Hot Hot Hot

Saturday was our premier appearance at the DePortola Kindergarten Boutique. It was the culmination of months and weeks and days and hours of work on Amy's part. I'd say 75+ vendors and $6800+ for the Kindergarten made the event a huge success.

Customer foot traffic was slow, but steady, and we made a few sales - including taking 2 custom orders. Now I've got to get busy putting them together so Amy can photograph them prior to delivery.

The weather was relatively cooperative, although the heat made for an uncomfortable scenario for all the outside vendors. I was so, so, so happy we paid the extra for an inside booth. Sometimes being a wimp really pays off:)

As a side note, in preparation for the boutique I made a new piece - "SNARKY". But I screwed it up when I punched the hole for the bail on the bottom of the pendant instead of the top. I didn't want to scrap the silver, so instead, I altered the pendant by adding a small peridot dangle. I liked it so much I wore it the day of the boutique. While we don't currently have any pieces that feature gemstone or crystal dangles I figured wearing the piece could only diversify our collection and hopefully appeal to a broader audience. I think it worked, considering one of our custom pieces will feature a crystal dangle.

Pictures to follow.

De Portola Boutique - Come on down!!!

So we always like to let you know when we have a fun new event that you can come visit us at......see our product in person......chat about custom items.......stalk us.......

De Portola Elementary is having a great boutique on Saturday, April 18th from 10am - 4pm.  There are going to be tons of great booths, with items ranging from jewelry (duh), and

Handbags

Toys

Beauty products

Food

Woodwork

Home Decor

Crafts

blah blah blah blah, the list keeps going.  Come on over and check us out!

Differing opinions.........

Okay, so I made a new phrase...."TAKEN". I think it's kinda fabulous - a little tongue-in-cheek if you buy it for yourself, and kinda sexy if your man gets it for you (I like the whole "marking your territory" thing), whereas Cecily said she'd be insulted if a man bought it for her. I guess I like me my cavemen. What do you think?

A Day at the Spa

We were at Skin Deep Day Spa in Huntington Beach all day today. While personally I would've preferred to be having a facial or relaxing in their new Zen Water Experience, Amy and I had a good day meeting customers and promoting our jewelry. By the end of a long day Amy had made a couple of custom pieces and we both ended up with sore feet/knees. And I thought you go to the spa to relieve sore muscles . . .

Another development in our relationship with Skin Deep - we now plan on attending two wine tasting events in February as part of their monthly Mind. Body. Zen Symposiums series. We'll be the only vendor present and are excited to increase our local exposure. The events are scheduled for Feb. 6th and Feb. 20 at 7pm in Skin Deep's Zen Garden.

If you're interested in attending one of these wine tastings, email robin@eskindeep.com or call 714-841-3313.

New phrase ideas today:

Bite Me Before I Die (a reference to Edward from Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight")

Socially Inept (that's how a felt while trying to "sell" today - so NOT within my comfort zone.)

Can't fix my background

So sorry about the holiday themed background. While I love the color & pattern, I can't seem to get rid of the "Happy Holidays" and "Warmest Wishes" - something about them being imbedded in the image. I've spent more time than I have to devote searching for a replacement background that works as well with our color scheme, and I haven't found anything that comes close. So for now just try to block out the festive sayings. Give it 9 1/2 months and you can pay attention to them again.

Call it Karma

I'm a believer that what goes around comes around - call it karma or anything else you want to. Regardless, I love to help when it's within my means or ability to do so. In that spirit here are a couple efforts we're hoping to support:

A Benefit for the DeCarlo family is being held on Feb.6, 2009 at the Holiday Inn Laguna Hills, CA. I just talked with Kim, the organizer, about donating pieces for the silent auction to be held that night. We're hoping to donate a stock piece for the winning bidder to take home that night, as well as a custom piece that the winning bidder can design/select through our website.

Nie Recovery is raising funds to assist in the recovery of Christian & Stephanie Nielson. These parents of 4 were critically injured in a place crash last August. I've emailed for information on how we can help - donating existing pieces for an online auction, creating a unique piece with the proceeds of all sales being donated, or maybe donating a set amount of refered sales? Whatever we end up doing, I'm excited about the prospects of helping.

Whatever you can do to help those around you, just remember we're all in this life together . . . no one gets out of it alive.

The ball is rolling . . .

Amy and I met with Deborah from Skin Deep, a fabulous day spa in Huntington Beach, last week. We had planned on discussing consignment possibilities, but instead got so much more. At least three times more!

We're now preparing for in-person selling this Saturday, January 24th - come see us at Skin Deep!

In February we'll be attending a Valentine's Night party held at Skin Deep and will be providing the prizes for Bingo.

At the end of March - the 31st, to be exact - we'll be participating in a Trunk Show hosted by Deborah and Skin Deep. Amy has been working like a mad woman to get vendors set up and all the details worked out. I swear, that girl never sleeps!