A month has passed since the last update & I can hardly believe it! In a blink of an eye, our busiest time of the year is almost complete & soon it will be Christmas!  I feel like I've been going full steam ahead since September.  I'm truly looking forward to a little time off to putz around the house, feed the birds in the park, visit friends, maybe take Chris to the new Ramen Noodle House in town & of course catch the new Star Wars movie!

But first, a little recap ~ I thought it would be fun to show this photo below taken in October.  In the past, as we prepare for our shows, we have found that laying out the jewelry at some point during production gives us a really good sense of where we're at & what we need to build on. This season, prior to taking this photo, Judy & I thought we were so far ahead of the game, but then we spread it all out to assess & we were kind of shocked that it didn't seem like enough ~   

Seeing it in this light helped motivate us to keep on keeping on. :)

After several months of prep, we were ready for the Make It! Craft Sale. I have almost no photos of the event after leaving my phone in a bag with a leaky water bottle on the first day ~ doh! But lluckily, after a few days shoved in a bag of rice, my phone dried out & is now operational again! Before the incident, I did manage this shot below right after we set up.  It gives you an idea of what our table looked like ~  

Make it! was a 4 day sale with incredibly long hours (10 am - 9 pm), however, we had a lot of fun & really enjoyed the energy (it was packed), meeting new customers & getting to do a little shopping ourselves.  

The following weekend, we had our annual Open House, which was wonderful!  A big thank you for everyone who came by!

An interesting thing that happens each season is that something stands out as a clear winner in our collection. This time, definitely the most popular bead style & colour was the teal Picasso coins ~ 

Above, bathing in water, the fruits of my labour after 2 full days at the torch. Judy turned these babies into 3 large pendants, 1 small pendant, 1 spectacular bracelet & 4 pairs of earrings.  I ended up making 2 more batches before running out of the teal sparkly glass, but I hope to make more in the new year. 

Since the shows, I've been working on the web store ~ putting in brand new jewels as well as a new category called the Winter Collection. There's lots to choose from including this gorgeous purple swirl ring ~ 

And this foxy fox ~

And this stunning black, white & silver bracelet ~ 

So please take some time to check it out! 

Looking back on this busy time, it amazes me how fortunate I've been to get the opportunity to work with my Mom, creating pieces that we then get to share with other wonderful women. I thank you all for your support & enthusiasm, which has allowed us to keep going on this incredible journey.  Wishing you all the best in the new year, here's to 2016!  May it treat you as special as you are to us!

xo