Design Inspiration: Introducing the Melange Collection

Feel free to play. 

It takes such bravery and freedom to allow the abstract to become something real. This notion is at the heart of the our new Melange collection.

Inspired by one of Patti's favorite abstract works of art, "Lavendar Mist" by Jackson Pollock, the collection's gestural forms and colors dance and play, celebrating the divine and the imperfect, and inspiring us to do more of the same. What feels like an accident is actually just un-edited art making: a flow, a kind of channeled movement, by our own hand (and we get out of the way). Have fun. Do it now. Wear with joy. Be brave. Play more!

Welcome to Waxingland.

When you create, you are bringing your dreams, vision and a form of purpose to the world around you. We take great pride in our creations, considering not only what meanings they hold to us, but more importantly, the potential meanings they could hold for you. With out you, our friends and family, none of our dreams and creations would be possible. For this, we are eternally grateful and invite you to explore our latest creations, the January 2015 Collection is now available online and in stores. Welcome to Waxingland.

Coming Soon: The Personal Vocabulary Collection

Sharing love, sharing a new language.

If I close my eyes (something my daughter always prompts me to do when I am trying to remember) and think about one thing that made me happy each day, it would look something like this collection over time.

Another birthday.
My daughter.
A celebration.
Good fortune.
A gift.
Something that makes me smile…

The world is perfect, and filled with the many wonders that, when recognized, for each of us, add up to a joyful life. Personal Vocabulary is an expression of this.

If there is one language that begs for increased vocabulary, it is LOVE. So, you’ll notice that the word LOVE is in the title of each piece in this collection, because we just couldn’t shake it! It is infiltrating our open hearts.

So, now, a peek into our new, collective language: an ever-expanding vocabulary of joyful living, piece by marvelous piece. Let’s spread the word (love)…

Xo,
Patti

Design Inspiration: Our new Ancora Charm Catcher

Allow yourself to be an anchor, and anchored by others.

Patti shares some some thoughts on the not-so-heavy anchors of her life. This past summer, I spent some time crossing the Santa Barbara channel with my family (and a few friends), and living on our brave little boat for several days. I am usually inspired by the sea, but this time, more profoundly: my 4 year old daughter was with us, and much of the trip was seen through her eyes (What lies beneath? The stars above. The ANCHOR!). Yes, Lulu was enthralled with watching dad drop and lift the anchor, and the whole concept of anchoring in general.Heavy. Chained. Necessary. Life-saving.

Upon return to (wobbly at first, now stable as it should be) ground, I began working with the iconic anchor shape as the basis for a new charm catcher. Having always loved the lines of the anchor, and the iron-forged fabrication (and the important place it takes in sea travel... which is such a metaphor for life itself...) the design revealed itself. These things are graceful despite their weight. And SOLID (and meant to go deep). Yes, this needs to be imagined to hold markers of my ( and other's) journey.

I sketched out a simple, knife-edged design, with a hinged-arm mechanism to hold the charms in place. The original mechanism was eventually replaced but an even more effortless and lovely swinging arm. I loved it the minute we got it back from casting, and could not stop playing with it. It feels good and is perfectly analog and mechanical in a warm, useful way.It is a reminder of that life on the sea, which is Life itself: the unknown, the magical, the sublime, made available to us by slowing down; the exhilarating, shown to us by making the effort and responding to nature; and the true, by surrounding ourselves with the reality of what we cherish and love.

And it is also an homage to that beautiful, utilitarian hand-made object that keeps us tethered, so that we can go deeper and explore ourselves.

I am thrilled to add this piece to our collection on January 27th, and can't wait to see what you do with it.

Here's to your most thrilling journey... With ahoy!

Xo Patti

Learning to fly, lightly

Introducing our newest winged wonder,
the Fly Lightly Hummingbird

Inspired by the energy, lightness of being, joy and sense of presence that they bring into
our world, our new Hummingbird pendant is a whimsical focal piece bearing a reminder
to "Fly Lightly" through life. Before our Fly Lightly Hummingbird lands on Jan 27th, you can visit our other winged wonders.

Design Inspiration: The Tree of Life grows

A look behind the process of an evolving collection.

When we first introduced our Wing & A Prayer Tree of Life charm over six years ago, we had no idea how beloved it would become, or that it would eventually play such a central role in the Waxing Poetic story.

It was actually one of the most difficult charms we have ever designed (we created countless hand-sketched tree iterations and carvings before arriving at the one we now know and love... Who knew it would take months and months, but it did). Exploring every branch, twist, leaf and root (and nuance) of our Tree of Life was, and still is, a meditation. This is one of those designs that you just channel and get lost in, and then go back to and get lost in those branches all over again, discovering something... The Tree of Life sparked something in our design team from the beginning, and our customers responded the same way: love, love, love. The Tree of Life may be one of the most universal symbols of the energy of being alive and connected to each other on this planet. The tree is also a symbol for family, which is where, we suppose, it all started for us. And then along came the wonderful locket.For all of these reasons, we continue to return to our Tree. This time, it is reimagined by our lead designer, Stephanie Kheder, who created additions to this collection, including a new signature “Celebrate the Journey” medallion. Oft taken for granted, oft portrayed in so, so many ways, a tree is almost like a sunset: hard to “see” for its truth. Such natural perfection is challenging to interpret sometimes ... so magnificently beautiful, our tree is a central force of life and central to our understanding of who we are.

We love our families, this planet, and the great Tree that connects us all. We only hope we have done it justice, and that it holds as much meaning for those who wear it as it does for us.

And this probably won’t be the last time we return to the tree, looking for, well, everything.

View our current Tree of Life designs.

A Valentine's wish list: Our editors present countless ways to say "I love you."

We gathered some of our most requested, pined-for, and heartfelt gift ideas to give and (wink wink) to receive for Valentine's Day.

2015

2015, in the world of Waxing Poetic is ringing in a new look and feel of the brand experience. We welcome you to embark with us on the journey that lies ahead, we are eager to share with you, (our friends and family) a new chapter. New designs (available January 27th), inspired new ways to collect and wear the handmade quality products you’ve come to love so much. Waxingland is an inviting, lush, verdant world you can explore by way of our catalog and online experience. We know 2015 holds so much possibility, opportunity, and joy for all and wish you a prosperous and happy, happy New Year. Cheers!

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

'Twas The Night Before Christmas

By Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds;
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave a lustre of midday to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes did appear,
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny rein-deer,
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment he must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blixen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the housetop the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too—
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a pedler just opening his pack.
His eyes—how they twinkled! his dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke, it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly
That shook when he laughed, like a bowl full of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Source: Family Friend Poems