Scarborough Seashells has a give-a-way

Tara Beaulieu of Scarborough Seashell is having a give-a-way,

to celebrate her 100th post!

She has really interesting pieces of handcrafted silver- "sea"-jewellery,

many of which are made of shards of glass
and pottery that the sea has
smoothed and given a patina all its own!

Please check it out here!
Best wishes,
Anna

First Commenter: Ann of
Ann's Snap, Edit & Scrap

abc-Wednesday, Round 6 / Alphabe-Thursday - M - "M as in marble and mother-of-pearl"

It's Wednesday today and time to continue our rambles through the alphabet. This week, both abc-Wednesday, round 6, as well as Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, have the letter "M".

My "M"-words are marble and mother-of-pearl. At the heading is a mortar and pestle made of marble, and here are some examples of marblization used in book-binding.

Here are an array of genuine mother-of-pearl buttons:

Best wishes,
Anna

To visit more sites with M-words at abc-Wednesday Please click here.
To visit more sites with M-words at Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday please click here.

First Commenter:
Sk@kiR@CK of You Are Never Alone

Mellow Yellow Monday # 64: A new yellow necklace

A new yellow necklace for Mellow Yellow Monday.

Happy Monday!

Anna
For other MYM-participants please click here.

First Commenter: Ann of Ann's Snap Edit & Scrap

This Week With Entrecard: Thanks to advertisers from April 5th to 11th

Thanks to blogging friends who have advertised with me on my EC-widget this past week April 5th to 11th. Please visit these great sites :

Monday, April 5th - Take a coffee break

Tuesday, April 6th - Life's A Pizza Pie

Wednesday, April 7th - Big Boys Have Toys Too

Thursday, April 8th - Paperkraft.net

Friday, April 9th - Maitri's Heart

Saturday, April 10th - My Meme Mania

Sunday, April 11th - AsTheCrackerheadCrumbles

Best wishes,
Anna

First Commenter: Mariuca

L as in Lettuce -abcWednesday, Round 6 / Alphabe-Thursday "L": / Contest results

Today is already Thursday (well, actually, it's Friday), and I have a lot of things to get done in this one post. Once again I am taking the liberty of combining abcWednesday Round 6 with Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, since both have the same letter this week, "L". The letter "L" is a really good one! Here are some wonderful L-words: "Latvia", "Liberia", "liberty", "life", "Lily", "Lithuania",  "Los Angeles", "love",  "lizard" and, of course, "lettuce"! 

I have one more "L"-word. But before I say which one it is, I would like to announce the winners of my "Guess-The-Jeweller-Contest" from the week of the letter "J" (for Jewellery). 

The correct answer to my question as to which jeweller or jewellery house that made this beautiful green jade circular pendant is Peter Carl Fabergé (1846-1920). 

The undisputable first prize winner is Grace of Hugz Before You Go. Congratulations Grace! The runners up are in this order
xxxxxx

Grace guessed correctly and very quickly, but then changed her answer because she just could not believe that this pendant, that I wore on my wedding day,  could be made by the House of Faberge. Unbelieveable, yes, but true. So here is the story that you won't find in the history books that I have listed at the end of this post:


When the Russian Czar Nicholas II and his family were arrested and shot, Fabergé was one of many who fled Russia. When you read about the Fabergé Easter Eggs it mentions that the Czar's mother also escaped and took one of the eggs with her to the west. 

But there is a person close to the Czar's family that you may not find in most history books, the Empress's lady-in-waiting, Anna Verbova. Alexandra had a companion to help her and the Czar was kind enough to give his wife and his wife's companion, the exact same pieces of jewellery. This is the exception to the rule that every piece that was made of the house of Fabergé was unique. The Czar ordered two of everything for Alexandra and Anna! So if the same green pendant is ever found, we will know that it was the Empress's, because the pendant that I wore at my wedding belonged to her lady-in-waiting, Anna Verbova!

How did an ordinary girl like me get to even see a piece like that? Anna Verbova left Russia through Finland and came to Sweden. She paid her way by selling her jewellery. A jewellery-dealer in Stockholm bought some of her jewellery and sold this pendant to a young dentist who had been kind to him. The young man gave the green pendant to his bride. The year was 1920 and the dentist was my grandfather. My grandmother loved it! And she loved my grandfather very much. The same year, Faberge, who had fled to Switzerland, is said to have died "of a broken heart".

So my other "L-word" is "loyalty". The Fabergé jewellers were loyal to their most important patron, the Czar, and the Czars, both Alexander and his son Nicholas II, were loyal to the House of Fabergé. 

Sorry I am so late with this. There has been a lot happening in my off-line-life, but that is another story. For those who would like to read more about the House of Fabergé or the life of the last Czar of Russia, take a look at this Amazon-book-list. In Robert K. Massie's book, "Nicholas and Alexandra", Anna Verbova is actually mentioned.

Best wishes,

Anna

To see more L-words at abcWednesday, please click here.
To see more L-words at Mrs. Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, please click here.

P.S.

xxxx


First Commenter: Daisy the Curly Cat

Faberge: Lost and Found - Recently Discovered Jewelry Designs from the St.Petersburg Archives






Masterpieces from the House of Faberge













Peter Carl Faberge. His life and works.

V 1° SERIE (Sub Ita) (Link Megaupload)

1x01: Pilot
1x02: There Is No Normal Anymore
1x03: A Bright New Day
1x04: It's Only The Beginning
1x05: Welcome To The War
1x06: Pound Of Flesh  
1x07: John May
1x08: We Can't Win  
1x09: Heretic's Fork
1x10: Hearts And Minds  
1x11: Fruition 
1x12: Red Sky

THE MENTALIST 2° SERIE (Megavideo)

2x01: Conto In Rosso
2x02: La Lettera Rosso Scarlatto
2x03: Distintivo Rosso
2x04: Minaccia Rossa  
2x05: Rosso Paura
2x06: Oro Nero E Rosso Sangue
2x07: Rapimento Rosso Sangue
2x08: Il Ritorno Di John Il Rosso
2x09: Rosso Rubino
2x10: Un Lancio Rosso Fuoco
2x11: Rosso Per La Vergogna
2x12: Rosso D'Amore
2x13: Linea Rossa
2x14: Patto Rosso Sangue  
2x15: Una Gara Rosso Piccante
2x16: Codice Rosso
2x17: La Scatola Rossa
2x18: Acqua Rossa
2x19: Soldi Rosso Sangue 
2x20: G-Rosso Intrigo
2x21: Il Clown Dal Naso Rosso
2x22: Una Vecchia Fiamma Rossa
2x23: Risvegli In Rosso