Jewelry for ME!

I made myself some jewelry today!

I tried a new design with a washer that I showed in a previous blog post.

I liked the design, but I took it a little further. I love the all the different funky beads and the unique design. Frankly, I wear basically black and gray everyday, so my jewelry needs to stand out a little!

Then I made this bracelet and these earrings to go with it. I am not really much for matchy matchy sets, but I think these nicely compliment each other without being blatantly matchy.

I really like how the bracelet turned out, too and plan to make some for my shop. I really like these washers because they are older and have some nice coloring on them.

Another New Design - Key Pendant

Key Pendant w Green Shell Beads , originally uploaded by B.B. Bellezza.

I have been on a key kick lately!

This one is made with green shell beads on an old skeleton key.

Now available in my artfire shop!

The Littlest Church

Littlest Church , originally uploaded by B.B. Bellezza.

The Littlest Church was a bit of an obsession for me this past summer. We were driving around Chester County, Pennsylvania with our trusty "Weird Pennsylvania" book. Frankly, I don't remember where we were going, but we were on a goose hunt. Then we started to realize everything in the area was called somethingorother "Creek Road."

Along the way on our goose hunt, we read about The Littlest Church. It wasn't in our schedule for that day, but the book stated it was on Creek Road on the outskirts of Marsh Creek State Park. Well, I just knew it had to be somewhere close because everything we were driving on was somethingorother "Creek Road." Unfortunately, we didn't find it that day.

But, then my boyfriend did some research and We Found It! I was so thrilled.

Now, this church is now on private property, so we respectfully took photos from the road. I was just thrilled to find it.

I think it is so quaint and lovely. It has such a quaint and lovely story to go with it.

According to "Weird Pennsylvania", Cannella, an immigrant trying to earn money to bring his family to America, vowed to God that if He would provide him with a means to bring his wife to America, he would attend church every day.

Winters are harsh in the area, which made it difficult to him to make it to the nearest Catholic Church. So, he built his own church on his property. The church only has enough room for an alter and 1 or 2 people. He went there any day he could not make it to the Catholic Church in Dowingtown.

The same family still owns the property on which the church still stands.

(Information from the book "Weird Pennsylvania" by Matt Lake. Our road trip handbook this past summer.)

New Design

Washer Necklace , originally uploaded by B.B. Bellezza.

Washer Necklace with pretty purple glass seed beads.

Anti-Resolution

Each and every year I write out a whole bunch of New Year Resolutions. Then at the beginning of the next year I write out the same New Year Resolutions again because I never did them.....and so on....



This year I tried to take a different approach to the whole New Year thing -by just casually thinking that I would start doing this thing (i.e. regular exercise) or quit doing something else (i.e. eating M&M's). That didn't work either.



I think what I need is a plan of action and a schedule to follow. Not a resolution, just a change of schedule.



So, I have decided to do just that.



My Idea:



Lately I have been finding it impossible to find time to be creative. There is so much paperwork involved with running your own business, especially at this time of the year. Usually I just design and create jewelry whenever I feel like it. That isn't working right now because I have so many other responsibilities.



I have decided to get up early each morning and spent time first thing in the morning creating. Edit: this didn't work; instead, it is my priority first thing after work before I do anything else. I set the timer and then forget about everything else for the allotted time.



I know it will be difficult....I am not much of a morning person. (Obviously! See above sentence!) But I keep thinking that it would be such a lovely way to start the day. I am just committing to trying it for a month.



What I am Going to Do:



Each morning I am going to get up early and head down to the studio...without turning on the computer or doing anything else and sitting at my table and working on designs or creating.



After looking at my work table and my desk, there are a few things that I need to do to get ready for this for me to be able to succeed and not be distracted:



1. Clear off my workspace check

2. Have my tools and supplies organized and readily available check

3. I have started a notebook of ideas and I will keep that on my work table so if I am stuck, I can refer to it for ideas. notebook started

4. I also had to clear off my desk because it is in my studio and I am having a problem creating with a messy desk with uncompleted tasks. check



I am doing the above because I want to just be able to sit down and work for 45 minutes without wasting time looking for my pliers or trying to figure out what to do. I want my time to be worthwhile.



