SusieJ.....Thank you!!!!

I received an email from SusieJ who loves my Mother's Rings and even blogged about it here. I am telling ya. You meet the nicest people on the net!

Thank you SusieJ! You made my day!

Warmly,

Leslie

It's A Giveaway!

Hey all! I TOTALLY forgot to tell you that Cassi over at The Crafty Crow, my FAVORITE blog, is giving away one of my Mother's Rings OR Mother's Pendants! Head on over if you are interested and leave a comment to enter, PLUS take a look around her F*A*N*T*A*S*T*I*C blog! Good Luck! Enjoy!

Warmly,

Leslie

And The Winner Is.......

Shadesongs!!!!!!

Who wrote:

"Hi, first, love your shop. I see you are a fan of hollow lampwork beads. I adore them, but I am greedy, I don't share well with them! I am also a nurse, I work on a dementia unit..weekends. I was just thinking today about the balance between nursing and designing. And have my fingers crossed as I would be honored to wear your ring! Thank you, Jerry and my shop is under shadesongs and you can reach me at shadesongs at aol.com or through etsy! Have a great night"

Congratulations!!! I am SO excited for you! And a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who participated in this giveaway! You ALL have touched me by your wonderful comments. I really can NOT express into words what your comments mean to me! Truly!!

I will be contacting the winner to get the birthstones need to make this beautiful ring! But, in the mean time I want to announce something VERY FRUSTRATING!!!

My supplier that I have purchased the birthstone rondelles from is no longer carrying the September Sapphire in Sterling Silver, only Gold AND the December birthstone rondelles apparently were a limited edition color and they have suggested us buyers use a different color. Ok, so, the December issue is not REALLY a problem because I have looked at the new color and it actually seems to be the birthstone that matches BETTER than what the supplier was selling in the first place. Make sense? Clear as mud? So, my big problem is the September birthstones........I am in the process of trying to find a new supplier. I thought I found some and actually purchased a couple to see if they were anything like what I was using already and of course not, NO they are TOTALLY different! Crud! I will keep on looking and buying....in the mean time I will use the stash I have, find new homes for the September stones I am buying and NOT liking and well, just keep trucking along!!!

Sorry for the rant and to lay that all out on you all, I am just a little frustrated that I have been selling these rings for over 3 years here at home and never had a problem.......I open an Etsy shop and NOW there is a problem......ah! There I go again. SORRY!!!

You all have a great day and week and again CONGRATULATIONS to our winner! WOO HOO!

Warmly,
Leslie

It's A Giveaway!!! Yay!!!

Yes! It is my first Giveaway! YEAH!!!! I am giving away 1 custom Mother's Ring!!! They are made from 0.925 Sterling Silver and Swarovski Crystal Rondelles. All strung on professional no-fray elastic cord. Great for those with hand ailments, like Arthritis, or just those who suffer from any form of swelling. Great even for moms-to-be who have that pesky swelling due to fluid......I did not say weight gain!!!!

Here is the plan.........Go to my Etsy Shop, take a look around, come back here and post a comment about things you see in my shop. Anything you want....your likes, dislikes, questions, ideas, critiques.......ANYTHING! I am up for it. Just make sure that there is a way for me to get a hold of you and of course your name. This post will stay up for the rest of this week and over the weekend. Monday I will use one of those random number generators and pick the winner. I will post the winner and their comment here with a HUGE congratulatory message and then of course get together with the winner via email and discuss the ring. The ring can be for the winner, or they can use it as a gift for the holidays......they can even just pick out some colorful stones if they do not have any children or grandchildren. It is the WINNERS choice!

PLEASE head on over to Punky N Munky and take a look at Wendy's blog!!! Wendy sent some great questions over to me....I answered, to the best of my ability, and sent them back. She will be posting that interview very soon on her blog! An insiders look into me and my Etsy shop! Oh what tales I can spin.....

I actually met Wendy when she made a pair of custom hair clippies for Madelyn. They are the GREATEST ribbon sculpture clips EVER! Madeyln actually wears one and uses the others as little dolls to play with. Check out Wendy's Etsy Shop! You will NOT be disappointed. Oh, and Maddy's choice of sculpture clippies happened to be the "baddies"......The Wicked Queen from Snow White and Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty......I wonder what that means? Anyone?

