Throwback Thursday Favorites

I was archiving pictures of jewelry pieces I've made over the years recently, and as I was looking through my designs, I was so thankful that it's so easy now with digital pictures to keep a record of what we've done over time.... how we progress.... how our style changes.

It's also great to keep pictures of all our past work, to be able to go back and revisit old favorites, and maybe change them up a bit and offer a new updated version of the designs. I also realized that I've forgotten some of the designs I'd done (is it because I'm getting old? Or too many years of design work? Maybe a bit of both...)

So today, instead of making and showing you a new pair of earrings, I wanted to show you a few designs I had almost forgotten, but love so much - hopefully they will inspire you with some new design ideas!

One of my favorites is wire wrapping. Some wire wrapping with unusual pairing (pearls and Labradorite - these pearls were huuuuuuge and almost perfectly round - just stunning), or incorporating some wire work in building unusual shapes.... like the triangular design of the Tribal Turquoise earrings below:

Large Freshwater Pearls, Labradorite, 14kt Gold Filled wire wrapped Earrings

Tribal Turquoise and Sterling Silver Earrings

Designs vary from what appears to be a complex chainmaille design in Copper and Sterling, to the simplest of creation (a gemstone dangling in the middle of a chain -> that one made the front page on Etsy back in the day and was a popular seller for me for a little while):

Kings Scale Copper and Sterling Silver Mystic Topaz Earrings

Fancy twisted cut Amethyst on a simple sterling chain - Made the front page of Etsy

We can't forget hoops! They come in all sorts of style (I never get tired of 'em):

Triple Sterling Pink Tourmaline Soldered Hoops

Summer Daisies Fine Silver and Sterling Silver Rustic Hoops

Tanzanite Vine Sterling Silver Hoops

So what about you? Do you enjoy looking back and revisiting some of your past work? Do you use them as inspiration when your muse has taken a vacay? Do you have a favorite technique (chainmaille, wire wrapping, soldering, viking knit, cold connections, stringing, etc) that you tend to go back to or incorporate every chance you get?

I hope you enjoyed this little trip down memory lane with me. I hope that I will eventually feel well enough to be able to make more of these designs again, but if not, I'm going to go with the flow, and see where the currents take me.

You can find my latest jewelry designs in My Garden Of Love Etsy shop HERE, as well as my handmade jewelry components.

I want to wish my fellow Canucks a very Happy Canada Day (150 years!!!) as well as a Happy 4th of July to all of our dear American readers!

Cheers,
Nathalie
My Garden Of Love Etsy Shop
The Crafty Tribe Etsy Shop

Quiet Moments and Elegance

As we've been simplifying our life for the 15 months, we've been even more aware of the preciousness of special moments. There's a certain softness and peacefulness that moves into this type of life transformation.

Winter peacefulness - Photo: Nathalie Lesage

It can be a scenery, a glimpse of something surreal, a feeling of a magical moment. When we collect too many physical things, it takes space not only in the space surrounding us, but it also takes up space in our mind.

In a world where we're encouraged with every single commercial on TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, online adds, etc, to 'consume' 'consume' 'consume'... more, more, more, it's good to take a break and re-evaluate what we truly need. Turns out there's a lot of things we don't need at all.

Less is more.

So in that theme, I've decided to design this simple pair of earrings:

The blue-flash Labradorite gemstones remind me of the picture (above) that I took on one of our road trips up North. I've set these gemstones on a pair of lilac drop shape Amethyst gemstone sterling silver headpins (with the cute little trio of dots/detail at the bottom) that I've been hoarding for many years. I only have a couple more.

Although it's hard to see the color of those Amethyst gemstones, the Swarovski Crystals that I've suspended on the Anodized Aluminum rings are the same color... a soft lilac, cool and peaceful.

At the top, I've used a pair of handmade Polymer Clay beads (wavy textured croissants beads, in black and silver) made by the love of my life, my husband Darren :)

Long, Lightweight, Slender, Simple, Quiet Elegance that catches the light... you have to stop and take the time to get a glimpse of the blue flash in the Labradorite when the light hits them 'just so'. It's like a little secret that only a select few will get to enjoy.

Do you have any plans to lighten up your surroundings this Spring? Try it and see how it feels!

Wishing you a peaceful and quiet relaxing day!

Thank you very much for stopping by :)

You can find these earrings in my Etsy shop HERE.

Cheers,
Nathalie Lesage
My Garden Of Love on Etsy
The Crafty Tribe on Etsy

Hammer Therapy

Copper Earrings with Labradorite

When I have a bad day and get discouraged because sales are slow, I can't find what I need to make something, or two components on my brand new computer fail within a month of each other, I pick up the hammer. No, not to inflict injury on Etsy, harm myself for being disorganized, or take a whack at the computer demons; instead I vent my frustrations on copper.

The earrings pictured above are a smaller scale chandelier design, stamped and hammered, then heated to get the glowing patina. I really like the combination of labradorite with copper, and these faceted brios are the perfect size to wrap and use as dangles with the trapezoid shaped copper bodies.

Arabesque Copper Hoop Earrings

These big and bold hoops began with Arabic shaped blanks from Supply Diva on Etsy. Again, I hammer the bijeezis out of them and heat them to add some warm color. The wire wrapping with tiny copper rounds was kind of an experiment. I knew it would be difficult to hold the wire in place on a curved piece like these hoops, so I added some Permalac to see if it would hold the wire in place and not show. It worked!

I feel so much better now.


Gloria Ewing

Chrysalis Tribal Jewelry
Chrysalis Too on Etsy
Chrysalis Tribal Jewelry on Amazon Handmade