Category Archives: Charm Jewellery

Happy New Year 2018

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Sue and Dave hope you had a most enjoyable Christmas and we wish you a very happy new year 2018. We haven’t been as busy in 2017 with craft fairs and events as we have in previous years and we are going to be quite selective about where we take Sue’s collections of hand-made and carefully selected jewellery in 2018. We will,of course, put all our events on our calendar page.

Happy New Year 2018 from LoveTaliesin Jewellery
Happy New Year 2018 from LoveTaliesin Jewellery

However, we are going to renew our commitment to this website by ensuring that we add new products and refresh some of the existing ones in our online shop.

You will find a lot of sales online and in the shops, however, we don’t just offer good prices for a limited time. Our prices stay low all year. Also, you get your  usual bonus of free second class postage to all UK addresses.

Here are a few ideas of ways to treat yourself to a Happy New Year 2018, or to treat someone else.

Shamrock Charm Pendant and Earrings Set

St Patrick’s Day

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17th March is St Patrick’s Day, a day which seems to celebrated far more widely than the other three UK patron saints. In particular, the Irish-American community in the USA have a long tradition of lavish celebration on St Patrick’s Day.

St Patrick’s Day is so much part of American tradition that Time Magazine has even suggested that it was invented in its modern form on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean.

St Patrick's Day Party in the USA
St Patrick’s Day Party in the USA

As recently as the1970s, there were no St. Patrick’s Day parties in the UK or Ireland. The “troubles” in Northern Ireland was at its peak. There was no way that British cities would celebrate Irish traditions. At that time, the day was something that was more about Irish America than it was about Ireland.

The observance of St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland dates back to the 17th century. It  commemorates the death of St. Patrick in the fifth century. Patrick is credited with having brought Christianity to Ireland. The day’s importance was confirmed in 1631 when it was recognized by the Vatican.

For most Irish people, the day remained primarily religious right into the 20th century. The day wasn’t even a public holiday in Ireland until 1904.

In the 20th century, the day became a public spectacle, with a military parade in Dublin from the 1920s to the 1950s. However, it was a serious day with mass in the morning, the military parade at noon and the bars across the country closed for the day. (Irish bars didn’t begin opening on March 17 until the mid-1960s.)

The military parade was replaced by a carnival parade and entertainment from the 1960s, and in 1996, the St. Patrick’s Festival began and runs to this day. This is a four-day event of music, treasure hunts, performances, and of course, on the day itself, a two-hour parade that draws up to half a million people onto the streets of Dublin.

St. Patrick's Day - N.A.I.D.A. Queen of the Plough, Mary Shanahan parades through Dublin. 17.03.1961 (From Irish Photo Archive)
St. Patrick’s Day – N.A.I.D.A. Queen of the Plough, Mary Shanahan parades through Dublin. 17.03.1961
(From Irish Photo Archive)

The Irish celebrations were directly inspired by what was happening in the real home of St. Patrick’s Day, the U.S. The first recorded celebrations of March 17 took place in Boston in 1737, when a group of elite Irish men came together to celebrate over dinner what they referred to as “the Irish saint.” The tradition of parading began amongst Irish Catholic members of the British Army in New York in 1766.

The day grew in significance following the end of the Civil War and the arrival, across the 19th century, of ever increasing numbers of Irish immigrants.  St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were originally focused on districts where the Irish lived and were highly localized.

By the end of the 19th century, St. Patrick’s Day was being observed on the streets of major Irish cities such as Boston, Chicago, and New York, as well as in other cities such as New Orleans, San Francisco, and Savannah.

Gradually, the day became one that was also celebrated by people with no Irish heritage.

By the 20th century, St. Patrick’s Day became a marketing bonanza: greetings cards,  shamrocks, T-shirts and the food and drink. With the help of Irish societies and Irish commerce (mostly Guinness and the ubiquitous Irish bar in every town) has meant that St. Patrick’s Day celebrations have spread across the country.

