Re-emerging. Change. Moving Forward.

In two days, it will have been one month since my last post.

My absence is a testament to how incredibly busy Norbert and I were this holiday season.

We've been making jewelry, packaging said jewelry and answering convos and emails in a near constant stream from November into the days that led up to that big day.

Once we closed our shop we disconnected, sat back and breathed.

That breath was full of gratitude for all of you.

And pride for all that we accomplished.

And, to be honest, exhaustion ;)

And now I'm back...

Last week, I was finally able to bring out my camera.

It had been too long. I missed taking pictures very, very much.

My love of photography is increasing by leaps and bounds as time goes on.

Here are some of the details that catch my eye, invigorate and inspire....

because that is the state that I am currently in: 

inspired.

The perfectly timed snowstorm that hit before Christmas 

 

Our Tree, decorated by many hands...

We sped down to New Mexico on the morning of Christmas Eve to spend the holidays with my family.

We were all together.....the cousins, which rarely happens, were all together: ducks in a row eagerly waiting.

Luminarias

There is a lot of change that will be coming our way.

I can't begin to explain how excited I am for it all.

Norbert and I have been talking, planning, and setting in motion a great number of our ideas.

Ideas that have been brewing for months now.

I will be writing and sharing pictures much more frequently, now that life has returned to normal, and you'll soon find out all that we plan to enfold.

Change is good.

Change, evolution, growth

is necessary.

For me.

As a metalsmith.

As a business owner.

As an Artist.



a song that I've loved and been inspired by for a long, long time

I am so happy to be back.

I'll see you very soon.....

:)

(massive smile right there)

 

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a glimpse this morning, along with a few reminders..

Reminder #1

Well, it's the last day of November (whizzing by...seriously!) and that means it's the last day of our Holiday Sale.

So, head on over if you haven't picked up your gifts yet ;)

here and here

Reminder #2

Send me your pictures!! Please :)

Refer to this post if you missed it....you still have time to send them in.

You can send them to us by this Sunday, December 4th.

Thank you, to all of you who've already sent pictures to us. I love it.

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And here's a quick glimpse:

  

We've been here a lot lately. A lot.

Drinking a big hot mug of something and working.

And we're grateful.

Super duper grateful.

See you soon.

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Black Friday

Good Morning!

How many of you have been out and about already hitting up those Black Friday sales??

Well, we are adding to it :)

In addition to our Holiday 15% off sale in both our shops, if you order $75-$250 in jewelry, you will receive a pair of our Swirls and Flourish Earrings for free with your order.

For every order over $250 we will include our classic Sterling and Gold Nest necklace.

Our Etsy and Web shops will run this specific promotion from 11/25 until 11/28 on Cyber Monday and it will be limited one per customer.

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My brother and his family came up for Thanksgiving and we, like so many others, gorged out on delicious food. My Dad manned the turkey, stuffing and yams (I was the co-pilot!) and my mom was all over the pumpkin pies. I think there were 6! We'll be having a Thanksgiving meal again today (!) and then they head out tonight ending a whirlwind visit.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

We'll be putting up Christmas decorations.....the boys have been asking about a Christmas tree for a few weeks now. Time to move on to the next holiday :)

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Saint Nick.....and some business

The holidays have fully descended:

Over the weekend we hit a happy hour at one of our favorite spots on Pearl Street and then headed over to City Hall to watch the Christmas lights go up, along with some holiday ice skating and music....

We stopped in for some nighttime chai and then headed over to meet the big guy himself.

My older monkey LOVED meeting him. The little one.......not so much. He told me that he's scared of Santa, but that he still wants him to bring him toys for Christmas :)

 

another lust-worthy bike

I love, love this time of year and I feel like it is already speeding by.
Which reminds me....

Here is our Holiday Shipping Schedule:

For U.S. Christmas delivery - orders should be placed by Thursday, December 15th.

For International Christmas delivery - orders should be placed by Wednesday, November 30th.

