New Bling Update

Just a quick peek at the new collection.  I'm at a loss for a name for the collection though so I could really use your help.  I only have these 3 made so far but plan to make more of this style with various stones.

Feel free to send me your thoughts by clicking comments below.  I'd love to hear your ideas.

In the meantime I'm up to my eyeballs with custom orders, office duties and preparing for an in-home jewelry show this weekend.  ---and of course the kiddies keep things busy too.  Hope you're all doing well and surviving what feels like the never ending winter (at least here in PA).

~Heather

Sterling Wrapped Gemstone Necklaces

Another new collection to show you this Monday. I love the rustic beauty of combining fringed edged, up-cycled corduroy ribbon with sterling silver wrapped gemstones. Each of these three pieces contain a Chinese Picture Jasper stone and as you can see in the pictures, each stone has different hues and patterns. All are stunning, if you ask me, but I am a bit biased. I'll admit that.

The other thing that I love about this particular stone is that each stone has a variety of colors that will easily fit in with a broad array of wardrobes.

These particular necklaces hang at approximately 21 1/2" and are secured with a hook clasp. All metal is sterling silver and hand forged/hand wrapped. The pendants are approximately 37mm wide by 30mm high. I have yet to post these on etsy as I'd like to debut them officially at my Valentine's Jewelry Party this Saturday. I plan to make more of this type of necklace with various other gemstones so if you like this style keep your eyes peeled for the Sterling Wrapped Gemstone Collection. I want to make matching bracelets as well but have yet to actually do so.

If you absolutely love these pieces and can't wait for the party or me posting them on etsy, send me an e-mail and we'll get you hooked up. Reference item #HJD1934 $44 each. PA sales tax where applicable.

Did You Know??

• Picture jasper is named so because the patterns in the stone resemble a small landscape?
• This stone can also be found in Angola, Algeria, Asia, Germany, Peru, Idaho and Oregon?
• It is thought that picture jasper helps promote global awareness by bringing the wearer closer to nature?

Lesson over.  Have a great Monday! ~Heather

Rosary Pieces

Happy Sunday!

Some of the latest creations from the HJD studio/former dining room/ office:

Some time ago I was given bits and pieces of old family rosaries. A little lesson into my personal history here. I was raised in the Roman Catholic religion. I never really embraced the religion and always considered myself to be a Christian. Plain and simple. I can appreciate some of the Catholic traditions though and if you see me in a Catholic church these days, you might even see me genuflect. I do not attend church regularly although I feel I have a deep spiritual side and that works for me.

I also have a great appreciation for that which endures time. Vintage pieces inspire me. It's not just the fact that they're "old" it's the history of the piece, where it came from, who used it and for what purpose. I have so many memories of my grandmother sitting in her green wing back chair, Bible in her lap, rosary in her arthritic hands, reciting prayers as she made her way around the rosary, one bead at a time.

So, when I was given these time worn pieces of vintage rosary I felt so inspired to use them in my jewelry creations. Some pieces are more sentimental than others and with the family history I will be using them in jewelry pieces that I will be keeping and wearing and hopefully passing down to my girls someday. Some of the rosary bits I have a large amount of and will use them in pieces that I will sell.

This particular piece, pictured above and below I will be keeping for myself. But I just wanted to share the beauty of the medal and connector piece. I believe them to represent the Mother Mary and the Seven Sorrows. I think they're sterling silver. I polished them up enough to show the detail but I really like some of the black tarnish to accentuate the beauty of the artistry that went into making it. They may possibly have been made around 1900. If anyone out there in blogland has any knowledge of these pieces and would like to share, I'd love to learn more about them.

I've also used black wood rosary bead sections in this necklace to give it some length and moss opalite roundels because I love how the colors of the moss opalite pick up the black of the rosary beads and will go nicely with a cream colored sweater I have.

