don't mind that last post...I needed to have link in my shop for people to see my font choices.

No my new fonts aren't in yet sorry! Soon :O)

Font choices...

confession....

This was breakfast today...





What did you enjoy?

Happy Wednesday!
Canela

What makes my heart happy

Finding this on my pillow in the morning

Back from the Gem and jewelry show!

I had sooo much fun at the gem show on Saturday picking up fresh supplies!!

I was like a kid in the candy store, only it was better, everything sparkled and glimmered and had no calories!! Eye candy every which way you turned! Shimmery gem stones, shining silver charms, color color color!!

I was just as excited to snap as many pictures as I could in between bartering for the best prices. I made sure to charge my camera battery. I packed my camera bag. Made sure to grab the battery on my way out Saturday morning. I got out to Santa Monica only to realize I forgot my card :(

So you'll have to settle for pictures of my finds These were my favorite charms I found! I love Mermaids and Fairies. The bee was just too perfect for my Queen bee necklaces and will pair perfectly with the new crowns I found.

Lots of pearls, a staple for most of my pieces. More Chalcedony for my sea themed necklaces.

Genuine gem stones a new addition I supper excited about. I managed to find each of the birthstones including real emeralds and sapphires....well almost all the stones, the diamonds were out of my price range, so I substituted those with white topaz.

Lots of crowns.

Gem stones for the Eternity rings....I'm still missing 3 birth months so I'll need to hunt those down soon.

I can't wait till I can start creating!! Just need to catch up on orders first....better get over to my work bench.

Seriously?!

Shipping as many packages as I do on a daily basis I've just about seen it all. Lost packages, packages heading from California to Colorado that some how end up on a door step in Maine. Stickers that say undeliverable address, or no forwarding address provided when the person has lived there most of their life.
I really wonder sometimes if my customers think I make this stuff up.


This one came back to my door step looking like this today.





I can't tell if they ran it over, or threw it in the cogs of some machine, but my favorite part is the stamp that says "Damaged in handling in the postal service, no contents in package", yet they taped over the many holes in the envelope!

This is why I buy the insurance!

Almost ready!!!!!

Yippee!!! My eternity rings set with gems stones are almost ready for debut! I'm off tomorrow to buy stones at the international Gem and Jewelry show!
I'm hoping by mid October to offer these in my shop :O)

What's on my neck this week

I made this one some what by accident, but I loved how it turned out so much that I decided I was keeping the original.

I posted a listing to recreate it as show or personalized with your kiddies name :O)

You can find in in my shop!

Pancakes with apple topping recipe

I had a quite a few people e-mail asking me for my apple pancake recipe so here it is.....

It's really super easy but keep in mind that when I cook I don't measure unless I'm baking so you may need to play with the spices to adjust to your taste.

PANCAKES...for an army :O)

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp sugar

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 Tbsp veggie oil

(I multiply this all by 5 in order to make enough for my family)

Mix your wet ingredients in small bowl and set aside

In a larger bowl mix the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients all at once. Mix just till most of the lumps are gone.

Cook

APPLE TOPPING

2-5 granny smith apples (with the sugar and whip cream you'll want a nice tart apple)

1-2 Tbls butter

1/2 to 1 cup brown sugar

about 1 tsp cinnamon

sprinkle of nutmeg

sprinkle of cloves

Peal and cut 2-5 granny smith apples in to bite size pieces. You'll need to gauge how many apples you need to how many you are cooking for. I use 5 apples to feed 8

In a skillet heat 1-2 Tbls butter till just melted and hot. Add in apples all at once. add brown sugar, sprinkle Cinnamon till tops of apples are coated nicely. Sprinkle with a bit of cloves and Nutmeg.

Cook over Med. heat till apples are fork tender

WHIPPED CREAM.

I love making my own whip cream. It tastes so much better! It's super easy for those who haven't tried.

1-2 cups Heavy chipping cream

1-2 Tbls Sugar.

Chill a large bowl, if you have a kitchen mixer put the metal bowl and whisk in the fridge while you cook the apples.

add cold cream to cold bowl mix on high until the cream is the consistency you like. Add sugar to taste.

We don't like ours too sweet so I add only about 1/2 to 1 Tbls into 2 cups of cream.

Server apples over pancakes add whip cream....Enjoy!

Told you it was super simple!

another newbie

I've wanted to make a square version of my hand made eternity circles. I finally got a chance to make one! You can find it in Ye Ol' shoppe :O)

Happy Tuesday!

Thanks Nicole for volunteering!!