Good Luck to all of you........since this is my first giveaway, if I forget anything or if you have any questions, I will be back in many times to check the progress! Again, please checkout the links and sites above....you will really enjoy them!

Have a great week! Take care!

Warmly,
Leslie

Think, Think, Think.......Giveaway?

As my favorite friend Winnie the Pooh would say.......think, think, think. I am at home today taking care of my sickly girl. She is sleeping due to having one heck of an upper respiratory infection, plus strep throat. Hmmmm, gotta love those daycares! So, I am enjoying some computer time....trying to be ULTRA quiet, and I am doing some thinking. My thoughts are......."I wonder. Do I have enough readers to do a giveaway?" I know I have a counter on my blog, but I confess, sometimes I can not remember what the numbers are! You'd think after 3 years, my daughter Madelyn would return the brain cells she stole from me in utero. I guess she still thinks she needs them. I beg to differ!

SO! If I truly do have readers out there in blog land and you all would be interested in a little free jewelry giveaway..........post a comment.....say Yay or Nay, or what ever you want, I am not picky. Even if there is only one lone, solitary reader out there, please post. Your chances of being a winner are really good! HA!

I am thinking about a "Mother's Ring" giveaway. Don't be fooled by the name, it could be a Grandmother's ring, Nana ring, birthstone ring, or just a fashion ring for those without children! They are made from 0.925 sterling silver and Swarovski crystal rondelles. They are strung on jewelers professional elastic powercord, no fray and treated with super duty jewelers glue on the hidden knot! You can see some very bad pictures of some beautiful custom orders here.

Please, let me know what you all think.......if there is a "you all". If I get any kind of response I will proceed with a jewelry giveaway. If you all are NOT interested in the rings, give me your opinion on another piece, as I am willing to go for anything........earrings, pendants, bracelets, childrens jewelry, etc.......ANYTHING! I need something to get my creative juices flowing again. Do not get me wrong, I am happy with ANY orders I get, but they have all been mother's rings and birthstone bracelets. Oooo, I sound ungrateful. Sorry, that is not how I meant it to come out. I think maybe that since all of my orders are from around my hometown and from work, I am wanting to connect to more customers out there in the rest of the world!

My hubby is staying home tomorrow with the little one as I have a cholesterol clinic to run at work. Thursday......I have jury duty...........yeah, you can pick yourself up off the floor now........stop laughing.......I mean really........stop.

I will leave this post up until the weekend at the latest. Have a great week......go have fun! Take care and GO CREATE!!!!!!

Warmly,

Leslie

Full Weekend........Fun Weekend!

Hello all! What a weekend! My mother came in for a visit. She had a complex surgery on her hand weeks ago and was just now able to drive her car. She was not released for even a few days and she was on the road here to see "her baby girl". Ahem.......not me.....the other one.......yes MY baby girl. You know the one I gave birth too. The one who I labored with for 20 hours. The one whom I love more than life itself. The one who is 3. The one who was HOLY LIVING HEATHEN this weekend! Yes that one. My sweet Madelyn was AWFUL this weekend! Please, someone tell me that this is normal, 3 year old behavior! Talk about your Dr. Jekyll Mr Hyde! Whew.....I am beat! I even overheard my mother on her cell phone talking to her long-distance "boyfriend" about my dear little girl acting "bratty". Ahhhh! The "B" word! The worst thing you can call a child! Man-o-man has she put me through the ringer this weekend with her ups and downs........"Love you mama! Your my best friend!"........two seconds later she spits at me! YES! SPITS! What the heck is she picking up at that preschool? Anyway, enough of that, or I will have to go into detail on her punishment for that one!

Oh! The above picture is another story......long story short, my dear sweet FIRST Robin disappeared many weeks ago, right after I posted about her on my blog. Her nest sat empty for many weeks, but I figured I would leave it there. You know, just in case. Well, the last few days I have witnessed another robin flying off every time I pull in the garage. My husband decided to check Saturday and look what we have!!!! Doesn't it seem late to have eggs? Oh well, I will take what I can! The FIRST Robin never moved when we went outside or used the garage. This NEW Robin flies off every chance it can. I have threatened to call the DFS, as I believe she is abandoning her babies WAY to much.......I mean really.....what would you have me do?

