also, my dear friend Laurie Jacobsen made me a "blinky"! What do you think?
I just love it! (Jenny, you make this so very special!)
In other news, my daughter Emily's pregnancy is doing well, I am looking forward to little Benjamin's arrival sometime in early November! Emily and Ben will be living with us, so i will get lots of grandma time in! I can hardly wrap my mind around it folks! Then, more news came as quite a surprize suprise suprize surprise (i can never ever correctly spell surprise! Am I the only one?!)...my other daughter, Rebecca is also expecting! She is due in March...YES. I'm going to be a grandma twice over within 6 months time.....WHEW. They say they didn't plan it that way....hhhmmmmmm......I wonder.............
OH! I also wanted to tell you about a little trick I do. Sometimes I find decorative candles that I really really like. So, to extend the life of them, I let them burn down about a couple of inches. THEN from then on, I put a small tea light down in the hole and light that instead. I like to use the scented tea lights or just plain ones. I buy a huge bag of them at Michael's and they last a long time! Pretty nifty idea eh?
Thank you for being here today!
Blessings and Light,
Jennifer
It has been finally cooling off in the evenings here in Michigan... I've moved my beloved work table (an old and very shabby french provincial desk found in an old barn) in front of the big window in my studio. I use the term "studio" a bit loosely...it is really kind of a middle room in the middle of the house that we didn't quite know what to do with, so we made it into an office with a loveseat and we kept our old antique buffet table in there too. When Jeremy was born, the "middle room" became a baby room. The buffet turned into a changing table with a nice coat of white paint and a purchased changing pad...diapers and baby clothes in the drawers. it was perfect! We added a rocking chair and a baby swing in the room too...
Now that Jeremy is 6, the changing table has conveniently become my shipping table! It works out very well. I have a long surface to weigh, wrap and package my sales and the drawers hold envelopes and boxes and tissue paper and other office supplies...(good idea huh?)
So, now the "middle room" is my studio/shipping area where I create the vintage assemblage jewelry for Sacred Cake, and I share it with my husband, who is a painter and also loves to repair pocket watches when he isn't writing his dissertation or gardening or working with disabled adults or being a dad. He is a very busy man!
I made a kind of silly little movie for you tonight. Just a peek into my evenings in the middle room studio. I often talk about working in my "circle of light". Well, it is a drab goose necked 1940's office desk lamp with one of those special daylight bulbs in it...and I think it needs a paint job soon...
I got the nifty Buddha fountain at Target. You can find it here, but it is out of stock online. Check your local store instead. Oh, and it says it has a trickling sound.....well, no such trickle. But it is a nice soothing water feature to have on my desk nonetheless. I really enjoy it.
If you have time, I want to share a few of my Favorite Etsy finds with you also!
I treated myself to this last week from Mireio on Etsy. She went above and beyond to find a "bigger girl" sized slip for me and dyed it the lovely deep purple color I requested. The price was very right and it arrived wrapped beautifully! I really felt like I mattered to her. And it I feel so beautiful in it! It is perfect with a jacket and leggings or over jeans. Click on the photo or the link above to visit her shop.
my custom hand dyed slip. photo courtesy of Mireio.
I also fell in love with MemrieMare on Etsy. Completely in love with the color and the texture of this hand dyed ribbon. She has amazingly gorgeous colors....and the German glass glitter stars are so perfectly beautiful. Thickly glittered only on one side, so they can be stuck securely anywhere you need them to sparkle!
Robin Egg hand dyed Ribbon. photo by MemrieMare on Etsy.
German glass glitter stars. photo by MemrieMare on Etsy.
and last, but definitely not least, I purchased this spray from Rhea at SweetsnThings on Etsy. Rhea was very kind and added a bit of Cedar scent to the lavender linen and room spray. Just a heavenly scent, if you haven't tried it! The price is great (6.50!) and the label and deep green bottle are very pretty and so nice to keep next to my bed. I spritz a bit on my pillows before I go to sleep. Very soothing! Great customer service too.
lavender and cedar room spray. photo by SweetsnThings on Etsy
These Etsyers did not give me any "kickback" for this post about them...I don't buy things "just for me" very often, and when I do, I like to get the same caring and personal service that I give to my customers. I'm just very pleased with my shopping experience. That is what shopping on Etsy should be...an experience, right? You won't be disappointed with these sellers.