New gals in the shop

I gave you a sneak peak a while back. I finally had a chance to get these two listed today.

I just love these! You can expect to see many more hand cut pieces in the weeks to come!

You can find these ladies here

Fairwell....

I managed to get lots of orders done this weekend, Yay! Time for coffee!

Pancakes for an army...

Happy Kiddies on a Sunday morning....What more can a mother ask for!

Wanna win a cricut machine?

I see the infomercial for this little machine all the time as I flip the TV channels. I pass it when I'm at Joann's buying stamps. I've thought how fun it would be, but I couldn't rationalize spending the $ on it...well if you're like this too, here is our chance to try and win one!

Here's what to do...Go to Today's Mama, the link is below and follow the rules. Good Luck!!

This is contest entry for those crazy folks at TodaysMama and Cricut. Be sure to check out Cricut's cool new cartridges and the chance at $30,000 in travel for you and your friends at the Great Gypsy Escape site! http://bit.ly/FWcudGreat Escape Meme

1. If you could escape to anywhere in the world where would it be? ITALY!!!

2. What song do you play when you are by yourself in the car? The Show by Lenka

3. If you had a night to yourself, and money was no object, what would you do? I'd go out and get my hair done, buy a pretty new dress and new shoes and go take dancing lessons with my hubby!

4. What is your guilty pleasure? Carmel Sauce Latte YUM!

5. What is the farthest place you have traveled away from your home? The Yucatan Peninsula

6. Last book that you couldn't put down? Captivating

7. When you want to escape into another time, what movie do you watch? Pride and Prejudice

8. What is your favorite local escape? Oak Glen

9. How do you escape on a budget? Camp

Best food you've ever had while on vacation. Spicy Shrimp

It's Friday!

:O)

Need I say more :O)

Hope it's a great Wednesday!

Cheers!
Canela

Surprise!

Last night I was clearing the laundry off of our bed. I moved my pillow and there was a small purple jewelry box. I thought to myself "I don't use purple boxes; I ship my jewelry in Brown boxes...what is this?" I opened the box to find this

My hubby was sitting at the computer desk with a big smile on his face. Surprise! Isn't he sweet!

The ring is just gorgeous! I've had it marked in my favorites on etsy for ages. It's from the amazingly talented Madeline who is the creative woman behind onegarnetgirl.

Checkout her shop....she's one of the featured designers for the 12 days of Christmas giveaway!

Thanks Madeline! :O)

Something new!

I've been in a girlie whimsical mood. The weather has changed. It was 108 last week and it's 76 today! I love the fall. The crisp feel of the air. The scent of change. The smell of breads baking in our oven. The twitter of the birds on their journey to warmer climates.

I get giddy!


I was inspired to make this little necklace.


The flowers are soldered on the pendant and the names are the stems.


Isn't it sweet. You can find it HERE

Gone for the day.

Just in case you are coming over from etsy wondering why I haven't answered your convo today.... I will be away from a computer all day.

Order updates...

All orders placed up to September 1st have shipped out, plus any rush orders have shipped out.

I will be back on Sunday.

Have a great weekend!
Cheers!
Canela

And the winner is....

Angelina! 29votes out of 51!

But there is a Surprise....
I ordered the Learning Curve as well!

So in about 3 weeks you'll have a choice of Angelina Capital and lower case, Learning Curve lower case, tiny Bookman Old Style for my hand made bangles and eternity rings, plus the fonts I have already; the tiny script, papyrus and good ol' upper block.

I order Angelina and Learning Curve in the same size as Papyrus so they can be used on almost anything.

You can be sure that I will need some volunteers when they arrive!

Monica you are the winner of the gift card! I sent an e-mail :O)

Day dream with me....

This is what I ask my husband when I have a sketch for a new design that I can't wait to bring to life. He usually just smiles and nods to humor me having no clue what my scribbles are suppose to be.


So I'm asking you...day dream with me....because I am sooooo excited about this new line that will debut next month. I want to have it available tomorrow; it is taking all my self control to wait.


Now, you want to know why I have to wait and why I am making you wait with me.

Well picture it... In the 3 small circles, shiny bright colored gem stones! Your kiddies birthstones, real gem stones! Yippee! Are you even half as excited as I am?


At the end of the month I am heading out to the Gem convention to get the best deals I can on the little stones for this line. I have 5 other designs that will feature gem stones set in these tiny rings. I just have to impatiently wait till then to finish it.


Now you're probably smiling and nodding thinking what is she rambling on about?

Seriously they will be awesome! I promise.


