Symbols of love to make your valentine gift perfect

Now that the holiday season is behind us, we are on our way to the next special occasion on the calendar - Valentines day!
So how do you find the perfect gift that will express the way you feel? Jewelry has always been a great idea for a gift but to make it even more perfect, you want to get a jewelry item that has a symbolic meaning, that conveys a message from you to the person receiving it.

To do this you have 2 ways to go. Choose something that carries a special meaning to the person you love. If she loves a specific color, shape etc, pick something accordingly. This will say that you know her, know what she likes and  that you pay attention. What more could a women want?

The second way is to choose a jewelry item with a symbolic message of love and commitment.
There are all kinds of symbols that have become popular forms of expressing feelings:

Hearts
The most common and popular form of expressing love and emotions is through a heart shape. The message of this symbol is very simple - "I give you my heart" or "you have my heart in your hand".

Heart ring

Infinity symbol
When you give someone a jewelry piece decorated with an infinity symbol you want to express your endless love and say to them that you will always be there for them. Now that is a nice message to give or receive isn't it?



Infinity bracelet

 Circle
Circles are also considered to be symbols of infinity and love, simply because they have no beginning and no end. They symbolize a unity, a becoming of one. Another perfect message for loved ones.



Gold circle necklace


Roses and flowers
Flowers are always a wonderful gift to get the women you love. And they are also wonderful as inspiration for jewelry items. The best part about roses in jewelry pieces is that they stay forever.

Rose stud earrings

Bows and ribbons
These are actually symbols of gifts but when they are used to inspire a jewelry design, they can also express your love and your wish to give to the one you love.



Gold bow necklace

I know some people don't like celebrating valentine for various reasons but I personally like having a day to stop our everyday running and express our feelings to those we love. (Read more in my last year's post about Valentine). Remember, the gifts are only the way to express your feelings, not the main event. So don't forget to say and show that you care, with or without gifts.


The jewelry I wear

You might think that being a jewelry designer and being sorrounded by jewelry all around means I wear some new jewelry every day. The fact is that I don't. Some people are loyal to one pendant or ring which they wear every day, others like to put on something different everyday. I am somewhere in between - I do stick with a few designs that I like wearing again and again for days, but my loyalty to these designs is only for a couple of weeks, not for life.

My daily jewelry "wardrobe" is basically just earrings, which I can't live without. I rarely wear other jewelry items for everyday, only for special ocassions.

Though I like all the jewelry I make (or else I wouldn't make them) I do find some of them are more me than others. So I admit - I have favorites! Every time I make new items I tend to get infatuated with a couple of the designs and make a copy for my personal use. I usually have about 2-3 favorite earrings that I wear for a while untill I am drawn to something else.

So here are my currently favorite earrings:

1. White pearls in sterling silver bubbles earrings
2. Rose Quartz flower earrings in sterling silver
3. Flower drop earrings in sterling silver and golden stones

Post earrings

As I said in a previous post I wrote, earrings are my favorite piece of jewelry.  You will probably never find me without a pair of earrings on.

One of the wonderful things about earrings is that there are so many different kinds of them and everyone can find something they like. There are hoops, chandeliers, dangling earrings and there are post earrings (or stud earrings).

There are many reasons people like stud earrings. Some people don't like to see the ear wire of the earrings and feel the design is more complete if it starts directly from the ear. Others just want to hide their ear lobe. And others might be sensitive to long or dangling earrings and simply prefer a very small stud earring that sits on the ear and doesn't move and bother them.

So basically stud earrings can be a tiny small dot or a large fancy piece. The possibilities are endless.

I have been experimenting with different styles of stud earrings and I really like the results so far. Here are just a few samples of what I've got so far. More designs will be developed and listed in the near future.

   

What a small upgrade can do

Some time ago I made a pair of filigree earring. Had the idea for it sketched in my notebook and it turned out exactly as planned. But for some reason, something was not working. I felt there was something missing. I was not happy with how the earring looked but just couldn't figure out what to change. Anything I tried didn't seem to make a difference.

Finally I put these earrings aside and continued to other designs. Last week I picked the earrings up and suddenly - inspiration!! I knew what to do to change them from nice to gorgeous. And it was so simple, just one small dangling gemstone that completely changed the look of the earrings.

Now that I was happy with them, I listed them in my Dawanda store, and before I even had the chance to list them on Etsy as well, they sold!! That's what I call a successful make over don't you? (Not to worry, they are now listed in both stores again).

Here are the earrings before the change:

And here they are after:

I guess some designs just need a little more time to develop.

Blog features

I've been featured in 2 blogs today:

Judit wild has a blog called "then and now" where she displays works artist did when they just started compared to their current work. It is so great to see how people developed and evolved in their work. My feature shows a work I did when I started creating jewelry. I was working with simple wire then, not silver. I still like this piece. Maybe I should re-create it in sterling silver and offer it in my store. The current work is a simple textured square silver pendant with a red Agate stone.

1987 2009

"Stuff under $20" is a blog dedicated to helping those who like to shop for nice things but are on a tight budget. N + S find cool and pretty stuff that costs less than $20!!! They choose to display my Fleur De Lis earrings, one of my latest creations.