Yddrasil, Tree of Life, Jewellery inspired by Norse Mythology

I love Norse Mythology and I particularly love Yggdrasil: The tree of life. So much so I even created a little bronze necklace inspired by this magical folklore. The handmade necklace is available in my Etsy store here.

Yggdrasil is an eternally green Ash tree, whose branches stretch out and support all nine worlds. Yggdrasil is held up by three huge roots, the first root is in Asgard, the home of the Gods. Next to this root is a well named Urd’s well. This is where the Gods meet.

"The second root from Yggdrasil goes all the way down to Jotunheim, the land of the giants, next to this root is Mimir’s well. The third root from Yggdrasil goes down to Niflheim, close to the well Hvergelmir. It is here the dragon Nidhug is chewing on one of Yggdrasil’s roots. At the very top of Yggdrasil lives an eagle, the eagle and the dragon Nidhug are bitter enemies, they truly despise each other. There is a squirrel named Ratatosk, and he spending almost the entire day, by running up and down the ash tree.

Ratatosk does whatever he can, to keep the hatred between the eagle and the dragon alive. Every time Nidhug says a curse or an insult about the eagle, Ratatosk will run up to the top of the tree, and tell the eagle what Nidhug just said. The eagle is equally rude in his comments about Nidhug. Ratatosk just loves to gossip which is the reason why the eagle and the dragon remains constant foes." You can read more about the tree of life at www.norse-mythology.net

Magical forest wood burned necklaces

Magical forest necklaces have been restocked in my Etsy store. I've also added a couple of new designs. www.owlandwallflower.etsy.com
These necklaces are lovingly made using recycled wood segments that I carefully cut to size. First, I draw out my design and I then burn the illustrstion into the wood using pyrography tools. Each necklace is hand drawn and inspired  by the deepest darkest pine forests bathed in starlight...

Woodland Jewelry Collection : My inspirations

I'd like to share with you some of my inspirations and a little about the process behind creating my woodland inspired jewelery collection. All of the pieces you see here are available in my Etsy store : www.owlandwallflower.etsy.com 

Spending time walking through ancient woodlands and deep dense pine forests is part of my process when creating new work. I collect pinecones, fallen leaves and acorns during my woodland walks to use within my photographs and to help inspire new work. I love sketch, paint and draw from what I find. I love watercolours and have this little blue tin that I have had for many years that is so easy and small to travel with. I would like to focus more time over the next few weeks on drawing as I find the whole process so relaxing. Sitting in stillness and painting is so calming. I am currently planning a new "nature's treasures" jewellery collection that will be released in the New Year and I would like to use my drawings for inspiration. The new collection will include real shell necklaces, amethyst pendants and quartz crystal point necklaces. I've been working really hard on bringing my designs to life and am so excited to share these new creations with you very soon.

I have created several bronze filigree leaf necklaces and I love how they represent the fallen leaves of autumn and remind me of wintery woodland walks when the leaves start to dissappear and become skeletal and so so fragile, almost like a moths wing.

I have several wood burned necklaces available here including this little toadstool pendant available for just £8.00. Each necklace is unique as I draw each design on by hand and then carefully burn in the illustration. I ship internationally and if you have any questions or queries please contact me on Etsy or Instagram as I am happy to help! They are made with either recycled wood or fallen branches. I love the idea of reusing something in my pieces and allowing you to take a little piece of the forest with you wherever you go.

A new design introduced to the my Etsy store recently is this tree of life necklace. The tree of life is such a spiritual piece and means many special things to different cultures and religions. To me the tree of life means wisfom and beauty and represents the eternity of the cycle of nature.

My studio space

This is the first post in, what I hope will be, a short little series of blog posts on my studio and working space. I want to share with you my making process and show behind the scenes photographs. 

