CZ means Cubic Zirconia

It sounds like you claim to keep silence, "CCCCCCCC..." This sound reminds you of a bee buzz, "ZZZZZZZZZ..." If you put this letters together, it will be something strange, "CZ". Let's open Wikipedia for "CZ", and the first result returns you "Cubic Zirconia". We read, "Cubic Zirconia (or CZ) is the cubic crystalline form of zirconium dioxide. The synthesized material is hard, optically flawless and usually colorless, but may be made in a variety of different colors. It should not be confused with zircon, which is a zirconium silicate. Because of its low cost, durability, and close visual likeness to diamond, synthetic cubic zirconia has remained the most gemologically and economically important competitor for diamonds since 1976."

To tell the truth, I knew about Cubic Zirconia, but haven't tried those "diamondy" beauties until I received Cubic Zirconia Beads from Artbeads.com. They have a beautiful choice of CZs of any kind: beads, pendants, teardrops and so on. I decided to use faceted teardrops in my design.


According my idea, the necklace should have been pretty light and elegant, to wear for any occasion, and I added Amethyst, Garnet, Peridot, Olivine and Yellow CZ Faceted Teardrop Pendants to the main chain made using amethyst faceted round beads, seed beads and peridot chips. I wish I have wider CZ pendants color range, but for now it's fine. Ahhhha... Next time I'll try to combine those teardrops with Russian leaves...

The first picture displays my finished necklace, which I haven't named yet, and the second one - its close-up. What about name? Any idea?

Disclosure. Being a reviewer of Artbeads.com products and a participant of its blogging program I received all CZ Faceted Teardrops free of charge. This post reflects my honest opinion; and Artbeads.com is not compensating me for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

Flex Your Creativity: winners announced!

December started with good news that came from Soft Flex Company, the company announced the winners of the Flex Your Creativity Beading Contest, and my Bridal Flowers Necklace won First Place and Grand Prize. My another piece, Pearl Fireworks Necklace won the Seventh Place. Thanks to all who voted for me! My warmest congratulations to all winners, finalists and participants! WoooooooHooooooooo!!!

Winners List

New life of old earrings

Recently a friend of my friend has brought me a pair of old vintage earrings (Sterling silver, labradorite and pearls) and asked me to create an unusual piece of jewelry using those earrings.


Create a new pair of earrings using the old ones? Oh, no! I decided to keep the old design, and put the earrings together on a blank beadwoven bracelet. I picked up seed beads matching labradorite and pearls for the bracelet, and added a few seed bead branches with amethyst rounds, pearls and some gemstone chips. So, here we are!

YOU KNOW IT'S GLITTER SEASON WHEN YOU SEE ALL THOSE SHERMANS LISTED ON EBAY!

Haven't had much to write about lately ... or rather, too busy with other things. But today I thought I'd slip over to Ebay to see what's going on there and wow...what a change from a month or two back. The Sherman listings have doubled! And there's only one explanation: Glitter season is here. This is the time of year that all the costume jewelry sellers, including myself, come out to tempt us with their sparkling rhinestone and crystal necklaces, bracelets, earrings etc. And of course, that makes sense. Unless you move in circles where attending galas and fancy dress events happen all the time, most of us, at least here in Canada, don't doll up in all that glitzy stuff just to go grocery shopping!

So what have I seen that's worth your time if you're shopping for Sherman? Well THIS SIAM RED SET was one to go for but that auction's over. The vendor started it at $199 and got one bid. I guess someone hoped that was the reserve. No-one else even bothered, probably because being a Siam Red Sherman, we know the vendor would want more than than opening bid. Well it'll be interesting to see if he/she lists it again. My guess is it'll be a "Buy it Now" much like we sell our jewels and Shermans in our SHOP AT RUBY LANE ... and I have some beauties listed there right now for those who don't want to be forced to bid higher than they really want to. But more about my latest later.

