Merry Christmas!

We would like to wish everyone who celebrates it, a very Merry Christmas, with lots of presents but most importantly in good health with friends and family!

Love this picture shared by petitplat on instagram, the package on the left has a necklace of us in it. The cake looks delicious, and petitplats work looks even more delicious, check out her site for miniature art which will make you hungry :)

Our Creative Space; Wire Weaving Tutorial

We want to share with you what we learn on our lessons. The Trabzon work is really hard and it will take a while till we have something to show here. But we are learning other cool techniques too.

This is one of the many types of braiding, done with the help of a small vice.

You put any even number of wires in the vice, depending on how wide you want your braid to be. In this case I used 10 wires. Divide the wires alternating up and down, here you see 5 wires bent up and 5 wires bent down.

Take the wire that is most  left and under, bring it across all the way to the right pulling with all your might and fasten it at the right side in the vice.

Then take the first wire from the upper left side with your left hand and the first wire of the down side with your right hand, and cross them, inverting their positions.

Like this.

Do the same thing with the second, third and forth pair of wires.

Remove the wire that you had fixed previously in the vice and cross it with the last remaining wire.

One goes up and one goes down.

Now all ten wires have changed position.

Pull outwards as hard as you can to smooth the wires

Open the vice slightly, push with your thumb till the wires are again flush with the jaws of the vice, and tighten again.
You have to do this after every row, but don't remove the braid off the vice till you are done.
This loosening and tightening again of the vice is tedious and time consuming, but you need to do it, in order to get a flat and even braid.

And than you start the following row by putting the utmost left-down wire across and fixing it in the vice.

This is the result. There is lot of room for improvement, my braid is by far not tight enough. It is really hard on the fingers!

Despite all the imperfections, Estella succeeded in making really cool stuff with my little braid!

Newly Listed: Embroidered Black Blazer

Embroidered Black Blazer Revamped Vintage Jacket Embellished with Embroidery by StarsWear
Four Red Lilies by hbphotographs
Color photograph of a flower Printed canvas with handmade wood frame by HIrelandPhotography
Monarch Butterfly on Verbena, decor nature artwork, butterfly photograph by NewLeafPics

Newly Listed: Organic Sea Urchin Necklace

Organic Sea Urchin Necklace Pink seashells and sea urchin by StaroftheEast
Old Door, Europe, stone wall, antique, home decor, wood by EdgingtonFineArt
Pink flower photograph, cosmos, naturephotography, garden photo by SusannahTucker
Photo of Berries with Echos of Berries - Fine Art Photo Dream's Echo by CarlaDyck

Newly Listed: Fairy Tale Coat

Fairy Tale Coat Jacket The Magic Swan Geese Child Vintage Gobelin Tapestry by StarsWear
Beach Photography, Red Stripes Houses, Travel Photograph, Architecture by hellotwiggs
Winter, Christmas, Snow, Rustic, Country, Woodland,  Fairy Tail by 8DaysofTreasures
Foggy Days - Yellow Flowers in a Foggy Seaside Field Polaroid Photo Print by sMacshop

Newly Listed: Vintage South America School Map

Vintage South America School Map Pull Down Map 1962 Geography by StarHomeStudio
Boat Print Photography, North Sea, Coral Art, Large Wall Art - Perfect Calm by AgaFarrell
Travel decor, Landscape photography, hot air balloon, Romantic Wall Art by PhotographyDream
Landscape Photography, Italian Mountains,Colors photo, Fine Art Print by RobertoLupiniPhoto

Silver Weaving

We just begun a new, very exciting class: silver weaving.

This kind of work is known as Trabzon (Trebizond) work and is done generally in 22kr gold. We begin with copper wire and than when the time is ripe, will continue with silver wire.

The teacher tells us that the technique has its origin in the Caucasus, where till World War I, was used to make body armor. You can use a bracelet to pull a car, so strong is it.

Here is a very nice YouTube film where the real thing (in gold) is shown. It is in Turkish,  but it is lovely and easy to follow. About six thousand women in Trabzon work in their homes making this kind of weaving or braiding.

The tools couldn't be simpler. A special pair of hand made tweezers, a pin or needle, and a tooth pick.

It is not easy to do, but we feel privileged to have access to such an special art form.

Besides the Trabzon work, we will learn many other types of silver braiding, used to make bezels, chains, and many other things.

All the braiding that you see in this jewelry is hand made.

For this work you use only a small vice and your hands.

The teacher is a lovely and competent woman and it is great fun.