Also, I am not going to be concerned about making jewelry for my shops during this time. This is time just to create. (Or write, or collage....) If a great idea for my shops come out of it, great, but that is not the goal. (I made myself jewelry! Woo hoo!)



I am going to start tomorrow. I am not waiting until a Monday or another beginning of the month. I am just going to start!

Off to clean and organize . . .

Schedule Reminder

February 6, 2009 is First Friday in Lancaster, PA

Click here for all the venues

I will be at artMARKET at Building Character at 342 N. Queen Street, Lancaster, Pennsylvania selling my handcrafted jewelry. I will even have some new stuff!

New Jewelry: Key Pin

Key Pin III , originally uploaded by B.B. Bellezza.

I finally carved out some time to make some jewelry last night. I have so many things to do for my jewelry business, sometimes I get so busy that I don't have time to actually CREATE jewelry! It's the difficult thing about working full time while running a business, too. I am so thankful for that secure paycheck coming in on a regular basis during this economy, but it also means I am very busy a lot of the time!!

This pin is one of 4 that I created that are all similar, but with different keys. I think the key itself is very pretty and the sweet flower and leaf go nicely with the key. This is a pin. It would look lovely on a purse, sweater, to close a scarf. or on a blouse. Also, this pin would work nicely vertically or horizontally.

The key pins will be listed in my shop tomorrow evening! (Unless hours suddenly disappear from me like they did tonight!)

Available on Esty

or Artfire

(there are 2 different pins)

Newsletter Winner

Just a quick little post to let you know the initials of the person who has won my newsletter giveaway for January are J.L. If those are your initials, check your email to see if you are the winner!!

Remember, to get entered for February and all future giveaways, just join my newsletter :

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February Newsletter

January 2009 Winner:

This person will be picked this evening (Feb 2) and emailed!

February 2009 Giveaway!

This month, I am again giving away $10 gift certificate to use in my shop! (Plus, free shipping on whatever you purchase with it!)

To win:
Just sign up for my email newsletter. Send me an email to BBBellezza@hotmail.com. You will receive an email asking you to click a link to join.

To get another chance, refer a friend to me. Just have them send an email to me and mention your name and email address.

The winner will be picked on March 1, 2009, so get your emails in to me! If you are the winner, I will send you an email and ask you for your mailing address

Also, don't forget my One World - One Heart giveaway ending February 11, 2009 and the winner will be picked and announced February 12, 2009!

New Items

I am bringing some Lavender back into my offerings. Reusable Lavender dryer sachets will be listed soon in my shops and eventually be available at artMarket as well.

I also have several jewelry projects in differing stages of being complete, so you will find those soon, too.

I have my shop up and running on artfire: http://bbbellezza.artfire.com/
And don’t forget etsy, too: http://bbbellezza.etsy.com/

Newsletter Subscriber Discount Code

To get the Discount Code for the month, you must be an email subscriber. Just send an email to BBBellezza@hotmail.com and I will get you signed up.

Upcoming Events

In the works (more information will be provided on my blog http://bbbellezza.blogspot.com/ as it becomes available): an online “Open House”! I have had them in my home and my friends’ homes, and now I am going to have one on my blog complete with door prizes and special offers! I am still in the planning process, but I will post more details (including a date!) as soon as I can! This is going to be BIG so you don’t want to miss it!

I am so excited to be part of artMarket at Building Character. This is a 7-day market showcasing local artists work in a historic environment.
The address is 342 N. Queen Street, Warehouse C in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Come on out for the First Friday and Third Friday festivities from 6 pm – 10 pm! There are also other fun events and activities. Check out http://buildingcharacter.biz/ for more information.

Thank you!
Kim
B.B. Bellezza
http://www.bbbellezza.com/