European street team Challenge - New Years Eve Glitz & Glamour!

Yaaay, I won EuropeanStreetTeam’s challenge hosted by bijouxdellostregatto! The New Years Eve is approaching fast so it is time to choose you wardrobe for the last party of the year :)

As I am the challenge queen for this week, the theme will be .....

New Years Eve Glitz & Glamour!

Basically anything that shines glitters and sparkles and would be perfect for that glamorous party with champagne and fireworks :)

Looking forward to your entries!
Deadline is 29th of November, 22.00 (CET) Monday night. Only new items will be accepted!

and here comes the entries!

The 1st entry: Ayawedding
The 2nd entry: Bijouxdellostregatto

The 3nd entry: VixLpCreations

The 4th entry: Ingermaaike

The 5th entry: DemyBlackDesign

The 6th entry: DindiThe 7th entry: LucietalesThe 8th entry: ArctidaThe 9th entry: SoleDeVitaThe 10th entry: StaroftheeastThe 11th entry: AngelPearls
The 12th entry: LeelaBijou
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Monday 29th of November !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the winner is VixLpCreations with these gorgeous Peacock feathers earrings!

Lenae - Contemporary style organic Peridot hoops earrings in solid copper. Handforged Jewelry by Arctida

This week EST challenge's theme was "Pumpkin and other autumn fruits" hosted by dinafragola.

As I’m still hooked up on my latest ruffled hoop design (Nivi and Electra earrings) I thought I'll try to make one pair in Autumnal fruits, harvest inspired colors. So here is my new pair of hoops: Lenae - Lime Peridot solid copper hoops earrings.

Do you want to make a pair of hoops like this your self? Here is my tutorial for Gemstone Hoops earrings!

Electra - Contemporary organic Labradorite hoops earrings in oxidized sterling silver. Handmade Jewelry by Arctida

Last week EST challenge's theme was "Stripes" hosted by Staroftheeast.

I decided to explore further my Nivi earrings design by adding some gemstone beads and creating visual effect of stripes. I think it came out pretty stripy, what ya think? :)

 Do you want to make a pair of hoops like this your self? Here is my tutorial for Gemstone Hoops earrings!


I love the way Labradorite beads flash with that intense Electric blue fire so I decided to name my new earrings - Electra :)

Nivi - Contemporary style sculpted handforged Sterling Silver Hoops Earrings. Organic Jewelry by Arctida

This week EST challenge's theme is "Antarctida" hosted by LAccentNou.

Being “Arctida” off course I had to participate! We are talking about “my” twin sister here :) I decided to make something simple, cold yet beautiful, just like all that ice and snow in Antarctica… So here come my "Nivi"- silver hoops earrings with ruffled look which remind me the way icebergs, glaciers and snow-covered mountains reflect in the cold icy water.

Do you want to make a pair of hoops like this your self? Here is my tutorial for Ruffled Hoops earrings!

This beautiful shot by Rita Willaert was one of the inspiration sources for this challenge.


The Latin word “Nivi” has its origin in the word “Nix” meaning snow. I thought it would be perfect for these earrings :)

Darlene - Gil Elvgren pin-up girls inspired necklace in 14K gold filled with Citrine, Garnet and Rubies

This week EST challenge's theme was "Gil Elvgren pin-up" hosted by oneperfectday.

After checking out his work I’ve got inspiration to make something gorgeous and sparkly for those beautiful cleavages that his girls have :) Off course it had to be in red and gold tones as it seems to be an appropriate color combination for pin up in my opinion :) So here is my Darlene – Champagne Citrine, Garnet, Gold and Ruby coiled artisan necklace.

Perhaps something this girl wouldn’t mind wearing… :)

Darlene (Bedside Manner), Gil Elvgren 1958

Thespia - Geometrical gemstone circle pendant and hoops earrings with Agat, Amethyst, Apatite, Carnelian and Ruby in 14K Gold filled

Last week's EST weekly challenge's theme was Mathematics hosted by Kraplap. I decided to make a coiled pendant shaped as a simple circle. When it was done I thought that it was too boring and so I added a bit of color splashes to it :) When I figured, why not making a whole set in this bright and vibrant gemstone combination and ta da ... Thespia - set with pendant and hoops earrings was born :)

Juno - Mystic Peacock Quartz contemporary style organic hand forged pendant in Sterling Silver

Ooopsie! Haven’t written here for a while I see :) anyway, here is my latest piece of jewelry which is an entry in EST weekly challenge. The theme was "Winding" and was chosen by my teammate Nancy van den Boom. I checked out the definition and thought it would be perfect to try to manipulate thick wire into some kind of cool shape and accent it with gems. So here is my new baby: Mystic Quartz organic contemporary style hand-forged pendant in Sterling Silver.