Here you see the beginning of two different types of braids, with six and seven wires.

Newly Listed: Sea Treasures Keychain

Sea Treasures Keychain - Driftwood, Starfish, Glass by StarHomeStudio
Dancing Seagulls Ocean Coast Beach Cottage Decor Misty Nautical Pier by leedledee
Fine Art photograph Large wall art Wave sea ocean dreamy beach by thelastsparrow
Stormy Seas photography print, dramatic beach in storm landscape by FotografieKoehler

Newly Listed: Peacock Feather Necklace

Peacock Feather Necklace Vintage Watch glass, Peacock feather, metal, solder by StaroftheEast
A Girl and Her Peacock Art Print from an original acrylic painting by Irene Owens / TinyRed
Peacock Photo, Feathers, Vintage Tone Texture, Bird Lover, Home Decor by PrettyPetalStudio
Peacock Art Print - Peacock Artwork - Bird Art - Wall Art - Intoxicant by BlackInkArtz

Newly Listed: Seashore Town Coat

Seashore Town Coat Fairy tale Vintage Clothing Landscape Gobelin Fabric Plus Size by StarsWear
Blue Brown Photography light photo leaves branches wall art rust leaf picture by CarolynCochrane
Sewing Machine Still Life Photography, Urban Decay, Vintage Inspired by JillianAudreyDesigns
Hummingbird Photography - hummingbird on branch, wall art, home decor by LynnLangmade

Newly Listed: Sea Urchin Ring

Sea Urchin Ring - Pink Flower Beach Jewelry by StaroftheEast
Crow Art Print, Blackbird In Tree Photograph, Blackbird Art Image, Raven by gothicrow
Rustic, flower photograph, dried flowers, romantic, floral wall art, fine art photo by dullbluelight
Lighthouse Photography Surreal Art Nature, Seaside Decor, Pastel, Red Nautical by AgaFarrell

Christmas Gift Guide

We are featured in this amazing Gift Guide, entirely made by Ruby from PaperWhispers, have a peek there is plenty of gorgeous gift ideas in it!
All items have clickable links for an easy shopping experience :)

Newly Listed: Fairy Tale Jacket Child Coat

Fairy Tale Jacket Child Coat size T6 Vintage Gobelin Tapestry Fabric Clothing by StarsWear
Leaves, Tree Branches, Earth Nature, Winter Fine Art Photography Wall Art by stilldez
Forest Macro Photography - Glow Mushroom Square Format Fine Art Print by PrettyYellowHouses
Woodland Art, Nature Photography, Mushroom in Morning Dew, Woodland Tale by AgaFarrell

Newly Listed: Asymmetrical Pottery Earrings

Asymmetrical Pottery Earrings with Pearls Blue Beach Pottery Sea Tumbled Pottery by StaroftheEast
Nature photography-Icy Blue-winter landscape-icicles-dripping -cabin by IrishVikingDesigns
Sea Wave, Nautical Photography, Ocean, Stormy Sea, Dark Mysterious, Sea Storm by BreeMadden
Beach Decor Photography, sand grasses, Dunes, nature fine art by moonlightphotography

Special Christmas Sale!

Our very first sale, EVER!
Specially for the Season we have a nice section of discounted items in the bag shop, check the Christmas Sale section for discounts up to 50%! More bags and wallets will be added in the coming days, right in time to get some nice presents :)

Newly Listed: Seashore town

Seashore town Driftwood Art constellation Nautical Home Decor by StarHomeStudio
Wolf by Laselle
Forgotten, wood, boat, rust, peeling paint, sea, ocean, coastal, old, decayed, Greece by aeolia
Seaside Fine Art Photograph Nature, Beach, Coastal, Sea Grass, Fog, Fence by mariegradypalcic

Newly Listed: Green Forest Dress

Green Forest Dress Trees, Moose, Deer, Vintage Gobelin Tapestry Fabric Clothing by StarsWear
Woodland photography, brown mushrooms in green moss, nature photography by TreetopPhotoShop
Landscape Photograph, Dreamy Forest Trail, Fine Art Photography by SuzanneHarfordPhoto
Tree Bark Marco Photography enchanting fine art photography nature rustic macro by dorataya

Great Sky

A few days ago we went treasure hunting to one of the beaches we go. Unfortunately we came back empty handed but on our return the view was worth the trip!

Below you see the sea and the town we live in, here you also have a peek on what kind of roads we always travel to get out of town, driving fast is not an option here!

The next day it was storming and raining like crazy so we were lucky with the weather that day.

Isn't nature amazing?!