By the way, I'm not going to tell you just how many times I had to fix a misspelled word while writing this post! I need to go back to grammar school! Spell check saves me every time...
Blessings and Light to you all and thank you for being here with me today!
Jennifer
Hello everyone! I wanted to tell you the winners of the giveaway.
I put everyone's number into a random generator and here are the results!
The first winner of the Kelly Rae planner is Lois Johnson.
The second winner of the photo album is "bks".
The third winner of the vintage assemblage jewelry holder is Nancy Lefko.
Congratulations ladies! Will you contact me with your address so I can send you your goodies?
On another subject, the weather here in Michigan has gotten a bit cooler and tolerable to be out in (finally!) I spent some time outside with the kids and the cats. We have a huge yard. We hate to mow. So we made a "wild" area way in the back by the tree line that Jeremy calls "Shady Badoo"...a secret place to hide and lay in the grass. And so we did...
me and my K.W.
K.W. and our son Jeremy in "Shady Badoo"
Walking on the Sky
Since the passing of my dear Cutie Cat recently, it has made me more aware of my other pets and having a nice picture of each of them. So we had a cat photo shoot as well...quite fun trying to get them still...
Maisy in Shady Badoo
Alice in Shady Badoo
There are other fur babies, but I won't bore you with tons of cat pictures! Most of our dear pets are rescued strays.
Thank you all so very much for the outpouring of sympathy and love about my last post. I received Cuties ashes today. It made me so sad all over again, but suppose that is normal.
Well, on a lighter note,
I'm so in love with the assemblage jewelry I've made recently... I want to keep it for myself! I've been so drawn to blue, once again. I talked about it in this last post.
Thank you all so much for being here!
Blessings and Light,
Jennifer
Did you know Jeremy named you? I would have chosen something less child-like for you...something maybe like Felix or Haskell maybe. But it became so fitting for you...and I ended up calling you cootie or coots anyway. Thank you for for forgiving the silliness of it.
I've been looking at urns and stones with paw prints and corny sayings and markers and necklaces with little vials so that I can wear you on my person if I need to...I don't know how to let go. There is such an empty space here, everywhere you were, sweet little fur baby friend.
I knew from the beginning you were extraordinary..my dear nighttime constant. It was you and it was me in the stillness at 2 a.m. as I created away in our shared circle of light. You in my lap or near my feet. The stillness and darkness of night was warmed by the soft wonder of your eyes. You looked to me for love, which I so freely gave to you with a wide open heart. Isn't that how we are supposed to love? Like you did?
I feel foolish for grieving you so. Are "grownups" supposed to grieve like this? Surely you knew how I loved you...and life around me goes spinning on as always and my heart is breaking for the missing of you. The deep and throbbing missing that won't lighten with the passing of days or even shopping for old jewelry to assemble.
I couldn't save you. I keep asking myself if there was more I could have done...did I do the right thing by calling our sweet small town vet for a home visit that would end your life. I can't handle the finality of it. You fought until the end, dear soul.
Thank you for gathering your last tiny bit of strength to visit me one last night as I settled in to sleep. I knew it would be the last time...dear furry companion, as I warmed you with the quilt that she made for me months ago to comfort me when I thought my body had given out for good. You stayed beside me night and day while I was sick and rising was out of the question. Did I thank you for that?
I've cried in the bathroom so no one would hear. I've cried in the bedroom so the children won't see... I've cried at 3 a.m. under the moon on the back yard bench. And the tears arrive again in the corners of my eyes as I write this. When will the ache of your absence leave me? There is such a huge hole in the shape of you here.
Please know that I loved you and that you were so extraordinary in so many ways. You were more than just a pet. There was more to you...i knew that. You had such a spirit, such wisdom, and you loved me............you loved me.....irreplaceable, gentle, you. I miss you terribly.
Your ashes arrive tomorrow. And how in the world shall I proceed?
As always, for me, (does it for you too?) life goes by at the speed of light. It is already August 10th and I've been trying to get around to telling you about this for days! I have had the absolute honor to write once again for another Stampington and Company publication. I am always so delighted and incredibly humbled to be chosen to write, and have my projects included in one of their wonderful publications. I so enjoy sharing discoveries, techniques and stories with their readers. It just brings me such joy... just like the joy I feel writing right here on this blog of mine.