This is the back of the medal pictured above. I've also tied up-cycled cream colored corduroy ribbon to the portion that goes behind the neck. It's so comfy, no clasp and large enough to just slip overhead.

And so, since these lovely creations are made using bits and pieces of rosaries, I've named these necklaces: The Bits & Pieces Rosary Collection. Look for more pieces to be added as they are completed. How fitting that I share these with you on Sunday!

~Heather

Valentine's Day SALE!

I am having a Valentine's Day Sale in my etsy shop from now until Feb. 8th, 2010. All of my 4Heart pieces are marked down 10% as well as a few Valentines-ish bracelets. Check out the SALE section for more details. http://www.heathermgannon.etsy.com/

Please place your order by Feb. 8th to ensure delivery in time for Valentine's Day. Your purchase will arrive in a cotton filled jewelry box, tied with a pretty ribbon, ready for gift giving. Free USPS priority mail insured shipping to all US locations.

I'll be posting these little lovelies on etsy in a few minutes but I just had to give you all the heads up on the SALE! I'm thinking I need another necklace like these but with the word "LOVE". What do you think? Any other suggestions? Feel free to share your thoughts, just click on comments.

~Heather

New 4Heart Pieces

Happy Sunday!

I just wanted to pop on here real quick and share with you some brand new pieces in the 4Heart Collection. Some of the pieces I posted last time are already sold so make sure if you see something you like contact me right way as each piece is one of a kind. I will be posting these for sale on etsy in just a bit. Remember, I donate 20% of each sale to the American Heart Association. Perfect for Valentine's Day or to show your support on National Go Red for Women day, Feb. 5th, 2010. Thank you to all of you who have shown your support for this great cause.

By the way, if you have a facebook account check out my fanpage. I post on there daily (more often than blogger).

Enjoy what's left of the weekend! ~Heather

Hearts Galore

I love the color red and it's a good thing too because Valentine's Day is right around the corner. What better way to celebrate this day of Love and get through these dreary winter days, than with a PARTY!! So I've decided to have my 1st ever Hillcrest Jewelry Design Valentine's Party, the day before Valentine's Day. I have many new pieces that I'll be debuting for the Spring Collection, some oldies but goodies that are marked down, and several new pieces in the Four Heart Collection that will make the perfect Valentine's Day gift.

I'm already working on setting the mood around here. I've got some interesting display ideas going on and plan to light lots of little votive candles. Of course, I've rearranged the furniture for the bazillionth time and I've turned my Christmas tree into a Valentine's Tree. All the Christmas decor was taken off and replaced with anything heart related, raffia bows, and red berries. Oh and I whipped up a heart shaped tree topper. The best part about this tree transformation has yet to come but I'm working on it. I'm making vintage inspired Valentines that will decorate every nook and cranny of the tree. As customers finish selecting all kinds of pretty must haves, they can pick a Valentine off the tree. Inside each Valentine will be a mystery discount. One Valentine might say "10% off 1 regularly priced item" and another Valentine might say "Buy 1 regularly priced item, get 50% off the second regularly priced item". I'm excited and I hope my customers have fun with it. I'm also going to have lots of yummy candy, cookies and cakes that are Valentine's Day inspired to snack on between trying on bling.

By the way, will someone kindly remind me to snap a few pics during the party? I'd love to share it with all of you and I always tend to get wrapped up and forget about that.

The 4Heart Collection is growing. For those of you who don't know what this is, let me share with you. I started the 4Heart Collection as a way to create specialized pieces, of which a donation would be made to the American Heart Association from each sale. Back when my oldest 2 kids were little, I volunteered on the planning committee for the local Heart Walk. Like so many others, I have an extensive family history of heart disease and have been profoundly impacted by the ability of research, technology and patient care that can improve and extend the quality of life of those affected by heart disease. When baby #3 came into the picture my volunteering days ended but my participation in fundraising and walking never did. I still wanted to give to the cause. This is my little way of doing so.

