Thank You to My Repeat Customers

Just a thank you to and for my repeat customers, on and off Etsy ~ thanks for the encouragement, believing in me, and coming back. :)

Jewelry By Mignon

Mignon :O)

All Painting is Not the Same

Guess where our bed is..........nope, not in the bedroom ~ why on earth would it be there? Seriously, do you think we are normal? Ha, we are painting the bedroom after 12 long years of having a mint green on the walls (newly put there by the last owner 12 years ago). I know, I know, you can do all sorts of pinks and creams and mints with mint, but I've just found it stifling all these years, so I've not bought anything but new pillows and sheets in these 12 years ~ I could find NOTHING I wanted that would remotely match when it comes to bedding.
Considering we've dug up coal on the grounds, its likely that this old fireplace was a coalburner that has long since been closed up - the chimney doesn't even scale the roofline any longer - our metal roof covers it over as does a couple layers of roofing beneath the newest roof. If you go far enough down in layers on the roof, then you actually find a cedar shingle roof - isn't that interesting, put in with square nails no less.
Hubs had to fix the ceiling in one of the closets - there was actual horse hair in the plaster that had fell!! That's old plaster.
Don't even try removing antique wallpaper from antique plaster - trust me, just paint over it, or you shall run the risk of having to plaster and fill in wherever the antique plasterstuff crumbles to dust.
This door, with an old window beside it actually was a window, the rope rollers are still in the windowframe errrr, now a doorframe.

That's 12 feet to get up to that ceiling. Glad it's hubs going up and not me.
Starting to tape off the window panes, even though we have a bit more sanding to do.
;)

There's beautiful wood under all that paint on the window moulding. I shall be tiling the center board that covers the old fireplace opening and I shall be looking for wood trim accents to add to the simplicity of the fireplace mantle. This is a work of love I tell you. This house is 150 years old as best we can tell, it predates the civil war, so there is no simple painting here, not to mention the seller put water-based paint over oil-based paint aka the paint on the window sills has bubbled over the last decade.

Stay tuned for the happy color choice that simply fits me and the family to a T. We've since painted the ceiling and hubs has painted the moulding around the ceiling and did a a couple inch buffer with the wall paint way up there so we don't bump the moulding with our rollers. After my injury, hubs is taking no chances with me on a ladder, so he is doing all the high stuff, short of the ceiling which I could paint with an extended roller standing firmly on the floor. ;)

Cheers,

Mig

Heart Earring All Grown Up :)

When I first saw these lampworked glass hearts. I knew I had the perfect design for them. They were such a great color, understated, not too girlie, a great set that a grown gal could wear. The hearts are burnt orange, gold, and pale blue on one side and on the other a gorgeous teal. I hammered and shaped the loops they hang from and gave the loops a brushed polish with a textured finish. How can you sell them some may ask?? Oh, I've got myself all figured out and so when I come across something that's simply eye-catching such as these lampwork glass hearts ~ well I bought two pairs of the hearts, just in case I had that usual happy problem of wanting to keep what I create.

Its been a busy little day - I completed a scarf with the prettiest purple yarn called amethyst (I can't wait to start on the hat - I'm mixing two purples in the hat design and I'm just anxious to see how it turns out) and I worked on a new amethyst earring design. Luckily I have more amethyst because I'm thinking I'll be wanting to create a set of earrings and pendant in the new design for me too. Worthless I tell you (the hubs just shakes his head). :)

New Jewelry Designs

Check your blood pressure, I'm writing two blog posts in one week. Check my temperature, I know. :)

I have an awesome opportunity of being allowed to display some jewelry pieces in a local salon in Clinton, Mississippi ~ Southern Salon. So, should you be local and be driving through on your way to say, my beloved gulf, then do stop by and tell them I sent you. :) If you have a request for a particular piece to be put in the shop, then let me know, as I can do that when I drive through for one reason or another. ;) They have a great little boutique of varying gifts there and you never know what may be on display for sale next. Great gifts to be found, to be sure. ;)

Do tell them I sent you. :)

M.

BTW, if you know any reason why I can't comment on my own post, then do tell, as I wanted to thank Sweet Limes for commenting on the post below and it just wouldn't go through!

