Springing!

This has been a tough, tough winter for a lot of the country, and now that signs of spring are starting to appear and the weather is starting to mellow, a kind of giddy relief is setting in for some folks.

Ummm.... maybe a little too giddy. So let's refocus by taking a look at some of the spring-like offerings from the shops of the AJE team.

I love these murrini headpins by Jen Cameron. I'm not sure she intended them for spring but the colors are terrific.

I found these wonderful polymer lotus flowers in Kristi Bowman's Etsy shop - such a great shade of turquoise. They'd look great dangling from a simple pair of silver hoops, don't you think??

Karen Totten always has such a wonderful selection of handmade Wooly Wire, including this aptly named "Spring Mix" - and this ceramic green focal would go beautifully with it.

Diana Ptasynski's porcelain pieces make me so happy - she has such a quirky and fun sensibility. These "Summer Sunset Floral Charms" may be looking forward to summer, but I love this warm peachy orange for spring, and that touch of pale yellow in the center reminds me of tiny little crocus (crocii?) buds.

Kristen Stevens makes these great beaded beads in a whole host of colors. The color of this "Peach Cobbler" pair would be great with silver and navy blue.

This lunar hare design is maybe my favorite thing that Jennie Davies-Reazor makes. And bunnies and spring go together like ice cream and chocolate sauce.

When the first butterflies appear, it's a sure sign spring is here. Lesley Watt created these colorful beauties!

Melissa Meman has been enameling up a storm, and these sweet spring green posies are perfect layering and creating spring masterpieces.

Linda Landig whipped up these sweet earrings using Venetian glass beads and Swarovski crystals in purple and lilac. There were lilac bushes all down one corner of the street where I grew up, and they were almost exactly this color - I thought of all those springs the minute I saw these.

Sue Kennedy makes beautiful egg-shaped beads in several lovely colors, but these made me think of robin's nests - and those mean spring to me.

Rebekah Payne has a whole line of adorable babies - I love them all but as we've already established, bunnies and spring go together like ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Caroline Dewison offers this wonderful set of beads, which includes a chrysalis drop bead and wonderful shades of blues and green.

Keirsten Giles has put together this stunner of a necklace, featuring some of her "ancient shard" metalwork and a whole host of wire-wrapped goodies in various shades of turquoise and blue. Yum.

All in all, I prefer these beauties to Will Farrell in a flower cap. Thank goodness spring is finally here!

Until next time -