vacation time!

hi all -

just wanted to give a heads up that i leave town today and will be out of town & quasi out of touch internet-wise till the 5th of July... i'm not closing down my etsy shop - so please feel free to purchase and send messages, just know i might not be able to respond in a timely fashion! and i will get to ya...

i'm really looking forward to this trip - in case you are remotely curious we'll be heading to my cousin's wedding near Chicago for the weekend. and from there we will fly to Charleston, SC for a little girl time for the week! i'm so excited to be traveling, and it'll be a great way to come back nice and refreshed to work on the rest of the wedding season orders! =)

*b

{shop update} jen aniston inspired necklace

awhile back i remember seeing this photo of jennifer aniston wearing a cute, petite little wishbone necklace... ever since i've been on the lookout for a charm that would make an equally cute necklace! and ta-da... i found it, and here's the necklace.

the necklace is 18 inches long {however you can request it longer or shorter} and the wishbone charm is approx. 3/4 of an inch long.

here's a close up!

i think these would even make a great little bridesmaids necklaces/gifts!

{recent project} hydrangea cocktail napkins

just finished these pretties up the other night - i really am in love with the hydrangea image we used for these custom napkins! the bride, lisa used the fonts from their wedding invites to help tie it things together in a chocolate ink, and then the hydrangea puff is in cornflower blue to keep with their color scheme....

i always love seeing the beginning black and white gocco image turn into .....

... a beautiful color, real life print =) it's just such a neat process. one that i enjoy immensely! these are great napkins for a summertime wedding.

and here's a pretty little shot of the final product!

lisa - i hope you love them and congrats again on your upcoming wedding! =)

if you're interested in a similar idea, wanna change up colors - feel free to message me via my shop

{inspiration} oh martha!

martha and the late paw paw

today i was reading "the Martha rules" and was very inspired by this quote from the book - and for all of you creative types out there, making a living doing what you love, i hope this helps give you a little motivation and inspiration!

{follow along} JDV Jewelry is on twitter

just in case you didn't know, you can follow along with Joie de Vie Jewelry on twitter as well - i've been tweeting for awhile, but i just wanted to let new followers know that you can find me there too!

find me here

{shop update} new necklaces

made this cute little necklace today while at the pool - it's already hanging around my neck, where it'll probably stay for a few weeks =) it's the starting piece in my new "petite necklace" collection...

the petite leaf in gold fill

and just get an idea of size - here it is on me... it's pretty petite and cute!

happy shopping!

{things to come} hand stamped personalized jewelry!

i've been toying with the idea recently of getting into hand stamping gold, silver, and brass jewelry... and two weeks ago i finally decided to go for it!... 

if you're wondering what hand stamped jewelry looks like, here are two examples:

it makes great family jewelry, jewelry collages, the options really seem to be limitless!  while i'm waiting for my custom fonts to be manufactured - i'm dreaming up some creative ways to incorporate this concept into my current line which appeals to brides... and i think i've already got some fun ideas!  but you'll just have to wait till july for me to announce those =)

also, the photo below is inspiration of what i one day hope to have in the way of a workspace...

seeing how the supplies and tools to craft hand stamped jewelry take up much more space than the tools i currently work with! 

photo sources

{recipes} coconut cupcakes w/ lime buttercream frosting

a few months back we got a subscription of cooking light and i found this recipe for

coconut cupcakes w/ a lime buttercream frosting. . .  yummmm!

so i figured for my hubs' birthday i figured i'd attempt these - but rather than making full sized cupcakes i opted for mini - cupcakes {which is coming back to haunt me} .... the ones that are still lingering i think i need to thrown out now... but lets not talk about that!

i took the liberty of garnishing them with a little lime zest 

{sorry that's my restaurant background talking} =)

we couldn't get over this card he got for his bday... how awesome is that?  not awesome that it came from none other than his student loan lender... boo! but i though it'd look cute with his cupcakes {since i forgot to get candles}... bad wifey

 

wanna try these yourself?  find the recipe here

{things i dig} GeeZees custom canvas

i have been just dying to get caught up on blogging just so i could share this:

i have a crush on my new geezees canvas! 

