Because every girl needs a touch of WHIMZY in her life!

I am excited to announce that you can now buy Tiny Lotus jewelry at Whimzy's in Tustin!!! (www.vintagewhimzy.com) Two sisters own this store and I have been visiting them for a few years now. I have even had the privilege of taking a few classes from them which have always been a lot of fun as they pay attention to every last detail... even supplying us with yummy homemade cupcakes during class! Whimzy has been a magical place for me...stepping through the doors into a world of ballerina cupcake toppers, crowns, masks, whimsical findings, and glitter everywhere. This store makes my heart skip a beat as I take in its beauty :) Another of its many charms is all the Catholic relics that adorn the walls. If ever in Tustin I highly recommend visiting this store:

474 El Camino Real-Old Town Tustin

Here are a few of my latest pieces...2 of them you will find at Whimzy's...the Showgirl crystal and the vintage girl with roses. With Christmas coming up please keep Tiny Lotus in mind. I can always customize jewelry for that someone special in your life xo

Hail Mary Full of Grace

Had a great time this weekend. I was able to take a class at Whimzy's in Tustin: http://www.vintagewhimzy.com/ I absolutely adore this store and the owners. I took a crown class there a few years back:




This weekend the class was taught by a lovely woman, Robin Dudley-Howes : http://robindudleyhowes.blogspot.com/ I learned how to solder a chandelier pendant. I am totally hooked now on soldering!!! Only problem is none of my supplies will be here until thursday-friday :/ I ordered everything I needed from Delphiglass.com. I am just itching to get started. In the meantime, I love wearing the pendant I made. I chose an image of the Virgin Mary that reminded me of a prayer card I had gotten Mirabai when she was a baby. And because The Virgin Mary is Mira's patron Saint it just felt right to use that image as well as embellish it with the nest holding 3 eggs to represent my children. The Virgin Mary is a special reminder of the great suffering Our Lady went through for her son and our Lord Jesus. She is the living vessel of a mother's love for her children.



I wish I had a better photo , but photographer hubby has gone to work. She is so pretty and I love wearing her so close to my heart. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to learn a new technique. I often get bored and then stuck in my ideas. I can't wait to get started on some new pendants. I have endless ideas for the upcoming chandelier pieces :

crows
vintage ballerinas
mermaids
crowns
gypsies
saints
angels
lotus flowers :)

just to name a few.....

New Jewelry

I can't believe that it is Wednesday already! We have had a crazy heat wave here in Southern Ca. I finally had to turn on the ac which we never use. Living here in this beach town our temps are usually from 75 to 87 degrees but on monday we hit 107 which is just insane! So I just kept on plugging away at my jewelry, with the ac going and lifetime movies on the tv for company. Exciting I know. :) My next piece of jewelry I am very excited about because it is a healing prayer necklace for me. I researched some healing stones and I am going to add Amethyst, Citrine, garnet, jasper, and most importantly Quartz. I will add some charms that are very special to me and a St Benedict medal the meaning of it is also very special to me :





On the front of the medal is St. Benedict holding 2 things. He holds in his right hand a cross, to which he was incredibly devoted and, in the left, his rule for monasteries. In the back there is a poisoned cup, that when the saint made the sign of the cross over it, shattered. A jealous enemy had given him this cup and a loaf of bread (also poisoned) that a raven carried away. Above the cup are the words "Crux sancti patris Benedicti" (The Cross of our holy father Benedict). Surrounding the figure of St. Benedict are the words "Eius in obitu nostro praesentia muniamur!" (May we be strengthened by his presence in the hour of our death) as he was always regarded to the Benedictines as the patron of a happy death.
On the back there resides a cross. On the cross are the letters C S S M L - N D S M D, initials of the words "Crux sacra sit mihi lux! Nunquam draco sit mihi dux!" (May the holy cross be my light! May the dragon never be my overlord!). At the top of the medal is the word Pax (peace.) Surrounding the back of the medal are the letters V R S N S M V - S M Q L I V B, refer to Vade retro satana meaning "Vade retro Satana! Nunquam suade mihi vana! Sunt mala quae libas. Ipse venena bibas!" (Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities! What you offer me is evil. Drink the poison yourself!)

you can find more on this medal here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Benedict_Medal

Well I better get back to my beads. Sending forth "love, light and peace" :)


You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough. You must want it with an exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world.
Sheila Graham

Humble Abode

My jewelry is now in The Humble Abode here in my town San Clemente :) So if you are a local come visit this cute little shop by the sea and be inspired by its uniqueness. From weddings, to the garden it has everything.

www.thehumbleabode.net

Bridal Jewelry

I was recently honored with a special request to do the bridal jewelry for a co-worker of my husband. It was an exciting opportunity to be given her wedding colors and the freedom to make each piece different and I included a hand stamped metal charm with the wedding couples date as a special memory keepsake. Everyone got a bracelet/earring set except for the maid of honor who got a matching necklace. For all three flower girls I made matching pearl bracelets. I also used circles in the design as a symbol of eternity.












gift from me to the bride:


She also ordered another necklace for her sister made with stones here are two samples:

Beauty Rest

Mommy,  I don't want to get out of bed yet. Maybe if I look really worried and tired we can sleep just a little while longer. 

Pea Pods

I am so excited to share the new jewelry I have been making! My husband got me a metal stamping kit for our 20 year anniversary which isn't until next tuesday. An early gift that I had to put on hold because I had to make 7 memory books for our dance studio's coaches gifts last week. Thankfully a friend helped me and she took over making 2 of them. So that left me with 5 books in 7 days. I got it done though. Yay me! ... literally the day of our team party (4 hrs just before) So for those of you calling me last week or wondering why I dropped off the face of the earth that is why...and I couldn't tell any of you on FB because some of the coaches are on my FB and it was a surprise :)

Ok so back to my jewelry! I finally got to dabble with my stamps and oooooh it was love at first pound! I have been pounding and shaping and wrapping! This is what my kit contains:

I LOVE my metal disc cutter, I can now punch out my own blanks and the hole punch is a must have! I am already looking in to getting stamps in other fonts. So now I can customize anything! I spent all of yesterday, hammering and enjoying these babies! I was also oxidizing some of the metal with liver of sulfur ...but that is not exactly fun (the smell is really bad, like rotten egg farts) ew.

I am so happy to finally have my passion for jewelry making return to me. I feel like I was in a dry period for 2 yrs. I would force myself to make something but I just wasn't feeling it and for those of you who make jewelry will understand if you aren't feeling it , it shows in your work. I think I just hit a wall with all I knew and it was time to learn new techniques. I am so grateful. Yesterday I made the pea pods pictured above. So I have gone from birds nest to wonderful pea pods =)

Thats it for now. Hope you enjoy your thursday, I need to get back to stamping :)

~Michelle xo

This is one of the books I made (I forgot to take pics of the others) Inside are pictures from all of our teams and sentiments written from the children to their coaches (Thankfully another mom organized getting the quotes I could not have done it without her help!) I still need to make one for me. (shoe cobbler without the shoes that is me) It was an honor to make these books for our studio. This has been one of the best years of dance for my daughter. :)