Love, actually.

How could I not? Whether you think it's the most romantic day of the year, or a load of old cheese, you can't ignore St Valentines Day, and it's tomorrow.  Him indoors better shape up - no garage flowers in this house, please!

As is usual, there are varying accounts of the origin of St Valentine's Day but the  most widely accepted is that it is dedicated to St Valentine of Rome, a priest in the 3rd century under Claudius II who was put to death on 14th February for assisting Christian marriages.

Observed as a feast day since 496 AD it gained popularity in Victorian times when the tradition of giving cards, chocolates and trinkets to your loved one really took off. Fat cherubs abounded!

So here are my earrings. A simple design using stoneware hearts and beads by the lovely Jana Bliznakova, with African turquoise and chain dangles, I like the way they hang. Just not quite traditional.  

If you haven't anyone to buy a card or gift for (and I admit to buying all my grandchildren a little something - him indoors wants yet another new bike, so he can wait) then take a bag of goodies to your local food bank and make a family's day special instead, or buy a homeless person a hot drink.

                                                              See you in two weeks

                                                                         Lindsay x
                                                              
                                                                      My Etsy shop
                                                                 
                                                                  My facebook page

Treasures of the Sea

Treasures are in the eye of the beholder... What may seem insignificant to a person, may be an incredibly precious treasure to another. Where does your mind go when you think about "Treasures of the Sea"?

When I was younger, whenever I would think about the Treasures of the Sea, I would automatically think about Seashells, Pearls, Sea glass, Sand Dollars, etc.

As I'll soon be entering my (hopefully) wiser years by becoming a grandma next month... Now, when I think of Treasures of the Sea, my mind now goes to artful pieces of soft driftwood adorning our beaches nearby, stones of various colors polished to a super soft finish by the sea, the gentle waves rolling on my feet as I walk along the water line, holding my loving husband's hand. I feel so happy in my heart and soul, and that feeling is my most precious Treasure of the Sea.

Kin Beach, Comox, BC - Photo: Nathalie Lesage

The blue sky, the sun, or cooling clouds, the birds singing, the whales and seals floating by...
every single thing is magical in an even deeper way than when I was a child.

This story is my inspiration for these earrings... precious little tumbled nuggets of color with shades of the water, sand and sky (in my handmade polymer clay beads), the driftwood (the rustic wood beads), the gentle waves of the ocean (in the copper wavy bead caps), held together on a pair of non-allergenic niobium ear wires:

The perfect way to carry the good vibes of the beach everywhere you go ... at 1 7/8" tall.

I prefer to wear shorter earrings, but I find it challenging sometimes to incorporate everything I want in a design, while keeping the overall size under 2 inches :)

I've made a couple of extra sets of these cute little beach inspired rustic shaped Polymer Clay Nugget Beads. You can find these earrings and my handmade beads in My Garden Of Love Etsy Shop HERE.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a fabulous day!
Cheers,
Nathalie
My Garden Of Love on Etsy
The Crafty Tribe on Etsy

What's in a Face?

Hello! And Happy June.

I don't have a lot of clear early childhood memories, but there are a handful that I have always remembered, for whatever bizarre reason as they don't seem to connect to anything major at all, and one of them has to do with faces. I was a very young girl, obviously working on expanding my mind, which it certainly needed based on the thoughts I was having. :) I remember clearly pondering and being perplexed by the fact that every person on the planet looked so different, when we all have two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Remember, I was really, really young. :) But that was the beginning of my fascination with faces, their expressions, and my emotional reactions to them. Not just human faces; I'm fascinated by canines, felines, other primates. Faces in photographs, paintings, sketches, I love them all.

So it was no surprise to me when I found myself gravitating to faces in jewelry components as well. And there is so much to choose from. 

Today's earrings are "Serene Faces" made by Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads. They are, indeed, serene, and this pair is graced with a beautiful, high-gloss, golden brown glaze with shadows and shadings of deep brown. Simply beautiful. The glaze seems to almost sparkle.

