Rain Rain, Go Away

Yeah, yeah, spring showers May flowers. I hear ya. Every time I turn around soccer games are being rescheduled due to the rain. Yuck. Bring back the sun! Again, I was dreaming of warm weather, the beach, you've heard it all before...hence the shells:

So here we are, another week has begun. Last week I got to meet Angie in person, face to face. You may remember I have been working on angel pins that I was selling and donating a portion of each sale to help raise money for a local family that is up to their eyeballs with Leukemia. http://hillcrestjewelrydesign.blogspot.com/search/label/pins Let's just say, meeting her and her family and knowing what they're going through put things into perspective for me. I have many blessings that I am grateful for and I am honored to have been asked to design a specialty piece for this cause. Thanks to all who purchased angel pins.

The rest of last week is a blurr...oh wait-new brakes and tires on my van. Picture this people, an hour from home, at night, alone, van full of shiny bling and displays and I've got the brake pedal to the floor and hearing metal grinding on metal. Wait, it gets better...I had to go DOWN a ginormous hill on Rt. 78 outside Allentown, PA. Fortunately, after white knuckling it and lots and lots of chats with the good lord above, I made it home, safe and sound. Shaking, but safe.

Last week in the studio was spent finishing up custom orders, mailing out orders, catching up on paperwork from the previous weekend's party and making necklaces for HJD's new Men's Collection. So far 3 necklaces are made. I have another design sketched out and hope to get to it soon. This week I need to get invitations in the mail for the next private party, build up earring inventory and work on my guest list as I've decided to host a party in June. I'm also working on a bridal set, listing products for sale in my etsy shop http://www.heathermgannon.etsy.com/ and marking down some older product that I'd like to see sell this weekend at the Leesport Market Craft Fair. If you're in the area this Saturday, May 9th from 9am to 4pm, please visit me inside the Meeting Room. That's the smaller building, I'm right across from Scoot and Bubba's Restaurant.

Tomorrow I get to catch up with a dear friend over lunch and I'm so looking forward to that! Have a great night! I'm going to go catch some Zzzzzz's. ~Heather

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

Bridesmaids Necklaces

The Bridesmaids necklaces are finally done! The bride had a color scheme in mind that incorporates the color of the crystals with colors in the floral arrangements. The girls will be wearing black dresses so this pop of color will be stunning without being overpowering. I can't wait to see the girls all done up!!!

The amethyst crystals are Swarovski, the olivine and orange pear shaped crystals are cubic zirconium. I hand forged the sterling silver links and extender and finished off the extender with another crystal.

That's it for tonight. Have a good night! ~Heather

Spring Fever? Yup, little bit!

Let's take a little break from the bling to enjoy this gorgeous weather, shall we?

Welcome to my garden. I just wanted to share with you some signs of spring that are popping up around my yard.

The spirea is beginning to bloom. The metal little trellis thingy is what I cut my hand on while weeding this flower bed. Nothing major people, just a flesh wound and yes, I'm still current on my tetanus shot. Maybe I should stick to the jewelry. LOL!

A tufted titmouse at the feeder. My little diva, the 6 year old (otherwise known as 003), wanted the birdies to eat from her hand but it was not meant to be as the holy terror (004) refused to sit still and kept scaring the birds off.

The crocuses are done blooming but they looked so pretty while they lasted.

The lamb's ears are now filling in where the crocuses were blooming.

That's our fat cat, Schayna, scaling the fence.

Pulsatilla Vulgaris, or commonly known as Pasque Flower. This one is new to me but I'm told it is native to PA. It's a perennial, gets to be 8-10" high and enjoys full sun to part shade.

The maple tree has buds on it!

Ahhhh, I wish you could smell the hyacinths.

A couple of the fishies in our very murky pond. I was so relieved to see that they survived the cold winter.

More garden pics will follow as more plants bloom. I also have a very scary before picture of our veggie garden. Makes me sad to look at it with all the weeds and so neglected. Hopefully I'll get out soon to clean things up (good intentions, right?)

For my facebook friends who have already seen these pics, I apologize for being redundant. I'm just so happy for the warmer sunny weather!!!!

