Bead Bay!

Getting a ton of beautiful beads and copper findings was the best Christmas start ever!
Get a sneek pick and choose your favorite ones to get one-of-a-kind custom jewelry pieces;)

Treasury lists

Yaaay, my Ash Pink Mist has been featured in this awesome futuristic collage!

Beauty taken from nature

I agree that each moment of the year has its own beauty. Also the easiest way to restore the emotional balance and energy is to get away and spend some time out, for example, walk through the vast fields, listening to the wind, breathing the cold and dry air in.
And sometimes, when a real walk is not possible, just a memory of it makes me feel calmer...
So here I would like to share a couple of moments like those with you, conveyed by these endearing  designs:
Flowers in the Rye Earrings


Sunset in the Forrest Earrings

America next top model in miniature

Ouuph, it's been a while since I posted last time, hasn't it?:))
so I'm busy working as a bee, meanwhile making some awesome copper earrings (will be posted as soon as possible) and some...hmm..let's say very useful accessories!
It's a surprise, I want to post them all when everything (pictures, descriptions and etc.) is ready.
I also started adding photos of jewelry on models, the very important feature when it comes to selling online. As a accessories addict I know very well how torturous it is when you like something and are not able to figure out what size it actually is, and how it will look on your body!
The problem is that I am not a company that can hire a marketing team to do a appropriate promo photo session for my jewelry.
Moving to a new place and leaving so many beloved friends does not help either.
Making fine-quality pictures requires time and repetitiveness, moreover doing so alone is a big challenge.
A good camera helps though (thank you Dear Mister X for a wonderful Birthday present!).
So one sacrifices weekend and I've got a dozen if not perfect but nice pictures showing my designs on a model!
I hope it'll make shopping easier and more inspiring for you!

My workspace

Did I mention that I am crazy aboout color?
Have I revealed before that the best color comes with a festive spark?
Haha, my crystals collections says it all:)

I LUV Custom orders!

Yes, I really do. I believe working on a task with specific constraints wonderfully challenges the mind.
This time I've got an order to make a set, including long necklace with the 3D effect that would be possible to layer and wear in different ways.
That's when I ankowledge that having vast inventory of beads and metal supplies really is a huge benefit and not just a sad obsession with "little shiny things".
Though my treasure chest is not that big, I found a way to fulfill the requirements of the color palette and the variety in sizes and shapes. And here it is, the "Purple Cascades" necklace:)

Two's Ruse ArtFire Studio Opening is TODAY!

Two's Ruse has Opened a Studio on the ArtFire online artisan market! 

And I have a Very Special Opening Offer for you -

FREE goldtone crystal earrings with any purchase! 

Enjoy;)

www.TwosRuse.ArtFire.com

 

Bright Blue mornings

That's where inspiration sometimes comes from :))))





Here you see large wooden beads with hand-painted pattern, where I tried to show,
how tree branches look through the shimmering sunset light

Don't miss it, they are soon to become earrings!;)

How to accessorize a drop waisted grey dress

I was recently asked for advice how to accessorize a drop-waisted dress. And not just a dress, a grey dress with drapes around the hips.
First of all, the 1920s shape of the outfit definitely changes any girl’s figure. It can make you look a bit boxy, and without a proper accessories - quite dull.
However, since the color is so tame it actually is a perfect canvas to show off some of your best jewelry!
I will concentrate on the proportions and styles of the jewelry you could wear.
The color choices are mainly dependent of the hue of your grey. You definitely want to add a pop of color in any case, but yellowish/greenish grey will ask for warm colors, including gold/green/orange/turquoise, while pinkish/bluish grey will look amazing with purple/silver/deep blue and etc.
The only one metal i wouldn’t suggest straightforwardly is copper/brown. It will be tricky to make it look good with all hues of grey.
Well, there are at least three quite different ways to come about the task of accessorizing grey drop waisted dress.
I made a couple of sketches that are shown at this collage

