Paying Tribute to Michael Jackson

Today we went to Hollywood, to the Walk of Fame, to pay tribute to Michael Jackson.
It was a lot of people there, waiting in line for hours just to see his star.
I was really amazed how many flowers, teddy bears, letters, notes people put near the star!

Rest in Piece Michael Jackson

It hearts so bad! I've been crying since I heard the terrible news about Michael!
I cannot get over it! He was so close to my heart, I cannot believe what happened.
He died... How very heart breaking.

Despre Chihlimbar

Chihlimbarul face parte din categoria de pietre semipretioase organice. Numit si "Aurul Nordului", este vechi de milioane de ani si se formeaza din rasina pinilor "Pinus Succinifera". Se spune ca pinii se protejeaza de infestatia insectelor prin eliminarea acestei rasini.

Chihlimbarul este cunoscut pentru faptul ca ajuta la eliminarea energiei negative si la calmarea nervilor. Iti da o stare de bine, calm si curaj.
Este de asemenea folosit pentru a alina durerile de ficat si stomac.

Are de cele mai multe ori o infatisare tulbure datorita numeroaselor bule de aer, firicele de par , sau fracturi rezultate in urma tensiunii. Pentru a indeparta aceste bule, se fierbe in ulei special. "Heated" = incalzit.

In zilele noastre, numai 15% din chihlimbarul gasit se poate folosi in bijuterii. Restul, este amestecat cu stabilizatori din plastic rezultand ambroid-ul. Acest ambroid arata aproape la fel ca chihlimbarul (ambra) natural.

Pentru a determina daca chihlimbarul este veritabil sau nu, incalzeste varful unui ac de cusut pana se albeste, apoi introdu-l in partea mai putin vizibila a chihlimbarului si daca emite un miros de pin, este veritabil. Iar daca emite o aroma de plastic ars, stiti deja ca e imitatie sau este ambroid. Alta metoda este sa-l introduceti in apa sarata. Chihlimbarul natural va pluti, in timp ce cel fals se va duce la fund.

 Este foarte delicat asa ca aveti grija cand lucrati cu el pentru ca se poate zgaria si este foarte sensibil in contact cu diferite chimicale ca de exemplu parfumul dvs. Pentru a-l curata, nu este nevoie decat apa calduta si sapun.

Stiati ca printre tarile unde se formeaza se numara si Romania? Chihlimbarul gasit in draga noastra tara se numeste Rumanite. Cele mai mari depozite din lume se gasesc in vestul orasului Kaliningrad din Rusia.

Creati bijuterii superbe combinand chihlimbarul cu garnet, ametist sau rainbow fluorite! Folositi sarma si accesorii placate cu aur, gold filled sau vermeil pentru un look vintage!

Puteti cumpara chihlimbar natural in magazinul online de margele, pietre semipretioase si accesorii bijuterii:

   Cristina's Bead Boutique - Bring Your Ideas to Life! 

Just saw ''Transformers - Revenge of the Fallen''

Me and my fiance just came from the cinema. We saw "Transformers". We loved it! It was funny and cute and kept us entertained for 2 1/2 hours.
I am so glad we didn't miss it! Good movies make me happy and inspire me!

How the Clouds Look in Romania

My brother took these pictures!
I think they are very interesting. I love the color of the clouds.
Romanian clouds are so beautiful!
That's my brother in the first picture.

Last day of my giveaway!

Today is the last day of my blog giveaway! Hurry up! Go ahead and enter! Great chances to win!
Growing Piggy Bank: Giveaway: Bana Design Jewelry

Pictures Pictures Pictures

I've been working so hard on improving my pictures in the last 3 days. It's so much hard work and so time consuming!
First, the only time I can take pictures is before 12 am, when there's a lot of light coming through my bedroom window (with the neighbors starring at me), then I have to download the pictures in Photoshop, change the contrast, light, ohhhh, so much work!
And most of the times, I am not satisfied at all with the results. Of course, I have to start allover again! Annoying!
Here are some pictures I tried to improve:





How do they look?

Needle Organizer - Made by Me

I knit and crochet since I was a little girl. And I always buy different types of needles and hooks, all sizes, shapes and colors. I can never have enough (you know how it is!). Lately, my needles were all over the place! They needed a place of their own.
So, I've been looking for an organizer to fit them all. No chance! Couldn't find it!
That's how I had the idea to make it myself. A customized organizer to fit all my needles.
My organizer is crocheted from leftover yarn and the inside is made from an old curtain that I hand sewn myself, since I don't know how to use my sewing machine, yet!
Ta daaaaa!

Giveaway Bana Designs Jewelry

I am having a giveaway on Teresa's blog http://growingpiggybank.blogspot.com/. I am giving away 4 pairs of really gorgeous earrings to 4 people that they sign in on etsy and convo me on my http://http://banadesigns.etsy.com, jewelry store.


