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The Tree of Life. . .a circle with a many-branched tree inside with its roots reaching and wrapping around the base. . .a symbol universally illustrating all life on earth is related. . .used in science, religion, philosophy, mythology and elsewhere. . .sometimes depicted in abstract form. . .sometimes in wood, metal, wire, glass and jewelry. I love this symbol and have worn it for years in a sterling silver pendant I received as a gift.
While searching for new wire jewelry designs and techniques, I found the Tree of Life Pendant design and tutorial created by Albina Manning and presented by JewelryLessons.com. The tutorial says, “The Tree of Life is an esoteric philosophy common to many cultures and mythologies, and the Ancients envisioned the entire cosmos in the form of a tree whose roots grow deep in the ground, branches reaching high into the heavens.” OK, this was kismet and I was meant to find and create my own version of the Tree of Life Pendant. After purchasing the tutorial and trying the basic design, I started adding my own ideas and style touches to the pendant and my version of the Tree of Life Pendant was born.
I decided that if I was going to create and make the pendant, I should do a little research into the history and meaning of the symbol myself so I could give the information to those who share my love for this symbol.
Here is a definition for the Tree of life – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The concept of a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related has been used in science, religion, philosophy, mythology and other areas. A tree of life is variously, a) a mystical concept alluding to the interconnectedness of all life on our planet, b) a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionary sense, and c) a motif in various world theologies, mythologies and philosophies.
Conceptual and mythological “trees of life”
Various trees of life are recounted in folklore, culture and fiction, often relating to immortality or fertility. They had their origin in religious symbolism.
Ancient Egypt
In Egyptian mythology, in the Ennead system of Heliopolis, the first couple, apart from Shu & Tefnut (moisture & dryness) and Geb & Nuit (earth & sky), are Isis & Osiris. They were said to have emerged from the acacia tree of Saosis, which the Egyptians considered the tree of life, referring to it as the “tree in which life and death are enclosed”.
Germanic paganism
The tree of life appears in Norse religion as Yggdrasil, the world tree, a massive tree (sometimes considered a yew or ash tree) with extensive lore surrounding it. In Norse Mythology it is the apples from Iðunn’s ash box that provides immortality for the gods.
Hebrew Bible/Christianity
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Judeo-Christian) is mentioned in the Book of Genesis (for example Genesis 3:22), * A Tree of Life, in the form of ten interconnected nodes, is an important part of the Kabbalah. As such, it resembles the ten Sephirot.
Etz Chaim, Hebrew for “Tree of Life”, is a common term used in Judaism. The expression, found in the Book of Proverbs, is figuratively applied to the Torah itself. Etz Chaim is also a common name for yeshivas and synagogues as well as for works of Rabbinic literature.
India
Flora in general play a central role in the Indian culture, which has largely a vegetarian tradition. The symbolism of the tree is mentioned in the 135th hymn of the 10th book of Rig-Veda, and in the 15th chapter of Bhagavad-gita (1–4). Two varieties of the fig (called Ashvatta in Sanskrit), the banyan tree and the peepal tree are the most revered in the Indian tradition, and both are considered the trees of life.
The Book of Mormon
The Tree of Life is shown to Lehi and then also to his son Nephi in a dream or vision, between 600 and 592 B.C. according to the Book of Mormon. Lehi recounted the tree as “a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.” (1 Nephi 8:10)
Urartu
In Urartu around 13th to 6th century BC, the Tree of Life was a religious symbol, drawn onto the exterior walls of fortresses and carved on the armour of warriors. The branches of the tree were equally divided on the right and left sides of the stem, with each branch having one leaf, and one leaf on the apex of the tree. This tree can be found on numerous Urartu artifacts, such as paintings on the walls of the Erebuni Fortress in Yerevan, Armenia.
Other cultures
In the Japanese religion of Shinto, trees were marked with sacred paper symbolizing lightning bolts, as trees were thought to be sacred. This was propagated by the fact that after they passed, ancestors and animals were often portrayed as branches on the tree.
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights has a story, ‘The Tale of Buluqiya’, in which the hero searches for immortality and finds a paradise with jewel-encrusted trees.
This is only a small sampling of the many references to the Tree of Life symbol I found. You may want to research the idea behind this symbol further on your own.
Here are photos of my Tree of Life Pendant Necklaces:
 Tree of Life Pendant – Peridot Chips handcrafted with silver Artisan non-tarnish wire.
 Tree of Life Pendant – Fancy Jasper Chips handcrafted with silver craft wire and strung on waxed cotton cord.
