A Milestone event.

My Pearl Wedding Bouquet Memorial Charms

June 24/13

I am so excited! My shop is reaching a Milestone this week!

Just add your photo...  or let me do it for you.

I'm almost at 1,000 sales in my Etsy shop!! 

To celebrate: 

 My 1000th sale will get free shipping on their purchase! 

And starting right now I'm offering a 5% discount off for purchases (over 8.00) in my Etsy shop for the rest of this month… June 25-30/13 

Please use this Coupon Code: 1000THANKS    when making your purchase.

 I try to keep my items affordable, which means there isn't much room for discounts, but this is a big deal to me, so I'm going to try out the Coupon Code feature for the next few days.

I'd also like to extend a GREAT BIG "THANK YOU SO MUCH!!" to my customers, on-line friends at Twitter, Etsy, Facebook, and more! 

 Without you, my life wouldn't be so charming :)

Weddings are a lot like flowers.

It's spring here in the Kootenays …



 the season of new life, with courtships and weddings popping up, 

sort of like the variety of plants and flowers sprouting in my garden.

Short version: Weddings are a lot like flowers,

Longer version:

 I love flowers with their amazing colours and endless variety.

Since weddings and bouquet charms are on my mind a lot these days it makes me wonder: 

"Are there similarities between weddings and flowers?"

  Hmmm, I never really thought about it, but now that I am, let's see...

Weddings are often: colourful, vibrant, elegant, exciting, memorable events. 

They come in infinite varieties: sizes, presentations, characteristics, traditions, expectations, 

and even emotions can vary  significantly. 

 With so much variety in weddings, what do they all (or almost all) have in common?

A wedding is really a ceremony that begins a marriage.  Uniting the lives of 2 people- to each other, 

based on commitment and a desire to bond their lives together, call it love.

  If Love is the soil, our earth, it provides the nutrition and base for all the flowers to grow and multiply. 

 A flower, can multiply and become a family.  Many other families are connected by numerous weddings to form a unique garden, in a plot, in a community, in a region, in a zone, in a planet…. um, maybe I'm getting carried away.

Some flowers will thrive and grow well together creating a beautiful, harmonious space, while some are more prolific or aggressive, taking over and pushing others out of the way…

 Yes, I believe I could go on, but I won't. (Not now anyhow. I certainly don't want to get into  "weeds"… and seeds.   : )

 Anyhow, I guess the analogy of a wedding being like flowers, has a lot going for it.

I like the idea of a garden full of weddings. Families, growing and thriving together, with their roots bound in love.



I will likely read this again in a couple of weeks (to add more links), and feel silly for posting it, but I hope not.

 I'd love to hear  your thoughts...

Spring time in the Kootenays.

 Spring time in the Kootenays.

In a nutshell: We drove up to Trout Lake to see the gerrard trout spawning.

Here's a few scenery and wildlife photos, plus a short video.

A couple of weeks ago, we saw this badger, on our way to Cranbrook! Awesome!

Spring flowers in my garden.

Kaslo is our 1st stop on the way to Trout Lake.

Johnson's Landing- mudslide from last summer

The gerard trout spawning at the mouth of Trout Lake

 Early in May the gerrard trout spawn at the mouth of Trout Lake and Mother's day is the perfect excuse to go for a beautiful drive up along Kootenay Lake, and see them. 

It's become a bit of a tradition for us to witness this annual event, and enjoy our lovely scenery,  that we sometimes take for granted.

Trout Lake from the bridge.

 We went on the Monday after Mother's day, so there was no one else around for a long time, makes me nervous about bears. It was sunny and hot which encourages the spring run-off, and the fish are BIG!

The trout seem to just hang in place, but if you watch them closely you can see they are quite busy, and once in a while one would jump out of the water. 

Gerard spawning, just missed a jumper.

 There were many butterflies and birds of all kinds, including some common mergansers and a mature bald eagle. 

Hope you enjoy my photos :)

Mergansers

Spring run-off. This silty creek is flowing into the main river. Note the
difference in the water's colour.

Here's a short video of a jumping trout.

Where does the time go?

