Under My Umbrella, Images of Peace

This is my newest altered art necklace, entitled Under My Umbrella. It features a classic UK Christmas postage stamp, a symbol of love and peace, with the two doves taking shelter beneath an umbrella of a map of the world. You might also note that there is a black dove and a white dove, in loving harmony.

As a long time peace advocate and activist, I have decided to open a new etsy Treasury to celebrate and promote images of peace, which I will call No Pipe Dream: Images of Peace. I will post a link here and on my faceboook fan page when I have compiled the first line up. I intend to keep this treasury as a perpetual gallery, so there is time for you to still take a photograph or create a piece of art suitable for display in the treasury.

May you create peace in your self, in your community, and in this cosmos, with love, Starry.

Introducing My Handmade Postage Stamp Jewelry

I had to launch with a Christmas stamp, this one is from the UK, I love the tranquil winter setting... the snow... the forest... the second deer in the background. Deer are a traditional symbol of prosperity.

All jewelry featured here today are glazed into brass jewelry settings with a glass cover and a ball and chain necklace of up to 24 inches. I cut mine to at least 20 inches.

I love the teal, beige, and charcoal artwork on this vintage Mocambique stamp (Mozambique) a part of the postmark is visible in the upper right hand section but does not obscure the image of the butterfly.

A little brighter and cheerier is this stamp featuring roses.

This piece is not a stamp, its a miniature of a Mucha art piece and was a special request by my friend who has purchased it.

I'm looking forward to offering more stamp and altered art pieces (and practicing my photography... at the moment I find I get the shadow from the setting cup around the edges, also often the light reflections)

These pieces are now available in my new store section Altered Art Jewelry at www.starzyia.etsy.com

Its Here... 20% OFF JEWELRY all November! Starry Girl by Starzyia

Its here! My Early Bird Christmas Sale.... save 20% off jewelry in both my etsy and madeit stores, for the entire month of November. As I wish to encourage early christmas shopping when I am less busy and the post office lines are shorter, no offer I make in December will beat this.

Most of this is newly listed stock and you can grab it at sale price! Please note that I only create one of each design.

Etsy shoppers: the listing prices have been cut by 20% on all stock marked ON SALE so you only need to pay the discounted price and shipping, no code word needed, and no waiting for me to send a discount refund. All items in my jewelry and earrings store sections are included in this sale.

Madeit shoppers: the prices have not been pre reduced, you will save 20% on the listing price of ALL items in store. Either pay with paypal and I will send your discount amount back as a paypal refund ASAP, or if you are an Australian resident and select to pay by cheque or money order I will send you a message asking you to pay the discounted price and shipping NOT the full price! Once again no code word needed!

I am happy to combine shipping if you order from both stores, the shipping will be recalculated and the excess refunded or discounted.

The far top image shows Diva Butterfly Earrings in my etsy store, these have a great vintage feel, but are a fresh handmade creation with plenty of sparkling bling.

The next image shows All Things Nice, lavender and violet beaded earrings, in the Madeit store www.madeit.com.au/Starzyia

Sweet Love Birds Roosting, the pink, Madeit store variation (I have a red pair in etsy)

my etsy store is http://www.starzyia.etsy.com/

you can keep track of my additions and notifications by following me on twitter, see button on right of page.

Happy shopping to you! I am thrilled to have bought my father's christmas gift this week, he is by far my hardest to buy for, a big relief to have found something great for him SSHHHH I can't say what it is!

Who is your most difficult person to shop for?

Free Contest, Have Fun and Win Butterfly Earrings

I will ship these earrings to anywhere in the world for free, to the lucky winner of this contest. The earrings feature a pewter butterfly in antiqued gold finish, with sapphire coloured rhinestone in a heart setting.



To win, simply guess the number of butterflies in my room! I will give you some guideline hints below. The contest will run until midnight Perth Western Australia time on the 21st September. The winner will be either:

1 The person who guesses the exact number of butterflies.

2. The person who is closest to the exact correct number of butterflies



In the event of multiple people guessing the same number or being equally close to it (ie in the event of a tie) the names of the people tied up will be put in an online randomiser and one winner will be decided by chance.



My family members are not eligible to enter. My friends who have had access to this room are ineligible to enter. This is a contest for my online friends and readers, and will be fairly refereed.



To enter, just leave a comment below with the number you wish to guess.



HINTS and TIPS

The room is small-medium room measuring 3 metres by 3 metres.

The room is multi purpose, it is my dressing room with built in wardrobes and tall boy drawers, it is also a room housing tall bookshelves.... it is a room I sit in and read comfortably, listen to music, and sit or lie on the day bed. I find this room very relaxing.

My clothes are all put away inside the closet/wardrobes so any butterfly clothing is not counted in the tally.

The curtains and upholstery do not have any butterflies on them.

There are 4 framed pieces of art hanging on the walls.

There is a pin up board on which hang all my personally owned earrings, but none of the earrings made for my stores are in the room.

There is not a ridiculously large number of butterflies in the room, although I can look in any direction and find butterflies, their numbers are not overwhelming.

Do not guess 500 or more butterflies that is way too many!



I will announce the correct number of butterflies on Wednesday 22 September and who has won!

Why not visit my fellow etsian and awesome blogger Jess who has very kindly featured me this week in her segment 'makers', you can read my interview, and while there, explore recipes, spiral jewelry, tips for your own handmade success and all kinds of fun posts!
http://messy-bessie.com/2010/09/makers-starzyia/