Having fun prepping the store to sell our jewelry

We’ve been prepping our storefront for a while now, and it’s pretty much ready to start selling our hand stamped jewelry and other personalized treasures.  Well, it will never be ready, still so much to do!  But at some point we have to just go for it.   Customers have been coming in and giving us great feedback so far.  It’s helpful to hear what people think and how happy they are that we are here!

H and  stamped jewelry storeI think I mentioned this before but I’m so excited about the cabinets I found on Craig’s List.  It’s as if they were made for our shop.  They fit in our space perfectly.  They are vintage jewelry displays, once owned by a jeweler who retired and decided to let go of them.  I hope he’s enjoying his retirement while I’m enjoying the cabinets!  They even have working lights, such a bonus.

Jewelry display DIYI will be doing another blog post on my hand stamped jewelry displays.  I’ve had a fantastic time scouring the DIY blogs and Pins to find ideas on how to display everything.  I love DIY and re-purposing anyway, so I have had a great time painting, nailing, hanging, hot gluing to my heart’s content.  Have glue gun will travel!

Personalized jewelry displayWe have the shop divided into themes – hand stamped jewelry and personalized jewelry, handwriting jewelry and a build-your-own necklace station.  We call the build your own station “Mary’s Corner” after my friend Mary who often comes in to design her own necklaces she gives as gifts.  It’s fun to see what people come up with!

If you have any ideas for us or know of good jewelry display ideas, please let me know!  We’d love your feedback.  Come visit us soon!

Our Hand Stamped Necklace for March

H and  Stamped Wish Necklace for March

It’s here!  Our necklace of the month this month features a hand molded fine silver charm with a Czech glass aquamarine birthstone briolette.  It’s one of my favorite charms, paired with a stone I just love.  Spring is always a time of hope and renewal, and our “Wish” dandelion seemed a perfect match for the spirit of spring.

My birthday month is March so I thought this would be a perfect month to start a “necklace of the month”.  I do love my birthstone, which is Aquamarine.  And this was fun – I thought, if I could wear any necklace that we haven’t already created, what would it be?  Well, I love this stone for its deep, rich color.  I also love this new charm we recently made here in our studio.  It’s so simple and small, yet very pretty.  I also love dandelions…so of course I had to add one of those.  And my two favorite words in life are Wish and Hope, since you really always have to keep the ability to do both.  Or else life just wouldn’t be as fun!

Enjoy, and check back again for next month’s April Necklace!

I was 10 and looking out the car window

h and  stamped jewelry store

I used to love watching the world go by while riding in a car, when I was little.  I used to wonder what each person I saw on the road was up to, where they were going and why, who they loved, what their lives were like.  I would also, of course, wonder what my life would be like when I got big and drove around in a car.

I never knew my calling

I was never one of those people who knew what their calling was from day 1 (how I envied those people!).  But I think I knew more then than I realized.  I remember being about 10, doing the ride in my mom’s car to or from Mervyn’s or Sears or Gemco, when I suddenly had this vision of myself owning and operating a store.  I wasn’t sure what kind of store but it was so real and felt so right and fulfilling that I remember that feeling to this day.  I remember blurting out to my mom that someday I want to own a store!  We talked a bit about it and went on our merry way.

I didn’t grow up and pursue ‘my dream’ from that day 

I fell in love with computers and advertising and web design and electronic commerce. Being in Silicon Valley, I joined the high tech work force after college and worked my way up the ladder.  It was fun.  It was interesting. I learned a lot. I met my husband. Whew! I was living a pretty good dream!  But I always knew there was something missing. I taught myself jewelry design and took a bunch of classes.  This kept my creative side happy for a while.

After the birth of my 2nd cutie, I went through what a lot of new moms go through – how can I contribute to the household but still be a really good mom?  What kind of work can I do that will make a difference in the world?  How am I going to do anything with so little sleep?

My part-time status at my job was going away, so I decided to dive into the web design business I had started on the side.  I loved computers and design so it seemed a perfect match for me.  I had gotten trained and certified in web design at San Jose State and I had a few clients so it kept me busy and brought in a little money. Then along came blessing #3!  

The spark

Along with him, my interest in jewelry design was renewed for the sole purpose of wearing some brag jewelry about my three cuties. At the time, there wasn’t much out there that was very cute, so of course I took matters into my own hands.

An obsession with jewelry, my kids and web design – guess what came next?  I launched my hand stamped jewelry line and website and proceeded to work my patootie off while also committing to being the best mom I could be. That was ten years ago. Yes! We are celebrating our 10th year in business and guess what I recently decided was still missing?  You guessed it – my storefront!  So stay tuned as we embark on this next exciting chapter and work to bring our local customers someplace to go for a quick, personal and unique gift!  I couldn’t be more excited!

New Line of Hand Stamped Gifts

H and  stamped jewelry

I’m just loving our new line of hand stamped gifts we are calling Subtle Devotion.  The charms are handcrafted here in our California studio one at a time!  We blend the lustre of fine silver and the comforting warmth of copper to create two-toned charms that just glow and shine.  The “subtle” part of them is that you can personalize the back of any of these charms.  So the fronts are just plain pretty, and you can wear them with anything.  The backs of the charms can be hand stamped with what is meaningful to you, and only you will know what it says!  The entire line is on sale right now, so take a look and grab a personalized necklace while you can.

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