Crochet ~ 31 Years in the Making

I shall be adding crocheted pieces to the shop. ;) Crocheting is something I've wanted to learn since I was a little girl when I was given a doll blanket as a gift. I still have that doll blanket put away. Now, I'll have to go plundering in the attic room and see where I've safely stored it. ;) I've actually been crocheting all summer, but once the family realized I was crocheting, well, the requests for birthday and Christmas presents started pouring in. ;) Funny the things that continue to seem to happen because of my 2007 injury ~ I'm very doubtful I shall ever go back to buying much mass-produced items for gifts and whenever feasible, I have a good notion that family and friend gifts shall be handmade, hammered, and/or painted and when not handmade by yours truly, then I happen to know of great web site called Etsy where my dollars go straight to a family rather than a large conglomerate that won't remember me.

Newly Listed Earrings in the Shop

I just hammered these new earrings on the anvil today. :) I uploaded them to the shop a few minutes ago.


Enjoy.

Have a great Monday.

New Moukaite Jasper Designs

I had a request to design some earrings to match this one-of-a-kind necklace I had designed last autumn. Moukaite is a unique stone - very pretty and very unpredictable in color when I order it from my wholesaler, aka I never know what I'm going to get. So, I waited wondering how the small rounds would look and I still wasn't sure until I put them into an earring design and discovered that each pair go grandly with the necklace and its all a matter of whether you want the calmer more lavendar pair (currently on french hooks in the photos) or the brassy bold pair that pulls from the darker brick red to burgundy hues in Moukaite (pair currently on clip-ons).

Btw, Clip-on earrings are a new offering in the online shop. I settled on a silverplated pair that I like and that's the only thing silverplated in the shop, but it simply made the clip-ons more affordable for the masses to go with silverplate at this time. Sterling silver clip-ons are available per custom request.

Alls well that ends well - I have a new earring design that I truly like and I love Moukaite Jasper more than ever - particularly for its unpredictability.

Ciao,
Mignon

Happy Sunny Day in June

Once upon a time on a overly warm day (make that extremely unbearably hot and humid unless you are truly a southerner and then it's simply overly warm) in June, the hubs was off on a Thursday, my son was restless, and I had a friend who had never been to a country girl's swimming hole, but she bravely accepted an invitation for her wee 3 offspring to come have a picnic and play in the murky waters of the Strong River (brave indeed I tell you - good thing she didn't see the five foot Cottonmouth of last summer, hmmm). We seven had a delish picnic on a set of those infamous concrete benches that parks are known for and we roamed all over that river, even sat in the 'jacuzzi' which was genuinely perfectly chilly - exactly what any southerner country gal would want to ward off the overly warm day feeling one gets down here, and we saw no snakes today. ;) I'm thinking the same time next week might just be in order.

New Earrings Going in the Shop :)

The smaller daintier coiled pair is per a request by the customer who purchased the original pair. ;) However, I can certainly make them for you as well.

The first pair is a lovely leaf design that can be made to a required length. This pair is 2 and 3/4 inches long from french hook to leaf tip. I've been wanting a new pair of earrings that would go with nearly everything I wear and these surely fit that description as do the dainty pair. ;)

You may find both pairs in the shop or if they are sold, then I can certainly re-create them for you.

Ciao,

Mig

Hiking Trail

A hiking trail in the middle of sand dunes? Really? That sounds hot and forboding. Quite the contrary. The dunes at Grayton Beach State Park in Florida are quite impressive. What is even more surprising is the narrow foot trail that meanders through them where you are allowed to step (stay on the trail so as not to hurt the dunes, but trail there is). You take a short hike on a thick sand foot trail up a sandy hill. Your reward for the little trek is the most secret little grove beneath some of the loveliest Oaks. They've even set a wooden bench there for you. My first thought, well right after thinking of the peace I could have there sitting quietly, is what a perfect spot for a small intimate wedding with the Oaks standing as guests. You get the loveliest view of the sunset when looking west toward the trail opening. We meandered further than the quiet grove beneath the trees, but only on the marked path. It was as though we had been whispered a secret by stopping there beneath the trees. You can just hear the grove in the rustling grass gently reminding one to stay off the dunes that protect the beauty you see from the hurricane winds that inevitably come.

