a poem note necklace

a new necklace in the shop

I love the idea of carrying a poem in your pocket. Don't you smile just thinking about it? Even saying it causes my lips to turn upward. A poem in your pocket. There is even a day all about that very thing that occurs in April each year (this year it was the 14th). I have carried a few poems with me at different times in the last few years. Poems become like friends i think. Lights along our paths. Mirrors. Nods of "me too." 

I have been using the phrase "poem notes" for a few years now. They appear in blog posts now and then and are part of my personal writing practice. In my interview at "la salonniere earlier this year, i shared the following: "I came up with the phrase 'poem notes' to give myself permission to just write. A poem note might be writing that looks like a poem or it might be the beginnings of a poem or perhaps it is simply a few words linked together that one doesn’t quite yet recognize as a poem." I share more about poem notes and prompts to begin the practice of writing them in Inner Excavation.

So when I discovered these little envelopes, I knew what had to go inside them. Of course. A poem note. 

Using my vintage typewrite and vintage ledger paper, I typed a few of my favorite lines from a few of my poem notes and tucked them inside these little brass envelopes to create a few "poem note" necklaces. A few of the phrases that have been used include:

i am pirouetting in midair
i am stillness within the light
i am the harbor of spirit
i am the tucked inside your pocket talisman
i am the ease of laughter through an open window

These little poem note necklaces are now in the shop. When you order one, I will choose a poem note to tuck inside your necklace. You can of course also tuck your own poem or love note inside the envelope when it arrives.

current collection (new in the shop)

new soul mantra necklaces in the shop

a new collection in the shop inspired by:

listening to what you most need
vintage jars full of blooming tulips
the space that surrounds our hearts
friendships between kindred spirits
seaglass found along puget sound
pink (because pink is always a very good thing) 
the invitation to begin 

making these necklaces in my newly painted and almost finished studio makes me so so happy. yes. ellie crawls and plays on the now clear of all clutter floor while i create talismans that will find there way into the world. life is full of so many good things...

PS free shipping this week with the code SPRINGFREE.

new in the shop (or how i continue to find my way)

new necklaces in the shop

still working on that mountain of things to do over here, but happy to report that i did get a few new items listed in the shop. a small "almost spring" collection and a few ready to ship/one of a kind necklaces.

after a long talk with a friend who let me ramble in circles as i wished for an assistant and the gift of rest, i have decided to close my shop for the weeks surrounding the next retreat (which is the Joy retreat...there are still five spots left!). UPDATE: (realized a few things about my schedule and am modifying the dates i originally put here) so i will be closing my etsy shop from March 28 to around April 18 to give myself some time to focus on the other aspects of my creative business, including workshops, retreats, and some other fun things i have waiting in the idea journal...and i will be working on a fun new spring collection for the shop during that time too.

i am actually organizing and hosting five retreats this year and the first four happen one right after the other (including one in the midwest...have you heard? kelly b and i are really doing it! yep. culver, indiana in may. more information right here). i am so excited about these retreats and the first one, Pen & Paper, unfolded so beautifully (more on that soon) and gently pushed me to continue to own that i do feel like this is my calliing...to gather women to play and create and sit in the quiet and share pieces of their stories. it is a gift to be present at these gatherings.

as i said to my friend, i am at this place where i have to admit that i feel behind in many things because i am a work at home mama to a little one who needs me more than anyone else does, but i also feel like i am at this important place on my creative path. there is an intense push and pull happening inside me at times. and even though i know this is part of it, part of this new mama experience, it still is what it is. and it is happening. and it is going to keep happening. i am learning that i simply must say "no" because life is unpredictable with a baby, especially one who has health "stuff" and daily medication and doctor's appointments and how the list goes on. letting people down can feel a bit like i am suffocating (do you know that feeling?) but i am standing in the truth that letting ellie down is not an option right now. 

so as i continue to find my way, i deeply appreciate you being out there reminding me i am not alone as i do this...one breath, one step, repeat repeat repeat. 

happy weekend to you in your corner of the world,

liz

shop news

a few necklaces that i will be phasing out from the shop to make room for new designs

For the last few weeks, as visits to my Etsy shop increased quite a bit in an unexpected but oh my goodness delightful (thank you) way, I have been relisting several popular designs. This means that most of the designs in the shop have become "made when ordered" necklaces with a waiting period from time of order to shipment. This has been working quite well, but it has meant I had moved away from the more "one of a kind" pieces that have mostly filled the shop in the past. It has also meant that the ideas for new designs have stayed in my idea journal or my head and not made it to the shop.

So after thinking about this quite a bit, I have decided to change things up a bit.

I am naming the above necklaces the "winter collection" as several of these are the designs I have been relisting often over the last few weeks. On Friday, I will remove all the necklaces pictured above from the shop to make room for a new collection of whispered soul mantra lockets that I am working on this week. I will do this every other month or so, adding new designs here and there. These will be "made when ordered" necklaces with a wait time of about 2-3 weeks. I love that this means I will be thinking of the customer who bought each necklace as I create each necklace. Note that this doesn't mean you will never see these phrases or beads in the shop again, but these combinations of specific locket styles + specific beads + phrases will not be appearing again.

