It's been a while, but i wanted to wish everyone a happy new year & to thank all those who purchased my jewelry during this very difficult time! it has been a rough couple of "pandemic" years for everyone on the planet & i am hoping with all of my heart that this year will mark a much needed turnaround for the better for us all.

changes that occurred are that my etsy shop is still up & running, as all the problems with etsy (for now) have been solved for the most part. etsy did let some of their sellers opt out of their new rules & fees under certain circumstances. How long this will last until they decide to try something else remains to be seen, but for now things are running ok. i hope i won't have further problems with doing business on etsy, but as we all know, things can change at the drop of a hat!

i did however, discontinue doing business on bonanza & have closed my storefront there. after trying it out for a couple years with little success, i felt it wasn't worth staying there since i am now on amazon handmade too. bonanza gets very little traffic in comparison, so it became pointless to continue on there.

this year will bring new designs as promised, & my first priority was to do some holiday pieces, which are now available. I've got some fun valentine's day, st. patrick's day & easter designs to choose from. more new designs will be out for spring & summer as well as more holiday ones later in the year. some cool stuff is in the works, so stay tuned! thanks again to everyone & here's to hopefully turning the page on the pandemic! best wishes to all!
~c*

ATTENTION! ETSY has recently changed ownership/management & is currently screwing over all of their sellers who have shops on their site by forcing them to partake in offsite advertising (whether they agree to it or not) starting in April. For any purchases that come from clicking onto their ads, they will be taking AN ADDITIONAL 15% of the sale ON TOP OF THE FEES THEY ALREADY CHARGE US, WHICH THEY RAISED LAST YEAR! This means, in total it is around 30%+ of each sale that they will be pocketing! They are giving us no choice, as if we have no rights at all to choose whether we want to partake in the advertising or not, only giving us a chance to opt out of it in 2 months AFTER we get billed for any sales we had in that time. HOW IS THIS LEGAL?!? Sellers, have rights too! I (& many others) find this TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE! 30% is outrageous & makes it impossible for me to ever run sales or give any discounts to people. There are hundreds of sellers complaining to them now about this & planning on leaving (including me, as we are PISSED)! Regardless of the uprising, it looks as though ETSY is going forward with this new policy, so things will be changing as follows:

*As my listings expire in my ETSY shop, I will NOT be renewing them, so if you do not see something on there that could be why. Some of these pieces are still available, so PLEASE EMAIL ME USING THE CONTACT FORM TO INQUIRE ABOUT A NECKLACE.

*I will be in the process of closing my ETSY shop permanently, but this will take a few months to complete. Listings will still be available at this time on ETSY.

*I will be opening a shop & selling on another platform. DETAILS WILL BE PROVIDED ABOUT THIS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

*I can sell any available pieces directly by using PayPal. IF YOU PURCHASE DIRECTLY FROM ME, I will be selling at a much lower price than the prices that are listed on ETSY, so if you want a good discount email me!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE & UNDERSTANDING DURING THIS TIME OF TRANSITION! Moving my shop to a new location will take a couple months to complete, but I expect things to go smoothly. I will post updates on the new information as soon as I'm able. The moral to the story is:
STAND UP FOR YOUR RIGHTS ALWAYS & DON'T LET PEOPLE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU! Thanks everyone!
More soon, ~C*

Hello all!

First off: HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR! Can you believe it's 2020 already? I've been absent a lot from here due to being so busy last year. Unfortunately, with so much going on with the animal rehab (it was literally non-stop until Oct.), work & various other unexpected things, I didn't end up having time to work on any new designs like I planned. This year, I am going to make it a priority to get back to it! I would like to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who purchased in 2019. I am very grateful for your interest & for helping to fund the rehab & release of all the amazing & beautiful owls which I had the privilege to nurse back to health (we are up to 51 total now!). Partaking in wild animal rehab as a volunteer yields no monetary compensation, & the costs to provide the proper high quality care they need can quickly add up. I am so very thankful for any help to cover some of the expenses! It is indeed, a labor of love! I hope to have some new designs up & ready in the near future, so stay tuned! There's a lot of interesting ideas happening in my head for a few new collections! 2020 has started off on the rough side, but now it's time to move forward. Here's to new things in 2020 & I hope this year will be a turning point for unity, compassion, & activism in the world. I'm sure I don't just speak for myself when I say that all the violence, separation, & intolerance in the world is getting way too out of control & I'm more than ready to see this change & have people find a way to come together, regardless of our differences. May we all find & nurture our inner light in 2020!

