Pages

Friday, February 20, 2015

We're All Ears :: February Reveal... and Winners!

First off, thank you to all for the wonderful comments on your ideas for some future inspirations! I have written them all down and will refer to it for future reference. You never know when your idea might just pop up!

Second, thank you to the editors that have gifted some great prizes. Random.org picked the winners. And congratulations to the winners!

Giveaway #1 :: Lynda of Fresh Baked Designs
The winner can have her pick of any ONE (1) pair of earrings in my new (lead-free) Pewter-Swarovski collection here: http://bit.ly/EELoveFest2015  
donated by Nathalie Lesage, Nathalie Lesage Jewelry

Giveaway #2 :: Angi Mullis

$10 credit in either Etsy shop: www.somethingtodobeads.etsy.com and www.somethingtodo.etsy.com
donated by Claire Lockwood, Something to Do Beads

Giveaway #3 :: Nadine Edris
Handcrafted ceramic sand dollar pendant charm + two rounds.
donated by Cindy Pack, Cindy's Art & Soul Jewelry 

Giveaway #4 :: Cindy Martin-Shaw
"Gypsy Boho" earrings published in 101 BNE in the 2014 issue.
donated by Kristy Abner, Kristy's Kreations
Giveaway #5 :: Alice Peterson
A set of four Facet Effects beads (as seen in my Fabulous Facets DVD) in your choice of colors perfect for making your own earrings! 
donated by Erin Prais-Hintz, Tesori Trovati Jewelry
 
If you won, please email me at enjoytheday@tesoritrovati.com with your full name and mailing address and I will pass that along to the appropriate editor for your prize distribution!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So this month was all about soft and pretty and loads of flowers. But florals in a way that you might never have seen them before! The paintings/pictures of the flower girls by Love, Limzy are so enchanting. Perfect for the romance of the recent Valentine's day, don't you think?


Recently, I have been making good on my 2 year old promise to myself to start sculpting flowers for pendants that are patterned after the birth flowers. Did you know that each month has a flower (or more than one) associated with it? And that each flower has special meanings? I am not really one to get totally into the zodiac signs, but this is something I could get behind. I had the idea years ago, but wasn't able to make it work to my liking until I made my Poppy Dreams pendant for the February Art Bead Scene challenge and my offering to my Simple Truths Sampler Club. Or maybe I just didn't have the skill when I came up with the idea. I am hoping to add to the flower offerings - called 'Floriography' or the Language of Flowers -  every other month or so. I just developed a mini version of the Poppy Dreams pendant for these earrings. Poppies are the flower for August and stand for moral integrity as well as a fulfillment of dreams.



I have been making these little Rosebud charms over the past few months. They are an off-shoot of my pendants Everything's Coming Up Roses and Call Me Rosebud pendants and as charms they have been showing up in mother's necklaces and bracelets. I think they add a little bit of vintage sweetness to whatever design they are in. These tiny Rosebud charms are now available in either silver or bronze finish. Roses are the flowers for June. The meanings of Roses can vary from Love (red), Passion, Beauty and Perfection (white).



My next flower that I am working on perfecting is the daffodil, also known as narcissus. My daughter tells me that they are her favorite flower (who knew?). And since her birthday was yesterday (happy birthday Tiny Dancer!), I came up with one that she can wear as a tiny pendant, and looks equally at home as a pair of delicate earrings. Daffodils are a quintessential spring flower paired with bunnies and eggs. I had a hard time with these, but I am going to keep at it. I want to achieve the classic look of the 6 white petals and the central yellow trumpet shape. I can't wait until I see them in season and I will buy my darling daughter a big bunch as a surprise for no reason. Daffodils are the flowers for March because they symbolize the end of winter as a gift of these flowers conveys the hidden meaning of friendship, prosperity and happiness.