 Tree of Life Pendant – Green Aventurine chips handcrafted with gold Artisan non-tarnish wire and strung on gold plated 18″ chain.
 Tree of Life Family Tree Pendant – Swarovski crystals in birthstone colors created in silver Artisan non-tarnish wire with woven bale. I have this pendant available to custom order your own family tree.
You can see more photos and details for these pendants on my websites, KC Bead Designs and Reflections…Beaded Jewelry.
’till next time!
KC Bead Designs – Beaded Jewelry by Cheryl Skeens, located in the greater Kansas City, Missouri area, is owned and operated by Cheryl Skeens. In business since 2003 as a jewelry artist / designer of handcrafted beaded jewelry such as beaded earrings, bracelets, necklaces, eyeglass chains, beaded lanyards, zipper pulls, cell phone charms, mother’s bracelets, bridal and prom jewelry and more. Reflections. . .Beaded Jewelry. . .by Cheryl Skeens opened in July 2008 along with her new blog-site and is her second online store.
The mantra heard everywhere I go these days is “go green”, recycle, stop global warming, etc. I have absolutely nothing against recycling, reusing, repurposing or any of the “buzz words” currently being used for being responsible for our surroundings and reusing what we have when we can.
This isn’t a new concept to many people I know, but a necessary fact of life in economic crunch times. Almost every day there are news stories or newspaper articles about people planting community gardens or learning to grow their own vegetables to supplement food budgets. Projects for home remodeling, plumbing, and redecorating have been turned into tv programs on cable channels showing people how to shop for materials and save money by doing it themselves.
Making and designing jewelry can “go green” too. A customer who had purchased a lampwork bead bracelet contacted me and said she would get more wear and enjoy the beads more if I could turn the bracelet into a necklace for her. I told her I would be delighted to “repurpose” the bracelet for her into a striking necklace by adding small round faceted fire-polish beads and using the unique lampwork beads as focals or a centerpiece for the necklace. I delivered the necklace this week and she loves it.
I recycle beads all the time. Sometimes I create a design that I think is perfect, but potential customers don’t agree with me and the piece doesn’t sell. I never throw away perfectly good beads. . . just redesign them into something new and/or trendy. I find that color combinations and styles change with the seasons, but eventually everything can be reused again sometime down the road.
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I’m featuring my wood, seed, and shell stretch beaded bracelets for summer this time. You will find these bracelets at KC Bead Designs/Bead Bracelets. Here is a preview:
You can see more stretch bead bracelets in my stores.
’till next time!
KC Bead Designs – Beaded Jewelry by Cheryl Skeens, located in the greater Kansas City, Missouri area, is owned and operated by Cheryl Skeens. In business since 2003 as a jewelry artist / designer of handcrafted beaded jewelry such as beaded earrings, bracelets, necklaces, eyeglass chains, beaded lanyards, zipper pulls, cell phone charms, mother’s bracelets, bridal and prom jewelry and more. Reflections. . .Beaded Jewelry. . .by Cheryl Skeens opened in July 2008 along with her new blog-site and is her second online store.
Ok. . . so I have read articles and tutorials for photographing jewelry and I ignored the recommendation for using a light box for better jewelry pictures. First, I thought homemade light boxes wouldn’t really work and second, professional light box and or light tent setups were too expensive. I found a couple of really nice professional light box setups available on the market, but you are going to spend between $100.00 and $300.00 to purchase one of these depending on whether you choose a soft setup or the full self-contained box.
So. . .why am I thinking I need a light box now after not using one before? The economy is down and business is slow. From a marketing point of view, I need to improve showing my jewelry (my photos) to stay competetive in the market place. Marketing on line with a virtual store I have to “show” my jewelry designs in photographs clearly, accurately and with a pleasing presentation to encourage customers to buy my jewelry. Better photographs of my jewelry just might be the marketing edge I am looking for.
Extra photo equipment is not in the budget, so I decided to make my own light box. There are numerous articles and tutorials on the web with instructions for making a light box out of a white plastic trash can, using a large plastic bowl, or using white posterboard. All of these variations involve cutting openings in the containers to take the pictures through and shining lights from the sides or top of the containers to diffuse the light. I knew that I wanted my light box to be light weight and rather compact because of space limitations in my studio. I also knew that I needed a specific shape and size for my light box because I almost always use various size necklace and jewelry stands to display my jewelry designs. So here is my variation and instructions for making your own light box that actually works.
I had been using a white 3 section foamboard (science project display board) as one of my backdrops and decided I could use it to construct my light box. The display board basically is 24″ wide across the center section and 12″ wide on both side sections.
