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NEW Rock & Rose Collection Launched today!

Hi everyone! I’m really proud to launch my new collection today!

I’m calling it the Milagros Heart Collection and it’s available now in my shop. I have a large stamped copper heart on a sterling silver chain, a smaller stamped heart with a shining star in the middle and matching copper stud earrings. The pierced earrings are either sterling silver or stainless steel.

But what is Milagros?

Milagros (meaning miracles in Spanish) are small religious folk charms found on church walls throughout Mexico and Peru. They are small silver or gold votive offerings that come in the shape of body parts, animals, foods, houses and plots of land. They would have traditionally been given to the preferred saint in the hope of a pray answered or to give thanks. The Heart Milagro (also known as the Sacred Heart) represents love, healing, gratitude or a romantic connection.

Some are also made from tin, a metal that is strong, light, and visually looks like silver. Most Mexican tinwork is now made in the Mexican states of Guanajuato, Jalisco and Oaxaca in small family-run workshops. When we visit my Dad in Suffolk, we discovered a fantastic little shop in Stonham Aspal called Casa Mexico that actually ships their products directly from Mexico. We’ve bought a few items including these gorgeous tin hearts which helped inspire this collection.

But why a heart?

I had a few ideas for my Rock & Rose collections and this one is my next release just in time for Valentine’s Day. Who doesn’t love a heart too?

These items are influenced by the Sacred Heart which is one of the most common motifs in religious folk art created in Mexico. It comes in various forms with flames around it, with a crown, with a dagger through the centre and sometimes with a crown of thorns. I particularly liked the shining star stamp I chose to put in the middle of my smaller necklace and earrings.

I chose to be influenced by Mexican folk art and Day of the Dead and I think the stamped effect of circles and dots really reflects this. Check out my Pinterest board of Mexican heart inspirations?

Did you know?!

In the 1824 Cornish tin miners left England for Mexico to mine the tin. There is one town, Pachuca in Mexico, where the residents have blue eyes and a passing resemblance to their Cornish ancestors!

Will you be buying a heart for yourself or a loved one this Valentine’s Day?