Flow and Valentine bracelets (for YOU)!

The flow.

If you are a designer, a writer, a composer, flow is important, necessary, vital and  I was wondering about my flow, was even a little bit anxious; when I am busy designing, ideas keep flowing into my mind. I have a notebook at hand where I write down how I made something or how I think to make something and also new ideas or concepts that come to my mind and want to work on. Because of the moving I haven't found time to  sit down & design and I was afraid the flow would dry up.

My tool to restart designing and to pick up creating is by making easy things like ear bells or key chains: it doesn't involve much calculating or thorough thinking and while my hands are busy, my head starts working again.

This time, I have 2 tools: the said before and Valentine! This tool gives me a direction to go because there are  some obligate ingredients like the color red, hearts or heart shape figures which makes things easier. I only have to worry about not falling into commercialized ideas but come up with some fresh ideas. I am not a Gothic person but I like to create in a mild or soft Gothic style. Even Gothic people must have a crush on somebody and must want to declare this feeling. Thus my first creation is a soft Gothic bracelet made of black leather and a small "LOVE" plate. The message carrier in the picture is authentic and may easily have been used to carry love messages from a wealthy man to his secret love. This is why I like old and used things: they have a life of their own.

LoveLea's Gothic Valentine bracelet.

When I designed the bracelet (picture below) in white leather with a red metal heart and small red tassels flanking the love plate, I had a young teen girl in mind; by summer the bracelet will be a little roughed up and when she 's wearing it to the beach, the white leather will show off her tan skin. LoveLea, 😃 ! Remember, all jewelry is available at LoveLea's Face book shop.

LoveLea's white/red love plated bracelet.

The clothes line. 

Our new house has a garden and our garden has a clothesline. I haven't used a clothesline in ages, a laundry rack is easier and movable. I had washed pants and long sleeved shirts and those "big" things are easier hanged on a line; I don't have to worry if the bottom of the pants touches the ground. So I was hanging a pair of pants and since the line is quite high, I had to look up and, to my amazement, I saw the sky and a white pigeon was crossing over; hanging the next piece, there was a small plane coming from the east and then I saw a seagull. What a delicious experience!. I think from now on, if the rain will stop, I'll only use the clothesline.


If you are reading this post and you love crafts or you have to make with music, painting, sewing and thus are depending on inspiration, please tell me how YOU restart or keep up the flow! What are your methods? What are your tools? Do tell me via the COMMENTS box at the bottom of the post or through the CONTACT FORM in the left column. I will be delighted to know!

Will my table open the flow? (or is my inspiration gone?)

For about a week we are living in the new house; in fact we are still living out from boxes; and my son tells me there are 10 more banana boxes stored in his house. I can't believe this is true. I'm feeling trapped in quicksand ! I'm feeling drowned! But this is a good feeling: it tells me I am on the right path, the path of releasing, letting go!

And I found a solution for my table: it is still lying on its back with its legs in the air, like a dead animal. But I figured out how to get this beast back to life. The table is assembled by its top with pegs and holes and with hooks and eyes but this is not enough, the table will collapse. While doing the dishes and ironing, (this tasks are stupid, but great opportunity for thinking) the table is always in my thoughts. The slats that carry the extension pieces are missing but their trace is visible. But this slats should be twice the size of what the traces lets see to carry the weight of the extensions and the weight of the table!! Today, Monday, we went to the sawmill and bought 4 slats of 91.8 cm from which 46 cm will be attached to the table and the rest will float, 2 on each side of the table. I do hope my theory is correct and the table will stand up!! and hold!!!. Hopefully we'll attach the slats tomorrow  and then I can start designing and creating again! For almost 2 weeks I wasn't able to create! I can only feel the flow of creation feebly! I hope that just the fact of sitting at the table I have been longing for to use and sitting on a super nice chair will get everything flowing again!

2 days later, Wednesday, we attached the slats, made the table stand up and everything is fine! The table stands up, proud and is waiting for me to use it.

My table stands up and my chair is waiting for me.

