Treasures from the Forest Floor

Fall is the best time for hiking in Colorado.  Temps are perfect, colors are outstanding and the skies couldn't be any more bluer.  Working a 40 hour week, I make it a goal to get outside and enjoy my outdoor playground, let's face it- days are getting shorter and change is coming. 

This weeks share is a design I created embracing my hikes.  As I look around the trails, I find twigs, pine cones, pine needles, acorns and leaves to name a few. A bustling time for little critters to hunt and gather.

So here they are!!  Brass pine cones that dangle from wire threaded with a mix of glass and spacers up top.  

I hammered daggers to serve as my twigs with tiny disc's off to the sides. 

I'm very happy with the overall design and love the mix of silver and brass in any creation.

♥~ Embrace Mother Nature and be,"Inspired",~♥

Thanks for visiting and leave a comment if you wish, always good to hear from you ☺

Your friend~ Lynn Ferro, aka Yucca Bloom

Acorn Earrings

When we were in Oaxaca, Mexico last winter I found this necklace made out of drilled acorns.  Once back in the States, I took the necklace apart and have found several uses for the acorns.

 Today's earrings combine two of the acorns with some woodsy colored ceramic components by Marti Conrad.

 The earring are quite simple, but they are fun and combine well with lots of casual outfits. They'd be great to wear from September through the end of November.

I'll be adding these earrings to my shop later this afternoon.

-Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry

Woodland Folk

Handcrafted sterling silver hoops are paired with artisan pewter oak leaf charms and wee acorns of copper and pearl beads.  Sweet and lovely earrings to go with a folk-inspired outfit. 

Oak Leaf and Acorn Hoop Earrings

Woodland Folk Outfit by humblebeads

Blue Steel

This past weekend we were out of town for a traveling baseball tournament, minivan packed to the roof with gear. Also staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Onalaska, WI was the band known as Starship and .38 Special. There may or may not have been some pictures taken of the entire team with the lead singers (whom they had no idea about) and some 40-somethings reminiscing about their younger days as groupies. Seems everyone has a concert story or two. I have backstage passes signed by rock legends and a few pictures of my own exploits (Tommy Shaw of Styx has the softest cheeks ever. I know. I kissed them. ;-) and more than my share of guitar picks and even a drumstick given to me in a flirtatious backstage moment. A far cry from the minivan driving-baseball toting mom that I am today.

Blue Steel by erin-prais-hintz featuring high heels

But back in the day I would have had no problem rocking these earrings Blue Steel with this chic ensemble at Summerfest on the lakefront in Milwaukee. Now I can just dream of wearing this (but those shoes are still calling my name!). Wearing these make me feel like I'm 19 again even if the calendar disagrees.

And I still have a thing for drummers. ;-)

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her new line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

Pop My Top

I love quirky and fun. Bottlecaps the definition of quirky to me. They are an affordable type of kitsch that brings back memories of our childhood, or afternoons tipping back a cold beverage. Good times.

{Pop My Top earrings}

In 2011 I met Cathy Collinson at Glass Garden Beads at the Bead & Button show. I had admired her bottlecap beads for some time and as I pawed through her bins of thousands of different bottlecap beads I asked her if she had ever seen the Point Root Beer guy from the Stevens Point Brewery (they make beer and soda). Yes! She told me that she sells out of them almost immediately because they are so fun with the signature conehead guy (do you remember the Coneheads from SNL? The Pointer guy looks like their grandpa) and the quirky sayings on them. Things like... Get the Point... Turn Me Loose... Twist & Shout... Point Well Made.

{back of the earrings - Turn Me Loose - can spin around depending on your mood!}

I told Cathy that I could get her all the Point bottle caps she could want just by going down the street to the little pizza place. I did that for a few months, stopping by now and then and carting out a bag of bottlecaps at a time. I ended up with a full gallon bag of Point Root Beer bottlecaps and a second bag of other caps. Then I met up with Heather Lawrenz at the booth during this years' Bead & Button and presented my offering and my request: would they take what was useable from this bag and make me 100 bottlecap beads with assorted messages on each side? (Usually they try to match the message.)

