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! :)

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.

Totally Tutorials and my How to Make Moisturizing Hand Cream Tutorial

Very exciting news! My "How to Make Moisturizing Hand Cream" Tutorial made it onto this really awesome blog called Totally Tutorials, that posts tutorials on how to make anything and everything you can possibly imagine. Yay! I hope you guys enjoy it :)

and even more good news :) I'm making my first wire-jewelry tutorial, that will explain how to make my version of the "Tree of Life" pendant. It is only a couple of days work left, so stay tuned :)

Mad Scientists of Etsy (MSOE) monthly challenge - "Photosynthesis"

So the January is over and here are the results of the monthly challenge from Mad Scientists of Etsy (MSOE). This month’s challenge was a creation inspired by the theme of "Photosynthesis".

…just a little bit of mandatory nerd (= science) talk now :)

Photosynthesis is a metabolic pathway that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of Bacteria, but not in Archaea. In plants, algae and cyanobacteria photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide and water, releasing oxygen as a waste product.

Now isn't that convenient for us, people and animals that need oxygen to breathe :)

So I've decided to make two entries - both are flowers (duh!?), because they are pretty and Photosynthesize :) The first one is a Flower necklace with gorgeous Sky Blue Topazes and Green Agate rondelles (more examples of my Gemstone Flowers)

The second one is a macro shot of a beautiful pair of Crocuses that I took last spring.


The February month’s challenge is "Mycology", now that should be fun :)

Rabies virus - Modern Oxidized Sterling Silver pendant with Garnet for your favorite Geek Chic - MSOE monthly challenge "Louis Pasteur"

So the New Year has passed and I’ve been busy busy busy bee :) Two challenges, one vacation, Huge Holiday and a lot of cases of flue in the family … it was tiring but the challenges and vacation was fun :)

So here comes the first challenge from Mad Scientists of Etsy (MSOE). This month’s challenge was a creation inspired by the theme of "Louis Pasteur".

…just a little bit of nerd (= science) talk now :P

Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist best known for his remarkable breakthroughs in the causes and prevention of disease. One of his great achievements was that he created the first vaccine for rabies.

Rabies (From Latin: rabies, "madness, rage, fury") is a viral zoonotic neuroinvasive disease that causes acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in mammals. It is most commonly caused by a bite from an infected animal, but occasionally by other forms of contact. If left untreated in humans it is almost invariably fatal.

...so after a time of consideration I decided to make a pendant shaped like a Rabies virus :) Ta da!

(4 small pics on the right are electron microscope shots of Rabies virus)

My latest creations

I'm in love with the vines :) I mean wire vines, although I do like the grape ones too :) So lately I've been experimenting with different shapes. I have already posted a couple of designs (Kiena and Neda) with the vines and here are my latest ones (Niolle och Domani)

and I have taken my first picture with a model! My hubby's pretty cousin has graciously agreed to model for me, and if you look close there are vines there too :)

National Day of Sweden

Today, June 6th is National Day of Sweden or as it also called - Swedish Flag Day! Since it s a holiday I had some time over and I have finally finished a new pair of coiled earrings. Here is "Neda" - bridal ornate oxidized sterling silver earrings with Rock Crystal Clear Quartz and Pearls.

For more of my bridal jewelry click here

Trying out some new things…

I have always been a “supporter” of silver and emerald green together, but after trying out it with the gold I realized, that I may be wrong :) So I decided to oxidize the silver to see if it’ll bring out the emerald green more (the way gold does) and … look, it actually did :)

I also wanted to try “alternative” materials for my necklaces, meaning other the gold or silver chain. So I tried out leather and organza bands together with my copper pendants and here is the first pic of coiled copper pendant with freshwater pearls and organza ribbon. It turned out pretty nice :)