Open Your Heart – Necklace

[tab title=”Inspiration & Story”]

I thought a gorgeous “bird house” caging our precious hearts was a lovely way of expressing the need many of us have to protect our hearts out of fear of being hurt. . . And yet, a caged heart is the very reason one lives a caged life. We go on this life-quest looking for this one person or thing(s) that we believe has the key to our hearts. Someone/something that will make us feel “safe”, happy, and will make us the loving and powerful being we know we are.

And there lies the irony:  Only we have the KEYS to our own cages. It’s the key of CHOICE. And once we open our heart, then we begin to really “see” our world as beautiful as it really is, and it’s this appreciation that begins to transform our being from the inside out.  Fear comes from a believe that we are vulnerable to the outside world, but LOVE brings the KNOWING that we are stronger than any “thing” or “situation”. Love is freedom. 

I truly hope you enjoy this piece as much as I LOVED making it. I’d love to read your thoughts/comments about happiness. How do you experience it? What makes it happen in your life? If you have a minute, share it below!
As always, if you like this piece, please LIKE it! If you love it, “SHARE” it with your friends and loved ones.
Let’s spread the love as far and away is possible!With love,
– Veruschka

[/tab]
[tab title=”About our Model”]

“It’s incredible, that unconditional love you have for a child. I still wonder if he really came from me, from my womb. It’s a miracle. I don’t understand it. I live it very intensely.” – Anne Parillaud

This photo-shoot was not only incredibly fun, but I was honored to capture a beautiful friend of mine who embodies so much of what this necklace is all about.

Fernanda is not only beautiful on the outside, she holds her heart wide open and radiates her inner strength, compassion and kindness through her beautiful smile and personality. She is also an outstanding professional in the demanding (and tough!) financial industry, but she somehow is able to seemingly be the confident, loving and tough decision-maker she needs to be from 9 to 5, and comes home with her smile intact, full of love and energy to be the mother she loves being to her gorgeous Eduardo, wife to Jon and a friend to all of us who are lucky to know her.
As always, if you like this piece, please LIKE it! If you love it, “SHARE” it with your friends and loved ones.
Let’s spread the love as far and away is possible!

[/tab]
[tab title=”Behind the Scenes”]
This necklace  came to my mind by what I am calling “divine intervention”.  I was having a conversation with my (always patient) husband about the ideas I wanted to convey with this necklace.  I was telling him how I was looking for a “beautiful” symbol that showcases “fear”, but at the same time is overwhelmed by other symbols of beauty and a message of strength and love.

My husband came up with the idea of maybe using a little “bird” as the symbol of freedom, and have it “caged” in a tree.

For some reason this idea didn’t resonate with me much that night.  This is where the story gets interesting: The next morning, after coming back form the gym at 7:30am, I sat in my computer, and my little sister (who is in South America) had sent me an e-mail to tell me about this beautiful purse she had seen at a boutique that was shaped like a “bird cage” and how she had decided to save some money to buy it next month.  An hour later while working in our office, my husband was looking at the mail we had received that day and gave me all the envelopes directed to VeruDesigns.  One of the envelopes came from a Museum in Maryland with a brochure about their future exhibitions.  The main picture on the brochure was a painting of a bird-cage with its door open.

This is when I said: “Ok Universe! I got your message! This is what I’m supposed to do!” Viola!

[/tab]