Only more recently, once it was established as a bona-fide American cultural phenomenon, and again aided by such Irish cultural ambassadors as U2, Guinness, and those ubiquitous pubs, did St. Patrick’s Day become a full-fledged celebration—whose spirit was re-imported in its Americanized form back to Ireland itself.

So, wherever you may be on this day, raise a glass to toast not only good old Ireland, but America’s interpretation of it as well.

Adapted from: http://time.com/3744055/america-invented-st-patricks-day/

St Patrick’s Day Jewellery

We are very happy to offer some beautiful charm jewellery for anyone who is Irish – or Irish at Heart. Celebrate St Patrick’s Day with our Shamrock pendant and earrings.

 

Semi-Precious Bracelets set in 925 silver

Why Do Women Wear Jewellery?

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On International Women’s Day, we take a look at one of the biggest differences between the sexes; the wearing of jewellery.  We acknowledge that some women wear little or no jewellery and some men wear lots, but in general, women are far more likely to love, and wear, jewellery. So why do women wear jewellery?

Jewellery in History

Gold and gemstones have been part of human adornment for thousands of years. People buried in Egyptian and Mesopotamian tombs were wearing jewellery and it has been part of religion, cultures, class (and gender). The Aztecs and the Tibetans both valued turquoise as personal decoration.

Why Do Women Wear Jewellery?

There are a number of psychological studies that suggest that many girls and women are drawn to shiny, sparkly and colourful things. Perhaps this is why  jewellery is almost  always associated with women.

Is it because women love to look pretty?

Beyonce with Diamond Collar
Beyonce with Diamond Collar

There is a great deal of social pressure on women to look fashionable and presentable. From images of Cleopatra to Liz Taylor and Beyonce, an important element of a woman’s beauty is her jewellery.

Anthropologists and psychologists have long cited the role of jewellery in the dating-and-mating world. Humans lack the natural decoration of many animals and birds, so jewellery replaces this.

So it is possible that women have given in to that pressure and have simply accepted that clothing, shoes, accessories and jewellery are the way that this is done. Could it be that some women wear bright, large and coloured pieces in order to really grab other people’s attention? Also, the more interest shown, the more the piece makes the wearer feel good.

Similarly, a child born December may develop a life-long attachment to turquoise for no reasons other than it is the December birthstone.

Is it the intrinsic value of jewellery?

Value is not just the monetary cost. Every piece of jewellery has the potential to evoke memories and carries a sentimental value. There is lots of evidence that women have a particular attraction to rings, necklaces and bracelets, especially if they were gifts or if they represent significant moments in their lives.

Women are also more likely to be interested in the symbolism and of their gemstones and understand the meaning behind them.

There is also the fact that many men enjoy giving jewellery to their wife, girlfriend, daughters, mother and other important women in their life.

It has long been the case that rare gemstones fetch astronomical prices. In November 2015, the Blue Moon Diamond sold for $48.4m, setting a world record for any jewel at more than $4m a carat.  (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/12/blue-moon-diamond-sells-for-world-record-48m-geneva)

What is the Human Need for Jewellery

Maslows Hierarchy Of Needs
Maslows Hierarchy Of Needs

Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs

In answering the question, Why do women wear jewellery, let’s ask if they need to, or want to?

If jewellery is a need, it must fit somewhere into Abram Maslow’s classic analysis. The need for jewellery will in Belonging  or Esteem needs. Belonging is about the need to belong to a group and esteem is about recognition and status.

Jewellery can never be a basic need like food, water or sex. But the living standards of an average person in most Western societies are such that there is no real worry about food and shelter so people we find ourselves seeking  jewellery as a sign of status.

It is also reflection of our personality.  If ruby symbolizes passion and if amethyst symbolizes sobriety, we may feel these characteristics asserted in ourselves by wearing them. In this way our self-esteem is reinforced.

This symbolism runs throughout the wearing of jewellery. At a simple level, the wedding ring is a simple metaphor for the idea that two people are united and committed to this union “for better for worse, in sickness and in health”.

While we often think of women wearing jewellery, it is also common for men to wear rings and bracelets.