1. The left sketch: Contemporary and casual
Let’s start from the first one on the left. Here we have a long statement pendant, that will add a lot of movement and highlight the elongated silhouette created by the dress. Absolutely stunning if you are 6-7 feet tall!
If you are also lucky to have a long neck you can add some long dangles, that match the pendant but are not that prominent.
2. The center sketch: Shiny and classic
Many-many strands of metal with bright graduated beads will break the box of the dress body part, add a lot of movement and sparkle! You can edit this one according to your personal taste. Some women like it glittery, some bold and colorful, some modest and elegant. The most classic way is given to us by 1920s fashion magazines - multi-strand pearl necklaces.
3.  The right sketch: Bold and edgy
I guess this is my personal favorite. You will need a bold statement necklace and bracelet for this one, while earrings should be short and simple, just reflecting the overall color palette. Large semi-precious gemstones wrapped in wire or chains, shimmery, sparkly texture - will attract a lot of attention and create an stylish edgy look.
 I gotta say that if your dress is not very curvy friendly, jewelry styling #3 won’t help much and might even increase the “bumpiness” of the look. In that case I would suggest the 2nd style as the most savvy one.

I hope this little “gray dress tutorial” will help some of you, Girls!
Let me know your ideas and thoughts!

New irresistible designs in my Etsy shop!

Good Day!
I'm excited to let you all know that:
1. Two's Ruse has a Facebook page! Click "Like" and you will be first to see the newest designs (even not yet posted on Etsy), get amazing discounts and share your thoughts on fashion accessories!
2. New shimmery earrings in the shop!
Golden Key Earrings:

Summer Daisies in Mint:

Are they simply adorable?!:))

Gift Certificates update

I decided to refresh my January post about gift certificates, because more people are coming, looking and asking and not all of them know that I actually do issue Gift Certificates.

I do not do it on a regular basis, when you can just buy it in the shop at www.TwosRuse.Etsy.com, because Etsy has some unresolved financial and legal problems with that practice so far.

However, I do it in a case-to-case basis, so you can request one by sending me an email to twosruse at gmail dot com.

More information you also can find here:
Two's Ruse: life, colors, jewelry, style: Etsy Gift Certificates awaiting: "I thought a long time about posting Gift Certificates in my Two’s Ruse shop. I read a huge deal of information about local gift certificate’..."

There is one thing that I have to say about Tim Gunn

... and his new book.

It is not that much about the scandal and fashion dirty laundry. It is about ethics, including work ethics. It is about good yet warm manners and graceful approach to handle conflicts and difficult relationships.

I do not know another public person in the fashion industry right now who would be that polite and candid as he is. So this war and persecution of him for mentioning a couple of outrageous acts some of the fashion celebs have done is very surprising and upsetting.

Another thing is that he is a well-spoken person, and his writing is actually very eloquent and elegant as well (I especially love this manner of his to sometimes use very old-school almost antiquated structures and words = so classy!). I’ve got two of his books, and it’s a true pleasure to read.

I recommend them both to everybody, because it is not about clothes, it is about the beauty of your appearance, language and thoughts.

Color wizard

I happened to stop by these Earrings made by LaCamelot of mixed media, including crystal intrusions and lace:
And though I am not that big fan of girly-pink stuff , I was astonished by the amazing blend of pink, peach, apricot and nude shades, so whimsically swirled together in this piece.

This piece definitely made my day! ))

Loving Vivienne and Lusting for Naughty Alice

Almost from the first glance I fell for Vivienne Westwood spirit. Her designs could be wild and rough, surprising and even shocking, flirty and fun, but never boring.
Not being really that exposed to punk culture myself though I expressed my admiration by trying every single perfume of hers.
And look now! New perfume called Naughty Alice is almost hitting shelfs of the beauty stores! Besides that it is an amazing marketing strategy, Naughty Alice has the most adorable bottle design and extremely appealing composition, including black rose, violet, ylang-ylang and musk.


I pray that it smells as good as it looks!
Mark your lust-have lists!:)

Viva festivals! Indulge in the book world where writers read and readers write!

This is the third design of a bookmark I made recently.
All three cuties are going to Ashe county at North Carolina to be donated to the "On the Same Page" Literary Festival!
You haven't heard of it?!
Come on, you still have time to register!
Join the festival's page to read about the program and see the list of events: www.onthesamepagefestival.org
Daniel Wallace (Yep, so notoriously famous "Big Fish", it's his!) will be there, so why won't you? ;)

 

More bookmarks!

