Beach Walk

Me, about 1966, on the Washington coast

Do you walk the beach with one eye on the waves and the other eye scanning the sand for sea treasures? These earrings look like I had emptied my pockets after a day at the ocean and had gathered together my best finds.

Spiral sea shells, tiny stars reminiscent of starfish and vintage coral (I never buy new coral, because coral reefs are dying in much of the world).

It's almost as if you could hear the roar of the surf while wearing these earrings - the next best thing to being there.

Me, backpacking on the Washington coast, about 1974.

Linda Landig Jewelry

The Wild Child

These earrings were inspired and created to match a necklace I recently made, using similar components and beads. The inspiration necklace included a beautiful artisan lampwork focal I picked up in a tiny little (The best kind!!) bead shop in AZ last year. Really nice workman ship. I love buying artist's beads. Knowing that I can contribute to someone elses art while feeding my own creative needs is the most rewarding experience for me.






The artisan lampwork bead has shades of black and gray and a bit of a lavender hue as well. 

I played off the colors of the bead by adding in some lavender jasper (from Alexanders Bead Bazaar- Seattle, WA) along with some gray labradorite, white African glass and finally some handcrafted ceramic beads (Cindy's Art & Soul) in shades of gray.

Wild Child by cindybeads featuring nars cosmetics

Black stone, Periwinkle Jasper and Handcrafted Ceramic Earrings by Art & Soul Jewelry

With the earrings I had to get creative since I didn't have the large focal to work with - I chose some small (found) black stones. The stones were hand picked from the beach here in WA - just last week! I drilled them and wrapped them with fine silver wire - adding in the lavender Jasper and handcrafted ceramic beads by Cindy's Art & Soul. The ear wires are hand crafted, sterling silver.

You can find these earrings along with the matching necklace at www.ArtAndSoulJewelry.com
If you are looking for ceramic beads - there's a small collection there for those as well. And more coming next week! (ya!)

Peace & Blessings,

Grounded In Blue

My last post, two weeks ago talked about color and inspiration from those colors. We (artists and humans in general) can be attracted to a color(s) and not even realize we are. Drawn to it over and over again. Choosing things, clothes, furnishings, throw pillows even from those color sets. Do you have some that come to mind? 

For me it's BLUE. And I wouldn't say it's my favorite color. I don't think as adults we really have ONE favorite color. However we can still be drawn to it and choose it more than others. Yes? 

my California vacation, 2013

 When I am at the beach, at the ocean, I am grounded. I wonder if maybe this is why I keep coming back to these colors. They inspire that feeling of being grounded. 

At home. At peace. 

So then once you realize this color has a hold on your attention, you begin seeing it everywhere. And that's where I am at. 

This morning I thought about my blog post and what I would write. A particular artist came to mind and her music videos. Iammiamiwhoami Because in my minds eye I suddenly realized that all her videos are filmed at the ocean and beach. The color set I've been drawn to....

sold

So I went back to look and noticed there's a link in the title image To Whom It May Concern. I clicked through, and it's a Nordic Clothing line. Fantastic! More of my colors! I encourage you to take a look and see if you are pulled in too. There are some beautiful prints for sale as well here.

I have been inspired to create a new jewelry collection in this line of colors, entitled Winter At The Beach. It's in the budding stages still but growing quickly. It's such a small collection I am not really advertising it yet. However, you can see the collection here: http://www.artandsouljewelry.com/collections/winter-at-the-beach  More will be added in later today December 8th. 

My my most recent creation: 

Hammered nugget charms created from bits of recycled .999 fine silver, handmade ceramic beads (by Cindy's Art & Soul) with a sand glaze, stormy BLUE Spectrolite gemstones, wrapped in fine silver wire. Ear wires are hand forged sterling silver with hammered ball ends. Available at Art and Soul Jewelry.

What colors are you drawn to? Do you get stuck on a color and wear it all the time? Share it with us. 

Peace~

 

We're All Ears :: June Reveal

 “The edge of the sea is a strange and beautiful place.”
~ Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was a world-renowned marine biologist and author of some of the most famous books ever written about the natural world. She wrote with passion and expertise, and her writing was accessible and poetic and lovely. Her message of conservation, preservation and love of the earth that we call home is as fresh and compelling today as when she penned them over six decades ago. The following quotes about the sea are from her writings, urging us to never take for granted this world we live in, filled with glory and wonder.
  