Just had to share....Thanks for day dreaming with me :O)

New this week!

Love this little necklace! It's a combination of two of my favorites. You can find it here

More birds!

Don't forget to vote on the new font and for a chance to win! Check out this Post here

I think I just might have a new favorite...do I say that every time I make something new? Just shows I LOVE what I get to do every day!

I made these little pretties last night. The first one will be for the launch the second is a gift for an expectant mom.

I have been coming up with designs for moms to represent their kids in a more subtle way. I do get asked now and then if I can make something with out names.

The two hearts represent her two kiddies.

What do you think?

Cheers!
Canela

Pretty Bird

Be sure to Vote on the new font! Check out the Post below to vote and for a chance to win!


I made this little bird last night and just had to share! You can expect to see more bird themed pieces as I have time to make them.

I hand drew her and the branch on thick sterling sheet metal, cut each out then soldered them to the hand made ring.

This pretty little birdie will be available on Ebay for the "Up up and away" launch with Berripop on Sept 15th.

If she doesn't sell there for the launch she will join the pretties in my etsy shop.


Happy Tuesday!

Canela

Time to Vote...

I've Narrowed it down to 4 fonts. I'm so indecisive I love them all so it is entirely up to you ladies (and any gentle men that stop in)

So here it is...Tell me your favorite. Please only vote for one. I plan to get the upper and lower case set so keep that in mind.

Leave a comment telling me your favorite. In 3 days I'll tally up the votes and pick one comment to win a $40 gift card to my shop!

Copy and paste the link into your browser to view the fonts.
http://www.dafont.com/learning-curve.font

http://www.dafont.com/hannahs-messy-handwriting.font

http://www.dafont.com/harrison.font

http://www.dafont.com/angelina.font

Thanks so much!

Sunday adventure

The kids have settled back into their school routine, lots of homework and school related chores.

My hubby started back with his school last week...he's not quite back into the routine yet.

In addition to normal mommy duties I've been spending 7 + hours at the work bench after the kiddies go to bed to try to keep up with orders. Thank you so much to everyone who has been keeping my little shop so busy! You are a blessing to us!

With us all back to our crazy busy lives we decided to take the evening off and go out.

We took the kids out for frozen yogurt. They got to pick their flavors and toppings.

Then they got to run around the pavilion a bit to burn off some of the sugar from toppings like jelly bellies mixed with rainbow sprinkles and chocolate sauce and whip cream....and that was just Gabriel.

Some how Dad missed the 2 topping rule I had set down minutes before.



Meggie looks like she got caught doing something wrong...I wonder what she was thinking about doing? Maybe sampling sissy's yogurt when she wasn't looking!
Kaiya loved being my subject as I tested the different settings on my camera.

Georgia Peach with fresh strawberries, YUM!

I decided the only way I am going to really get to know my camera is to get it out of automatic and into manual and just go for it.

I'm pretty pleased with the shots I got...if you're one of my photographer friends just humor me okay ;O)

Happy Labor day!
Canela

coming soon...

Thank you so much ladies for the wonderful suggestions!

I'm going to use each of them in a series of bracelets like this one. If you have any ideas for the little image to go on it please share. Next will be a heart, bird, and flower, but I do love a challenge :O)

I chose become...."become who you are"

I thought it was perfect, the image of the butterfly emerging from her chrysalis to embark on her journey into the world with new wings.

This beauty will be in my shop very soon.

With the exception of the clasp I have made this whole piece by hand, chain and all.

If you are interested in a custom id bracelet feel free to send me an e-mail

Happy Sunday!

Canela

Suggestions and a winner :O)

Font Update....

I am narrowing the fonts down to 3 choices then I am going to post them for voting I'm hoping to get that started on Tuesday!

Crabapple won the charm send me an e-mail!

I'm still missing a winner.... Jessica...My 5 little monkeys. Jessica I sent a couple of e-mails but I haven't heard back yet, check your spam folder maybe, or e-mail me directly jewelrybycanela@yahoo.com

I need suggestions!

I have a new design that will be posted to ebay soon for the next boutique group launch I am doing with the talented ladies of Berripop.

It is an id style bracelet with a hand sawn butterfly on it. It's so cute I can't wait to finish it and get it listed.
Though I plan to recreate them so they can be personalized I want to stamp an inspirational word on this one.

I need something that would go with the butterfly.
Let me know what you think would be a good word for a young lady.


Happy Saturday!
Canela

Another cinnamonsticks Giveaway!