Pity I can't post photos of the eBay pieces anymore. Once those auctions are over, the links disappear in a week or two so you won't even know what I was talking about. Oh well...

So here's another really pretty set from a guy who sells lots of Shermans on ebay. I keep wondering where he finds so many lovely pieces. This one is a NECKLACE AND EARRING SET in red clear crystals with siam red navette accents ... a super pretty set. The earrings are gorgeous long danglers, 2" long in fact. Unfortunately only the earrings are signed. But I'd have to agree with the vendor that the necklace and earrings are a set. However, since the necklace isn't signed, this might not go as high as it would otherwise. Could be a good buy for you if you don't mind an "unsigned" Sherman. Auction ends at 2:43 on November 16th. Bidding is at $169 right now.

Now the same vendor has a 3-PIECE PARURE listed that is unlike any I've seen by Sherman and it's absolutely gorgeous. You've just got to look at this set. It comes with necklace, bracelet and dangling earrings in a shade that looks like teal and the stones are primarily baguettes. It's just so different. Bidding is already at $188 with 4 days still to go. No surprise there. This one is a keeper. Both necklace and bracelet are signed. Earrings aren't.

Okay, that's enough telling you about other people's Shermans. Now I'd like to suggest you take a look at the one I just listed today in MY SHOP AT RUBY LANE. It too is very different and a real head turner:

When I attended the Christies Antique Show back in September, I came across a Sherman similar to this one and couldn't believe it was a Sherman. I'd never seen a Sherman like this. That pendant hanging from the set above, and in the one I saw at the show, was such a heavy cluster of Swarovski crystals and the glitter was fantastic. But it was the design that caught my attention. So very different. I didn't buy the one at the show as I had only so much cash on me and had my eye on a ring I'd seen in another booth. I later wondered if I should have purchased the Sherman instead of the ring! So, when I chanced on the one above elsewhere at a later date, I jumped on it. I thought it was the same one but it wasn't. However this one was just as exquisite. I thought it ironic that I should find two so similar Shermans in a short period of time after never seeing one like it before LOL! Anyway, if you haven't seen one like this, please just CLICK HERE NOW and go take a look at this fabulous Sherman set available from my Ruby Lane shop and you don't have to try to win it either!

I currently have a really nice assortment of Shermans in MY SHOP AT RUBY LANE that are just perfect for the glitter season and they are all reasonably priced. Apart from my FAUX ALEXANDRITE set mentioned in my previous post and which comes in an original Sherman box, my current favourite is this glorious necklace below:

What a work of art this one is! I swore off clear crystal Shermans a while back but hey, how can you pass up a spectacular necklace like this one? I had a customer over last night to look at some fine jewelry and after she'd tried on this and that ring, I showed her some of my Shermans. When she saw this one, she gasped! She wasn't familiar with Sherman and had never really tried on vintage costume jewelry. But she just had to put this one around her neck and look at it in the mirror. It was so funny watching her reaction, let alone her fiance who, typical male, said he just considered this kind of thing "junk jewelry". Yeah right! He nearly keeled over when my customer turned to him sweetly and said "Wouldn't this go great with my wedding dress!" How right she is! This Sherman would go well with a wedding dress, or any evening dress where classic designer jewelry by Sherman is the finishing touch. You can read all about it and see more photos of this necklace in MY SHOP AT RUBY LANE.

Lady Winter Necklace

Here is another Russian pendant, handpainted on a piece of black onyx and featuring a small part of the whole painting Winter, by Alfons Mucha.


And here is my another necklace featuring Russian pendants, its style completely differs from my Picasso's Dream Necklace. Not only shape, but technique and materials are different: I combined free-form and Russian leaves, as media I used seed and bugle beads, and a lot of Swarovski crystal pearls.


At last, here is a close-up of my lovely Lady! Maybe, too much gold, maybe I needed to add some silver color pearls, who knows, what would be better!

