Blog Award Received

Thank you Glitter Glow Beading for the Arte y Pico (Peak of the art) award received today! What is this award, you ask? The first rule below will tell you :D

The rules for passing the award on are (you can copy&paste):

1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter of language.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award-winning has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the ward itself.

4) Award-winning and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y pico"blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5) Show these rules.

So I've decided to pass this award onto these following 5 blogs:

The Lone Beader
Mei at Wirebliss
Sculpted Windows Jewelry
Helmetti
Delia Stone's Studio

About cutting rocks

So a few days ago I bought a new tile cutter to cut smaller rocks with it, for tumbling and for - later on - cabbing.
Yesterday hubby bought me a sort of drawer to put on the back balcony, to put rocks inside, and my machines on top, so I don't have to cut in the house.
Today I've plugged it in and as I had a quartz rock that wouldn't tumble nice as it's too big and it has too many small crevices which the tumbler will never smoothen out, I took that piece to cut it in two. Put on my apron, and my ear muffs and got working in the balcony. It only took a couple of minutes, and although I was a bit worried about neighbours, soon I got so into it, that I forgot pretty much about everything else but fixing up that rock. It's amazing how alive I feel when I'm working with this machine. I truly enjoy it. I cut the rock in two pieces, and then polished up a bit both sides to smoothen them. Next time I'll open my Chicago tumbler, I'll pop both pieces in. I bet they'll tumble nicely this time.

In the meantime I've also ordered the Ameritool cabbing machine from John at Johns Gems, and as I am on the rock tumbling forum as well, he gave me a tiny bit of discount as well. Even so with shipping included and the 17% taxes I'll have to pay when the machine arrives here (hopefully in a couple of weeks), it will have cost me around $700. Ouch...I'll eat bread and butter for the next few months, and no chocolate icecream for me anymore :(
But still, I can't wait for the cabbing machine to arrive! I've ordered the 8" once, plus two sticks of dop wax, so I can have everything I need to get started with cabbing. If I'll enjoy it as much as I enjoy cutting rocks, I see myself with a new great hobby in the future :D

Yellow drop agate freeform pendant

I made this piece today for a pendant swap in a jewelry forum. I'm not saying who it is for, in case the person checks out my blog :p

Yellow drop agate with sterling silver basket wave freeform.
If interested in a similar piece, leave me a comment so I can contact you.

Amethyst earrings - simple and fun

I felt like making something light and fun for summer, so I came up with this pair of amethyst earrings, wrapped in sterling silver.
Each amethyst bead is 1cm. The whole length, including the silver earwires ist ~4.5 cm.
I haven't done something easy in eons and I really had fun working on this pair. I'm working lately on more complex pieces which take a lot of time and material, and I simply forgot how fun I used to have creating light and cute pieces like this one.

18 Euros

Cutting rocks with a tile saw

Ok so I finally tried out this too: cutting rocks with a tile saw. And it was fun. But boy so loud, I'm pretty sure the neighbours here (I'm living in a flat) were not amused.
I went today to the local Super Home Center (the local equivalent of the Home Depot for the Americans), and bought a wet tile saw, which is good for cutting rock into slabs (or smaller pieces from slabs). I set it up, filled up the tray with water and off I went. At first it took me 10 minutes to go just through 1 cm of petwood (of course afterwards I've read that petwood is a difficult one to cut anyway) after which I almost gave up. I posted a question at the EIS forum and somebody in the UK who has the same piece told me not to despair, the diamond saw needs to settle. Just to take a cheapo hard rock and try again. Also got a few pointers on how to press the rock against the blade and not downwards. And all this helped, because just in a few minutes, I managed to cut my first rock, 4cm in length and 2.5 in height. Cheapo rock it is, hard it is, and two pieces of it I have :D

I had really fun in the process, even though the machine with this water spitting like a llama, and with the loud noise put me off and scared me a bit at first.
Of course hubby is not yet at home so he is yet to hear the noise. He'll freak out, lol.
And of course, if my dad saw my newest machine, he'd be mighty proud of me, daughter just like the father :P I honestly have more tools and machinery at home than most of the male homeowners around, except those who are handworking by trade (and except my dad).
And I haven't even started cabbing yet. Wait till I buy the Hi-Tech Diamond All-U-Need and start making cabs out of the cut rock slabs...