Kate of Hip Handmaids (isn't the name adorable!) contacted me this week and asked if I would like to take part in a holiday vendor show comprised of talented Work at home moms! Of course I said Yes! I love the opportunity to meet other talented moms and shop their goodies.



It is in Burbank on Dec 5th if you any where near the area or crazy enough to make the drive in...please ;) Come meet everyone, do some holiday shopping, and feel good by supporting Handmade and Handmaids :O)



To welcome me to the party Hip Handmaids is hosting a giveaway for my Itty Bitty two charm necklace.

Stop over HERE to check it out, say hi to Kate and enter to win!

A little randomness...

When did you know you were all grown up?

My closest girlfriend Monica is in the process of writing an essay on this for a writing contest. She's an amazing writer, published and everything! I think she'll win, I'm not biased at all ;)

It is funny how things present them selves in our lives.
Monica and I were able to spend an afternoon at New Port beach a couple of weeks ago.
We reminisced over high school memories...as she reminded me today we've know each other for almost 20 years now!
We talked about...
~When we knew we were a "grown up"
~When we took responsibility for our teenage stupidity and selfishness...Yes mom you did know what you were talking about. Imagine that!
~When we realized we could do what we loved as a grown up job. For her writing for me metalsmithing.

I'm not sure when I grew up, or if I'm even grown up yet. I don't think we ever stop growing up.

A few days later she found a call for entries in a writing contest. The topic...When did you know you were grown up!

I can't wait to read her essay, hopefully in the magazine!

Want a sneak peek?

I'm starting to finalize the detail for the big 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!!!! If you're not excited you really should be! I have some great designers with amazing goodies!



Here is one of them....How adorable is this cupcake stand?

The hills are alive....

Well okay my ipod is alive with the sound of music!!

Yay! Thank you Knotty Mouse for the help! It was so simple, and didn't require me kicking the computer at all!
No I didn't really kick it, but I was close to that frustrated.

I miss my music

Our computer caught a virus a couple of weeks back which somehow fried the monitor. So in a panic to get the computer back up and running I sent my hubby out for a new monitor.

He came back; spent some time hooking it up and fixing the computer...I love that he can fix things :O)

I gave him a big smooch as a thank you and sat down to answer e-mails and convo. I like to listen to my playlist or other playlists while I do this so I logged into blogger excited to have our computer working again and...silence.

No speakers on the new monitor! sniff.

Oh well I wasn't too discouraged. I saw this as an opportunity to open up my little bitty ipod I treated myself to.

Our first ipod. It was on sale for $40 at Target. It was apple green. It would serenade me while I hammered away at my workbench. Sweet sweet music! I heart music!

I hooked it up to the computer. I followed the instructions to upload the necessary software. I registered it. I went straight to iTunes with my little gift card ready to fill it with sweet music...

Over an hour later I wanted to cry! I kept trying to buy a song and it kept asking me to register, so I would go register again and try again to buy..."please register" GRRRRRRRRR

I gave up.

Determined to have some music to listen to while I work I broke it out again. I registered. I entered my gift card info and Sweet Bliss it let me buy a song! Whooo Hooo!

I purchased 20 of my favorites. I disconnected the usb cable and plugged in the earphones and ...NOTHING!

The songs are on my computer but not my ipod. How the heck can I get them on there. I can't find anything that says download or upload to ipod. SIGH. I give up again for the day. Too much work to do.

Am I alone or does anyone else have this problem?

On a happier note...This simple beauty debuted last night. See her HERE

Hope everyone's Thursday is less frustrating than mine :O)

Canela

More newbies :O)

I've wanted to make this one for months now!

Sterling capped crystal charm bracelet...Yay!

You can find it here if you love it as much as I do :O)

Thank you!

Thanks so much ladies for the suggestions!!! I'm going to close that off before I really can't make up my mind!

I'm going to chose my favorite three...that are free fonts, if they are copy righted I can't use them with out paying extra fees.

Once I choose my favorite 3 I'll post them and ask all you wonderful ladies...and gentlemen to vote.

The one with the most votes will head out to the steel shop for the custom set!

Cheers!
Canela

Suggestions?.....you can win a charm!

I've been thinking about getting another set of custom font stamps. I'm so indecisive though. This time I am going to invest in a upper and lower case set. It's a hefty investment so I want to be sure it's a font that I love as well as my customer.


So I'm looking for suggestions. Do you have a favorite font? Love the traditional script font looking for something a bit more funky.


Let me know!


I will choose a random winner from the comments left for ONE Sterling silver capped crystal.

You can have it personalized with a word or name!

Thanks for your suggestions!
Cheers~
Canela