 But sadly it will still have to wait a couple days. Tomorrow, Thursday, I am visiting the city with my daughter! This will be super, I hope so, just the 2 of us; no lets go over there, no I'm bored, no I'm tired, no I want to go home. Meanwhile, if I can not work, I can prepare my table: I can put my cutting board with a heavy duty mat and on top of that, my self-restoring cutting mat in place. Maybe I'll have to move the table in the other direction since I want my antique daybed upstairs. In the afternoon, I might take a refreshing nap!

My table is waiting for me to design and create!

I am anticipating working there, I can hardly wait! what all Lovelea stuff I 'll design and create, very special and unique pieces!

You will have to wait a week to see the results. See you!

Be careful what you wish for!

I wished for balance in my life and this week, I got plenty of occasions to apply. I had beautiful antique furniture in a depot  for 8 years and for 8 years I have been dreaming of using them in my home and NOT ONE OF THE ITEMS FITS. Last Thursday me, my husband and our son with his van went to the depot to retrieve the furniture. I had a very handsome chest of drawers, at least 200 years old and a big, long, nice oval table with 8 ladder-back chairs all in light oak.

I had seen myself using this long table  upstairs as a worktable for my leather creations, for sewing and for writing. I asked the movers to take the table to the attic; the movers grabbed the legs, heft the table but after 3 or 4 threads it was obvious that the table wouldn't get through, to no avail, the legs were to long or the table to wide. Mind you, the table was decomposed in 2 pieces and still wouldn't pass. With a hammer and a crowbar we took off the legs, brought the legs and the tabletop separately upstairs, pasted and nailed the pieces together and the table lies now upside down waiting to dry.

The magnificent chest of drawers was meant for the guest room on the first floor but we didn't even try to get it upstairs!  We put it temporarily in the living room and it looks superb but in this room we need a lunch counter. There is another vacant wall but the chest is too bulky and won't leave space to move about in the living room; I choose this chest when my parents died and we divided the furniture.

In the "old" house, I used a mahogany linen closet; I love this closet because it has a hidden drawer in the bottom, a more obvious one at the top and in the inside there is a third drawer. My mother stored her bonds and important papers in the bottom drawer, secret and save. I had planned to use it in the bedroom for storing sweaters, t-shirts etc, but the closet didn't go up either, just ONE tiny cm too large!!!

The lesson to learn.

This are facts, circumstances, the most important now is how I handle all this. When you read eastern philosophy and they tell you to be  detached, I never liked this idea;  I kind of glanced at the words and continued reading, ignoring the message. I like stuff, possessions a lot, especially nice things. Isn't it my right to live surrounded by nice things! Isn't it an obligation as a human to surround you with beautiful things? Live is telling me: like it or not but possessions are  futile, fleeting, furniture is only furniture! O.k. life,  you tried to teach me the nice way, I didn't heed you and now you force this on me. I can only bow my head and accept your lesson! But how do I go on? First thing that came into my head: I won't visit any antique shop again! I won't enjoy any flea market again! Never, ever. I won't buy  any beautiful stuff again!

This are childish and immature reactions, off course. I am in a continuously process of growing and this is a big step, no a huge step I am forced to take. Does life tell me: do speed up, please? Your time of taking baby steps is up, take some strides! I told myself: Hilde, you also wanted to be creative, here is your chance: what else is there to see at antique shops?  I still can go to antique shops, flea markets but I"ll be looking for other things like old leather tools, vintage beads etc.

This is a big blow; I have to recover, come to my senses and find a new direction, shift my thinking, accept this situation!

Life goes on

Today, Sunday, I put all my leather stuff in boxes and since my workshop and table aren't ready yet, I won't be able to do any designing or creating. Designing might be possible, I don't need a worktop for that, I can think and write anywhere. Before gathering everything, I made a choker, meant for Valentine's day. Here comes a picture:

LoveLea's "love" choker.

I photographed it in an antique soap box, but you could easily use the box to store your jewelry.


Have you had a similar blow? Has life tried to tell you some truths? What happened? You can leave a word in the comment section, right here below.

See you!

Balance is what I need!

From stole to bracelet

My grandmother had a fur stole that she wore to church in winter. It had legs dangling from her back and on the front side, the stole had a flat head with glittering eyes; I was very afraid of the beast. Her stole is mine now and I am not afraid anymore; on the contrary, I love the beast because it keeps me warm. Unfortunately the legs are disintegrating, falling apart in little pieces. I am not able to throw away something, I keep EVERYTHING and good I did: I used this pieces to garnish a bracelet that otherwise would have been very plain.

