Many folks choose a word at the beginning of the new year to use as a guide, a mantra to help them achieve a goal, a dream or simply bring positive energy into their lives for the coming year. I have not intentionally committed to doing this in the past. However, this year, a word and a phrase chose me. I wasn't particularly seeking out a word, but when this thought came to mind, it resonated with me and I felt strongly about it at the time.
My word is:
EXPAND
as in
'Expand your horizons.'
I'm extremely excited to show you the jewelry I created from my inspiration word and phrase:
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Expand Your Horizons Necklace
My necklace design features some of my most favorite materials. I braided a cord for my necklace with Irish waxed linen along with Hill Tribe silver beads, tiny carnelian gemstones and ties of silk ribbon.
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Custom-made pendant by Tesori Trovati on Etsy.
I enlisted the help of artist Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati(Treasures Found) to make me a custom pendant with my phrase, 'Expand your horizons.' Erin makes a collection of pendants she calls 'Simple Truths'. Her pendants are right in line with the concept of this challenge. I knew she'd be a perfect choice for what I was looking for. Actually, Erin and I have quite the serendipitous relationship. It's very interesting how this particular pendant came to be. Long story short, the pendant above was a gift to me from Erin because of this happening. Honestly, I didn't 'do' much, even if you consider posting a link on Facebook doing anything. No, really, Erin brought it all upon herself to achieve her success. I think it is so incredibly cool how her journey with her 'Simple Truths' line of pendants has come full circle in such a fantastic way. It tickles me silly to think that somehow I was a tiny piece of the puzzle that brought it all together for her. The universe works in amazingly beautiful ways. It makes me smile and I will gladly accept this token of appreciation and gratitude on the Universe's behalf. :) Thank you, Erin. This pendant has great and deep meaning for BOTH of us and that makes it even more special to me.
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EXPAND Bracelet Set
I also made myself a set of stackable, adjustable leather bracelets. Made with Greek leather and wraps of Irish waxed linen cord for pops of color and texture. Each bracelet is adorned with an individual letter that spells out my word EXPAND when stacked together!!! How cool is that?!? This idea could be used to spell out any word or name. You could even swap out the letters from time to time to spell out new words to suit your mood. Love this idea. All materials for the set of leather bracelets from Ornamentea.com. These could possibly be a new Ornamentea tutorial coming soon! Stay tuned for that.
I hope you enjoyed my wellness word jewelry. Thanks for joining me today. A BIG thank you to our challenge host, my friend, Tracy Statler for this inspiration and opportunity to explore and express our words in jewelry! Please visit Tracy's blog. Below is the list of participating jewelry artists in the blog hop today. Enjoy. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's inspired creations!
Erin, what a great Wellness Word Challenge post! I really enjoyed reading your Erin & Erin story! Your Simple Truths pendant is simply perfect! "Expand your Horizons" is a great mantra - and you'll be doing a lot of that in March!! Wish I could tag along in your suitcase! ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhat a clever idea for stackable, personalized leather bracelets! I like the variety of colors you added with the cording and I think this would make a great future tutorial! Thanks for sharing, Erin!
Erin this is a great word for you and I see you actually doing it so I am very inspired by that! I love that you had Erin make you a custom pendant and I saw those cute letter charms at Ornamentea -I'm so glad you used them. Thanks for taking the time to participate - I know you are indeed busy expanding your horizons and I look forward to seeing how that unfolds for you this year!
ReplyDeleteTracy
Wonderful word choice! And a very inspirational story. Your challenge jewelry is great, I especially love the bracelets, what a cool idea! Great job!
ReplyDeleteGreat choice of words and lovely jewellery.
ReplyDelete** Kate **
I always love the bright colors you use and these are no exception. I love the necklace with the veads and snippets of ribbon. The bracelets are a genius idea and I love how they all fit together.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful jewelry with such bright colors - I love it! Erin's pendants are so gorgeous your story is lovely, as well. It's fun how things come together in our lives like that. Expanding your horizons,...I see you doing very well with that - congratulations - it's a great word for the year!
ReplyDeleteI love that expanding your horizons is your goal for this year - putting that out into the universe will open doors in new and exciting ways. The jewelry pieces are vibrant and full of texture. It seems like even the colors are bold to remind you to move out from your comfort zones.
ReplyDeleteHi Erin,
ReplyDeleteI loved the necklace your created with Erin's pendant and the leather bracelet with wax linen. Yeah, it would make a cool tutorial! I wish you best with expanding your horizons. I know your wings are already expanded wide and soaring high!
Great word choice and love the bracelet set.
ReplyDeleteAwesome word, I love both pieces and the color combinations!
ReplyDeleteSweet Miss Erin! I am so touched by your telling of the Erin & Erin story! You cannot know how much it means to me to be connected to you. You are a bright and cheerful soul and it is an honor to call you friend! I agree with Heather that you never know how the Universe will open to meet you where you are and it makes me so happy to know that you are ready with your arms wide to embrace it! I so wish that I were going to be there with you on the boat in March, a big regret that I was unable to make it happen. Have fun soaking up the vitamin D with all the bead peeps! Thank you for making this pendant shine. And yes to the tutorial! I have always wanted to master the knot like you have! Enjoy the day. The 'other' Erin ;-)
ReplyDeleteOk, I can't do crosswords and I know this because I have no power at figuring out anagrams. Had to get that off my chest as I had a good long stare at the EXPAND bracelets trying to rearrange them lol. um, just perfect how they are! Love all the colour and that you do indeed have to expand the bracelet to remove it. I love hearing the story behind the pendant too, feels very "full circle" and I can so see you in those colours!
ReplyDeleteWow! I really enjoyed reading your journey as it goes along with Erin's too...what a beautiful necklace, pendant and stack of bracelets...I am loving how the jewelry blogging world, in general, seems to be expanding into exploration of the thoughts and feelings behind why we do what we love to do..and where this shared journey is taking us. It's so fun to see the 'expansion' of spirit based topics starting to inch their way into our blogs every week...love that! I have one of Erin's pendants as my own personal talisman to help remind me to Go Out on a Limb in my life. Her series is so heartfelt and true...what a neat community we have here!! Best!! Xo~
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sentiment and bold colors really send the message of "expand" out into the universe! Wishing you more success in your jewelry adventures!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your story...your pieces are beautiful! I love how you did the bracelet
ReplyDeleteWhat a great word, and what great pieces to go with it! I think Erin's pendants are perfect for this challenge too! I'll look forward to hearing about your expanding horizons in future posts!
ReplyDeleteThe necklace and stackable bracelet are fabulous. I love the pendant on the necklace and the story behind it.
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