What I Made Wednesday {Family Tree - LOVD Style}

When opportunities to be creative fall right onto your lap or into your e-mail's Inbox you can't help but feel so grateful and giddy at the prospects. This was the case for today's W.I.M. Wednesday.

If you've been a regular reader, then you're aware of the LOVD jewelry I'm honored to make for people wanting to celebrate their families, special events, and personal moments. I hand-stamp metal for necklaces and bracelets I weave out of jump rings. I've been so busy with special orders I have not had the time to open up the Etsy shop, but it's coming.

So, when I received this e-mail from my neighbor wanting to do something special for her mother-in-law...

"...she is NOT a jewelry wearer, and she rarely gets anything special! We want to treat her "just because!" I LOVE the look of your stuff you make, those hand stamped little gems of cuteness!

Would you have the time to stamp out ... all her grandkids? I sort of envision "hanging" them somehow on a picture/graphic tree of some sort to show each family, then put it in a shadow box for her with some sort of saying.
Would you at ALL be interested in doing something like this?"

...the gears in my mind started spinning out of control and yielded these results:

I found beautiful, sterling silver doves that I wanted to stamp to represent the grandparents and I placed them nearest the nest. I love the way my antiquing of the silver turned out because, in the light, you could see a rainbow of various colors representing each offspring's family. I thought that was a nice accident.


Each of the grandparents' sons had their own families (one, of course, being my neighbor), each represented by a different metal: brass, copper, and nickel. I normally do not use nickel in my jewelry, but since this wasn't going to be worn, I went with nickel to save lots of nickels (sterling silver cost is at an all-time high - YIKES!).

Great things happen when minds and efforts come together, even when it's outside of the box. I'm so pleased with the way this project turned out and I hope the recipient of this heartfelt gift resonates to her core and tells her how loved and appreciated she is by my neighbors, her son and daughter-in-law.

Thank you, neighbor, for the opportunity to be so creative and put my bird metal stamps to good use!