Rhinestones and Bling and Rings, Oh My!

Rings are so fun and festive!  I love jewelry and I simply adore rings.  Given their unique historical significance and symbolism, you can convey many things with rings without saying a word.  Rings became most popular during Medieval times, and the material from which the ring was made typically indicated the class of the wearer.  Placement of rings is also important.  Did you know that wearing a ring on your "ring" finger represents connection to the heart?  This is why the wedding ring is traditionally placed on this finger.  

 Some of my favorite rings, including a couple of Christmas Gifts from my hubby!

Michal Negrin, my very favorite designer!

Now I hope you all "ring" in the New Year with fun, safe and festive celebrations!

Keep The Magic With You...

The excitement of the Holiday season is now slowly coming to an end.  All the thoughtful planning, fun and festive parties and special times spent with friends and family for Christmas - it's now over and we must once again begin thinking about packing up all the glitter and glitz until next year.  

There's such a wonderful magic and mystery that surrounds this time of the year. Could it be that for a season, we are given the gift of thinking of others?

  What they like; what they need; what makes them happy?  

More than any other time of the year, Christmas is an opportunity to truly invest in your loved ones.  And you know what always amazes me?  There's no better feeling to me than being able to give.  It really is a magical feeling.

Rather than wrapping the magic and splendor that surrounds this glorious season in with all the ornaments and glittering tinsel, 

I encourage each of you to  

keep the magic with you all year.  

Save it, share it and spread it with everyone throughout the coming year.  

Who says we can't have Christmas January through December?  

May God Bless You All!

 Spread Light and Love

 Give Freely

 Pray For Others

 Share The Magic!

And Always Laugh!

Some New Creations

Most of these new pendants are still "in progress" but I couldn't resist a few pics today (since the sun was actually shining).  I've been busy, and have been a little behind with my blog posts, but I'd like to wish you all a wonderful Holiday celebration.  Merry Christmas and may the beauty and magic of the season surround you and your family!

From my home to yours...

Small Indulgences

Small Indulgences...

Gift ideas for a special friend, OR for yourself.  

Some of my very favorite things to give and to receive!

 www.hillhousenaturals.com

This 23 year old company is a family owned business in Kentucky.  

All items are made in the USA; they use local, natural ingredients whenever possible.  

What I adore most about this wonderful company:  they started at a craft fair!  

My favorite scent is the Woods Collection. 

"Adventurous days spent hunting and gathering in the forest are evoked with every whiff of this woody and masculine scent".  

It reminds me of leather-bound books, hot tea and warm fires.  

I adore their candles and specifically, their diffusers.  

They last for months and months.  

ONE of my small indulgences.

 www.caldrea.com

Small Indulgence # TWO

Caldrea...Earthy friendly products, natural plant derived ingredients and essential oils to make cleaning and freshening your home an enjoyable experience.  

Guess what else?  

This product contains no harsh ingredients.  

One of my favorite scents in the world?   
Caldrea Blue Basil & Sage.  

"Reminiscent of an herb garden in the South of France, this collection blends essential oils of Basil, Blue Sage, Rosemary, Thyme, Spearmint, and Cinnamon Leaf to create a clean and clarifying fragrance. This innovative culinary composition possesses broad appeal by using familiar ingredients orchestrated in a new and sophisticated way".

Sage is clarifying and has spiritual properties.  

Held sacred by many Native American Indians, because of its effective purifying energies,  sage heals by bringing the you back into balance and cleanses the body and mind of negative spirits and impurities.  

I use sage essential oils in my bathwater and constantly spritz the Blue Basil & Sage fragrance around my home to cleanse the space. 

#3

I LOVE THE SCENT OF PINE!

How warm and comforting is the cleansing and aromatic scent of pine?  

Cedar and Balsam Fir.

I would love to utilize this fragrance year round; it's associated most closely with the holidays, but the crisp and clean aroma is almost intoxicating to me. 

 

 www.yankeecandle.com

 Huge selection of pine scented favorites.  Always a perfect small indulgence.

 You didn't think I'd post about my small indulgences without mentioning jewelry, did you?

Unbelievably detailed, beyond romantic and feminine, the designs created by 

**Michal Negrin**

are products of a true artist. 

Even the company website is breathtaking.  LOVE her creations.  

Small Indulgence number FOUR

Last but certainly NOT least...

Small Indulgence FIVE

Vosges Chocolat

Their mission statement:  

"The Vosges Haut-Chocolat mission is to create a luxury chocolate experience rooted in a sensory journey of bringing about awareness to indigenous cultures through the exploration of spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, nuts, chocolate and the obscure".  

Need I say more?

Share with me, please!  I want to know some of your favorite small indulgences.  

This is a great way to share gift ideas.  

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful,
you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight.
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis
it is between you and God;
it was never between you and them anyway.