LoveLea's fur bracelet in dark leather

I didn't have any clams then and I made a button myself out of 2 layers of hard leather; it was a hard job cutting through the leather. The layers are  kept together with a big vintage turquoise bead; a slit functions as a buttonhole. I made a similar bracelet in pale brown leather; they look very "steampunk".

LoveLea's handmade button.

Bye bye 2017.

It is done: we said goodbye to 2017 and welcomed 2018; nothing much, a little celebration between  my husband and me, too tired to throw a big party. Besides, only 3 days before, the 29th, we celebrated our 42 th wedding anniversary and a second celebration so close felt too much this year.

As I am writing this words, it is the first day of a whole New Year; in front of me is a clean slate, a blank paper that I can fill in as I want. I decided to pick "balance" as theme for this year. Do you remember my thyroide story? You can read it here. It is obvious that I am not well balanced and I want to do something about it. The whole of 2018 will be dedicated to find my balance. Most urgent and important is the balance between my hobby and my family life and husband! In a lesser degree I should find my balance between earning 4 figures or 5 figures, between reading and working, between sleeping and working, between working and relaxing. It is the coffee that keeps me going, urges me to continue, drives me to do something and I only drink two cups a day. Even knowing that, I can't let go of drinking coffee; surrogate is not an option, I want the real thing! If it is really too bad, I only have 1 cup a day and then I'm balanced again.

Valentine's day is coming

The next celebration in line is Valentine's day and I want to design something for young people. Usually I don't pay much attention to this commercialized celebrations; in this case I think Valentine's day is good for shy people. It is a shove in their back, a move into the right direction, it is a golden occasion: now or next year. It is nice and sweet if gifts, as a symbol of  feelings, are given or exchanged in the intimacy of 2 people. Two years before I retired, the principal introduced Valentine's at school. If I recall right, the last hour of the school day, the seniors were free, free to give the beloved classmate a red rose. And when the last bell rings, euphoric students are running in the hallway, a bunch of roses in their hands, others a couple of roses and the biggest part has their  hands empty!  That's a punch in the face of this students.

LoveLea's best friend bracelet in red leather

I had this metal plaques with "love" and "best friend" laying around for almost a year and I felt like it was time to use them! I designed and created this cute bracelet in red leather, love's color with a little yellow accent to match the metal and the clamps. I wonder who will wear this bracelet!

We are now in the middle of the moving, half of our belongings are in the new house and the other half here. Friday, the van is coming and we'll move all the big, old heavy  furniture; maybe we'll sleep in our new bed by Friday. But first I have to make sure we have gas and electricity, telephone and internet and this won't leave me time for designing and creating. And I owe you a picture of the still empty workshop. As you can see, like the new year, a blank paper, a new begin! If this is not a coincidence or synchronicity!

Our empty atelier!

Please, let me know what kind of New Year resolutions you made, you could inspire me, one never knows; what do YOU think of Valentine's day? Do you love it or hate it? Leave your comments right below, please.

See you next week!

How I figure out the price of my creations.

More key rings for my collection.

In between building libraries and wardrobes I have found little time to design and create. I enlarged my key chains collection with 2 different kinds of key rings;

LoveLea's new leather/cowhide key rings.

 one is made of only cow hide:

LoveLea's cowhide key ring

and the other ones are a shield embellished with a piece of cowhide to keep your hands warm in the cold weather.

LoveLea's key rings: a leather shield with cowhide.

I am not only busy moving, designing, creating, I'm also working on SEO, growing my mail list, attracting people to my shop etc. I subscribed to many many bloggers, all promising strategies, systems that will fling my business to the stars in a couple of weeks, 2 or 3 months. I am a zero in computer language, don't know how to implement codes into html text...... But since a couple of weeks I decided to only subscribe to the webinars, online courses of Melyssa Griffin and I'll explain why.

Why I charge a modest price.