It is super important to note that these dates are only a guideline since USPS First Class mail is not guaranteed. As always, we will also be offering faster shipping options for an additional charge (USPS Priority and Overnight), if you're worried that your package will not arrive on time. Just choose your desired shipping option when shopping in our website shop and when shopping on Etsy, leave your desired shipping option in the order notes and I'll follow up with an additional PayPal invoice for the shipping charge.


Okay, I'm off to work....we are already in the throes of holiday orders! Norbert just started blasting this music so it's time to mosy on downstairs :)


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Annual 'Call for Pictures'

A year ago, we asked our wonderful customers to send in pictures wearing our jewelry and in turn we randomly chose several from that group to receive $50 gift certificates to our website shop. You can find last year's winners here.

It was such a treat to see my pieces worn that we decided to make this 'call for pictures' giveaway an annual affair.

So here are the details:

- You can send me the pictures at info@bluehourdesigns.com or post them on our facebook page.

- The pictures can roll in up until November 30th

- In the beginning of December we will announce the winners here, our newsletter and also our facebook page.

- You can crop part of your face if that makes you feel comfortable!

- It's important to note that your picture may get published here and in our newsletter so PLEASE make sure that this is okay!

- The more pictures the merrier....send me as many as you want! We'd love to see them all.

So PLEASE send me your pictures!

Okay? :)

p.s. The above picture is one of the first pieces of jewelry I sold in my Etsy shop, two and a half years ago.

Crazy, because it seems soooo long ago..... 

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business

Okay.

I'm back....and it's practically the middle of November!

Time is flying people and it's going to be like that for us until post-holidays!

So here's the dealio:

I have a list of things to mention starting with our SALE that we are currently having at our Etsy and Web shops. Everything is currently 15% off so head on over and grab some Christmas gifts :)

Secondly, I added more amethyst stones to the 'amethyst burst' listings in both shops.

Stones to choose from on Etsy:

And on our Web shop:

Next up, I made and listed a reissue of the 'floral' earrings.

These ones are a little smaller than the original and I like them better that way!

Change is nice...

You can find them here and here.

We sent out our newsletter last week full of upcoming information and notifiying everyone of our sale.
I'll be back this weekend to share some of that extra info here....

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I'm sitting at my computer writing this post and this song just come on:

It is overcast here and strangely very still and quiet.

This song suits me perfectly at this exact moment.

Happy Friday :)

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Happy Halloween!

Those cracked out (sugar high) children of mine are finally falling asleep :)

See you in November!

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Before.....part 2

When we arrived in Estes Park, we hit a tremendous amount of traffic.

This is not so unusual for Estes because it is a major tourist town. This location marks the entrance into the Rocky Mountain National Forest. It was a little crazier than usual, though....it turns out we had arrived during their annual Elk Fest.

The really nice surprise for us was stumbling upon the start of a Native American storytelling and music performance.... 

  

I got a little bit emotional watching them.

These displays of music, dance and art are so incredibly important to the preservation of a culture. It's an identity....and for many people that identity is slowly becoming lost. So for me, it is an honor to be able to experience this beauty. I find the conscious determination of these people to preserve their identity so beautiful on top of the already enthralling performance. 

I feel this way whenever I get to experience a culture outside of my own. Add food and architecture to the arts and you have a very powerful personal experience and one of the reasons that traveling is so appealing and important to me.

And new generations are living and breathing their tradition...

Believe me, it was a meaningful day, and one that I was thrilled to share with my boys.

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Before...part 1

Before the storm that is....we took a day's jaunt along the peak to peak highway.

To catch sight of these beauties.

I am incredibly drawn to dilapidated, old remains of buildings.
The rocky mountains are full of them....long forgotten ruins of old homesteads or corrals from the pioneer days.
My eye is always drawn to this sight. I'm not sure why....I've always been entranced by them.
There are also a great many scattered in New Mexico.

And then we hit Estes Park for a sweet surprise...
I'll share some photos of that later this weekend.

Tomorrow is all about pumpkin carving!
See you soon....

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