Rachel Shoshana Jewelry

Lovely Day at Longwood Gardens

This weekend was my Mom's birthday. We had the usual festivities and it was really great. Birthdays are always fun. Then on Saturday my Mom and I try and decide what to do on a nice spring day. I got the great idea to to go Longwood Gardens as my mom has wanted to go there for ages so I figured her birthday weekend was the best time to go.

On the way there I remembered the awesome new Cannon Rebel Digital SRL We had a great time running around the grounds taking some fun pictures of flowers. I really enjoyed it. I have always wanted to know how to do photography. Something about it is really was a lot of fun for me. I have always wanted to be a photographer!

I think they came out really good. I am really proud of them. Check them out below. I hope they are a first of a series of awesome photos I am proud of.

Why I love my Spinebreakers

I have always wanted to be in a book club. I guess I always loved the discussion part of English class a little too much. (Knowing how much I talk sometimes makes this easy to understand.) So, as the new year approached I decided if I couldn't find a book club I liked I was simply going to have to start one myself. I put the call out on Twitter and some AMAZING girls I knew all jumped on board. I couldn't be happier with my new club, which is so cleverly named "The Spinebreakers." Get it... 'cause we break in the spines of books. 

Well I started off saying all of this because the book we read this month really has affected me. We read "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin. What I really found interesting about it was how the author really broke down the keys and elements one needs to be happy. It seems such simple idea yet so complex. I was very happy to examine my life through these new filters and really take stock. Some small changes from changing the tone in which you talk to people to even rethinking my own motives for what I do. It really helped to open my eyes to things we do everyday that support or hinder our own happiness. By thinking of happiness as something I have complete control over really is an empowering and refreshing point of view. I can say that books do often have the ability to change my outlook on the world but this one really helped to inspire me. I really did enjoy it and would recommend it to anyone who wants a thought provoking read. 

So pumped!

Do you know how I know that I am totally a jeweler? I am SOO excited right now 'cause I just placed a large order for some more stones.

What does that mean for you? Well, that means that coming to a craft show near you (or my etsy store) soon I am going to be expanding my 2010 collection. So, there will be some more amazing rings in just the right size to fit your finger!

I am happy to say I ordered a huge collection of tiger's eye, black rutilated quartz, rose quartz, more moonstone shapes and even a large labradorite. These are some of my favorite stones and I can't wait for them to be available. I am hoping to have them all jump started as early as mid June. Fingers crossed everyone! More beautiful goodies to come.

A love letter to some amazing people!

Wow, it feels like so much time has passed. This past week have really been crazy. As I said before Lyceum was amazing! It did kinda blow through a lot of my stock so I have been really hard at work in the studio lately.

It has been hard but I am seriously not complaining at all. I am so happy that I get to do my jewelry and that people seems to like my new designs. (I have some even awesomer ones in my head right now that I am itching to make.) I am just feeling overwhelmed lately. I am trying to do a whole bunch of things in my personal life and am stressing a bit. It has been kind of hard dealing with some people that are not all that supportive with what I am doing right now. At first I was getting down that they didn't care.I will say one lesson I have learned is how to properly keep a secret. This one can't know this, that one can't know that. I am keeping tight lips all over town.

As they say, every dark cloud has it's sliver lining. I have really learned who in my life I can turn to and be able to talk to. It has really made a difference to know that there are people who really care about me and care about what I am trying to do right now. It have to say, from all of this I have learned that friends like that really are worth their weight in gold. So, thank you to all my amazing friends who put up with me all the time. You guys really are the best! I am lucky to have each of you in my life. ( I sincerly hope you all know who you are 'cause I totally have a crush on you right now.)

You like me! You really like me!

I finally just got back to my house in the city after a long weekend up in Brooklyn for the Lyceum's Spring show. It was a lot of fun to be able to meet a whole bunch of new people. I think the best part about doing a craft show in a new city is that I don't have the list of people I want to avoid. (You all know who you are!) I am kidding. It was great to see how others cities get down with their crafty selves.

The show was really exciting and really long as well. So that took a bit out of me today. Lucky for me, today was a studio day. I got to make 16 stacked ring sets. (Not so much fun when each set has three rings in it. Yeah, I did the math and it made my eyes cross with how many rings I made today.) The good side is that the world has a crush on my stacked ring sets and I couldn't be happier to supply them with a fix. 

Two more points then I will stop holding you hostage with this post. One, I have added some new shows (Yeh!). June 5th I am going to do the Mt. Airy Arts Jam. I think it is a newer show, but I know Germantown loved me last year so I am hoping the same is true for Mt. Airy. I also added the Long Beach Island Arts Fest July 24th and 25th. I was totally skeptical as it is my birthday weekend but some of the other vendors promised me we will get a hotel room and live it up. So I am having a beach themed party this year.

Then, my last bit of awesomeness is that after some persuasion from my dear friend Sarah Lieseca (I have known her for 18 years and still always think I spell her last name wrong.) I got myself a pretty new camera. I am already in love with him. I haven't named him yet but I am open to suggestions. He's a Cannon Rebel so maybe something like James Dean would be a good name. I will leave you with some amazing shots of my jewelry. (All are available from my etsy site. Hint! Hint!)