Arctida Celebrates 100 Sales on Etsy!

I was so excited to see that I reached the 100 sales mark in my Etsy Store yesterday! Yay! :) Thank you so much to all of my awesome customers who allow me to do what I love and love what I do! I'm hoping 200 sales will come sooner than I think. Wish me luck! :)

The 100th sale was my wire wrapped Tree of Life necklace in Copper and Peridot!

and as it seems, my Tree of Life necklace becoming my best seller, I decided to introduce another variation in Sterling Silver and Peridot.... Ta Da! :)

Pandoras Beauty - Fine Art Nature Photography - Abstract Succulent Closeup

I have finally seen James Cameron's Avatar movie and I was completely blown away! Not by the story (obviously) but by the whole new world what is pictured there. It reminded me a lot the Pandora planet from Soviet Science Fiction writers brothers Strugatsky books but I won’t go into that now :) Anyway that computer animated world has given me a lot of ideas and I think I’m going to make a whole collection dedicated to Pandora planet.

So here is the first piece :) Ta da… Pandoras Beauty - a macro shot of a Succulent plant. It looks almost like something living in Pandora's forests...


oh and I found my earlier piece that could have been from the same forest, what do you think? :)

My NEW Handmade Luxury Collection - Solid 18K and 14K Gold handforged jewelry with high quality Gemstones

I’ve been working with solid gold for a couple of years now, mostly 18K as 14K is not that popular here in Sweden and almost always as a custom orders. But I think the time has come for me to finally start making my "own" creations in solid Gold. So here comes my first two pieces...

Eos - Smokey Quartz, Citrine and Solid 18K Yellow Gold Earrings

Calypso - Sky Blue Topaz, Citrine and Solid 18K Yellow Gold Earrings

Wire Wrapped and Handforged Rings - My first attempt in Copper and Gold Filled

I have finally bought ring mandrel! Yay :) So here are my first attempts at making wire wrapped rings. The first one is classical spiral ring in Gold Filled.


The second one is an improvisation of the spiral ring. I tried to make a Rose in copper :)


The third one is a very simple adjustable triple band men's ring in Gold Filled. The ring has been hammered for texture.


I've also made a couple of rings that are more complicated and have Gemstones incorporated in them. I'll be posting pictures here very soon :) So stay tuned...

Alina - Natural Intense Electric Cerulean Blue Fire Flash Labradorite and Antiqued Silver Wire Wrapped earrings

When I started making gemstone jewelry my favourite shape of the gems was micro-faceted drop shaped briolettes. I still like them but now days it seems that I’m only buying smooth polished briolettes of different colored gemstones. I love the way their buttery surface catch the light with tons of sparkle. So here are my latest beauties: Alina - Intense electric cerulean blue fire flash Labradorite and oxidized sterling silver wire wrapped earrings.

And here are the rest of "Alina" series part of my "Minimalisme" collection

Champagne Citrine and Gold filled

Pink Amethyst and oxidized sterling silver

Golden Rutile Quartz and Gold filled

Champagne Citrine and oxidized sterling silver

My First Tutorial - Tree of Life Wire Wrapped Pendant Step by Step Jewelry Instruction

My first wire wrapped jewelry tutorial is finally finished! Yay! *Happy dance* I knew it’ll be hard to make something for the first time but this hard?! It took me for ever to finish it! Anyway it is done and I hope you guys will enjoy it! :)

*********************************************************************************
The concept of a many-branched tree symbolizes that all life on Earth is related and has been used in science, religion, philosophy, mythology and other areas. It could represent a mystical concept of the oneness in all things, a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionary sense, and a motif in various world theologies, mythologies and philosophies.

This is the first tutorial in my series of up and coming tutorials for the wire jewelry artists. With this tutorial you will learn how to make my version of classical Tree of Life pendant using wire and various gems and beads. No soldering required! Although it is described as an intermediate project, the tutorial contains so much detail that any level of enthusiast is able to make the piece.

Pele - Modern Handforged Sterling Silver Leaf Hooks earrings with Genuine Black Lava Cubes

Here is another try of the new materials for my Tribal collection.

~Pele~
Tempestuous Pele is the goddess of the Volcano, with all its power and capriciousness. In ancient Hawaiian chants, she was described as “She-who-shapes-the-sacred-land” and her temper was known to be both as abundant and dangerous as the lava.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Striking Black Lava beads hang on hand forged, slightly textured and polished sterling silver ear wires. The total length is just under 1 ¾ inches long (~ 44 mm). The cubes measure ~ 10x10 mm.

Iredale - Modern Handforged Asymmetric Hoops Sterling Silver earrings with Genuine Cowry Sea Shells

I’m continuing to explore different materials and here is the latest creation in more of the primitive, organic and ethnic looking style for my Tribal collection.

Beautiful Genuine Cowry Sea Shells hang on hand forged, slightly textured and polished sterling silver hoops. The total length is just under 2 inches long (~ 50 mm). The shells measure ~ 22x12 mm.

The name of the earrings is originated from the Latin name of these beautiful Cowry seashell - Cypraea hesitate Iredale

My Coiled Jewelry - Wire Wrapped and Handforged Sterling Silver, Copper and Gold Filled Jewelry with high quality Gemstones

Another mosaic made with Flickr toys :) This selection incorporates some of my coiled jewelry.


Most of them can be found in my Etsy shop or made to order.

Monday Moodboard - Autumnal Beauty

To celebrate the beautiful colors of Autumn, here is my first "Monday Moodboard" selection :)

1. Orange burst felted scarf/shawl by JaneBoFelt
2. Burrito on Salad 1/12 miniature by PetitPlat
3. Tutti Frutti bracelet by Staroftheeast
4. Harvest bag by JuliaFelt

How's your mood today? For more moodboards, please visit Fleur Fatale's blog