Blog Status Update

I just wanted to drop a quick note for any new blog visitors.....

I'm terrible about blogging!

My blog completely dropped off of my to-do list.

I will blog again, someday.

Just don't know when.

For now, check out my Facebook fan page for the most recent updates:
http://www.facebook.com/jennymjewels

Thanks!
~Jenny

Has It Been That Long?

WOW. Has it really been 10 days since my last post? I have to tell you, time is really flying by lately! I left my job at the end of the year, and if I didn't have a calendar I would have thought it had only been a few weeks since my last day. I'm amazed how my "waiting for the weekend" lifestyle has done a 180. No more "3 more days 'till Friday, 2 more days 'till Friday" - it's all like WHOA - it's Friday already?!?!
My original plan was to head back to work within 2 years so I don't lose my licenses. I've got every license you could imagine needing to be a financial advisor (or their assistant, which is what I did) and MAN OH MAN I don't want to end up having to study for those tests again! (You lose them if you're not sponsored by a licensed firm for over 2 years.)
BUUUUUUUUUUUT...
With time flying by I honestly can't say what my plans are now! Who knows ~ maybe in a few more months I'll be ready to work again, maybe if I'm lucky enough to have a much larger-scale jewelry business I won't need to, maybe we'll be lucky enough to have a 2nd kiddo and I'll need to stay home, or maybe I'll just continue loving my time with my family like I have the last 4 months.
Who knows. All I know is that I'm incredibly lucky, blessed and grateful to have the life I'm living today.

And I'll get back to business soon enough - wowing you with new affordable jewelry and more of my favorite finds on Etsy!

Back to Work...

It's been a while since I updated the blog, but we've had a tough couple of weeks and a little time off really seemed to help. Our sweet pug Phoebe passed away, and it's been tough on the whole family. Matthew is only 3 1/2, so he kind of understands, but not really. She got so sick so fast. It was a cruel disease that took her way before her time.

After spending lots of family time together and enjoying the unusually pleasant weather (aside from the crazy pollen count), it's time for me to get back to work.

I started looking at my workbench again this weekend & have a couple of new necklaces.

This owl necklace has actually been in the works a couple of weeks (I couldn't decide on pearl vs. jewel) and went unfinished while my attention was diverted to family matters. I just love anything to do with owls, and have since I was very young. They hold strong sentimental value for me.

The butterfly necklace came to be slowly over the course of the last week. I just love the delicate filigree & sparkly but subdued vintage jewel.

When I first started making jewelry, I used to tell everyone that it was like therapy - stress relief. That was when my full-time job was really draining me and I just needed an outlet. After eliminating that stress (and moving on to all new ones being a SAHM) I forgot how finding my creative side and creating jewelry calms and centers me.

I hope you enjoy my newest creations & I'm looking forward to diving back in (after I attempt to get the house back in order today) to create lots of fun, simple and affordable summer styles!

~Jenny

What a Week!

I'm sorry I don't have a Fabulous Find for you today. This has been a crazy week!

Our sweet pug Phoebe has been very sick - she's got some kind of autoimmune disorder & her body is attacking her red blood cells/platelets. She's very weak and on lots of meds.

Plus, with the crazy 70 degree days, then 30 degrees with snow, then 70 degrees...

All of our allergies are out of whack here. Our 3 year old has been suffering with so much drainage that it's finally gotten to his tummy and he's sick.

(this is one of my fave pics - taken a couple of months ago)

So in between feeding the dog her 9 pills today and running with a bucket to my son's side, I just don't have time for a Fabulous Find today.

Instead I'm wishing all of you a happy weekend & I'm looking forward to a better week next week!

And the Winner is......

Congratulations to Melissa ~ she won the giveaway!

Now, I'm not sure how all of those blogs manage to get that nice little snapshot picture of the random number generator and the winning post (I'm sure it's more advanced editing software than I have) but here's the copy and paste for you:

Ok, so apparently "paste" doesn't work on blogspot entries, so I had to choose to either wait until I got it all figured out (yeah right) or look like the technically challenged person I really am.

