Last month, my tween had a birthday. She’s really into Seals so this was the theme for her special day. I’m late getting this post up: we’ve been busy doing the usual spring prep around the home, and I’ve been going thru my products and giving them a revamp. Mostly my jewelry and some of my stitch markers, I feel it’s time to freshen up the stock. It’s been a wonderful albeit intense process that has opened the door into new creative ideas. 2021 is going to be an exciting year creatively!
Back to the birthday. Being a maker I try to incorporate as much handmade into the celebrations as possible. I found some wonderful presents from Etsy this year, and I wanted to give a shout out to those artists as well.
Every year my kiddos get a handmade card. This is the card I made for her this year. It’s a slider card, so she enjoyed watching the seals “swim” up and down. “I’m keeping this card forever!” she informed me. Little does she know, after every birthday I write them a personal note in their birthday cards, a recap of the year so to speak, and them file them away to share with them when they are grown.
This cute seal kitty Keychain is from Canadian seller papricots. I chose the black and white one as it resembles one of our cats. Needless to say it got an excited reaction from the birthday girl.
Osuna, our exotic shorthair cat who inspired the Keychain purchase
As a jewelry maker I think my girls always expect me to make something of that persuasion as a birthday gift. I had an idea of what I would like to make, but was not having any luck finding just the right charm from my wholesale suppliers. I was delighted to find this baby seal charm by artist Mark Poulin from etsy shop Marmar Superstar. It comes on a chain, but as I did not need a chain to finish this design he was so gracious to offer me a discount. The pendant came beautifully & thoughtfully packaged and it was just the inspiration I needed to complete the necklace. I engraved 2 sterling silver disks which I punched into charms: one with her initial, the other with her gaming handle (not shown for privacy). I still wanted to add something special, and I happened to have some aquamarine gemstone beads that reminded me of ice. As aquamarine is her birthstone and ice goes well with seals, it was the perfect finishing touch. Pendant and charms were placed on a sterling silver chain. She loves the necklace and wears it often, but it’s really Mark’s handmade pendant that makes this piece so special.
My oldest made the birthday girl this Minecraft character – isn’t it awesome? When I asked her what was harder, the usual rounded design of dolls or the square design, she said square is definitely harder
This is not a handmade item, but was a cherished gift just the same. Recently, I found out about Ocean Conservation Namibia and their seal rescue efforts. I gave a donation on the birthday girl’s behalf, and showed her videos from their youtube channel. They are a small rescue group that could really use the help. Be sure to watch their videos, and donate if you are able.
I’ve completely fallen off the wagon with weekly blog updates, and I feel like I am always posting and dashing! Back to the studio to create something new…
