Casa Doralba

Hello, I've moved....!!!!

2011-10-12T21:58:00.003-04:00

I just moved to my new blog, please follow me there.

Feliz Año Nuevo, Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T00:13:00.004-04:00

Happy New Year my dear friends! I wish all of you the best for 2010. Thank you for been my blog friends and for all the support during the past year.

I love all of you very much!

Doris
♥

Spanish:

Feliz Año Nuevo Querid@s Amig@s! Les deseo todo lo mejor para el nuevo año 2010. Gracias por ser mis Blog-amig@s y por todo el apoyo que me brindaron durante el pasado año.

Los quiero mucho!

Doris
♥

Hi!

2009-12-02T21:25:00.005-04:00

Love Blossoms new necklace.

I have been busy these last weeks in my studio preparing new jewelry and paintings. But I always follow all your blogs!!

Here are some of the new things...

A new Edurne necklace soon in my Etsy store.

My new painting, not finished yet. I still have a lot of work to do.

Love,

Doris

A Little Bookmark

2009-10-24T22:14:00.004-04:00

I just added to my shop this little bookmark with a print of my painting "Love Blossoms". I love bookmarks, books, and libraries (guess what? I'm a librarian!!). The back has an original illustration using watercolor pencils and archival ink and is signed by me. I added a silver plated chain, a dragonfly, and a beautiful glass flower.

I hope you like it...

Blessings and Love,

Doris

Dare To Dream...

2009-09-27T19:04:00.008-04:00

Discover the possibilities... Dare to Dream!!!

I got inspired and painted this cute little fairy with acrylic paints on a canvas. She will be soon on my etsy shop.

I hope you all had a great weekend!!

Hugs,
Doris

Twety five years after...

2009-09-20T18:02:00.006-04:00

I met this wonderful man 25 years ago. Today we are celebrating this important date. These have been 25 years of love, friendship, and a lot of good things. Raúl, I LOVE YOU!!!

XOXO

Doris

Something New

2009-09-15T21:26:00.011-04:00

New in my Etsy Shop!!

Hello, Hello... I have added some new jewelry to my shop...

Art Pendant Necklace with a print of my painting "Fill Your Home With Love".

Heart art pendant with a print of my painting "Believe in your Dreams".

These are some of my new pendants...

Love Blossoms greeting card, added to my shop. It is made
using a high quality print from my original painting.

This is a handmade little bookmark made using a high quality print of my original painting "Believe in your Dreams". The back has an original illustration made with watercolor pencils and archival ink and is signed by me, Doris.

I hope you like them!!!
Hugs,
Doris

GROW...

2009-09-06T18:59:00.012-04:00

I have been neglecting my poor blog and my Etsy shop for about two months but I have good reasons: vacation... new studio... new academic year... But I am back and with renovated energies!!!

First, I want to show you this beautiful print "Grow" (isn't it cute?) from great artist Lisa Lectura. I ordered this print last July and now is ready to be hanged in my new studio.

Lisa Lectura is a self-taught artist that has always enjoyed making some type of arts and crafts projects since she was a little girl. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. You can visit her Etsy shop here and her Ebay listings to see more of her sensational art.

The words in the print say: "Give yourself room to learn and grow". I know that I need to learn and grow and this wonderful print in my studio will help me. This cute Fairy will be my inspiration. Thank you Lisa for your art. I always follow your blog. You can visit her at: http://llcreations.blogspot.com

I have been away for two months but I continuously follow all your blogs, I enjoy them very much and learn. You all make my days with your comments and your arts.

Second, I will be updating my Esy shop during this week (at last!) so, please visit me soon.

Blessings and Love,

Doris

My Best Creation... And 2009 Aibonito Flower Festival

2009-07-06T21:43:00.013-04:00

We are so proud of our son Rauli. He graduated with high honors (Magna Cum Laude) BA from the School of Architecture (University of Puerto Rico). He is my best and most beautiful creation!! We, the proud parents, were part of the Faculty procession in the graduation and participated with our son in the ceremony. Here is a picture of the three of us at the end of the graduation.

And then, last week we went to the Aibonito Flower Festival. Every year the town of Aibonito hosts the largest flower show on the Island. It features flower and plant displays, entertainment, music, food and the most important thing - the plant sale!! We saw so many beautiful flowers. Here is a sample of some of the exhibitions. Enjoy!

Flowers and Fountains

Orchids

Another fountain with Bromelias (my favorites)

Husband Raúl

I love this Festival!!

LOOK WHAT I GOT IN THE MAIL!!

2009-06-24T14:36:00.010-04:00

I was very anxious waiting for these beauties and finally here they are!! Two gorgeous art prints from wonderful artist Julie (The Ruby Nest).

A Bird in the Hand

This is a print from one of Julie´s original paintings made with acrylics, charcoal, and antique stain. It was printed on a professional soft photo paper that accents the beautiful colors.

Julie is a full time mom with a full time job that still has time to create beautiful art and besides that, she says that she has an even worse full time animal addiction!!! Julie became addicted to art when she realized that art itself is her "muse".