I named the collection 4Heart after my 4 kids who will forever be in my heart and for the American Heart Association. A little play of words and you'll understand that I am giving back and contributing 20% of each 4Heart sale For Heart. Get it? The pieces in the 4Heart Collection are all one of a kind. They may be similar but each one differs from the other. I like to include something red in each piece as well. Sometimes I use a red Swarovski pearl (love the Bordeaux color), a red crystal, a red colored gemstone, or a red glass bead. I make simple pieces and more elaborate pieces. Sometimes I make the piece in sterling silver and sometimes I use leather cord and copper. With all this variety comes a variety of price points as well so there something for everyone.

In addition to the 4Heart Collection being the perfect Valentine's Day gift, it is a great way to recognize National Go Red Day. This year, the American Heart Association has established February 5th to be National Go Red for Women Day. You can show your support by wearing red on Feb. 5th. That's why I always like to include a little something red in my 4Heart pieces. Go Red for Women, reminds us that heart disease is the Number 1 killer of women in America. It's not just a man's disease but because it has been associated with men for so many years, often times the signs and symptoms of heart disease go unnoticed in women.

So on that note...I've included a few pics of my latest 4Heart pieces. These are currently for sale in my Etsy store, while supplies last. http://www.heathermgannon.etsy.com/

If you're in the Berks County, PA area on Feb. 13th and would like to join our Valentine's Day Jewelry Party, send me an e-mail at hillcrestjewelrydesign@comcast.net.

~Heather

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday season. It's been busy here as usual and now the time has come to look forward to see what the new year holds for us.

First off, nothing new with the kids. They never stop going, going, going. At the moment all are healthy (knock on wood) and aside from the typical teenage angst, all are relatively happy. :)

Potty training continues to be a struggle but I must take the blame for that as I am not consistent. I definitely need to buckle down and help my child with this as she will be 3 on the 23rd. Geez! Where'd the time go?

Last month hubby and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary! It's been quite a journey --marriage that is, over the years but I am happy to say it's all been worth it. My guy is amazing and we've both grown so much over the years. Here's to many happy years ahead.

Business is good. I'm getting ready for tax season and organizing, tweeking and revamping pretty much everything. The biggest noticeable change is in the appearance of my etsy shop. I recently joined the Busy Moms of Etsy Team, http://busymomsofetsy.ning.com , and have met some wonderful ladies and received some much appreciated advice. In particular, advice on improving my photos. Boy do they need it. The past few weeks I've been learning more about photography and my camera and have been working on the quality of my pics. Every day I try to add new photos to my products on the etsy site. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the lighting and detail in the new pics. http://www.heathermgannon.etsy.com/

I have a few custom orders in the works as well and will post those pics as they are completed. But in the meantime here's some new bling:

Have a healthy, happy and productive 2010! ~Heather

Tis the Season

Happy Holidays Folks!

Where oh where did this year go? It flew by! Good news is that I've been super busy since my last post and if you've read that post from October, you may remember my comment on the economy. That weekend at the craft show in Leesport turned out to be a pretty decent show. I had another craft show in Leesport after Thanksgiving which was even better! Yay! My in-home jewelry parties have also been surprisingly successful. In fact, the 3rd annual HJD Holiday Show and Sale just recently took place in my home on Dec. 5th and despite the snow storm that just had to occur an hour before show time, I ended up with 15 guests in attendance! I am so grateful to my wonderful friends, both old and new, who braved the tretcherous roads to attend. We had a great night with yummy food courtesy of my friend Jess who sells Tastefully Simple and spiked jello jigglers courtesy of my friend Teresa who drove 45 minutes over snowy slushy roads to get there. I also must thank Miss Caitlyn, my 14 year old daughter who really came through for me that night with multiple shoveling trips up and down the driveway. We only had 1 vehicle get stuck in the snow but thanks to my hubby and Jess' hubby they were un-stuck in no time! Whew!