YEah, now for real! Within a half on an hour I came up with three awesome designs for metallic bookmarks, which are becoming more and more popular.
Truly, everything new is well forgotten old! Bookmarks like these used to be so ordinary in the XIX century, and now they are getting a new life, again fashionable and so irresistable!

 

Reading time!

See what I’ve just made: new deLlLicious bookmarks for a good literature admirers!

I love,love,love to work with copper! This tender combination of cold, peachy, orange and brownish colors is so nice, so smooth!

MAgic of illustration

My dear friend showed me these illustrations for some children's magazine made by Igor Oleinikov.
I looked at them, then again, then again trying to capture every detail and discover what is hidden behind the shades and a colorful fog.
Truly, this is the perfect example, when you realize the difference between very nice and absolutely whimsical!














Aren't they AMAZING?!

You can see more here:
Cool Illustrations For a Children’s Magazine

Raining at Chapel Hill

It has been raining for a very short while, however it feels as it has been raining, raining and raining for the whole week.
I don’t want to get used to rains again. Sunny Chapel Hill exhausts by heat and humidity, that’s true. But never this little town has been known for week-long rains. Hopefully it won’t in future.
Despite all the gobal warming horror going on in the media, I cherish the hope that although Earth constantly changes through billions of years, there will be no another ice age or something like it any time soon.
Bad weather calls for a good movie and excellent indian or ceylon tea, though I can’t afford neither of them at the moment.
Wish that you can:)



Picture by lastminutesave

Cloud mania in the middle of the summer

Do you remember what I told you before about the bird obsession flooded the handmade market Etsy couple of months ago?
Haha, a new star is coming to the town! - Clouds!
If you don't believe me just go to Etsy-jewelry and type "clouds". You will be up-ended by millions of " visible mass of droplets ... suspended in the atmosphere" hanging there!
Now the best of the best - one-of-a-kind multimedia pieces. Every single one shown here has a unique character, and an original designer specific look:


Links to the items: freeforged, DanaCastle, thisilk, Laladesignstudio, 6shadowsjewelry, bonheur, MisoPretty, smileforsuzy, yeahimgroovy, BlackWaterSiren, yasminellis, thebirdsofafeather

Don't you want a cloud on your ears already?:))

There are several classical ways to make a cloud in the jewelry world: to wrap wire in coils with or without soldering, cut the cloud shape from a metal sheet or make it with metal polymer clay. I could not resist the possibility to show you some really sweet examples:



Links to the items: LichenAndLychee, bethtastic, TheAngryWeather, maryandjane, passionflower, Epheriell, hartleystudio, Joannarutter, Shoogi.

However, the most popular way to make a cloud jewelry is to buy a cloud charm/link/focal component, for example here, then to add some cute embellishments (or not) and sell. Although I absolutely love some of the designers' interpretations this way is less beneficial for them, since there can be so many repetitions:



Links to the items:
amyfine, EliceShop, joojooland, marikaking, BeaucoupBandit, Beadsforpeace, boutiquepinkdiamond, Shoogi, FleurAvenue

Well,the trend is obvious!
Now it is up to you to decide, if it's gonna rain today;)

A luxurious present and the best mood uplifter

Ah I can not keep this to myself!
I have got something special for my own birthday. And yes and yes – this is a jewelry gift and it has a fab stone in it :))
when I was in Yerevan (the capital of Armenia) my friends showed me “Vernisage”, the local market with art, modern and vintage jewelry, stones, silver wear and etc.
I've certainly got some amazing things there, which I am going to present little by little, as soon as I get time to make pictures/jewelry/description of them.
This piece stands apart from others, because I did not buy it as a gift or a supply material. I saw it and selfishly told myself: “Ok, this masterpiece is for me.” :))
These silver filigree earrings enclose two beautiful faceted rubellite stones, the most valuable type of tourmaline.
This is an astonishing gorgeous stone, which can be found at Madagascar, Ceylon, Mid Ural and California. Keep it in mind next time you go to any of those places.
Maybe you'll find a nice deal for a jewelry piece with magnificent rubellite!
As for me, I LOVE mine!