When I was a kid and as a teenager also, money was a taboo, a big taboo. I had no idea how much my father earned and I never have had! And if you  did mention the m word, they, the grown ups made you feel that money was dirty. So you didn't talk about it, you resigned.

But since a couple of years, in fact since all this young girls are earning money with heaps and spades and shovels, money has become something you can brag about: 6 figures a year!!!! They tell you without any scruples or refrain that they have an annual income of 6, 7 figures. Money talk has become very common, it is no longer a taboo! Even better: it is not a shame that you long to have such an income. And I fell in the trap until a week ago!

Melissa Griffin opened my eyes, made me see everything in proportion again. She prepared  video series Goals with intention 2018"  and helps you define your goals for 2018. If you have only income goals, you will never feel satisfied but if you have a chore goal (has to do with the purpose of your life), you add a spiritual dimension to your business.  The second video is about your purpose on this planet; one of the question you should think about is: what sorts of people do you love helping? When I heard this question, I was ashamed: I had only focused on earning money and forgot about the consequences: if you earn good money, you have a responsibility towards others who are less fortunate then you are. Then and there I decided that I never will charge too big a price  for the things I create. I have plenty of time because I am retired; if I charge for the basics and a little bit of my time, not the time I actually spent, I should have a fair price AND give people a chance to buy something with a reasonable price.

 Melissa Griffin is very accomplished, structured, does clear teaching but her best quality (to me) is her generosity. She doesn't give you some hints and then wham: 500  dollars, no she gives a lot of information for free!

Maybe next week I'll post from the new house; the whole attic will be a workshop, half for my husband who is a musician and the other half for my crafts. My son who is an accomplished and talented interior designer is thinking about the layout and the facilities. I'll keep you updated.

LoveLea and the Thyroide.

Looking at my first jewelry is like meeting an old friend.

It is so much fun to look at the jewelry I created end of 2016, beginning 2017. I have learned so much in the mean time. What I noticed is that the less possibilities you have, the more inventive and creative you are; you have to be. At that time, I didn't have any clamps so I had to invent something to close a bracelet or choker. Here come some examples. This is how a green choker with pyramidal studs closes: a stud as button and a loop as buttonhole. Do you see the lonely stud on the right? That is the button. The loop is more visible in the second picture.

LoveLea's Green Gothic choker with stud

LoveLea's green Gothic choker with stud, detail.

I made a matching bracelet with fringes, closing with snap buttons; somewhat eclectic, isn't it? The color is a sweet dark mos green. More pictures at my FB shop.

Lovelea's Green Gothic bracelet with studs and fringes

And this is one of my favorite chokers: a black choker with an ugly looking metal skull:

LoveLea's black choker with BIG skull.

It does look a bit scary! 2 More pictures at my FB shop.


LoveLea's Cool collection for Men.

I had some scraps of wrinkled leather that I kept in front of my eyes, because I didn't know what to do with them. Then it downed that the pieces were perfect for men bracelets. It is in a sweet, pale almost cognac brown, but the texture: I love it, very cool.

LoveLea's wrinkled leather bracelet for men.

 And I have another one in darker leather and in an organic shape; what I mean by organic is that I didn't trim it, I just cut the long ends.

LoveLea's wrinkled leather bracelet for men.

More pictures at my Face Book shop.

My thyroid is my friend

I started my LoveLea fb page around April of this year. I had designed and created a 25 pieces of jewelry, my sister in law Gudrun took great pictures at the familie gathering, I had FB friends and my husband, who has lots of FB friends helped me launch my page. The start was not bad, but the attention didn't continue. I said to myself: Hilde, you have to focus. So I focused and focused and didn't see or do or think anything but LoveLea. Focusing didn't help and I started a blog at the end of July and I continued  focusing on my FB page and my blog and my focusing wasn't focusing anymore, it turned into an obsession! When checking out the necklaces and chokers I made, I saw a lump at the base of my throat. I just noticed it, didn't pay it  any attention; anyway I didn't see anything but my business. The lump became that big, it even closed off my windpipe! This really worried me and I went to see a doctor. She advised another doctor who took a blood sample: everything o.k. But I HAD a big visible lump. The doctor advised me to get an ultrasonography to see if the lump was good or not. Secretly I hoped I had a benign lump, so that my weight gain was explained.