My tallest necklace display stand is 14″ so I decided to make my light box 16″ tall overall. After measuring 16″ from the bottom of the board and drawing a line across at that point, I used a craft knife (box cutter) to cut through the foamboard giving me a 16″ tall piece of the display board. I had to go over the line with the knife a couple of times to cut all the way through the foamboard.
To determine the inside and outside of the light box, I checked to see how the front sides folded to the back. The cut edges of the folds are on the outside of the light box and the smooth (uncut) folded side is inside of the light box. To make my light box have 4 equal sides, I measured 12″ from where the side section folded to the front of the display board and drew another line on the outside of the center section to divide the 24″ section into 2 sections 12″ each. Using the craft knife I cut through the line I had drawn down the middle of the center section being careful not to cut all the way through the foamboard this time. I basically just cut the outside board layer and scored the foam so the center section now folded into 2 equal pieces so there are 4 equal sides to the box now.
On 1 of the sides I measured and drew a box in the center and cut this section out with the craft knife to make a viewing /photographing opening in the light box. I made my opening larger because I use tall display stands for my photographs. I would suggest a 4 inch x 4 inch opening to start with.
I then took wide packaging tape and taped all the raw cut edges on the top and bottom of the light box and around the viewing opening. I folded the light box and added packaging tape to the edge where the sides meet being carefull to not pull the edges too tight so the box still stands easily with 4 equal sides. What I have now is an open ended rectangular box with a viewing opening on 1 side.
To finish my light box and use it for photographing jewelry, I use a white cloth or white paper as the bottom of my light box to sit my jewelry display on and sit the light box over the jewelry display with the viewing opening in the front. I put a white cloth or large piece of paper over the open top of the light box (to diffuse the light) and place a daylight lamp so the light shines down through the covering onto the jewelry stand.
 My Light Box I didn’t say my light box was pretty. This first one is very basic but functional for my use.
I used my digital camera to take the pictures through the viewing opening. I had to change and experiment with some of the camera settings for white balance and light before I got some really good jewelry pictures. I also took some pictures without the top covering just letting the daylight lamp shine directly on the jewelry display. You can experiment with this to see how your pictures turn out.
An expert jewelry photographer I’m not, but my pictures look better. I’ve cut out most of the shadows and reflection so my jewelry can look natural and my clients can see what a lovely jewelry design it is. Another plus is I didn’t break the budget with a new piece of equipment.
Before the light box with shadows and dark.
After the light box photo looks clean and clear.
’till next time!
KC Bead Designs – Beaded Jewelry by Cheryl Skeens, located in the greater Kansas City, Missouri area, is owned and operated by Cheryl Skeens. In business since 2003 as a jewelry artist / designer of handcrafted beaded jewelry such as beaded earrings, bracelets, necklaces, eyeglass chains, beaded lanyards, zipper pulls, cell phone charms, mother’s bracelets, bridal and prom jewelry and more. Reflections. . .Beaded Jewelry. . .by Cheryl Skeens opened in July 2008 along with her new blog-site and is her second online store.
 I have been adding inventory to both of my stores with new designs and spring and summer colors. I have redesigned most of my handbag charm zipper pulls using silver metal tassels with beads and charms added as dangles on the chains of the tassels. These have a variety of color combinations, charms, and different sizes and styles of lobster clasp or trigger clasp with swivels. These add bling to your handbag, bookbag or tote and can be attached to straps, handles or serve as easy to grab zipper pulls too. There are some fun new single strand zipper pulls with charms also.
Cell phone charms continue to be popular to identify your phone from others that look just like yours, make finding it in your purse easier, and just for fun. You can see all the new bag charms zipper pulls and cell phone charms on my websites at KC Bead Designs and Reflections…Beaded Jewelry by Cheryl Skeens.
’till next time!
KC Bead Designs – Beaded Jewelry by Cheryl Skeens, located in the greater Kansas City, Missouri area, is owned and operated by Cheryl Skeens. In business since 2003 as a jewelry artist / designer of handcrafted beaded jewelry such as beaded earrings, bracelets, necklaces, eyeglass chains, beaded lanyards, zipper pulls, cell phone charms, mother’s bracelets, bridal and prom jewelry and more. Reflections. . .Beaded Jewelry. . .by Cheryl Skeens opened in July 2008 along with her new blog-site and is her second online store.
Finding inspiration for designing jewelry can come from many places. It may come from seeing the jewelry and accessories pictured in magazines or catalogs. A visit to a local department store may inspire you to design with the clothing styles and colors shown for the current season. You may find a pattern or color combination in fabric that inspires you to create a certain design. There are a number of popular “bead” and craft magazines that may give you inspiration to create your own version of one of their projects.