Princess Fauna of the Finches

This second print, "Princess Fauna of the Finches" is a beautiful representation of Julie's love for animals. She painted it for a give-away that she had on her blog to celebrate her 100 followers, and Julie was so kind and generous that she send me one of the prints just for posting about that give-away here in my blog. I'm very honored and thrilled to be the owner of these beautiful pieces of art.

Please, visit Julie at her blog here and at her Etsy shop here and enjoy her sweet, delicate and beautiful art.

HAPPY COLOR!!!

2009-06-15T22:01:00.013-04:00

I have always believed that yellow is a happy color! And I have a different feeling for each different color: pink is sweet and love, green is healing, violet is mystic, red is life and passion... I always design my jewelry following that color feeling. These yellow glass flowers are all happiness and will be in my Etsy shop soon.

And this little lady here doesn't look very happy but she is courious about the big yellow butterfly and the strange flowers. She is Gala and is my new painting. Gala is all love (named after my favorite pet). I take good care of her and she knows that love blossoms...

INSPIRATION...

2009-06-08T21:18:00.014-04:00

I am so lucky that I found this wonderful Etsy Shop with incredible art. She is Flor and her shop is Flor Larios Art. Flor is a self-taught Latin American artist that lives in the US since 1980. She creates beautiful art with angels, fairies, butterflies, and ladybugs.

Flor is having a Big Sale in her shop during this week and you can buy one of her prints for only $5.00!!

I bought this beautiful print, In Heaven With My Dog, that is a reproduction of one of her originals. It is printed professionally on a high quality Epson matte paper.

Frida Kahlo is also Flor's inspiration and she has gorgeous Frida's prints like the one I bought "Frida Kahlo With Parrot".

Flor sells wearable art too, that is not on sale right know but I couldn't resist and bought this beautiful hand-made wood pendant, "Angel of Tenderness". It measures 2x1 inches long and has a beautiful antique crackle finish.

If you want more information about Flor and her art you can visit her Etsy shop here and her Blog here. And you will now why Flor Larios Art is also one of my inspirations.

Preparing for the Etsy Shop Update!

2009-05-31T20:07:00.007-04:00

I thought you may want to peek at some of my new jewelry that will be in my Etsy shop by the end of June.

As I wanted to find a way of wearing my illustrations I made pendants, necklace, and brooches with some of them. I'm not a professional illustrator but they all look very sweet anyhow!

Have a nice week!
Doris

The Ruby Nest Give Away

2009-05-26T22:29:00.004-04:00

Friend Julie from The Ruby Nest is having a give - away to celebrate 100 followers. She is giving away this beautiful painting "Princess Fauna of the Finches". This is a very special bird with beautiful feathers and a crown. Please visit her blog to participate http://therubynest.blogspot.com and to enjoy all her fabulous art.

You can visit Julie at her Etsy Shop to see more of her art.

Doris

Meet Sabina

2009-05-20T23:37:00.011-04:00

I am always looking for new ways of expressions and I found plastic and visual arts since I was a little girl. I like book illustration, painting, and ceramic. I studied drawing and painting at the University of Puerto Rico with well known book illustrator Walter Torres but I consider myself a self-taugtht.

Here is my mixed media art illustration Sabina. Art is part of my daily life and I have integrated it into my jewelry. Sabina belongs to the Naive Art style that is characterized by a child like simplicity. This style is very fresh and employs bright colors and a strong-rhythmic design.

Mixed media is a technique involving the use of two or more artistic media such as ink, water color, acrylic paint, paper, fabric, and other related media. In the case of Sabina I'm using acrylic paint, archival ink, and an antique music sheet. I made the wings with part of a 1904 musical score!

Please, stay tuned because Sabina is going to be in one of my art pendants pretty soon. Art prints of Sabina are going to be in my Etsy shop too. My shop update is going to be next June.

Have a nice day!
Doris

Green Flower Necklace

2009-05-16T23:19:00.005-04:00

I really love flowers! In Puerto Rico it is always Spring time. We have flowers all around. I created my line of Corsage Necklaces inspired by all these beautiful flowers. Here is my green flower corsage necklace that will be on my Etsy Shop soon.

I have been working with some illustrations and mixed media art lately and I'm mixing them with my jewelry. You will see that on my Etsy shop too.

Paper Beads and Art Pendants

2009-05-06T09:59:00.016-04:00

I few months ago I found this wonderful shop at Etsy that sells paper beads. The owner is friend Karen and her shop is RunswithScissors. She also sells beautiful custom map bracelets. Please take a look at her shop and at her blog http://www.runswithscissors4.blogspot.com/ where she recently shows two of my new necklaces using green dots paper beads from her shop. I already sold those necklaces in my last show but, there will be new designs with paper beads at my etsy shop soon. Paper beads are beautiful and ecofriendly.

With these necklaces I began my art print pendant collection.

The first necklace has a gorgeous antique illustration of a dancing goddess with rich orange tonalities. This illustration was printed on high quality artistic photo paper, set in an antique bronze filigree cameo, and it is protected with layers of artists' varnish gloss that is non yellowing.