Tropical Blossom Necklace

I had a dream - to create a necklace using mostly Swarovski crystals. Of course, with seed beads together! Artbeads.com declared October as their month of Swarovski, and I didn't want to loose such a great opportunity. They have over 5,000 different items from Swarovski including beads, pendants, rhinestones, buttons, chain and more. In other words, everything you need to design the most dazzling jewelry!

I received from Artbeads.com different Swarovski crystal beads (Margarita Bead Jet and Margarita Bead Siam of different size), rivolis (Rivoli Siam, Rivoli Padparadscha, Rivoli Black Diamond), and amazing Aquiline Pendants, added bicones I've already had, and started working.


I must confess, it was a pleasure to work with Swarovski! Though I'm not a fan of bright sparkling beads and elements, I can sometimes afford to work with such materials, right? The name was born easily: Tropical Blossom! I think, it's fine for my necklace.

My daughter as a model

It can happen not very often when I make pictures of my jewelry on models. Here my daughter Ivanna is serving me as a model. At that time she was just back from the Burning Man Festival, she grabbed my necklace and put it on! I called that free-form necklace Southwestern Taste because of its color combination.

Burning Man website: www.burningman.com

Alexandria Festival of the Arts

Annual Alexandria Festival of the Arts is voted one of the top 100 art festivals in the country by Sunshine Artist magazine. As usual, it took place in September.


More than $15 million in art was on display, and more than 200 juried artists have displayed and sold fine art ranging from paintings, sculpture, prints and photography to pottery, glass, jewelry and ceramics. This year we noticed less sculpture artworks, but much more jewelry of any kind. Anyway, festival made a great success!

Pictures: Festival of the Arts

Art Activated at the TFAC

I had to post that at least a month ago, but better late, than never! A great event took place in September at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, where visual art came alive during the Alexandria Festival of the Arts. Artists demonstrated throughout the day pottery on the wheel, drawing, bubble glass making, beading, spinning, weaving, knitting, limestone carving, etching, and much more. Visitors could try their hand at different art techniques including clay throwing, sculpture, and fiber art at special "Try Me" stations.


Hands-on projects also included Champagne Cork Chairs workshop, Bubble Gum painting, Create Your Own Button workshop, Screen printing workshop, Mask Making workshop and so on. Lots of fun for both, adults and kids!

Pictures: Art Activated

GLITTER IN THE FESTIVE SEASEON IN THIS FAUX ALEXANDRITE SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL VINTAGE SET BY SHERMAN!

It's been a while since we last had a faux alexandrite set of necklace and earrings by Sherman to share with our readers and customers but this time, we have a real beauty! Just click on that photo to see more pics and in large detail in our SHOP AT RUBY LANE.

Going by the construction, size of the stones Sherman used for this one, we know we have one of his much earlier sets. As tastes moved toward the finer, less chunky looks in costume jewelry, Sherman too modified his designs. So these days it's really great to find one of these older sets.

Even better, this set comes in its original box, and in that is another giveaway that this is an old Sherman: the later boxes all carried the "Sherman ... jewels of excellence" inside the boxes. Notice, that "jewels of excellence" is missing here but the inscription on that satin inlay is identifiably Sherman. So buying a set like this, in its original box, is a doubly valuable investment. Just the box alone right now would fetch $100!

Shown below is another photo of just the necklace as we subject it to different lighting so you can see the color change that occurs in faux alexandrite stones:


Isn't it brilliant! I'm always in awe of these crystals and get so excited when I find a vintage set, by any designer, with faux alexandrite stones. They're just so rare, and that makes them highly collectible.

It's intriguing to speculate what something like the set above would cost if these were real alexandrites. Quite honestly, most of us could never afford even one of those large stones in the necklace if this were the genuine gemstone. The large stones you see here are 5/8" long by 1/2" wide. That's big. Actually, because the stones in this set are larger, so is the weight of the pieces considerable. The necklace alone weighs over 60 grams!

Below is yet another view of the full set in its mauve color (ie. it changes from blue/green to lavender/mauve).