Bringing Home a Bit of the Ocean

Seashells, suntans, sandy toes, new T-shirts, and lots and lots of photos - that's what we bring home for certain each time we go on one of our beach trips. As a matter of a fact, I just bought 3 new pretty jars to fill with seashells and such. And, I'm sitting here today creating hubs' requested Daddy's Day gift - he likes his cards to be created rather than bought - he says they say more and whether I paint them or create them by hand or on the computer, he simply prefers them more. So, I used our beach photos to create his Daddy's day card and made a photo collage to frame before tomorrow for his gift.

Bringing home a bit of the ocean is nothing new for our family, but this year....well, this year, hubs surprised me by insisting we get me a new bicycle at the beach no less for he wasn't convinced we could get precisely that bike once we got home even with the ISBN num. She's a comfy beauty. She's considered a cruiser as I can sit up rather than lean on my wrists so much, unlike my 21-speed, and she's still a 7-speed and I can pack a picnic on the back. It was most curious finding room for her in the van, but where there is a will, there is a way, and let me tell you, hubs had the will on this one.

I brought home a bit of the ocean this year and she's blue like the sky, aqua like the water, and white like the creamy sands of the Panhandle. Hubs predicts I shall have her a long long time and that one day we shall have to repaint her to maintain that lovely look she has.... did you notice her whitewall tires. ;)

Greetings from Mignon

Gosh, has it been this long since I blogged??? I've missed everyone. I went back to teaching in the fall of 2010 and was a bit overwhelmed making sure I did everything right. I work with severe profound students and I must say it is equally rewarding as demanding.

There's D. who has learned to sit in a chair this year. J2 and M. are more receptive to participating in class, which is phenomenal. Then, of course, there's the higher functioning kiddos who are learning to write their numbers and recite easy readers orally. It really has been one miracle after another in our classroom.

Now, as far this summer, I do have some lofty goals and the way I see it, I will reach for the stars and if I get halfway there, then I've reached the moon (cheese, anyone?) :0).......from painting the wee one's room, painting our room, I'd really love to paint the kitchen orange this summer, plus I have this itch to learn to make soap, and I need to get back to figuring out crocheting, and there are all these paintings in my head wanting to be painted on canvas, and then there's the jewelry I've made and not shot for uploading to the jewelry shop. Plus, I may not be perfectly well, but gosh, I'm so much better, FINALLY!!, and I'm ready to take the wee one on day trips - I have museums, water parks, and all sorts of places picked out. It's truly fantastic to have discovered the new me. I miss you all so much and school is nearly out for summer, be ready for me blogging again. :)

Gypsy Earrings Take One - Jewelry By Mignon

A dear friend asked me if I could design and create her some gypsy earrings. My mind raced to a single pair of copper chandeliers I have been holding onto and to a purchase of Czech glass that I had been saving for a special occasion. The copper chandelier pieces are not a style I think I can obtain again and the Czech beads - well look at the ones on the earrings and you get the idea - they're just lovely all together. This is a Take-One because I have to get a notion about what the dear friend has in mind. Now that I've designed such a scrumptious pair, I just may have to design some more, but I don't foresee any being precisely the same as these.

This pair really is quite sassy and I can just imagine the lovely gypsy who would wear these traveling the world seeing the sun set and rise over all the oceans and exploring lands far and near.

New Design at Jewelry By Mignon

A New Design is posted in the Jewelry By Mignon shop. ;)

Being a outdoors kind of person in the first place is only more focused when our beloved Gulf of Mexico is fighting a battle right now. When I came across these fantastic Mother-of-Pearl handcut square stones dyed seafoam no less, then a beach-inspired design was sure to follow. The lovely Mother-of-Pearl earrings are completed with links of sterling silver chain and the best part is the earrings can easily be shortened to your preference by removing links.

These earrings won't get lost in long tresses of hair and will look beautiful with short hair as well. The color just makes me want to pack a bag and head south until I reach the seashore. I can see the clear aqua blue water and just imagine I hear the waves hit the shore when I look at these exquisite earrings.

:) Mignon

Jewelry By Mignon

I've taken a bit of a hiatus from writing. I've not taken a hiatus from life however. ;) It's been quite a busy spring in the JBM household. :) I've flown to Denver, drove all over the central north and west part of Mississippi, camped with the scouts, and we drove down to Gulf Shores so our family could enjoy the gulf one last time before unknown disasters from the oil happened. We're still praying on that one.

