Iredale - Modern Handforged Asymmetric 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 are attached to leverbacks earwires. The total length including earwires is approximately 1.5 inches long (~ 40 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

Lea - Hammered Rustic Organic Tribal Talisman necklace with Rough Natural Beryl, Labradorite, Sterling Silver and Leather cord

-->So, I’ve decided to try something new here…more of the primitive, organic and ethnic looking style....
The focal pendant is hand formed (by me) from sterling silver wire and hammered for texture. The silver has been oxidized to achieve more of an antiqued look and slightly polished. Inside the loop I placed rough and naturally shaped Beryl. The necklace is threaded with black leather cord and fastens with a lobster clasp and extension chain, which I've finished off with a Labradorite polished rondelle.

Mad Scientists of Etsy (MSOE) monthly challenge - "Cretaceous Ocean"

So the April is almost 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 "Cretaceous Ocean".

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

The Cretaceous was a geologic time period approximately 145 to 65 million years ago. It was a period with a relatively warm climate and high sea level. The oceans and seas were populated with now extinct marine reptiles, ammonites and rudists; and the land by dinosaurs. At the same time, new groups of mammals and birds as well as flowering plants appeared. The Cretaceous ended with one of the largest mass extinctions in Earth history, the K-T extinction, when many species, including the dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and large marine reptiles, disappeared.
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So I’ve decided to try my new acquired skills in digital drawing and create underwater scenery what could’ve been seen at that time. I’ve used my own shots of the Triops (tadpole shrimp or shield shrimp).

 
Their external morphology has not changed since around 220 million years ago, which would mean that their early relatives were much bigger but looked exactly or similar to what these little guys look today. The rest of the scenery was digitally drawn in Photoshop by yours truly :)

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)

S. pneumoniae bacteria asymmetric necklace - rock crystal clear Quartz oxidized sterling silver - "Microbiology" monthly challenge

I have just joined the coolest team ever on Etsy! (apart from my EST team of course :) It is called "Mad Scientists of Etsy (MSOE)" and most of their members are scientists who posses an artistic dominant gene :) Yay, I'm not alone!

This month’s challenge was a creation inspired by the theme of "Microbiology", how cool is that! My master thesis project was about S. pneumoniae (Streptococcus pneumoniae) bacteria, so I felt that this could be a perfect opportunity to show them in artistic way :)

Warning! Science talk now... :)

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a normal inhabitant of the human upper respiratory tract. S. pneumoniae can cause pneumonia, as well as infections in other parts of the body such as in the bloodstream (bacteremia), lining of the brain and spinal cord (meningitis), bones (osteomyelitis), joints (arthritis), ears (otitis media) and sinuses (sinusitis). Usually, they are seen as pairs of cocci (spherical or spheroid shape), but they may also occur singly and in short chains. The primary virulence factor (or in other words the ability of a microbe to cause disease) of pneumococci is their polysaccharide capsule (which can be seen as a "halo" around the cells on the last pic). It is non-toxic but helps bacteria to evade the host immune cells.