So here's your answer:

I used http://www.random.org/ to pick a number from 1 to 56, and it chose 11!
The 11th comment belonged to Melissa, who chose to follow my blog.

I'll be emailing her and shipping the ring out to her.

Thank you to everyone that participated & watch for a new giveaway next month!

Better Late Than Never... (Fabulous ummm..Friday)

Thanks to a beautiful day yesterday at the Zoo with my 2 favorite people (my son and my hubby, of course) my allergies kicked it up in to high gear and alas........ Fabulous Friday got delayed a bit.

But don't despair - here it is!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/reallybadkitty

This week I wanted to feature one of the amazing artists from the North Dallas Etsy team. She's more than just an active member, she's the president of the team!

Ariela and her mother make these gorgeous button bouquets, and various other pretty things made with buttons!

Check out a few of their creations:

Now, to be honest, I was a traditional bride. I had beautiful flowers, but where are they now?

They were preserved, but they're brown and withered. They're stuck in a box as a keepsake, but it's not like I'm going to set them out in the house.

Ariela's bouquets on the other hand, last so much longer! I've been lucky enough to hold a couple of her bouquets and I can tell you the quality is absolutely amazing. The time, talent and attention to detail that goes in to each and every piece she creates is phenomenal.

I highly recommend her for any non-traditional bride, but don't just take my word for it - check out her shop yourself!

Thank you Ariela for letting me use your pictures and share my thoughts on your FABULOUS Etsy shop!

Beautfiul New Beads!

So yesterday I dragged myself out of the house (my allergies are killing me this week!) and headed to the Rings & Things Bead Tour Show here in Dallas. It was my first time and I LOVED it!
I'm always hesitant to buy more expensive stones when I can't get my hands on them first, so this worked out to be a great deal for me. I could see the quality, shape and size of each bead, which really helps me visualize it in my jewelry. I ended up spending more per bead than I think I ever have, but I got great quality beads at very fair prices.
I'm hoping to sit down this weekend and spend some time creating some new pieces with these beads - I've got so many ideas running around in my head right now I'd love to see them come to life!

Beautiful Gemstones - Aquamarine, Peridot, Amethyst and Rose Quartz (watch for earrings coming soon!


Fun Aqua and Emerald Foil Glass


Really Beautiful Yellow Opal Nuggets


The most expensive of my purchases - Sterling Silver Flowers and Owls


Fun Glitz and Glamour - Midnight Blue Faceted Glass


I've been wanting to buy pearls for so long - these are beautiful Pink and White Freshwater Pearls!


And my favorite beads - I'm just always drawn to Recylced Glass. The texture, the color - they're really mesmerizing!

My First Giveaway!!!

OK, so it's not my first giveaway ever, but it is the first giveaway on my blog, so let's enjoy the moment.

aaahhh.

So here it is:

This ring was intended for my Etsy shop, but I thought it would be a great giveaway ring. It's a nice chunky stone - turquoise color (so hot this year) - size 9 (so it fits pretty much anyone even smaller hands on a first finger). It's wrapped in silver craft wire. I bought this bead as part of a mixed grab bag/destash from another Etsy seller, so I can't be 100% sure, but it's heavy like stone so I'm guessing it's magnesite, or chalk turquoise, not the fancy real turquoise (or I wouldn't give it away!).

Here's how to enter:

1) become a follower and then leave a comment saying that you follow the blog

2) go to my Etsy shop and come back here to leave a comment about your favorite item

3) become a Twitter follower (jennymjewels) and come back to leave a comment

It's that easy! Make sure to leave a comment on this post for each of the things you do - up to 3 entries per person!

IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU LEAVE ME A WAY TO CONTACT YOU - SPELL OUT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ME IN AT LEAST ONE OF YOUR ENTRIES!

The giveaway will end next Sunday night, March 21st at 11:59pm my time (we're CDT here in Texas). I'll use the good 'ol random number generator and post the winner the morning of 3/22.