The kids continue to keep us busy. Zoe earned her first girl scout badge, Caitlyn's Rage soccer team made it to Nationals in Florida where they came in 2nd place and she was named to the All Tournament Team as goalkeeper and Zach was elected Senior Patrol Leader of his Scout Troop. Aeryn continues to surprise and amaze us on a daily basis but seems to be getting in less trouble these days. Following my last blog entry, Miss Aeryn managed to shave one of her eyebrows off. Fortunately she didn't hurt herself in the process and her eyebrow has grown in nicely.

So the holiday season is upon us and the kids are going nuts waiting for Christmas to get here. Funny how the excitement we had as children changes when we become adults. It is pretty cool to see the excitement in the kids but when did it turn into so much work? Christmas prep that is. I still have a few presents to wrap. Cards are finally in the mail. House is decorated and the trees (1 live, 1 fake) are trimmed. I had a bunch of last minute custom orders but they are done and ended up being really cool projects to work on.

A customer asked me to make Autism Awareness jewelry to give as gifts to the many specialists that help her autistic son. I immediately thought of a sterling silver puzzle piece charm to hang on a sterling chain and suggested we personalize the necklaces with an additional charm such as a crystal. The charm next to the puzzle piece is representative of the logo colors used by their autism management support system and consists of 4 Swarovski cyrstal cubes wrapped in fine gauge sterling silver wire within a sterling silver square. The initial order of 5 necklaces grew to 8 as we discussed details of the project. With the addition of a chakra balancing necklace and a pre-made anklet as additional gifts, I really had my work cut out for me!

Another fun project I recently worked on was custom grandmother necklaces and a custom aunt bracelet. Did I mention I'm accepting custom orders again? Yeah, give the people what they want right? Anywho...The grandmother necklaces consist of each grandchild's name hand stamped onto sterling silve sheet metal to dangle along side of a sterling silver wrapped pearl necklace. Each pearl repesents a child. The customer wanted something "funky" for the aunt bracelet. Again, I hand stamped AUNT onto a sterling silver disc that I cut out of sheet metal using my newest jewelry toy...I mean tool...and added crystals and a pearl for the birthstone of each niece and nephew of the Aunt. Fun Stuff. I also hand forged the sterling links of the bracelet.

Thank you to all my customers both new and repeat, custom and pre-made, life-long friends and new acquaintances, for all of your support and encouragement over the last year especially during these difficult economic times.

Well that's it for me tonight. Sorry this was so long but I had lots to catch you up on! If I'm not on here again before Christmas, have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ~Heather

Earrings in Gold

Just a quick sneak peak at the new gold earrings.

Have a great day! ~Heather

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!

Lovely Copper

I was experimenting in the studio yesterday and made up a few new pieces that I wanted to share with you. This copper and fancy quartz ring was inspired by the Camille Bracelet shown below. I hammered the base of the ring flat, then added texture to the outter edge using the ball pein. A fine gauge copper wire was used to secure the quartz stones to the ring base. For an added touch, I wrapped the copper wire around the stones as well. Size 8, $15

For the Camille Bracelet, shown above, I have hammered the copper wire flat and formed it into a teardrop shape then added a fancy quartz stone to several of the links. An extra little loop at the tip of the teardrop allows each link to connect to the next. A small copper hook clasp, also hand forged by yours truly, secures the bracelet. This bracelet measures 6 3/4" but extra links can be added for a larger fit. $24

More experimentation with color led me to this brown/green jasper stone. Unfortunately, it's hard to appreciate from this picture but the stone actually has very little green in it. It is more brown with shades of rust and mustard that play off of the color of the copper very nicely. This Gwendolyn Ring is size 5. $14

All three pieces will appear for sale in my etsy shop by the end of business today. Free U.S. shipping (discounted International shipping) from my etsy stop for the summer months. I hope to see you there soon! ~Heather