 I've been exceptionally busy lately.  Here it is,  Feb 1, 2013 and I realize how long it's been since
I wrote in my blog... um NOVEMBER?!  I'm embarrassed about that. Not like I haven't had anything
to write about.
 I've had some very sad news recently, happy news, and muddled my way through other personal ups
and downs and a fried hard drive, ( not my brain, but my computer's), and lost a lot of stuff, in particular my photos... NOTE: back-up any important stuff... do it now, I'll wait right here :)
     Life is an extra-ordinarily long roller coaster ride. It's fun, thrilling and scary, and there's times I wish I could change my mind and get off the ride, or just scream.  Looking back isn't a good idea, but looking ahead can be even more frightening. I love the calm parts the best especially when climbing up, the view's awesome, but just when I get comfortable, the ride changes directions at such an incredible speed, it feels like I might get thrown off. The best thing to do, is hang on tight and try to flow with it. Take a deep breath "Keep calm and carry on".
    I have been quite busy with my Etsy shop, and am focusing on my wedding bouquet charms. I was going to set up a separate shop, just for my bouquet charms but decided against it... for now. I want to reduce my time on the computer... not double it.
  My packaging is evolving, as is my marketing, and new designs are in the works, but the best reward is knowing I can make something lovely enough to hold the memory of a loved one, to be part of a wedding and will be treasured for years to come.
 Anyhow, enough said...I could go on, but it's time for bed. Gotta get up early for work tomorrow. It's after 11pm and I wanted an early night tonight.
  Where does the time go?

Wedding bouquet photo charms... not just for weddings.

    It's been many years since Dave and I got married...(in 1984!) and we have many fond memories of that day. I wish the same for all my lovely customers on their wedding day.




 Once in a while, someone sends me a picture of their charm, after they've added their photo. Why, just the other day, I recognized one  on Twitter, with a sweet comment! How awesome is that!? It makes me happy to know that I have helped to make your day more special.



It is so easy these days, to take ands share photos (or a links to them),
so if you have photos of something I've made for you,  I'd love to see and maybe share them here.
Here's some photos and comments from my customers.

My aunt recently gave me this beautiful Iittala glass vase.
It seemed fitting to add my parents' photo charm.

Maybe you'd like to see a couple of the charms I have in my home...
just to show, they're not just for weddings.

My Hungarian grandparents.

Our newlyweds... my son and his wife.

And here's  my Angel photo charms, for the Holidays:

Angel and pearl photo charm.

Angel and crystal frame charm.

I've added them to my shop.

Here's me, when my husband & I first met.

I often have lockets available too.

Kootenay photos

We're having an amazing Indian summer here in the Kootenays.
Since it's a busy time for many of us, I'm just going to post some photos I've taken recently, 

enjoy.

My squirrel photo has become a Cover Squirrel for our  MAKE Team's FB page.
Nov2/12

     Red squirrels... cute but noisey (and nosey).

Kokanee spawning in Kokanee Creek

Clean dog.

Dirty dog... yup, rolled in the dirt right after his bath.

Cruising down the West Arm.

Johnson's landing from across Kootenay Lake.

Swimming in Kootenay lake.

Awesome views on Kootenay Lake.

Kokanee Creek Park.

Feathered visitors.

Osprey Ferry.

Beach day at Queens Bay.

One of our small Kootenay towns was featured on Global News:

Silverton... 

Back from Holidays... more frame charms

Short version:
 I've had a once in a lifetime holiday with my kids, visiting family overseas.
I'm back to my "normal life", and have been making new Wedding bouquet photo frame charms.

Memorial frame charm.

Simple freshwater pearl frame charm.

 Now that I'm back at work, and getting back to my normal life, I've been making more wedding bouquet frame charms, and they are getting to be quite popular.

I love knowing that my charms will hold the photo of someone dear, and help them be remembered, especially on a special day.

Here's a peak at some of the new frame charms that will be popping up in my shop soon.

                                    

Long version: 

I've been on holidays for the last 6 weeks.

  Since I haven't had a real holiday in years, it's been long overdue.  I had an opportunity to take my kids and visit my sister, aunts, uncles, cousins, neices, nephews and their families in Finland, Hungary and Slovakia. Then my husband and I visited friends on Vancouver Island for a few days, and did some beach combing and shopping. It was the best holiday I have ever had, but I'll write about it in a separate post/s.

 white and subtle, memorial/wedding frame charm.

Wouldn't this be adorable, for a flower girl's bouquet?

  I'm also trying something different with the photos of my charms, by including some flowers from my garden.
  I love the textures and colours. It's so much more interesting than a plain white background,
although it might be a bit distracting...
what do you think?

        

Wedding bouquet photo frame charm. Roses.