Preparing for a new season

Ahoy!

Autumn is almost knocking on our door and I know lots of you can't wait to drink some delicious homemade apple cider and jump on crunchy leaves. Even I, a Summer creature, am really looking forward to it. Well, I've never tried to make apple cider myself but that's one of my goals for the next couple of months! :)

As the new season of the year takes place, so does a new season of my life. Finally, after a whole year waiting, I'll be starting my Master's on Landscape Architecture in less than a week. I must confess I'm a little nervous because it's been such a long time, but on the other hand I'm really looking forward to it and to learn more. Of course, and sadly, there won't be so much free time for crafting, so I've been spending a good part of my time organising my supplies and Wilwarin Designs itself (also as I wait for the rest of my brand new Autumn supplies to arrive).

Sneak peek... Boho charms, marine pendants and Autumnal woodland goodies... I love love LOVE gilder's paste so much and I wish I could afford more colors!

I have five new frequent customers, as well - as I like to call them. They're all really shy but oh-so-lovely. And they also have... whiskers! :) A young cat happened to give birth to a litter of four beautiful baby kittens near my home and, since we have the habbit of leaving some of our meal leftovers (safe food, of course) everyday in our yard for street cats, they slowly started sneaking around. It's been a couple of months since we saw them for the first time, however they've always been too fearful to let us get any close. They are quite used to our presence nowadays, but still won't trust us as I'd like them to. It's actually funny because they have the courage to stand right on our porch, even with the door open, staring at us as if asking for their meal, but will run like little rockets to the safety of the bushes everytime we step into the yard with a dish of cat feed or meat. They really like our little garden, although. :) Today they've spent pretty much the entire day sleeping and playing around the garden, while I did some cleaning, listened to Wicca radio and took sips of delicious forest fruit handmade tea.

Mama Kitty on the top (she's a really pretty tuxedo cat) and two of her babies sleeping on the grass. This was the closest I could get, afraid that otherwise I would disturb them :) 

The four baby kitties sleeping on top of each others behind our orange tree and belladonna lilies... it was so damn cute to watch.

The babies (well, they're not really babies anymore) are two black kitties, a grey tabby and a grey tuxedo. These last two make me believe that my missing cat, Simba, happens to be the father of the litter, since he used to be the only grey cat in the zone (he is/was a long haired grey tabby). Maybe that's why I felt so attached to them the moment I saw them. I miss my cat so much.

Summer is saying goodbye...

Image source: Tumblr (unknown author)

September has come and, however these few past days have been pleasantly sunny and warm, I can feel nostalgia taking over me already. I absolutely love Summer and I will certainly miss it in no time. I'll miss the heat and the ocean calling for me, wearing shorts and reading a nice book under the comforting sun... However, the next season is oh-so-inspiring to me. One can now notice the days going shorter and the fairies slowly painting the leaves red and gold. The time of harvest and golden woods is coming and, even though I'm a Summer creature, I admit I can't wait for stepping on crunchy leaves on the sidewalk and wear knitted sweaters and comfy boots in earthy tones.

As many people know, I am extremely and constantly inspired by Nature and Her wonderful manifestations in our physical world. As I stare at images like the one above, a thousand pictures and ideas play in my mind! I am now planning Autumn ahead and, as I wait for the results of my Master's Degree candidacy, I'm preparing Wilwarin Designs for the next few months. This is a crucial step as (considering everything goes as predicted) my Master's alone will be a huge time consumer. So, as my autumnal inspiration awakes, I've been ordering fancy new supplies and drawing pieces for my next Fall-Winter collections.

I have also been babysitting for the last couple of weeks. Taking care of my 6-year old niece makes it hard to keep working and creating in an appropriate pace, especially with such sunny days... but today the poor girl surprised me with a desire of staying home this afternoon, playing in the yard and watching cartoons, so I took a little time to finish bringing these new pretties into the world... they will be listed on Etsy later on!

Little Summer treasures from Nature to carry close to your heart! These feature a foxtail barley (Hordeum spp.) ear and a  lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) flowery stem, both hand collected and dried by myself.

