Secretly, in the evenings when everyone is in bed, I am an app geek. I like to unwind with my iPad in hand exploring fun new apps. I typically love apps that I can use to create and edit videos or pictures. As I was searching through the top suggested apps for the new IOS 7.0, I clicked on an app called Ancestry out of curiosity. Ancestry, and other similar apps, help you build a family tree. I’ve been playing with the program for a couple of weeks, admittedly with slight addictive tendencies, filling out my family tree. I am very close with my family, but as I got further and further back in our family’s history, I realized how much heritage my mom's Polish roots and father’s English and Irish blood contained that I never knew about.
I’m always looking for inspiration for my next great design. Sometimes it’s with intention and other times I just stumble on it. On this stumble, I’ve discovered fascinating facts, names, and locations, all of which have inspired me to make some commemorative charms for my relatives. Different than your typical family charms which celebrate people, places, and events close to you, these charms will memorialize our rich family history. I know these will be passed along as heirlooms from generation to generation helping to keep or lineage known.
Aside from the information and inspiration, I found that this endeavor of searching for my family history has put me in contact with my distant relatives more frequently than I have been in the past. It’s those intangible results that this experience has yielded that I find as much or more fruitful and meaningful than the facts themselves.
In the next weeks I will share my progress as I incorporate my family history into my next design.
During the holiday season in 2012 we had the pleasure of working with Jules P. to design some very personal jewelry for her family. We used our online jewelry design tool to create several designs, tailored to each person. It was a great experience for the both of us sharing stories about our kids and getting to know one and other. After a few iterations back and forth, we had designs that not only she was happy with but were uniquely designed for each child. It was an intimate process working with her, a mother wanting to design motivational keepsake jewelry for her family.
Jules is an artist herself and once I learn about her handmade and painted bags I wasn't surprised at her ability to articulate emotions and feelings so we could help her create heartfelt jewelry designs. I was so impressed with her work that I bought a bag for Elisha as a surprise Christmas gift. The bags are large, vibrant, and hand painted with an eclectic free form design. All the painting is done with her hands... literally the designs flows through her hand and fingertips. It was interesting becasue the process was similar to how we help our customers design. Jules took the time to ask questions about Elisha's style, color preferences, and personality to create a one of a kind bag just for her. She even paints the box for an amazing presentation.
Check out Jules' Etsy store and pick up one of these great custom bags. It has become Elisha's favorite go to bag.
