Wishes for the Forties: Bliss, Blue Jeans, and Bubbly

As a friend was looking towards her fortieth birthday, she asked me to create a bracelet for her...and to surprise her with a story. So, here goes.

My wishes for her forties...at the center of the bracelet is a sterling silver wishbone.

I selected smooth iolite rondelles and faceted rondelles of pale smoky quartz because they reminded me of denim and champagne! Once you hit your forties, you care less about pretense and are more than comfortable popping open an expensive bottle of bubbly in your blue jeans and your favorite t-shirt.

I included a hummingbird because they represent the enjoyment of life and lightness of being; a lotus blossom symbolizes the purity and the love of god; and the owl is sacred to the Greek goddess of knowledge. Life, faith, and knowledge. That is bliss.

Happy 40th, S. Hope you like it.

Awesome Arils {earrings of the month}

This month's earrings were inspired by our recent move - we are homeowners once again! - and January's birthstone.

So, we finally were able to get out of our rented postage stamp-sized townhouse and into a real house. Relief. Excitement. All of those things washed over us. We moved to a street called 'Granada.' I was looking at my face cream, a pomegranate cream "for aging skin" (no joke); the bottle included other languages, including French and Spanish. 'Granada' drew my attention. And it dawned on me: we live on a street named for the pomegranate. How cool is that?!

We love pomegranates!

Originally from Persia, pomegranates are one of the oldest cultivated fruits. Ancient Romans used the skins in the process of tanning leather. Perhaps due to the fruit's princely blossom crown, it has gained distinction as a royal fruit. Chaucer, Shakespeare and Homer have all extolled the virtues of the pomegranate in literature. The Moors brought the seedy fruit to Spain where Granada was named for it. The first pomegranate was planted in Britain by King Henry VIII. It reached our shores by way of the Spanish conquistadors.

The deep red color of the pomegranate arils gave rise to the naming of the garnet gemstone, January’s birthstone. So, the pieces this month are gobs and gobs of garnets handwired with sterling silver. They are going in the mail this weekend! Hope the gals enjoy.