I created a new bead set in my Symbol Bead Series that I call Tide Pool Treasures. The smaller size (about 3/4" round) is a new shape for me and perfect for earrings. The earrings that follow show the front and back of the same pair. At the bottom you will see an example of two focal beads, all sides. They are each made individually with molds and special stamps, painstakingly place. For me, these beads evoke the wonder of those tiny puddles of sea salt brine where the magical worlds of ocean wonders collide and coexist. I will start taking custom orders for these beads through my website, www.tesoritrovati.com.

"Tide pools contain mysterious worlds, where all the beauty of the sea is subtly suggested
and portrayed in miniature." 

“To stand at the edge of the sea, to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, to watch the flight of shore birds that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents for untold thousands of years, to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal as any earthly life can be.” 

“The winds, the sea, and the moving tides are what they are. If there is wonder and beauty and majesty in them, science will discover these qualities... If there is poetry in my book about the sea, it is not because I deliberately put it there, but because no one could write truthfully about the sea and leave out the poetry.”

“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself,
"What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?”  

I have never seen a tide pool or rock pool in person. One day I would love to have that chance. It gives me pause to consider that final quote from Carson... what if when I do get there, they don't exist anymore? A sobering thought, that makes me even more passionate about conservation and preservation of this amazing world we live in.

 

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Soul Of The Sea Earrings by Cindy's Art and Soul

This holiday weekend I am at the beach. Looking outside at the clouds and sea mist coming in making the grass and road wet... feeling so grateful to be here. 

Yesterday was fairly dry and I took Miss Molly for a walk down on the beach. She loves to run free and chase the seagulls. I call to her and offer treats to keep her close.

We saw a lot of garbage that has washed up. Maybe from the Japanese tsunami? Reports say it may be washing up for years.

Inspiring is how nature takes things over 

and makes them her own... 

The blue on these sea shells are exactly what I had in mind when I was making these earrings. The lampwork beads are Bubby and McGurk Beads... fantastic colors!  

I really wanted to add some shimmery blue kyanite stones (which matched perfectly!) but I felt like the lampwork was enough. They really stand on their own and do not need anything more!

The starfish charms add a feeling of "at the beach".
Capped in hand forged sterling silver 
wrapped in thick 20 gauge ss wire.

Hoops are hand forged and fused 14 gauge fine silver.
Oxidized for beauty and character.
Hand polished.

Available for purchase at Art and Soul Jewelry.
(update: sold!)

Peace & Blessings~

Feeling down? Say this one word...

...limpet.

No, I'm serious, go ahead and give it a try. Just one little time. Go on...while no one is listening.

See? You feel a little better, don't you? Maybe a teensy smile just crept across your face? A little levity to your soggy gray winter Wednesday? Perhaps even a smidge of impish delight when you imagine the cute cup-shaped domed shell of a LIMPET? 

You think I'm mad, but if you haven't picked it up already from reading my blog posts and jewelry listings, words really do hold that much power in my life. There are some really fun words, like limpet, bauble, and mallard. And then there are some really horrible nasty evil words, like moist. *shudder*

 
All this to say, I found some limpets last week! My day job shipped me off to the Pacific coast of California for a week and our hotel was right on the beach. As in, I could hear the waves crashing from my room. It was like every insanely picturesque post-card you've ever seen, and it was ALL RIGHT THERE. I couldn't help myself but to kick off my heels, sneak away, and do some beachcombing and toe-wiggling in the sand. 

I haven't been to a beach in probably 15 years. As a child, the few times we went I almost lost my head over all the cool little shells, pebbles, and scraps of sea life that would wash onto shore and get trapped in tide pools. I've always been fascinated by it, and nothing has changed as an adult. Every day last week I would sneak furtively back up to my hotel room with handfuls of sandy briny shells.

Now that I'm back home in landlocked Ohio, I've been sifting through my finds and picking out a few shells to incorporate into jewelry, since you know how much I like weaving organic found objects into my pieces.  