I'm very happy and proud to show you my next necklace that was made with paper and seed beads and it has one of my own illustrations "Musical Girl".

The technique used for the pendant is the same as the one that I used with the first necklace, the only difference is that the illustration is a print of my mixed media illustration. I hope you like it cause I'll be making more pendants with some of my illustrations. Photos are not too good, just wanted to give and idea.

MY BOY

2009-04-30T11:57:00.035-04:00

Today is my son's birthday. I feel so happy to share with you some pictures and will try to upload in my next post a Photo DVD that I made five years ago on his 18th birthday. Today he is 23 and I'm so proud of him. He is finishing his BA in Architecture and has been accepted in Graduate School. He's a handsome, intelligent, and lovely young man! (I´m his mother, of course, but you can judge for yourself!!!).

Here are some words that I want to tell him:

En la Universidad

Carta a mi Hijo

Querido Hijo,

Hoy es tu cumpleaños y como todos los años en esta fecha vienen a mi memoria tantos lindos recuerdos, tantos momentos significativos, tanta felicidad... Recuerdo, igual que tu, cuando nos escogiste para ser tus padres, cuando te sentí por primera vez, cuando me comunicaste quién eras. En mis recurrentes sueños de luces, colores, fantasías y estrellas, mientras te acurrucabas dentro de mi vientre, presagiabas tu mundo y toda nuestra felicidad. En el momento en que llegaste, después de una dulce espera de nueve meses, todo mi mundo se transformó. Me sentí envuelta en una inmensa burbuja donde solamente nos encontrábamos tu y yo. Fue un momento sublime y único.

Luego, verte crecer y desarrollar tanta sensibilidad, llevarte junto a tu padre a la escuela, el parque, los museos, a ver el mar, pasar largas horas leyendo y ver como te ibas convirtiendo en un ser tan especial nos hizo y hace sentir como los padres más dichosos del mundo. No lo decimos nosotros tus padres solamente, sino que todos tus maestro y maestras, todos tus profesores y todo el que te conoce resalta tu inmensa sensibilidad y dulzura que unida a tu inteligencia te han llevado a cosechar tantos triunfos y éxitos. Eres un joven, un hijo, un sobrino, nieto, amigo y estudiante especial.

Hoy, celebramos tu cumpleaños y estaremos como siempre contigo. Te doy las gracias por escogerme como mamá, por todo el amor y felicidad que me das. Te deseo que continúes esparciendo tu Luz, tu Cristal y que ese afán de construir y diseñar un mundo más bello y mejor te sea recompensado de la manera que mereces.

Te deseamos que continues con la música, el arte y tu apasionada arquitectura...

Te deseamos un Feliz Cumpleaños,

Con todo mi Amor,

Mamá

Con Violeta de la Mata, Rosita Casanova (sus profesoras de piano) y Antonio Martorell

En Cambride, Harvard Square y en Boston

Happy Bithday Luis Raúl!!!!

A Successful Jewelry Show...

2009-04-26T08:41:00.014-04:00

I just wanted to share with you some pictures of the last jewelry show that I participated. It took place at Adelita Rosa's house in Dorado PR and was fantastic!! It was fabulous to see people's reactions to my jewelry and of course, to Adelita's jewelry. Adelita's creations (Yari D'Atabex) are my inspiration.

These are some of Adelita's creations

Freshwater pearls, Mother of pearls, and Sea shells
Yari D'Atabex

Sea shell, Amber, and Coral pendant
Yari D'Atabex

Glass pearls, Swarovski crystal, Filigree water lily, Fabric flower
Doris Rivera Designs

Adelita will soon open her Etsy Shop. I will be adding new designs to my Etsy shop today and tomorrow.

Hi, Everyone!!

2009-04-15T21:43:00.012-04:00

It has been a long time since my last post... more than four months! Wonderful things have happened since then. I have been creating new designs and using new materials like paper beads (from my friend Karen aka runswithscissors4 at Etsy), fabric flowers (my new line of corsage necklaces), and a lot of filigree that I just love. I have been experimenting with mixed media art and have created some new art pendants that I'll show in my next post.

I will have an important jewelry show next Saturday (April 18) with my friend and jewelry designer Adela Rosa aka Yarid'atabex and that's the reason why I'm not posting new items in my Etsy Shop for this last month. On Sunday I'll be adding to my shop the jewelry that I don´t sell at the show.

Here is a preview of some of my new designs:

At home, everything is fantastic. We are adding a small studio to the house that is going to be my jewelry studio! and next, we will be remodeling some of the windows. I 'll have pictures of my new studio as soon as it is finished (about one month).

My dear lovely son Rauli (Luisra) is in Houston with his classmates and professor Ana Georas visiting Rice University. They'll be sharing experiences with other architect students and having and exposition of their latest designs. We miss him...

*********************************************************************************

Desde hace aproximadamente cuatro meses no escribo nada en este blog. He estado bien ocupada con mi joyería y nuevos diseños. Experimentando con beads de papel (de mi amiga Karen de runswithscissors4), flores de tela (para mi línea de collares corsage) y filigree (filigrana) en metal en especial bronce antiguo. También he estado experimentando con "mixed media art" y he desarrollado una línea de pendants con mis propias ilustraciones que estaré mostrando en mi próximo Post.

