Pearls of Wisdom

New earrings, called Pearls of Wisdom.
They would surely look stunning on an edgier bride!

Made with sterling silver and variously sized freshwater pearls.

The finishing touch - oxidizing silver to a slate gray to offset the demure pearly shine.

I designed them a very long time ago 

and never got a chance to sit down and create.

Probably, I needed that time to perfect them in my head. 

And when I was ready, I made them with lots of l.o.v.e.

Yours,

~ whyzee

Dilapidated Home's Philosophy Lessons

I've noticed this weird crack on the lobby floor of our building some time ago. 

Today, I looked at it for the -th time and it dawned on me.

Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

 ~ R.W.Emerson

Instagramming Little Moments

A friend of mine got me totally hooked on a funky iPhone photo app Istagram. It is super easy to use and its filters allow you to add a bit of mystery to the pictures that would otherwise look quite ordinary. I absolutely love it! Just yesterday, when I was strolling through Brookline, I captured a few signs of a fast approaching spring.

Reflections in the pools are my all-time favorite theme!

 

This house looked so sunny in the middle of snow piles. Quite a striking combo!

Pretty wet and dirty...

Thank you, Bean Boots, for saving me this winter!

When I was taking this photo, people gave me strange looks...wonder why?

This house looks so mysterious from the outside. Kind of scary in a way.

Welcome home, baby!

~ whyzee ~

BELARUS

These intricate dangle earrings were inspired by the landscapes of a dear to my heart country in Eastern Europe, Belarus. It is often called blue-eyed Belarus. The symbolism of the name lies in the fact that there is a great number of lakes which look like blue eyes when they reflect the color of the sky. When you drive through the country, you would also notice a lot of coniferous woods with their striking emerald green color. The combination of malachite and amazonite represents just that. I have wire-wrapped a coiled frame around malachite coin and suspended an amazonite briolette right below it. There's lots of movement and the color contrast is really stunning, don't you think?

Red Hot Chilly Valentines

Today I had fun putting together a collection of really spicy creations from Russian artists on Etsy. There's so much talent - it was quite challenging to make my final choice. I had a bunch of favorites! Here's the final product. I hope you'll have a pick at this collection of ultimate sexiness. Maybe, you'll find a gift for yourself or someone special :)

Victorian Dogs

While walking around Boston neighborhoods, I love capturing everyday moments that reflect our time. When I saw these dogs - it seemed like I was taken 100 years back. I had a feeling they were the masters of the house with no human hand in sight. It was a surreal scene. The two buddies just sat still watching life go by.

Have a great week!

~ whyzee

My Vintage Love

Tsarina necklace has been included into this retro treasury.

Thank you, Inessa :)

~whyzee

Dancing Sun in a Frozen Eternity

With temperatures running so low here, on the East Coast, the only thing I want to do is crawl under a fluffy cashmere blanket with a cup of hot chocolate and wait until the sun comes out. There's an enormous snow factory running 24/7 high in the sky - I haven't seen that much snow in my whole life!

There's so much inspiration around, obviously, but noooo...no-no-no. The grass has to be greener on the other side. On this note, I created a necklace that has been inspired by what's months and months, actually, an eternity ahead - hot long summer days with reading silly novels belly down on the grass under huge oaks and weaving dandelion wreaths.

Only white dandelions. I'm secretly enamored by them.

Only an inside out dandelion with exposed seeds...

                                                   ...Dandelion De-constructed...

...made from freshwater pearls, oxidized sterling silver and accented with a opaque green chrysoprase drop. Available in whyzee shop on Etsy.

~whyzee

Treasury Time

A super cool way to celebrate winter (while daydreaming about summer, of course) - Silver Frost Winter treasury. My Icicle earrings made it into this frosty dreamland.

Thank you, Elena of earringsAND!

~whyzee

Royal Amethyst

I'm pleased and honored to announce that Circus earrings were featured in the Royal Purple collection on Handmade Gazette

 

Thank you, Meghan!

~whyzee

Oh, Audrey!

"For Attractive lips, speak words of kindness.

For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.

 

For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.

For beautiful hair, let a child run their fingers through

it once a day.

 

For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.

People, more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed. 

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others."

      ~ Audrey Hepburn 

Queensland, Australia. Please help!!

I hope you had a great day, just like me.The Rain earrings

 

 
were featured in this beautiful Etsy treasury today
    

Thank you, StudioJarrah!

