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 🙏

The lost years

I was recently talking to my husband about my highschool years. He spent his teen years goofing around figuring himself out, experimenting. I spent my teen years in survival mode.

I listened to a podcast recently about the weight of growing up with a parent who has cancer, the stress and trauma of it is rarely talked about. My teen years were spent being in a constant state of panic and grief. No one explained to me anything, and I had no one but my sick mom to support me through it. I experienced so much dis regulation in those years. I didn’t sleep, I didn’t eat and I had constant stomach issues and migraines, just carrying the constant worry that the only person in my family who cared about me truly was going to die.

Those years most teenagers around me were preparing for their adult years, I spent that time a complete mess. I didn’t get to be just a teenager, on top of that I was undiagnosed autistic, my anxiety even before my moms illness was extreme. I often feel like I lost those years, I wasn’t taught how to be an adult, I’ve had to figure it out on my own, it took me a major breakdown to address years of grief and pain. Years I felt lost. Years until I hit a wall and had to face my brain. I’ve done more growing up with my spouse then with my family. I still process the impact of that time because grief of my moms loss is still with me daily.

What mania is like

I had a Doctors appointment recently. I am working through paperwork for disability . It is in-depth, it requires me talk about my symptoms, mania being the major one. My doctor asked what mania felt like.

It is an excessive amount of energy, I often go through sleep regression, I start repeating phrases in my head to cope. I struggle with communication. I become unable to sleep and as you can see from the above evidence I doodle excessively, it can be enjoyable in a sense, but between doodling I struggle to cope. I recently visited the city and had a meltdown, I stepped out of a car while it was moving and stepped into traffic. I cried for hours, my ears buzzed for two days straight afterwards. I was in a semi manic state. Every sound, every light, and everything just triggered panic. I try to channel the buzzing with art. My dissociated series was during a time of mania, I often turn to art to manage, to focus, even with all my coping strategies I still struggle. Being in the city while manic was not the best choice.

During mania dissociation is common, my brain doesn’t pick up on bodily sensations, sometimes I can’t feel that I need to go to the bathroom, or that I’m hungry, or in pain. It’s during these times I don’t recall what I’ve been doing, and have memory gaps.

My dr wanted to know what triggers mania.

It can be anything from change, to stress, to watching people I love struggle. Sometimes I can see the storm coming, I can feel the off feelings, I notice hyper focus, what I thought was a moment was more like several hours. Sometimes I am just standing in the storm and I don’t know how I got there. One moment I’m fine, the next I’m in the downpour. I cycle through paranoia, exsistial crisis, fear, grief, anger, and then a kind of verbal communication shut down. I get so overwhelmed by so little. Being in this state is exhausting and often upsetting for my family.

It’s the kind of thing I hid as a kid, I had the massive meltdowns at school, I masked heavily as a teen, I masked heavily for family.

I have learned I HAVE to express my feelings or I shutdown or meltdown.

I feel everything

Life is made up of both joy and grief. I give both equal weight.

I told my husband that I am a micro noticer.

Sometimes this is good

Sometimes it is frustrating.

With mania noticing and experiencing become intense.

Mania is hard to explain to those who don’t experience it.

It can be witnessed

My kids and husband can hear it in my voice.