My daughter has a similar problem but she has it under control. I mailed her and asked what she did, what the doctor advised her, what the book (about psychological origins of diseases, sickness...) said.  She mailed me back and wrote: mammy just forget about doctors, books and advise; go to a quiet place, turn inside and listen what this lump wants to tell you!!! Yes, my daughter gave me this advice, see how wise she is! My little girl (she is 40) gives me wise advice. My little girl is a wise woman! I am so proud of her.

My daughter in Portugal.

I did as I was told, went to a quiet place and opened my hart: this thyroid that wasn't a thyroid because my blood sample said so, is cutting off your wind pipe; it attracts your attention at your windpipe; isn't the windpipe the symbol of life? And what do I do?: I cut off life with my obsession. I then decided to slow down, to work only for an hour in a row and only a couple hours a day. When I overdid, my thyroid was there to pinch my throat! So bit by bit, step by step I learn to slow down; my thyroid has diminished and is almost invisible now! But it still pinches my throat when I work too much. My thyroid is my friend.

Lovelea's-special-gift-ideas:

I wish all people who celebrate Christmas a happy, peaceful, cozy, convivial and intimate celebration!

You don't have all your presents and gifts yet? I promote key chains, business card wallets and earrings till the end of this year in my Face Book shop. Sure there is something for you to organize your bag! maybe you prefer earrings or this earrings; the keychains are special!

See you next week with more stories, maybe recipes and anyhow with pictures of my creations.

LoveLea's small X-Mas and New Year's gifts.

LoveLea's small gifts.

 Only 10 days left for X-Mas and 2 weeks for New Year's Eve and my FB shop is empty. I decided to delete my shop and start all over again and now the shop sells in €'s, yeah! This means I have to work and work to get my shop ready. I'll start with the small leather goods I made; there are still lots of people who have X-Mas shopping to do or find small presents to give away. You'll find unique gifts in my FB shop, f i: key chains. I have key chains with tassels in my stock but just straight on and now I made them more elaborate and fancy: 4 different ones in front of my painting of my daughter.

LoveLea's leather key chains.

When sorting out my writing desk, my eye fell on this big key: it is the key to the drawers of my desk. The key stayed in my head and when I designed the tassel for this type of key, I made it sturdy enough for the heavy key and colorful to contrast with the dark iron. Do you like it? You attach it with a simple bow.

LoveLea's tassel for big key.

My business card wallets and cable holders, both in leather also make nice gifts.

LoveLea's business card wallets.

And I have very cute earrings: leather tassels who deliciously caress your cheeks when moving or leather-pearl/bead combinations:

LoveLea's earrings

LoveLea feels Gothic these days 

We' ve had the first snow, just a tiny bit but enough to render half the country in chaos. In the meantime it makes walking in the sluggish streets a chore. It was an incentive to get my cowboy boots out; they look cool with jeans (duh) and  with a bit dressy pants and they easily slide on or off. And I attached tassels to them in a darker leather.

We are busy choosing new closets, a new library, a new bedroom. This is fun but it doesn't leave me time to do what I love the most: creating new jewelry. There are a lot of boring chores in keeping house, well I don't really mind because it gives me plenty of time to do my thinking, analyzing my feelings and I am feeling very Gothic this days; I used up a chunk of a bit rigid black leather and was able to get 3 chokers and 3 bracelets out of it. I have some possibilities in my head but haven't found time to realize them. I scribbled some ideas down in my agenda and ideas about how to present them. But first I should finish at least one set. In the picture below you see the result; the choker AND the bracelet with a chain in a mat black leather.

LoveLea's Gothic set with chain

LoveLea's Gothic bracelet

LoveLea's Gothic choker with chain

And I designed a new Gothic line: with cowhide. Only the bracelet is finished at the moment, (in front of my painting of my son when he was around 18) but the choker and another bracelet should be ready these days. They will be shown directly in my FB shop; sorry, can't give you a premiere, the show must go on!

LoveLea's new Gothic line: leather with cowhide.

LoveLea's leather bracelet with cowhide.

Next week, I 'll tell you about my thyroid and how it disappeared miraculously. Before you leave: Have a look at my fb's shop page:.