About my art and jewelry

Hello, this is just a post for information and clarity sake.

if your wondering where the flowers, fern, mushroom and other items come from that I use in my work, they come from my yard and from the town I live in on the sides of the road. I do not gather from national parks and I do not take more then I need to, I leave enough of everything so it can reseed and continue healthy growth.

Update

If you are wondering about my findings, the chains are made of stainless steel, I use a sturdy chain so it does not easily break, I also offer rope as another option, just specify what you would like. For earring hooks I use brass plated in silver. Everyone reacts differently to findings, if you you are having a reaction let me know I’ll send you new findings to try, also if you know you will react let me know when ordering and I’ll make your earrings with different findings.

UPDATE

if you are wondering about the resin I use, I use high quality casting resin that takes 72 hours to cure, I then sand and polish it with two high quality polishes. In all it takes up to 5 days or more of work from start to finish resin pieces. And they are still not perfect but I endeavour to do my very best.

Resin is in fact a plastic, so there are environmental concerns. Most crafts have an impact on the environment, weather it's metal work, resin, acrylic, even wood, these all have an impact on the environment. I am very aware and conscientious of this. Uncured resin poses the higher risk, but once cured it is recyclable like any other plastic. I take careful precaution to make sure I use all of what I mix, and dispose of left overs carefully once cured. I make in small batches for the specific purpose of preserving plants to create jewelry. Resin jewelry once worn out (5+years) it can then be recycled. I do not do large pours.

If you are wondering about a return policy, if you receive a broken item or your item breaks within two weeks of receiving it contact me and I will gladly remake and resend your item or reimburse you. other wise there are no returns.

If you are wondering about the size of my jewelry it can be found in the description tab of each item, I’m also available to answer any questions or concerns you may have, and I usually answer pretty quickly 😊

if your wondering about feedback and reviews. I am always open to kind hearted feedback, I prefer not to give an option for reviews as I’ve seen it used to drag businesses and people through the mud. My work is not perfect, it is handmade, there will be flaws, but if you find my work is very poor please feel free to inbox me and let me know so we can work things out.

If you are wondering about my paintings or drawing, I have limited time to do large amounts of my art but I do periodically post my art in my shop. I usually work with high quality ink and high quality watercolour on 100% cotton paper. The size of each piece of art will vary but will be noted in the descriptions.

About my prices, pricing has been very challenging for me, each piece takes a different amount of time and a different amount of material. I try to keep my prices fair and low. Things are priced according to time and materials.

packaging and shipping

I’ve changed my packaging is plastic free, the envelopes are made from recycled paper grocery bags, and the wrapping to keep my pieces safe and unscratched is a simple brown recyclable tissue wrapped with brown twine. I stamp each package with an ink made from oak trees and voila no plastic, much better looking packages and much better for the environment 😊

I have had to add a $5 shipping fee (untracked) because to package and ship is quite expensive, and most of my packages are larger then the basic mail. I have made it a flat fee to keep things simple. If you need express shipping with tracking please message me to arrange it. It costs $12+ for tracking. Most packages arrive within 14 business days within Canada, I do not ship outside of Canada unless you are family. If you do not receive you’re package within the 14 day time frame please let me know so I can either refund or resend. I have had packages get lost in the mail, only a handful of times, most packages find their way back to me eventually. It is sooo important you check your address is correct and include an apartment number if you live in one BEFORE you place your order, the time it takes for a package to return to me because of a wrong address is quite slow, and not guaranteed, so check your info, and I’ll check to, I have made mistakes in addresses as well.

Prices

Recently many of my materials have risen in price, so I’ve to raised my prices. I still try to keep my prices as low as I can, and will continue to work to keep my prices fair.

I apologize if this a challenge for any of my customers. But as always I will have sales so there will always be opportunities to get things at a lower price.

Finally a note as an artist and maker, I am a real person and I am really grateful, It is such a joy to get to create and I am incredibly thankful to all those who have taken the chance and bought anything I’ve made. Allowing me to do what I love, to grow, to learn is a blessing and I’m so thankful to those who have been on this journey with me as I’ve stepped out and shared what I love. Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙏

Friendship confusion

Me and my beautiful bed head 😂

Being autistic for me has meant a life time of struggling to make friends. I use to come home from elementary school crying because no one liked me, or I’d make friends and they’d easily ditch me for other friends. I remember being told by my mom “if you do something kind for other people you’ll make friends” and that started me early on people pleasing and masking to make others like me. I spent a lot of recesses alone. Grade 8 I made a couple friends…and it was a happy season. Highschool was really challenging and at some point things with friends got difficult and my mom suggested I go to stay the summer with family. While there I made friends for the first time, like a group of friends, it was really weird. I made friends and one of the family members I was staying with gave me the silent treatment for them not being included in my friend group, so I did some heavy people pleasing yet again. I cleaned house, I invited them out for lunch and I over apologized. It made me feel like no matter what I did I was making the wrong decision and upsetting someone, and it made me feel bad for making friends and on top of that my mom was sick with cancer…..those teen years were a lot, and those who should have been supportive simply weren’t. I’ve always felt like relationships were too complicated and confusing, I was always upsetting someone.

Now I know that I’m enough……with or without friends (I have friends) it’s just that I no longer believe having friends says anything about my worth as a human.

You know the movie “Wizard of Oz” when the wizard says “a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.” A relative of mine would use that quote to make me feel shame about my challenges making friends and I now know it’s not true, I love that movie but that quote is just wrong. How many people that love you says nothing about your worth as a human. If popularity was a mark of good character America wouldn’t have the president they have now, he is a bully who won the “popular” vote. Sometimes I think “popular” people value their popularity over the people that surround them.

Loving yourself is what’s most important, as I’ve grown older I can say I love me, and wouldn’t change me so people like me better, I wouldn’t change me to have more friends, I wouldn’t change my autistic traits, and I won’t change to people please anymore. I am a believer that a few people loving me for who I actually am is better then a bunch of people around me who don’t really know me at all. I’d rather be myself and see who sticks.

Spring in my yard

I have a spot in my yard I often go to find peace, it always has birds and bees and butterflies, it has given me so much peace to spend time there over the past 11 years. Finding quiet spots has been something I’ve done since childhood. Some of my earliest memories are laying under the pear tree in our backyard, and sitting under the ginkgo trees in a nearby church yard. We at one point moved to a small cottage while waiting for a new home, I found a spot by a brook nearby and would go there after school every day and just sit alone and notice. When we finally moved to a new house we were surrounded by undeveloped lots, the grass would grow long and would get wild and I’d go lay in the long grass and hide in there for hours. My heart just needs a quiet space, a hidden spot away from the world. I’ve also had cameras since childhood, I had a pink camera when I was 6 and I loved getting all my blurry photos developed, but when I got a bit older my dad let me use his cannon and I took pictures of my moms garden and me and my sister Liz. He taught me to use the timer and set it up. My most happy and most peaceful moments in life happen outdoors in the quiet with a camera.

I think most people can relate, we are part of this world and it makes sense we feel at peace out in nature.

There is nothing like spring after a long northern winter, it is my favourite. The bright green, the flowers popping out. Last year I went through health issues and depression and I didn’t get out like I have every other year, I missed my camera and my spot in the grass. This year I’ve gone out daily. It’s been soothing.

I hope you get out in nature, even if it’s just in your own yard, take a moment and let yourself breath, put your hand on your chest and allow yourself to remember you are part of the beauty all around you.

Here are a few of my favourite shots of spring thus far