My home and my studio, where I create my handcrafted artisan jewellery, is located in Leura. A small village in the Blue Mountains, NSW Australia and located 100Km west of Sydney at a 985M (3,232 ft) elevation. The Blue Mountains are named as such, because they actually look blue!. Hot sun causes a discharge of mist from the dense eucalyptus forests, which in turn refracts blue light and makes mountains look blue.
In the Blue Mountains, with a population of around 4,000, creativity is abundant. Artisans such a Jewellers, painters, sculptors, film makers, writers and more, all call the Blue Mountains home. All this local talent inspires movements, such as MTNS Made. Mountains Made promotes a collection of creative people and helps to brand the Blue Mountains region as a creative hub. (http://mtnsmade.com.au)
The name Leura is Aboriginal for Lava but is more well known as the "jewel of the mountains". We have fresh mountain air, cool climate gardens and a multitude of natural wonders. The main street in the village of Leura, called "Leura Mall", is lined with boutique shops with beautiful Edwardian storefronts. Located off Leura Mall, is street upon street of quaint 19th century weatherboard cottages. All of this is surrounded by sandstone escarpments ablaze with colour at dawn and dusk, over 100,000 hectares of eucalyptus forests sitting in a valley of mist with water falls glistening in the distance, topped off with an abundance of colourful birds and native wildlife.
The temperate weather conditions are conducive to four equal seasons, bushwalking in the crisp cool air with the warmth of the burnt orange and red colours of Autumn, the warm and cozy open fires on a snowy winters night, Pink cherry blossoms in full bloom lining Leura Mall in spring, and a picnic and swim in the many water holes on a balmy summers day.
If your a foodie, cafes and restaurants are abundant and many of them embrace the "slow food" movement, serving local produce and regional wines. We even have a chocolatier who sells delectable handmade chocolates!
If Leura sounds like heaven on earth, I believe it is! I have lived in many places in my lifetime, but I'd have to say Leura is unequivocally the most beautiful, the most inspiring and the most peaceful.. the perfect place to make my handcrafted jewellery.
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Artisan jewellery made by hand with love. How it’s made matters. Sonara jewellery celebrates and supports humankind, this is my ethos and the heart Sonara.
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