Blessings to all,
~C*

As 2018 year comes to a close, I would like to say THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to check out my jewelry & art on https://society6.com/chiekstar/collection & for any kind & supportive words that were expressed. I have never aimed towards any financial gain or recognition by any of the art I do, but simply to use various mediums as tools & vehicles of my own personal expressions. Nothing more, nothing less. For those who get anything out of it, I am humbled & thankful! ALL proceeds from any of your purchases goes directly to funding my volunteer raptor rehabbing (as various supplies, food, & medications are needed which I purchase myself for the most part). To date, I have rehabbed 40 owls, all of which were able to be released back into the wild (except for 1 whose injuries were too severe, unfortunately). I sincerely THANK YOU for helping me to help them! I hope you all have a Happy New Year & that 2019 will be a good year for us all! I will be making more/new designs next year, so stay tuned!

PEACE, LOVE, & Best wishes,
~C*

FINALLY! new designs are being uploaded! check in often, because I really only have time to upload a few a week! my new designs are a bit more "elemental" in  their inspirations & based more on visionary expression than catering to broad range tastes. i've only just begun, so there is much more to come!

i also designed brand new business cards, which are a much better reflection of the spirit of ornaments of expression. it was time for something new, so i was thrilled that a couple of old pencil sketches of mine could be turned into something so cool. the cards are double-sided even! woop! woop! check them out!

thanks to everyone for your patience! it hasn't been easy to make time for jewelry design at all, but i'm trying to make time as much as possible in between everything else. thank you to everyone who donated to esther the pig's cause! they indeed did raise enough money for the scanner, & she had her scans & some cancerous tumors removed. she is doing well & the scanner will be of great benefit to all large animals in canada. it's so awesome to have a happy outcome because of so many caring & generous people who donated (myself included!). go esther! did i mention that pig's rule?
~c*

I'm happy to announce that I am now featuring some of my artwork & various photographs on SOCIETY 6! I will be uploading new pieces there as time permits. Go check it out if you like, THANKS!  :)

society6.com/chiekstar/collection
​You can also follow Ornaments of Expression & C*Designs on INSTAGRAM now:

​ornaments_of_expression
​chiekstar_designs

​~C*

Here's a quick pic of another necklace w/matching earrings that I donated to All Parrot Rescue for one of their online fundraising auctions. Just something fun & simple with toucans! How can you not love toucans?! They're the coolest! :) 

I hope everyone is surviving the rocky start of 2017 in the U.S.! Lots of weirdness going on out there. For the first time, I have actually considered moving to Canada! You never know...

​New designs are coming soon. I actually started an Instagram page for Ornaments of Expression, but as far as Facebook goes, I've abandoned it at this point. Too many annoying ads & such on there. Al the hawk has been coming around daily for food,& now he/she is sitting on a nest somewhere. I wonder if I will ever see one of Al's offspring come around? That would be cool! :D I rehabbed & released 2 more owls since my last post. Both were pretty critical, but they pulled through & made a full recovery! Yaaaay! I've also recently taken on more volunteer work for the wildlife center, as they are doing some new projects now. Spring is here now too (THE BUSY SEASON)! Baby birds are on the way! More in the future...

​Take care everyone! Peace,
​~C* 

 (Al hanging out on the patio. He will sit here & wait patiently for me until I give him something to eat. Sometimes he would sit all day until I come home from work! YES, he is 100% wild & he simply does what he wants to do. Evidently, we can share the raptor frequency of communication, so we're friends now & have a mutual understanding. Most people can hardly believe it & I have no other explanation for it. It just is & I adore him!)