What a glorious color! By the way, the earrings are large. They run along your ear for 1 3/4" and are 3/4" wide at their widest point. Gorgeous, showy, glitzy but always beautiful Sherman! Buy it now from our SHOP AT RUBY LANE.

By the way, don't know if you watched the auction for this incredible Sherman cuff bracelet shown HERE. What a beauty. It went for over $1900 CAD. Just proves you can't really put a price on Sherman: it's worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it!

"Flex Your Creativity" Beading Contest

 
Poll: Choose the Winner!
There are two my items (one is below), contest is open to vote!


Bridal Flowers Necklace

Looking for colors

Last year when I worked on my Mermaids Garden Necklace I selected an unusual color combination of copper and aquamarine to pale blue - to express an ocean theme, and I haven't expected that many people would like that palette. From time to time I play with different colors - I love it!


Looking back at the Mermaid's Garden, I wanted to try colors like those, but of other shades. I got from AuntiesBeads.com Bronze Swarovski crystal pearls, Caribbean Blue Opal Swarovski crystal bicones, and Metallic Indigo Iris Miyuki seed beads, this combination seemed to be very interesting for me!


I was eager to challenge and when I received my order, I immediately started beading. Oh, no, I wanted just to try my idea! Look at the picture, here is my new necklace. I don't know how you like it, but yesterday at the Art Activation in the Torpedo Factory Art Center (Alexandria, VA), where I demonstrated beading to public, my necklace attracted a lot of attention. I guess, partly because of colors. Now I'm thinking how to name the necklace... Any suggestions?

How is it on a model?

I like the visitors in my studio who makes the photos with my jewelry on. As a rule, they ask my permission to do so, and I'm always glad to see them modeling my beadworks. Sometimes in my turn, I ask them to pose and the answers are positive. Here is a sample: Dorothy from Maryland modeling my Phoenix Firebird Necklace. How is it on Dorothy? I think, it's a nice view!

Russian Pendants

The story with The Dream by Pablo Picasso will continue! Last week I bought seven more Russian pendants!


Birthday, by Marc Chagall


The Painter: To the Moon, by Marc Chagall


Judith, by Gustav Klimt


The Kiss, by Gustav Klimt


The Virgins, by Gustav Klimt


Winter, by Alfons Mucha


Renaissance - Mask Your Face

DARK TOPAZ & DEEP RED/PURPLES MAKE THESE VINTAGE COSTUME SETS by SHERMAN and BERGERE WORTH COLLECTING!

Glass crystal bead sets by Sherman continue to be ever popular amongst collectors and this 2-piece signed set of earrings and 2-row necklace weighing 125 grams is sure to please. Depending on your screen settings, this set may look black but it's anything but. It's a deliciously warm but deep brown topaz. Perhaps you can see the brown shades better in the closeup of the lovely clasp below:


As you can see, the glass crystals alternate between topaz-washed aurora borealis and clear Swarowski crystals. The glitter is outstanding, especially since the beads are in great condition. When we received this necklace, as it's a very old set, unfortunately one of the strands snapped. I wanted to cry, especially since the set is so beautiful. But my daughter went to work and quickly re-threaded both strands on fresh nylon. Now, whoever buys it will get years of wear from it. You can learn more about this set and purchase it from OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE.

While you're over there, if you love glass crystal bead sets especially those in siam reds and purples, why don't you take a look at the sensational 3-piece parure by Bergere that we've just relisted. Bergere is another vintage costume jewelry designer whose work and designs remind me very much of Sherman and certainly are as good quality. The set we have is this one:


It's utterly gorgeous and like the Sherman above, very weighty with all those glass crystal beads. The bracelet itself is about 3/4" wide over the two rows, as is the 15" necklace. The earrings are over 1" wide all round. To see and read more about this BERGERE parure, just click the photo above or HERE.

