Another School Year is Upon Us

Hello All!

My appologies for being absent from the blogosphere lately. The summer flew by and next thing I knew I was doing my happy dance and singing "It's the most wonderful time of the year" for the start of another school year. Silly me, I'll never learn, I should not have been so quick to send the kiddies out the door for when they return at the end of the day, the homework and running begin.

Here's a rundown of our fall activities:

Zach (10th grade)--school soccer, scouts, student council, Spanish club...seems like I'm forgetting something...driver's ed is coming up soon--that's a scary thought

Caitlyn (8th grade)--premiere soccer, rec soccer U17 and U14, school volleyball, student council, art club

Zoe (1st grade)--swimming, girl scouts, rec soccer U9

and then there's Aeryn......she is my lovely little 2 1/2 year old monster :). I love her dearly but as you know the age brings with it many challenges. Challenges to my patience. Yesterday, for example, I thought she was content to watch her shows on Nick Jr. so I went in the kitchen to wash dishes. Next thing I know, she comes running into the kitchen to grab a dish towel and runs back out. History has taught me that this usually means she has created some sort of mess and is attempting to clean up her "creation" and/or hide the evidence. When I followed her back to the livingroom I had discovered the peanut butter jar on the floor, clumps of smeared peanut butter on the carpet and up both her arms. Now, knowing that this would be my doggie's idea of paradise, I call the dog to clean up the chunks...hello...less work for me right? Well my little Aeryn decided she wanted to be like doggie and got down on all fours to lick the peanut butter right off the carpet. That's when I abandoned the mess and took the child straight into the shower--clothes and all.

You'd think that'd be the end of the story right? Child scrubbed, smelling all pretty, dressed. Nope. I decided to throw a load of laundry in the washer and when I returned to my precious she had found a purple marker and used it to color lines up and down her arms, legs, bottoms of her feet and armpits. Clearly, I cannot let this child out of my sight for a second.

So anyway, you'd be surprised that I can get any jewelry made at all right? Thankfully Daddy is great about taking her along to run the kids to sports or just to run errands. And well, let's face it, making jewelry is a creative outlet and keeps me relatively sane. Relatively being the key word here.

But I digress...

The summer had lots of running with the kids for sports camps, driver's ed classes, camping trips etc. We took a trip to Maryland with Caitlyn for a soccer tournament and went to Connecticut to visit family. I had a craft show and jewelry showings and just last weekend walked with the Hillcrest Jewelry Design team in the Berks County Heart Walk. This was our 2nd year walking as a team. Had wonderful weather and enjoyed the day but sadly noticed a sharp decline in overall participants this year. I can't help but wonder if that has anything to do with the current economic conditions and I hope that that is not a sign of whats to come this weekend at the Leesport Market Craft Fair.

This weekend, both Sat. & Sun. 10/10 & 10/11 I'll be set up at the Leesport Market Harvest Craft Show. For those who are interested, the show is located in Leesport, PA which is just a 15 minute ride down Rt. 61 from Cabela's. Parking and admission is free. The show starts at 9am and ends at 4pm. There is a large selection of handcrafted items including primatives, crafts, and of course jewelry. Food, candles, soaps, and framed artwork are also amongst the many items that can be found. I'll be indoors in the smaller of the two buildings. Look for the sign for the meeting room and come say hello!

