Pewter Kokopelli

I have my entire shop on sale for the Holidays! This lead-safe pewter kokopelli necklace is now only $8.50. Stop by and check out the other great deal now available in my Etsy store!

55 Pearls Bracelet

Do you like fives? I used 55 pale gray Pearls for this 3-strand bracelet. Three antiqued focal beads line up in the center of this romantic bracelet.

This bracelet is ideal for smaller wrists, although it's adjustable from 6" to 7" long. It's 3/4" wide and closes with a lobster claw clasp and chain.

On Leave

2010 is well underway and I'm travelling more than ever for my job. As a result, I've put my Etsy store and my blog on indefinite hold. I hate to do it, but I can't keep it up while I'm on the road every other week. I hope you'll continue to follow me and tune in for the re-launch sometime down the line (teaser: look for a switch to a photography focus).

Best of luck in the new year and thank you for supporting Boutique By Bonnie!

Holiday Traditions

Everyone says the Christmas season is getting longer and longer, with some stores putting out decorations right after Halloween. So how come I feel like it’s getting shorter and shorter? I feel good that I have most of my gifts purchased and my outside lights up, but I haven’t done Christmas cards or put much at all up inside the house. As usual I feel the rush of time as the clock counts down.

As a child Christmas seemed like a slow progression family traditions. First, the catalogs from JCPenney and Sears would come. We’d pour over the Toy sections for hours before circling our final “wish list” choices. Next we’d go get the tree. Often we’d cut our own and that was a grand adventure in finding the perfect tree. Not that the perfect tree had to be “perfect.” I remember trees with big holes that were perfect for handmade preschool ornaments. One year we had a hole so big my dad drilled a hole in the trunk and stuck an extra branch in to fill a gap. We didn’t care, as long as we got to drown it with tinsel at the end! Then there would be a day dedicated to homemade Christmas cookies. Frosting those cookies was half art and half competition. And finally, after gift buying, cookie eating, wrapping, the hanging of stockings with care, and Midnight Mass, finally it would be Christmas morning! Now that part seemed to go quickly, but what a joy!

Does anybody still make time to bake cookies from scratch or go cut down a real tree? Are your stockings homemade or store-bought? What Christmas traditions have you held on to that allow you to slow down and enjoy the season? My time comes at night when the tree is the only light in the room. Maybe “Silent Night” is playing or maybe it’s just plain silent. I can do without the cards and the cookies as long as I have that moment.

Guns and Dolls

I’ve been travelling quite a bit in the plains states of the Midwest lately and I’ve noticed something. Go into any Interstate gas station/restaurant/store combo and there are dolls. There are fancy dolls under glass in frilly frocks and fancy bonnets. There are whole shops within a shop devoted to dolls. And then I found these:

Yes, darling, you can have your very own cloth “mini-me.” She’s already been stuffed and hung from the ceiling with care. She’s just waiting for you! Would you like “Suicide Sally” or maybe “Noosy Nellie?” Why are you crying, dear?

Seriously, this has to be the creepiest way to display a doll I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure I understand the underground doll culture that seems to exist here. But I do remember, having grown up in Wisconsin, that “Gun and Doll” shows were quite popular. I don’t really get the connection, but I suppose if the hubby likes guns, the missus must like dolls, right? Uh, maybe. Maybe the doll culture is just as strong as the gun culture and you have to be a member to understand it. In fact, maybe the NRA shot these poor rag dolls before they were stuffed and strung up for public viewing. Maybe.

One of my favorite things

Pillows of Kambaba Jasper hang from hammered silver hoops in these elegant earrings. The swirling greens of these stones would compliment any Christmas outfit as the silver catches the light. Check out these earrings and the matching bracelet in my Etsy store!

Inspiration

I have to admit I’ve been fairly uninspired lately. It’s partly because I’ve been traveling up to two weeks a month for work. Weekends are about relaxing and laundry and catching up on household chores. On one of my trips I bought a green ceramic pendant and brought it home. Every so often I’d pick it up and try to picture it in a finished piece. Nothing. Nothing good, anyway. (I wish I had a photo to insert here, but I’m writing this on the road!).

Finally, inspiration came in the form of a 40th birthday party invitation. This friend had purchased several pieces from me in the past so I knew her taste and wanted to create a necklace just for her. This woman has a natural style so I used a dark brown suede cord as stringing material. I accented the pendant with antiqued silver beads, dark brown glass beads, and some knots to hold it in place. I have to say I liked the result! I left the length unfinished so she could choose how long she wanted it. The reward? She absolutely loves it! And she doesn’t want me to finish the length – she likes being able to knot it at any length she wants.

Inspiration followed by the instant gratification of seeing the piece in the hands of a happy friend if hard to beat! It makes me wonder if I should only do custom pieces from now on. I like the creative challenge of matching the piece with the person, and I certainly like delivering it directly into the hands of a grateful recipient.