If you win, I'll email you for your shipping address (worldwide!)

GOOD LUCK!

It's Fabulous Friday!

This awesome Etsy shop was featured in an Etsy Finds email a couple of weeks ago and I was so impressed by her shop that I just had to share!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/OlliesBoutique

Now I see a lot of crocheted items in other shops that are cute and cool ideas, but I have to stop and think "would I really use that?" but Diana's shop has the coolest thing ever that I would definitely use!

CROCHETED SWIFFER COVERS!

What a cool idea! If you're like me and opt for the convenience of a Swiffer over a traditional broom, but HATE paying an arm and a leg for refills, this is for you!

She's got some great colors to choose from, and I personally am going to order at least 2 from her so I always have one clean when the other is dirty.

When I think about spending $6-$8 on each refill pack of disposable Swiffer pads (which we go through so fast with tile floors and a double-coated dog) I know the crocheted covers from Ollie's Boutique on Etsy will pay for themselves in just a couple of months.

Thanks to Diana for letting me feature her shop!

How It All Started...

This weekend I stopped by my parents' house for a little bit and got a glimpse into how it all started.

I had been telling my mom a few weeks ago how Matthew won't hold crayons/markers/pencils the right way yet, and that his teachers had suggested breaking his crayons in half so he's forced to hold them the right way. My mom called me into my old room and showed me a tub of crayon ends I had saved (who knows when) and thought we could use them. Then she told me "you know you have a whole tub of beads in here, too".

I had completely forgotten.

She pulled out a small margarine tub full of beads.

When I was younger (middle school maybe? 5th grade-ish?) I used to ride my bike up to Hancock Fabrics and buy seed beads with whatever money I had. I'd string them on fishing wire "borrowed" from my dad's tackle box. I was trying to make one of those beaded curtains - kind of a hippie doorway in mind. I had completely forgotten how much time I spent threading those tiny beads onto wire.

My first thoughts when she showed them to me were "great, I can sell those" and then it hit me. Why would I ever sell them? These are for me to treasure, a reminder of when my passion for beads began. I could never sell them.

Plus, they smell terrible. I'm not sure if it's the beads breaking down, or the plastic margarine tub (probably the tub) but they really stink.

So they'll live in my office with my other supplies (closed, though - don't want that funk to stink up my other beads!). They'll be a constant reminder of how it began for me and how much fun it was and how much fun it still is - every day.

FABULOUS FRIDAY!

Ok, so I'm a little late with this, blame my... well, I can't think of anything to blame it on ;-)

Here's the 2nd installment of my FABULOUS FINDS FRIDAY!

This week's featured shop is...........

(drumroll please...............)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ajsweetsoap

I don't remember how I found Denise, but I fanned their Facebook page and I'm so glad I did!What drew me in was this:

Rock Candy Soap! I just love the idea and it looks great!

Just in time for Easter they've got some super-cute "Soapy Chicks" (get your mind out of the gutter - they're Peeps).

I just love seeing their cute, whimsical soaps and I know they take so much talent to make. After my brief interest in soap-making (2 batches of very funky-not-in-a-good-way soap) I really appreciate all of the hard work and skill that goes into making soaps that look, smell and feel good!

Thanks to Denise for letting me feature http://www.etsy.com/shop/ajsweetsoap !

One of My FAVORITE Etsy Shops!

Ok, so it's Tuesday. I know. I'ts not Friday BUT I just had to share my FABULOUS FIND .

I just love watching the front page of http://www.etsy.com/ for the featured seller. A few weeks ago Etsy featured an amazing shop that I just had to order from.

http://www.haveitconfections.etsy.com/

They make amazing caramels, marshmallows and nougat. I personally ordered their "just a taste" size of 4 different "cut your own" caramels. I tried the Belgian Chocolate Caramel, Spiced Vanilla Caramel, Marzipan Caramel, and my new best friend, the Fleur De Sel Caramel. It was all amazing and I loved that I could cut my own - a chunk or a sliver depending on my mood. I love the salty/sweet combination of their Fleur De Sel caramels ~ it was more than just eating sweets - it was a memorable experience.