Inspiration can come from anywhere you are. I find that my surroundings often influence my designs. The area where you live may dictate a larger, bolder design in color and size or the “splash” of color may be all that your design requires in your locale. Seasonal changes often influence what I design with spring and summer being one of my favorite times to design jewelry. I love the pastels and softer colors usually associated with spring and summer as well as the materials like shells, freshwater pearls, acrylics, and wood and seed beads.
I enjoy reading articles by other designers and where they say their influences come from. Different jewelry medium seems to have a favorite style and inspiration. I recently read about some metal artists who take their inspiration from nature and natural surroundings. The rustic theme stands out in their metal work and designs.
Sometimes when I look at beads I immediately see designs or theme ideas inspired by the beads themselves. I had this inspiration when I saw the silver fish beads and was looking to make a design with a clasp as the focal point of the design. Here is the result of this idea:
 Silver Fish in the Stream
 Silver Fish in a Stream 2
 Silver Fish in a Stream 3
I loved the idea of the silver fish swimming in a dark blue stream with the top fish swimming up to the shoulder of the necklace wearer. The floral toggle clasp at the bottom front of the design was the perfect place to have the second fish dangling and ready to swim up the stream.
Strange analogy to some but the inspiration for my design of this necklace set. Remember, inspiration can be all around you at any time.
’till next time!
KC Bead Designs – Beaded Jewelry by Cheryl Skeens, located in the greater Kansas City, Missouri area, is owned and operated by Cheryl Skeens. In business since 2003 as a jewelry artist / designer of handcrafted beaded jewelry such as beaded earrings, bracelets, necklaces, eyeglass chains, beaded lanyards, zipper pulls, cell phone charms, mother’s bracelets, bridal and prom jewelry and more. Reflections. . .Beaded Jewelry. . .by Cheryl Skeens opened in July 2008 along with her new blog-site and is her second online store.
I’ve been on a roll changing the look and content of my websites, banners, and now my blog too! I guess this is my equivalent of “spring cleaning”. The “rite of spring cleaning” is one habit I learned from my mother and she learned from her mother, etc. The annual “spring cleaning” took over our house every April or May since I can remember. The annual “rite” of moving from winter to spring as explained by the women in my family followed the logic that since the house is closed up all winter that we should dust and clean everything in sight so we can open the windows as it gets warmer and let in all the pollen and dust from outside that wasn’t inside before we cleaned. There has to be something wrong with that logic, but old habits are hard to break.
Not only do we clean the house, but it means it is time to put the winter clothing away and bring out the transitional clothing in anticipation of summer being around the corner. Every time I do this project I know that I will be sorry, but I do it anyway. Usually, and this year is no exception, I have to drag the sweaters and the winter coats back out again because Missouri isn’t through having snow storms yet. We will continue to have snow until May probably this year.
Spring cleaning or not, the promise of spring is in the air some days here in Missouri now. I have to say I’m ready for flowers to bloom, trees to bud out and watch the birds as they return to our area. I’m ready to wake up to sunny days and longer evenings. . . for the earth to renew itself . . . for my husband to dewinterize the boat . . . for the lake to be inviting instead of gloomy. Gosh, I guess I have cabin fever too! LOL!
Maybe with the promise of spring and summer coming we can relax a little and people will begin browsing our websites and do a little shopping again after the long winter rest. After all, we do have holidays coming up. . . Mother’s Day . . . Graduation . . . Father’s Day . . .be nice to a friend day? Hallmark is always ready to help us out with additional holidays aren’t they?
I have been working on some new things for spring so here is a preview:
Men’s Shell Heishe and Tumbled Stone Necklace
Turquoise Glass Beads with Starfish Pendant Set
New Purse Bag Zipper Pull Charms
Gemstone Ceiling Fan/Light Chain Pulls
New Spring Earring Colors and Styles
’till next time!
KC Bead Designs – Beaded Jewelry by Cheryl Skeens, located in the greater Kansas City, Missouri area, is owned and operated by Cheryl Skeens. In business since 2003 as a jewelry artist / designer of handcrafted beaded jewelry such as beaded earrings, bracelets, necklaces, eyeglass chains, beaded lanyards, zipper pulls, cell phone charms, mother’s bracelets, bridal and prom jewelry and more. Reflections. . .Beaded Jewelry. . .by Cheryl Skeens opened in July 2008 along with her new blog-site and is her second online store.
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