Payday Friday #2

Dear Monster,

   If we thought it would be good for you, we would flood you with toys, clothes, and so very many unnecessary but fun things! However, we don't want you to become one of "those kids" (trust me, you'll know them when you see them) so you'll be getting what you need with some splurges here and there. You'll get a junker car on your 16th birthday, and you'll have to help us pay for college by working part time when you can. These are things that will make you roll your eyes and vow to never talk to us again, but you'll thank us when you have all of college paid off, you can afford your first home because you saved, and you truly appreciate the luxury of a nice car. We love you. We wouldn't do it otherwise.
~~~

Hello reader! It's PAYDAY FRIDAY! WOO! I'm sharing a product with you today that I just absolutely love. I can't get enough of these little guys and, if I could, I would fill my whole freaking house with them. I adore getting them as gifts and they are one of my favorite things to give to others or buy for myself! I speak, of course, of the Willow Tree products. These little figurines touch my heart and, as I was browsing through their catalog this morning, even bring a little tear to my eye. Here are some of the little figurines that are sprinkled throughout our home thanks to friends and family:

 

I cherish the little story that they tell about our family. The Willow Tree products are made with neutral and natural colors and occasionally have accents of metal. Because of the wood they are made of, they are incredibly easy to clean and because of their coloring they fit in with pretty much ANY decor! I know that whoever gets these precious figurines will love them. They show such beautiful and unique moments of time and feeling that you just have to admire and appreciate them.

 
Artist, Susan Lordi, hand carves each original Willow Tree sculpture. Using family and friends as models, Miss Lordi does her very best to capture a moment in time, or express a feeling. Her pieces are cast from her original carving, and then individually painted by hand! By HAND! I love this. It just puts so much more feeling and meaning behind the giving and receiving of these pieces! On the Willow Tree website Miss Lordi states she tries to keep the interpretation of Willow Tree open. She hopes this makes it more personal, and allows the viewer to decide its meaning.

Willow Tree was introduced in January 2000. The line has now grown to encompass the sentiments that we most want to express, but may just not have the words to. I feel that, thanks to all of the personal touches and emotional inspiration, the original inspiration for Willow Tree still holds true today: "Willow Tree is an intimate, personal line of figurative sculptures representing qualities and sentiments that help us feel close to others, heal wounds, or treasure relationships." As she continues to identify emotions that are so important for us to convey, and renders them in simple, pure gestures this company will have growing and thriving room.

According to Miss Lordi, the name Willow Tree was chosen to symbolize that which is gestural and beckoning. The figures are columnar in design, like a tree, and often carry natural objects or animals as metaphors for human virtues or qualities: rosemary for remembrance, a bird for healing, flowers for beauty.
The sculptures are rendered so as to suggest elegance, simplicity, peace and serenity. Forms reveal their expressions through body gestures only: a tilt of the head, placement of the hands, a turn of the body. Emotions are left to the viewer to discern, which makes them personal and powerful. Willow Tree is an understated line that speaks in a compelling way.

Thank you Miss Lordi, and thank you Willow Tree for bringing your simple, loving, and emotionally intimate gifts to us all! I look forward to your products blessing my home and the homes of my friends and family for many years to come!

I think that about wraps up this week's Payday Friday! What are some of your favorite gifts to give? Do you have a website that you ALWAYS check first? Let me know what you think of Willow Tree and send me in the direction of some of your favorite gifts!