Q & A

This flower is in my porch basket. I love it, but I do not know what it is. A friend of mine is asking as she wants it too. If anybody knows, let us know, please!

Friday Gift Guide

Summer is on its way out and starting to miss many flowers... New collection of floral gift ideas by Irina will help to deal with the loss :) 

There are only few samples of what you can fin in our new Gift Guide. Visit it to discover more ideas!

My gems. Enameled "stone" that a friend of mine gave me

When my virtual friend Irina Belinskaya sent me a gift that she made for me (you can read here about it), she also included this enameled piece. This is something very Russian that people buy when they go there as tourists. Russian people themselves also like it and wear filigree jewelry with enamel a lot. 

When I unpackaged my gift, some packaging paper fell out and was picked up by my dog. I am glad Irina mentioned that there was something for me for jewelry making! I started searching and found this:

New jewelry in my online shop

Cute dainty necklace with a natural pearl

Maple leaf pendant necklace

Fluorite flower earrings

Maple leaf donat necklace, sterling silver, 24k, pearls

Copper bracelet with a white bronze maple leaf charm

How to clean your jewelry at home and save money

When we buy jewelry it is all shiny and sparkly. Then time passes by and we realize that it needs cleaning. What should we do? Maybe take it to a jeweler? This is an option. However, there are a few ways that you can try at home, so you do not have to go anywhere and spend your time and money.

Lucky charm bracelet, sterling silver

Make sure you are keeping your jewelry in a jewelry box. The pieces should not touch each other to avoid scratching. Scratches cannot always be removed easily (you might be surprised how much it could cost you, depending on the job!) Keeping jewelry in Ziploc bags is maybe not fancy, but that protects your silver jewelry from tarnishing. (This is how I keep jewelry that I make for sale).

If you have silver without stones or silver with hard stones (agate, jasper, garnet, diamond, ruby, topaz, sapphire, quartz - to name most common), the best way to clean it as follows:

Take a china, a plastic or a glass bowl and line it with a piece of aluminum foil. Put your jewelry in, add some baking soda (not too little) and pour boiling water over it. Leave it there for 30 seconds. Then get rid of water and look at your jewelry. Do it again if needed, then rinse.

I would not do it if my jewelry had pearls, coral, turquoise, amber, glass stones (crystals, rhinestones, etc.)  or other soft or porous stones in it. Instead do it a little bit differently. Mix baking soda and toothpaste 50/50. Apply the mixture onto your piece, avoiding touching the stones and leave it over night. Then use soft toothbrush to clean it and then rinse it. 

Diamonds can be cleaned with ammonia. Just let them soak in 4 parts of water + 1 part of ammonia for 15 minutes. Then use a soft toothbrush if needed.

Gold jewelry can be cleaned with the white vinegar if the stones are hard. Soak it in the white vinegar for 15 minutes, then use a soft toothbrush if needed and then rinse.

Pearls, turquoise, coral and glass stones can be washed with a piece of damp soft cloth and soap. Do not soak them!

There is also a type of jewelry that cannot be cleaned by brushing or soaking at all. I give this ring as a sample. It is inlaid with cold enamel. For jewelry like this you may use only jewelry polishing cloth that you can purchase at a jewelry supply store (it is inexpensive and you will use for a long time for any of your jewelry, gold or silver)

Wide sterling silver ring with a squirrel ornament and black enamel

I hope these simple tips will help you to keep most of your jewelry clean without spending any money!

Monday Jewelry Quote

Australian opalised fossil shell necklace, sterling silver

Home Decoration Ideas

I have not looked outside today yet, but I do not need to do it anymore to know that it is fresh August morning, just like in new Anna's collection. It gave me the exact feeling that I got yesterday when I went out to water my flower baskets... cool morning. Autumn is on its way...

To discover what else the featured shops have, visit the Guide's interactive page.

How to take a photo that sells

Today is my Eye Candy Day, when I find something in Etsy, something extraordinary that is made of beads. Svetlana Dubinsky makes lots of very very nice beaded jewelry. Her pictures are also very very nice, so nice, that you cannot pass by them. For example, this picture of her earrings! Aren't they the sweetest earrings ever? :)

Swarovski crystal earrings by Svetlana Dubinsky

Autumn Gift Ideas

Autumn is coming... really? Does not feel like Autumn yet. At least here. Does it feel like it at your place?  New Irina's collection of the gift ideas will give you that feeling for sure! Thank you for the reminder, Irina! :)

Colors of Autumn curated by Irina on Etsy

(you will find a lot more finds if you visit the collection)

Charoite for an Art Nouveau pendant

This stone is charoite and it takes its name from the river Chara in Russia. This is the only place it was found. As I've heard everything that could be taken had been taken out of the mine. Funny enough I tried to buy some charoite while I was in Russia for a trip, as I thought it would be cheaper there (Australian opal and Australian chrisoprase was cheaper in Australia!). Well, Russian charoite is more expensive in Russia than anywhere else! Go figure... So I bought mine on ebay :) (the color in the picture is not quite right, it looks a bit darker here than in real life).

The shape is nice, but rather unusual. I thought it would fit an organic Art Nouveau design.