Take a Look at my Jewelry Box

 If there's anything that I love to collect it's jewelry. A second is pottery and we'll get to that in a later blog post, I'm sure. For today, I wanted to start a series with a little show-and-tell about my favorite jewelry pieces. Each piece of jewelry that I own has a story connected to them. We'll take a look at some special pieces in this on-going series. I hope you enjoy!

1) These earrings were a creation of mine under the guidance of Lisa Salsbury from Willow and Me Jewelry. Lisa taught a Precious Metal Clay (PMC) workshop at my former arts & crafts school Sweetland Retreat. Lisa is a wonderful instructor and taught me how to use this amazing technique to preserve my favorite tree's leaves. A friend of mine sent me some leaves from a magnolia tree in South Carolina. I was able to use them to imprint onto the PMC and fire the clay to form these silver beads. I love wearing these earrings and they always remind me of my time living in the South.

2) This is a ring that I wear every single day. Well, let me take a step back here. My boyfriend Bryan bought me this ring from Monkitree in Gardiner, Maine. They had listed a few photos of new pieces they had just gotten in from jeweler JudyB Designs from Portland, Maine. I "liked" the image on their facebook page and commented on how gorgeous it was. A couple weeks later Bryan gave it to me after he'd saved enough money to purchase it. He said it was our "going steady" ring (!!!). I wore it all the time and only took it off to wash my hands. One afternoon I took it off at a local restaurant bathroom to wash my hands and had left it on the sink by accident. I went in not ten minutes later and it had been stolen! I was inconsolable. I felt naked. I was beyond upset. Bryan ended up contacting Judy and had her create a new ring in the same design with an equally gorgeous piece of labradorite. Somehow it was even better than the first one. I wear it non-stop and now don't take it off when I wash my hands. Ever. Lesson learned. 

3) A gorgeous necklace by my friend Jennifer Lisa of Quench Metalworks. I've wanted it for so long {along with many other things from her amazing shop} and it came up for auction at two different fundraisers and I bought it both times! The first time I gave it to my friend Laurie O'Neil and the second time I finally got one for myself. I'm on a mission to "learn" to wear necklaces because #1 I'm really fidgety and play with them way too much and #2 I still don't know how to pair them with earrings which I have to wear all of the time. I'm learning...see the next item.

4) I won these gorgeous silver earrings from a giveaway on Sometimes Sweet's blog. These lotus  earrings are from Chrissy Gemmill Jewelry and they are simply wonderful. They're the perfect earrings to wear with necklaces and I couldn't be happier to have found them... or I guess they kind of found me! These are super new to my collection and I adore them!

5) These are a pair of earrings that I made a few years back as a collaboration with my friend Bob Matus. Bob is a woodworker, lobsterman, photographer, and I'm sure he has many more tricks up his sleeve. He made the wooden hoops and I simply added the dazzle beads. His etsy shop, Heron Cove Wood Carving, has some wonderful items: hair forks (I have the whale tale!), spoons (yep, got some of them, too), and some more earrings! I wear these at least once a week. A personal favorite and I remember the beautiful day when we had our little crafty afternoon and made them.

Isn't it funny how these items, no matter how small, can hold such memories?