El próximo sábado 18 de abril tengo un importante show con mi amiga diseñadora de joyería, Adela Rosa, también conocida como Yari D'atabex y por esa razón no he estado actualizando mi tienda desde hace como un mes. Lo que no venda es este show lo estaré incluyendo en mi tienda desde el próximo domingo.

En casa, todo fantástico. Estamos añadiendo lo que será un pequeño estudio para mi joyería, al fin! (próximamente fotos) que estará terminado como en un mes y luego estaremos remodelando algunas ventanas de la casa.

Mi amado hijo Rauli, de nuevo de viaje, se encuentra en Houston con sus compañeros de clase y la Profesora Ana Georas. Están visitando Rice University y compartiendo con otros estudiantes de arquitectura y exhibiendo sus últimos diseños. lo extrañamos mucho...

¡Felices Fiestas! Happy Holidays!

2008-12-07T22:23:00.014-04:00

Just a note to wish you happy holidays and to let you know that we are having a wonderful time here in PR. The weather is perfect! Fresh air, beautiful soft sunlight, and spectacular sunsets. The family has been decorating for Xmas and here is our Xmas Tree :), and our collection of hand-carved wooden Three Kings. In Puerto Rico the tradition has been to observe Christmas Day as a solemn religious ocassion, although we have the tradition of Santa Claus too. We celebrate Three Kings Day on January 6 and give presents to children.

Besides decorating I have been creating some jewelry that you can find in my Etsy Shop and that I want to show some of them here:

Already Sold

Happy Birthday, My Love!

2008-10-26T20:17:00.014-04:00

Today is my husband's birthday. We went to Old San Juan to celebrate with our two lovely sons: Luis Raúl and Juan Gabriel. We had lunch-dinner at Siglo XX Restaurant, a very nice an old restaurant that serves delicious Spanish and Puerto Rican food.

After that, we went to Paseo la Princesa. Emanating a rather distinctly European flavor, the Paseo de la Princesa is a 19th century esplanade situated just outside the city walls. Lined with antique street lamps, shade trees, statues, benches, fruit vendors carts, artisians, and street entertainers and musicians. This romantic walkway culminates at the magnificient Raíce Fountain, a stunning statue/water feature that depicts the Island's Taíno, African, and Spanish heritage. While we walked we had a breathtaking view of the San Juan Bay. We saw an impressive sunset and felt the romantic atmospher with the lights from the antique street lamps. We had a wonderful time!

Back home I made these beautiful earrings that are going to be on my Etsy Shop.

It's Autumn... and we have flowers!

2008-10-19T19:15:00.009-04:00

Yes, we have flowers and flowers. Fall in Puerto Rico is like spring: fresh air, beautiful clear sunlight, and of course, flowers. That is the nicest thing about this weather, spring is forever. You can notice only small and fine changes in the climate and that is why I think it is very interesting. You perceive the changes in the air, the atmosphere, and in your heart.

All of my latest designs are created around flowers. Now in my Etsy Shop you can find the Garden Bracelet in green, full of green flowers, the Flowery Milagro Necklace, and the Flowery Parisian Necklace. Go and take a look at my shop, let me know what you think.

Pretty Flower and leaves...

2008-09-14T22:25:00.009-04:00

I live in a Tropical Island. I find flowers and trees everywhere. We have dragonflies too especially at my garden!! That's why I made today these beautiful necklaces. I like them very much. Hope you like them too!!

Find these necklaces and my other jewelry at my Etsy Shop.

SEA ENERGY

2008-09-02T17:33:00.001-04:00

I found this beautiful seashell at a Rincon beach (as most of the seashells that I use for my creations). Here in Puerto Rico we have plenty of seashells, corals, and sea glass. These elements from nature are part of my inspiration. Seashells in particular, come in different sizes, colors, and forms. This one in the picture is what we call a "carrucho" or conch. I turned this conch into a beautiful pendant using vintage brass wire, swarovski crystals, and pressed glass. The light green color gives this pendant a refreshing look like the breeze that we feel in this enchanted Island.

You can find this and other pendants in my Etsy Shop.

My New Milagros...

2008-08-25T12:53:00.009-04:00

This necklace is part of my new Milagros Collection at my Etsy Shop.

It is inspired in an exhibition that took place last year at the Art Museum of Puerto Rico: La Virgen, Santos y Ángeles: pinturas suramericanas del 1600-1825 de la Colección Thoma (Virgin Mary, Saints, and Angels: South American paintings from 1600-1825, Thoma Collection). It also reminds the Milagros or Ex-votos from the religious tradition.

According to Wikipedia Milagros or Ex-votos are religious folk charms that are traditionally used for healing purposes and as a votative offerings in Mexico, the Southern United States, other areas of Latin America, as well as parts of the Iberian Peninsula. They are frequently attached onto altars, shrines, and sacred objects found in places of worship, and are often purchased in churches, cathedrals or from street vendors.This "Milagros" (Miracle) necklace is all handmade with bronze wire. The pendant has seven charms: a Virgin Mary/Sacred Heart medallion, coral twig, aventurine bead, Lead-free pewter feather, a small bell, and two glass Lilies.