To celebrate my articles and projects being published in the current issue of Somerset Home, I am having a few little giveaways! There will be three prizes....the first is a Planner from one of my favorite artists, my sister, Kelly Rae Roberts. She has an amazing, high quality collection of artwork, stationery, and home decor with something special for everyone. My current favorites are the planner~
Kelly Rae Roberts Planner (photo courtesy of Kelly Rae)
Info about the planner: "This datebook features 17 months (Aug 2011 - Dec 2012) in
week-at-a-glance views. Click image for more photos. It also features
weekly tear-off shopping and to-do lists, stickers for marking important
reminders, and a built-in storage pocket. Please note: Unlike previous
years' datebooks, this datebook does not feature artwork throughout the
planner - only on the front and back covers. Datebook is 6" x 8" and
features flexible front and back covers."
Personally folks, I am already using this planner and I really really LOVE it. That is why I want you to have one! Lots of room to write (which we desperately need, don't we?!), and even little stickers to use for remembering important things. Also, the tear off lists and the inside pockets are fantastic. This planner is very well thought out! (and I am not surprised at all. My sister is a class act all the way.)
The second giveaway is the mini photo album~
Kelly Rae Roberts mini photo album, "Gratitude Surrounds"
(photo courtesy of Kelly Rae)
Info about the album:"With a meaningful "gratitude surrounds" on the cover, we hope you'll be
inspired to put some of your most treasured memories in this sweet mini
photo album. Album (approx 6" x 6") can hold up to 24 4"x6" photographs
inside its archival quality photo sleeves and features a padded,
full-color, easy-to-clean hard cover. We think these make adorable gifts
to highlight special occasions."
I love this little album. It is well made and a nice size for traveling.I think I'm going to need more than one soon! Did I tell you yet that I'm going to be a first time GRANDMA this fall?!
And lastly, I'm giving away the chippy, white, shabby chic jewelry holder with vintage glass knobs, that I made for the current Somerset Home magazine. I love it for my collection of necklaces. It keeps them tangle free and pretty to look at!
A peek at Somerset Home 2011
and the jewelry holder
So, no need to jump through hoops to win. Just leave a tiny comment or a simple hello! But, I'd just love to hear your ideas or techniques for when life feels like it is going by way too fast...how do you slow it down? What kinds of things do you like to do to keep centered and in the "now"?
*Please remember, if you sign as anonymous, please leave a name so you and I both know it's you who gets chosen! I don't even make you type in crazy letter sequences to leave a comment. How easy is that? (and lord knows we blog writers LOVE to get comments!)
Winners will be randomly drawn on AUGUST 17th (so I hope everyone has a chance to enter). Please tell a friend!
Thank you all for being here and for your readership and support. It means the world to me.
Blessings and Light,
Jennifer Valentine of Sacred Cake
I've been craving neutral...neutrality...calm colors. Calm feelings. Calm surroundings. I think because life seems "colorful" enough for me these days. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to run through knee deep honey...but most days I think I can feel the wind from the passing minutes blowing my hair. To keep calm, I listen to the Patti Griffin station on Pandora.com. I light candles and incense. I pray. I eat some chocolate. I eat more chocolate later. I take deep breaths and know that this one life is all I get. I have everything I need today, and everything is as it should be. I truly believe that. But it doesn't mean I don't get overwhelmed. I'm very human.
A friend of mine asked of me many many years ago, when I was without transportation and worried aloud about how I was going to feed and clothe four small children...she asked me, "Do you have what you need today?"
I never forgot that...
I have more than I could possibly want, or need this day. So do my children. When my emotions start creeping up to the blaring red "overwhelm" mark, I have to talk myself down. I count my blessings, my gratitude, my joys. And it calms me and centers me to make things.
One of those joys is being able to still have the ability to create. Earrings are all I have much time for these days. When I commented about that on Facebook, a dear person said that earrings must be all that is necessary right now. I needed to hear that. Thank you Kelly (Barton) for the sweet and encouraging words.
What keeps YOU sane? Please leave a comment and share your story? I'd love to hear it.