"What's in a Face"

Initially these earrings were a fiesta of color, and they were fun, but they had lost some of their serenity, and I wanted them to stay serene. So a two-color palette is where I landed. I used varying shades of brown aged glass beads, natural Turquoise disk stones and matte finish, opaque turquoise glass beads, with one rogue red glass bead on each, all wound on ball-tip headpins I made with 20 gauge copper wire, and 22 gauge copper wire was used to wrap above the faces. 

As an aside, I generally don't like working with 22 gauge copper wire. Even though the wire I use is "half hard," 22 gauge is "wimpy," even when work hardened. But many things, like these Turquoise disks, won't fit on 20 gauge. They just require a little extra TLC.  And Black Lip Shell heishi beads sit atop the Turquoise disks.

What's in a Face?

Thought I'd also share with you my current little stash of Face Beads. All of them are ceramic. The artisans who made them are Jana Bliznakova of Happy Fish Things; Petra Carpreau of Scorched Earth on Etsy; Andrea Salkowe of Josephine Beads; Nadia Karepencheva of Nadia Terra. I have a whole lot of fun to look forward to! :)

Fun Fun Fun!

Thank you so much for taking the time to take a look. We appreciate it! I'll be back on the 21st of June. 'Til then, I wish you all days filled with sunshine, peace & joy. 

Norbel Marolla
She Flies Again on Etsy
She Flies Again on Facebook
She Flies Again on Amazon Handmade

Fiasco

fi·as·co
noun
1.  a thing that is a complete failure

Not a complete failure; it is reparable; just not in time for this morning. Suffice it to say that a cup of coffee, a sweet Lab's wagging-with-excitement tail, and earrings with polymer clay components are simply not a good combination. Maybe I will share them in two weeks with the replacements. :)

So instead of the pair I made specifically for EE, I selected a pair of very recently made earrings.

Turquoise & Red is always a great combination

The beautiful glaze on the Bronzy Drops made by Petra Carpreau of Scorched Earth On Etsy, with the perfect amount of pooling at the tip, is so compelling! I've had these for a long time and could never settle on a way to go. I recently found these groovy vintage copper knot connectors, oxidized them and decided I had a start for the drops. The rest is colorful beads; the top bead is enameled on copper made by MaryAnn Carroll of Artisan Beads Plus. The remainder is 3mm glass beads strung on waxed linen.

I like the length, 2 3/4" / 6.98 cm, and the rustic "dress-up" the copper connectors provided, yet the final package is something I'd wear every day. They're just my style! :)

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. Have a peaceful day. Happy March!

Norbel Marolla

My Etsy shop is She Flies Again
She Flies Again Facebook Page

Spring Vibe

Last week, Nikki asked us in her post about the 'motifs' that keep coming back in our designs, and I know I have a few favorite ones (swirls, hoops/circles, leaves...), my brain went straight to a type of stone and color: Turquoise.

I have this whole need to hoard my Turquoise beads and cabochons going on,

and letting some of them go. It. Is. So. Hard. 

But once they are out into the world, I feel happy that they can be enjoyed by others. I was an only child, maybe that's the root of this feeling of not being always so great at sharing my goodies LOL

(I do share, my hubby will tell you, but with certain things, well, I've got issues I guess, ha!)

So I made these wrapped Copper earrings:

 

I couldn't let go of the whole Turquoise idea, and I knew I had this absolutely perfect pair of gorgeous rustic 'spotted' copper-ish looking handmade ceramic beads (made by our very own Cindy Pack). 

I wanted to pair them with Chinese Turquoise, copper wire and accents, and here we are :)

These earrings are 2" tall (trying to make shorter pairs from time to time) and hang from a pair of hypo-allergenic Titanium matching ear wires with a small copper bead accent.

These earrings are listed HERE on my website.

Rustic, bright and cheerful, calling on Spring to arrive soon :)

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Nathalie

http://www.NathalieLesageJewelry.com