Day 5: the process

Working for myself and creating handmade jewelry, I've learned no two pieces will be exactly alike. This is definitely true about the creating and designing process as well. My fiancé and I had different visions for each of our wedding bands. He wanted his wedding band to be completely smooth. 

While I being slightly sentimental on the other had wanted small elements of the rings past to be left present so that I could be reminded of it's origins. I think there is no right or wrong way - it's just our own personal style.

I actually ended up having two wedding bands made for me - one for our civil wedding that was in the Olympic Peninsula in May and another one especially for our church wedding in Szestno, Poland. The band that I used for the civil wedding was actually a collaboration with my fiancé (I'll share a photo of that one in the next blog post) and a bit more about the collaboration.

Being able to pick our design styles and creating a dialogue of what we each wanted allowed for me to finally get started on redesigning these specials rings into our own pieces with our own personal stories.

Pictured above is my fiance's (now my husband's) wedding band and mine is the one with the word amo (our nickname to each other).

XO,
Ada Rosman

Witamy w Polsce / Welcome to Poland

We made it to Poland and it now has been a week since we've been here...  and let me tell you there are moments were I feel like a fish out of water. Lots of questions and continually looking for answers. Some times the most simple things turn out to be more complicated then expected. Adjusting and learning to be patient seems to be key.

We arrived to Warsaw last Sunday to find out that only one of my suitcases arrived and it happened to contain all my winter clothes. My other suitcase with summer clothes decided to stay in Seattle (not very helpful). I guess that is part of the new adventure, right? Three days later and some of the worst customer service I have EVER experienced from the lost and found at the airport - my suitcase finally decided to depart Seattle and arrived in Warsaw.

Translating - there is lots of that happening since my fiancé doesn't know Polish. Translating all day from English to Polish and Polish to English. Some days I even try to translate English to English. HA! As you can image, my brain hurts some days and I start to stutter.

It is definitely hard adjusting and finding home away from home or rather what I grow up with. I have always had a hard time calling the United States home as there was a part of me that longed for my relatives back in Poland, but then when I would come to Poland for the summers I would long for Washington state - thus the dilemma of an immigrant child I suppose.

XO,
Ada Rosman


PS - I've had the chance to eat some of my summer favorites in Poland - bób (broad beans) and maliny (some of the most delicious raspberries).

adventure truly awaits!

The journey is made up of various paths, we get to pick which ones we travel down.

XO,
Ada Rosman

Day 4: change

Some of you maybe wondering what did Friday's post have to do anything with those rings on the previous post??? Today is the day you'll find out that I have trouble altering heirloom jewelry. I just feel like each object carries it's own unique story just like how my Grandmother would tell me stories of some of the objects she gifted to me.

But the interesting part is . . . that as a jewelry designer I've always wanted to create work that tells the wearers own story. So there lies the dilemma. What to do? How do I go about altering heirloom jewelry into something new? You can imagine how long it had taken me to start working on designing the new bands that my fiancé and I envisioned to wear on our wedding day and how I was going to go about altering my parents' wedding bands. Let me just tell you it took a few months (more like 4 months) before I was even fine with the idea of changing these two special rings.

XO,
Ada Rosman

Day 3: sentimental person

Those that know me well, know that I am truly sentimental person. I can honestly say I've been like that since as long as I can remember (basically forever). I don't know if has to do with being a first generation immigrant or just a simple hoarding problem since childhood. 

When I was younger, I would fill my room with a random array of eclectic items (I don't think that has changed much though - HA!) ranging from such things as an old license plate (from our family car), colorful textiles to random family keepsakes brought back from Poland and our various travels as a family. 

Thanks to my parents, growing up I got to spend several summers in Poland - some of the fondest memories I have are of spending time with my Grandma in Warsaw and hearing her tell me stories about how life once was. She would often gift me small objects like dishes and random knickknacks, some of the items had such special and unique stories. I just loved hearing her stories!

More tomorrow on this topic . . .

