Weekend Recap - in Photos

Restocked my necklace selection in time for Friday's Trunk Show.

Finally had a chance to add the charms to the new Beaded Bangles!

Spent a lot of time with this guy (and Matt) while working in the yard all day Saturday!

Planted a bunch of seeds for veggies, herbs, and flowers... and got all my pots planted! Can't wait for everything to start flourishing!

Photoshoot with the lovely Miller sisters and Rex Barrett on Sunday.

Can't wait to see what his creative eye comes up with!

 Topped off with a steak dinner with our "City" friends. T'was a grand weekend! I got a lot of work done, spent time with friends, and got to spend a lot of time in the garden! I never got my nap in though ;)

New Jewelry Line - Giveaway

  Yesterday I did a "soft" launch of a new line that has been added to my website called "Personalized by You." I'm very excited about this latest addition because it will allow you to design your very own necklace or charm bracelet. 

There are 16 stone charms, 19 charms, 2 lockets, and 8 stamping blanks to choose from. So, that makes ??? how many combinations? I don't have time to wrap my head around that number :)

  Not only can you customize a necklace you can also customize the new "Beaded Bangles" that are in the Bella Vita shop (see sample below).

I would LOVE for you to check out the new products your self. 

As a thank you for looking at my new product line I am going to host a GIVEAWAY for a charm necklace (limited to two charms of your choice)!

Leave a comment below telling me the following:

- Would you customize a necklace or a beaded bangle bracelet?

- What charms/stones would you choose for your very own?

  Each comment is an entry, you can comment more than once but each design has to be unique. For an additional entry into this giveaway share it on facebook or twitter. If you share it please leave another comment on this blog post. The drawing for the winner will be on Friday March 23rd at noon! Good LUCK!

 

Spring has sprung?!

Isn't this weather c-razy?!

  I went to the local garden store yesterday looking for pretty flowers to plant in my pots on the porch. They had some amazing primrose but they were a bit pricey for me. Especially b/c I bought some last year and they didn't do so well, probably my fault. They are beautiful flowers though.
I asked the lady if they had any more colorful flowers and she informed me that they had a bunch of starters but they aren't ready yet. Then I realized that is only March 13th and I am probably jumping the gun a little bit! So, I opted to stick to the original plan for the evening, which was to plant our veggie seeds. And so that is what I did.

  Matt mowed the lawn and pulled some weeds from the garden. After all our work was done we grilled burgers and corn and enjoyed a quick beer on our back patio. The burgers were amazing! I am not big on burgers or red meat for that matter. We finished off the night with a milkshake white Russian! Yum! White Russians are my new favorite drink... not sure that is good for my diet though!

Other things going on at Bella Vita...

  I am interviewing an intern today! I am a little nervous but judging by the resume's I have received I should be able to hire someone that can help me out a lot! I have also hired another helper to work for me a couple of days a week. It is such a relief to know that I have help. I have been sooo overwhelmed lately with all that I need to do and have to do.  

  I have recently been working with Meredith Mashburn Photography (Northwest Arkansas) to photograph some new product that is ready to be added to my online shop. I am adding a new section to my site where you will be able to customize your own necklace! I am very pleased with the photography results! I'll share a few images with you :)

Until next time! Hope you all are enjoying this unusual warm winter!

Bead Soup Blog Party

My stash before...

 My Bead Soup REVEALED!

A classic Bella Vita Style "Cluster Necklace" - (handmade charm holder).

Hanging View

Handmade Bella Vita "Wire Wrapped Ring" made from a modern Czech glass button.

One of a kind earrings.

   The Bead Soup party has been a lot of fun for me. I think the funniest/best part of the whole experience is the fact that my partner, Amanda, and I sent each other one of the same beads (the purple ones at the bottom of the earring)! Amanda gave me a beautiful sterling silver and amethyst clasp but  I ended up not using it. I love it but liked gold tones better with this project. I'll use it on something for me though :)

  I hope you enjoy my projects and leave me some feedback! I am going to rest up so I can look at everyone's posts tomorrow. For a complete list of participants see my previous post via this link.

And Thank YOU Lori Anderson for organizing this!

New York, New York

  We started our road trip, yes I said road trip, on Wednesday morning, bright and early. After arguing with the rental car company we ended up in a mid sized Chevy Malibu for our epic adventure. Honestly the 26 hour car ride didn't feel like it took that long. Perhaps it is because I slept or played on my phone for most of it.

  Matt and I had separate itineraries for most of the trip but did get to spend all day Saturday together which was great! Friday was my day at the warehouse, Saturday was our day, Sunday was another day for me to hang out by myself (which I really enjoyed) and Monday we wrapped things up and hit the road around 2 p.m.

  All in all the trip was amazing! I kept telling Matt that I couldn't believe I got him to NYC with me! He isn't a big fan of the city, if you know him you'll completely understand that :)

  We ate good, drank better, made new friends, met up with a couple of old ones, I shopped and Matt gave his talk... all went well! See for yourself, I have chosen my favorite pictures from the trip.

Top secret warehouse. All 5,000 sq. ft. look like this and I dug in it for 8 hours, I probably could have spent 8 days!

The Seagram Building, I studied this building in college and finally got to see it in person. It was always one of my favorites!

Matt at breakfast, somewhere around Madison Ave. and 50 or 60's Streets.

The Metropolitan. Matt and I enjoyed this together... it's pretty confusing building! But oh, so amazing!

An installation of glass at The Met. I found this to be beautiful!

This was the begining of the day I spent by myself, I walked from Broadway and 46th to Chinatown which is around Broadway and 1st. It was at least 6.5 miles according to google maps. This day was great because I got to go anywhere I wanted to!

Flower Market.

Tender Buttons, a button shoppe.

Bedlam with David K! So much fun.

Paper lanterns in Chinatown!

Lunch for one, streetside in Little Italy.

Probably one of my most favorite things ever! A mail chute in our hotel.