Shabby French Nude Inspired Belt Buckle

In honor of the upcoming Breast Cancer Awareness Month I chose a vintage image of a French nude as the focal point for this belt buckle.  A tribute to the female form in all her beauty.  One in two women will be diagnosed with cancer in her lifetime in the United States.  This is a terrifying statistic and women are being diagnosed seemingly at younger and younger ages.  The female form is lost due to the ravages of treatment for this disease and only after many painful surgeries can she once again regain her feminine form.  She will be forever changed - scared physically and emotionally.  She will be stronger, hopefully wiser and in tune with her body like never before...but what a price to pay for this wisdom.  It's just too much.

Mother Nature surrounds us with visual clues of what we should be eating to live a healthy and happy life.  Take a moment and look out your window.  What do you see the most of right now?  Green grass, green leaves in the trees, green shrubbery....lots and lots of GREEN.  Why are we surrounded by all this green?  Could it be a cue or is it just there to feed the inhabitants of this wonderful earth?

What do the animals of this lovely planet eat the most of....why it's green things!  So, take your cue from nature and add greens to your daily diet.  Find ways to enjoy green salads, spinach, broccoli, peas, kale, cucumbers, celery, parsley, peppers, onions...then add in deep colors like beets, sweet potatoes, peppers, carrots, beans and some white vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, and onions.  For dessert and snacks - lots of fresh fruits peaches, apples, oranges, bananas, pears, grapes, strawberries...yum.

Eat like your Life depends on it!

Once you feed your body what it needs you will have loads of energy to get sweaty everyday doing something that you love.

AVOID these things...they are detrimental to your health.  

Avoid high fructose corn syrup, anything hydrogenated, avoid eating or drinking from cans (they are coated with cancer causing resin), never microwave food in plastic containers or drink bottled water that has been frozen in the bottle or that has become super hot in your car.  Share this information with every woman and girl you know.

For this buckle, I added loads of vintage rhinestones around the edge for sparkle and a rhinestone broach to the top of the buckle to put it over the top.  Vintage lace was added around the edge held in place with black leather cording to give the buckle a shabby French feel.

A sweet floral broach was added to the front for a golden glow and a coating of resin was added to protect the image and to hold it all in place.  What do you think?

A few more things you can do to protect yourself from cancer...

Drink 3-4 cups of green tea daily.

Take Vitamin D and low dose of aspirin daily.

Limit red meat to once per week.

Avoid fried foods.

Loose 10 pounds.

Limit Sugar

Limit Caffeine

Blessings filled with wishes of health and happiness.  For those of you enduring cancer treatment you will be in a better place this time next year.  For those recovering from cancer treatments put your health first and give yourself time to heal - you are on the road to recovery.  For those women who are fighting for life you are beyond brave and please know that you are loved beyond measure.

Blessings - Julie