matlab script).

I'd like to thank everyone for entering the giveaway, retweeting etc!

Please check again in June for more free giveaways!

Peace!

May giveaway!

2009-05-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my May giveaway!

One lucky winner will get a pair of sterling silver earrings with coral chunks and cultured pearls shown in this photo. The giveaway ends on June 1 at midnight.

To enter the givaway:

1. Visit my etsy store http://www.blueberrycream.etsy.com/ and post a comment at the end of this announcement telling me what your favorite item is. Please mention your email adress so I could contact you in case you win. This info will NEVER be used for any other purposes!!!

2. Retweet the following message and post a comment mentioning it (just copy and paste the following into the twitter window):

RT @blueberry_cream MAY GIVEAWAY! Visit my blog for details http://www.gemstonegirl.blogspot.com/ Pls RT

You can retweet as many time as you want, but make sure post a comment here about each retweet!

3. Link my etsy store www.blueberrycream.etsy.com to your blog and get 5 entries (again post a comment about it).

The winner will be chosen by random drawing on June 2 (using a program that i wrote:) )

Good luck and thanks for entering!

Itsy-bitsy spider

2009-05-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

The summer is near, and as usual we get hundreds of spiders in the basement. Some of them are small, but some get pretty big. I am not afraid of the spiders, but my daughter has a serious case of arachnophobia... Every time she sees one, she starts screaming for us to come down and get the thing out of the house.
The spiders inspired me to make this sterling silver spider web pendant. I saw the design online a while ago, now i decided to try it.

I searched etsy for more spidery designs and found some high-end spider-themed jewelry creations by juliakaytaylor and by Master68UK.

Some spiders that I saw in the etsy shops are surprisingly cute, like these crochet creations by CrochetandCrafts and by tisana

Some spiders were made of recycled materials, like this ecologically-sound critter made by ecohead

Well, spiders are not just for Halloween!
Have a great day!

It's my Birthday!

2009-05-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

It is my B-DAY! Now I am officially old! But at least I've some gorgeous flowers from my husband! And it is a glorious day in Connecticut!

These flowers reminded me of the coral bracelet, which I made a while ago. I really like working with corals. However, I need to be in the right mood to wear coral jewelry, it may be too overpowering :)
Hope everyone enjoys this wonderful day as much as I do!

So i started blogging...

2009-05-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

I didn't think I was the blogging type!

However sometimes i feel that I have thoughts and ideas I want to share with other people. Well, i could share them with my family, but they couldn't care less about my jewelry creation hobby. Not entirely true, my 16 year old daughter took a jewelry making class. She can use a torch and knows what flux and pickle mean to the metalworking community :)

Often i make jewelry during TV shows. This is so-calle "quality time with my family" when they can watch whatever they want, and i can quietly wrap wire around gemstones :)

This is a small piece I made during House episode on monday. It wasn't my favorite episode, anyway!

A small pendant i tried yesterday, but it still needs work. And i still have work to do, bills to pay etc. Not enough time to refine my little creations. Oh, well...

Thank you for viewing!