Trying to find balance

I crave balance in my life. I am a Libra, you know, the scales? When I feel like life is imbalanced I get a little wackier than normal :) Lately, the scales don't come to mind but for some reason I have this image of a seesaw that can never really stay horizontal for long. It's not natural for a seesaw to be like that. A seesaw is more about the extremes-high or low and that's what makes seesaws so much fun, if you go with the flow of the ride and enjoy it. Hence my problem. I'm always fighting the natural ebb and flow of the seesaw. I get too much weight on my end so I put it off to the other end. That's where hubby sits. He balances the load and he does it well and I know if he weren't on the other end I'd be on my keister on the ground. Are ya all following me? Problem is, when he's all the way down there at the other end, we rarely get to meet up and that's what it's been like lately. He is wonderful with the kids, the food shopping, cooking meals and paying the bills and ladies, you can't have him! He's so great with the kids that I find I'm seeing less of him and the kids as I throw myself into building my little business. I miss my family. It is the price I pay and so I've decided that while I do not wish to sacrifice my entrepreneurial endeavours, I need to change something so that I can make the time to see them. After much thought and consideration, it finally dawned on me that hello...I am the boss, I can call my own shots, right? So, the shots have been called.

I am discontinuing my custom design services. All current projects will be filled, however, going forward, I will not be accepting new custom orders. Custom design can be extremely rewarding (as well as frustrating at times) and time consuming. In the current market it's not as profitable as one would think. I will still be making my unique, funky, wonderful (okay, I'm biased) designs and selling them through in home jewelry parties and craft fairs. I am also in the process of listing pieces for sale on my new etsy on-line shop, http://www.heathermgannon.etsy.com/. The shop is up but it's looking very sparse at the moment so feel free to stop by but please be patient as I figure out all the etsy ins and outs and get my products listed. For now, I plan to put all the newest items in the etsy shop. I will be removing items from the original http://www.hillcrestjewelrydesign.com/ website as they sell so you may want to view both sites. You may purchase directly from the etsy shop, however please send me an e-mail at hillcrestjewelrydesign@comcast.net if you would like to purchase an item from the hillcrest site as the hillcrest site does not have a shopping cart on it. Confused? I hope not. Let me explain.

I set up the original website with the intention of adding a shopping cart at a later date. I found out after the fact that the options I chose with the website necessitated certain requirements for a shopping cart that would have been costly and time-consuming. Live and learn. The website serves as a sort of on-line catalogue though so I kept it going. When I'm having a show, my customers can preview stock prior to party time. I do not have a printed catalogue as my inventory is constantly changing. So that's that, in a nutshell.

Now, getting back to the basics. The jewelry making continues as I prepare for an in home jewelry party this weekend. Potty training is in full swing: potty, pull ups and pee accidents OH MY! We missed dance class this week as someone forgot her dance bag and mommy didn't remind her prior to leaving the house, so more than half way there, we turned around to get the bag only to realize that we'd be missing more than half of the class by the time we got there. The amazing goalie got to play the field for the school's varsity team yesterday and managed to score a goal from the center fullback position!!! She was quickly pulled off the field as her coaches didn't want her to push up the field that far. Big picture people--she scored! She also had an assist from the same position. For those of you not in the soccer mindset, the full back position is way back on the field far away from scoring position. In addition, more soccer, volleyball, a yearly check up at the pediatrician, a school field trip and Zoe's birthday party mark the calendar this week. Did I forget something?? Probably.

Enjoy the pics, enjoy the wonderful weather we're suppose to get this weekend and happy belated earth day! ~Heather

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

There's been so much going on this past week. The angel pins continue to be quite popular. I've been receiving batch orders on a weekly basis and am happy to say that $410 have been raised thus far for the Leukemia fundraiser. We're so close to my $500 goal--just 9 more pins!

Here's some new pieces that I mentioned in a previous post. The bracelet below is made with coconut shell, sterling silver and chinese turquoise. The colorful bracelet under that is made with capiz shells and sterling silver chain. Did I mention I'm looking forward to warmer weather??

Last week was busy with hubby and my daughter suffering from a stomach bug and let me just say, it wasn't pretty. Fortunately I dodged that bullet. Last week we also had the usual run of taxiing kids to and from volleyball, soccer, ballet and gymnastics as well as a doctor's appointment. In between all of that I was preparing for an in home jewelry party on Saturday, in Newtown, PA. Being so close to my high school brought back lots of memories. I had a great time with old friends and also had the opportunity to meet up with family for dinner before heading back to Berks County. The week concluded with more soccer--4 games for 3 kids. Unfortunately I only made 1 of them as I was at home dealing with a cranky toddler. Looks like there may be another goal keeper in the family.

