Thursday, March 20, 2014

Awesome Purchase of the Week



Got this cute snowflake sweatshirt for Amelia from elSage designs the other day. I must say it has become the little one's fave since she's been wearing it and I absolutely love it too: amazing quality product that has this wonderful characteristics of something made with love and care by an actual person. The beauty of handmade!

I first 'meet' Phoebe, the designer and maker of elSage, through Etsy and then I started following her on IG. I enjoy so much following her family adventures through her pictures and the process of her making her beautiful hand printed products. She makes a great array of apparel for the whole family using sustainable materials and each product is block-printed individually by Phoebe herself.

You can find out more about her creations by clicking right here.

Happy Spring Day to all of you!
Iveth


Monday, March 17, 2014

Back Home.



We were away, yes we were. Husband had work/things to do in Massachusetts and the little one and I tagged along. We spent most of our time in suburban Boston, going to Whole Foods market (and wishing we had one in Montreal) and doing just a tiny bit of shopping (got myself an awesome pair of running shoes! hopefully I'll get to use them plenty this year). A couple of days me and the little one took the train downtown and visited museums, the Boston Public library (which is so, so beautiful) and the neighbourhood of Back Bay, one of my favourites because of its beautiful architecture. Most days were almost as cold as Montreal but a lot less snowy and that fact was well welcomed :) On the last weekend we visited the aquarium, we have been there many times but I love it so much and of course, the little one, too. Then we visited Boston's North End neighbourhood for the first time and I was enchanted, so beautiful! We ate Italian food at a small restaurant called 'Locale' it was modern but cozy and the people that attended the place were so nice and the pizza was absolutely delicious! And then we went to Salem. This little city was always on my to-visit list and maybe I had high expectations but I didn't enjoyed it as much, but as I said, maybe it was just because of high expectations. We had a charming time there, though! ate delicious tacos at 'Comida' restaurant, learned a bit more about the witch trials and spend a bit of time by the sea, enjoying the sunlight and the warmth of the day. Then we came back home, slowly as we pass across a storm in New Hampshire, it helped us keep well awake and alert!

And as the last couple days we were there were sooo warm, it created certain illusion in my mind that made me think I was about to jump into spring any minute but then we arrived in Montreal and the illusion was gone: it's so cold, so cold. Maybe it feels colder because I had spring in my mind. Anyways, cold or not, it feels so good to be home again and rest in my bed, getting a bit of rest (because we catch a cold) before wrapping myself around work again. Well, actually now I'm about to finish packing orders so the task has begun :)

How are you? is it looking like spring already where you are?

Have a lovely week!
Iveth

Friday, March 7, 2014

A Grain of Sand

“To see a world in a grain of sand
and a heaven in a wild flower,
hold infinity in the palm of your hand
and eternity in an hour.”  -William Blake, Auguries of Innocence.


Last year I made myself a tiny, little, lovely ring. Just a simple little thing in 14k rose gold featuring a tiny ball on the top. I completely fell in love with it and I've been wearing it almost every day ever since. For lack of time I didn't make any more nor did I photograph it to list it on my Etsy shop but when craft show season arrived in December, I made many of them to see how my local customers liked it. It was a HUGE success and I couldn't be happier. I still receive emails from customers that saw it back in December that want to get one.

Well, great news: I made more at last and what's best now they are listed on my Etsy shop! I feel like this ring represents things I like a lot: Rocks, pebbles, nature (I'm discontinuing my pebble ring in favor of this more delicate, beautiful design). Plus, since I've been wearing it, I discover I was bestowing certain significance to it: there is a saying in Mexico that says "cada quien pone su granito de arena" whose literal meaning is "everybody puts their grain of sand". This is a positive phrase and it's used to say that everybody can contribute even with the smallest of things to make something better. I think is a lovely phrase, my mum say it a lot, so now that I wear this ring almost daily I remind myself of that. And of my mum and her innumerable phrases!

I made this ring in sterling silver, 14k rose gold and 14k yellow gold, they look so pretty! my fave is the pink gold one, and to think I used to dislike gold so much...someone told me that now I like gold because I'm older, but I really think now I like it because I'm a jeweller and since then, I discovered gold is a beautiful, noble material to work with :) But who knows, maybe it is because I'm older!

Oh, I hope you like this lovely ring! It is a pleasure to wear it, specially for those who like small things and look for a beautiful, special ring that can be worn every day, all day.

For more about the collection visit my Etsy shop by clicking right HERE or click on the photos! Thank you!

xx
Iveth

All images by me.