 

 This poem is engraved on the wall of Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta.

 

This is one of my very favorite poems; it consistently reminds me of what is important.  My perception always shifts when I read these beautiful and touching words.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.  We've just returned from vacation, so I've been catching up with my blog friends and although I will have some beautiful pics to post soon, I just wanted to touch base with those of you who stop by to visit.  Have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

I Hope You Dance

 

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.  

~Rabindranath Tagore

Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.  

~Christian Furchtegott Gellert

Waste not the smallest thing created, for grains of sand make mountains, and atomies infinity.  Waste not the smallest time in imbecile infirmity, for well thou knowest that seconds form eternity.  

~E. Knight

We are always getting ready to live but never living.  

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours.  No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen.  And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot.  The possibility is always there.  

~Monica Baldwin

 

My drive home today was very contemplative of life now and life, later.  I thought about life after this one, and how we so often live as if our time here is never going to end.  We spend important moments on unimportant worries.  We forget to embrace those we love simply because we are embracing the laundry or the vacuum.  Having recently lost two very special individuals in my life, the enormity of this loss and the importance of cherishing each day, valuing each moment, is so apparent to me.  

When you rush out the door in the morning, too hurried to give your family a quality "goodbye", step back and truly take a moment to hug them tightly, let your embrace linger, and pretend, just for a moment, that this moment is all that exists for you.  Forget about the drive to work, or the numerous to do lists that await you - I promise, the lists will still be there; however, this moment will not.  It's fleeting and fast and it's precious.  Embrace it; embrace them, those you love and tell them.  Tell them now; today. 

And, I Hope You Dance...

"O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away."
~Robert Frost, October

The beautiful colors of October always make me feel warm and fuzzy.  Cups of hot tea, lazy afternoons spent underneath the changing trees and cherished weekends spent with loved ones.  I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful and special change of season.  

Some of my favorite fall colored vintage jewelry pieces...

 

Look at this locket!  I had absolutely no idea that it contained pressed powder.  

I love it when I find such treasures.

Enjoying October!

Think Pink In October

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop
to look fear in the face".  

~Eleanor Roosevelt

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Like almost everyone, my life has personally been touched by this disease.  Beautiful, courageous women,  dear Aunts and beloved friends, have battled breast cancer, some of who are still fighting, looking fear in the face.  Incredible, brave warriors who have survived, due to awareness, the support of family and friends, and the desire to LIVE...LOVE...and LAUGH.  I admire you; I respect you and above all, I am so grateful that you are in my life.  To all the courageous women who needed to rest, you will always be with me, near my heart.

Know your body; make sure you are connected with your health.  Get your mammograms.  Share awareness.  Provide support to those may who need you during a challenging time of healing.  Above all, always, LOVE...your family, your friends AND yourself. 

Artwork for New Crystal Pendants Coming Soon!

 

Beautiful digital art from Masterpiece Designs on Etsy

Weekend Birthday Getaway

Tomorrow, October 4th, is my 40th birthday...I'm not sure exactly how I feel about that right now, but overall, I feel blessed to be alive, healthy and happy.  Due to the challenges of the last few months, rather than have a blowout, crazy party with hangover to boot, my wonderful husband surprised me with a weekend getaway to the beautiful and quaint town of Galena, Illinois.  Galena is full of history, having been settled in 1826.  I felt as if we were stepping back in time.  We stayed The Irish Cottage,  a lovely inn complete with an authentic Irish bar that was reassembled in Galena from Ireland. 

Saturday, we had an opportunity to shop at all these little fantastic boutiques and antique shops (yes, my husband obliged me for the day).  I especially loved Vignettes, a unique home accessories and decor store.  I was also very excited about my opportunity to meet Jody McGill, artisan jewelry designer to the stars.  Her shop is exactly as you would picture it; beautiful, eclectic and full of unique and intricate creations.  Vintaj Earth is also located in Galena.  It was such a great experience to actually see all the wonderful brass jewelry designs up close and personal.  Very inspirational.  

We enjoyed a few afternoon cocktails, had our tarot cards read (I always knew it...I AM a high priestess), did a little more shopping then ended a great day with a fabulous meal at Fried Green Tomatoes.   Yes, we did have some, but they were Italian style, not the traditional southern style to which I am accustomed.  BUT they were still incredible.

I'd like to thank my husband for sharing a great 40th birthday weekend with me.  It was a much needed getaway, and will provide me with special memories forever...

The Irish Cottage

A WARM "COFFEE" WELCOME

 

 

 BEAUTIFUL FALL COLORS

 ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOUTIQUES

 THE FAMOUS JODY MCGILL

 VINTAJ...SO BEAUTIFUL!

 THE HIGH PRIESTESS CARD

 PHIL READY FOR A BEER AFTER SHOPPING

THANK YOU FOR A BEAUTIFUL WEEKEND...