outside the (shoe)box: 2011

Monday, December 19, 2011

a little christmas gift for crisis pregnancy centre

to date, with your help, outside the (shoe)box jewellery has contributed donations equaling $375.00!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOW!

that is insane! you guys are awesome! thank you so much for supporting my creations and more importantly, supporting crisis pregnancy centre. it's kind of crazy to think that i've been making earrings since april sometime. and then to see what has all come in for crisis pregnancy centre, it's AWESOME!

so, thank you. i thought i should update you all. i'm sending in a cheque to cpc tomorrow. yes, still half of the proceeds from every article of jewellery goes to cpc! what a blessing! we can be a part of making a stand for the unborn. but not only that, we can make a stand for all the deceived women out there who believe they are alone and abortion is their only option.

we want to stand with you lonely women and unborn babies.

Monday, December 5, 2011

necklace #11 - $14.00

necklace #12 - $14.00 (navy blue bead)

pair #77 - $12.00

pair #78 -$10.00

pair #79 - $10.00 (these are teal-coloured. sorry, but it's hard to get the

correct lighting to portray the colours best!)

pair #80 - $10.00

christmas fun!

i've made a few more pieces of jewellery as of late... and decided that the perfect background for these new ones would be our lovely christmas tree! how festive of me, hey? maybe it'll inspire you!

Pair

#76 - $10.00 (my husband Mark designed these, i just put them together!)

Necklace #9 - $12.00

Necklace #10 - $14.00

Sunday, November 20, 2011

it's happening!

with the help of my dear dad, who put together this earring stand (which i then spray-painted, and added many many nails to)... we're heading to slice of life bakery! well, not immediately... there are a few things to be figured out first. but soon! soon this stand full of earrings, (a few) bracelets, and necklaces will be gracing the presence of slice of life bakery.

YAY!

it's a huge blessing to me that my family is willing to carry my creations in their bakery. i mean, i have a very creative family, so it's not a huge surprise. my mom will be bringing some of her quilts to showcase and sell. and hopefully my sister-in-law will be bringing some mosaics she made. there are many more talents in my family, but those are just a few that will be showcased in the bakery. except, potentially one day, when my husband and his band (guerrilla warfare - which is basically a family band plus a friend who is now practically adopted) will likely perform their wonderfully eclectic music live at the bakery. one day.

so, for my beautiful earring stand... i had my dad put together the plywood and work his magic so it would stand nicely. i then spray-painted it with a wonderful hammered/textured effect (in brown). then i strategically placed tiny nails all over the board and hammered them in securely! once that was done, i just didn't feel like it was finished. so, i thought, "hey, why not add the name 'outside the shoebox' somehow to this stand?". that's when i found some lace, cut it up into letters and hot-glue-gunned those suckers to the board! after that, i felt it was complete. well, of course, i needed to put all the jewellery on it first!

so, TA DA! here's the beautiful stand that my dad and i came up with:

ain't she a beauty?

Friday, November 11, 2011

getting ready for the big send-off

i'm getting ready to send a bunch of my earrings/necklaces/bracelets to slice of life bakery! my dear family is willing to showcase a bunch of my stuff for me! how sweet of them. and just in time for christmas too! so, here are a bunch of pictures of what i'm sending their way...

earrings galore...

a few bracelets (although i might keep the blue one for myself!)...

perhaps a few necklaces... now they are actually officially necklaces! they used to just be pendants, but i've now expanded from just earrings to necklaces and bracelets as well!

this is everything! i've been busy making doubles of many of my earrings, so i have a good stock. i am LOVING being back into making earrings (and necklaces, and bracelets... haha!)

hope to see you at the bakery (in niverville). and perhaps this will make it easier for you to purchase them, since you could just pick them up while you pick up some delicious baked goods!

more earrings, and perhaps christmas gifts?

Pair 72 - $12.00

Pair 73 - $10.00

Pair 74 - $10.00

Pair 75 - $10.00

CHRISTMAS IS COMING! i know that sometimes for men it can be difficult to find a good gift for their lady... so here's a suggestion! look on past posts of mine to see what's all available! it's a great gift... nudge, nudge. or if you're a lady and you love getting gifts for either a sister or a good friend, consider a pair of earrings!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

after a very long pause...

I'M BACK!

with some more creations! WOW, i haven't given you anything since july 29th! and that post didn't even have any new earrings!

but since that time, my husband and i have moved, been very busy, i started and graduated make-up artistry school, and we've celebrated our first anniversary of marriage! so... it's been busy. i was hoping that once i was finished school i would focus more on earrings. but it took a while to get back to that.

hopefully you haven't all lost faith in me! i am still creating. slowly but surely.

so, without further ado... MORE EARRINGS!

Pair #67 - $10.00

Pair #68 - $10.00

Pair #69 - $10.00 (these ones are very small and cute!)

Pair #70 - $10.00

Pair #71 - $10.00

hope you enjoyed that taste after so long. and i shall be back with more! hopefully sooner rather than later!

