Rustic Christmas

Merry, Merry!

Hi, all~ Loralee here!  I'm getting so excited with the changing seasons and thrilled to share these rustic earrings with you today!

The lovely ceramic striped beads were handmade by my sweet friend, Gaea, of Gaea Handmade. I chose these in particular, not only for their rustic pattern and color combination, but also, for their unique free-form, oblong shape. 

The Copper patina charms are made by Jill Stoffegen of Foxpaws!  These  amazing copper charms are the finest I have ever come across. Not only beautiful to look at, but they feel magnificent in your hand!  In her description on Etsy, Jill wrote of their history which makes them all the more special:

"This copper is from our family farm. The Farm was homesteaded in 1850, with a log cabin. In the early 1880's a three story barn was constructed on the farm site. It was the only three floor barn in the state with drive in access on all three floors. This large barn housed the families draft horse breeding farm. This copper was salvaged when the barn was torn down last year. The copper was from a water trough used by the horses and later animals. That puts the aging process on this copper at over 120 years. The patinated surface is extremely durable, nothing seems to damage it. The surface has not been color altered. There are slight variations of color depending upon which salvage sheet they are from and some natural rugged edges were also used. You will be hard pressed to find copper like this with its history!"

♡

I was lucky enough to have a second pair of cooper charms! I'm so crazy for the dappled star pattern!  Again, everything done to a perfectly smooth satin finish.  

I wanted to play-up the dotted pattern so I paired the copper charms this time with lampwork beads by Petra Marikova.  Her work is meticulous and she is just outstanding!  The ivory with hints of brownish tan around the raised dots really make them pronounced.  Ivory looks amazing with the wintery sage green - bold yet subtle.

♡

Both of these earrings have me dreaming of a simpler life without electronics and so much noise.  I think of being in a cabin, under a blanket, next to a fire....hot coco and a big old-fashioned peppermint stick!  Okay, with a beading table in the corner....with a cat, or two...  blissssss  

Loralee xo

Loralee Kolton - artful in beads