It's now Tuesday, St. Patty's Day, and I've finished off all the Irish Potatoes--YUMMMM. I totally forgot to dress my child in green for school this morning and I hope she's not too upset over that one but she did have on teal which is pretty close right? Anywho...looking at the rest of this week, there is another doctor's appointment, more soccer, volleyball and gymnastics, 2 birthdays on Friday (Happy Birthday Mom & Stacey!!), angel pins to finish and deliver, invitations to print and mail for an April jewelry party, a bracelet to adjust and mail, more paperwork to enter from last weekend's show, and Bridal jewelry to price and order supplies for. I also have 3 swirly ring orders and a hand forged link bracelet order to fill and earrings to make for my next show.

Speaking of bridal jewelry, I can't wait to show you the design I came up with. The bride has an idea of the look and colors to be used for her bridesmaid's jewelry but she pretty much gave me artistic freedom with this project. I came up with a design in sterling silver, staying true (I hope) to the Bride's wishes while injecting my own artistic impression on the pieces. I will be using crystals in vibrant colors and bending and curling sterling wire. Once I get the Bride's approval I'll share photos with you.

I will also be working on more Bridal jewelry at the end of the month. This project is for the Bride herself. After gathering information from the Bride, I already have an idea of the design I will be proposing and can't wait to meet with her to discuss the particulars.

The end of this month holds another show for HJD. I will be at the Leesport Farmer's Market for their annual Easter Craft Show Saturday and Sunday, March 28th & 29th, from 9am to 4pm. I will be set up inside the meeting room. I hope to see you there!

Aeryn is asleep on the couch so I am going to use this opportunity to work on angel pins. Have a great St. Patty's Day! ~Heather

Warm Weather Daydreams, Angel Pins and Fibulas--Oh My!

Those of you who know me, know that I am a huge baby about this cold winter Pennsylvania weather and can't wait for the crocus bulbs to signal Spring and the warmer weather that it brings. Lately my designs are reflecting that as I have been incorporating "beachy" elements, such as a starfish charm dangling off of beautiful sand colored pearls or natural blue coral nuggets, here and there.

In addition to daydreaming of warm sandy beaches, I've been obsessing over pins. I had wanted to do a line w/ pins but always seem to be busy with something else that it wasn't until I was contacted by a repeat customer and friend who asked if I would design something special for a fundraiser that I revisited the pin idea and put my pliers into motion. My friend had a simple request for a pin in the shape of an angel. I could put my special touch on it, my own artistic expression etc. Yay!! I immediately had a vision of how I wanted the angel to look but to make it functional as a pin was a another story. After sketching several variations and playing w/ my copper wire, I had settled on a functional and fashionable sterling silver pin. Each pin is approximately 1 1/4" wide by 2 1/4" high. As an extra touch, I want to dangle a small orange Swarovski crystal from the halo to represent the fight against leukemia. The crystals, which are a very nice shade of orange, have been ordered but I couldn't wait to share the pin w/ you. So just imagine the crystal dangling there and I'll update the picture when the crystals arrive. More information regarding the fundraiser will follow as this is private fundraiser to benefit a local family affected by leukemia. If you would like to help this cause by purchasing a pin, please e-mail me at hillcrestjewelrydesign@comcast.net. Each pin, with crystal, is $25 (tax included) with a portion of each sale being donated.

So angels aside, I also made a handful of fibulas. These are larger and would look great on a scarf or shawl. Prices and materials vary so if you'd like more information or would like to see more designs, please refer to my website at http://www.hillcrestjewelrydesign.com/ or contact me at the above e-mail address. Thank you for reading and wherever you are I hope you are warm and cozy. ~Heather