Both the Sherman and the Bergere set are priced to sell but I'm receptive to reasonable offers. So why not slip over and take a closer look. It's worth the effort as these are two wonderful sets of vintage costume jewelry by two top designers.

RARE HONEY BEE PIN by SHERMAN FETCHES HUGE DOLLAR ON EBAY

Those who collect Sherman or other famous vintage jewelry designers know that when it comes to "investing" in Sherman and not just "buying" Sherman because you like it, that there's a big difference in what to look for and what you will pay when you find it. Take the honey bee pin shown on the right. It's a Sherman .. no I didn't know he made pins like this either ... and this rare pin recently sold on ebay for $1250. The members of our costume jewelry group were floored. No doubt the vendor was in 7th heaven, especially if he or she picked it up at a yard sale for pennies. Yes, sometimes vendors get lucky and come across a treasure in a box of trash. Not that that happened here. I know nothing about the history of this piece but I thought my readers might like to know what to look for when they're "investing" in Sherman.

As you know if you've been following this blog, I've decided to get out of designer vintage costume jewelry and have been selling off my costume jewelry at cost. I still have some left and invite you to visit my SHOP AT RUBY LANE. I have some Shermans left, along with Alice Caviness, Schiaparelli, Juliana, Kramer, Weiss and others. No reasonable offer will be refused. As long as I cover my cost on the piece, it's yours. So please don't hesitate to make an offer. Several have already taken advantage of my "clearance", including vendors. It's amusing ... almost ... sob ... to see them listing the pieces they purchased from me at a higher price than they paid me and already getting sales on them. But that's the merry-go-round of selling.

On that note, don't be surprised if my postings in this blog become increasingly less frequent. If I'm not selling Sherman any longer, it's pointless to keep two blogs going (my other one is HERE) and it covers both vintage costume and fine jewelry. So if I have something to share with you re Shermans, you'll find it there.

And as I sign off, I have noticed a few interesting pieces at auction on ebay right now that you should consider bidding on for their style and color combinations. You find them at these links:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Sherman-PINK-DOVE-GREY-7-CLUSTER-BRACELET-NR_W0QQitemZ310159668262QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Costume_Jewelry?hash=item4836f4f426&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

and http://cgi.ebay.ca/Sherman-PINK-DOVE-GREY-CLUSTER-NECKLACE-EARRING-SET_W0QQitemZ310159666157QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Costume_Jewelry?hash=item4836f4ebed&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

These obviously go together but the vendor has separated them. You can thank me for the plug later Harry LOL!

This one is also a beauty: http://cgi.ebay.ca/Signed-Sherman-Purple-Pink-Necklace-Earrings_W0QQitemZ150363552251QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Costume_Jewelry?hash=item23025db9fb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 There's a reserve on it but certainly worth having a shot at.

New collectors might like to bid on this Sherman lot: http://cgi.ebay.ca/LOT-VINATAGE-SHERMAN-JEWELRY-NECKLACE-BROOCH-EARRINGS_W0QQitemZ330348788762QQcmdZViewItemQQptZVintage_Costume_Jewelry?hash=item4cea527c1a&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14 Great way to start your Sherman collection.

Gee, I really must ask myself why I do this ie. why am I advertising for others? In business, you pay people to advertise for you. Hmmm... maybe I should think about charging for this LOL!

Picasso's Dream Necklace

Not in a couple of days, but the necklace with the Russian pendant featuring The Dream by Picasso is finished! It was a pleasure to play with colors and texture. I decided not to round angles you can see in my previous post on the base of my necklace, because the pendant is rectangular and I wanted to keep the common shapes. I've tried to use the same colors as on the miniature, but without big bright spots, just to accent the beauty of the pendant. By the way, I used in my work seed beads I bought on sale at Artbeads.com. I hope people will like my new beadwork. Thank you, Artbeads.com!


Here is the finished necklace live, I mean here is how it looks on. It seems to be pretty, and my model looks great wearing the necklace. Top secret: this girl is also Russian!