Heartfelt -grab a tissue if you are sentimental ...

I had planned to share this on Valentines Day but - well I can't wait! I met an old bloke the other day who, like many of his vintage, fancied himself as a bit of a storyteller. He shared with me an enchanting love story.  This is how it went ...

Once upon a time, a boy and a girl fell in love. They were teenage sweethearts really. They held hands when they rode their bikes down the street. They thought they would be together forever. Sometimes though, life has other plans and the pair lost each other when one left school and one changed schools. No Facebook or mobiles to help them keep in touch and just like that the soulmates were destined to be apart. Several years later the boy, now a young man saw his beloved walking down the street and his heart lit up. But when he saw that his girl, now a young woman,was pushing a pram he guessed that she had given her heart to another and he didn't approach her. So they lived their separate lives. When the woman was just 30 years old Mr Death knocked on the door of her house and when he left, she was a young widow. Love came and went in the woman's life but it never seemed to stick. As the woman approached her 64th Birthday, she reluctantly accompanied a friend to a party. She stepped into a room full of strangers but to her surprise there was someone in that room she recognised and who recognised her - immediately. It was of course her long lost love. Their hearts sang and they laughed madly to be together again after so much time. The man though was ill. He told the woman straight away "I am sick and they say I only have  a few years to live. Please come and share the last of my life." The woman agreed and for 2 years they stared down Mr Death but in the end it got down to the very bone and Mr Death could no longer be quelled by the strength of their love.
Ten years later, the storyteller met the woman. His heart sang too for he was smitten. They became friends but one day he confessed his feelings and asked the woman to be much more than a friend. He wanted a romantic attachment. The woman refused - she said that she had had the very best that love had to offer and anything else would surely be a disappointment. The storyteller was sad and told her that she had locked up her heart and bound it with memories. She made him promise not to try and pick that lock. He agreed for he is a gentleman. Besides he knew that she alone held the key to unlock her heart. Still, the storyteller has learned a thing or two in his 75 years and I am sure he plans to woo her. Afterall, his final words to me were "I am a patient man ..."

Well, as you can imagine that I had a tear or two as this chap was regaling me with this story. It is so beautiful - full of  love, loss and hope. I was very moved and trotted off home and immediately started a piece of jewellery in response.

The pervading theme was the idea of a locked-up heart.

I added an inscription in French that means "love's memories".

A vintage key - to represent the hope that one day the heart will fly open ...

The pendant which is made of recycled pewter and brass is strung on a handcrafted sterling chain and some vintage chandelier crystals. I will be revisiting this story to create a more elaborate piece - this one was my immediate-have-to-make-something piece! Now I am mulling over all sorts of design elements so I hope I can pull of something that does the story justice.