Newly Listed: Long Coral Earrings

Long Coral Earrings, Sterling Silver Earrings Red Coral, Celtic Knot, Hand knotted Kazaziye woven Fine Silver by StaroftheEast
Gothic Portrait, Dramatic Photograph, Fine Art Photography, Red Lips, Dark Art, Decor, Large Wall Art by ellemoss
Boat photography, boat picture, nautical photography, seawater, Fine Art Photography by PortraitOfALand
Flower Print and Canvas, gallery wrap, Picture Photo, wall decor. artwork still life Scarlet Modern by HPaquinPhotography

Newly Listed: Celtic Love Knot Earrings

Celtic Love Knot Earrings Sterling Silver Hand knotted Viking Knot Kazaziye Oxidized and Mat by StaroftheEast
Magical Night Photography, Landscape Photography, African Bush, Full Moon, travel photo by photographysensor
Mountain Photography, Misty Day, Scottish Landscape,  Wall Art, Travel Photography by AgaFarrell
Composure Accented  photo - Metallic finish by feliciano

Newly Listed: Pearl Kazaziye Necklace

Pearl Necklace Sterling Silver Kazaziye Handwoven Statement Jewelry with Pearls by StaroftheEast
pink clouds photography, sky photography, nature photography, clouds nursery decor by bialakura
Flower photograph, home decor, ethereal art, floral, botanical, heart, fine art print by dullbluelight
Ocean Photography Print Fine Art Oregon Beach Pacific Northwest Landscape by WildWildernessPhotos

Newly Listed: Celtic Knot Ring

Celtic Knot Ring Sterling Silver Hand knotted Kazaziye woven Fine Silver Mat Silver by StaroftheEast
Cloud Print, Nature Photography, Sky, Cloud Art, Pale Blue and White, Pastel Summer Art by EyePoetryPhotography
Bright White Versailles Photography, Tile, Sculpture, Statue, French, Paris Decor by GypsyFables
White Iris Photograph, Sepia Toned Photograph, Botanical Art Print, Shabby Chic Home by JudyStalus

Newly Listed: Maze of Secrets Necklace

Maze of Secrets Necklace Verdigris Copper Handwoven Infinity Jewelry with Agate, Coral, Kuchi, Leather by StaroftheEast
Abandoned Book Pages Fine Art Photography, Dark Decay, Urban Photograph, Forgotten by JillianAudreyDesigns
Rustic Farmhouse Photo Decor, Still Life Fine Art Photograph, Cottage Chic Decor, Verdigris by MelanieAlexandra
Old Country Fence Photograph, Misty Morning Country Life Print. A Simple Life, Morning by BeneathNorthernSkies

Newly Listed: Infinity Necklace

Infinity Necklace Sterling Oxidized Silver Kazaziye Handwoven Infinity Jewelry by StaroftheEast
Black and White Photography, Bubble Print, Soap Bubble Photography Photo by CarolynCochrane
birches in winter fog, fine art black & white photograph, nature by KSinclairPhotography
Plumes - Gallery Wrap Canvas Photograph. feather plumage art print home decor photo photography by kristaglavich

Newly Listed: Caged Seashell Necklace

Caged Seashell Necklace Sterling Silver Kazaziye Handwoven Fine Silver Jewelry by StaroftheEast
wonderment, snow, winter, dreamy, fine art photography by BeverlyLeFevre
Ocean photography, coastal seascape photograph, sunbeams clouds photograph by LupenGrainne
SPIRO, Andalusian Horse , Dapple Grey, Edition Art Print, Wall Decor by SpiritedImage

Newly Listed: Oxidized Sterling Silver Necklace

Oxidized Sterling Silver Necklace - Handwoven Infinity knot with Vintage Findings by StaroftheEast
Seed pod photograph - poppy pods nature art natural photography print by LupenGrainne
Tree photography, Fall photography, Woodland Art Print, Golden Forest by MOONGARDENART
Bench on Brooklyn Bridge, New York Print, Fine Art Photography by EyePoetryPhotography

Newly Listed: Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings

Sterling Silver Hoop Earrings Hand knotted Kazaziye woven Fine Silver Oxidized by StaroftheEast
Photography dreamy icy herbs meadow fine art photography print nature photo by ANNandDAD
Bright White Versailles Photography, Tile, Sculpture, Statue - French, Paris by GypsyFables
Muted Minimal Ocean Photography Print Fine Art Waves Landscape by EyePoetryPhotography

Newly Listed: Caged Seashell Necklace

Caged Seashell Necklace Sterling Silver Kazaziye Handwoven Fine Silver Jewelry by StaroftheEast
Art Print Etching, February Visit, Doves Fly In, solar plate etching on handmade paper by 88editions
Botanical art print, milk weed, rustic, minimalist, nature print, fine art print by dullbluelight
Oregon Landscape Photography, Ocean Beach Art, Mountain, Coastal by EyePoetryPhotography

Exhibition

As I have mentioned several times before, this Winter we have attended a special silver course. These courses are arranged and paid for by a government under the name of Public Education. The courses are usually attended by women, rarely men, mostly as these courses are often attended by housewives, or retired people, anyway often people who do not have a regular job as the course are at day time. We do not fall in any of the categories, especially NOT the housewife lol :) But we had great fun and learned some special techniques which we will be able to use in our new jewelry pieces.

