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Urban Eclectic Jewelry

Handmade Jewelry For The Bohemian Soul

Leather!!!!

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I absolutely love making leather bracelets!!  I don’t know what it is about it, but something about combining metal and leather really gets my creative juices flowing.  In fact, I could fill my shop and sell nothing but leather bracelets and be completely happy.  But, people do fancy things other than leather bracelets, so I do branch out from my “playtime” to create other lil’ tidbits too:.)
I buy most of my leather as “scrap leather” from vendors who make leather coats, shoes and handbags.  For my uses, I only need small pieces so their scraps work out perfectly for me.  Currently, I have 5 shoe box size plastic tubs of leather pieces and scraps, but I’m always on Etsy looking at new colors and patterns (with my mouth watering).
A few weeks ago, my hubby and I took a little overnight trip to Nicaragua and on the way back decided to go through a little town named Rivas — the next “city” across the border from Costa Rica.  It’s a very small town consisting of a typical Central American outdoor market selling everything from fruits and vegetables to women’s underthings.  Lots of pedestrians, taxis, pick-up trucks and bike taxis.

 

 

Nicaragua is much less expensive than Costa Rica so we hopped on a bike taxi to take a lil’ tour of the town to see what we might be able to pick up before heading back.  Noticing that there were lots of handmade leather sandals and bags being sold at the stands, I asked our taxi “pedaler” if there was someplace in Rivas to buy leather.  And what luck!  He pedaled up and around a dirt and stone road to the back side of town, dodging chickens and oxes crossing the road, and stopped in front of a little hole in the wall vendor stall.  (I wanted to take a photo, but the place looked like it might be a bit dodgy to break out my expensive “looking” inexpensive camera.)
It was a supply place that sold shoelaces, metal grommets, shoe soles and belt buckles.  Also, they had stacks and stacks of leather pieces.  YIPPEE!!  As with all things in Nicaragua, the price couldn’t be beat.  Unfortunately I didn’t have a ton of cash on me and they definitely didn’t accept plastic, so I wasn’t able to get everything that caught my eye, but I did get some large pieces of lush leather.

 

I love to find vendors like this, little mom ‘n’ pop holes in the wall.  The couple who owned the place were extremely interested to know what I planned to use all the leather for.  I had on one of my cuffs and showed it to them as an example.  They ohhhh’ed and awwww’d.  Cute.  I’ll probably head back to Nicaragua again in the next few months and will definitely go back by, cash in hand.

Is That A Snake In Your Pocket Or Are You Just Happy To See Me?

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One of the best parts of having my boutique in a tourist destination is hearing travelers’ stories from their Costa Rica vacation.

Arenal is a really popular destination that 8 out of 10 people that come through my shop have either already been to or are heading to at some point in their vacation.  It’s up in the mountains, lush, green, undeveloped and has an active volcano and a gorgeous lake.  There are lots of mineral rich natural hot springs with water heated by the underground lava.  Several of resorts build themselves into the jungle pools with paths to walk through from pool to pool.  You really are one with nature.  One resort even has a swim up bar centered in a pool for those who want to sip cocktails while soaking.

The day that I arrived in Costa Rica to move here, I had the worst flu of my life.  What a “fun” flight experience that was.  From the airport, an avid Costa Rica traveler friend of mine picked me up from the airport and we headed straight to Arenal.  He was my own personal Indiana Jones who seemed to know every off the beaten path, unexplored place in Costa Rica and took me to some truly natural pools a short hike into the jungle.  Surrounded by hanging vines, lush jungle trees and hot flowing mineral water, I soaked in the sounds of the moving water and life around me.  After a little over an hour in the spring, I emerged a completely well person.  My flu was gone.  I am now a strong believer in their healing qualities.

So when a recently passing family told me of their experience in the commercialized springs, I had nightmares of the “what could have been” of my own soaking experience.  While visiting one of the better known springs in Arenal, apparently a large boa snake was found inside one of the pools by a client!!  They quickly evacuated the entire area and roped it off with yellow police tape.

What an incredible vacation story this person had, huh?  Interestingly, as amazing as this story is – it wasn’t on the news.  I’m sure the PR person for this resort was busy keeping everything very hush, hush.  I think even the most adventurous traveler draws the line a being strangled by a boa at the hot springs!

Driving to the Carribean Coast

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We just got back from a week long road trip over to the other side of this small country.  We left from our Pacific Ocean, hot, humid, lovely sunset side of the country — passing over a horrific, rainy, cloud forest winding mountain, trucking lane, highway — to the wetter, less developed side on the coast of the Atlantic.
The ride over the mountain was pretty scary.  Call me crazy, but I tend to get a lil’ nervous driving through rainy mountain passes pressed between semi trucks and crazy drivers trying to pass in near zero visibility around blind corners in the pouring rain.  In Costa Rica, this is just called “commuting”….I guess.  I took a seat in the back, and tried to keep my eyes pasted out the passenger windows at the view of the jungle and the small waterfalls cascading down the sides of rock mountains.  It was better than seeing my life flash before my eyes!!  That’s for sure!

 

Pass on the left??  Uhh…no thank you.

 

 

Soon after getting past the scary mountain pass there is a change in the terrain.  It’s lush, lush, lush, green in every direction and there are what seems like endless miles of banana farms.  It rains in this region more than any other part of the country – which is great for vegetation, but not great for your home or building that may be in an area prone to flooding.  For this reason, many of the houses are built up on stilts which gives the place a real rustic, tropical vibe.

 

About an hour past the the mountain, you begin to approach the port city of Limon.  Along the highway (which is only 2 lanes most of the way) there are tons of cargo containers stacked up like small container high rise communities.  There are more semis, tanker trucks, traffic and you can see the commerce that moves from the port to and from the rest of the country.

 

 

At the coast, you can either head into the port or you can hang a right and head to the more desirable areas of the coast.  Limon is worth taking a quick drive through just to see, but it’s a port city just like anywhere else. Dirty, busy, and a little sketchy.
Port of Limon….from afar.
Having been through Limon before, we opted for the right turn taking us onto a gorgeous coastal highway that stretches for miles and miles to the wonderful beaches that lay ahead.
There is a noticeable change in the faces and culture of this part of Costa Rica compared to San Jose or the Pacific coast.  It’s like another country.  The Atlantic side is heavily influenced by the Caribbean islands because in the late 1800’s workers from Jamaica and other Caribbean islands came to Costa Rica to build the railroad and work on the emerging banana plantations.  Today, the majority of the population are of island descent.  Most speak English as a first language (like the islands), Spanish with island laden accents and you also hear a lot of Patois.
You can see the Rasta influence everywhere.  Street signs, light posts, cafes, bikes and buildings are painted in the Rasta colors — red, yellow and green.  There are posters and sarongs bearing Bob Marley’s face and you hear reggae music everywhere.

 

Building (a house?) in Manzanillo.

The drive from Limon down the coast is beautiful.  On one side you have the ocean where you can see the cargo and cruise ships heading into the port.


On the other side there are pueblos and small, scattered cottages among all the deep green foliage.

 

There’s a number of abandoned structures as well, 3 walls standing, roofless, with years of plant life growing and their own private jungle home inside.  We spotted one, the toilet visible full of plants. Nice pot!

There are tons of rivers — some large, some small that run from inland out to the ocean.

 

Around dusk, we finally arrived in Cahuita at the cute little house that a friend of ours was nice enough to let us borrow.  Tired from a long day in the car, but excited that we were finally there, we showered, got a quick bite to eat and settled in relatively early – hoping to wake to the sun for a day at the beach….

Stay tuned for more pix, stories, etc. from this trip….