Season's Greetings from SmilingBlueDog

Happy Holidays to all my amazing friends, on-line and off!

It's the night before Christmas, and my day job is done for 4 days! YAY!
I'm taking a bit of time right now to enjoy a shot of Baileys in my coffee and write a note to you all.
Tomorrow is the 25th and I will be doing what so many others are... preparing a Christmas meal to celebrate the Holidays. Yes, I can make a lovely turkey dinner with an awesome stuffing (it's my mom's unwritten recipe, ) and the purple cabbage side dish is almost as good as my dad made, but am mostly happy that it will last for a few days so I won't have to cook again for a while :)

To my family and friends: though we are spread wide and far, you are always close to my heart, especially this time of year, and I hope you know that already. I wish you love and joy for the holidays and always.
 I'm so glad that one of my boys is living with us now, and the other we'll be able to Skype with. I wish more of you were on-line so we could Skype too not just over the Holidays.

To my on-line supporters and friends:
 on Twitter, Etsy, FB and more. It's hard to express my gratitude to each one of you! I have so many long time friends that share my shop & wedding bouquet charms. You have each helped me in more ways than we know. I hope to be as much help to you, as you have to me :)
Well, I'm Skyping with my boy now, so wishing you well for the holiday,
Sending love to you all,
Angie
XOXOXOXO

Wedding bouquet charm photos from customers

As the frantic summer wedding season winds down,  I'm taking a look back at the year so far, what worked well, restocking my supplies, ordering new colours and developing new design ideas for next year.
 With my husband's assistance, I am now stocking 2-sided frames and also photo lapel pins in my Etsy shop. I've been working on my photos & added new options to many of my charms, like adding my photo service as an option as they make their purchase. This has saved a lot of time and conversations, making it a smoother purchasing experience for my customers. I still ship most of my charms the next business day, in order to get them to my customers as soon as possible and have managed to keep my shipping prices low.  I also started offering  Expresspost shipping, which still takes a week, but has tracking.  Although it's pricey, I don't make a dime on Expresspost, and it means a 1/2 hour drive to town to our main post office, but my customers appreciate that service & knowing their charms will arrive in time.
Unfortunately the cost of my supplies has gone up, and I will be reviewing my prices as the year winds down. It's not something I like to do, however it's necessary, so now's a good time to get them as I will be increasing the price of my charms in the future.

 Some of the stories behind the photos have been so touching.
I just love the feedback and notes I get from my customers and as a bonus getting wedding bouquet photos too once in a while!
Here's a few photos I can  post - Thank you ladies for letting me share your pictures.

Pearl Heart wedding bouquet charm.

So pretty

Set of 3 wedding charms in crystal or pearl

True blue crystal wedding bouquet photo charm

Early spring in the Kootenays

Spring's popping up :)

I love spring!
The promise of warmer, longer days, new growth popping up from bare branches and peeking up from the ground.




Our snow was gone earlier than usual.
It's surprising how little snow we got here in the Kootenays this winter, unlike our fellow Canadians on the East Coast.
I don't mind at all. I used to love it but the older I get, the less I like snow.

I think this is a pine siskin, he's happy to sit & feed at the feeder.

Many birds have returned from wherever they spent their winter and our quiet mornings now sing with an orchestra of sound.

We've had an early spring here in the Kootenays and I'm thrilled to be able to share it with you - in pictures.

   

Our walnut tree.

Our cherry tree in bud.

I think this is a mock raspberry. 

Finally some crocuses!

I love the fluffy seedheads of this clematis.

Our star magnolia buds.

Larch starting to bud.

A whisky jack or grey jay! I think they like the higher elevations
as we rarely see them.

The Osprey Ferry on Kootenay Lake

The Osprey Ferry heading up the West Arm of Kootenay Lake

The sun sets early behind the mountains. I love this beach!

An entertaining little dipper on a rock in Kootenay Lake.

I love going for walks here, but they've cut down many trees lately.

Catkins? 

One of our little furry friends.
This little squirrel is my profile photo on Twitter :)

Thank you for visiting, 

I hope you enjoyed sharing a few peaceful moments with me, 

in my neck of the woods.

Peace & love to you,

Angie

More wedding bouquets and charms

Thank you for sharing this lovely photo Wanda! 

Thanks for sharing Tara!

             

                    

Thanks Nancy for sharing your lovely photos

                           

Thank you to Kim in Alberta, for sharing your photo :)
Photo by: Perla Brambila at Cielito Lindo Photography. Mayan Riviera Mexico. 

Thank you Joy for sharing your lovely photo :)

Photo by Nicole Onik-

http://capturedmomentsbynicolenwindiana.webs.com/about

Thank you Rebekah for this lovely photo!

Thank you Sarah for sharing these lovely photos! 

Another gorgeous photo of Sarah's bouquet, and charm :)

Thank you Hillary! What a beautiful and creative memory piece!