When I create my packaging I type the text on a vintage pastel blue typewriter which was actually given to me as a gift on my 18th birthday. I love it so much even if some of the letters are a bit clunky and sometimes get stuck. It's really important to me that when I wrap up my handmade jewellery the packaging recieves the same care and attention that goes into making each little woodland inspired creation.

I have an old bookcase that I use to store all my botanical books along with crystals that I've bought while on holidays,  dried flowers in little vintage inkwells (that my Dad actually discovered by digging them up when he was much younger in the site of an old Victorian tip) some of my own creations and handmade little polymer clay toadstools that I like to dot around the place. I often get asked on Instagram where I buy my botanical nature guide books but the real answer is that there isn't one particular place. On holiday, or when I go to a new town, I oten search thrift stores, market stalls and antique shops for illustrated nature guides. I am particularly drawn to those with beautiful botanical illustrations. I've also recieved some as gifts, as now family members often look out for these books for me when travelling too.

I used these books to inspire my new botanical collection of handmade necklaces, dried flower stems in tiny little glass terrarium jars, allowing you to take a piece of nature with you wherever you go. You can see these pendants in my Etsy store here:  www.owlandwallflower.etsy.com

I studied as a photographer and enjoy taking my own photographs of my handmade jewelery so much! I collect little pieces of nature wherever I go and use these as props in my photos, but also as decorations around my house. Teeny tiny aldercones, moss, dried wildflowers, acorns, hazelnuts, large pinecones, and fallen twigs are all used when photographing my necklaces. Gypsophila is one of my favourite flowers - if you've been following me on Instagram you probably already know this, as I often use the dried flower stems to decorate my photographs and the flower also features on my handmade illustrated thank you cards that come with each Etsy order.

I just want to finish by thanking everyone for the overwhelming support, orders and kind words that I have recieved since I decided to reopen my Etsy store a couple of weeks ago. I've been studying postgraduate art, but since graduating earlier this year I knew that I wanted to focus my energy on growing Owl and Wallflower and I would like to thank everyone for making my dreams a reality ♡

New packaging

I would like to introduce my new packaging. Each order from my Etsy store will come beautifully wrapped and contain a handmade illustrated thank you card featuring a single stem of a naturally dried flower. I had so much fun designing these packages!

You can purchase my handmade jewelery and woodland inspired gifts from my Etsy store. www.owlandwallflower.etsy.com

Thank you everyone for your recent orders and the overwhelming support of my relaunched Etsy store. I really appreciate every single order. Xxx

Handcrafted love birds necklace, available on Etsy

Love birds necklace, available on my Etsy store now (www.owlandwallflower.etsy.com)  lovely bird pendant is made from plated bronze with a bronze chain to match.

Chain length approximately 18in finished with a lobster clasp to fasten with ease
Love birds approximately 1 inch wide

Your bronze bird pendant will come beautifully wrapped, ready for gifting. Your order will come with a little handmade thank you card. A special note can be included if requested.

Dew drops on roses

walk in the countryside, Lake District

Growth

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. 

Ancient Chinese Proverb

The Bluebell 

by Anne Bronte

A fine and subtle spirit dwells

In every little flower,

Each one its own sweet feeling breathes

With more or less of power. 

There is a silent eloquence

In every wild bluebell

That fills my softened heart with bliss

That words could never tell...

Little Bee...

Walk in Malham, Yorkshire

Walk in Malham, Yorkshire. Through a bluebell wood, covered in wild garlic and to the waterfall Janets Foss. The name Janet is a reference to Jennett, Queen of the fairies who inhabited the cave behind the waterfall. Ross is the Nordic word for waterfall..

From here we walked upwards to Gordale Scar, an impressive limestone ravine, supposedly formed from melting glaciers.



We walked over rolling hills and fields to Malham Cove, a cliff formation out of limestone rock, 260 ft hight. After we walked to Malham tarn, a National Trust Glacial Lake. I didn't take any photos later though, as the weather became very stormy and windy so I kept my camera away to keep it dry.