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 🙏

Mary-Beth and other things

Over on social media I’ve been sharing a series of drawings I did in 2019 imagining my mom as a mythical creature with whom I share my quiet moments. It’s reminded me how writing and drawing have really given me a way of processing my feelings. My therapist recommended I write out the things I struggle to articulate to others due to severe social anxiety, so I write the things I’ve needed to say but never was given the space to.

I think the job of artists is to remind humans that there is beauty all around us, to remind us to notice and to feel, to be present even when times are hard.

Along with sharing my Mary-Beth series I’m also sharing poems by my favourite poet Mary Oliver. Her poems on life and nature are beautiful and comforting. When things in the world are distressing I turn to artists to make sense of things, her poems are something I turn to.

There is this new saying for people who are online too much, “touch grass” and it’s often said as a bit of a jab, but I think there is good in it. We need to connect with simple things like grass, birds, even a dandelion, we need to connect with nature and ourselves during hard times. Nature is still one of the few things we as humans have free access to in a world that is becoming inaccessible to those who aren’t wealthy. It’s ok to enjoy nature, nature is wealth, so go touch some grass, while you’re at it notice a flower, watch the ants. Allow yourself that simple joy in a hard world, take a moment and breathe.

If you haven’t been on my Facebook here is the first poem I shared about worry, enjoy 😊

Worried

I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers

flow in the right direction, will the earth turn

as it was taught, and if not how shall

I correct it?

Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,

can I do better?

Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows

can do it and I am, well,

hopeless.

Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,

am I going to get rheumatism,

lockjaw, dementia?

Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.

And I gave it up. And took my old body

and went out into the morning,

and sang.

Mary Oliver

Butterfly migration

In 2018 I joined a small group on inaturalist tracking the migration of butterflies, and I was pretty excited when in 2020 another group from inaturalist asked if they could add my butterfly photos to the inaturalist butterfly migration map. We have a large open meadow off of our backyard, and it attracts so many butterflies, so for 11 years I’ve sat back there and taken so many butterfly photos, and when I discovered inaturalist I started uploading and tracking them, it has made me sad to see that butterflies are in decline. This year there were far less then previous years, and I’ve definitely noticed fewer varieties visiting then when I first started taking photos and tracking.

I really feel like we value aesthetics far too much in society. When it comes to outdoor spaces plants are mowed and sprayed for aesthetics and it kills things that butterflies and bees need to survive, things like dandelion are often the first flowers to bloom and the first food for pollinators, sprays are toxic to so many creatures and spray also kills vital food sources. I understand wanting a yard to look nice, but we need to allow for a little more wild untouched growth for later into spring, before mowing let the dandions grow, wait to mow until other flowers start blooming. Also remember when you visit the garden centre in spring check to see if the plants you want to purchase are safe for the environment, many garden centres sell invasive species, some of the invasive species are aesthetically beautiful but they over take native plants and can devastate native environments, keep to plants that are safe, do your homework. . We often talk about animals becoming extinct and it is sad, but the reduction of insects like fireflies, bees and butterflies not only sad but potentially devastating, I can’t imagine a world where these things are rare or gone, their disappearance would devastate nature and food sources for humans.

Sometimes as humans we can get distracted and value all the wrong things, nature is a gift, it’s a gift that we are also a part of, we are part of nature and when nature suffers so do we.

We are all interconnected, people, animals, our environment. When nature suffers, we suffer. And when nature flourishes we all flourish.

- Jane Goodall -

Below is some important info on butterfly and insect decline

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/butterfly-loss-1.7476479