Oh, by the way, have you heard about the website called "Ruffled"?...It is a website dedicated to weddings of all kinds...particularly those very creative indie type weddings with amazing pictures. It bursts with creativity! I think I most like it because it is full of photographs of young couples in love...such promise and hope in their faces. I really like that. The promise and the hope.....yeah, that......I need to see lots of that.
I hope everyone has an amazing weekend, filled with little joys.
Blessings to You and Yours,
Jennifer Valentine
My daughter has been working so hard to open her new etsy shop! It is called Cherir La Vie, which in French means to Cherish Life. I love her use of bright color and simple elegance...
Fleur de Lotus
We've been talking "shop" about photographing, lighting, supplies, beads, wording, descriptions and all things Etsy. I'm super proud of her, and only being 18, I think she's done a fantastic job! She has a new seriousness about making her own money in her own way, now that she is going to be a new mama in a few months...(and yes, I'm going to be a new Grandma!) I love seeing her fly on her own with her own creative ideas...like this amazing locket ring~
Crystal Cluster (only 10 dollars!)
and this asymmetrical peach and gold vintage looking beauty~
Jardin De Corail (only 21.00!)
I love how she photographs her necklaces like they are lost and tangled in branches...there for you to discover. I love that her prices are fair and her work has the same kind of quality you can expect from mine. I love that her work is timeless and young and fresh and pretty. Just like her.
When she was my favorite Etsy model circa 2009
Lovely Mama to be, Emily Cathryn July 2011
Seems like just last week, I chose to name her after one of my most favorite songs~
Well, I've got lots of work to do myself! I think I've got at least six necklaces on my table waiting to be finished...and twice as many pairs of earrings. Look for new things to come in my shop, and in hers~!
There is a heatwave going on...and I don't remember it being so hot last year. I've been roaming around our old house covering windows as artfully as possible to keep the sun out and the cool in. I'm not a huge fan of summer...strange I guess coming from a woman who spent most of her life in Northern Florida....
I've been keeping cool with the old fans around the house my husband has restored to their original glory, and lots of Coke in little glass bottles...
As I was pondering how to keep the curtains out of the way of the window unit, while simultaneously keeping out the sun, I came up with a quick solution! I used an old necklace as a tie back, and then used two clear tacks to tack a vintage white apron to the top part of the window...thus creating a layered defense that keeps a lot of the sunshine out, while still looking pretty...what do you think?
It's all in the layering...on top of the curtains, I also hung a white vintage dress on a wooden hanger and topped with an old brooch...so, three layers. The apron up top, then the curtain, then the dress(es). You could even tie the apron onto little brass hooks, or layer the aprons by tying them to each other to make a valance.
Bedroom window
close up of lampshade
I dressed this old lamp shade up with bunched up layers of old lace and a favorite rhinestone brooch.
window layers
OH, by the way, I'm having a Christmas in July sale! and you get a free pair of earrings with ANY purchase through July at the shop.
When I was young I'd often visit my grandmother in New Jersey and I'd go to youth camp for a week in the mountains of
Vermont...we would gather together around a fire and sing in the
evenings...laughter and song bursting into the darkness around us...it was a place where I felt a belonging. I know we all felt it...
and
we'd sing my favorite silly song "His Banner Over Me is Love". To make a
long story a bit shorter, the song required a lot of silliness with hand
gestures and body contortions that had everyone laughing hysterically
and feeling present in God's love all around us. This necklace is homage
to those summers...we, the branches on the vine of deep and
compassionate, unconditional love.
The photo above is of me, my first summer there in Vermont, hiking on Mount Killington. I was 13 and wearing my first pair of Levi's; a bouquet of wildflowers in my back pocket...a Florida girl, touching a mountain stream for the very first time. This picture, I cherish, because it captured me at my essence...a girl immersed in nature, noticing the intricacies of life and flowers and the pebbles in a stream...an innocent heart filled with the joy of creation. Even then I knew that the beauty of this world is no accident.
He is the Vine, religious assemblage necklace
He is the Vine, religious assemblage necklace
He is the Vine, religious assemblage necklace
This religious assemblage necklace I created has amazing luminous antique opal beads, flourishes of Art Nouveau elements, bits of vintage chain and an antique, well worn cross. I really love to incorporate leaves and the organically shaped elements of nature into my work.
