Les Mémoires collection: bracelets and necklaces

{This post is in English. Per leggere la versione in italiano, clicca qui}

We’re eternally bonded to memories. In all our life, we try to hold on to the memories that bond us to the past, to what it’s been, and gave shape to what we’ve become. All of us is the result of all the experiences that we had and all the feelings that we felt, of all the small and big actions we took, all the relationships that we weaved and the people we met, together with our origins and the history of our families. All of this shape our character, the choices we make, the roads we take. Our memories are essential tiles that allow us to remember where we’re coming from, giving us the tools to build our present and give a direction to our future. They’re colours with millions shades and intensity that bring our personal painting to life.

For me, the season that bring the most memories is Summer. Often, to identify a certain year and remember at what point in my life I was in that moment, I think of the correspondent Summer and how I spent it that year.

Two whole months in the mountains of my childhood; my cousin helping me out with math homework and the white choc wafer biscuits we were eating while taking the mid-afternoon break; the Summers with all the tribe of cousins and the first taste of freedom; the two Summers when my life changed forever; the first holidays with my friends; the Summer spent working in a deserted city; the first swim in the ocean and the most beautiful sunset from the cliffs of Sagres in Algarve; and camping with one of my best friends, eating only sandwiches and food tins because the camp stove was broken…

Each Summer shapes the whole year, defining it and connecting more memories, smell, feelings, freeze frames.

The most beautiful sunset in my life, from the cliffs of Sagres in Algarve, Portugal

I’ve wondered, for me, which form do memories have? Physical form I mean, because often we need an object to keep, touch, see, that allows us to feel bonded to that moment, otherwise, we fear, we may forget about it, and this seems unbearable and painful. That’s why we surround ourselves with small objects that help us to hold on to those moments belonging to the past.

Memories have many different physical forms. Postcards, diary pages, old chewed pencils, wrinkled maps, small marbles, cork caps, old broken audiotapes, dried flowers, family jewellery, cinema tickets, shells, sand vials. Small pebbles…

Small pebbles. Found on the beach at sunset, on the shore of a calm lake, on the sides of a mountain creek, on a path in the woods.

For me, memories often have the shape of a pebble. Every Summer I would put a fistful of pebbles in my luggage, and once at home I would find them there, as coming from a different time and world. They were there, connecting me to those carefree days of holidays, whispering me “it has really happened, now you’re at home again but we’re here to remind you everything”.

I still do it. Everytime I go on holiday somewhere in the nature, whatever the season, I still gather beautiful pebbles, I slip them into my bag and then bring them home, where I keep them in a box.

They turn into small time machines, because I associate them to a moment, a day, a face, a smell, a feeling, a taste, a song. They remind me of the steps I’ve taken, what I felt, said, thought, and everything that let me become what I am now.

I’m eternally bonded to memories. That’s why I wanted to create a small collection dedicated to them. Les Mémoires. Bracelets and necklaces with small colourful gemstone beads and a pebble made out of brass, always with different and irregular shapes, representing a certain memory to bring always with you. On your wrist or at your neck. A memory that’s only ours and we don’t want to part with.

Each “pebble” is completely unique, with irregular shapes and lines, always different from each other.

You can choose among those ready to ship, to which you’ll entrust your very personal memory. Or I can make one with custom colours, if you want to create different combos and make it even more unique and special. Yours.

You can find the bracelets in my online shop at this link, while the necklaces can be found here.