Enjoy your day! ~Heather

New Earrings and Necklace

I managed to get more earrings made yesterday but the kitchen floor still looks like a bomb exploded and landed on it. I've marked oodles of earrings down to make room for the new spring/summer ear bling. Anything that I am tired of looking at got marked down. Unfortunately I don't have time to make the price changes on the website so if any of the earrings on the website float your boat just shoot me an e-mail at hillcrestjewelrydesign@comcast.net to inquire about the price. I still have a lot of empty space on my earring racks so more newbies are yet to come.

I just had to share this necklace with you. I found this carved bone pendant and thought ocean jasper, with all it's color variations, would look great with it. The necklace is adjustable and measures 16-19". I've hand turned each sterling silver link. HJD1353 $43.00

These dainty rhodonite earrings are wrapped in sterling silver and measure approximately 1" from the top of the ear wire to the bottom of the wrapped stone. The stone is a mauvish pink. HJD1347 $10

I found a mix of wood beads at a great price and couldn't pass them up. The white beads in these earrings are actually wooden and very lightweight. A tiny Chinese turquoise bead dangles from the bottom. Sterling silver accents and components. HJD1354 $12 approx. 2" long

It's hard to see in the photo but the teardrop shaped Unakite stone has a mottled dark and light green w/ a peachy pink color to it. The cube hanging above is pink lepidolite and picks up on the pink in the unakite. These earrings hang approx. 1 3/4" from the top of the ear wire to the bottom of the teardrop. HJD1355 $14

I've dressed up a buri nut in these earrings. You'd never know it but the red bead is actually a nut that has been dyed. I've combined sterling silver accents with vintage crystals to make these earrings sparkle and shine. Measuring approx. 1 1/2" long. HJD1356 $16

Again with the wooden beads. I love the casual look of these earrings. At approx. 2 1/4" long, the wooden beads make these earrings very lightweight and comfortable to wear. A green glass lentil bead dangles below the wooden beads. All sterling silver. HJD1357 $14

My daughter shrieked when I showed her these. Okay, she's 13 so does that make these earrings teeny bopperish? I don't think so. They are fun though!! The sterling silver chain dresses the wood up a bit. Hanging at 3" long, the wood circles keep them light. HJD1358 $21

I am currently updating the website so you'll be able to see these on there in a bit--assuming of course that I'm not interrupted in the meantime--ha ha! I can hear 004 running amuck upstairs. God only knows what I'll find when I get up there.

Have a good one! ~Heather

New Bling, Craft Fair Wrap Up & To-Do List Additions

I'm lying in bed w/ my laptop listening to the snoring princess beside me. Sleeping beauty is beside her. I'm a night owl by nature but my little ones won't settle down to sleep unless I'm lying in bed with them. Do you know how much I could be getting done right about now?? I've already closed up shop so there's no point in going downstairs now though. So here I am, wide awake and finding the need to be productive in one form or another which led me to updating my website w/ new bling pics. I'll save you the trip to the website by publishing the latest HJD creations here:

Last weekend I was set up at the local craft fair. Saturday was a nice day so there was a larger crowd than Sunday, what with the damp rainy chilly weather. I really wasn't expecting any crowd at all on Sunday but much to my surprise the die hard craft connoisseurs were out and about, purses slung across the chest, donning rain gear and pulling carts along to wheel around all their bargains. I really do enjoy working that craft fair, partially because I'm indoors now(thank you Woody!!), and partially because my local loyal customers know where to find me and come to visit and shop. As many of you know, I long for the day when I can afford to open my own little piece of retail heaven so for me this craft show is a tiny sliver of what's to come. Sales were pretty decent considering the current economic situation. I did better than the Christmas show but we had awful weather that weekend. And I made some new friends, both in fellow vendors and new customers as well.

This evening I spent some time with a bride to be and her daughter, my tastefully simple rep/friend. Let me just tell you, her dress is amazing! I have never seen a wedding gown like this one. She didn't want a traditional gown as this is her 2nd marriage. It's off white with a sweetheart neckline, sleeveless, and a fairly straight, maybe A line drop to the floor. There's beautiful floral embroidery on the bodice, along the hem and train, in ecru, rose, lavender and sage. I can't wait to get the pics on here for you to see but we'll have to wait until June for that. Anyway, I'm making custom earrings and matching bracelet for the bride. I'll keep you posted.


