Weeping Willow Designs: March 2019

Beautiful earth riches worked into dynamic, energetically-helpful designs.

Semi-precious stone beads and freshwater pearls combined with handcrafted Bali sterling silver. Strung on nylon-coated steel with sterling silver clasps, findings, and crimp beads.

I worked for two years as the in-house bead jewellery designer at Art of My Heart, TD Square Mall, downtown Calgary, Alberta. I made hundreds of pieces of unique jewellery during my time at the store with stunning and world-class beads the owner found on his buying trips.

My heart was broken when, in early 2010, we were booted from the mall, along with the remaining independent retailers, in favour of high-end chain stores. At the height of the oil boom in the city that oil built, the mall owners had decided to gentrify, and we were out.

The joke was on them, as within a couple years, oil prices had plummeted. I wonder who is shopping at all those high-end stores now? ;-)

Art of My Heart was a much-beloved store to many, and I cherish the memories I have from those times, along with the photographs of the jewellery I produced.

You can read about Art of My Heart on my astrology site: http://willowsweb.blogspot.com/search/label/art%20of%20my%20heart

I am no longer making jewellery, but I still have some items for sale at my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/WillowsWebAstrology

Contact: willowsweb [at] hushmail.com

Note: Sterling does tarnish over time, but a quick rub with a silver polishing cloth makes it shine again. Many of the beads I use are already oxidized and don't need much extra care. The smoother beads do require a little polishing at times, but a whole necklace can be cleaned in about five minutes. Storing them in Ziploc bags with the air removed helps to slow the tarnishing considerably.