Friday, July 29, 2011

he's got the whole world in his (big) hands

God. is. good.

i've been doing just normal things lately... and i just love seeing God at work in the "normal" things. i don't know. i think it's just something going on in my own heart, maybe.

i'm just feeling blessed.

and i'm feeling like there's something new that's going to happen. something that i'm going to have to trust God with (and so will my husband, because we're in this together!). i don't know what this means, but i like it.

i know, this has really nothing to do with the purpose of this blog. but i figure maybe sometimes those of you who support me in this earring venture want to hear my heart!

i don't know what's in store for these earrings. i don't know what's in store for crisis pregnancy centre. i don't know what's in store for my life, even, past the next month or two. isn't that exciting? it just reminds me to give it over. over to God. as i'm writing this, there's a show on tv about the beginning of the earth. or what some people believe was the beginning of the earth. and i'm just happy that i don't have to hold that world in my hands. i'm glad that we've been given brains to use and the freedom to question the things around us. but, even though i don't know all the answers (or even pretend to know), i know that God's in control. God knows all the theories going around about the creation or evolution of his world. i have my own beliefs on that. but i'm just glad that HE. has. the. world. in. HIS. (big). hands.

i'm glad it's not me.

so, with that in mind, i'm glad he's got my world in his hands. and my future. and my past. and my present.

and i like it.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Pair 63 - $10.00

Pair 64 - $12.00

Pair 65 - $10.00

Pair 66 - $10.00

Monday, July 25, 2011

today's journal entry

lord, may this be pleasing to you.

may this bring glory to your kingdom, and further it as well.

lord, i want your will to be done.

i pray that by selling these earrings, little lives will be saved. these unwanted babies are so precious to you.

i can see your hand in this ministry and my desire is to join you in it. help me follow your lead in this.

i pray that i will give you the glory and praise and i won't accept it for myself.

i. am. incapable. of anything without you.

be glorified.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

some creations i made this evening!

for your viewing pleasure...

pair 61 - $10.00

pair 62 - $12.00

this wire is a brass colour, it just looks more silver in the lighting. sorry!

necklace 7 - $14.00

hammered wire

necklace 8 - $14.00

hammered wire with striped stone pendant

just one more pair to showcase for now...

pair 60 - $10.00

i've been busy with orders, so i haven't had too much time to make new creations. but, hopefully i will have more new stuff to show soon. also, i recently sent off the first cheque to Crisis Pregnancy Centre for $150! can you believe that? that means that $300 worth of orders came in. WOW! i'm so excited about where this is going!

thank you to everyone who is also investing in this endeavor of mine. for buying earrings (for yourself or for gifts), for praying for me in this and especially for cpc, and just for encouraging me by giving me good feedback! you. are. awesome.

maybe the next cheque to cpc will be double that! WAHOO!

Friday, July 15, 2011

finally, some new creations!

necklace #6 - $20.00

necklace #2 - $14.00

necklace #3 - $20.00

i'll admit, this tree design isn't an original design! sorry!

i got it from diva beadz. they're amazing!

pair #55 - $10.00

necklace #4 - $14.00

pair #56 - $10.00

pair #57 - $10.00

Pair #58 - $10.00

pair #59 - $10.00

necklace #5 - $14.00

busy lady...

hey all! just a little message to remind you that i'm still here! i've been meaning to post for the last week already, but it's been quite busy. finishing orders, working (not on earrings), and other things that take life over! good things, just busy things.

i hope to post more earrings/pendants tonight. i've made a few more over the last week, so i hope to share them with you!

i've also found a wonderful little shop in winnipeg called diva beadz. so, this last week i went there to see what they've got, and it's so cute! friendly owners (i believe it's a mother/daughter thing). i met one of them, debbie. friendly, sassy, and knows a lot about jewellery! loads of beads, some wire, shells, and even jewellery that they've made that you can buy. they've got some beautiful jewellery. anyway, off for now, but i'll be back tonight!

thanks for your patience!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

order up!

well, last night was a tizzy of an evening... racing against time to finish a last-minute order. but i got it done! and then i got a few other orders completed as well! finished amy's (the race against time!), gloria's, judy's, dixie's, and brittney's. what a night! i love making earrings...

and how it came about... well, a few months ago (march, 2011), there was an incident that caused me to rethink some things. the bakery that my parents opened for my sister and me burned down to the ground. it was the middle of the night, and thankfully no one was hurt! but it was a shock nonetheless. we've definitely moved past this, and actually have been very blessed by God through it. we are rebuilding too! but needless to say, in the meantime i needed a hobby! so, earring-making was what i chose. i wanted to make a bit of money on the side, while i was out of work, so i sold them at my sister-in-law's garage sale. right at that time, we had been given these baby-bottles to collect pocket-change for crisis pregnancy centre. so i just put the money i got from the earrings toward the baby bottle collection. and that got me thinking. it'd be a lot more worthwhile to make these earrings to benefit someone other than just myself. not only can people buy them as gifts or for themselves to enjoy... but they can know that some of the money is going toward an amazing cause! to save lives! WOW! so, i put my earrings online. i didn't mention at first that 50% of the proceeds went to cpc. i just felt like if i said that, people might think i want the glory for myself. not true. but eventually, i thought that people should know where their money is going! it's not just going into my pocket!

so... now you know.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

earring love continued...

necklace 1 - $12.00

actually this is a pendant for a necklace... a friend of mine ordered a pendant with these features, and this is what i came up with! my first pendant.