Arctida Celebrates 300 Sales on Etsy!

Woohoo! I've reached the 300 sales mark in my Etsy Store today! *picture me making a happy dance here* :) Thank you so much to all of my awesome customers who allow me to do what I love and love what I do! 100-200 sales took just over a year and 200-300 less than 10 months! I'm hoping 400 sales will come sooner than I think. Wish me luck!

The 300th sale was my Lemon Quartz wire wrapped in oxidized sterling silver *Eliza* earrings! For sale in my Arctida, ArtFire, DaWanda and Etsy shop.

Désirée - Vampire jewelry red necklace Ruby Garnet red Spinel in oxidized sterling silver. Handmade gothic costume cosplay jewellery by Arctida

 Seems like today’s youth is obsessed with vampires; the movies, the TV-shows and the books! Anywhere you look there are VAMPIRES flashing their fangs at you :) And off course the premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, which makes me so excited because I’m a huge fan of vampires too!

So I decided to combine my two biggest interests - Jewelry design and Digital Art. A jewelry peace fitting for a hot and sexy vamp girl and off course a real vampire model :) So here is what I ended up with:

 

 I had that classical vampire in mind when I made this: pale skin, red, blood-thirsty eyes, porcelain-white teeth, dark, red lips and a gothic feel in all. The necklace symbolizes drops of blood running down the neck, right after being bitten by a vampire... Guess my model is going to turn into a night child now ;)

 

Désirée - for sale in my Arctida and Etsy shop

Morticia - Black feathers earrings in Sterling Silver. Handmade gothic jewelry costume cosplay jewellery by Arctida

Halloween!
Soon lots of witches, ghost, zombies and famous characters from movies will gather all around town, go trick or treating, scaring each other and compete in costume contests! Once a year you get to see your friends in a whole different way, funny or scary, either way you have lots of fun! and seeing all the kids dressed as Frankenstein’s monster, tiny ghosts and princesses, is such a cute sight!

My sister told me about a book, where the girl makes her own costume for Halloween, by making wings out of faux feathers and painting them black. With a black dress and her wings she became something of a ”crow-queen”. That story inspired me to make a pair of crow feather-earrings (well my earrings are made out of black rooster feathers, but you get the idea!) perfect for any respectable witch on Halloween :)

Just like my previous feather design (Diana - Guinea Hen feathers earrings) I had to make them big and bold in order to be seen underneath that pointy hat that any respectable witch have to wear :) I chose different lengths, sizes and shapes of black feathers, combined them into a 3D shape and wrapped with sterling silver wire. Afterwords I attached my feather clusters to sterling silver lever-backs to make them more comfortable to wear. and ta-da my second design for feather earrings is born :)

 Morticia - for sale in my Arctida and Etsy shop

Diana - Guinea Hen fowl feathers earrings in Sterling Silver. Handmade ethnic tribal design jewelry by Arctida

You know those big Native American headdresses? With long feathers, giving that majestic and wise look?

Most of the time the feathers came from eagles, but crow and hawk feathers were also used. But the eagle was the most significant source of feathers, and the warriors of many tribes had eagle feathers in their headdresses, symbolizing the accomplishments in battle.

The feathers were not only used to show status among the people in the tribes, they were also used as ornaments in clothes and plain decoration, like the dream catcher (The dream catcher were originally made to protect the sleeping children of nightmares; the bad dreams would get caught in the web of the dream catcher and be gone by the morning.). They were also used for ceremonial and religious causes, and what kind and how many feathers a person wore could tell a lot about him. The Indian chief always had more feathers in his headdress than anyone else had in the tribe.

Today people still use feathers, like decorations, hair-extensions, necklaces and earrings in many lengths and colors. Perhaps they don’t have any religious meaning and won’t point out an important individual, but they are still an important accent of one’s style.

and how can one not get inspired by all those different textures, colors and patterns that feathers have?! That exactly what happened to me :) When I saw the pretty polka dot Guinea Hen feathers for the first time I just had to make something! In order to show all the beauty of Guinea Hen feathers it had to be big, statement-like piece of jewelry.While working with the feathers I realized that they have two different kind of patterns. Big and bold white dotted feathers and feathers with smaller dots and lighter background. I decided to mix them both to get a sort of balance, the way they look in the nature. I chose several different lengths of the feathers, combined them into 3D shape and wire wrapped them with sterling silver wire. Afterwords I attached my feather clusters to sterling silver lever-backs to make them more comfortable to wear.

So here come my first design with feathers, I think they came out very pretty, don't you guys? :)

Diana - for sale in my Arctida, ArtFire and Etsy shop

Ruby - the July Birthstone

A Ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, and it is one of the most expensive gemstones. It is a variety of the mineral corundum (Aluminium Oxide), ranked third in hardness after diamond and moissanite. The presence of the element chromium is what mainly causing the red color in Rubies. Any other color than red in gem-quality corundum classifies it as sapphire.

Large rubies are extremely rare and more expensive than diamonds. So in recent years it has become more and more popular with artificial lab grown Rubies (corundum), which in contrast to natural gemstones are perfectly transparent, have solid color, large size, absence of cracks and foreign inclusions. In Rubies the most important feature is the color, the transparency (unlike diamonds) is only of secondary importance and inclusions are usually considered as a proof of its authenticity and natural origin. Ruby changes color every 1000 years and reaches its full perfection only after 7000 years!

Ruby has been the most popular gemstone for thousands of years. It symbolizes love and passion, and believed to promote friendship. Ruby is a stone of power, strength and vibrant energy force. Genuine Ruby protects against evil spells, chases away depression and warns its owner of impending danger by changing hues. This is a magical gemstone that is associated with the mysteries of the World Beyond.