below is the wedding photo i chose from our photog {memoriesbymichael.com} then i used photoshop to add the lyrics from our first dance song - Dave Matthews - "steady as we go" and our wedding date... then i sent it to stephanie and then the magic began!

and here's what came to us in the mail.... 

maybe i'm partial, but i think our canvas just rocks! =)

stephanie, the force behind geezees, was phenominal to work with! she's a fellow etsy wedding team member, but i found out about her business because i was the winner/recipient of a contest over at weddingbee.  even though this was a complimentary canvas,  her attention and communication throughout the process was fantastic!  since it was "freebee" she could've totally taken longer on my order, but she treated it as if it was just as much a priority as any of her paid orders!  being a fellow online vendor - that speaks volumes about her customer service... and i think when it comes to online business, customer service is so extremely important in making or breaking your online presence.  sometime it can be very difficult to build a following of loyal fans who will believe in you enough to refer you... and i most certainly would send anyone reading this her way! 

i can only hope that i will have a reason to visit her again for future canvas art projects! i know our canvas turned out beautifully and it will be a treasured piece of art in our home for years to come!

please check her out either on etsy, her website, or her blog!

{recent project} rustic elegance cocktail napkins p 2

the other half of the rustic elegance napkins were inspired by erin's wedding guest book below -

so we came up with a graphic for little "love birds" - one flying and one sitting on the branch

and the "work in progress" shot on the dining table =) ... if you've ever wondered what the gocco looks like .... here it is below!

{recent project} rustic elegance cocktail napkins p I

just finished 225 of these beauties last night, and about to get started on the other design which will compliment this one.  the bride erin and i have been emailing for awhile about these napkins - which she will use at her upcoming wedding... i just love how they turned out.

we used the same peony graphic which ties the napkins to her invitation and used the saying "eat, drink & be married" all tying in their pink and brown color scheme.

the napkins in progress... and beautiful sea of ivory, pink and brown

and here are here invites which provided the inspiration for the peony and the fonts we used... sorry for the blurs - gotta do the privacy thing! =)

{warning} gratuitous kitty photos

late last night the hubs called me into our study to take a peek and what our spazzy kitty was doing.... 

i walked in to see this:

i left out one of my shipping boxes and apparently the little goof-ball wants to travel somewhere.... priority mail =)

{this one's a little blurry, i took the flash off so as to not create her demon red eyes}

have a great monday everyone!

*b

{recent project} lemon inspired napkins & coasters... and jewelry!

about a month ago i had the pleasure of working with a fabulous bride {named erin} on quite a few aspects of her palm springs wedding ... 

her wedding had a pallet of black and white, with a punch of yellow.  so we incorporated lemons for their custom cocktail coasters and cocktail napkins!  their last name is meadows - so in the spirit of lollapalooza - they branded their wedding reception as "meadows - palooza"... super cute!

we went ahead and used the same design for both the napkins and coasters - after gocco'ing all of these babies i have to admit i had visions of lemon wedges dancing in my head! =)

since she was varying the bridemaids attire {some gals work black dresses w/ yellow sashes and the others wore black & white floral print dresses w/ a yellow sash} she opted for my 

belle earrings w/ petite onyx teardrops and the circle esprit necklace with mini onyx rhondelles... i love how classy and formal this jewelry can be!

erin also decided to treat her gals to my swarovski gold flip flops - so they could kick off their shoes and busta move on the dance floor!... she also treated herself to a pair! =)

if you see anything you like, please don't hesitate to contact me!

{shop update} new items & revisions

attention attention... new items appearing in my etsy shop... FINALLY!... 

la femme earrings - 

gold with mother of pearl rhondelles

double entendre necklace - 

gold with hand wrapped aquamarine teardrop

another macramé necklace - new addition

gold with ruby stones

les doux necklace - new photos in my etsy shop

cote d'azur earrings - 

gold with aqua and bronze pearls - new photos of these earrings in my etsy shop

cote d'azur earrings - 

in amethyst - coming soon to my shop

also coming soon - dimanche necklace - 

gold with clear swarovski baroque crystal - more colors to come!

as well as: dimanche earrings- 

in clear swarovski baroque crystal - more colors to come too!