These earrings are quite special, as they feature some really sweet little purple banded limpets that I collected. They swing lightly under stacks of ancient Roman glass, wood bodhi beads, pyrite nuggets, and some antique opalescent Venetian glass "moon" trade beads (100-200 years old). Purples and teals and indigoes, all wire wrapped up together and ready to whisper songs of the sea into your ears.

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

The New Bohemian

The new bohemian.

She is wild but not reckless.

She is strong and still vulnerable.

She is grounded and still lifts others up. 

She is PEACE.

Peace Earrings #3
Moonstone, Swarovski, Found Sea Glass, Amazonite, and handmade silver charms.

You can find these and more peace earrings at:

http://www.artandsouljewelry.com/
http://cindypack.blogspot.com/

Happiness and Peace to all!
Cindy

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It's the Small Things In Life

What is it about small things that makes us all warm and fuzzy and squealy inside? A fuzzy mewy kitten? A wee bud vase only big enough for one flower? A small shell found on the beach. Baby toes? 

See, you're smiling. 

As much as I love long dangly earrings, I'm also learning to appreciate the beauty of post earrings. It's harder to fit what you want to say into a smaller package, but if executed right, they can be deliciously wearable without sacrificing statement. 
 
Several weeks ago I had a free weekend---rare and choice---and spent it in the studio making a quartet of fossil post earrings in sterling silver. I had been saving these little fossilized sea urchins since my trip to Austin earlier this year. As an aside, if you're ever there, hit up Nature's Treasures for some serious rock candy. 

Please, please, try to suppress your squealing until this post is finished. 

Aren't they just so wee and cute? Plump little fossils with a bumpy geometric star pattern, naturally occurring thanks to Mother Nature. Did you know that fossilized sea urchins are also called sea biscuits? Think about that imagery in your mind - how appropriate? And I crafted two gnarled little prongs to reach out and hug each fossil. 

The warm neutrals of these make them suitable for any outfit - dress em up or dress em down. In fact, my good friend Staci of Staci Louise Originals is currently rocking this pair.

Alright, it's ok to squeal now...

Happy Wednesday!
Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Pebble Beach

Ok, yes, I'm getting a little punny with my title here, but I couldn't help myself. These earrings are the perfect marriage of beach and primitive - for the organic earth mother in all of us. When Rey from greybirdstudio gifted me these little salmony and lemony shells from the Isle of Skye, I knew I had to create a study in warm beachy sunset hues. 

It took some fiddling, but I settled on a neat ladder design to feature a handful of smooth tumbled Lake Michigan pebbles. 

Some creative wire wrapping plus little scraps of hemp twine, and you're ready for some sand squishing between your barefoot toes. 

 
A flowy long dress, hair tressed up and wild, sun kissing your bare shoulders...I can feel it now :)

Nikki
LoveRoot on Etsy

Come on Summer!

I am so exited for summer to get here! I live in WA state and we've had such a wet cold winter. The weather forecast says we are in for a treat with high temps all week! I'm treating myself to a few days off at Long Beach.

Instead of sharing a pretty outfit to match my earrings I am sharing some beach pictures. Not the sunny white sand beach with the blue ocean. But OUR beach. Our beach is windy and cold (mostly) and sunny warms days are a rarity. This week promises to be amazing. I cannot wait. 

These pictures were taking a few years ago. I went to this spot with my daughter looking for something special to convert to a bead or bauble. Unfortunately we just found a lot of driftwood. However it was a beautiful site- the ocean rolling in, the waves were huge. Kind of scary but a rush at the same time.

My beach inspired earrings~

Peruvian Opal with Frosty White Beach Glass 

Wrapped in Fine Silver wire

Finished with Hand Crafted Ear Wires.

Available on Etsy from Cindy's Art & Soul 

Peace & Blessings

Cindy

Seafoam

Simplicity won out with these new Seafoam earrings.

 I just adore the look of a headpin threaded through some beautiful beads so I couldn't resist pairing some of my Starfish Headpins and amazing HavanaBeads glass beads.

 

These earrings are available for purchase HERE in my Etsy Shop!

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy