When I have a log cabin in a forest by a lake...

... it will be full of cool handmade wooden art pieces: furniture and decorative details... like this clock, that I could not pass by without placing it into my blog... Should I say an "eye candy"? Well, it is for me :)

Reed Hansuld's furniture

That would be wonderful, if the house had only interesting furniture in, like this table, for instance. I can only dream...

Virtual Wish List. Heron sculpture.

I love herons and keep finding more :)  This sculpture by Lynn Eva Skoog is also a secret ring box. Very clever idea!

Virtual Wish List. Ceramics by Anya Stasenko and Slava Leontiev

I had this Sky Tortoise in my folder of pictures for a while... I have never seen ceramics like this in person. This is just an outstanding piece! The authors have more works like this in their web-site. Go have a look if you like things like this. You won't be disappointed!

Eye Candy Cake

Yes, the whole cake! Not just one little eye candy :)

International Association of Designers Art-Biser has finished accepting new works for their ANKARS contest. The winners are not chosen yet. However all participating works are available for viewing in their web-site!

Canadian ammolite

I have not shown any of my gems for a while. I am fixing it right now! This is one of the ammolites that I got on ebay. I noticed it when the price was unaffordable for me. Time passed and nobody bought it. The price went down... Considerably! Lucky me! 

The stone is not as bright as in the picture. If you've seen ammolites before, you probably know what I mean. However, it is a very nice ammolite with nice blue colours in it. My preciousss :)

Virtual wish list. Stained glass.

We are thinking of changing our door. We have too much glass around it. "It would be nice to have a small stained glass window above the door", - my husband said.

Hm... stained glass? Off online I go :)

Wow! Yeah... stained glass... (Not going to happen...)

Liebster Blog Award

Katerina from St.Apple Creations has nominated me for the Liebster Blog Award. That was a nice Surprise! Wow, somebody actually reads my blog! I am very flattered! :)

What's the Liebster Award

It's an award for (mostly) up and coming bloggers with 200 -or less-  followers that is given by fellow bloggers.

The rules

• List 11 random facts about yourself.
• Answer the 11 questions provided by the blogger who nominated you.
• Nominate other bloggers for the award who have 200 followers or less.
• Create 11 questions for your nominees to answer.
• Notify the nominees of their nomination (of course!)

11 random facts about myself...

1) I am a Russian-Canadian jeweler and I do my best to show that in my works.
2) I do not like cooking, but I appreciate it.
3) I am a mom to one child and three dogs.
4) I thought I was a workaholic, but life proved otherwise :)
5) I wish I had time for reading... I brought many books from Russia...
6) I know how to make many craftsy things that I have no intention making.
7) The idea for me to become a jeweler belongs to my husband (my big thank you to him!)
8) I like getting up early.
9) I have no preference in music.
10) I do not remember when I went to see a movie last time (unfortunately)
11)  Husky puppies have blue eyes, wag their tales and happy to see me. Too bad, I cannot keep them all :)

11 answers to Katerina's questions:

1. If you were a super hero what powers would you have?  - I would like to be able to stretch the time. I really need it! :) Maybe... 48 hours instead of 24? Oh, let me at least dream about it! :) 
2. What type of holidays do you prefer? - I like visiting other cities/countries... nature parks and museums... Come to a hotel to sleep, then get up and go see more :)
   
3. If you could go back in time to change one thing that would that be? - I would not drop out of my art school when I was 10y.o. (However,  you are too kind, suggesting that I would need to change only one thing... :) If I get a time machine, I will be busy for a while, going back and fixing my mistakes... )
   
4. Sunrises or sunsets? - Sunrise! It means the day is starting and there are so many wonderful things are about to happen!
   
5. Would you rather trade some intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence? - Looks for intelligence! :)) I am so pretty, I can afford to trade some of my prettiness for the extra intelligence :))
6. What would you ask your future self if you had the chance? - I would ask to show me my future works :) (Lazy me)
   
7. Do you collect anything? - Not at the moment. I used to collect cards with horses in them. Soviet time New Year's cards with horses were very pretty!
   
8. Are you craftsy? - Of course!
9. What historical period would you like to live in if you could go back in time? - 1960-s.
10. Which fictional character do you wish was real? - Hm... Mr.Wonka :)) together with his chocolate factory, of course! 
11. What is your family Christmases like? - It is a family dinner, nothing special... yet... but that might change... :) Maybe we shall start celebrating two Christmases a year... The Russian Christmas is still coming on the 7th of January! Merry Christmas, Russia!

11 Questions to the nominees

1. When was the last time you've learned something new?
2. If you were going to write a book, what would it be about?  
3. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
4. When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
5. What do you do for fun?
6. Is there a place where you would like to go even though you know you never will?
7. If you could go back in history, who would you like to meet?
8. Who in your life has influenced you the most?
9. What do you like best about yourself?
10. If you could try out any job for a day, what would you like to try?
11. If you could learn one random skill, what would you learn?

 I nominate:

Shawna Barnes / Rose from Silly Little Sheep's Blog / Liz Williams / Myriam from Mimi Matelot /  Andrea Shepherd /  Irina from Angel of Darkness /  Irina Belinskaya /  Sandy from Scrollwork /  Cindy from Earth Mother Mosaics / Life in Macro / 

My well forgotten hobby

 

I want to share something while winter is still here. This is a letter that I painted and wrote to my husband when I stayed in Russia for a few month a few years ago. I did not have much to do there and had lots of free time :)  

It is good I did that, though... I forgot that I could paint something like this... Maybe I will find my watercolours and brushes... and paint something... It is not like I have a lot of free time again... not at all! :) but it is easy to do when my son is sleeping... Jewellery making is noisy, but painting with watercolours isn't :)

I have found an unused page with the same pattern, but in purple color. Now it is for sale as a printable page <click here>

On the front page of Etsy in Europe!

 

Not much to add :) My square necklace has been making an appearance for a few hours at night on the European Etsy front page :)