Oh, Honey, Honey!

These are in the mail this week for my earrings-of-the-month club members. I picked HONEY as my theme for February's EcoChic Designs creations for a couple of reasons: I love honey; and I am currently working on an article about honey and beekeepers. I have always told my boys that their job of learning and stretching their minds never ends. So, I have to live up to that goal as well. Last month I went to a butchery seminar for an article. I have never had any illusions that meat just appears in the grocery store, headless, legless, and wrapped in paper or plastic. Many of my friends are hunters or fisherman, so deliveries of homemade sausages, cuts of wild boar, and whole fishes and crabs are not out of the ordinary. However, until EcoFarm's 2013 Butchery Skills Seminar, last week, I have never seen a whole carcass broken down into saleable cuts.

But this isn't about meat. This is about honey. Sweet, golden, delectable honey.

These earrings are one-of-a-kind creations, inspired by HONEY. Golden chalcedony, faceted citrine, lemon quartz, recycled yellow glass, and amber are handwired with sterling silver for this month's pieces. They hang from hammered sterling earwires.

"Sweet Motherhood" Bracelet

I wanted to create something both meaningful and useful for a friend who will be a new mom this month.

As for usefulness, in my blissful sleeplessness of during the seemingly endless feeding and diapering cycle, I often forgot which side I was supposed to nurse the baby on next.  So, I swapped a ring from one hand to the other.  I created this piece with a simple toggle clasp so she can use it as a nursing reminder, if she wants, just switching it from one arm to the other.

This one-of-a-kind bracelet features a sterling silver bee charm handwired with recycled yellow glass, recycled clear glass, citrine, white onyx, and calcite.  It closes with a sterling silver flower toggle.Motherhood has been such a sweet adventure for me – sweet as honey – that when I found this sterling silver bee charm, I knew this was it.
I hope she likes it!

Oh, sugar. Oh, honey, honey!

I bought these gorgeous druzy agate nuggets and that song by, The Archies, immediately popped into my head: "Oh, sugar. Oh, honey, honey!" 

The nuggets have pale veins running through the warm, golden stones that reminded me of honeycomb.  Then the dusting of druzy crystals, like sugar, sealed the inspiration.  I created this one-of-a-kind neckace with one large honeycomb druzy agate nugget handwired with recycled glass in two shades of yellow, Dangling below that is a pale calcite teardrop with a sterling silver bee charm.

Healing Words of Honey

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

Proverbs 16:24

Last September one of my husband's cousins committed suicide.  Twenty-nine years old.  And as hard as it's been on the entire family, two hearts are particularly broken - those of Sam's mom and his sister.  I wanted to create pieces for them that fosters peace and lets them know that they have our thoughts and prayers...always.  Jessica received a rose quartz necklace with a sterling silver prayer box.  But I struggled with what to make for Aunt Chris. 

So when I read that proverb,  I found a sterling silver bee charm and made this for her.  The sterling silver bee charm is the focal point of this necklace in various shades of honey.  Citrine, calcite, recycled yellow glass, and lemon quartz are all handwired with sterling silver to form this one-of-a-kind necklace.  Nothing can take away the pain of losing a child, but - hopefully - this will remind her that she will heal.