Eliza - Ruby necklace wire wrapped in 14K gold filled. Handmade gemstone jewelry by Arctida.

The July is here and because Ruby is a July birthstone I thought an addition to my Ruby jewelry collection can be a nice idea :) So here comes my latest Ruby necklace wire wrapped in 14K gold filled. It is also happened to be a matching necklace to my Ruby earrings what have been one of my bestselling earrings.

Eliza - for sale in my Arctida shop 

Marina - Blue Kyanite and Lapis lazuli earrings in oxidized sterling silver. Handmade wire wrapped jewelry by Arctida.

The July is just around the corner and we are still waiting for the *real* summer here in Sweden. It has been very cold and rainy June and I cant wait for my vacation to start so that me and my family can finally fly to Greece, Yay! I'm longing for the beautiful warm sea and lazy afternoons under the sun on the beach... and so while I'm waiting (its only a couple of weeks left) I've made a pair of earrings inspired by the Mediterranean sea :)

So here is my new creation: Marina - Kyanite and Lapis lazuli earrings wire wrapped in oxidized sterling silver.

 

Marina - for sale in my Arctida, DaWanda and Etsy shop

Nebula - Labradorite necklace in sterling silver. Handmade wire wrapped jewelry by Arctida.

Here comes my latest custom order. This lovely customer was inspired by my swirly jewelry and wanted her own version. I chose a round Labradorite bead with an amazing teal blue and green color-play and wire wrapped it on a handmade (by me) sterling silver frame. The Labradorite bead reminded me a Nebula somewhere in the distant part of our Universe, hence the name of the necklace.

If you are interested of ordering a piece designed just for you, feel free to contact me :)

Violante - Amethyst and Pearls asymmetric lariat necklace in Sterling Silver. Handmade boho chic jewelry by Arctida.

Here comes another custom order necklace. This time it was a variation of my *Violante* necklace but the customer wanted to use her own gray colored pearls instead of peach ones. I've used sturdier chain because the main Pink Amethyst is bigger and there are more of the Amethyst rondelles and pearls in this version. I love the way grey pearls give an illusion of much *colder* shade of soft lilac in this variation even though I've used the same Amethysts as before.

 

If you are interested of ordering a piece designed just for you, feel free to contact me :)

Ituralde - Apatite Peridot earrings in sterling silver. Handmade boho chic jewelry by Arctida

I just wanted to show you my latest custom order. The customer wanted her own version of my *Ituralde* earrings, the same color palette but slightly different design so what they won't be an exact copy. She gave me completely free hands and here is what I came up with :)

The new *Ituralde* features lime green Peridots and 2 shades of teal and turquoise blue Apatites wire wrapped in sterling silver.

 

If you are interested of ordering a piece designed just for you, feel free to contact me :)

Odaia - Fine silver jewelry Keshi pearl earrings. Handmade artisan jewelry by Arctida

As I mentioned earlier, lately I've been working a lot with PMC (Precious Metal Clay). I love working with PMC, it is such a versatile medium, there no limits of what you can do with it :) and it is mainly composed of recycled silver particles so it feels good to make something Eco-friendly. I have tons of projects in my head and in my sketchbook so I’ll be posting more pieces in the near future.

So here is my latest creation - Fine silver earrings with Keshi pearls (Keishi pearls).

  

Oh and on this picture you get a glimpse on the working process, this is the fine silver ovals during *production* :)

 

Odaia - for sale in my Arctida and Etsy shop  

For more of my pmc fine silver jewelry click here

DIY Cold Process Swirl Soap Tutorial

Spoon swirling is a very simple technique with a big impact. In this tutorial, I will show you exactly how easy it is to create this soap using spoon and two colors.

