Kale is the new beef

Is it the same where you live?  Do you nowadays see kale everywhere?  It used to be that we only saw kale as a decoration in the meat or fish counter, but now it's being eaten instead of the meat!

I am a kale eater and no longer eat beef, and today, kale was my inspiration for a necklace. How often can you say a vegetable inspired a jewelry creation (although I did once make a "vegetarian bracelet" using the textures of different vegetables!)?

A little reminder necklace to eat your greens! 

And, in case you didn't know, kale is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat:

One cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 g fiber, calcium, Vitamin B6, magnesium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, copper, potassium, iron, manganese and phosphorus. 

It's health benefits are primarily linked to the high concentration of antioxidant vitamins A, C and K and sulphur-containing phytonutrients. 

So is kale your new beef?

Vegetarian bracelet

A couple of months ago, I got into making texture plates. Texture plates are made from silicone rubber or polymer clay and you press a texture in the rubber/clay, let it set and then you can use it on the silver metal clay that I make my jewelry from, to put the texture onto the silver.

I'd tried a few different object...shells, shoe soles, fabric......but then I was in the grocery store one day and all I could see was the textures of the vegetables! I figured it might be fun to make a bracelet out of vegetable textures. Maybe then if you wore it, it would count as you having your 5 veggies a day!!!!

So I set about making the texture plates and hunting out new vegetables, that maybe I didn't eat regularly but that had a good texture! I had hoped that it would be easier to identify the veggies textures once they were in the silver - but I think it's too tricky. A couple are easy I think - the corn on the cob and the frozen peas. Can you see them?

As for the others, I'll list them otherwise we could be here forever!
In the photo above, start from the square with the circle cut out of it as square 1, and the veggies I used are:

Square 1 - brussel sprout (cut surface)
Square 2 - broccoli
Square 3 - celeriac
Square 4 - corn on the cob
Square 5 - avocado (skin)
Square 6 - dried morel mushroom
Square 7 - romanesco cauliflower
Square 8 - frozen peas
Toggle - same as 1 - brussel sprout.


Can be worn by meat eaters too!