Fleur De Sel Caramels & Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

I know they are still catching up from the hundreds of orders they received after being featured by Etsy, but anything you order is going to be well worth the wait. I'm not much of a marshmallow person, but I'm going to have to try those next because their caramel was unlike any I'd had before so you know they only make the best!

Off to go have a bite of Fleur De Sel - my mouth started watering the minute I started typing!

Fabulous Finds Friday - The Pilot

No, I'm not featuring a pilot this week, I'm actually starting something new (in the hopes it will stick and get picked up for many seasons to come). I'm calling it... (drumroll please)...
FABULOUS FINDS FRIDAY!
Here's the idea - I'm going to feature a fabulous Etsy shop each Friday! I'm going to draw on my personal experiences as not just an Etsy shopowner, but also an Etsy customer!
I had this great shop lined up for today and then it dawned on me - I should probably ask them if they're ok with it first! I mean, who wouldn't love a glowing recommendation, but I've gotta make sure they're ok with me using some of their pictures first.
So here we are at the First Weekly Fabulous Finds Friday.
And I haven't got my stuff together.
It would make more sense to wait until next week, when I'm more prepared to post, but that's not my style. Patience has never been one of my strengths. So here I am, rambling about absolutely nothing (well not nothing - an idea, but that's about it).
I did contact the shop I wanted to feature (about 10 minutes ago) and then realized they are on vacation for the weekend. Well, if I do get permission from them you can expect a belated FABULOUS FINDS FRIDAY (the saturday edition).
Stay tuned...
and have a great weekend everyone!

Rings!

I finally got about 25 of my ~150 new rings photographed. Whew! That's only about half of what I wanted to accomplish today, but it's funny how I get so much less done on our "free-days" at home (no preschool Tuesday or Thursday) than our busy days. Here's a sneak peek:

My focus is on bigger, chunkier rings lately!

I'm also working on ideas for my March special - maybe a discount on green things in honor of St. Patty's Day? I'm open to suggestions!

Almost Forgot!

Really quick note - I just want to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to Cornelio Mallare for winning last week's giveaway on http://www.mystructuredchaos.blogspot.com !
I can't wait to see which rings they pick out!
I'm working on more giveaways in the coming weeks, so keep checking here for more info!

Happy Margarita Day!

If I hadn't "fanned" Jimmy Buffet and Margaritaville, I never would have realized that....

Today is National Margarita Day!

How do you like yours?

Here's an awesome link with tons of margarita recipes!

http://www.margaritatexas.com/recipes/

Enjoy!

P.S. I know I've slacked off the last week or so on the blog BUT I had to get caught up from everyone in the house being sick. Look for more fun facts, tips, tricks, etc, etc... coming soon!

What a Week!

As the week comes to a close, I want to thank all of my new followers for joining me, and thank all of the people that entered my giveaway over on

http://www.mystructuredchaos.blogspot.com/ .

I can't wait to find out who the lucky winner is!

Anywho... I'm finally getting back up to speed after being knocked out by the flu. Matthew also finally had a day of preschool - the first in over a week! The snow, holiday, and parent-teacher conferences kept him home with momma for some TLC.

I did manage to get some of my new earrings photographed - I'll get them listed over the next week and I think you'll be happy to see some brighter spring colors making an appearance.

Here's a sneak peek at a couple of my faves:

Thanks for stopping by, oh and don't worry - If you didn't enter my giveaway head on over to Structured Chaos' blog today - the contest ends tonight so there's still time to enter!

On the Mend (Thanks to my Mom!)

I wanted to share something that has been a staple for me the past week - my mom's recipe for spiced tea! I never realized how loaded with sugar it was until she gave me the recipe, but I can tell you this - I couldn't have survived the flu without it!

This stuff helped soothe my throat, calm my cough and comforted me. I've loved it for years and finally got the recipe out of her.
Mix the following ingredients together and store in an airtight container (my mom always used canning jars). Use 1-2 spoonfuls per cup of boiling water. It makes a great Christmas gift dressed up in a pretty container, too!