I have a particular fondness for pansies. I have to confess that I had a rather unhealthy attachment to them in my early married years. I could not pass up buying anything (and I do mean anything) with a pansy on it. The only room in our first home that was actually painted and decorated was the guest room that was a complete ode to pansies from floor to ceiling, vertical and horizontal surfaces (I think my husband may have thought I was nuts!). They are the flower of my sorority (hello, Tri Deltas!) and so they were very special to me. But then I had a child and the room quickly went from pansy bouquets to construction trucks! I do still love pansies. Their velvety faces looking up to the light never fail to make me smile. Violets or Violas are a type of species of which the pansy is a part. According to Wikipedia, the term "pansy" is normally used for those multi-coloured, large-flowered blooms which are raised from seed and used for bedding. The terms "viola" and "violet" are normally reserved for small-flowered annuals or perennials, including the species. But they both have a similar look. Viola typically have heart-shaped, scalloped leaves. Colors vary, ranging from violet, through various shades of blue, yellow, white, and cream, while some types are bicolored, often blue and yellow. Therefore, I am open to making the violets, or pansies, in a variety of colors! I enjoyed making these and will add these to my store as well as a bigger pendant size soon. Violet or pansy is the flower for February.



What is your favorite flower?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Let's see what you created!
Please take the time to hop around to the participants.
Leave kind, encouraging comments.
Visit their shops. Make new friends!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

12 comments:

  1. Beautiful creations and each one has a story to go with it. The discovery of you daughter favorite flowers being daffodils was sweet. "Who Knew" but a smile on my face. I was especially drawn to the rose bud pair of earrings even though my favorite flowers are orchids. Thank You, Erin for another amazing challenge!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Each of your sculpted flowers are beautiful and it's difficult to choose a favorite. But I'd have to go with the poppies because of what they mean. I love how you used your flowers in the different earring designs. I'm still working on my sculpting skills and have determined that the "primitive" look is probably best suited for my fine motor skills, or relative lack thereof. Thanks for another fabulous inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Miss Erin I knew you would make beautiful earrings and wow I was right. I scrolled down the page reading the story for each pair and loving each and every pair. I'm also happy to have won a prize.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I didnt know about birth month flowers before - mine turned out to be roses. No wonder I am so attracted to them

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for another wonderful inspirational challenge, Erin...and happy first anniversary to We're All Ears. Birth month flowers...who knew? Not me. I would love to see you put your mad skills into creating a full year of flowers. These four are a lovely start!
    Thrilled to have won a pair of Nathalie's earrings , too! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your sculpting skills are amazing. We see it demonstrated on a regular basis in your designs. These flowers do surpass almost all. Like Linda, I would love to see lots more flowers too.

    Congrats on the first anniversary of We're All Ears Inspiration Challenge. BTW I came up with a couple of ideas this morning, too late but that's okay:

    The first is microscopic images of common items, like this martini drink https://scontent-lga.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/10986991_723024367812816_1322361892623653305_n.jpg?oh=cd8e5313ae84a94d605aedf2e996ef9b&oe=5593D745

    The second was a spark from Tuesday's Northern Lights post; images of the Northern Lights or other natural wonders. Angel Falls anyone?

    Cheers
    Mona

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your flowers are so pretty, Erin. You have really become quite the polymer clay artiste! Of course, you know the pansies are my faves - Delta love, sis!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wondered if any of my Delta Sisters would see that! I see more pansies in my future... in all sorts of colors! xo E

      Delete
  8. Congratulations to all the winners! I had no idea that each month had a birth flower, this is really neat! I'm like you, extremely drawn to pansies. I'm a sucker for violets (flowers and color) and lilacs, etc. All fabulous earrings!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, Erin... you have truly outdone yourself this month! I'm just swooning for all your pretty posies! I adore the poppy pendant you sent for Simple Truths this month and love the smaller sized ones too. Fingers crossed that you decide to send us some flower earring pairs for a future month... or tell us when you've added them to your shop so I can snatch some up. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Woo Hoo! In addition to getting to check out all these lovely earrings I find out that I actually won something! Love the flower theme; it's one I'm always drawn to but even more so in the depths of winter. I still have a rug I hooked in a high school arts class MANY years ago. The design was violets. And thanks for the giveaway~ I'm thrilled!

    ReplyDelete