Beautiful Blues

This week we'll be taking a journey across the rainbow together and I'm very excited about doing so. So much colourful loveliness in the world.

I always have trouble narrowing things down. What can I say? Variety is what makes me happy and I experience abundance in my life. So I decided in order to give myself and my lens a little focus this week I'm going to concentrate on exploring colour in just a single area of my world. My wardrobe. After all, the colour that's closest to me all day, every day is the colour I wear. And it definitely acts as an expression and enhancer of my mood. Although I wear a lot of neutrals, I love to add colour with a variety of baubles and a pop of texture or pattern. I have very few expensive pieces of jewellery and a relatively limited core wardrobe but am emotionally attached to almost every trinket, handbag, pair of shoes and item of clothing I own. Silly, I know. But true. I propose to share some of my current favourites and their stories this week. Organised by colour of course, and limited to no, absolutely no more than eight a post, which is still a relatively short list for me.

So here we go... let the colour commence...

Turquoise and silver earrings - turquoise is one of my three favourite colours and always makes me feel calm and happy. I wear it a LOT - in all shades from lightest aqua through to rich teal. Turquoise is also the birthstone of Sagittarians and a gemstone associated with the search for wisdom and spiritual journeys, which is perhaps why I'm drawn to it too. I've recently rediscovered dangly earrings after not wearing them for many years because someone told me that my face was too long to carry them off. He's not around anymore and I no longer care. I like them. They're pretty and I think my face carries them off just fine.

Flowers and shells with blue - this necklace was a thank-you gift from two sweet friends who boarded with me for several months while they waited for the purchase of their new home to go through. No thanks were necessary but it is a perfect choice and I love to wear it because it reminds me of many happy hours shared on my sofas while they were here. This year they're getting married and I will be wearing blue in honour of that occasion too.

Look to the sea - this was a gift to myself, made by this lovely lady. I wanted to manifest my desire to live near the sea again in some tangible way, to act as a reminder to my head of my heart's dream. This seemed the perfect way to do it. The pendant makes an occasional sweet tinkling sound when I move and I love that about it too. Here it's lying in a little glazed bowl that I bought on my first visit to the west coast of Scotland. That was a happy time and I am reminded of it whenever I look at this.

Beads and stripes - I love beads! Always have. Or at least as far as I remember since my great aunt Jess gave me an exquisite jet bead-encrusted handbag from the 50s when I was about eight. My wedding dress had a short jacket, which I hand beaded (including real shells and corals) for three months before the day. The marriage has sadly ended but the jacket still makes me happy when I think of all the love it represented then. This collection of simply strung blue bracelets are some that I also made myself and they get a lot of wear. As does the stripy summer skirt that they're lying on here. I've had it for about 15 years and I love it as much now as when I bought it.

Camera case - who says a camera case can't be pretty too? This one protects my faithful Canon compact from the wear and tear of being in the bottom of my handbag. I never leave home without it.

Butterfly bonanza - the latest addition to my summer wardrobe - an impulse buy. It's a beautiful soft cotton jersey-knit wrap-around dress that I wear as a tunic over trousers. I think it's one of those impulses that will prove a good one. It's a very busy pattern by my standards but I love the abstracted butterfly wings and of course, the colours... who could resist all those lovely blues?

Dichroic glass ring - this picks up the light in the most delicious way and reminds me of a visit to a delightful spa town, where a friend and I bought one for each other as a souvenir - hers was red. Whenever I wear it I think of the yummy mini-chorizos in honey, olives in thyme-infused olive oil with fresh ciabatta, and the fruity Pinot Grigio and chat that we washed them down with...

Glittery wings - okay, fair to say that I don't wear these for the day job - although I have considered it, and perhaps might one day do so. The faces at the office would be worth it. But they have been worn out in public on more than one occasion and have made me inordinately happy on those occasions. Just seeing them there on the shelf, ready to don whenever I feel the need for this particular accessory, makes me smile some mornings. They're a bit of a talking point and can take some getting used to on a dance floor but I highly recommend everyone add a pair of four foot-wide glittery wings to their wardrobe - colour choice optional.

For a list of all the other colour loveliness to be found this week, look here.

Beautiful Monday blues!

♥