I'm starting my endeavor into vending at various markets in Mississippi, so if you are at a market in Mississippi, do look for me, you never know, I just may be there. ;)

I've been at several of the Farmer's Markets on Saturdays in Jackson now. The vendors are such a delight to get to know.

On Saturday, June 12, 2010, I will vend at the Clinton Olde Town Market in Clinton, MS. Our hours are 9 to 1. I look forward to seeing you there and/or at some of the other markets I will be vending at as the year proceeds. ;)

What If....

So, God knows the deepest most secret desires of your heart. Wishes and dreams so special that you don't even utter them for fear they would blow away like dandelion seeds in a spring wind. He can create a life for you that includes the deepest hidden dreams and create a life for you that is beyond your comprehension. This happened to Job, I believe from my readings and understanding, after he suffered loss after loss and disappointment afer disappointment in those who were supposed to be his family and friends.

What if....

Belhaven Market 2010, Handmade Spark, and Jewelry By Mignon

It's been a wee bit quiet on the Jewelry By Mignon homefront as of late, but things are certainly heating up this month. I've just been hired to be a freelance writer for Examiner.com and if you are interested in applying with Examiner, then I have referral information I can share with you.

If you also love all things arts and crafts related, then please do click the 'email list' button on my Examiner page, it says email subscription, but there's no fee for getting on the email list to receive my articles.

Here is my Examiner homepage http://www.examiner.com/x-40171-Jackson-Arts-and-Crafts-Examiner and I've just published two new articles late last night and this afternoon. My writing topic is Arts and Crafts for the Jackson, MS area. This includes artisan interviews, interviews with promoters of craft festivals and markets, spotlighting brick and mortar locations that promote artisans and their art, promoting arts and crafts events and so forth. I've wanted to do this very thing for well over a year now and to have a freelance writing job doing just that is absolutely perfect. I'm already meeting many wonderful people.

Also, I've just been hired to be a freelance writer for Handmade Spark which as I understand is the brainchild of Timothy Adams - one of Etsy's extremely talented artisans. I'll give you a headsup when my first article is up and going on Spark. On Spark, I won't be limited to just writing about Mississippi arts and crafts happenings, so for those of you who are outside of Mississippi and across the world, then I now have a location to write articles about you and your online shops.

As far as Jewelry By Mignon goes, I got to vend one time so far at the merged Belhaven and Mississippi Farmers' Market on High Street in Jackson, MS and then the flu set in, but I'll be back there again in upcoming weeks and I fully anticipate being a regular there as time and cub scout obligations permit.

So, if you are a Mississippi artisan, I have an interview form for you when you are ready.

If you are outside of Mississippi, I can now say I have an interview form for you as well. ;) This is exciting news.

I'm so ready to get back to designing new jewelry designs now that I'm getting back to myself.

Wishing everyone well and I'm glad to be getting well!

Mignon

A Charming Giveaway Over at Sweetlimes

Sweetlimes is hosting a sweet little giveaway for a darling clutch. Do go check it out. All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on her blog beneath the posting on the giveaway. Easy peasy.

Mignon

Mississippi Arts and Crafts Freelance Writing

(photos are courtesy of Kay Olliver)
Probably a year ago, I applied with Examiner.com to become a freelance writer. My angle was to write on Arts and Crafts for the local Jackson and Mississippi area. I got the job. My very own Examiner webpage is up and live. My first article on the Belhaven and Farmer's Market has been posted.

This is very exciting news. I am in a position to fully promote our local Mississippi Arts and Crafts festivals as well as interview Mississippi's own artisans and crafters. Just think, what better way for someone who is so rooted in supporting artisans and their families to be able to do just that in such a public venue.

There is a subscribe option on the Examiner page so that you can get the Arts and Crafts articles delivered right to your inbox. Please do support me while I promote and spotlight local artisans and festivals.

The Arts and Crafts page can be found at Examiner

Work in Progress - Jewelry By Mignon

This is first draft, so to speak, of a cherry pendant request using lovely smooth round red glass with green Czech glass leaves. The metal is sterling silver with oxidizing. The stems are Japanese metalic glass beads.