so i fly (new in the shop)

new earrings in the shop

The So I Fly earring series is inspired by one of my most popular Soul Mantra phrases. The idea behind the phrase:

When life pushes me beyond what I know
When the joy fills me up 
When the fear tries to settle in
When I am holding on to hope with each breath
When all this and more leads me to feel unsure of the next step,
sometimes I step outside, feel the warm sun upon my shoulders, look up at the blue sky, and make one decision: 

I fly.

The earrings in this series are all adorned with birds or other winged creatures. I see them as a daily reminder that you can feel your wings and you can breathe deeply and you make the choice to fly when it serves you.

Thank you so much for your continued support of my shop. It makes my heart so happy to send into the world these little packages filled with reminders to live with your heart wide open.

Blessings and light,
Liz 

a full of gratitude shop special

betty models a few necklaces in the shop

it has been a really good thing for me to be able to create in spurts here and there since ellie's birth. (i thank jon for really getting my need to stay connected to my creative life even while navigating the waters of new mother and other things.) creating soul mantra necklaces has been something i can pick up here and there throughout the day and in the evening when things settle down a bit. there is something about the power of words that speak deeply to me being hammered, letter by letter, into metal, believing that someone will see those words and recognize a phrase from her own story and decide that she needs this reminder of their truth.

because of some things on our schedule over the next few weeks, next week i will be closing the shop for a bit, probably until late october. in anticipation of all that is to come and in the spirit of gratitude for all the support people have given my shop this summer and early fall, i would like to offer a super (not too) secret special for blog readers (and FB/twitter folks).

here is the scoop: spend $30 in my etsy shop and I will send you a simple soul mantra necklace as a free gift with your purchase. i will choose one for you (like one of the examples pictured below) and package it up in the hopes that it will be the message that you most need in this place on your path. i am also happy to send it (with free shipping) to a friend, if you think a friend might need a quiet, powerful message right now.

just mention "gratitude" in the notes to seller when you check out. this special is available until this Friday night, September 24 at 11:30 PM PST.

begin

pieces of fall through my lens

crunch, crinkle, crunch, crunch,
her decade-long companion cowboy boots along for the excursion,
she stoops to gather one of each color
(brick red, goldenrod, carrot, sunset)
and tucks them into the bigger than her hand pocket of her grandfather's brown cardigan.
she pauses at a pile in the middle of the park.
twirls once to check for onlookers,
and finds herself crosslegged with a smile.
breathing deeply, she rests in the knowledge:
autumn is her spring.

*****

each season, i am creating a limited edition necklace that honors the colors, smells, textures of that season. the necklace is paired with a poem and a word (the poem's title) that shares a sliver of one moment in that season. (read more about the origins of this series here.)

today, i am introducing begin: a necklace inspired by one girl's walk in a park along puget sound on a day when she could almost hear the leaves as they turned away from green and began to dance with color.

you can find begin in my etsy shop; it will be available for just two weeks (and possibly again in late October).

abloom.

 

(snippets of summer through my lens)

abloom

(adjective, abounding with blooms)

the bursting with pink patchwork quilt sits beneath her crossed legs

as she creates a crown of queen anne's lace

with each twist and turn of the stem,

she smells her still sticky from watermelon juice fingers

hears the insistent jingle of the ice cream man's truck, two streets away,

and feels the sun's cocooning warmth

finished, she places the crown upon her head, stands,

and slowly, she begins to spin

the fuschia, purple, orange of the dahlias and snapdragons blur

one foot races the other as she circles

stopping suddenly, she crosses her feet at the ankles, and in one movement,

she lands on the blanket with a grin

sipping lemonade from her thermos,

a poetry reading for one begins

as she recites the words of billy collins, marge piercy, and may sarton

(mapping them into her heart)

when it is almost too much

the words, the scents, the truths

the invitation to own all of it

she walks to the roses

curtsies

and breathes in each petal

*****

introducing seasons 
(a new necklace series in the shop)

in my corner of the world, people often joke that we have two seasons: rain and "july and august." but i don't feel that way. i think the colors in this corner of the world are magic. spring begins her dance in february when the crocus inches toward the sky. when summer arrives, the dahlias are standing so proud, you can't help but breathe a little deeper when you come across their brilliant swaying stalks. fall brings leaves that sparkle as the rain sprinkles upon them. and winter brings a green that hints (even with its grey companion in the sky) that spring will return. the seasons sometimes tumble awkwardly from one to the next as they forget the calendar's invitation to arrive, instead finding their own path. capturing them through my lens provides me with moments to sit in the quiet and remember...

each season, i am creating a limited edition necklace that honors the colors, smells, textures of that season. the necklace is paired with a poem and a word (the poem's title) that shares a sliver of one moment in that season.

today, i am introducing abloom: a necklace inspired by a romantic afternoon for one filled with words and colors and juicy moments and the reminder to soak up every second of its beauty.

 

you can find abloom in my etsy shop, and it will be available for the rest of the summer.

with gratitude.

pike place market spring, april 2010

for you.

yes, you.

thank you for your kind words, your support, your whispers of you are not alone. your comments (and emails) these last few weeks especially have been like lights in my world. i am reminded again that i have this incredible group of women out there in the world supporting me, supporting each other, as we walk on our paths and stand tall in our bravery and truth. thank you for getting it and sharing your wisdom in a way that has felt supportive and real. thank you.

i am also very grateful for the people who have supported my little shop these last few weeks. this spring, we encountered some unexpected money things, in the way that you do, with taxes and car repairs, all these appointments i am experiencing, and some other things. i know you get it. and your support of my shop enabled us to buy a few things for the little one that we really needed to buy but weren't sure we could afford. 

as a thank you, i would like to extend a special savings code to my blog readers (in addition to the free shipping i am offering until my maternity leave begins around may 23). just leave the code "be present" in the notes to seller when you check out through my etsy shop, and you will receive a 15% discount (refunded through PayPal after you pay).

snippets of items in the shop

i hope this monday finds you breathing deeply in your world and finding the space to remember that you have all the knowledge you need for this moment.

blessings,

liz