by lynn krestel

my kitty and hannah!!

  

just wanted to share my kitty and hannah montana!!

sisters

  a blast from the past... my sisters and me a christmas morning many years ago!! i just love it!! beaming in our new jammies, relishing in the thought of newly unwrapped treasures. grams silvery tree shimmering behind us!!

of course we would not realize what the years would bring...it is us three alone now, both parents gone.

i am so blessed to still have them to share life, joys, anticipations.

i love you, sisters!!

memento charms

today i've added a memento charm bracelet to my etsy shop. the memento charm is a scanned baby photo of my mother!! it is set in a silver ring and then encased in layers of resin. when cured, the resin charm is durable!

this charm is created with a photo, but like my memento pendant, it could have a bit of a letter, envelope, signature, even your childs art.

i make this bracelet with fine silver. i think the heart links make this bracelet especially charming!!

with this bracelet, i have added a rough cut garnet gem for a bit of sparkle.

retroflakes

retroflakes!! i love them!! i love making them, i love decorating with them, i love giving them.  

here's a way to help make your christmas green!!

retroflakes are made with vintage beads and crystals. i begin by making the snowflake forms from galvanized steel. then i deconstruct old necklaces and earrings, take broken bits of jewellery and recreate it into funky holiday decorations!  

i love taking something old, that nobody wants to wear anymore and make it into something beautiful and useful again!!

review

my first review!! a blogger came across my shop at etsy and approached me about doing a review of my jewellery. of course!! i sent her a necklace - one of my newer designs - the silver marquis w/vintage crystal and pearl and am also offering a pair of marquis earrings for a draw from her blog!  

  so if you want a chance to win these sparkly marquis earrings (value $24) check out mickala's blog at http://busymominiowa.blogspot.com/ 

i will be posting some new jewellery and holiday retroflakes today. stay tuned too as i will be linking you to some other great giveaways and spotlights i get to be part of in the next few weeks!!

dream

'dream' and 'believe' - a charm necklace with optimism and hope. wear what you feel, proclaim that you know your future is bright with possibilities!

each charm is created with a 99% pure silver, handstamped, handforged, and tumbled. also, a swarovski crystal rivoli sparkles along side!!

i am preparing for a trunk show the first weekend in november - so things are pretty crazy around here. i will be posting some new things to my etsy shop over the next few days too. retroflakes, bookmarks, earrings! be on the lookout!!

happy birthday!!

my oldest is 17 years old today....i remember that day as if it were yesterday. she entered the world at  5pm bright eyed and curious.

she makes me proud - i watch her around family and friends and am amazed at her - she is quirky, fun, her own person. and i wonder how she is mine?!!

happy birthday beth....

uncertain

building a business is never easy - changing economic times don't help!! i have been working - full time - at building my design business for the past three years.

today-  if there is one word i would use to describe the journey it would be uncertain...there are so many certainties i can control, unfortunately there are probably as many that i cannot!!

i have been successful in selling what i make - is it as much as i would like? - probably never : ) - if it was, what would drive me!! selling through brick and mortar, that is. this  frontier of online selling - and building a presence online has been daunting, elusive, time consuming.

yet i love a challenge. if i see someone else has done it - i feel that drive within that makes me want to do it too.....

i carried my own website for several years - finally let it go after researching the blogging world, wanting to devote my time and limited energy here. i knew of etsy for quite sometime - and should have jumped in sooner, but have finally begun establishing on a shop there.

now there, i have to figure out what works for successful sellers there. you have to be seen - or your listings just get buried!!

etsy has a great cooperative advertising program. they purchase a full page ad in several different magazines, then give equal opportunity to their sellers to buy a portion (1/30) of the space to advertise their etsy shop. etsy pays half/seller pays half.

i was researching the process, wanted to know exactly how it worked when those coveted ads came available - 30 spots come up at a specific time and then you have to purchase the slot fast. in my  researching i read sellers bemoaning that the spaces would sell out in seconds. so......not wanting to be beaten by the system, i was determined to watch what happens. go through the process, just not complete the action....well.....i purchased an ad!! i would say by happenstance, but i also feel no opportunity is without possibilities!!

you could say it was a fast internet connection, a littler luck, and alot of ignorance -  but i purchased a $90 opportunity!!

i was planning for - hoping to be prepared - when the mary englebreit ad comes up however my little piece of the pie will be published in a magazine i am unfamiliar with - bust -  looks edgy, upbeat, fashion forward!! it will hit newsstands on november 25. so stay tuned, i'll keep you updated on how it goes!! heres a pic of the necklace for my ad......

so going back to back to that word uncertain.... facing this unknown - and others - will it generate interest, pay for itself. i don't know. but if i never try i will never know!!

mementos

 the memento pendant!!  encased in resin is a scanned image of the postmark from a letter my grandfather sent to my grandmother in WWll. you can read the date - march 11 1943 - as well as a bit of the u.s.army mark.  at the top of the pendant is a stamped 'postage due 6 cents'

i am creating pendants for my sisters, aunts, and cousins with different parts of the envelope and words in the letter. i will be posting more pics of sample pendants/charms from the letter.

 first i make the silver bezel pendant, transfer the scanned image onto tissue paper (gives it transparency), then fill the pendant with layers of resin.

the resin hardens and is the same grade that is poured for floors -talk about durable!!

it is a one of a kind piece. i can make it with images from photos, letters, even a copy of your childs art. contact me if you have any questions!!

lucky me!!

                                                                                                                                                              a few pics of a very happy weekend! two dinners, two days, 11 sunday, 13 monday, alot of cooking, and alot of laughter!!

three different families who immigrated from refugee camps in uganda and ghana thankful to be in a new country - full of new hopes and dreams!!

i am - and i know my family is - richer from getting to know them. their lives and stories have changed us forever!!

 

 

lucky me!!