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Colors of the Story of Christ

Posted by Lyn D jewelry design on March 25, 2016
Posted in: Lyn D jewelry design.

In my local crafters club, The Torrance Craftsmen’s Guild, we have a great number of talented artists.  While recently participating in a craft show, I had the time to leave my booth and browse – to check out some of the goodies that our craft club members had made and were up for sale.  Lena’s booth is one of my favorites.  She makes beautifully crocheted pieces of wearable art, sews flowing ‘butterfly’ blouses, and makes creative jewelry with small seed beads (those little beads intimidate me!). At her table I spied a lovely beaded bracelet with the most unusual combination of colors – yellow, green, purple, and white.  After many compliments on her creativity and use of colors, she shared a confession with me – while out strolling in Kenneth Hahn Park, Lena came upon the most unusual and curious looking flower, one she had never seen before.  She was inspired by the colors and decided to rush home and make something using those colors, capturing the flower’s beauty forever in her mind.

Passion flower Bracelet by Lena

Well, I too happen to love color.  In fact, color is what initially got me hooked on stones and beads.  Anyhow, I stared at that pretty little bracelet for awhile, and then it hit me – I KNEW the flower Lena had seen!  I hurriedly went back to my booth, rummaged thru my photo greeting cards (yes, I do a bit of photography as well), and found a picture of that flower.  It is called a Passion Flower – Passiflora.  I knew this because the passion flower had always been a favorite of mine and as a kid I looked forward to the flowers blooming on our fence vine.  I rushed the photo card back to Lena to confirm my thoughts.  BINGO!

pic for blog

What follows is the story of the Passion Flower.

In the 1500’s when the Spanish missionaries saw this flower it reminded them of the Passion of Christ.  These are the representations:

  • the 10 petals and sepals represent the 10 faithful apostles (less Peter and Judas)
  • the flower’s radial filaments, which can number more than 100, represent Jesus’ crown of thorns
  • the 3 stigmata represent the 3 nails
  • the chalice shaped ovary (below the stigmata) represents the Holy Grail
  • the 5 anthers (below the ovary) represent the 5 wounds
  • the tendrils of the plant represent the whips used

Given that today is Good Friday, I thought today would be a fitting time to share this story, a flower’s story of the Passion of the Christ.

Oh, yes – Lena was thrilled to finally know the name of the uniquely beautiful flower she saw that day in the park!  And, I believe, she charmingly captured the flower’s colors in her pretty little bracelet.

Happy Easter to all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Real Renaissance Woman

Posted by Lyn D jewelry design on September 15, 2015
Posted in: Lyn D jewelry design, Lynette Vandeveer. Tagged: , , , , .

Recently, a friend of mine referred to me as “A real Renaissance woman”.  I knew it was meant to be a compliment so I smiled and said, “thank you!” While I always enjoyed dressing up and going to the Renaissance Faire, I must confess:  I really had no idea what a “Renaissance woman” was.  So I looked it up in our modern day encyclopedia, the internet.

  • dictionary.com states that a Renaissance woman is “a woman who has acquired profound knowledge or proficiency in more than one field.”

Hmmm…  OK, I’ll accept that.  While I have profound knowledge in my jewelry making, I also have knowledge of and great appreciation and proficiency in several other fields. To name a few, there’s sailing, music (especially old R&B and Motown, late 50’s and 60’s rock and roll music, and 1970’s rock music, New Wave, and disco – stop the teasing!), dancing to that music, cooking, wine appreciation, family board games like Scrabble and Taboo, card games including poker and Cribbage, baseball, road trips, fishing (freshwater preferred), animals and flowers, cruising – I could go on.

  • wikihow.com gives several tips on becoming a Renaissance woman/person:

    • Be talented athletically

    • Be musical

    • Understand art

    • Be educated

    • Be well-read

    • Have a good family and economic life

    • Be brave

    • Be thoughtful and generous

    • Be courteous

    • Be a leader

While I do or have been all the above, I believe that the most important traits to practice on a daily basis are courtesy, thoughtfulness, generosity, and bravery; and especially one which is not listed:  happiness.  We owe it to ourselves and all those we love to be happy – happy with who we are and happy with what we have.

Me?  A Renaissance woman?  I guess the answer would be yes.  And thank you, my friend, for giving me one of the best compliments ever.

