A Love Affair with Roman Glass

I don't recall how or when it happened, but the very first time I put my eyes on a piece of jewelry made with this amazing glass, it was love at first sight. Perhaps it was at the Boston gift show where I visited the booth of some amazing Israeli jewelry designers who had incorporated Roman glass into their designs. I think it is the colors of the glass and its iridescent qualities that I find so appealing.

Here is a little information about this ancient glass:

The earliest man-made glass was first produced over 2000 years before the Roman Empire. Core formed and cast glass was produced, although in small quantities in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. It was often made to imitate semi-precious stones like lapis lazuli and turquoise.
Glass vessels were initially available only to the very wealthy and only in rather diminutive sizes. They were manufactured by core forming, casting, cutting and grinding, The invention of glass blowing around 50 BC brought glass vessels to the general public in vast numbers, mass produced in great variety of forms and hence brought ancient glass into the reach of the modern collector of even modest means. One can nowadays own a Roman glass bowl, or drink form a Roman glass beaker, or wear ancient jewellery where glass was used widely.

Recently I was able to purchase some lovely Roman glass beads and design a few new pieces with these ancient beads. Stay tuned for more photos of my new jewelry pieces.

Team Work

As you know, getting your items seen on the Internet is a labor intensive and complex endeavor. I have been working with a fellow teammate to feature our items together in the hopes that both items will become more visible on the Internet. Lindabutterfly and I are members of a wonderful team of artisans who work together to help promote our products and websites. Linda is and artist whose incredible work can be seen here and here. We have recently listed two of our items together on our etsy shops to be sold for a discounted price. We thought that these items complimented each other beautifully and would make a wonderful gift item. The listings for these items can be seen on our etsy shops. They can be purchased in either Linda's shop or at my shop. This experience has been a great deal of fun and we think you will be as pleased as we are with the results of our team work.

3 Pairs of Lovely Little Earrings that Won't Break the Bank

With the holidays rapidly approaching we are all thinking about gifts for people that will stay within our budgets. I chose three pairs of earrings from my etsy shop that will put a smile on your lady's face and will keep you smiling too. All are made with genuine stones and quality findings. I used carnelian, quartz, moonstone, pearls, prehnite,copper, gold vermeil, and sterling silver to make these one-of-a-kind unique earrings. These items will be sent in a lovely pouch or little gift box, if you prefer. Please visit my shop to purchase these earrings or other one-of-kind jewelry designs.http://elektrajewelry.etsy.com/

Sterling Silver Wirework

My extensive hours of reading blogs and looking at artisan's etsy shops have really paid off! I was fortunate enough to find the amazing blog of Contrariwise Ramblings at http://akacontrariwise.blogspot.com/ and subscribed to it immediately. First of all this blog makes me smile. The author has a great sense of humor and writes with a very personal tone that makes you feel like you have known her for years. Secondly, she has some great tips and tutorials on her blog. In other words, in my humble opinion, it is everything a blog should be !

Besides having a wonderful blog, this artistic lady does some amazing things with wire work sterling silver jewelry as you can clearly see. Take a look at her wonderful work at http://contrariwise.etsy.com/.

Black Magic

Need a bit of magic in your day? You can find some in Erin's delightful shop at http://princessemarie.etsy.com/. Here you will find some truly unique earrings and necklaces. If you are in a Halloween mood, these earrings may be just the ones for you. Erin has these and other adorables choices in her shop. My favorites are the pink and black chandeliers featured here. This is what Erin tells us about herself.
"Hi, my name is Erin. I've been crafting for many years now. I love any type of arts and crafts; drawing, painting, scrapbooking, card making, knitting, quilting, you name it I have or will try it. My true passion is making jewelry, mainly earrings, I just love looking at interesting materials and seeing what I can design."

Just Great Designs

I took a peek at the this wonderful shop this morning and saw so many things I liked I had a hard time choosing which photos to put up on my blog. The very talented owner of etsy shop

http://eclatdesigns.etsy.com/ is a wonderful photographer as well as a jewelry deigner. This is what she tells us in her profile:

"I started making jewelry fairly recently and discovered that I have a passion for it. It started when, at the age of 29, I got my ears re-pierced. I suddenly developed an interest in making earrings. I think it was my rational mind's way of curbing my shopping. I had so much fun making earrings that I expanded to necklaces and bracelets. I never thought of myself as particularly "crafty," but I find that the more I do, the more I want to do. Making jewelry relaxes me.As for photography, that's something I've always done. It's always been personal for me. There are few things I enjoy more than spending a day alone with my camera. I have photos all over my house, in frames, albums, boxes, and totes. They are not just shots of friends and family; I love scenes that are evocative of good memories. I decided it might be fun to share those scenes and see if they struck a chord with anyone else."

Differences Between Gold Plated Jewelry and Gold Filled Jewelry

"You get what you pay for," is certainly what comes to mind when shopping for jewelry in today's market. As many of you know gold and silver have reached astronomically high prices in recent months with the price dropping slightly in the last week or so. Today's current gold price is $925.17 and silver is $17.14 as of 12:30 EST. These prices fluctuate on a daily basis and determine what jewelry designers must pay for their supplies. I have not ventured into using

14 K gold due to the high prices, but I am determined to offer my customers quality jewelry for the best price. What do I do? I use only 1/20 gold filled wire, gold vermeil and sterling silver for my pieces. Many jewelers will use gold and silver plate for their wire and jewelry components. What is the difference you ask? For starters, the durability of the piece is determined by what kind of components the jeweler uses. Gold plate and silver plate will chip ,peel, and crack, sometimes after only a few wearings. However, gold filled jewelry will not. The reason for this is as follows:

Gold filled wire is produced by wrapping a tube of solid gold around a core of a base metal such as a brass alloy. They are bonded together by pressure and heat. It is about 100 times thicker than gold plate and will not chip or flake off. The part that touches your skin is 14k or 12k gold and is it very hard to tell the difference between solid gold and gold filled. It is durable and much more affordable than solid gold. Gold plate is made by dipping (electroplating) a microscopic film of gold particles on a variety of base metals. The particles eventually wear off and the piece of jewelry certainly does not look the same as it did when you purchased the piece. Gold plated and silver plated findings are much cheaper to buy than gold filled and good quality gold vermeil which is 24k or 18k gold layered over sterling silver. When you look at jewelry to purchased keep these facts in mind. My husband says "When you pay peanuts , you get monkeys. "

Pretty Rocks

A girl just can't have enough pretty rocks and Yazmin Wickham's etsy shop provides a nice variety. Aprettyrock carries some beautiful hand wrapped earrings similar to the ones above, gorgeous hairpins , necklaces and rings. She sure has some beautiful "rocks" in her collection! Be sure to check her blog as well.

Simply Circles

Sometimes the most elegant and classic pieces of jewelry are quite simple in design. These gorgeous circle themed pieces have a timeless look that will always be in style. Perhaps circles attract us by their symbolic nature. Circles represent infinity and our need to go on and on. See these pieces and more in the etsy shop of mooretaste.

Go Ahead Indulge Yourself

A girl can never have enough earrings, especially when they are as lovely as these. Scorpienna's etsy shop has many choices as well as necklaces, bracletes, and watches. So go ahead, indulge yourself with something lovely from this awesome shop. Don't miss her blog either!