Spiritual Benefits from Jewellery

Crystals catching the light
Crystals catching the light

Every gemstone has esoteric properties. Gemstones in jewellery are said to protect, heal or help the wearer. Indeed, the writer Judy Hall has published many books about Crystals, which are simply gemstones, semi-precious stones and minerals.

Buying Jewellery

Buying beautiful jewellery has never been easier. Visit our Calendar page to see where we will be in person, or go straight to our online shop.

 

Content adapted from:

Heart Pendant 18mm Light Siam Swarovski Elements

6 Mothers Day Facts

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1. Origins

Mothers Day is only about 100 years old. It started in the USA in the early 1900s. However, it draws on far older traditions.

Rhea Greek Goddess
Rhea, Greek Goddess. Mother of many Greek deities.

The earliest history of Mothers’ Day dates back to the ancient annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to maternal goddesses. The Greeks used the occasion to honour Rhea, wife of Cronus and the mother of many deities of Greek mythology.

2. Mothers Day and Mothering Sunday

Mother’s Day in the UK is traditionally celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent, as a Christian holiday. However, Mother’s Day is not actually related to the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration.

Most Sundays in the year churchgoers in England worship at their nearest parish or ‘daughter church’.

Centuries ago it was considered important for people to return to their home or ‘mother’ church once a year. So each year in the middle of Lent, everyone would visit their ‘mother’ church – the main church or cathedral of the area.

Inevitably the return to the ‘mother’ church became an occasion for family reunions when children who were working away returned home. (It was quite common in those days for children to leave home for work once they were ten years old.)

And most historians think that it was the return to the ‘Mother’ church which led to the tradition of children, particularly those working as domestic servants, or as apprentices, being given the day off to visit their mother and family.

As they walked along the country lanes, children would pick wild flowers or violets to take to church or give to their mother as a small gift.

3. 69 Babies

69 Babies born to one woman
69 Babies born to one woman

The greatest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69, to the wife of Feodor Vassilyev (b. 1707–c.1782), a peasant from Shuya, Russia. In 27 confinements she gave birth to 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets.

4. 73 year-old mum

Mrs Steve Pace, of Rose Hill, Virginia, is reported have given birth to her 17th child, a boy, in 1939, at the extreme age of 73. She was then already mother of 16 children, the last of whom was born twenty-three years earlier.

5. John Lennon’s Song

John Lennon’s song “Mother”  first released on his 1970 album “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band”. The song is a tribute to his own mother, Julia, who was killed in a car accident on 15 July 1958, before the Beatles became famous.

6. Traditional Gifts

Mother’s Day gifts are a tradition to show Mum how much she’s valued and appreciated. Traditionally Mother’s Day gifts included flowers and a Simnel cake. The flowers were picked by the workers on the way home from work for a day with their mum; they’d pick wild flowers from the country lanes. It is still a tradition today to spoil mum with a stunning colourful bouquet of flowers, as well as more modern gifts such as perfume, clothes or jewellery.

Red Roses for Mothers Day
Red Roses for Mothers Day
Simnel Cake for Mothers Day
Simnel Cake for Mothers Day

6 Mothers Day Jewellery Gifts

Your mum will love one of these fantastic gifts that show her how much she’s loved and appreciated.

If your mother is an Angel

If your mother is a Star

If she has a big heart

Here are just a few ideas, there are lots more Mothers Day gift ideas in our shop

Ankh Charm Pendant & Earring Set

Ankh – Featured Charm

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We’re featuring the Ankh Charm in jewellery in this post. A while ago, we tried to write about a “Charm of the Week”, but although we have featured Angels, Sheep and Om charms. we never managed to make it a weekly post. But we have dozens of charms that we’d like to tell you about. So we’re going to have a go at occasional posts about charms as well as the other topics that you’ll find here on our blog.

Ancient Egypt

Like many popular icons of modern times, the Ankh has its origins in Ancient Egypt.  It is a recognised hieroglyph that means “life” and is often seen in the hands of Egyptian gods on tombs and temple carvings.

