Victoria Laurelin, the designer behind LaurelinJewelry, makes the most gorgeous raw gemstone and copper jewelry. Her dramatic flare and creativity makes the most of the rough gemstones with the organic copper designs.

Her hair jewelry is outstanding especially the designs which incorporate raw crystals and crescent shaped gemstones.  Also of note are some of what she calls her alternate engagement rings. These are rings which resemble traditional ones but have that raw, edgy look created with the gemstones and copper.

Victoria is currently based in Kazakhstan's largest city, Almaty.  See below for a little about this beautiful and fascinating country.












Kazakhstan - The Largest Country in Central Asia

I was so curious about Kazakhstan after I stumbled upon Victoria's work. I just had to find out a little more about this Central Asian country. It is a huge, landlocked one with Russia to the north and China is to its east, the Caspian Sea to the West and other Central Asian nations in the south.

It was once part of the Soviet Union, but is now an independent but still sparsely populated nation.  An underrated country as far as travel enthusiasts are concerned because Kazakhstan is so varied. It has incredibly beautiful natural places, modern cities and wide open steppes where some people still live the nomadic lifestyle of their forebears. A melting pot of people of many ethnicities, Kazakhstan has a rich cultural history. 

This first video from the Lonely Planet  (2.48 min) shows off some of Kazakhstan's natural beauty spots and possibilities for adventurous travellers looking for more immersive experiences.


This longer video by Cool Vision (47 min) is fascinating as it has concise snapshots of all of Kazakhstan, right down to the popular Central Asian rough and tumble game called Kokpar (towards the end of the video) which is played with horses and the carcass of a dead sheep. The riders score by trying to take the carcass into two round pits which act as goals. Apart from that there are no rules!


Before You Go:

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Disclosure 

This blog may contain affiliate links. I do receive a small fee for any products purchased through affiliate links. This goes towards the support of this blog and to provide resource information to readers. The opinions expressed are solely my own. They would be the same whether or not I receive any compensation. 
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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM