Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

To all of my fantastic customers, thank you for a wonderful year!
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and I wish you the best for the coming year!

**My shop will remain open during the holidays but will be closed January 9-23.

Some customs

Here are some of the custom pieces I've worked on from the past few weeks. Is there anything you'd like to see added to the shop?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Great news, I just finished up my last set of orders and finished shipping everything today!
So hopefully you will all get your orders before Christmas.

Now I can catch up on my Christmas preparations!

We normally have snow on the ground much earlier in the year than this, but not this year. It finally snowed quite a bit a few days ago. My kids were so excited! So is it looking like Christmas where you live?

Worried about gift wrap?

Whew, we've been super busy around here, thanks so much for all of your orders!

Today is the last day I can guarantee Christmas delivery with regular (1st class) shipping so if you still need a few gifts then head on over to my shop.
And with priority shipping the last day I can guarantee Christmas delivery will be orders purchased by the 12th, so you may want to hurry!

If you end up ordering after the 7th and you need your purchase before Christmas then make sure you include the shipping upgrade to your cart.



Each order comes in a brown box tied with a ribbon, perfect for gift giving, or gifting yourself!
*Color of ribbon will vary.

Need a great gift tag to go along with it? Then check out this site for lots of cute printables!


I also decided to give a few family members a personalized ornament for Christmas.
What do you think?

If you need one then feel free to contact me.
I'm not listing them in the shop right now.

The Symbols of Christmas

Christmas is not only beautiful, but it can be very meaningful if you allow the symbols and imagery to remind you of the Christmas story.
Did you know all of these?

*Candy cane - made by a Christian confectioner as a reminder of the Shepherd’s staff. They were red and white - red for the blood shed by Jesus Christ, white for His purity.


*The Wreath - God is the Alpha and Omega. He is everlasting. His kingdom knows no beginning and no end. (Revelation 1:8)


*The Lights - "Jesus, the Light of the world." (John 8:12)

"The Lord shall be thy everlasting light." (Isaiah 60:20)

"The Lord is my light and my salvation." (Psalm 27:1)


*The Holly - crown of thorns (see red & green below)


*The Star - marks the place where the Christ Child lay. (Matthew 2:10)

*Christmas Tree- Symbol of the Jesse Tree. Jesse was the father of King David. He had 8 sons and 2 daughters. It is from his lineage that the Christ Child receives his earthly ancestry.” (Isaiah 11:1-2)

Symbolizes life. The tree was Christianized in the 4th century during the reign of Emperor Constantine. The pagan celebration of the Saturnalia was replaced with Christmas on Dec. 25th. ("Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" - Romans 12:21)

- All nature rejoices at the birth of the Savior

- The Lord is like "an evergreen tree" Hosea 14:8


*Santa Claus - Eastern European name for Saint Nicholas. He tossed pouches with gold coins through the windows of needy people in his town. He was Orthodox Christian Archbishop of Myra in Asia Minor in the 3rd Century. Patron Saint of secret giving, of children, and of travelers by sea. His Feast Day is celebrated on December 6th.
But in reality, it is Jesus who gives all good gifts and we must be careful to give credit to whom credit is due. Too many children have become hysterical when they find out that their parents bolding lied to them about Santa Claus. If you lie to them about Santa, they may also wonder what else about Christmas is also a lie.
*Angels - proclaim the birth of the Savior. (Luke 2:10)


*CHRISTMAS COLORS

Red - Christ's blood shed for our sin. (John 19:34)

Green - We have eternal life in Christ. (John 3:16-17)

White - The purity of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

Gold - The Kingship and Royalty of Christ (Isaiah 9:6-7)

One of my fellow Utahetsy team members, Second Story Window, is offering a free download of the childrens' game Smackdown. It is a fun game for 1st and 2nd graders, and may just be that perfect inexpensive gift that you've been wanting!

You can download the game here.

Make sure you check out their shop though, they have tons of cute activities for teachers, parents, homeschoolers, and kids! Like this cute game:

A Sneak Peak at a new design for December

Thank you so much for all of your early holiday orders, we've been busy around here!

*Just a reminder, I can't guarantee delivery
in time for Christmas after December 7th
with regular shipping prices, so get those orders in soon!



Here's a preview of the new design coming up for December.

This Faith Hope and Love necklace comes on a 3/4 inch open square disc.

The charm is a purple freshwater pearl with a silver bead accent.

It has a hammered finish, and comes on an 18 inch sterling silver ball chain.

I'll be adding it to my shop during the first week of December, come see!

The Thanksgiving Spirit

The other night we decided to have a family night centered around Thanksgiving.

I had seen this great post over at Tip Junkie about Thanksgiving traditions.
One that I especially liked was the Thanks and Giving trees post from
Chocolate on my Cranium (don't you love the name of her blog?!).
We started a bit late and didn't get a chance to really work on the Giving Tree portion,
I think maybe we can do that during the month of December,
but we did do our Thanks trees.

It was interesting to see what our kids are thankful for!
My son was thankful for mostly material things-- gameboy, video games, etc. My daughter was thankful for family, church, school, and many other things along those lines.
I loved helping them think of all the things we should be thankful for!

We ended our night by making these fun turkey cookies.
No two looked the same and they were kind of messy,
but I'm sure they tasted great anyway.

I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving, and hope you are able to share the day with many friends and family!

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? And what are you thankful for during this time of the year?

P.S. Did you all see the Thanksgiving clip from Mr Nielson over at the NieNieDialogues?

Teacher necklace

I wanted to give my kids' teachers something special for Christmas this year.
They will each be getting of of these "Teachers Rule" necklaces.

The disc is 3/4 inch, and it comes with these cute brass apple and ruler charms.

I will list this in my shop hopefully today, so stop on by!

*Make sure to get your holiday orders in soon, I won't be able to guarantee a Christmas delivery after December 7th. Orders right now are shipped within a week, but things are getting busier and that will soon have to increase.
Thanks so much!!

Another Whitney auction is live

The second necklace is currently up at the Whitney auctions.
For a chance to get this necklace at a great price click here!



They have lots of amazing things up right now, check it out!

Want to win a gift certificate to my shop?

During the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival I entered a few contests myself. I didn't actually win any of them, but I did find some new blogs to read. We are THAT Family was one of the blogs that I thoroughly enjoyed reading, so I entered her contest and subscribed as well! So when Kristen emailed me about doing a giveaway on her blog I happily agreed.
And guess what... it's today! For a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to my etsy shop just go comment on her giveaway, you can find it here. She'll be picking a winner tomorrow afternoon so get your comments in soon. And who knows, you may just decide to subscribe to her blog too, she's lots of fun!

Some Christmas necklaces

I just added some holiday necklaces to my shop.


There is so much craziness in the world today. Even so,
I hope we can all find joy this holiday season.

This Joy necklace is similar to the Tiny Tags necklace, but the tags are smaller (1/2 inch).
How very festive!

And while I'm not really looking forward to the snow, I know lots of you are!
So here is the Let it Snow necklace:

You can find both of them in my shop.

*Make sure you get those holiday orders in early! I won't be able to guarantee delivery in time for Christmas if you order after December 7th.

12 Days of Junkie

Tip Junkie's mom-preneur shop-a-thon has grown by leaps and bounds since I entered my little shop. Stop by to see tons of amazing shops and products, all made and run by Moms! This is a great place to do your holiday shopping!!!

Tip Junkie has also set up the 12 Days of Junkie (or Christmas), it starts Tuesday, November 11th. There will be some amazing giveaways, and 2 winners each day, so make sure to stop by!

Tagged

By Mariah! Be sure to check out her blog, she makes fantastic jewelry!


I'm supposed to write 7 facts about myself, then tag 7 more people!

Here are the rules for the people I'm about to tag:

Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.~ Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.~ Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog.~ Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


So here it goes...7 facts about me:

1. I have always been very shy, if you meet me in person and I don't talk a lot it's because I don't know what to say, not because I don't like you.

2. I spend way too much time on the computer. I have lots of blogs that I try to keep up on, as well as keeping listings updated in my shop and I am on the computer way too much.

3. My given name is Rosalynn (pronounced Rose-alynn), but most of my friends call me Rosie. I answer to either.

4. My hair is naturally curly, I used to hate it-- it can tend to frizz, but now I don't mind it. It's very easy to fix, I just put mousse in it and let it air dry.

5. My husband and I have struggled with infertility ever since we first decided to have a baby. I'm lucky to have two biological children but we would like to have more, I hope it will happen someday!

6. I am such a procrastinator. I have my orders as my top priority, but I don't always get around to doing everything else around my house as quickly as I should. I had about 8 loads of laundry I finally put away this weekend, it had been folded and sitting on the counter in my laundry room for several days.

7. I love cucumbers. My kids don't really like them, but I have always loved them. More for me I guess!

There we go -- seven things about myself. I hope you learned something new and interesting about me. Now it's your turn!

I tag:
bugs 'n' bees, double dipped sweets, organic Nicole, Michael Grace Designs, and Sachi designs.
**Be sure to check out their blogs, as they have some incredible products!!

Whitney Awards auction during the month of November

Recently I donated two necklaces to the Whitney Awards-- an award program for LDS fiction.
They are currently having a benefit auction. For a chance to get one of these necklaces at a great price go check it out!

The Blessed Beyond Measure necklace is up currently.

The Shine Brightly will be added when the other auction ends.

Coming to the shop soon!

I'm going to be adding these sometime this week, so make sure you check back!



I love the look of copper and silver together,
so I decided to add some two tone earrings to the shop.

These earrings have a hammered finish.
The copper disc is 1/2 inch, and the silver is 1/4 inch, so they're itty bitty little earrings.
When my kids were babies I had to wear small earrings and I wanted to offer some that are smaller for all the mommies out there, and those who don't like huge earrings.

I'm also going to add the Mom to the Xth power to the shop.

This one is great for all the Moms and Grandmas who have
so many names that they won't fit on a necklace.

I've had some requests for pearl earrings that are a bit larger.

I decided to put two freshwater pearls together
with a silver bead on the bottom.
Timeless and classic!

As the holidays get closer and closer my turnaround time is going to get longer,
so make sure you place your holiday orders early!

Right now I'm able to finish orders within 7 days and get them right into the mail so you can get them as quickly as possible.

And the winner is...

Thank you SO much to everyone who entered the contest!
We had so many entries for this one, I wish I could give away more.

The winning number was number 24, which went to...

bugs'n'bees with her extra entry for blogging about the contest. She said:

just posted about you in my blog and made a link to your blog and your etsy shop! woohoo! Absolutely love your stuff! gorgeous!

Thank you so much, and congratulations!

(I just happen to have her store on my sidebar because I entered a contest on her blog too. Check out her cute little girls' dresses, they are gorgeous!)

Thanks to everyone for entering!

And I really love doing these contests so check back again in November, I think I'll have to do it again!

Time for another giveaway!

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED, THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR ENTRIES!
I WILL POST THE WINNER AS SOON AS I FINISH ASSIGNING A NUMBER TO EACH COMMENT.

I think it's about time for another giveaway!

To enter All you have to do is go visit my etsy shop, then come back here and leave a comment saying WHAT you'd like to win (if you'd like a custom necklace then describe it to me), and you'll be entered! Anyone is welcome to enter.

Want extra entries? Here's how:

1. Put a link to my etsy shop or my shop blog on your blog sidebar
2. Mention the giveaway in a post
Leave a comment for each "extra" that you do (please include where you linked me as well) and get one extra entry for each one.

***In your comments please be sure to leave an email addy or a link so I can reach you when you win!***

I'll let the random number generator pick a winner FRIDAY, October 31st at 5pm mst, so get your comments in soon!!!

These are the top 2 sellers from my shop:

The Family Circle necklace

Tiny Tags necklace

And to return to the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival click here.

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED, THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR ENTRIES!!

Mom-Prenuers Shop-a-thon

Buy from women this holiday season!

Tip Junkie is having a Holiday Shop-a-thon, and my little shop is a part of it.
She says:
I'd like to encourage each of you to support other women and mothers this season by purchasing many of your gifts from Mom-prenuers like these!

I'm so inspired by their talents and drive to help support their families. My hope is that you will be too. Please blog about your favorite products and don't forget to place your orders directly from them.

The holidays will be here before we know it, so start shopping!

The purpose of this Mom-prenuer Shop-a-thon is to feature unique, fun, and creative gifts you can purchase for your friends, family and yourself this holiday season.

There are so many varied and wonderful shops participating! To see all of them you can click here, or click on the mom-prenuer button on my sidebar.

And I'll be doing another giveaway soon, so make sure to check back!

Thankful necklace

In a matter of days our weather went from 80 degrees to freezing with snow. We have crazy weather in Utah!

The sudden change in temperature made me think about the holidays we have coming up, especially Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays, and I love its reminder to be thankful.
In spite of all the turmoil in the world our household is still stable and I'm so thankful for that! I think we could all remember a little more often how much we have to be thankful for.

I hope this necklace will be a wonderful reminder.

You can find it in my shop.