Jesus is the reason for the season...

Take time to be ready and let Jesus into your heart!

Merry Christmas!

"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."-- Matthew 5:8

Wow! Time is flying by so fast! We have been very busy creating new items for our Etsy shop. So many excursions to the wonderful bead shops (in the garment district of Manhattan) to inspire us. We have discovered so many one-of-a-kind stones we had to design with. Colored cubic zirconia stones have also attracted our attention! Take a peek at the new additions to our shop! Our goal was to get to 100 items before November. Looks like we'll get there by next week... better late than never! :)

Pardon the missing details on many of the pieces... thought I'd post at least one photo and then slowly fill in with details and other photo shoots! Stay tuned!

Happy Holidays from our home to yours... Belinda & David (and our furred and feathered children!)

Happy Thanksgiving!

A day to sit back and count our blessings. Our favorite day of the year... really! We enjoy spending the time, in the kitchen, cooking an entire spread of a meal and it's just the two of us! And our feathered and furry children! No rushing... because we cook in our own time and eat our feast in our time, as well. We just might make Thanksgiving last until Tuesday... we are off together til then! Praise God!

With each dish that we traditionally make... we remember those that passed these wonderful recipes our way and all of the great memories of Thanksgiving past! Thank You, God, for everything we celebrate today and for having a home that is filled with unconditional love! Each day is a blessing! Please help us to be grateful and to remember to do Your will each day! Amen!

Happy Halloween!

Wow! It's been quite a bit since I've written. Still getting used to the full-time job, outside of home. Seems every spare moment goes into mendlbarr.

Our goal is to have 100 pieces of jewelry on the Etsy site by November 1st... we have so many just waiting for their photography session! Ah... the days that I used to spend just designing, creating and photographing! Okay, wake up!

The leaves have turned beautiful colors and my favorite time of year is here! Just in case I don't get to write before October 31st... HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)

The Blessing of Our Animals

The day started out cloudy, but by 1:30 pm the sun was in full glory for the annual "Blessing of Animals" service through the intercession of St. Francis of Assisi Feast Day. We have lived across the street from St. Francis of Paola church for over 9 years. This is a day that ranks up there in importance (if you know us, you understand).

We love our furred and feathered family and to have a priest hold a service just for them is very special!

I forgot to grab the camera as we rushed across the street, with Heathcliff & Mickey (our chinchillas), Monte & Max (our dogs) and the newest member of our family... Sabu (our bird). They all behaved so beautifully. We are so proud of our menagerie. It was nice to honor all of the animals. A large gathering of God's "angels" and their human companions!

We've complained about our apartment and eagerly await the new home God has prepared for us when our lease has ended... but I will surely miss this special service by St. Francis of Paola! We are blessed! Thanks Jesus!

life is good...

Sabu, our Indian Ringneck, is trying to ride Monte's back. Monte, our American Eskimo, patiently glances back at him. Yes, it's the little things that make life so good!

My new job is going well. Now I know what looking forward to the weekend really feels like. You automatically wake up on Friday morning in a great mood! Praise God for all of our blessings!

We visited two wholesale bead shops in Manhattan last weekend and we have begun the creative process. Hopefully, we will get to post some of the new creations on our Etsy site by next weekend. We love creating... but our regular, everyday chores have piled up so high that we had to spend the weekend being domestic. Whew... we need a "weekend" to rest from our weekend!

a new "day" job...

I started a new job in beautiful Tribeca! After my years of retail management... I am finally able to experience a normal Monday thru Friday work week! Praise God! After fighting the idea of outside sales for way too long, I am finally where I am supposed to be! It's only been four days but I am so excited!

And... it doesn't hurt that I get to work with my husband again! We work for an architectural glass company and use our creative gifts to help design glass projects. Brainstorming with architects to bring their vision to fruition, our "day jobs" inspire our jewelry designs. It's also nice to be able to enjoy eachother's company as we commute to and from work!

We plan to shop many of the NYC wholesale jewelry supply stores this weekend... ahhh... the fun we'll have! Can't wait to see what catches our eyes... the hunt for stones is as much fun as designing with them! Check out our Etsy shop early next week for a peek! :)

How exciting!!!

We got more press! Feels so good when we are mentioned somewhere in cyberspace for our jewelry! This morning was exciting because our "denim n' chain" earrings were on the front page of Etsy and our "one-of-a-kind leaves" were recommended on thisnext.com!

Our "denim n' chain" earrings were part of a beautiful treasury! These colors get us in the mood for fall! Growing up in South Texas, we never experienced seasons... so we love fall weather in New York! Can't wait!! Somewhere I read that we always love the months that we were born into... guess that's correct... I love the fall and my birhtday is just around the corner! :)

using the "talents" God gave you...

Received an email from my Godmother today... she signed it with "hope you are doing well with your "talents"! Made my day that she remembered my struggle to utilize all of my creative gifts in a world that sometimes makes it impossible! Even with so much more time at home... I find it hard to get everything done! Scares me what it might be like once I get back to full-time work?

Guess I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Until then, I will take a big breath, say a prayer and put one foot in front of the other and hope it takes me where He wants me to be! Do any of you have any suggestions on time-managing? I'm going to need it!

bring on the rain...

Today we awaited Tropical Storm Hanna on the East coast. We are from South Texas and we've been thru a few hurricanes... but in New York??? At about 3pm, the rain came down hard... it's still dark outside. This song by Jo Dee Messina and Tim McGraw just came to mind! Treat yourself for a few minutes and listen to the words... very inspiring!

"Bring on the Rain" has two meanings to me right now... literally, we love the sound of rain on a tin roof... so relaxing! Experiencing some rough times recently, we can testify first hand that "it is darkest before the dawn." With our faith in God and our savior, Jesus Christ, we know the dawn will come (we just have to remember this when it's so dark that you can't think straight.) So bring on the rain! :)