I have had many requests for pictures of the jewelry orders that I have been filling. I am so happy to say that I am being kept VERY busy with each delivery I make. As I deliver, I get new orders.........YEAH!!!!! I am by NO means a photographer, so please bear with the pictures. Also, I forgot to buy lithium batteries for my camera, going on a week now, so many of the first orders did not get photographed.......sorry! But you will get the idea! I also want to put in that while I love making custom "family" style jewelry, my love is REALLY for the organic, artisan style of jewelry design. I just love in general that there are those out there that actually like my work! So, here goes.......
Custom order for Vivian. Double strand Sterling & Swarovski bracelet. First strand her children. Second strand her grandchildren.
Mother's Rings....Front row Sterling & Swarovski mothers/grandmothers rings. Last row September birthstone ring and a custom Swarovski black and sterling stardust ring. Sorry again about the picture, as it REALLY does not do the crystal rondelles justice! My mother loves these as she, as well as MANY others, suffer from arthritis and these stretch to fit even then most swollen-knuckle days!
Custom necklace for co-workers niece. Sterling name blocks and Swarovski June birthstone on stretch cord with sterling lobster clasp, as per request. She bought one for her granddaughter years ago and asked me to make one for her niece for her dance recital this coming week. Turned out MUCH better than the picture!


And you get the point I am sure. Don't want to bore you all to death! More custom orders for mothers rings, mothers bracelets, grandmothers bracelets and just bad pictures in general...........beautiful jewelry though! Too bad my pictures do not do them justice....they sure do sparkle and the colors of the rondelles just pop! Each one is so special to every person I return it too. They just gush which makes me EXTREMELY happy! I love making someones day. You know I love my "day job" as a community education nurse, but what I teach is depressing sometimes, so this just makes my day!

I hope this satisfies everyones wishes on seeing what has been keeping me SO SUPER busy most nights after work. My husband, by the way, has been MORE than wonderful in helping with the regular household "stuff" that needs to be done after work while I have been in the studio finishing orders! Thank you Tim!

I sincerely hope that everyone had a great weekend. I did not get into a lot of what we did as a family with Nana this weekend as my post has run on long enough! Just know that we really enjoyed having her and we miss her already! You all take care! Much blessings to everyone. Go forth and create. Have a great week and if you have any questions about the "family" jewelry contact me or leave a comment! Or just leave a comment on your opinion of the jewelry........that would make me happy too!

Warmly,
Leslie

Just A Pop-In.....

Just a quick pop-in to tell you all something that happened today.



Let us back track to yesterday for a start. Yesterday at work, a co-worker popped her head in my office to tell me I had a call holding for me from *name*. My cell phone had already rang that morning from this same person...BUT....I was in the middle of a cholesterol clinic and was super busy. I gave my co-worker a message to relay and said I will call right back after the clinic was finished. OK, so after the clinic I went out, exhausted, but explained to my co-worker what this person wanted. The person who called is our local breast feeding peer counselor and that she orders mother's rings from me weekly to monthly for all of her mommies who's turn it is to "graduate" from the breast feeding program after a year. My co-worker asked me "what do they look like". So, I proceeded to explain and in the middle she said "you already lost me". Well, I went home at lunch and grabbed the 5 I made for this week as I needed to deliver them after work and brought them in and showed my co-worker. Well, she loved them and ordered 2. I made them last night and brought them in to her today.



Well, I had a local health fair to attend today and returned to work around 1:30 in the afternoon. It seems as my lovely and ever so grateful co-worker went around the ENTIRE pharmacy and flashed her new beauties to EVERYONE!!!!



I now have 16 orders for mothers rings just in time for payday Friday........wow.......it may not seem like a lot to you all, but 16 orders in one day is more than I usually have in 1 month. And that is not all. They all jokingly accused me of holding back on them.....now they want to see the mothers bracelets, the mothers pendants. Basically all of my "family" style jewelry and also anything else that I might have.............



I guess I better get my fanny in gear and get my pictures and listings up on Etsy and just refer them all there......hee hee



Thanks for listening! Sorry no pictures today. I just wanted to pop-in and let you all in on the exciting news. Hey......after I make all of them, I will take some pictures and share them with you then! Ahhhh.....good thinking Leslie. That's what you all are thinking right?



Take care!



Warmly,

Leslie