After 5 months, 3 days a week our course is coming to an end, next week will be our final week, this week however all the different courses had their exhibition to showcase what we all have made in the past months. There was our Silver jewelry pieces, oil paintings, marbled paper art, ceramics, hand painted wooden objects, beaded jewelry, wearable and home textile and embroidery.

Everyone was also welcome to sell their pieces for some extra income, most ladies were pleased with what they earned in the two days, the sale feel like a little reward after all the months of hard work :)

Some of our pieces are already in our shop in the Silver category and many more will be listed, we are planning to explore more of these techniques this Summer.

All is Well when it Ends well...

,,, or so they say :)
A few hours after our previous bomb blogpost Etsy sincerely apologized for the inconvenience and re-activated our shops. Of course an apologize does not really make it right, the 4 stressful days we had are still very fresh in our heart and mind. It was a big shock after almost 8 years on Etsy, working hard and honest it was a very undeserved treatment.
But well... what happened happened and we are now back to putting our energy in to making pretty things, these two are listed in our shop, and many more to come :)

Newly Listed: Amazonite Branch Necklace

Amazonite Branch Necklace Sterling Silver Kazaziye Handwoven Infinity Jewelry by StaroftheEast
Spring, tree photography, sky, dreamy art, botanical, branches, leaves, fine art print by dullbluelight
Pods Photograph, Nature Poppy Photography, Home Decor, Fine Art Photography by DreamyPhoto
Large Abstract Wall Art - Beach Decor - Sea Green, Light Blue - Fine Art Print by StudioDandK

Newly Listed: Sterling Silver Pearl Earrings

Sterling Silver Pearl Earrings Celtic Knot Hand knotted Kazaziye woven Oxidized by StaroftheEast
Still life photography - nature dark seed pods botanical fine art photography by LupenGrainne
Grey Feather on a wooden surface, splattered with blue paint Fine Art photo print by IzzyVerena
water drop photo, fine art photography, monochromatic, minimalist peaceful by geishaphotography

Learning something New

As you might know by now we are attending a course here in our town all focused on techniques with silver wire, most are only done in one region in Turkey. One of the techniques is Kazaziye and the result is pretty amazing.

Kazaziye is a local art from the northern Turkish city Trabzon. "Kazaz wire" is used to form a traditional and unique type of Turkish jewelry, the so called "Kazaziye". 

A strand of 24 K gold or 999 K silver having only 0.008 micron thickness (as fine as one strand of human hair) is wrapped over a very thin silk thread with the help of a spinning wheel (no power tools are used). 

Finished Kazaz wire can be 3-5mm thick; it is flexible, yet very strong. The matte finish of the Kazaz wire gives Kazaziye's remarkable pieces a timeless, vintage look. Simply exquisite!

The masters of the art hand-sew Kazaz wire into intricate designs including knotted beads (Turk's Head Knot), herringbone chains, Shemse Motifs (Love Knot), tassels, necklaces, pendants, earrings and rings.The exact history of Kazaz is not well-known, however, it is said that this art was born in Mesopotamia area by Lydians in 2800BC and later spread north to Anatolia. During
the Ottoman Empire, this art was more common, but today it is almost only made in Trabzon.

It is so exciting to learn something new, and is great that we can use what we learned in to our own work. Usually Kazaziye beads are used in specific ways, but we like to use them in a not traditional way to make them our own :)

I've already listed a few of these in our shop, and more are coming, and can't wait to show you more results of our very fruitful course, not to mention that our group is super fun and we have lots of laughs so it is a really nice experience.

Newly Listed: Oxidized Sterling Silver Earrings

Oxidized Sterling Silver Earrings - Kazaziye Handwoven Infinity Jewelry by StaroftheEast
Goldfish, gold printed sheer black tights, S-M, L-XL, Flash Back collection by galstern
Brown and Gold Fine Art Photographic Natural History Print. Natural Home Decor by MilesofLight
Abstract Photography - sparkly lights wall art sparkle print Glimmer by CarolynCochrane