Baby groundhog

It was a gorgeous summer day today. We went for a stroll at the UConn Campus. The University is almost deserted during summer weekends, and the wildlife is thriving. We saw several critters, but this little groundhog let us film him. Poor thing was terrified, and yet absolutely adorable:)

We also disturbed this guy during his lunch:)

Some new "redecorations" on campus:)

New jewelry collection

Finally a new blog entry. It's been ages since I had time to update my blog...

I started making bezel set jewelry for my etsy store. I love metalsmithing, but it takes time to make at my home studio.  Take a look at some of my new designs.

I bought this Kingman turquoise cabochon during my visit to Albuquerque. I was amazed by the number of jewelry supply stores in New Mexico. I wish we had something like that here in Connecticut...

Kingman turquoise necklace

Here is a modernist-inspired pendant with unakite. I am fascinated with mid-century modernist movement, and this pendant is inspired by American studio art jewelry designers.

Unakite necklace

Some pieces didn't make it to my store, I loved them too much:) Here is a beautiful fluoride teardrop set in sterling silver

I will be adding more metalwork jewelry soon!

I just won a giveaway!!!

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!!!!

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

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

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

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!