Unfortunately, the theme of this treasury were the floods of immense proportions that have affected Australian Queensland and caused numerous deaths and destruction.  You can read the details in New York Times. If you are safe and sound, it's hard to believe that you can loose everything you have in the blink of an eye. When you visit the Australian Red Cross, it directs you to the Queensland Government website, where you can make a secure donation that will go where it's needed the most.

Please, don't go by, because YOU CAN HELP!
Proceeds from sale of the Rain earrings will be donated to Australian Red Cross.

Coming back soon,
~whyzee

Is it still January?....One more resolution, please.

I know, I know, I should have compiled my 2011 resolutions list well before Jan 1, but being a person who likes jumping into the wagon at the last minute (read...LIBRA), it pretty normal for me.

So...my next (yeah, I managed to already squeeze a few in the front) resolution would be

...drum roll...

drink coffee. 

I was fighting it as long as I could...approximately, my whole life. 

I even finally found the perfect tea 

that I would take with me to the moon and back if I only was allowed to choose one drink.

It's super tasty, though highly sedative...

But having spend 2010 with my eyes half-open made me miss on half the fun. 

Can no longer rely on matchsticks to keep 'em open, 

even if it looks pretty cool...to some...not to me, at least not anymore.

Here's to coffee and to keeping eyes open (Juli, my fellow blogger made me realize this simple truth).

Someone...please fix my combat uniform -

I'm joining the forces.

Have a great day, you, coffedrinkers...

P.S. Any ideas on what coffee brand will take me to the moon and back?

Clementines = New Year

There's a tradition in our house that is so old, it's hard to trace its origins. Each year around Christmas there should be clementines on our table. I doubt is has anything to do with a striking color combo of vivid orange against the backdrop of emerald green X-mas tree, but when the smell of clementine peel gets mixed with the one of freshly cut X-mas tree, that's the ultimate aroma I cannot imagine celebrating a New Year without. The clementine earrings is just a reminder that a season of fresh resolutions is in and I have to roll my sleeves to keep up. What are your Holiday traditions?

Back to Basics

It's hard to tell when my love for jewelry got the first spark, but I tend to trace the beginnings of all things that I grew to love back to the Azov Sea. That's where I spent all summer holidays and got to meet a handful of new relatives every year. Southern nations breed fast under the sun :) I picked divine looking shells with my cousins and turned them into little spoons or mother of pearl nails. Anyways, this blue lace agate and sterling silver necklace is a tribute to my origins, the Azov Sea.

~whyzee

Dear Winter, how much I missed you!

Privet (hi in Russian),

I've just looked into the deep dark jungle of "my docs" to date and archive the pictures I took of the jewelry I made in 2010. Trying to hold onto a timeline, it seems I did a fair job. Flickr photos look pretty bright and crisp. It's really hard to believe that I started to play with wire just a year ago or is it a whole year ago? Time goes by so fast, yet it seems that to master something you do you need an eternity.

I'm really excited about the 20 inches of snow we had the other day. I haven't seen, smelled or trampled snow in 7 years!! How is it possible, having been raised in Eastern Europe, you'd ask. I wonder myself and squeeze a huge Cheshire cat smile as I look out of the window.
While the grass is greener here,
~whyzee

Hello, blogosphere, here comes Y. Z.

Hello, my name is Yuliya.

I grew up in my mom's jewelry box, taking apart her vintage necklaces and wirewrapping rose rings for my girlfriends from rainbow colored telephone cables. I knew the names of all gems before I started algebra. I escaped to the drawing school from the dance class once, but quit trying my hand at arts when my parents almost got a heart attack from that incident. I also lived through school years daydreaming of summer, when I'd go to the Azov sea with the girls of my family to bask under the sun, collect shells and shop at the most lavish jewelry boutiques I knew. Most of my inspiration comes from nature, but I have an edgy side too, which I work on revealing sometime in this blog. I'll keep you posted ;)
The reason I decided to blog? I couldn't fall asleep last night thinking there must be so many people out there doing the same things I like to do, only I've never met them in real life and I wonder what brought them to love, what I love, namely, create jewelry. I wondered if they had blisters on their hands from wire-wrapping or just blistered gray matter when they couldn't fall asleep because of the constant train of new ideas boiling in their head. I'll try to spill over as much as I can about my love of all things beautiful and how I came to appreciate what human mind and hands can jawdroppingly concoct.

Until then,
~ whyzee