Eco Friendly Jewelry

I was watching Tv and some of the most cheesiest commercials come on during the day time hours before 3pm. One of them being a commercial about recycling your old jewelry and getting a check in the mail from a refinery. while the concept may seem corny, it does have some good merits. Recycling old or broken or unused jewelry helps to provide gold silver and platinum to the jewelry industry that doe snot have to be mined.

According to Brilliant Earth.com , mining of gold is a very destructive process to the environment. Not only that but the conditions the workers are placed in are hazardous.

Using lab created stones is another great way to leave a softer mark on the planet. These stones look just like the real thing and unless your friends are carrying a degree in gemology the are not going to know the difference. Sparkle is sparkle right!
This ring from Kohls.com is just wonderful. I have tried it on and will begetting it soon. It just sings! The stones are created and look just like diamonds. They are tough as nails and did I mention they sparkle a great deal? It's part of their DiamondLuxe collection. Right now this ring is still on sale and is on the website for $52.49 that is even lower from the $69 it was 2 weeks ago when I looked at again. I think it's time to purchase the ring! wat do you think?

Elizabeta Jewelry is another site that is socially concious and eco concious when it coems to jewelry making. They offer some stunning jewelry that used recycled marterials, responsible diamonds (not blood diamonds)and hybrid stones. A portion of their proceeds goes towards conservation efforts.

With all of the earth trying to conserve and do better to maintain our planet why not do it with jewelry that looks fantastic and it recycled or never mined from the planet leaving it damaged and hazardous to a child's health. Bling on all!

April the Diamond

The April gemstone is one of the most coveted of all the gemstones on the planet. It is the rock we all look forward to getting from a guy on bended knee. It is the subject of wars and fair trade. It sparkles and shimmers and catches the light in such a wonderful way that one cannot help but smile when that sparkle greets our eyes.

All you lucky April babies are blessed to have a stone that comes in a variety of colors and shades and are still called diamonds. Cognac, chocolate, black, blue, champagne, canary, pink, etc. They are all wonderful examples of the beautiful carbon stone. In fact, the varieties of colored diamond have a higher value than their colorless sisters. Whether it's in a ring, a necklace, a bracelet or any other peice of jewelry, diamonds are a joy to have in any collection.

Myths and legend behind the stoen suggest that Cupid used diamond tipped arrows and thus the reason why the stone is coupled with love.

The Hope diamond is NOT i repeat is NOT the largest diamond on the face of the planet.
The Golden Jubilee, with the weight of 545.67 carats, is the largest faceted diamond in the world. Rough stone weighed 755 carats and was discovered in Premier mine, South Africa in 1985. The Golden Jubilee was presented to the King of Thailand in 1997 for his Golden Jubilee - the 50th anniversary of his coronation. Prior to this event, the stone was simply known as the Unnamed Brown. Estimated value of the Golden Jubilee is $4-$12 million.
My favorite diamond is the Star of Africa:

The Cullinan I, a pear shaped diamond weighing 530.20 carats is also known as the Star of Africa. It measures 53mm x 44mm x 29mm, and has 76 facets. It's called the Cullinan I because it is the largest of 9 large stones cut from the 3106 carat Cullinan Diamond. Cullinan I was placed by King Edward in the Sovereign's Royal Scepter as part of the Crown Jewels, and it is now on display in the tower of London. Estimated value of Cullinan I is over $400 million!

But those are for royals. How can the everyday girl indulge in the April birthstone on a more realistic budget?

At Amazon diamond earrings can be quite reasonable at $59.99.

Kohl's Sterling Silver Diamond Circle Bracelet is a good investment piece at $75

Macy's has 14k White Gold Diamond Dragonfly Pendant (1/5 ct. t.w.) on sale for $179

jewelry can be fun and worth investing in since we wear it so often and it makes us feel great!

Find your diamond and let it shine!

Bare Minerals..Made in the USA

Been using Bare Minerals for the past couple months and I have to say, my skin is just thanking me for it. I have had skin improvement and I love the light feel and creamy texture of the mineral foundation. I also use the Prime Time Primer. $21

I also have to give a big four sparkly stars to The Buxom Lips line. The glosses are fantastic. I have Dolly and Starr. They have a plumping factor that tingles and adds fullness while having beautiful shine and adding moisture to your lips with Vitamins A & E. For the price of $18 you really get a good product. It also smells great! looking to get a peachy one next for summertime. I'm so excited.

Now I have had the roughest time with Mascara. I have tried a few different brands through out the years and what used to work for me was the common standard of the Pink Maybelline tube...but pregnancy changes everything! My skin become so much more sensitive and when I turned 28 my skin changed totally. I'm now more sensitive to chemicals and my skin went from oily to dry...weird I know.

So i looked into a few other brands like Cover Girl, Arbonne, and a few others. Until finally at Sephora I asked for help. I don't need dramatic volume or length i just wanted something so when i put on eye makeup they could stand out a little more. I also wanted something that wouldn't irritate my eyes as all the other brands had. So I was told the Buxom Lash mascara would be great. At a reasonable $18 i gave it a try. I can proudly say I love this mascara. It doesn't irritate and the wand is great. I would love to see this in a waterproof formula but I am utterly content with this product.

With all the worries about lead in makeup from china, I was trying to make sure that my makeup was not from china. Been looking through all my makeup and as i had thrown away some of the boxes I needed answers. So to the BE site I went to find the number for customer service. Once on the phone I spoke to April who after about a 30 sec hold time to look into the inquiry was able to relay that all the minerals are processed and mined her in the good old US of A. Some products lke the Prime Time are manufactured in the Netherlands and the only thing coming from China are the brushes.

To sum up, BE is the way to go if you like mineral makeup, want a trusted company and want to keep money flowing within this country. Happy Shopping!

Some of my creations

Hi all it's been such a long time since i have written.

I started making my own jewelry again and i have posted some of it up for sale on eCrater.com

Will post more when i can take more pictures and get them edited well. Prices are reasonable and i do take custom orders. Color charts are there for you to choose from. I work with Czech glass and Swarovski crystals and vintage beads. email me at

victoria_sweetpea@att.net The widget for the eCrater store is on the left hand side.
http://victoriasweetpea.ecrater.com/