Introducing……………………Lightkeeping

Hello crafty Ireland!


I am very happy to be a member of the Etsy Ireland team. Hope you had a marvellous Halloween. There were so many kids popping in for ‘trick or treat’ to our house on the day:)

My name is Anastasija (or Anna for short and for easier pronunciation) aka Lightkeeping. I am originally from Lithuania, I bet you have met quite a few Lithuanians with unpronounceable surnames as according to statistics Lithuanians are the second largest immigrant community in Ireland after Poles. Most of them are economic immigrants seeking better financial status, however, I am an immigrant of love. Believe it or not there is such a term. A couple of years ago I was studying arts in Cork on an exchange programme and met this guy with raven black curls straight from Deidra’s dream. So after finishing my MA degree in literature back at home and quitting my day job in the media, last week I flew back to Ireland on the love wings of Airlingus. Now we are setting down in our new family home in Midleton, Co. Cork.

As long as I can remember myself I was crafting something all the time. It used to be sawing outfits for dolls first, then I moved on to knitting for myself and family members. I was always very disappointed that I cannot draw as visual arts are a passion of mine, I just love visiting galleries and exhibitions as well as taking art history courses. A couple of years ago my mom wanted a garnet necklace and she could not find a perfect one, so I bought some beads and learned the basics of jewellery making, and guess what, it became a passion of mine, now I cannot spend a day without designing a piece of jewellery.

Many people assume that making jewellery , especially beaded one, is easy, however, once they try it, they realize it is not. Although one can learn the technique quite quickly, it takes time to design a perfect piece with a lot of various details. Sometimes I may sit at quite a variety of beads and just see that they do not work well together no matter how I arrange them. Moreover, it takes quite a while to find perfect findings to complement the beads. I have a huge bag of findings and various beads which had to travel with me all the way to Ireland. It is a heavy one too, as the majority of beads I use are lampwork beads. Lampworking is a type of glasswork that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with a variety of tools and hand movements.

Lampwork beads can be very colorful and highly detailed and they are an instant mood lifter. I just love working with them: matching them with Czech glass beads, colored jade, pearls, Swarovski and other beads to make bracelets, necklaces and earrings. My next step will be making playful fimo beads, like cupcakes and slices of orange and lemon for bracelets and earrings. And later, hopefully, I plan to get some training to make my own lampwork beads, but that can probably happen only when me and my beloved partner build our own house in the country in Co. Cork, because only then really I would be able to have my very own studio in the house with the torch and all other necessary equipment.

Since Halloween is over it is high time to start thinking Christmas:)

Thank you for your attention. Hope you are having a beautiful stressless Monday morning.

You can read more about me on my blog and do contact me if or when you are around Cork, I would love to meet some crafty Etsians in Ireland.