Swan Earrings - Designed by my daughter

These earrings are designed by my 11 year old daughter. She made the ones on the left, without the pearls. They are made with craft wire. I tried to copy her (in sterling silver and pearls), but the shape of mine didn't turn out as good as hers! Booohoooo!! But I am very very proud of her, that she could come up with some design herself, and made the shape and showed it to me. No help from me till there! I just showed her how to weave. I didn't try to teach her the weaving...I had a migraine...so I told her I'll weave one, you watch, and if you can follow it, do it....or else, I'm sorry, I'm in no mood to teach right now. Well, she saw me do it, and did it exactly like that in the other earring! Did I say I am proud of her? :-) Click on the picture to see it bigger.

Valentine's Day...romance, love, affection...sweetness: Carnelian Heart Necklace

To buy this, please go to my Etsy Store.

With Christmas and New year gone, I was thinking how there's going to be a long blah period. I totally forgot the sweetness that Valentines Day brings! What does Valentine's Day mean to you? When I was younger, it meant romance. But now as a wife, a mum, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a sister, a friend, a sister-in-law, aunt...and so many other roles that have become important, Valentines Day means simply Love....sweetness. It is also the day I met my sweet hubby for the first time. Valentines Day is a day for me to wish anyone I love...and there are so many I love. So many that I can't count. I hope it is the same with you.

So for Valentine's Day, I made this sweet necklace. A deep orange Carnelian heart, wrapped in sterling silver wires, following Judy Feskun's tutorial. Pearls too stand for innocence, love and sweetness for me, so I hung this pendant on a simple string of pearls, finished with a hand made sterling silver clasp. The fresh water pearls chain is 17.5" with the clasp.

This got me thinking...love is a great subject. I think for a while I will focus on making pieces on themes of love...on the world's greatest romances, Divine Love, affection, love between different relations. Do you have a great love story to tell me on which I could possibly base a piece? If you do, email me at cobaltblueastrid@yahoo.com.