Several of the most popular simple locket designs will stay in the shop and are now part of a section called "Simple Mantra Lockets." Additionally, there is a new section of "ready to ship" lockets and soul mantra necklaces that includes one-of-a-kind selections and items that are already made and ready to be shipped right away (my hope is to add to this section a few times a month). Also, the new Heart.Full Collection is an ongoing limited edition collection of necklaces with 15% of the profits of sales from the collection being donated to Mary Bridge and Seattle Children's Hospitals. (And I am so so happy to report that the Heart.Full "i am enough" and "yes" necklaces have been such great sellers already. Oh how I love this! Jon and I are so thrilled to be able to donate to the people at these hospitals who have literally saved our daughter's life. Thank you (yes you) for helping us to do this.)

January brought quite a few custom orders, and how I loved pounding so many powerful words into lockets for my customers. However, there were so many custom orders that I have had to take a bit of a break from them to keep up. My hope is to open the shop for custom orders from time to time but this probably won't happen until after the next two Be Present Retreats.

To just be honest, things are super busy around here for several reasons and though I am so honored to be hammering these custom stories into necklaces for people, I have to make sure I am taking care of all the areas of my creative business and getting a bit of time to play with those I love and rest and recharge. Right now, almost every waking hour feels a bit like a race of taking care of Ellie all day long to working while she naps to working when she goes to bed (or when Jon can watch her for a bit). I want to infuse all that I am doing with deep breaths and joy as much as possible instead of giving everything the energy of a frazzled new mom who is drinking too much coffee. (Insert photo of me smiling sheepishly here.) So putting these new ideas for the shop into practice feels like a good step for this time in my life. This way, when I do have time for custom orders, I can give people the individual attention they need. Please note though that I am taking custom simple soul mantra one word orders on an ongoing basis.

And I am just going to say this truth that has been bubbling up as I write this post:

I am so blessed. I am so blessed that people come to my little spot on the web and connect with these stories of truth and hope and love that I am putting out into the world in the form of these lockets and necklaces and other things in the shop. And the blessings just continue as people reach out to let me know how much the necklaces and stories mean to them. They tell me how the whispered soul mantras gently push them to own the truths they already know: that they are enough, that they can choose hope, that they can stand tall in the light, that they can trust their wisdom. The stories of love and hope that are coming my way simply push me to know that I am not alone...we are not alone as we walk on our paths hoping and wishing and living, really living while trying to be our very best selves.

Yes.

Thank you. Big.

xoxo,

Liz

heart.full

She wasn’t one for a month all about love or stringing hearts up about the house. She rolled her eyes at the idea of one day when someone you call sweetheart is supposed to buy you roses. She had spent so many days alone that even when she found herself in love and loved in return, she still tried to ignore this need others had to make one day about something that never quite felt real. She was quiet about it but mostly tolerated seeing everyone in red, and then she bought the chocolates when they went on sale.

Years passed with this story on repeat.

Then, on a day in July, she found herself holding the pieces of her own heart together as she watched a doctor try to heal the tiny heart of her five-week old daughter. That day gave her a new sense of what a heart could be, could do, could mean.

In the days that followed, even as life shifted and pushed her in ways she never expected, she found herself saying yes:

to hearts about the house
to seeing the light shine through the cracks
to wearing red
to letting herself be loved
to opening herself to healing

As the light returns a bit more each day and the calendar moves closer to that day of love, she stands in this moment and says yes to all that is to come.

*****

I felt moved to write the above words today and then I made myself a necklace. A red necklace. Valentine's Day, a holiday I have secretly never liked, is approaching, and this year I have found myself (for the first time) drawn to hearts (everywhere) and talk of love. I still don't like how this holiday invites people who don't have a sweetheart to feel (I was that person every year until I met Jon in my mid-20s). But I really LOVE the idea of putting a new spin on this holiday and making it about saying yes to me and what my heart needs in this moment and about how grateful I am for the love I have in my life.

Putting these words to paper and making this necklace made me see that this is the perfect time to launch a new collection that has been sitting inside my idea journal for a few weeks now.

The Heart.Full Collection is a new category over in my etsy shop where I gather up Stories from The Little Room. This collection will be made up of limited edition jewelry and fabric items (I will create new mini-collections from time to time), and it will continue what I began in December as 15% of the profits from this collection will be donated to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital where Ellie Jane spent five days in July of 2010 and Seattle Children's Hospital where she had open-heart surgery in October.

The first four items in this collection are the "yes" all dressed up necklace, the "yes" heart locket, the "seek peace" simple soul mantra necklace, and the "i am enough" all dressed up locket. You can find all of them here.