Recently, I was approached about creating a memorial type necklace for a beloved client who recently lost her grandmother. I was excited about the challenge of using personal mementos to create something my client could wear to keep the memory of her grandmother close...
She sent several buttons and a pair of earrings and asked that the necklace be created in silver and red. The earrings she sent me to use were a bit of a challenge because they were bright and shiny silver, but the rhinestone buttons fit right in.
I added bright silver leaves from an old necklace to echo the beads she gave me from her grandmother's earrings, red rhinestone findings and glass flowers, matte red navettes and vintage Czech glass and Swarovski beads to add a little sparkle. I also used a vintage filigree base in silver and added a secret locket in the back to hold any small personal mementos. That was a last minute thought that I really love...I think she will too!
The silver sparrow on the chain echoes the bird on the antique button dangle that she sent quite nicely...then I added some silver chain and a pretty red glass drop at the end of the chain to make it adjustable in length.
Just wanted to share this custom creation with you. If you are interested in a custom memento or remembrance locket necklace like this one, using your own personal elements, contact me through my Etsy Shop. Or email me.
I wrote this today...kind of formulated it in my mind as I vacuumed and actually had a moment to write it all down! (not easy with a six year old home for the summer!) keep in mind, I never profess to be a real poet...I just put thoughts down and make it look like I might know what I'm doing...
The Rapture of the Lego Men
As I vacuumed today, I thought of it.
How many times it has been done.
Three boys and 25 years now,
off and on again,
I've come for them,
I, a gentle beast
with a sucking machine.
I don't really mean to be.
But once again I become in charge
of the rapture of the Lego Men.
They wait for me with some uncertainty
in crevices behind suitcases and trunks,
under couches and behind curtains, they wait
to be raptured up into the dusty air
with ardent faith in where they are going.
There are others there,
they tell me.
There are others.
I tell them I know.
They look up to the heavens
with eyes transfixed,
sometimes half-smiling and
missing their hat or their arm or their vestiges.
Forgotten by boys who have found
other toys
or whisked away by age or circumstance.
I wonder to myself
as I push and I pull,
what my own rapture will be.
Will I rise up in a whirl of dust
and float and glisten
in the rays of the sun?
settling gently among still water, the leaves of trees,
sprigs of new grass, and on the tender hearts of mankind?
Well, once again, I've been away awhile...busy with life, children, work, and getting better.
I've found myself relishing the cool days and the rainy weather we've been having...strolling around the yard after the rain subsides, looking for bits of roses and green things to trim to bring inside. I can't bring myself to cut any roses unless they are almost ready to shed! If there are enough blooms, I'll treat myself to some little buds. Our bushes are still young and not producing tons of roses yet. I've always wanted a rose garden, but never took the time to cultivate one...or splurge on bushes! This year, my husband has been lovingly planting them all over our sunny back yard. Such lovely colors... and I cannot convey the incredible sweetness of the scent some of them have...there is one in particular that is large and pale yellow that smells so amazing that it is difficult for me to tear my nose away from its velvety splendor...have you ever smelled a rose like that?
Today, I brought a few inside to enjoy, along with some bright orange day lilies and a sprig of hydrangea...
I've never been a big fan of summer, but life has a certain amazing sweetness these days. I feel like I am more fully present in it. Less worried. Practicing being more mindful. Praying more. Feeling more and more grateful for my life, my family and my relationships.
I've been thinking about weddings again...and how much I still love making special occasion jewelry! I found myself making a couple of vintage assemblage bridal hair combs for the shop from some of my pretty vintage jewelry parts and pieces...this is one I was particularly fond of~
Cherry Blossom and Crinoline, shabby bridal comb
I used a bit of antique crinoline, a large leaf brooch, a gold plated flower piece from an old bracelet, and a few vintage shabby pearl and rhinestone earrings...I have had a couple of brides that I've made jewelry for send me amazing photographs of them wearing their jewelry and it is always so deeply touching for me to see. I feel so incredibly fortunate that they want to wear my work out of the thousands of jewelry designs out there to choose from...my work speaks out to them somehow, through the thousands of others...and I am so incredibly grateful to be a part of something like this~
Jenny's Wedding
I think it is because it makes me still believe and have faith in happily ever after.
