Customer Stories: Ana Alicia Garza
I love making leaf rings, there is something so satisfying about the way the leaf curls around the finger. I put the silver leaf on my mandrel and use a soft leather hammer to curl it around before I solder it to the band. The veins remain beautifully visible in all their detail - its a great way to showcase one of natures masterpieces, leaves are treasures we usually take for granted. My customer Ana Alicia writes about how her leaf ring keeps her connected with nature and the joy it brings her.
“…like this ring, my daily walks are a source of beauty and joy that I get to keep with me for the rest of the day”
Ana Alicia
Ana Alicia is a writer, book reviewer, and freelance proofreader living in The Hague, Netherlands with her husband, two children, and a temperamental cat. She has an interesting blog reviewing books at www.aagarza.com - a good place to visit if you’re looking for your next read.
I asked her why she chose the rose leaf ring.
“I started walking during lockdown. Before I used to cycle and walk busily and purposefully from one place to another in the normal course of daily life. But now I just walk. Every morning, rain or shine, I walk in our local woods, and I know how lucky I am to have access to this place. I don’t have a dog. I just go and walk the same path every day, except for weekends when my children are not in school and they come with me and we stay out longer. I don't find walking the same path every day repetitive in a boring way at all. It’s rather meditative and I am able to notice the subtle changes taking place all around me, like the oak tree that suddenly revealed tender green ‘fairy hats,’ as my children will call them later in the season when they go nutty brown and begin to fall.
My rose leaf ring arrived around the time I started my daily walk and I’ve found that it acts as a helpful reminder to get outside and that I always feel better for spending part of my day in the woods surrounded by nature, inhaling its scents and hearing its sounds. For me this ring, which I wear every day, is also a celebration of the fact that I have taken time out of my day to do something that is good for me and that I enjoy, and for no other reason. My walk is not on the way to any shops; it doesn’t get me anywhere other than where I started. And yet, like this ring, my daily walks are a source of beauty and joy that I get to keep with me for the rest of the day. “
Find Ana Alicia:
Instagram: @handling_of_words
Book review blog: aagarza.com
Ana Alicias choices: (I also added the Acorn ‘fairy hats’ her children notice on their walks and might appreciate!)
Thank you so much for sharing this Ana Alicia. Long may your walks continue!
If you would like to share a story about your jewellery please do get in touch, I would love to hear it!