My jewelry pieces with Rubies that are currently for sale:

 Eliza - for sale in my Arctida, ArtFire, DaWanda and Etsy shop

 

Pandeia - for sale in my Arctida, ArtFire, DaWanda and Etsy shop

 

Leia - Bridal white Keshi pearls earrings in Argentium sterling silver. Handmade wedding jewelry by Arctida

For not so long ago I’ve made a pair of earrings for a friend’s wedding. She wanted to have simple, sophisticated, modern pearl earrings different from classic design of bridal pearls. She thought that they should be easy to wear, discreet and match almost everything so that she can use them more then just on her wedding day.

So I came up with these... Getting jewellery that matches the dress, the hair and the flowers can be difficult, and like in this case, it shouldn’t take to much attention. A pair of bridal earrings should give the bride a hint of her own *flavor*, describe her personality, the earrings should be an ingredient that spices things up! (IMHO) These earrings are for the bride that wants a bit more, not just a simple design. Nothing on the human body is symmetrical, just like these Keshi pearls. That’s why they give that interesting and eye catching look, but are still subtle and not too outstanding. Perfect for a wedding, where bride wants all eyes on her, not just the dress, the jewelry, the flowers or the arrangement. Because after all the bride is the main attraction, don't you agree :)

Leia - for sale in my Arctida, ArtFire, DaWanda and Etsy shop

 

Chronos - Chainmaille mens bracelet oxidized blackened solid Sterling Silver. Handmade chainmail jewellery for Men by Arctida

Father’s day is approaching fast which gave me a chance to extend my men’s jewelry collection. I’m continuing to explore Chainmaille and I cannot stop :) There so many waves and possibilities to connect those rings! And the result looks so differently with each wave! Also once the bracelet is oxidized and polished it gets that typical *male* look but while it is still pure silver it looks more feminine (IMHO).

So here are my latest two waves that I tried, the bracelets have been oxidized to give them a more masculine look. These are substantial, weighty and masculine pieces of jewelry for everyday apparel or a special occasion. They create a statement yet they are more flexible than a solid metal bangle.

For sale in my Arctida, ArtFire, DaWanda and Etsy shop.

Chain maille is an ancient art of weaving together individual rings to create simple and elegant jewelry. Each sterling silver ring is hand coiled, hand cut, and polished smooth by me before weaving the bracelet, heavily oxidizing and again polishing to a high shine. It’s finished with a simple lobster clasp for easy, secure fastening.

Alina - Golden Rutilated Quartz necklace wire wrapped 14K gold filled. Handmade bohemian chic style jewellery by Arctida.

One of my most favorite semiprecious gemstones to work with and to wear is Golden Rutilated Rutile Quartz. It looks like a frozen drop of water with small bars of imbedded gold. And when the light hits it just right all that gold explodes with tons of sparkles! oh and did you know what one of the names for Golden Rutilated Quartz is Venus Hair Stone. The name is based on a beautiful legend. There was once Venus, goddess of love bathed in mountain springs. Having lost a lock of her golden hair, she returned to pick it up. But the time is a relative thing, what on Mount Olympus were only a few moments, on Earth were several months! The winter came and the water in the spring along with the hair was frozen. They looked so beautiful in the frozen water, so Venus decided to leave her wonderful hair, but turned the ice into a transparent stone first (from the Greek. "kristallus - ice) so that no one can take the hair of the goddess. And ever since that time people have found a clear crystal that holds the divine hair  of Venus. No wonder that gem is so beautiful! How can one not love the gem containg hair from the Goddess of Love?!

I already have earrings with Rutile Quartz for sale and thought why not make it a set, so here comes my new Golden Rutilated Quartz necklace wire wrapped 14K gold filled.

For sale in my Arctida, ArtFire, DaWanda and Etsy shop.

 

 

 

Matching earrings for sale in my Arctida, ArtFire, DaWanda and Etsy shop.

It’s my Birthday ya'll :)

I should start by mentioning this isn’t a “big” birthday year. I don’t celebrate my Sweet 16 or have my first legal drink. I´m not turning the BIG 5-0 or hitting my retirement age of 67 (in Sweden). It’s a random birthday, a random age… yet I'm so excited! :)

 Oh, and I’m not telling you what age exactly, cause I’m vain I tell ya, vaaaain :) 

 

  So Happy Birthday to me and Happy Sunday to ya all :)  

xoxoxo Alecia

Key to my Heart asymmetric necklace - Vintage Retro Ornate Skeleton Key and Labradorite wire wrapped in oxidized blackened sterling silver - Steampunk Gothic Victorian chic style jewellery by Arctida

As many of you know, I’m a scientist at my day job which makes me a nerd or a geek whatever you prefer :) One of the hottest trends right now in geek culture is something known as steampunk. (Think of the works of H.G. Wells, Jules Verne and more recently, books like The Difference Engine.)

Steampunk fashion romanticizes the Victorian age. The books tend to gloss over the low points of the last century and focus on the fun aspects (dirigibles, items made of shiny brass, goggles, explorer’s and top hats, skeleton keys, Egyptology and steam-driven machines).

Being a hand-maker and an amateur photographer I couldn’t stay away from Steampunk and just had to try making something myself :) So here is the result: Key to my Heart asymmetric necklace featuring a genuine vintage skeleton key attached to a handcrafted chain made of oxidized sterling silver and Labradorite rondelles.

For sale in my ArtFire and Etsy shop.

 

My biggest accomplishment however is not the necklace but the costume shot of my model (my little sister) above. The ensemble was assembled by me and most of the parts are vintage clothing (except of the corset). The top hat being the oldest and dating back to 18th century Paris!

 

So the next step would be is gathering my courage and maybe attend the actual Steampunk convention! Who knows, right :)