I love the hat

Chatoyance

Posted by Lyn D jewelry design on September 1, 2014
Posted in: Hand Polished Stones, Lyn D jewelry design, Lynette Vandeveer. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

Chatoyant – adjective:  having a changeable luster or color with an undulating narrow band of white light <a chatoyant gem> 

Origin:  Coined from the French “œil de chat,” meaning “cat’s eye”

Chatoyant.  Chatoyance.  Chatoyancy.  I love the way the word flows off my tongue.  It has such a beautiful feel to the mouth when spoken.  Yummy.   But enough about the sensuality of the word, let’s talk about what it means!

Have you ever looked at a stone and noticed the light dancing inside?  Have you ever looked at a polished stone and saw what looked like ‘angel hair’, that white iridescent trim and stringy stuff we used to put on Christmas trees (before it was banned)?  Have you ever looked at a polished agate and were teased by what might be a hologram somewhere within the lines of the stone?  This is chatoyance – the playful dance of light caused by fibrous inclusions or cavities within a stone.  It is what creates the ‘star’ in a star sapphire or star ruby.  

When polishing stones, nothing thrills me more than to discover that my piece is waiting for me to bring out its chatoyance, the inner glow, the soul of the stone.

From my collection

Beautiful chatoyant AGATE, from my collection.

Hand polished by me

BLUE TIGER EYE, hand polished by me.

internet image

STAR RUBY, internet image

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Posted by Lyn D jewelry design on July 18, 2014
Posted in: Earrings, Lyn D jewelry design, Necklace. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

Well, it happened again. This summer I entered two of my designs into competition in the Professional Jewelry Design Category at the 2014 Orange County Fair.  And this lovely gem took the red ribbon for second place!  I am always amazed, humbled, and grateful when one of my pieces wins a ribbon.  I put much thought and lovingkindness into creating my jewelry designs and I am always pleased when others appreciate the work I put into making them.  A big thank you to the judges who also saw the quiet beauty in this piece.

Award Winner 2014

Award Winner 2014

amethyst, sunstone, pearl, toho seed beads. sterling findings

 

To a new season!

Posted by Lyn D jewelry design on June 21, 2014
Posted in: Lyn D jewelry design. Tagged: , .

” ‘Cause it’s Summer, summertime is here.  Yes, it’s summer.  My time of year.” 

These lyrics from a song by War describe my feelings exactly.  I LOVE summer!  The warmth of the season brings out the best in me, the sunshine makes me smile and warms my heart.  And then there is my birthday, right smack dab in the middle of summer.  I am blessed to celebrate the day with my wonderful husband, beloved cat Aja, and friends whom I love fondly. 

To all of you, my website friends and family, I wish the most lovely of summers.  May you all enjoy the season with family, friends, barbecues, laughter, and song. 

Happy day, Lynette 

Tree of Life with Fluorite

Posted by Lyn D jewelry design on October 1, 2013
Posted in: Lyn D jewelry design, Necklace. Tagged: , , , , , , , .

 

Fluorite 'Tree of Life'

Fluorite ‘Tree of Life’

Naturally colored fluorite in purples, blues, yellows, greens; add copper wire, chain, with a sparkling sun and a full moon, and you have a beautifully earthy hand-crafted piece of wearable art.  Yes, you deserve it.  Mother Nature is calling.

Hello Kitty Guitar Pick Necklace

Posted by Lyn D jewelry design on October 1, 2013
Posted in: Earrings, Lyn D jewelry design, Necklace. Tagged: , , , , , , .

2013-09-06 16.37.46Not to worry… I can make another of these adorable Hello Kitty guitar pick necklaces.  She is irresistible with Swarovski crystals in pinks, white, and aurora borealis.  And when the guitar pick is in motion, White Kitty strums the guitar.   Ahhhh… we love her.

Swarovski Vitrail with Waterfall of Crystals

Posted by Lyn D jewelry design on September 21, 2013
Posted in: Lyn D jewelry design, Necklace. Tagged: , , , , , , .

 

Colorful crystals

Colorful crystals

Imagine a waterfall of color that is so rich you almost want to eat it; add a pendant that brings all these colors together.  Here you have it.  Add some sterling silver and you will be stopping traffic.