It comes with a bronze neck wire. The pendant is about 3" long. Feel the good energy...

And here is Panchita, again, in her favorite hiding place: one of my empty ceramic pots. Panchita is a "Miracle". She was rescued with her mother Umasi. Her mother Umasi left her when she was one day old. We nourished her until Umasi came back. She was so little and helpless! Now they are save and very happy with us.

New Etsy Shop !!!

2008-08-17T23:44:00.023-04:00

Today is the opening day of my brand -new Etsy Shop and the end of summer vacation in my Blog.

One of my new creations made with a natural beach coral.
You can find one similar to this one at my Etsy shop.

Last month I was quite busy looking for new materials for my jewelry, taking pictures, reading instructions from Etsy's website, organizing my creations and preparing them for my store, and at last, VOILA... My new Casa Doralba at Etsy! It was fun anyway, but it was lot of work too. I have just listed twelve items and I'm planning to continue adding new things next weekend.

A pendant made with a Crystal Quartz from Puerto Rico

Visit me at http://dorisrivera.etsy.com/

BUY HANDMADE

We had at home other projects besides my new Etsy Shop. We installed our solar energy system that is working great, and we continued working in our organic garden. Here I show you some pictures:

SOLAR SYSTEM

ORGANIC GARDEN AND GARDENER

MY NEW CATS: Panchita (2 months old) and her mother Umasi

Summer Vacation

2008-07-11T10:39:00.011-04:00

At last!!! Our summer vacation. That's why I didn't write a post last week. I have not been doing jewelry but I am making ceramic beads and pendants. I am just waiting to get them out of the kiln to glaze them. In the meantime we have a few projects at home. Today our solar energy system is been installed. How wonderful! From now on, solar energy is going to produce our electricity!! Next week I will show you some pictures. Another project is our organic home garden. We have bananas (plane trees), avocado, mango, guanabana (soursop tree), batatas (sweet potato), ñame, spinach and recao (cilantro). During the next two weeks my husband, my son and I will be preparing the soil to sow some seeds of carrot, tomatoe, eggplant and pepper (some pictures next week too, I promise!).

Any way, I don't have new jewelry but I want to show you two pendants that my son brought from Egypt. The first one is a sterling silver pendant with his name written in hieroglyphic in 18k gold. The second one is a silver scarab pendant with lapis lazuli, turquoise and cornaline that I am planning to use in a necklace. The scarab is a very important symbol in the Egyptian culture. Read more here. With the pendants you can see a Greek Owl and a Turkish (from Istanbul) coffee cup, both from my son's study trip.

This is an authentic papyrus roll of a wind scarab hand made specially for my son Rauili with his name written in hieroglyphic.

New Pendants

2008-06-27T10:28:00.007-04:00

Finally!.. My son arrived from his study trip to Europe, Africa and Asia (with a super nice sun tan). Here he is with professor Ana Georas at the airport. We missed him so much but we know he learned a lot and that all these experiences are part of his education and a way to fulfill his overall culture. Rauli brought so many artcrafts and lovely presents! I'm taking advantage of all these beautiful objects to display some of my new creations.

Against this Egyptian pipe are three ceramic heart pendants that I made last week. I still need more practice and to gain more experience specially with glazes and I need to get used to work with clay. This one is natural earthclay that comes from our Mother Earth. I didn't use molds, I shaped them with my hands and only used some rubber stamps. The more I practice, the more I like it. In following posts I will be showing more lovely objects and more ceramic jewelry.

Paella... Olé

2008-06-21T16:40:00.006-04:00

I don't know why this necklace reminds me the Spanish dish paella. Maybe because it has a variety of colors and charms or maybe because Rauli is today in Madrid and when he called he told me he was eating a paella in a restaurant at Plaza Mayor. The necklace (or the paella?) is all handmade. I used copper wire for the chain and the clasp, both hadmade using more than 70 jump rings. For the charms I used cloisoné, crystals, ceramic, red coral, and pewter. It is very colorful, and instead of chicken and seafood it has butterflies, and an owl!

My first ceramic pendants!

2008-06-11T15:00:00.006-04:00

Oh wow! Here they are... My first ceramic pendants. They came right out of the kiln last Friday. They have been fired twice. I am just learning this new art and for me it is fascinating. I hope you like them too.

I made some hearts and some butterflies. I glazed them with different colors. The colors are a big surprise. They look quite different from the colors I gave them originally. But, I like them any way.

My son Rauli arrived today at Athen (Greece). He is having a wonderful time. I'm dying to see him again and to see all the photos that he is taking from all these incredible places.

Rauli in Egypt... Frida in Puerto Rico

2008-06-06T14:31:00.010-04:00

Last week my son Rauli went with his classmates and professor Anna Georas to an international study trip to Egypt, Istanbul and Greece. Rauli studies at the School of Architecture, University of Puerto Rico. They are now traveling through Egypt and are exploring and studying the ancient ruins, pyramids and tombs of the Egytians. This important study trip is made to complete the classroom experience, to gain new perspectives, and to study architecture in a foreign environment in order to enhance the understanding of the discipline.