{bowl o' bottlecap beads}

Within about a week they had made up the bottlecap beads for me - super speedy! - and I had them in my hands. I have ones with holes from top to bottom, a few with two holes near the top for stringing, and some from side to side, with the images upside down so no matter which way they flip it will be right side up! Clever!

I plan to make fun necklaces and bracelets and earrings like these for sale in our little home town where the Stevens Point Brewery is located... and the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, home of the Pointers.  In this pair I used some quirky pixies from MyElements in the Pointers' colors of purple and gold. I hope that the fans snatch them up in time to cheer their team on. Go Pointers!

{Stevie Pointer}

What about you? Do you love kitschy and quirky? Do you have a favorite bottlecap in your collection of things? Do you ever make earrings appealing to a sports team or activity? Do tell!

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her new line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

Earring Swap

I like to participate in swaps and hops. Recently I had the good fortune to get into an art bead earring swap organized by the lovely Miss Diana Ptazynski of Suburban Girl Studios. Diana matched each of us up with two partners that we would send earrings to that included art beads. I was paired up with the sweet Miss Patti Vanderbloemen and the ever delightful Miss Mary Harding. Here are the earrings that I was sent:

{Earrings from Mary Harding featuring her own earthy handmade charms backed by clever little translucent mica washers and dangling from copper links with Swarovski crystals}

{Patti sent me not one but two pairs! I love the beautiful ceramic beads (I think they were from SueBeads) on these and the pretty bronze clay dangles from Lesley Watt. This color will go with everything in my wardrobe!}

{This second pair has the most amazing charms from Kristi Bowman-Gruel and some cool blue stones. These are delish!}

{What I sent to Patti: vintage new old stock lampwork glass beads from the White Snake company in Japan, made in 1948 and some swirly green ceramic charms from Marsha Neal Studios}

{What I sent to Mary: (unfortunately I had the wrong address so they came back to me, but these are now on their way to her!) sweet ruffly little glass headpins from Mallory Hoffman as the center of the bloom with brass leaves and some leaves and vines I made using seed beads.}

You can organize your own earring swap with some friends either with ones that you make yourself or ones that you buy. A great way to share earring love!

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her new line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

Pretty Posy

{pretty posy - available on Etsy}

I love to have flowers blooming on my front porch, but I only have a black thumb. I am horrible with watering them. Maybe if I had a pretty watering can like this, it wouldn't seem like such a chore. But in case my blooms don't last into July, I can still have these pretty ceramic tabs from Marsha Neal and these little glass petals to remind me of the ones that turned brown and went to seed.

{hand painted vintage watering can - from AFarmOfArt on Etsy}

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her new line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

Cherry Limeade

{Cherry Limeade - available on Etsy}

 It's getting hot in here! 

This past weekend was GORGEOUS. Unseasonably warm in the upper 80s. That is hot, my friends, when you live in Wisconsin and it could be snowing right now! (No. Seriously. I have seen it snow in June.)

Not that I am complaining about the weather, but to top it all off, our air conditioner wasn't working this weekend. It was getting mighty steamy in my bedroom (and I don't mean romantically ;-)

{found via Pinterest - recipe for Radioactive Cherry Limeade on The Cooking Photographer}

So you can understand why I have had ice cold drinks on the brain lately. What could be better than a little Cherry Limeade served up in a mason jar? (Can you add a little vodka to mine?)

{found via Pinterest - recipe for Cherry Limeade cupcakes from Annie's Eats}

I would sip this concoction kiddie-pool-side while wearing these earrings and nibbling on these Cherry Limeade cupcakes.

Erin Prais-Hintz invites you to go on a journey of inspiration at her blog Treasures Found :: Inspiration is Everywhere. You can view a gallery of her work at http://www.tesoritrovati.com/ or purchase her new line of 'Simple Truths' in her Etsy shop.

Forest Floor

Season, smesheason - I've you love a theme, symbol or charm - wear it whenever it's calling your name!  There is never a time I would snub an acorn - they are such great symbols of perseverance and how one person can make a difference! 

"From the smallest acorn grows the mighty oak."

I'd 'spring' up an outfit a little with some brighter colors, a cute cardi and capris. 

Throw a tree handbag and your ready to go!

spring mix by humblebeads