Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Oh baby, baby it's a wild world!

Ok so it was a crazy weekend! Extremely busy with the family - Easter dinner and all the trimmings! Of course I completely overdid it and now I'm back on bed rest for 3 more days! Doctor's orders!! But the most exciting news from the weekend is that not only did I have 5 sales from my Etsy shop - yes, that's right 5 sales, I also had a request to allow one of my poems to be published on Sea of Tears facebook page! I'm beyond excited!
First of all 5 sales after nothing for weeks was such a boast and then to have one of my poems recognized was the icing on the cake!
I found the Sea of Tears people after reading an article about them in my local paper. I checked out their website and discovered that they have monthly contests so I submitted one of my poems. The rest is history...

Jewelry designer pays tribute to Titanic

Cape Breton artist Brenda Reichel has used sea glass from beaches near Inverness to develop a series of commemorative Titanic-inspired jewelry pieces, such as the one pictured, to be sold during the centennial celebrations of the ill-fated ship. (CONTRIBUTED)
A fascination with the Titanic and a love of the Victorian-era was all the inspiration Brenda Reichel needed to create her new jewelry line.
Using sea glass from the beaches near Inverness, the Cape Breton artist has developed a series of commemorative Titanic-inspired jewelry pieces to be sold during the centennial celebrations of the ill-fated ship.
The Tears of Glass vintage-style pieces, which include earrings, necklaces, pendants and bracelets, are available at Maples Gallery at Bishop’s Landing in Halifax and at various galleries throughout the Maritimes for as long as Reichel can keep up with the demand.
The idea came when she explained the origin of sea glass to tourists visiting her studio, Reichel said Thursday. It’s believed that much of the glass that washes ashore comes from old shipwrecks and coal mining ships that once dotted the seaside.
“As soon as I mentioned shipwrecks, they got so excited at the thought that it could be from the Titanic,” Reichel said from Inverness. “Probably not ... but the romance of it all is fun and with the anniversary coming up and my love of that era of jewelry and the story itself, I knew I was onto something.”
Reichel said she and her sister, for as long as they can remember, have talked about, researched and fantasized about the grand ship and the tragic fate of its 1,514 passengers.
Through her years of research, Reichel discovered one woman, Rhoda Mary Abbott, whose story she feels deeply connected to and to whom her Titanic-inspired jewelry collection is dedicated to.
Abbott, the story goes, jumped from the sinking vessel in order to save her two teenage sons but was the only one to survive.
Reichel recently lost a son to drowning and it was the time she spent walking the beaches of Cape Breton after his death that she re-discovered her childhood love of beach combing for sea glass. Four years ago, she founded Tears of Glass and began creating jewelry as a form of healing.
“I could feel for her and relate to her because I, too, lost a son,” Reichel said.
With thousands of tourists expected to descend on the Maritimes over the next month, Reichel said orders are pouring in from every province. She has enlisted a helper to keep up but with each piece taking at least two hours to complete, Reichel said shes working around the clock to meet the demand.
Each piece comes with a reproduction of the original Titanic boarding pass and features pearls, crystals and imagery popular in the early 1900s like dragonflies and birds.
(ccosgrove@herald.ca)

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Sending Easter Flowers!

Happy Easter everyone! I've created a treasury of Tulips and Daffodils to help celebrate! Enjoy!

Tulips and Daffodils

Friday, April 6, 2012

50% Discount!!!!!

Happy Easter from By A Thread Bags! Please enjoy an Easter Savings on me! Enter the word EASTER at the checkout and you will receive 50% off!!!!
Let's see if the Easter Bunny can top that! This offer is available until 12 noon April 9, 2012 - HAPPY SHOPPING!!!
All sales are final on this offer!
www.byathreadbags.etsy.com

HAPPY EASTER!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Little Prince Treasury

Today I wanted to commemorate a very special event. My son has completed his thesis based on the translations of the well known and much loved children's book, The Little Prince written by Antoine de Saint Exupéry. He is about to graduate university on the Dean's list with an honors degree. If you haven't read it, I urge you to do so. It's filled with lovely metaphors that we would all do well to remind our selves of each day.


The Little Prince

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Here are a few of my favorite things!

Today is such a glorious day here in Halifax and I wanted to share just a few of my favorite things!

1. This is the absolute best lipstick out there, I promise! It has amazing staying power and there is a great selection of colors!
2. Now being always the thrifty one, I like to make my own body scrub. This is the best recipe I've found, compliments of Condo-blues blogspot. This scrub leaves your skin feeling soft and supple.


Basic Sugar Scrub Recipe

All of my sugar scrubs are based on this basic recipe. The key is to make the scrub in small batches and use it fairly quickly because it doesn’t have any preservatives in the mix.

Ingredients
An empty jar with a lid (a small jelly or condiment jar works great for this project)
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
Label (if desired)

Make it
1. Pour the granulated white sugar into the jar.
2. Pour the olive oil into sugar and mix thoroughly until the ingredients are well blended. (I prefer the screw on the lid and shake method to mix my ingredients.)
3. Label the jar as desired.

3. This one I can't live without. I've tried everything - pure shea butter with gloves overnight, L'Occitane, Body Shop butters! I'm so happy I stumbled upon it. I've always had such problems with my hands - dryness, itchy, cracking skin - not now those days are long behind me now that I use Crabtree & Evelyn Lavender Hand Lotion! I apply just before bed everynight and my hands stay nicely moisturized all day!

4.  And my new fav for my hair - Moroccan Oil. A same amount of this warmed between your hands and applied to damp hair gives you amazing results! My hair is so smooth and silky soft!

5. And my last favorite for today - my newest favorite from Etsy. I love the look of these earrings! Very simplistic yet oh so elegant design! Be sure to check out Alibli's shop!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/62674566/moon-hoop-earrings-big-sterling-silver


That's all for today. I hope you enjoy my favorites and please, please pass on some of yours!!!!