Sailor's wheel

I went through some older bought tutorials, and as I had this donut lying around, I decided to use Eni's donut wrap tutorial on it. I like the result, it has some nice possibilities and the stone shows quite nicely.
Wrapped in sterling silver, the stone is a beautiful rhodonite donut, 3cm in diameter.
It reminds me strongly of a ship's wheel, so it Sailor's Wheel it is :)
As usual, like with all my jewelry, the pendant comes with a 45 cm silver chain, wrapped in a nice giftbox. Additionally I have free shipping all over the world. So international purchases always welcome :)

To see all my jewelry for sale on one page, click here. Each item can be purchased immediately through Paypal. Following payment, shipping is within the next 24 hours, unless it is weekend or a public holiday, in which case I ship the next business day.

29 Euros

Wire wrapped carnelian

I spent almost my whole Saturday wrapping this beautiful carnelian. Once I was underway, the wire just went alone and took the final shape it's in now. I like this one a lot, it's quite elaborate, and as usual in my latest style of wrapping, a lot of silver went into it.

I bought the carnelian tumbled stone in Vienna a few months back when I went for holidays for Easter. I knew it's a carnelian, but until I've started myself with tumbling stones, I didn't know it's an agate type actually. I've learned in the meantimes that while jaspers, for example, are quite opaque, held up against the light, agates are quite translucent at least at the sides. When I took today the photos for this, while I was holding the pendant in my fingers by the chain, it clicked. Hah, I have an agate at hand. Googled, and true enough, carnelian is one of the subcategories of agates. One always learns :)

The whole length including the bail is ~6 cm and 3 at the widest. It comes on a 45 cm silver chain and in a nice gift box.

50 Euros

Rose quartz wire wrapped pendant - SOLD

While listening to Gregorian Chants last night, I made this pendant. It took me about 4-5 hours, but I hardly realised the passing of the time. I was in another world...
I have incorporated at least three different techniques: border wrapping for attaching the stone, basket weaving (used in rainbow wrapping), and wire sculpture (for the finishing effects).
I'm quite happy with this piece, as it's quite beautiful when seeing for real, the pictures really do not do it justice. It was truly a labour of love...

A whole lot of 1mm and 0.4mm sterling silver went in the piece, along with a beautiful tumble polished rose quartz. The pendant measures at the widest points 6x4 cm. It comes with a 45cm sterling silver chain.

Tiger eye pendant - rainbow wrap

Here is an attempt at rainbow wrapping. It takes a lot of silver, even with my minimalistic wrapping approach for this style.
The stone is square tiger eye, wrapped in sterling.

My idol in this style is topnotchwraps on Metalchasers.org. He has such a clean, perfected neat style, I'm really looking up to his wraps.

Anodized niobium bracelet and new blog layout

I bought these anodized niobium rings a while ago from Beadsisters in the UK along with a chainmail book, and today I thought of trying them out. Ouch, now I can appreciate sterling silver so much better. The niobium rings are quite hard to work with, and they scratch easily, meaning the colors are leaving fast. However once I finished the bracelet (a simple European 4 in 1) and tried it on, I didn't want to take it off anymore. Very comfy to wear. I will keep this bracelet for myself for different reasons.


- the rings are quite expensive (maybe even more expensive than the equivalent rings in sterling silver)
- I could not justify however the price to a general consumer who doesn't know about niobium. They won't appreciate this metal and will definitely not pay the higher price for it
- I can't tumble it to smoothen out the burs that came with the rings, as the color will leave fast
- I quite like the bracelet, I can wear it with jeans any day :D
Ergo this one stays with me!


