The Heritage Bracelet

     When I'm not writing or running around in a circle looking for my glasses, I'm making jewelry.  My jewelry is a little different than the norm, because I make my beads out of flowers.  Most people refer to them as memory bracelets, necklaces, rings, etc.  The majority of my customers are people who have lost a loved one and the flowers come from the memorial service.  The flowers don't have to be just from a funeral service, they could be from a birthday, wedding, anniversary celebration, anything for which flowers are given and you would like to preserve them as a keepsake.  It also doesn't matter where you live, I've shipped items all over the country.  If you would like to see some of my work, you can visit www.silvercatstudioinc.com   

     For as long as I can remember, I've always thought I must have been a man in a past life.  I was introduced to power tools in my teens and somehow knew how to use them with little instruction.  I love to build things and the bigger, the better.  I hate to carry a purse and when I do I'm usually calling the restaurant or what ever business I was at to see if that is where I left it.  Shower invitations make me cringe and the last one I attended I didn't get to participate in the game.  The game was to see how many unusual items you had in your purse.  I despise shopping.  My sisters and I gather each Mother's Day weekend for a shopping excursion.  They can spend the first 6 hours in two stores, my saving grace is that there is a tool store in this particular outlet mall.  "But you make jewelry", someone said. Yes, but I'd rather make it than wear it. I love the ocean and I've always had a strange fascination with ships.  Big tall ships with lots of sails.  So, maybe I was a pirate.

     Sometimes when working on my jewelry, if I'm beginning to lose my focus, I push back and try something new.  A couple of days ago this happened and I began to scan my work space, which gets really small by the end of a project, for something different to do.  I thumbed through a catalog and came across a gadget for knitting wire.  I had seen this before, but the very word 'knitting' always scared me.  After a brief internet search I decided I could make my own gadget for this and tried my first attempt at knitting with wire. 

     I immediately enjoyed it.  As I was working the wire into small loops and weaves, the realization of what I was doing hit me like a ton of bricks.  I was knitting wire, I was doing the Viking knit......Holy crap!  I was a Viking in my past life!  What a revelation!  I finished my first knitting and had just enough to actually do something with it.  
     
     The idea was already in my head, The Heritage Bracelet.  I gathered everything I needed and began to piece it together.  The turquoise represented the American Indian blood that is somewhere down the family tree.  The Celtic swirls remind me of my Irish roots and the Viking knit chain that holds it all together makes me smile. Yep, a viking, it all makes perfect sense now.   I'm thinking I need one of those pointy metal hats with the horns sticking off each side. Oh, my girls are going to love this.