I will be back, oh yes!

Once again I have discovered the truthfullness of the life duality.
There is nothing more exciting and interesting than travelling.
There is nothing more exhausting and unhappy than travelling.
I met wonderful people, saw miraculous places, and bought a lot of beautiful beads and other souvenirs.
I missed my beloved ones terribly, got fed up with churches and site-seeing, and lost/broke a few of my favorite things.
Also there are way less pictures than I ought to make in my electronic baggage. I know some people document everything they see and feel, so many months and years later they still can feed their imagination with bright glimpses of those memories.
As for me the process of photographing all surroundings takes a lot out from the real-time feelings. I can not enjoy the night breeze at the seaside or breathing in wet air at the top of the mountain in the clouds, can not be right then and right there.
I guess this is very personal and can go different ways.
So!...I'm finishing my 2 month long trip to Russia, Ukraine andArmenia and going back to U.S.
There will be an exciting though painful move to Washington DC, a lot of research and routine work, and hopefully a bit of time for myself and so delightful beading!
BTW I even tried to play piano again, hehe :)))

Vacation plans - shop will be closed for 2 months

Hey there!
Sorry if this comes as a late notice, but things are speeding up, and I barely have time to fill up my calendar for a day!))
Two's Ruse jewelry shop at Etsy will be temporary closed for two months starting at May 11 2010.
I'll hopefully be back after July 15 and will most definitely bring lots of new gems,and beads, and all sorts of treasuries from the trip!
Meanwhile my handpainted modern art stylized earrings have finally made it to the Etsy pages, several new pieces can't wait to be photographed, and one special deal is about to be posted!
Stay with me at www.TwosRuse.Etsy.com and be first to know!!!

Hope you are all excited about upcoming Mother's Day- I am for sure! ;)))

Kisses, Maria.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhonel

Trip to the mountains

Ohhh, the trip to the mountains this weekend was so reviving!
I got so many beautiful pictures and had such a splendid time!..Spring blossoms and dry fresh air are the best!

Nest pendants attack!

You know it became popular to make birds nests pendants these days. And Easter is not the last reason. First, it’s plain cute. Little teeny-tiny colorful or pearly eggs in a puffy wire wrapped nest look very delicate and adorable. Second, birds has been always a beloved theme of all indie oriented people. Here are some alluring examples from Etsy:

by GracensDesigns

by ssbphoto

by MDsparks

However, what once was an “awwwwww”-inspiring trick now transforms to an dangerous obsession. Birds and nests are everywhere (sometimes it’s “all-in-one-pot” with skulls, chandeliers and flowers as well) , and nobody escaped this crazy birdesque mania, nobody. Me too :)
However, the “nest” I made apparently has to come with a 16-page explanation. Here is a list of the most popular questions asked by people who saw “Two’s ruse” Nest pendant:
Why is there only a one egg?..
Why is this egg octahedral?!
What is that orange stuff around the nest?
Eeehhh...What IS This?.....
Dear friends, The answer to all of them is simple, as Hermitian conjugations in the quantum physics.
I didn’t mean to make a nest, frankly speaking.
But somehow..on a deep subconscious level.. the bird idea nested in my mind, and instead of a drop wire wrapped pendant I created a weird gold nest with one octahedral egg and a bright orange halo. What can I say,“ be special, be different”, right?.. :))

Tags: etsy, nest pendants, birds, jewelry

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More Family Gifts!

This time - garnets and gold for my grandma!

My roses sail to East Europe

In between the crazy spring days full of work, parties and unbearable warmth of the Chapel Hill Weather, I managed to start making gifts for my Russian family members.

This Necklace is a true cosmopolit. It has stones and beads of all kinds with my handmade shiny sopper swirls and a gorgeous Rose Pendant.

I made it for my dear aunt, although I suspect as soon as my mom sees it she will want the one exactly like this one. ohhh, those sisters!.. They may grow up, get kids and etc., but their jealousy never ages ;)))

Tags: design ideas, gifts