On another note, I have completely revamped my blog. It had an old style layout, which I have refreshed with a new template that I quite like. Now I can add all sorts of useful widgets everywhere on the page, including on the top of the page.

This way you have access to all the jewelry you cannot live without, all on one page, reachable from the top of the page (see text in red). As I add more jewelry to the blog, the list will be updated, and as pieces sell, those will be automatically removed.

Jewelry you can purchase here

Mushroom Jasper Silver Pendant

I'm quite proud of this piece as it's one that I actually cabbed from a small slab a friend in the US sent me, and then wrapped it as well. It's looking quite cool if you ask me (yeah yeah blowing my own horn here :p )
It's a mushroom jasper (or so I've been told, but from the looks of it, the name really fits) which got quite a nice shine to it while cabbing.
As usual it comes on a sterling silver chain and with free shipping all over the world.

28 Euros

Olive Jasper Silver Pendant

This cute little silver pendant has a gorgeous olive jasper briolette that came yesterday in the post and I couldn't wait to use it in my next piece.
All sterling silver, oxidized for the antique effect, the pendant is 2x4 cm, and it comes on a sterling silver chain. If you need the chain also oxidized, you need to send me an email about it.
As usual, shipping on all my items is free all over the world.

36 Euros

It seems that I've really got the oxidizing bug, even hubby seems to like these new darkened up pieces. The liver of sulphur really brings out the greatness in the silver. No wonder those Victorian, antique pieces are so sought after.
















Greek Coffee Silver Earrings

This pair of earrings is special to me for a couple of reasons. It's the first pair that I've oxidized and hear hear, oxidizing suits them as well. Also for this pair I've made the headpins on my own using a torch, and finally wrapping briolettes is no longer an enigma to me and something to be afraid of :)

All sterling silver wrapped with two beautiful milk opal briolettes formed in a Greek style geometrical pattern. 6 cm long including the earwires. Very lightweight and fun the wear.
The color combo reminds me of the Greek coffee, hence the name of the pair.

22 Euros

White Romance Pendant - hand formed, hammered and wrapped sterling silver pendant with a milk opal briolette, freshwater pearls and sterling silver beads.
3x5 cm and it comes on a sterling silver chain.

38 Euros

Dream Pink Necklace - Beautiful cherry quartz briolette pendant, rondelles and many Swarovski crystals make up this stunning necklace in sterling silver. The pendant is wire wrapped with little sterling silver beads accenting it. The pendant is 3x6 cm and the whole necklace is approximately 47 cm long.

55 Euros

Botswana Agate necklace

I bought this gorgeous little Botswana agate cab from Ebay a few months ago, before I even knew that I'll eventually have my own cabbing machine.
While I'm learning to make nice cabs, I use the bought cabs to wrap them. This cab is gorgeous when held up against the light, and I tried to make the bail with the thin line to match the thin bands/lines on the cab.
The pendant is ~ 1.5 x 5 cm, all carefully wrapped in sterling silver. It comes on a sterling silver chain.

29 Euros

My loving heart pendant

It's so good to come back to freeform wire wrapping. I've been doing a lot of cabbing lately, and border wrapping, and I started to miss wire wrapping and wire sculpture.
I was browsing last night Google pictures for some ideas, and came across this art nouveau heart which became my inspiration for my new rubylite heart :)

The pendant is huge, at the widest points 5x5cm and it sits really nice on the neck. It is one of those pieces that really stand out and make a statement.

8mm rubylite semiprecious beads, small sterling silver beads and sterling silver handmade frame and wrapping make up this one of a kind piece. Because I enjoyed so much making this item, I called it My Loving Heart.

If you want a silver chain with the pendant as well, send me an email at marika.charalambous at google.com, or send me a note at the Paypal checkout. It costs only a couple of Euros more.

