A link to my shop: https://www.etsy.com/NaturesOfferings

I am a nature scavenger, picking up seashells, driftwood, rocks, geodes, crystals, gourds, pinecones and whatever else catches my eye. I like to display these treasures in my home. Sometimes they are displayed as is, and sometimes they are “dressed up” to enhance their natural beauty or to make them wearable. I grow most of the gourds that I craft, buying extra-thick types or certain shapes that I can’t or don’t grow here in northwest Ohio. I like to try different techniques and work with a variety of materials so you will find many different types of pieces for sale in my shop.

Since I like bringing things that I find outdoors into my home, I figure that there must be other people like me out there who like to surround themselves with natural things but maybe can’t or don’t have the time to create decorative items from those things. That’s where I can help – maybe you’ll find something in my shop that strikes your fancy or reminds you of a happy time or place in your life. Please check back now and then, because if you don’t find something that speaks to you now, that something may be there next week or next month!

As long as I can remember I would pick up interesting things that I found outside, from tiny bits of colorful glass from the alley, fossils I found in rocks, to seashells and pinecones and colorful leaves. Later I grew some gourds and learned how to dry, clean and decorate them. I still like to bring natural things into my home and look for ways to decorate with them. And that's how the idea for my shop came about.

In my spare time I like to go fishing and camping with my husband, and of course we dig for rocks and fossils and pick up seashells from the beach! We grow almost all our own vegetables and I like to grow gourds. I am a member of the American Gourd Society, the Ohio Gourd Society, the Toledo Gem and Rockhound Club, and the Toledo Craftsman's Guild.

A LITTLE BLURB ABOUT GOURDS:
What are gourds? Gourds belong to the same family as squash, pumpkins, cucumbers and melons. The hardshell variety of gourds is most often used for crafting and they come in a wide range of shapes and sizes.

Gourds were among the first plants cultivated by man. They have been used through the ages in many different cultures as containers and water vessels, and even as musical instruments. Gourds were man’s first bowls, boxes and bottles, before man even knew how to make pottery. In fact, if you watch the old western movies you’ll often see gourds hanging up somewhere or in use as dippers or water vessels.

Mature gourds can be very heavy depending upon their size, but by the time they are dry and ready to craft they can weigh only ounces. It can take up to a year for the largest varieties of gourds to dry. By then the outer skin is often peeling off and must be completely removed. Once the gourd is soaked in water, scrubbed and scraped and finally clean, it is ready to be either decorated whole or cut open and scraped clean on the inside to remove the seeds and dried pulp. Then it is ready to be carved, wood burned, painted, or decorated in any other way the artisan sees fit.

So there is a lot of work that goes into preparing a gourd before it is even ready to be cut open and decorated, whether someone grows his or her own gourds or buys them from a grower.

You can follow me on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/naturegal101/