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 :)))