Interview with a Star, Vera at luxurybyvera

We are always happy to know more about our team members. Today our guest is Vera from a wonderful LuxuryByVera shop on Etsy, with her story on her inspiration.

 
I was raised in Ukraine by my humble and creative parents. They instilled into me, self-reliance as well as supporting my natural creative ability beginning as a young child. My mother was a seamstress and throughout my whole life nurtured my creative abilities. An example of this was how my mother taught me to design and make beautiful dresses. Typically, my mother and I would walk through dress shops to get ideas. We would use parts of different dresses that we liked, resulting in a beautiful, perfected dress design.

I remember while I was still a teenager that my mother and I were becoming popular because of our dress designs. All around our city, my friends and strangers we would met on the street would comment on our beautiful designs. My creative talents were further cultivated by the Ukrainian schools because we studied many different arts and crafts courses, as this is a big pride in Ukraine to have well-rounded, creative students.

 

My real creative juices began flowing in early 2009, when I first began designing and making jewelry. Similar to my early days designing dresses with my mother, while shopping one day, I noticed a gorgeous necklaces on display that I realized I could make myself. After working diligently for a few weeks, I had designed and made almost 10 necklaces. During those first few weeks, I had so many ideas flowing through my head, and I have been working 24 hours a day 7 days a week since that time and cannot stop creating. I have been designing and making necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and pendants ever since.

 I have added another passion to my creative talents. In addition to my jewelry, I began creating mixed media art on canvas. I am just as excited about pursuing this art as well as my jewelry. Canvas art is bringing my creativeness to a whole other dimension.

 
A typical day in my studio begins with a cup of coffee and I begin by selecting semi precious stones, pearls and shells (found on the beach where we live) based upon colors and textures that catch my eye that day, and then mix and match the selections into a pattern or design that I like.

Once I am happy with my design, I begin physically making the jewelry. When I can and feel an uncontrollable urge, I pursue my canvas art. It is very easy for me to be lost in my creative artwork. I can spend days on end just creating jewelry or painting.

Finally I am very thankful to my husband for all his support and patience, as I spend mostly of my time in the design studio.

Please visit my shop to see all the surprises that are hidden beneath. I want share some of my client feedback to give you a better feel of what my customers say about my work:

------"This is one of the most unusual pieces I have ever seen. I love it so much!! Thank you so much!!!"

------"exquisite gorgeous perfection. beautifully crafted quality workmanship. gracious seller.... very very happy.."


-------"Oh Vera!!! These earrings are so much prettier than the photo could possibly show! They are made with such care and lovely stones! I will treasure them always:) Thank you!!!"

Best wishes,

Vera

Sapphire, the birthstone of September

Blue sapphire is the birthstone of September. Its name comes from the Greek word sappheiros, which means "blue stone". Some believe that the name sapphire is derived from its association with the planet Saturn. The name can roughly be translated to mean "dear to the planet Saturn".

Essentially, sapphire is the same mineral as ruby - corundum. When corundum is red or dark pink it is considered to be a ruby, otherwise it is considered to be a sapphire. This is why sapphires can be of blue, yellow, pink, purple, orange, or greenish color. There are also Padparadscha and star sapphires.



The prices of natural sapphires vary depending on their color, clarity, size, cut, quality and even origin. Price is also determined differently for sapphires of different color and rarity. Blue sapphires are relatively common and they are priced based on purity of their primary hue. Yellow and green sapphires are also commonly found. For pink sapphires, the deeper the pink color the higher their monetary value - the more they look like rubies, the more expensive they are. Sapphires also occur in shades of orange and brown, and they can even be colorless. There are also pink-orange sapphires that are called Padparadscha and are rare. Star saphires contain intersectng needle-like inclusions that cause an image of a six-rayed starto appear with a single overhead light source.

In occult, sapphire is the stone of faithfulness, modesty, and virginity. In Eastern tradition, sapphire was connected with friendship, modesty and selflessness. In modern occult sapphire pendants are used to give peace of mind, tranquility, happiness and spiritual enlightenment.


Sapphire is also considered to be a healing stone. Its influences include curing fever, seizures and delusions. It strengthens the heart, counteracts poisons, purifies blood and corrects vision defects. It is believed that sapphire increases the effectiveness of treatments by both natural and chemical medicines.