XO,
Ada Rosman

Day 2: a box full of treasures

My fiancé and I had received a truly special gift from my family this past Christmas. A special wooden box that was filled with some of the most unique and special treasures including those two special rings you saw yesterday. . . 




My parents shared with us the meaning behind each piece and how it all came together. My parents wanted the rings and note to all be stored in a special box for us. 

The gold bands were my parent's wedding bands, the paper was a note my Grandmother had written to me a long time ago (my Aunt had found it and given it to my Mom), the horseshoe was found in an antique shop in Mrągowo (this is where we will be having our church wedding this summer) by my Mom and Aunt while searching for that special wooden box, however, the perfect little wooden box was finally found by my Mom's dear friend (I refer to her as my second Mom) made by a local artisan in Warsaw. Each item is so truly special as well as symbolic. 

XO,
Ada Rosman

Day 1: a dialogue

I'm approaching this blog post a bit different then I've done in the past. I find it so hard and confining to sit down and write a post about one subject that I'm passionate about and then limiting it in words to make it interesting to the reader in just one post.

So I figured why not break it down and create a dialogue with the images I'll be posting similar to the way I approached redesigning these special rings. So here is a little mini introduction for Day 1 to what I like to call: A Tale of Two Rings. The next few days I will be sharing a new image and will do my best to describe my thought process. 


XO,
Ada Rosman

A Tale of Two Rings

Tomorrow I'll starting sharing the story behind these two special rings. . . 

 . . . right here on this lovely blog. 

XO,
Ada Rosman

EVERY DAY IS A NEW ADVENTURE!

Slowly but surely, I'm seeing life more and more as an adventure. Not just the whole moving to Poland part, but the day to day things. That's why I find the stamp that I use on my new packaging quite fitting . . .

because as much as I can plan and worry about things, you really can't because truly every day is a new adventure! 

Thus here I am embracing even those nerves while at the same time enjoying the excitement about all the adventures to come. Cheers to embracing wholeheartedly the unknown and enjoying this wild adventure of life! With that being said, I can officially say our one-way tickets to Poland have been bought. 

Walentynkada: Little Explorers

Today's International Children's Day so it's only fitting if I finally share April's #walentynkada which has to do with some special little explorers. I know you are thinking (what has taken her so long).... please forgive me, but the month of May kept me quite busy with work in the studio, wedding happenings, and Poland planning. Odd to thinking we'll be #PolandBound in about 7 weeks! What?!?! How did that happen? 

Anyhow, I had mentioned that April's #walentynkada was a double surprise for some little explorers. These two little girls are always ready to hike, camp, and explore the beautiful PNW. 

My dear friend Christy Pelland who also happens to be Pacific Coast Regional Coordinator for  SheJumps - loves to create wonderful experiences for her daughters. And I definitely do enjoying exploring with the Pelland ladies! 

I wanted to surprise the little ones with something that they can wear while exploring. Meet the SheJumps Girafficorn below.

April's #walentynkada was a double dose of Girafficorn love with these custom pint-size leather cuff bracelets perfect for these little explorers. . . 

Each bracelet features a little secret message inside - one reads never stop exploring, while the other says adventure awaits!

      

Walentynkada: Grace from Ethiopia

Here is a little belated post about March's walentynkada. Sorry for the delay, but my work horse (Macbook Pro) decided to give out and needed a new logic board. Anyhow, I am truly looking forward to sharing this special piece with you all.       

 

Nikki of Oliverblue Photography contacted me about making a custom design necklace for her. She wanted to send a gift with some of her friends that were heading to Ethiopia to a sweet little boy named Grace that she had met on her mission travels.

  

Grace had sent her a letter a few months ago and had ended the sweet note with "always remember to let your light shine." She wanted to include part of this lovely message on the custom piece.

 

She decided on a personalized necklace for Grace. I told Nikki about my walentynkada project and told her that I would love to have this piece be a part it.

       

 I loved hearing the story behind how special this little boy was to her, that she loved him like he was one of her own children. 

What a special bond these to share separated by so many miles!

Thank you Nikki for letting me be a part of this sweet surprise!

Grace received his necklace, take a look: The Story of Grace in Shashamane