Here is the link to Teresa's blog where you find all the rules to the contest.

Good luck!

Growing Piggy Bank: Giveaway: Bana Design Jewelry

Yellow tulips for no reason!

My fiance brought me this beautiful bouquet of tulips the other day. No, it wasn't my birthday and no, we didn't have a fight!
There was no reason to it other than tulips remind me of my grandmother's garden. She always have them planted in the spring.
Aren't they gorgeous? Flowers make me happy when I look at them.

Lots of thanks to my returning customers!

I woke up this morning and of course, I jumped on the computer to check my online stores! I had a really nice surprise! A returning customer that bought 3 of my hand crocheted items; 2 headbands and one baby beanie. The lady lives in Spain.
I really appreciate her business and I am grateful for her coming back for more headbands. This time, she wants different colors. She even sent me a picture of her wearing the white one. How sweet is that!
Thank you so much lady from Spain! You are welcome back in my store anytime!

Instyle

My handmade find on Etsy this week

When I took the handmade pledge, I promised myself to use handmade items as often I as could for me and my family.
I've always used day and night facial cream that they cost a lot of money. Lately, I've been hunting for the perfect handmade creams and I think I found them! I found them on etsy.com, in this gorgeous boutique:
http://cozymoments.etsy.com
I just received them today, I tried them on and I am impressed!
I bought them at the beginning of the week and they arrived so fast! Now that's fast shipping!
They came very nice packaged - I felt like I received a gift - organza pink pouch and pink tissue paper. Plus, there was a little something extra for me, too.
I was also impressed by their excellent customer service.
What can I say! A+++ store!

Honduras Earthquake

I started the day really rough. Me and my fiance Alfonso were woken up at 3 o'clock in the morning by a phone from his family (that lives in Honduras), telling us about the huge earthquake that occurred in Honduras. It had a 7.1 magnitude, which is a very powerful one, and killed 4 people and made a lot of damage. A lot of houses collapsed as well as a very important bridge that connects 2 small cities. Alfonso's father couldn't go to work this morning because of that bridge!
A little boy, 15 years old, that is one of Alfonso's family neighbor, was killed when his house collapsed on him. That is so sad!
Fortunately, Alfonso family is fine physically, they are just very scared and shaken. Dona Eva, my future mother in law, was crying on the phone, pobresita! Thanks God, nothing happened to them!

Market Tote

I usually do my grocery shopping at Ralphs and I noticed how lately they changed their plastic shopping bags to very thin ones that they are not very strong.
I think it's because of the law that is trying to lower the use of plastic bags.
What an excellent idea! So, I would like to help with the environment and that's how I designed this huge market bag. I had some leftover very strong cotton so, I started to crochet my bag. I took me quite some time to finish (2-3 days), but I was worth it!

My future mother in law dancing rock'n'roll

I was looking at some old photos and videos the other day and I found a video of my future mother in law dancing rock'n'roll. Elvis Presley is her favorite singer. She loves to dance, and even if she is of a respectable age (I promised not to reveal her age), she still has so much energy and an incredible mood for live. I really admire her!

Memorial Day Sale

All the headbands are on sale starting today until Monday night! Don't miss this sale!
Take $2 off all headbands!

Elephant Necklace

I would like to show you my newest addition to my jewelry store on etsy. I created this gorgeous vintage inspired necklace that features an elephant pendant with rhinestones and Austrian crystals. Very sparkly and unique!
They say elephant is the symbol of strength and power! It is the symbol of intelligence, purpose and happiness!

Saints Constantin and Elena

Today it is a big celebration day in Romania, it is saints Constantin and Elena day.
Since my grandmother's name is Elena and my brother's middle name is Constantin, it is their name day!
So I would like to wish them Happy Name Day!
I know what you are thinking! We are very lucky in Romania! We have our birthday celebration and name day celebration! Think about all those presents! It is so exciting!
My fiance is not Romanian and is a little confused about all my celebration days! It's difficult that he has to remember them all and surprise me with presents.
I love it!

Cloths for Blythe Doll

Since summer is here and my scarves, my fingerless gloves and my beanies are not for warm weather, I decided to do a little research on what items would sell good in the summer. After looking around Google, I found out that the cloths and accessories for the Blythe doll are very good to sell. I got so excited! I could do that! I love to make cloths for dolls. So the first thing that came to my mind was to buy one of this Blythe doll. But... when I found out that they sell for $150 or more, I gave up! I don't get it! Why are they so expensive? That's why the cloths and accessories are expensive, too!
Now, I'm disappointed! How am I going to make the cloths if I have no doll? If I have no measurements?