Handy Handmade Jewelry - No more Claires for me!

Peacock Feather Felted Earrings by Kathryn Swanson aka RemyFriends

Close Up on Earrings

A Time for Change(ing where I keep my change.)

Due to the nature of our product (crafting supplies) more often than not I’ll see someone walk into our store wearing something totally unique and 100% handmade. Less often do I find out that I TOO can have that wicked awesome item; until recently. A trend is emerging. Esty is seeping into everything!

For those of you who are unaware of what etsy (www.etsy.com) is:

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.

Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers.

Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

The items shown above, as well as the item show below are all available online from the artist’s persona etsy shop. Above are the works of a local Northampton artist, Kathryn Swanson. I noticed her wearing a pair of these beautiful felted earrings the moment she walked into the store. From afar they seemed to be peacock feathers with strung beads; which was lovely, however upon closer inspection I realized that they were not feathers at all but rather life-like needle felting. Needless to say I felt very envious, until much later I was talking to my colleague Christa Hughmanick (ItKnits) about the customer. Long story short: Christa is close friends with the artist/customer who makes those earrings, among many other very cute items, and she would arrange the purchasing of a pair for me. ^_^ In the conversation she also mentioned that Kathryn made change purses with an image of Obama screen printed on them along with the phrase, “Change”, ergo, “Change Change Purses.” The idea tickled me in a highly erudite way. These items are not only on sale via esty, they can be purchased at Guild Art Supply (100 Main Street Northampton, MA). I picked up a few as gifts immediately. The pun pleases people.

Large Porcelain Tree Pendant

I absolutely adore the necklaces that another colleague of mine, Malea Rhodes of Celadon Studios, (I know it’s sickening how talented the staff here is!) is making. She initially put out a few necklaces on her desk to promote a staff class version of a class she will be teaching at the store this coming school session on how to make ceramic beads. Instantly there was a flurry of snatching and dibbing and soon there was hardly an unclaimed one. It was like watching people pick puppies; they knew they wanted one, it was just a matter of which.

I’ve been long obsessed with Tree of Life pendants, but have never been able to find one that I really like. When I saw Malea’s version I was struck. To explain why we’ll have to have a little religion lesson, don’t worry, it won’t be boring!

The tree of life/world tree in Norse paganism is known as Yggdrasil. It’s branches reach to the heavens and it’s roots dig deep into the earth, to locations not known to man. Upon this tree the cheif god, Odin, hung himself by one foot for nine nights, while he was pierced with his own spear, which by the by, was made from Yggdrasil. He did this in order to learn the wisdom of the ruins, which would give him power in the nine realms of existence.

In essence this tree of life, which is still meant to be a symbol of the interconnected nature of all beings, is a gallow. There is an interpretation of the etymology where “Yggdrasil” refers to the word “Yggr” or “terror”, making the tree’s name “tree of terror.” I think this is an important part of the world tree’s image. Much like the Ying Yang, the World Tree should show the juxtaposition of it’s mythology. All the plastic, silver, intricate, whirly, girly Tree of Life pendants I’ve come across and passed on were because they weren’t able to attain that duality. Malea’s pendant encapsulates that for me. The soft colour of the porcelain is like snow quietly contrasting it’s stark linear black branches all akimbo reaching to the heavens. There’s a subtle yggr there, but it remains a peaceful symbol of the sacrifice for knowledge. Thank you so much Malea. I really adore this piece.

Finally I’ll cut out on an inspirational note: Inspired by all these lovely handmade necklaces I made the piece below by sewing a bird bead onto a lovely bed of needle felted cashmere. I even strung it with yarn (if you have a good eye you’ll know that’s Berroco Seduce!) It was for Christa’s birthday this weekend.