MOM'S SPICED TEA
~ 2 cups instant tea granules
~ 2 cups tang
~ 2 cups sugar (whoa!)
~ 1 package of lemon kool-aid
~ 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
~ 1/2 tsp. cloves
(another version doubles the cinnamon and cloves)

Try it and I know you'll like it! I didn't worry too much about the sugar/calories since I was so sick I wasn't eating anything else!

Enjoy!

So I Thought This Was Cute..

And just had to share.

My 3 year old just loves Wubbzy. Today he was watching the Valentine'e episode that we Tivo'd for him & it had something to do with Cupid and kisses. He told me "mommy, some kisses are yuck". So I asked his which kisses are yuck? And he tells me:

"The ones when they have the ballerina stuff on makes it yuck"

So does this mean he's been smoochin' the girls at preschool?

Want to Win a Couple of My Rings???

Head over to http://www.mystructuredchaos.blogspot.com/ and enter to win!

She's got a lovely blog with tons of information, and to top it off she's hosting a giveaway from my shop this week! The lucky winner gets to pick 2 of their favorite rings from my shop!

I'll ship them out and VOILA! 2 free rings!

Back in the Saddle Again.........

After a week with the flu I'm starting out today with the goal to get caught up on my blog, facebook, email, twitter, etc, etc, etc. My head is still pretty "foozy-woozy" (as my son would say) and I've almost completely lost my voice so today all anyone will hear out of me is the clickety-clack of the keyboard. Yesterday my mom and I put my new and improved booth layout to the test at the Vendor Blenders craft show. The booth looked great (imho) but the record snowfall kept the monthly flea market next door closed, and many visitors away from downtown Fort Worth. At least I got some quality time in with my mom, since we don't see as much of each other now that I'm not working & she's not watching Matthew for me. Here's a couple of pics:

My booth

My new improved earring display (homemade!)


Ring and bracelet displays

view from my booth

View from the loading dock down towards the entrance

I'm not sure if I'm up for another show anytime soon (maybe later this year) so everything I worked so hard on to fill my display will be getting listed in my Etsy shop soon! My goal for this week is to get 50 of my 200 new rings listed (photographed, descriptions written, listed, put in inventory). I've also got about 50 new pairs of earrings (some I've got multiples available!) that will go up sometime this month.

I know there was something else I wanted to say, but this head's getting too foozy-woozy to concentrate so we'll save it for another day (If I can remember it!). Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Making Progress but Way Behind

So I'm making progress getting ready for my next show - here are some pretty rings from my green collection. You can see I'm still lovin' lime this year!

Next up are black & white. So far I've picked the beads and stones I want to use.

This is as far as it goes today, though. With a sick kid and hubby the past week I've fallen WAY behind on getting things done around the house. I need to spend a couple of hours updating my shop, too. I LOVE Etsy, but man is it time-consuming updating all 100+ listings to reflect shipping charges going back to normal after a long holiday sale. I'll also be setting up my shop for a huge clearance - moving out the old (discounting 20 items each week) to make room for new styles. The good news for my customers is that it may take me a while (into tomorrow probably) to update all of my listings so if they grab something before I get it changed they still get the free shipping one more day! (and I only do free shipping promos like twice a year!)

New Rings!

So here's what I've been working on...

I've filled my blue/purple and red/pink ring displays! The pictures are not very good (bleak dreary cold day here) but this will give you an idea of what will be available at my next show (which is FREE admission by the way).

Saturday, February 13th

9am - 5pm

Will Rogers Small Exhibit Building

Fort Worth, Texas

There is a LOT going on that day in Fort Worth so come on down for my show & the following:

The Original Fort Worth Gun Show

Bull Breeder's Classic

Bird & Puppy Show

NextStar Dance Competition

TXOLAN Alpaca Show

and the always popular Fort Worth Flea Market

These will all be within walking distance from the show!