Inspiration from Traveling

Where do you find jewelry inspiration? Sometimes we find our best inspiration by traveling to new places. We can get inspiration from looking at historical monuments, or homes from the 1800's, watching the leaves on Oak Trees that have been around for hundreds of years, or going on tours and sight seeing. Recently, we took a trip to Mackinac Island, which is an island from the 1600's involving Native Americans, the French and the U.S. for a scramble for territorial rights was heavily prized for its fur trapping trade.

30 minute ferry rides leave Mackinac City, Michigan and head to the island. Watching the boat hit the waves as the sun slowly departs in the sky over the water is a sight worth watching. As we arrived onto the island, we headed up the hill for a quarter mile walk to Mission Point Hotel. Comprised of several buildings, this hotel used to be a college that held the women's dormitory. Presence of ghosts are supposedly said to haunt the golf course and main lodge.

Walking downtown in the crisp autumn air with the beautiful blue water from Lake Michigan is so inspiring for craft making. Even sitting outside at the downtown cafe on the island and watching horse drawn carriages go by is remembrance of older days when life was simple. You can feel the slight breeze brushing across your face while smelling the beauty of lilacs. An ideal scene like this allows you to pull out your jewelry supplies, pencil and paper and sketch a new design for earrings.