Who doesn't love fairies! These glass vial necklace features capri blue fairy dust for good luck. A great gift for the dreamer girl. :)

  

Sick and wishful

My work has been kind of frozen during the last week and it breaks my heart that it is so. And why? Because I've been sick... I know, it sounds crazy. I haven't caught the flu for the entire Winter but I had to suffer a terrible throat infection right in August. I was immediately prescribed with these nasty antibiotics which have been really messing my entire body up. I haven't slept, nor being able to eat properly for nine days now. Not to mention that I got a second infection a couple of days ago - a fungal one, since the antibiotics seem to have exterminated most of my probiotic bacteria, leaving me exposed to all kind of other nasty things!

Obviously - and sadly - I haven't had the energy to work on brand new jewelry... but today, finally, I'm feeling better and decided I would update you with some stuff I had prepared. So I've just added new ocean inspired vial necklaces and a couple of two amazing, OOAK, natural sea urchin rings to my Etsy store. Be sure to check on them and also, don't forget that all items are 15% off until the end of the month!

Glass vial necklace with natural European cowrie conches, a starfish charm in antique copper and a Swarovski crystal. It is available for purchase here.

Adjustable ring with a big sized natural sea urchin skeleton in gorgeous dark green and purple tones. It is available here.

My deepest apologies for my low speed on proccessing orders and replying to messages. I promise I'll come back at full force soon enough!

Thanks for the understanding!

New collection: Whispers of Atlantis

Image from here.

With summer at its peak, the sea calls us all right? :) It is precisely thanks to this general mood that another jewelry collection is launched by Wilwarin Designs. Due to its aura of adventure, mystery and intrigue, the ocean has always been reflected in numerous legends and myths, from gods and fantastic creatures to the famous sunken continent of Atlantis. Therefore, "Whispers of Atlantis" is inspired by the great mysteries of a world that fascinates us so much, combining pretty little treasures and the oracular nature of the oceans.

Keep an eye out at my Etsy store for these and many more new pieces of jewelry! :)

My Medieval Journey

I've spent the last weekend at a Medieval/Renaissance Faire in Santa Maria da Feira (Aveiro, Portugal). I had been expecting it for so long! Although I've known the Medieval Journey faire for five years now, I had never visited it at night time. And my boyfriend and I have waited for the opportunity to camp during the event for quite of a long time. This year, we finally grabbed it. :)

Tent, sleeping bags, a change of clothes and fresh water and fruit was practically all we needed to carry in our trip (a long one since we have no car) to Santa Maria - and consequently to the 12th and 13th centuries.

Nowadays, the Medieval Journey is one of the events that most trill me each passing year (thanks to my boufriend and his mother :p) and, although I'm not a big fan of History, medieval times and its mystical character have always fascinated me. To me, being in the middle of the Medieval Journey means being surrounded by things I love: handicrafts, natural soaps and candles, incense, tea, crystals... and, also, in a big party! There's always a lot of music, food and drink, games, performances and many other unexpected surprises right in the middle of the street. And there is also a lot of... handmade jewelry! Amazingly or not, I can always spend a long time observing other people's work... and that is all I need to trigger my own inspiration. In fact, that's the best "study" method! :)

I can't forget to mention that Wilwarin Designs itself was also born of this same fantasy concept, associated with old, mystic times. Unfortunately, Wilwarin is still a too young business to have its own stall, but I hope someday some year I can bring my work onto a fair of this size.

Here are some of my best memories of this weekend:

Dramatization at one of the various meal areas; a young peasant is cheated in a tabern and forced to pay what he consumed with his own clothes. Very funny! :)

King D. Sancho I's royal paladin.

Visiting the Medieval Journey faire without yielding to a few temptations is not the same thing! Like this  forest fruits pie. Fancy a bite? ;D

Musical performance (artists unknown).

Birds of prey, always conquering everyone's hearts...

Nocture jousting show. Very entertaining!

The blacksmith and his forge, near the military camp.

Our tent right in the corner of the camping field. If only we didn't have to deal with the noise at night, the lack of a mattress (damn, my poor back), nor the slope which made us slide and "climb" the floor of the tent every 30 minutes of sleep! :)

Now I'm back to the 21st century, but having spent two entire days surrounded by so many things I love, I couldn't avoid bringing with me, besides the fantastic memories, some material souvenirs. Better show them another time as this post is getting too long already! ;)