My to-do list for this week is never ending as items from last week's to-do list spilled over to this week. I still have yet to make 2 swirly rings and a hand forged sterling link bracelet. Adding a matching anklet to that order, as well as another swirly ring but this one will be silver and gold--should be a gorgeous combination. I finished the custom mother's bracelet from last week. I did get some earrings made last week but marked down several earrings that I've been looking at too long during the craft show so I need to make oodles more. I'm still working on the other bridesmaids necklaces. I had to reconfigure the connections as I wasn't happy with how the crystals were hanging. It was a logistics issue but I think I have a solution. I need to find the supplies for the new bride-to-be's jewelry and price it. I'll need to order bags soon and I think I'm going to go w/ a "greener" option this time. Last but not least, more angle pins.

As usual we have the normal multitude of kids' activities. Volleyball practices and games, soccer, soccer and more soccer, gymnastics and an eye appointment. Somewhere in there my kitchen floor needs a hose down. Any volunteers?

Have a great night if you're up late like me, if not, happy morning! ~Heather

New Bling Update

As usual, I felt I didn't have enough made for the craft fair this weekend. I really do have an abundance but I just had to make a few more things. Plus, I received new supplies yesterday that I couldn't wait to get my hands on. Here's the result:

The pictures don't really do them justice. All the more reason to see them in person! Hopefully the weather will be nice and we'll have lots and lots of shoppers. Let's help stimulate the economy people!!!

Well I'm tuckered out and I have an early morning so I'm off to bed. Have a great weekend! ~Heather

Just a Reminder...Craft Fair This Weekend

This weekend, March 28th & 29th from 9am to 4pm I, loaded up with all my bling, will be at Leesport Farmer's Market Easter Craft Fair in Leesport, PA. To celebrate spring as well as the anniversary of my 2nd official year in business, I will be offering a sale on all regularly priced items: buy 2, get the 3rd at 1/2 off. Please visit me in the meeting room (the smaller building) across from the restaurant. I hope to see you there!

Just wanted to share....

I am very happy to be one of the artists included on www.phillyartgalleries.com.



Have a great day!

March Madness Champs!!

This weekend was spent, for once, entirely away from my office/studio/former formal dining room. Caitlyn had a soccer tournament in Maryland with her new BSA Rage U13 premier soccer team. We made a family mini-vacation out of it. The hotel stay was a bit challenging for Aeryn, the 2 year old, a.k.a 004, as she doesn't like to be cooped up. Even though we spent a few hours in Baltimore following Cait's game, by 8:30pm Sat. night Aeryn had enough of the hotel room and was literally hanging off the door handle, pleading with me to go "out". So with that, Zoe and Aeryn, donning jammies and freshly washed hair, ran up and down the hallway outside our room. Fortunately there was another soccer team of U14 girls who were making way more noise playing leap frog at the other end of the hall so the lighting fast pitter-patter of my little ones wasn't so bad. You'd think they would have worn themselves out but apparently they share the same genetic code as the energizer bunny and had no intentions of slowing down.

Although we didn't spend as much time as I would have liked sight seeing, we did walk around Baltimore's Inner Harbour where my sheltered children got to see homeless people for the first time. Maybe they'll appreciate their blessings a little more now? They also saw a street performer for the first time and a group of young adults happily giving away free hugs. We stopped at Phillip's for dinner. I was determined to eat crab cakes before returning to PA. YUMMMMM!!! Aeryn, on the other hand, preferred butter and tarter sauce over her hot dog and fries. She does love her condiments.

Cait's team won their division!! There were 4 games, 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. She had a shut out in 3 of the games, and only allowed 2 balls in net in 1 game. Oh, by the way, she's a goal keeper. At 13 years old, the child already towers over me at 5'8ish".

Although we missed miss Zoe's soccer game this afternoon, Zach was able to make 1 of his soccer games after we arrived home and he scored a goal! Of course I missed it :-( Maybe next time I'll get to see him score again.

Looking at the week ahead, more angel pins, 2 lunch dates, 1 doctor visit, a volleyball game, ballet, gymnastics, after school practices for 001 & 002, a few custom orders and the Leesport Market Easter Craft Show Sat. & Sun. from 9am-4pm. Come visit me in the meeting room. I have lots of new pieces for Spring and I'll be having a SALE!!! Buy 2 regularly priced pieces, get the 3rd regularly priced piece (of equal or lesser value) 1/2 off!! I hope to see you there!

Have a great night! ~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