Ankh carving at Thebes
Ankh carving at Thebes (Image from roadrunner_876 on Photobucket)

In its earliest representations, it appears to have been an elaborate bow or knot, although it could also have a sexual meaning or even be a representation of a sandal strap.  It certainly had a religious significance.

Its popularity in Ancient Egypt is clear from  everyday objects which were ankh- shaped. A gilded mirror in the shape of an ankh was found in Tutankhamun’s tomb (and the word ankh also means “mirror”, so here is an ancient play on words!) Other objects such as spoons were also made in this shape.

Although it predates Christianity, it’s shape is so similar to the cross that Christians, and especially Coptic Christianity, has adopted it as the crux ansata, the handled or “eyed” cross.

Adapted from: http://www.egyptianmyths.net/ankh.htm

The Ankh Today

It is often worn by New Agers and Pagans as a symbol of wisdom. In the 1960s, hippies wore it as a life-affirming sign.

In Goth culture, it is a symbol associated with vampires.  It was worn by David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve in the 1983 film The Hunger.

Elvis Presley wore an ankh necklace during his concert documentary Elvis on Tour.

Adapted from: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ankh

Ankh Charm Jewellery from LoveTaliesin

The Ankh is available as a pendant, earrings and set. Please click on the images below to buy yours. All of these are offered with free postage and packaging.

It can also be incorporated into a charm bracelet or anklet and as a bookmark or key ring. Contact us if you’d like to find out more about bespoke jewellery

Year of The Monkey

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 新年快乐

February 8th is the Chinese New Year and the words above say “Happy New Year” in Simplified Chinese and are also spelled out phonetically as they sound.

2016 Year Of The Monkey
2016  Year Of The Monkey

Today sees the start of the Year of the Monkey.

The new year, also known as the Spring Festival, is marked by the lunisolar Chinese calendar, so the date changes from year to year.

The festivities usually start the day before the New Year and continue until the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the new year.

Each Chinese New Year is characterised by one of 12 animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac. This year it’s the Year of the Monkey, the ninth animal in the cycle. The next Year of the Monkey will be in 2028.

The full list is:

  • Rat
  • Ox
  • Tiger
  • Rabbit
  • Dragon
  • Snake
  • Horse
  • Goat
  • Monkey
  • Rooster
  • Dog
  • Pig

In the LoveTaliesin team,Sue was born in the year of the Rabbit and Dave’s from the Year of the Dragon.

People born in the Year of the Monkey are characterised as quick-witted, curious, innovative and mischievous, but it is also believed to be one of the most unlucky years in the Chinese calendar.

LoveTaliesin Jewellery for Year Of The Monkey

We’ve added some playful monkey charm jewellery to our collection as we celebrate the start of the year of the Monkey. You can see these on our stall at craft fairs and events and you can buy them here, on our website.

6 Valentines Day Facts

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The 14th February is Valentines Day when we celebrate our love for someone. Here are six things that you might not know about Valentine’s Day and St Valentine.

Valentines Day Greetings
Valentine’s Day Greetings

It started with the Romans

Valentines Day goes back to the Roman Empire and Emperor Claudius II. He wanted more soldiers for the Roman army, but lots of men refused to leave their wives and families. So the Emperor decided that the solution was to ban all marriages.

However, a very popular priest in Rome thought that this was unfair and started to marry couples in secret.  Eventually, Claudius II found out about these secret marriages and was furious. He ordered that Valentine should be thrown into jail, where he eventually died on February 14th. His friends hadn’t forgotten him and they made sure that he was buried in a churchyard in Rome.

Adapted from: http://www.read-legends-and-myths.com/origin-of-valentines-day.html

Geoffrey Chaucer’s Poem For Valentines Day

The Parliament of Fowls was probably written sometime in the late-1370′s to the late 1380′s. This contains the earliest known reference to “Saint Valentine’s Day” as an occasion for romance.

[…] ther sat a quene
That, as of light the somer-sonne shene
Passeth the sterre, right so over mesure
She fairer was than any creature.And in a launde, upon an hille of floures,
Was set this noble goddesse Nature;
Of braunches were hir halles and hir boures,
Y-wrought after hir craft and hir mesure;
Ne ther nas foul that cometh of engendrure,
That they ne were prest in hir presence,
To take hir doom and yeve hir audience.

