SUMMER BLUES

I gave new life to an old bracelet... I love the contrast of the handmade ceramic beads with the shiny glass beads, it's a very summery bracelet, with the colors of deep blue skies and sea!

A LOVELY GIFT FROM SWITZERLAND (AND MALAYSIA)!

A few days ago I received a lovely envelope from Switzerland... I already knew what was in it, but there were some lovely surprises inside, and everything was so thoughtful and sweet... just like Juanita! :) Juanita chose lucky me as the winner of her blog giveaway, the prize of which were these two gorgeous bracelets! She had bought them on one of her trips to Malaysia, and they truly are pieces of traditional art! Juanita said: "In the years of 2004 to 2008, Hubs and I used to spend a chunk of time in the Malaysian part of Borneo, Sabah, annually. In one of those trips, we also visited the other Malaysian region, Sarawak, and I bought these elastic bracelets as souvenir. These intricately hand-beaded bracelets were sold as traditional tribal bracelets at a museum. Looking at them now, they scream Chevron, which is such a rave these days". I commented saying how much I loved these bracelets (they are so ME!), but what Juanita didn't know is that as a young girl I used to dream about far-away, exotic places... and one of the places I was most fascinated with was Malaysia and the Borneo! :)

Juanita is a talented accessories and bags designer, a cat mom to two adorable fluffy babies called Fluffy and Pickle (they attended Zoe's Kitty Party in the spring!), and a lovely friend! Oh... and I forgot to mention -- she is a fellow Libra, which you can tell from her love for beauty and those little details which I so love... :)

Thank you so much Juanita! It's been so nice meeting you! :)
And it's going to be a great pleasure to wear these gorgous ethnic bracelets!!! :)

Juanita Tortilla blog 

LAVA BRACELET

I've always been fascinated by lava beads. Wearing a piece of lava jewelry literally means wearing the core of our Earth.

Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at temperatures from 700 °C to 1,200 °C (1,300 °F to 2,200 °F). Up to 100,000 times as viscous as water, lava can flow great distances before cooling and solidifying.
A lava flow is a moving outpouring of lava, which is created during a non-explosive effusive eruption. When it has stopped moving, lava solidifies to form igneous rock. The term lava flow is commonly shortened to lava. The word "lava" comes from Italian, and is probably derived from the Latin word labes which means a fall or slide.
Source: Wikipedia

Now I have my own lava bracelet! Made with the gorgeous lava beads I received from Elsa, interspaced with lovely red beads.

STILL SUMMER!

To tell you the truth, I love wearing bright, colorful, bold jewelry all year long... it's summer for me all year long -- jewelry-wise, at least! :) But in the summer it's even more fun, as colors really pop in the sun!

- Gorgeous Greek ceramic bead, evil eye beads -

- Glass beads from Rhodes -

- Glass beads from Rhodes -

- Evil eye glass bead -

PS: No, this is not my evil eye collection... be patient and stay tuned! :)

STILL SUMMER!

To tell you the truth, I love wearing bright, colorful, bold jewelry all year long... it's summer for me all year long -- jewelry-wise, at least! :) But in the summer it's even more fun, as colors really pop in the sun! I love all shades of blue, and especially all the bright Greek blues!

This is what I wore yesterday... all in blue glass (and wood for the earrings)!

- Glass bead, Rhodes -

- Glass beads from thrift store, may be African recycled glass beads -

- Turkish evil eye glass bead -

- Glass beads, wooden disks -

Color Palette: RED

Have you ever noticed that your color palette may change according to different phases of your life? My absolute favorite color used to be BLUE... most of the jewelry I wore and created was in shades of blue. I still love blue a LOT, and it's still one of my absolute favorite colors, but recently ORANGE has made a definite entry into my life. I wear lots of accessories in orange, and this color has an important place in my creations! But now I have noticed - to my greatest surprise - that I have started wearing RED quite a lot too! I especially love warm, vibrant shades of red with orange hues. It gives such an energy boost in the winter! It's great with black... and I guess the vibrant hot color phase in my life reflects a new energy!
What are your favorite colors for accessories and jewelry?

Even my latest Treasury reflects this tendency :)...

HOT WINTER