Ingridients:
Olive Oil ~ 7.9 oz (225 g)
Coconut Oil ~ 4.4 oz (125 g)
Avocado Oil ~ 1.8 oz (50 g)
Cocoa Butter ~ 1.8 oz (50 g)
Shea Butter ~ 1.8 oz (50 g)
Alkanet root powder 1 ¼ tbs
Lye (3% superfatted) ~ 2.51 oz (71.4 g)
Water ~ 5.3 oz (150 ml)

Additives:
Jojoba Oil ~ 0.53 oz (15 g)
Lavender and Orange essential oils ~ 0.4 oz (12 g)

Colour preparations: Infuse the oil of your choice (I use Olive oil) with Alkanet root powder (here are the basic instructions)

To create this soap you will need to follow my basic cold process soapmaking tutorial. Melt your oils, add the lye and stick blend it like you would with any basic batch of soap. At the end of your trace, add extra oils (superfat your soap) and essential oils of your choice. You want a strong trace so that the soap is close to a pudding consistency. It should be thick, but still slide off the spoon easily.

Directions:
1. Pour a small amount of the soap into the separate container and mix it with your infused (colored) oil.

2. Pour one layer of your base (uncoloured) soap into the bottom of a mold.

3. Here's where your artistry comes in. Use the spoon to scoop out the purple colored soap and holding the spoon close to the yellow layer, allow the soap to gently slide off the spoon onto the first layer. The soap should not completely cover the previous layer.

4. Distribute the remains of your base soap as a third and final layer.

5. I dotted the surface with colored soap and then dragged a toothpick through the dots to make swirly designs.

 

 

6. Pop out after 3 to 5 days, cut it in bars and allow to sit for a full 4 to 6 weeks to cure and finish the saponification process. Recipe yields approximately 4 bars of soap, 4.5 oz (~ 125 g) each.

 More of my DIY projects

Deliah - Fine silver jewelry PMC Ruby pendant on leather cord. Handmade pagan style jewelry by Arctida

I've been working with the coolest new media in jewelry making - PMC (Precious Metal Clay) for the past couple of weeks and I'm finally starting to list pieces of jewelry that are made of it.

What is PMC? A unique form of pure silver (mainly composed of recycled silver particles) suspended in an organic binder. In this clay-like state it allows PMC artists to form and sculpt metal clay by hand. When fired at high temperatures by torch or in a jeweler's kiln, the binder burns off and the silver particles are fused together. The result is a one-of-a-kind pure silver piece (.999) purer than Sterling silver (.925).

So here is my latest piece, Deliah - fine silver pmc Ruby pendant on leather cord. This time I wanted to try attaching a stone with a wire, to get that *floating in the air* look, instead of *simply* setting it into the clay. I chose a genuine AA Ruby gemstone for better contrast with oxidized/non oxidized silver.

Deliah - for sale in my Arctida and Etsy shop  

For more of my pmc fine silver jewelry click here

14K Solid gold jewelry. Aquamarine and Sky Blue Topaz earrings wire wrapped in 14K gold. Handmade luxury collection by Arctida

The spring is here and so the wedding season has begun :) One of the latest addition to my solid gold jewelry *Luxury collection* are Aquamarine and Sky Blue Topaz earrings in 14K solid gold have become very popular with brides-to-be! Apparently they are perfect *something blue* item. We don't have this tradition here in Sweden so I can't really be a good judge of that but as long as my customers are happy so am I :)

So here are my blue pretties - 14K solid gold earrings with Sky Blue Topaz and Aquamarine gemstones.

 

For more of my solid gold jewelry click here

For more of my bridal jewelry click here

Mens jewelry Chainmaille mens bracelets in sterling silver European 4-in-1 wave. Mens fashion by Arctida

I was going through my mens jewelry collection and realized that I haven't showed you one of my popular designs - *Dionysos*.

For this bracelet I use European 4-in-1 chainmaille wave. European 4-in-1 is most famous for being the weave used in European knights' armor. Each hefty, 18 gauge sterling silver ring is hand coiled, hand cut, and polished smooth before weaving the bracelet, heavily oxidizing and again polishing to a high shine. It’s finished with a tube clasp for easy, secure fastening.

 

Dionysos is for sale in my Arctida shop.