Here we are at the airpot minutes before they leave to Egypt through Spain. In the first picture Rauili is with me, and in the second with his father Raúl (We miss him so much but we are very happy for him). I will soon post some photos of this study trip.

And... I just wanted to show you a picture of one of my Frida's Pendant. I love everything about the famous Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. I created this pendant using an innovative transfer technique in a jade stone. It is wrapped in sterling silver wire.

A birthday party and a ceramic necklace... A Celebration!

2008-05-28T21:43:00.000-04:00

The other day we celebrated Isabelle's birthday. Isabelle is my beautiful goddaughter. In the first photo is Isabelle with her mother Mónica Liévano (Mónica is my niece) and in the other photo is Isabelle with Mónica, sister Emma Beatrice, cousin Alejandro and his mother Milliet, and uncle Eduardo Liévano. We had a big party and all the family children were there celebrating with Isabelle.

Celebration!!!

I have other two photos of my latest design, a necklace using semiprecious stones like red Agata and Serpentine, and ceramic beads. Four of the ceramic beads in this necklace are my creation. Two 14mm rondelles (one violet and the other is peach), and two 8mm rondelles (both turquoise blue and yellow). They make a perfect combination with the other beads. I am celebrating my ceramic beads! I used hemp cord to string the beads since it is strong, stylish and eco-friendly. The closure is handmade in silver wire.

___________________________________________________________________

Recientemente celebramos los tres años de mi bella ahijada Isabelle. Aquí la vemos con su mamá Mónica Liévano (Mónica es mi sobrina). En la siguiente foto está con su hermanita Emma Beatrice, su primo Alejandro y su mamá Milliet y su tío Eduardo Liévano. Tuvimos una gran fiesta y celebración con todos los niños y niñas de la familia.

En las próximas dos fotos les muestro mi último diseño. Un collar con piedras semipreciosas y beads de cerámica. Cuatro de esos beads son de mi última creación; dos de 14mm en violeta y peach y dos de 8mm en azul turquesa y amarillo. Estos hacen una combinación perfecta con las piedras y beads. Utilicé cordón en hemp para amarralas ya que es fuerte, elegante y eco-amigable. La cerradura está hecha a mano con alambre de plata.

Ceramic Heart and a lovely tree and son...

2008-05-22T16:27:00.013-04:00

Here I have one of the ceramic heart pendants that I made, hanging in a beautiful necklace. The necklace has fluorite, ceramic, aventurine, and glass beads. All the beads are hand wrapped using sterling silver wire. My intention with this necklace is to transmit a positive and peaceful energy like the one that is receiving my son, Luis Raúl Albaladejo when he embraces this tree at the Jardín Botánico y Cultural de Caguas, PR. Visit the garden and feel the joy of being in a natural and peaceful retreat. Wear meaningful jewelry and jewelry made with intense love, creativity, and with connection with nature.
Aquí unos de mis pendants de corazón hecho en cerámica y colgando de un lindo collar. Este collar está hecho con cuentas en fluorita, cerámica, venturina y cristal, amarradas con alambre de plata esterlina. Diseñé este collar con la intención de transmitir energía positiva y de paz como la que recibe mi hijo Luis Raúl Albaladejo cuando abraza este árbol del Jardín Botánico y Cultural de Caguas, PR. Visita el jardín para que sientas la alegría de estar en un lugar natural y de mucha paz. Siempre usa joyería con sentido, joyería hecha con un amor intenso, creatividad y en conección con la naturaleza.

Seeds and Dolphins

2008-05-14T14:52:00.003-04:00

This beautiful dolphin is made out of the javillo tree seed (Hura crepitans) also known as Sandbox, Catahua and Ceiba Amarilla tree. The seeds from this tree are cut and form into dolphins. After that I glaze them and make a little eye. The one that you see in the picture is wrapped in silver wire and has a pewter leave, a red coral bead, a crystal and two turquoise coins. I made about ten of these dolphins pendants with different types of semiprecious stones, crystals, ceramic beads and silver charms. This dolphin in particular, is hanging from a Cemí Stone. The Cemí stone is a fundamental symbol in the Taino religion. This Cemí was a present from my late brother in law José (Pepe) Albaladejo. In this picture I connected two important spiritual symbols: The dolphin and the Cemí. I hope you like it.

Colorful and unique...

2008-05-07T13:10:00.001-04:00

I want to share with you my latest creations. Using a variety of materials like lampwork glass, cloisoné, serpentine ( the stone used by our Taínos to make jewelry), czech glass and porcelain beads this necklaces evoke nature and our tropical Island. The wire I used is 16 ga. bronze wire. I'm trying to use less sterling silver because it is too expensive now and bronze wire is very sturdy and beautiful. You will see them soon in my new store. Today I received a call saying that my ceramic beads and pendants are ready. I'm going to pick them up to glaze them and put them again in the kiln for a second firing. As soon as I have them ready I will show them to you.

