Ethereal Greenery

Ethereal: (adjective) extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world: her ethereal beauty. Heavenly or spiritual.

I truly love Pantone's 2017 color of the year "Greenery" and the gorgeous color palettes derived from it. One particularly caught my eye:

Ethereal Color Palette - Click on image to go to the Pantone website to see all of them.

The Caramel Cafe (sounds like my favorite kind of flavored coffee drink!), Rich Gold, Dull Gold, and add some Greenery to the mix and I ended up with these:

I designed these earrings around a pair of my Handmade Polymer Clay diamond shaped charms. I used some green and dull gold, and inserted a round gold-tone stud in the middle. The texture and dots add visual movement, a bit of a vortex maybe?

The caramel cafe is represented in the pretty wood beads, the Anodized Aluminium jump rings, and hypoallergenic Niobium ear wires. You'll find a hint of the Caramel Cafe also in the Green Czech glass beads, they are two-tone, and I just love how the light gently shows the hint of caramel color amidst the greenery. The airiness and colors give these earrings a bit of an ethereal feel:

The frame and wire wrapping is done in 14kt gold filled (rich gold) wire. They measure 3 inches long, but because they feature my polymer clay components, they are EXTREMELY lightweight to wear, which to me, is very important. I have sensitive ears and the lighter, the better.

So what's your favorite Pantone 2017 Color Palette?

You can find these earrings, as well as these Polymer Clay charms (and more) in my Etsy shop.

P.s. Don't forget about our big reveal coming up! Have you created some earrings inspired by owls?
I can't wait to see what you've all come up with!


Thank you for stopping by!
Cheers,
Nathalie Lesage
My Garden Of Love Etsy Shop
The Crafty Tribe Etsy Shop

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

The Little Flapper Girls

Now the Flapper was my kind of woman;  Light-hearted, nonconformists who eagerly tried new clothing styles not to mention challenging traditional ideas of behavior by wearing make-up, publicly drinking, smoking & acting unladylike.  

They sported a short bobbed do, wore lipstick, rouge and short fringed skirts, giving the title, "It Girl".

That is exactly what this fun, free spirited design reminds me of. These have become a huge hit.  I wasn't sure how they were going to be perceived, but I sold 4 pair, 2 to the same customer; one for her and the other a gift.  Who would not love to fashion these little gals!!

The hand painted wood heads are so darn cute, each one slightly different.  I bought the brass flower beads off ETSY and hand painted them in girly pink, of course, folded over some soft copper flower caps and finished them with copper findings.  Ball end headpins strung with rounds of cream Howlite serve as tiny swinging feet.

I was provided a little gift with my next head order, Its a BOY!! 

OMG, how cute is he? Now you have it, a Flapper Couple ♥

These are totally out of my design style, but I had such a great time working with them, I hope the trend continues.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, share a comment or two if you can and we will see you again July 6th.  

My ETSY Shop- Y.u.c.c.a. B.l.o.o.m.

My Favorite Things

Favorites---we all have them. 

Whether it's your favorite color (olive green), favorite food (garden-fresh tomatoes), season (autumn), author (Cormac McCarthy), shoes (black biker boots)...the list goes on. We can learn so much about a person by looking at their favorite things. See, look how much you just learned about me? Of course, we as humans are much more nuanced than a condensed list of favorites, but these are great starting points. 



One of my most favorite stones---and honey, I've worked with a LOT of stones---is chiastolite. A form of rosy brown andalusite and otherwise known as "cross stone", this wicked material features completely naturally occurring black graphite crosses or Xs at its center. The iconography of the cross goes back thousands of years across untold cultures. I love the provenance and fluidity of such a symbol.

So any time I see a nice piece of chiastolite, I tend to snap it up like a hamster---hoarding it away for future use. These little teardrop pieces weren't in my hands very long before they spoke to me. I gave them wee soldered caps and dangled them simply beneath vintage wood beads and ratty pronged black metal bead caps. Ever so slightly industrial and gothic (see aforementioned proclivity for black biker boots) with a crunchy earth goddess vibe thrown in for good measure. Hey, that pretty much sums me up.

OK, now tell me some of YOUR favorites!

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Rough Around the Edges

I'll be the first to admit that I'm rough around the edges. I like things that may be considered ugly or junky or taboo.  I like being a black sheep. I like my jewelry to have some bite.

I'm big on re-purposing elements in my jewelry---not from a tree-hugging recycle-hound standpoint (not that there's anything wrong with that), but from a "I really love the look of this old bead/rock/found object" standpoint. Stuff may be busted or have a crust on it---a patina of time, if you will. I like that.

Along these lines, one of the things I love playing with are vintage industrial metal bits.  They're old, they're beaten up, they're rusty, they may be broken and unusable in any other application. I like the challenge of looking at an object and then figuring out how to bring it back to life in unexpected ways.

Like this pair of earrings that I made for myself that feature some old industrial metal rings. What they were used for at one time, I have no idea. But they're pitted and corroded and covered with a layer of dark green verdigris patina...and I love them. I kept it simple by hanging them with two unusual lightweight vintage German wood beads. Each bead sports a little filigree bead cap to add some verve, plus my own headpins, ear wires, and soldering. Blackened metal because YES, please.

These are the kind of earrings that I wear everyday. They make a confident statement without clubbing you over the head. Some people may call it an "industrial chic" trend, but I just call it ME.

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki 
LoveRoot on Etsy

Junkyard Queen

"One man's junk is another man's treasure"...

It's an aphorism that we've all heard before, right? I've always found it curious how something that some would consider junky, worn out, used up, and ugly could appeal so much to me. There's something about having a soul, having lived through a storm or two, having a story to tell. A little metaphor for us humanfolk, don't you think? The things that make us the most interesting and emotionally rich aren't always the things that make us pretty.

 



I know I'm not the only one out there who loves the junkyard aesthetic. I channel this primitive rustic look in all of my jewelry, but I was particularly tickled with how this recent earring pair came out. Rusty washers handmade by Kiyoi Designs out of steel metal clay, little blue kyanite shard "collars", and perfectly mismatched etched agate and carved wood bead toppers. 

 



These babies sold in a snap to my dear dear friend Susan who is a vintage-loving antiques freak like myself. I loved them so much that I created a second similar pair to share the love - available now in my shop. Embrace life's beautiful imperfections...y'know what I mean?

Happy Wednesday <3
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy