Monday, March 26, 2012

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 ;)

Friday, March 16, 2012

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!
 





Wednesday, March 14, 2012

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!





Saturday, March 3, 2012

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!


Friday, March 2, 2012

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.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Bead Soup Blog Party

  A couple of months ago I learned about the Bead Soup Blog Party on Lori Anderson's blog, "Pretty Things." I was immediately interested and counting down the days until the applications opened. This was the first time I had heard of the Bead Soup Blog Party but it is actually the 5th one they have hosted.
On January 15th the participants were announced and I was chosen! So exciting.
  You are probably wondering what a Bead Soup Blog Party is... well, the artists that are chose from the lottery pack up a bag of goodies from their stash and mail them off to their partner and in turn get a bag of goodies back from their partners stash. My partner happens to be Amanda Dittloff of Charlotte, North Carolina.
  The only rules of the party are to make something unique, blog about it, and check out other peoples blogs/creations that are in the blog hop. So, I am off to design something fabulous with my new goodies! Below you'll find pics of what I sent Amanda, what she sent me, and the list of the 198 other people that are participating! Check them out! And, come back here on March 3rd to see my final designs.

Stash I sent Amanda.
Focal Beads and Clasp...
Stash Amanda sent me.
We actually sent each other the same bead!!! The oval, purple, Czech glass beads!
1.  Adlinah Kamsir (Kingdom of Bahrain) and Hajer Waheed (Singapore)
2. Adrienn Lukacs (Hungary) and Agata Grygiel (Poland)
3.  Agi Kiss (Hungary) and Carolien Muller-Genger (the Netherlands)
4.  Agnes Asztalos (Hungary) and B.R. Kuhlman
7.  Alicia Marinache (Canada) and Dita Basu
15.  Bonnie Coursolle (Canada) and Fay Wolfenden (Canada)
16.  Carmel McGinley (Australia) and Tracy Stillman (Australia)
21.  Cheryl Brown (Canada) and Diana Ptaszynski
22.  Christina Stofmeel (the Netherlands) and Eva Kovacs (Hungary)
24.  Cilla Watkins (Canada) and Elaine Robitaille (Canada)
25.  Sabrina Straub (Switzerland) and Kathy Combs
32.  Dee Elgie (UK) and Joanne Lockwood (UK)
33.  Dian Hierschel (Germany) and Eniko Fabian (Austria)
37.  Doris Stumpf (Germany) and Eszter Czibulyas (Hungary)
39.  Elke Leonhardt-Rath (Germany) and Marjolein Trewavas (UK)
41.  Erika Nooteboom (the Netherlands) and Giorgia Rossini (Italy)
45.  Ginger Bishop (military, Okinawa) and Martina Nagele (Germany)
48.  Helene Goldberg (Australia) and Karen Vincent
54.  Joanna Matuszczyk (Poland) and Julianna Kis (Hungary)
55.  Joanne Tinley (UK) and Michaela Pabeschitz (Austria)
65.  Kristina Johansson (Sweden) and Penny Neville (Canada)
66.  Krisztina Erlaki-Toth (Hungary) and Nicole Keller (Germany)
76.  Lori Finney (Canada) and Marie-Noel Voyer-Cramp (Canada)
78.  Marta Kaczerowska (Poland) and Milla Starchik (Canada)
83.  Michelle Jensen (Canada) and Sandra Young (Canada)
92.  Rosa Maria Cuevas (Mexico) and Tejae Floyde
93.  Sabine Dittrich (Germany) and Sally Russick
95.  Shanti Johnson and Tracy Mok (Canada)
97.  Sonya Stille and Traci Zeller (Canada)
98.  Stefanie Teufel (Germany) and Tania Hagen (New Zealand)

Thursday, February 9, 2012

#bloggersnightout #OKC

  So, I am re-writing this post! Bloggers Night Out was A-mazing! I'll admit I was a little nervous and shy when I first arrived. To my surprise, so were many of the other women in attendance!
The Makeup Bar in OKC is where we all met last Thursday evening. There was a mixoligist from a local restaurant making fantastic cocktails, food from Deep Fork, and lots of giveaways as well as free brow waxes and smoky eye tutorials courtesy of the Makeup Bar. Oh, and the awesome Rex Barrett of Glass Eye Studios was on hand to document the evening!
  I love smoky eyes and of course have never tried to give myself some (I barely wear makeup and definitely don't experiment with it when I do) so, I decided to let them show me how to do it. I also opted in for my first brow wax! It's a good thing I did too, because during it I met one of the owners of The Makeup Bar who insisted they start carrying my jewelry! I'll be debuting my jewelry in their store in March or April. I am also excited to start using some of their services and products.
  I am so grateful to have been invited to this event. I met some new ladies, caught up with some old friends, and made some wonderful new connections. Can't wait to catch up with everyone at the next event.


Bloggers in attendance were:
Danielle from Elleinad Spir

Susan from The Working Closet

Shana from Gorillabuns

Melissa from Pineapple Lily

Alison from Shop Crawlr

Caroline from Greedy Girl

Allison from Feeding My Temple

Kelly from Design Crush

Brigette from Settling West

Evie from Evie-S

Sally from Sally Spins

Erin from Pippin and Pearl


Brandy from Bella Vita Jewelry

Emery from Emery Jo

Stephanie from Stephanie Bice

Kathleen from Jeremy and Kathleen

Marek from Marek Musings


Rachel from Pencil Shavings

Melissa from Sassafrass 2.0

Rachael from Rachael Really

Nikki from Bradley Birth

Kara Kae from The Mom Diggity


Laura from Steen Style

Whitney from Whitney Kolb

Katie from  Dishin and Dishes

Allison from Feeding My Temple and Melissa from Pineapple Lily.



I am out of my newly redesigned business card so I had to hand out old ones. I forgot how cute my old ones by Heather Gerlaugh were!

Me getting smokey eyes.





Erin from Pippin and Pearl, cute shoes!