Estas son mis últimas creaciones hechas con lampwork glass, serpentina (la piedra usada por los Taínos para su joyería), porcelana, cristal checo y cloisoné. Estos collares evocan la naturaleza y nuestra Isla tropical. El alambre usado es bronce de 16 ga. Estoy usando más el bronce debido a que la plata está muy cara y el bronce es muy fuerte y bonito. Pronto los verán en mi nueva tienda. Hoy recibí una llamada avisándome que mis piezas en cerámica ya están listas. Las buscaré hoy para pintarlas y barnizarlas y ponerlas nuevamente a quemar. En cuento las tenga listas se las mostraré.

I'm Back! / Estoy De Regreso!

2008-04-30T15:09:00.000-04:00

Today is my son's birthday! Happy birthday Rauli Mamá and Papá love You!

You are my Sun, my live, you're a great artist!

For English, please scroll down.

De regreso y con nuevas ideas, diseños y experiencias. Estuve en silencio por un par de meses en lo que me organizaba y realizaba mis nuevos diseños. Desde ahora en adelante mi Blog será Bilingüe debido a que tengo amigas y amigos que me visitan desde Estados Unidos y otros países de habla inglesa y me gustaría compartir también con ellos. Como ya les había comentado en una entrada anterior, en el asunto de la joyería al igual que en otros aspectos de mi vida ,voy aprendiendo nuevas cosas y evolucionando. Buscando mi verdadero estilo me di cuenta que, primero mi joyería va a ser mayormente en alambre pues lo considero más creativo; segundo, los materiales que quiero usar además de las piedras semi preciosas son todos provenientes de la naturaleza como las semillas; y por tercero, quiero ser sustentable, esto es entre otras cosas: no depender de la locura de comprar y comprar, especialmente materiales importados. Se que posiblemente no lo pueda ser 100% pero, de alguna manera estaré ayudando al ambiente y a mi País. ¿Qué como lo voy a hacer? Pues, tratando de comprar menos piedras, cristales, etc. Reutilizando joyería antigua convirtiéndola con un poquito de creatividad y quizás algún otro material, en un nuevo diseño. Adquiriendo materiales de la naturaleza como semillas, maderas, conchas, caracoles y vidrios de playa y creando mis propios beads y pendants con cerámica. Todo esto sin olvidarme de que todos mis diseños se inspiran en la Naturaleza y en la fascinación que siento por la flora, la fauna y los minerales. ¡Deséenme suerte!

Aquí les muestro tres de los diseños de este último mes realizados en venturina verde, alambre de plata, perlas, cristales, semilla granate de Puerto Rico, camándulas y piedras del río. También les muestro mis primeras creaciones en cerámica que serán integradas próximamente a mis diseños. Como verán hice unos beads primaverales, pendants en corazones, mariposas, hojas y libélulas. Estos son en cerámica que se seca con el aire (air dry clay), pero ya los estoy haciendo en la cerámica que se quema en horno, en cuanto los tenga listo se los mostraré. También, como lo prometido es deuda les muestro algunas fotos del Mercado Orgánico Agrícola que celebra los primeros y terceros domingos de mes la Cooperativa Orgánica Madre Tierra en la Placita Roosevelt en Hato Rey.

Les espero el domingo 4 de mayo en el Mercado Orgánico. No se lo pierdan para que puedan comprar frutas y vegetales orgánicos frescos traídos por nuestros agricultores.

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I'm back! And with new ideas and experiences. I was silent for about two months because I was getting organized and was creating my new designs. From now on my Blog is going to be bilingual in order to communicate with my English speaking friends. As I was saying in a previous post, in jewelry matters like in my personal life I'm learning and developing new things and ideas. I'm clear now that I will be doing wire jewelry cause I think is more creative and artistic. Also, some of the materials used in my designs come from natural sources like seeds, and from now on I want to try to be sustainable, I'm going to stop the buying madness and will use natural materials like sea shells and sea glass, wood, seeds from Puerto Rico's trees, my own ceramic beads and pendants, and I'm going to tranform old and used jewelry into new designs. At least I will give a try and see if I can help, in some way, to stop global warming or not to contribute to create it and to offer my clients quality jewelry with sense and responsability and inspired in all the beautiful things that surround me in this enchanted tropical Island that I live. Oh please, wish me luck!!

At the begining of this post you can see some of my latest designs using green aventurine, sterling silver wire, granate seeds from Puerto Rico, Job's tears (another seed from Puerto Rico that we know as camándula) and a beautiful pendant made from a river stone. The first picture shows my first ceramic beads and pendants that I made using air dry clay. These are my first ones and right now I am making some others using real ceramic, the one that you have to put in a kiln twice in order to get fine durable beads and pendants and I am going to integrate them to my designs. As soon as I have them ready I will show them to you. And, as I promised I brought some pictures of our Organic Farm Market (Mercado Orgánico Agrícola) at Placita Roosevelt in Hato Rey. Enjoy!!

See you at the Mercado Orgánico Agrícola next Sunday May 4 at Placita Roosevelt in Hato Rey where you can buy fresh organic fruits and vegetables from our organic farmers.