The Mystic Quartz reminded me of a peacock which is a symbol of the ancient Greek/Roman goddess Hera/Juno, hence the name of the pendant :)

Autumnal Equinox - photographic Mandala - Digital Art Abstract Citrine Gemstone Macro Kaleidoscope print

It has been ages since I made a new mandala/kaleidoscope piece, and I really missed it :) So when I’ve read about this weeks challenge theme - Fall is coming! (chosen by Sumiko). I knew it was my chance! I’ve had this wonderful macro shot of Golden Citrine Faceted Cubes 

and I had a feeling it would be perfect for a mandala, I just needed the excuse to sit down and make it :) and ta da... a new mandala is born - Autumnal Equinox.

"The Unbearable Lightness of Being" - weekly challenge

So it is Monday today, which means the dead line for of the weekly challenge. This weeks theme was a creation inspired by the Milan Kundera's book "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"(chosen by this week's boss HeliS).

I have always enjoyed photographing. I‘ve got my first camera when I was 10 (I think) and I’ve been taking pictures non-stop ever since :) First it was just a hobby, when later on it became of necessity for my jewelry business as well. I’ve got lots of positive responses about pictures that I take for my jewelry so it was only a matter of time before I would collect the courage, take the plunge and start posting my digital work :) and so I’m at the last step now…Mandalas was easy, most of us still have that little kid inside who is amazed by the kaleidoscope pictures :) Posting my nature shots is much harder because there are so many amazing Photo artists out there and I don’t really think I’m at their level yet, but maybe with your help and critique I will get there some day :)

Anyway, here is my entry... "Unbearable Lightness" - a macro shot of beautiful Snowdrop flowers that I took last spring ( cant wait for this spring to come, now when I have a new camera! :) I felt that tiny white flower-drops was a perfect interpretation of "Lightness", yet they seems to be just a bit too heavy or "Unbearable" for the plant to keep them up towards the sun...

Craft your favorite quote! - weekly challenge

Last week’s theme was - Craft your favorite quote! …the craft doesn't have to include the actual quote, just be inspired by it...picked by DinDi.

I chose my favorite Albert Einstein's quote - "Two things are infinite: the Universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the Universe." :)

The quote gave me an idea to make a focal in the necklace shaped as an ancient "Infinity" symbol.

Return of the Vikings - weekly challenge

This week’s theme was "Vikings with a hint of upcycling" picked by VKnO. I’ve wanted to try making nature collages for quiet a while now and thought that this would be a perfect opportunity to do so. I decided to "upcycle" two of my Nature shots and combine them with some digital drawing which resulted in - "Return of the Vikings". I still have tons to learn about collaging but I think it came up rather believable for a newbie :) or what do you think?

This photo was used for the sky. I took this picture last summer, up in the Northern Sweden, very close to the Norwegian border.

This photo were used for the sea. It was taken on one of our vacations in Egypt :) I only had pictures of the northern sea when it is stormy and I wanted on this collage for a weather to be relatively calm. So I chose this shot...

The rest of the details such as sun, mountains and boat were digitally drawn in Photoshop. It took me several days to do that (probably because I'm a newbie) but I'm rather pleased with the results... for now :)

African savannah - weekly challenge

So it is Monday today, which means the dead line for of the weekly challenge. This weeks theme was – Africa (chosen by this week's boss CreationsbyEve). I found this gorgeous shot of Savannah and got in the mood...

So here is my vision of African savannah in green Onyx, green Agate and gold filled - Adeola necklace. The name Adeola has Nigerian origin and means "The Crown", which in my humble opinion is perfect for this necklace :)

Oh and today is a glorious day for me on Etsy, I got 1000 heart! Yay! *making a happy dance* :)

Ancient Spiral Coiled pendant with Sterling Silver and Pearls - "My Home Town" challenge

This week challenge theme was - “My Home Town….Anything that inspires you thinking back to the old days. Good memories or even bad memories…melancholy or pure bliss…”, picked by Mirthquake.

I tried to think about something that brings my thoughts to my home town and I came up with, the old stone labyrinths, so called ”Troy Towns”! This type of labyrinth, marked by large boulders can be found through out whole Scandinavia. From Iceland to within Russia there are more than 600 of them; many are several hundreds and some times even thousands of years old.

So here is my entry - Ninevia pendant. The name Ninevia is originated from “Nineveh”, the name that has been used by some locals for the “Troy cities”.