For this was on seynt Valentynes day,
Whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make,

This translates into modern English as:

There sat a queen who was more lovely by far than any other creature, just as the summer sun outshines the stars. This noble goddess Nature sat enthroned in a pavilion she had wrought of branches upon a flowered hill atop a meadow. And there was not any bird born of love that was not ready in her presence to hear her and receive her judgment. For this was Saint Valentine’s Day, when all the birds of every kind that men can imagine come to choose their mates.

However, it is fairly certain that the church celebrated the Feast of St. Valentine before Chaucer wrote this.

Adapted from: http://www.gotmedieval.com/2009/02/happy-valentines-from-geoffrey-chaucer.html

France Gave Us Valentines Day Cards

The origin of Valentine’s day cards lie in letters and poems. The tradition of sending poems to a love on Valentine’s day was started by a French nobleman, Charles Duke Of Orleans around 1415, who was taken prisoner during the Battle Of Agincourt. He sent love poems to his wife back in France each year.

The 14th February became associated with love in the Middle Ages, especially through the writer Geoffrey Chaucer.

It took almost 200 more years for commercial Valentine cards to make an appearance in 1800. These also started with just poems, but it wasn’t long before artwork was added to give more romance.

How Did Our Blood Pump Become The Icon For Valentines Day and Love?

Heart
The Human Heart

It may well all be the fault of a North African plant. As far back as the seventh century B.C., there was a profitable trade in a plant called Silphium. Among other uses, Silphium was reputed to provide a form of birth control. The Silphium plant was so important that Cyreneian coins depicted the plant’s seed pod, which looks like the heart shape we know today.

It is said that the heart shape of this seed pod first became associated with sex, and eventually, with love.

By the 17th Century, Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque had a vision of it surrounded by thorns. This symbol became known as the Sacred Heart of Jesus and was associated with love and devotion.

Before the medical profession disavowed the world, it was generally believed that the heart was the seat of all human emotions and feelings. So the gift of a heart represented the giving of everything to someone you love. This ancient belief has lingered on through the ages.

Adapted from: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/recycled/2007/02/the_shape_of_my_heart.html

Cupid’s Arrows

In the words of Sam Cooke,

Cupid, draw back your bow
And let your arrow flow
Straight to my lovers heart

Cupid’s arrows come in two varieties:

  • The Golden Arrow, which generally signifies true love
  • The Leaden Arrow, which represents wanton and sensual passion.

He is sometimes portrayed with a torch with which to inflame desire between men and women.He is often described a mischievous because his interference doesn’t always have happy consequences.

Cherubs are also believed to be descendants of Cupid. Depicted as loveable little winged creatures, but without the use of arrows.

Love Is Only Chemicals

Biologically, love is a powerful neurological condition like hunger or thirst, only more permanent. We talk about love being blind or unconditional, in the sense that we have no control over it. But then, that is not so surprising since love is basically chemistry. While lust is a temporary passionate sexual desire involving the increased release of chemicals such as testosterone and oestrogen, in true love, or attachment and bonding, the brain can release a whole set of chemicals: pheromones, dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, oxytocin and vasopressin. However, from an evolutionary perspective, love can be viewed as a survival tool – a mechanism we have evolved to promote long-term relationships, mutual defence and parental support of children and to promote feelings of safety and security.

Written by Jim Al-Khalili – a theoretical physicist and science writer

Quoted From: The Guardian

Valentines Day Gifts

In addition to the giving of cards, Valentine’s Day gifts represent the Heart and Cupid symbols. In particular, jewellery is a deeply personal gift for the one you love.

LoveTaliesin Jewellery has a wide range of hearts and other love tokens. These are all hand-made by Sue using a variety of Swarovski Elements, Tibetan Silver Charms and nickel-free components.

You can see the whole of our “Heart” collection, including earrings, pendants and sets, in our online shop.All of these come with FREE Postage and Packaging.

Some highlights of our “Heart” Collection