El Lago Titikaka

2008-01-26T18:04:00.000-04:00

Hola!

Algunos de ustedes se preguntarán que tiene que ver el Lago Titikaka con mi Blog y mi joyería... Pues mucho, ya lo verán. Este último Pendant que diseñé y confeccioné esta semana lo hice inspirada en la hermosa piedra que lo sostiene y que viene directa del Lago Titikaka. Me la regaló mi amiga y hermana Adelita Rosa quien también es diseñadora de joyería y quien estuvo el pasado verano en Bolivia. Cuando fue a visitar el Lago recogió esta piedra para mi (gracias Adela!). Esta piedra reposa en mi mesita de noche y duerme junto a mi. Ha sido cómplice de mis sueños y ensueños. Soñando con el Lago Titikaka y su maravilloso ecosistema llegó a mi este diseño que evoca su diversidad. La piedra es ancestral y está repleta, como el mismo Lago, de misticismo y enigmas. El Lago Titikaka es como un bello, misterioso e inmenso mar interior. Es cuna de la civilización andina, está poblado de piezas arqueológicas Aymaras e Incas, cuyos centros ceremoniales y monumentos pueden ser admirados en las islas dentro del lago y en importantes poblados de su entorno. Si te interesa el tema pulsa aquí.

El pendant que aquí les muestro está confeccionado en alambre de 18 y 26 gauge en plata esterlina. Tiene piedras semipreciosas como la amatista, la venturina verde y el peridot. Además está rodeado de Swarovkis de diversos colores. Como detalle y para completarlo lleva a un lado una hermosa libélula cual si quisiera emprender vuelo. Este pendant también lo verás próximamente en mi Site http://www.casadoralba.com/. Además puedes visitarme los primeros domingos de mes en el Mercado Orgánico Agrícola de la Cooperativa Orgánica Madre Tierra en la Placita Roosevelt en Hato Rey, Puerto Rico y allí podrás ver toda mi joyería a precios muy especiales. Estaré el próximo domingo 3 de febrero acompañando a los agricultores orgánico de nuestra isla quienes traen los primeros y terceros domingos del mes frescos y nutritivos productos orgánicos para todos los asistentes.

Espero verles en el Mercado Agrícola Orgánico y saludarles personalmente y en mi próximo mensaje les prometo traeré fotos del mercado para que puedan verlo y de alguna forma aprecien las extraordinarias actividades y los productos.

Doris

2008-01-07T14:44:00.000-04:00

¡Hola Amigas!

¡Hola Amigos!

¡Bienvenidas/os a mi Blog y Feliz 2008!

Desde hace aproximadamente un año estoy queriendo comenzar este Blog o Diario, que es como lo prefiero llamar,y hoy ¡Por Fin! Aquí está...

Este es un espacio donde quiero comunicarme con mis amigas y amigos y toda persona que le interese los temas que aquí se van a discutir. Este espacio es parte de mi Website Casa Doralba, así que uno de los temas principales será, por su puesto, la joyería. Trataré, dentro de mi limitado tiempo, enseñarles las piezas de joyería que estoy confeccionando, para recibir de ustedes sus comentarios, buenos y malos, pues a través de este "diario" quiero también tener la opinión de ustedes y así mejorar. Así que gracias anticipadas a las amigos y amigas que tomen su tiempo para leer lo que escribo y hacerme comentarios... serán todos bienvenidos.

Además del tema de la joyería hay otros temas muy importantes que también vamos a compartir, como por ejemplo las piedras semipreciosas y su uso en terapias de sanación, los siete rayos, metafísica, meditación, yoga, productos orgánicos y naturismo, agricultura orgánica urbana, terapias alternativas en general, conservación del ambiente, energía alternativa y todos aquellos temas relacionados y que ustedes quieran que se discutan en este lugar.

Hoy es lunes, 7 de enero de 2008. Estoy tratando de actualizar mi Website con la nueva joyería que he diseñado en las últimas semanas. Algunas piezas se fueron (las vendí) sin poder tomarle una fotografía, pero ya no vale de nada lamentarme. Ya empezarán a ver mi nuevo trabajo. Desde hace un tiempo he ido evolucionando en mis diseños gracias entre otras cosas a tremendas maestras que he tenido y que me han ayudado mucho. Ahora me estoy dedicando a la confección de joyería en alambre y estoy desarrollandome en esa área... Tengo mucho que aprender y practicar.

Aquí al principio les muestro un pequeño pendant que hice la semana pasada y promete desarrollarse en otros diseños similares pero más elaborados. Mi joyería es mayormente en plata esterlina y alguna en gold filled. Utilizo alambres de calidad además de piedras semipreciosas y cristales entre otros materiales. Este pendant en particular es en plata esterlina y cristales Swarovski, es muy sencillo y está completamente hecho a mano. El alambre del "frame" es de 18 gauge (ga.) y utilicé alambre de 26 ga. para enrrollarlo. Fue divertido e interesante. Espero sus comentarios.

Doris http://www.casadoralba.com/