WillOaks Studio

Chartreuse Pearl Necklace

Blue Pearls and Silk Long Crocheted Necklace or Bracelet Chain

With my impending move, I have stepped back from my own Holiday sales (short of the show on the 10th), and I thought it would be nice to share some of my favorite pieces from some of the gifted artists I have met on the blogs and on Etsy.

Meet Karen from the gorgeous WillOaks Studio:
''After many years of wandering the U.S. and the world, I landed back where I began: on the family farm here in northern Illinois. It’s so beautiful here and nature has long inspired and informed my artwork in many media: sculpture, papermaking, photography, and for the past few years-wearable art. WillOaks is the name of my studio, and our farm & campground.
Wearable art has been a natural extension for me because I loved to wear jewelry. Making it to suit my vision and ideas has been fascinating. Most of my pieces are original because that's how I think....and I am happy to share them with anyone who would like to be different from "the crowd."
(click on photos for prices)

Arts & Crafts for a Chuppah

My dear friend, Claire, asked me to help her with something 'artsy'. Without hesitation, I jumped in with a hearty, 'yes, of course!' Her cousins daughter is getting married in May. In the Jewish tradition, the happy couple is married under a chuppah. The chuppah is a canopy which consists of four poles, which symbolizes the home Bekah and Michael will build together. Their chuppah is something which they will treasure forever and it will remind them of their commitment to each other along with the love and support of their community. They asked each family member to participate in the 'building ' of their chuppah, by decorating a leaf, with words, drawings, embroidery, collage, tie dye, puppetry, mathematical equations, energetic manifestations or other creative expressions! The individual leaves will become part of the tree of life design on the chuppah.

What a wonderful idea, and a fun project for me. As a jewelry maker, we all have lots of baubles which we just know we will put to good use one day (Ladies...am I right??). So, with some tiny faux pearls, some vintage rhinestones and a gold glitter pen, I had a lot of fun designing this leaf for my dear friend Claire's cousin's daughter (whew)! Wishing them many years of blessings and good health as they say 'I do' under this most unique chuppah!