Sapphire influences the heart chakra. It protects against fear, envy and heart problems, helps to make his owner more detached and clear-minded. Sapphire helps his owner during travel and business trips, protects him from natural disasters, and will help to make him rich.



Story by Irina (Beautyland)

Translated by Alla (FleetingStillness)

Ruby, stone of the calendar month of July

The Ruby in Sanskrit is known as ‘Ratnaraj’ which means ‘king of the gemstones’ and rightfully so. Ruby signifies royalty and is dedicated to the Sun. In occult, this is a stone of special magical strength and power. Ruby will help it's owner to wage a battle with evil forces, to conquer fear.



In antiquity, ruby was also believed to be a healing stone. It was believed to stop bleeding, prevent memory loss, cure low blood pressure, help with sleeping disorders. Due to its red color it was always associated with love and vivacity. However, it was considered bad to constantly wear a ruby since it could take too much energy from its owner.



Ruby is a precious stone that ranges in color from pink to red. It's English name came from Latin word "ruber" which actually means red. The color determines the price - the bright blood-red stones are most expensive. Clarity, carat weight, and cut play a secondary role. In fact, all natural rubies have imperfections in them. Inclusions in natural rubies are used in order to tell a natural ruby from synthetics and substitutes. Ruby's hardness is surpassed only by one precious stone - diamond, and only one other mineral - moissanite



Story by Irene (Beautyland)
Translated by Alla (FleetingStillness)

May Birthstone - Emerald

The word "emerald" comes from the Latin word "smaragdus". There were quite a few iterations, such as "esmeraude", "emeraude" and "esmeralde" which have become the English word "emerald" in the 16th century.

Emerald is a colored gemstone and is bright green, and it's hues can vary from yellow-green to blue-green. Clarity plays an important role in pricing emeralds and stones that have less inclusions are more expensive. Emeralds tend to have a lot of inclusions and surface-breaking fissures. Stones that have no visible inclusions to the eye are considered flawless. The rest are treated to increase the clarity using a process called "oiling". To be able to distinguish a good-quality emerald from a treated one, it is advisable to request a treatment report from a reputable gemological laboratory.



According to occult studies, emerald's mission is to fight bad qualities of its owner, such as untruthfulness, bad business practices and being unfaithful. Emerald is a very sensitive stone, it does not approve of aggression and rudeness and helps its owner to fight these bad qualities as well. If the emerald belongs to a good person, it brings health and luck to its owner. This precious stone is able to disperse any negative energy, cleanse aura, and help to protect his owner from any negative influences. Emerald also is a protector of family life, it brings peace and harmony to spouses.



Story by Irina (Beautyland)
Translated by Alla (FleetingStillness)

Diamond, stone of the month of April

Diamond is the the hardest and the most precious stone in the world. It also has remarkable optical characteristics. Most natural diamonds are clear and colorless, some could be yellow, brown, green, blue, purple and even pink to a degree - depending on the impurities present in the stone.

The word "diamond" comes from the ancient Greek αδάμας – adámas "unbreakable".

Raw diamonds are converted into sparkling gems through a multi-step process called "cutting". This is a multi-stage process where the final goal is to produce facets with specific angles between them which would give luster to the jewel.


Diamond is a symbol of strength, courage, and purity. Since the ancient times diamonds were used as religious and occult objects. This gem was believed share its qualities with its owner and to protect him. It was also believed that wearing a diamond protected the owner from black magic and would drive away the bad spirits. If someone would try to place a curse on a person wearing a diamond, it would backfire placing the curse onto the person casting the spell. No wild animal would dare to attack a person wearing a diamond. It was also believed that this stone had medicinal qualities: could improve hearing, cure fever, pneumonia, bronchitis, hepatitis and so on.



Diamond is the hardest natural material known and this quality has been known since antiquity. The hardness of diamond contributes to its sustainability as a gemstone. Since it can only be scratched by another diamond, it does not lose its luster as easily as other gemstones.


Оnly about 20% of diamonds mined annually are gem-grade based on their clarity and absence of inclusions. The rest are the industrial-grade diamonds that are used in cutting and grinding tools and as semi-conductors.

Story by Irene (Beautyland)
Translated by Alla (Fleeting Stillness)