35 Euros

Sunstone silver necklace

49 Euros

Here is a new pendant I made during the week. The stone is a gorgeous sunstone. I didn't really know what that is, so I had to look it up. I knew of moonstone and goldstone, but sunstone? It seems it's a very nice stone favoured for jewelry making. When you hold it up against the light, it's really nice translucent and shiny. Really cool.
I have incorporated at least three different techniques: border wrapping for attaching the stone, basket weaving (used in rainbow wrapping), and wire sculpture (for the finishing effects).

A whole lot of 1mm and 0.4mm sterling silver went in the piece. The pendant measures at the widest points 6x3 cm.

It comes on a 45 cm silver chain, and as usual, free shipping for this piece, and included there is a piece of silver polish cloth for maintaining your jewelry at top shine.


Amethyst Silver Earrings












I felt like making something light and fun for summer, so I came up with this pair of amethyst earrings, wrapped in sterling silver.
Each amethyst bead is 1cm. The whole length, including the silver earwires ist ~4.5 cm.
I haven't done something easy in eons and I really had fun working on this pair. I'm working lately on more complex pieces which take a lot of time and material, and I simply forgot how fun I used to have creating light and cute pieces like this one.

18 Euros

Sailor's Wheel

I went through some older bought tutorials, and as I had this donut lying around, I decided to use Eni's donut wrap tutorial on it. I like the result, it has some nice possibilities and the stone shows quite nicely.
Wrapped in sterling silver, the stone is a beautiful rhodonite donut, 3cm in diameter.
It reminds me strongly of a ship's wheel, so it Sailor's Wheel it is :)
As usual, it comes on a 45 cm silver chain.

29 Euros

Silver wrapped carnelian pendant













I spent almost my whole Saturday wrapping this beautiful carnelian. Once I was underway, the wire just went alone and took the final shape it's in now. I like this one a lot, it's quite elaborate, and as usual in my latest style of wrapping, a lot of silver went into it.

I bought the carnelian tumbled stone in Vienna a few months back when I went for holidays for Easter. I knew it's a carnelian, but until I've started myself with tumbling stones, I didn't know it's an agate type actually. I've learned in the meantimes that while jaspers, for example, are quite opaque, held up against the light, agates are quite translucent at least at the sides. When I took today the photos for this, while I was holding the pendant in my fingers by the chain, it clicked. Hah, I have an agate at hand. Googled, and true enough, carnelian is one of the subcategories of agates. One always learns :)

The whole length including the bail is ~6 cm and 3 at the widest. It comes on a 45 cm silver chain and in a nice gift box.

50 Euros

Hearts on Fire

Handmade fire lampwork bead by an Etsy artist, and the rest is sterling silver in the byzantine chainmail weave with four gorgeous sterling silver hearts. The necklace is about 45 cm. The rings have been one by one hand-coiled, cut with the saw and then tumbled for a few hours in my Lortone tumbler to add strength and extra shine.
Free shipping as usual all over the world.

68 Euros

Cross my heart














The silver cross using square wires, with white jade bead in the middle, measures 5x2.5cm and it comes on a sterling silver chain.

28 Euros

Eni Heart

The sterling silver heart measuring at the widest points 3x5cm with rubylite round bead dandling from the bottom.
The heart is courtesy of Eni Oken's wonderful latest tutorial.

35 Euros

Green Agate necklace (variant 2)

I had two identical stones, the first I've used in a pendant about a month ago when I started border wrapping with silver. And here is the new one. I quite like this one. The stone is so shiny if I look better I can see myself in my pajamas behind the tripod :p
Now that's the shine I want to get out of my stones once I'll start tumbling them.

28 Euros

Dichro Wrapped necklace

It's a bit more difficult to wrap a square cab, it was definitely an interesting learning experience.

The pendant measurements : ~4x4 cm + ~1 cm for the wrapped bail.

28 Euros

Pink Jade Pipa necklace













This is my second rendition of the pipa pendant, technique brought to wire by Corra from de Cor's handmades.
Lots and lost of sterling silver beads and a gorgeous pink jade faceted rondelle. The whole pendant is 4x3 cm without the bail. Comes on a sterling silver chain, as shown in some of the pictures.

38 Euros