Project Pinterest :: February & March!

I promise I did not forget about this!  But the last two or so months have included a teething baby, family visiting, being wedding coordinator for dear friends' special day, making jewelry for and selling at several clothing pop shops - and I still managed to get a couple of things into this project!

So for February, I had this wild idea to make something scrumptious for my hubby instead of trying to find a good gift.  Food is a love language for both of us so I gave it a shot.  And for my ridiculously over ambitious project, I took on the illustrious pain aux raisins.  It is a croissant with rum soaked raisins and an amazing pastry cream to keep it all together.  I will be sharing pictures but not the specific recipe, sorry, I won't do that to them.

Bouchon Bakery cookbook - worth every penny

But like I said, it was a bit ambitious.  I ended up baking for almost 12 hours because it has a lot of steps and you have to chill the dough between every step!  Thankfully, the hubby loved my efforts as did my dear friend who has tasted both the real deal and my feeble attempt.  =)

Kind of an old picture but we do love our Bouchon!

So that was my February project.  March was pretty crazy because I was doing a bunch of different stuff getting ready for a wedding and making jewelry (btw, several of the new pieces are listed at https://www.etsy.com/shop/AimeJewelry!)  But back to what I am really trying to talk about.  So March I did some more baking out of the Bouchon Bakery cookbook - this time as a birthday treat for the hubby.  And this project was much more within my skill level and came out beautifully...unfortunately, all the cookies got eaten before I could get a picture of any of them.  Hopefully, that means that project turned out well.  =)
I did do one other project for March that is amazingly easy!  If you are looking for a nice refresh to your jewelry box this spring, try this project out!  My favorite vendor is Rio Grande and they have this ridiculously easy wire wrapped ring tutorial that you can do yourself!

Wire-Wrapped Bead Ring

One of the easiest tutorials I have come across in a while.  If you aren't quite able to get the hang of it yourself, I have a few of my own version of this ring available at Aime Jewelry now!  But really, you should give it a try!

So if you have been able to work on any creative, Pinterest-inspired projects, share them!  I would love to get some ideas for some new things too!


Have a beautiful day!

October - so far...

Life has once again gotten filled up with so many things that I have not had a chance to sit down and blog in a while.  So in a few pictures, here is our month so far!

~a talking toddler with an increasing affinity for the camera~

he managed to get himself into these positions himself...it makes for a lot of laughs in our house. =)

~a weekend in San Diego at the historic Hotel Del Coronado~

(I did not edit this photo at all - it really was that pretty)

~a super smiley baby girl~

you can tell that Southern California cannot make up its mind about whether to be warm or cold =)

~and kind of most importantly, a new Etsy shop and jewelry line!~

www.aimejewelry.com

After much thought, prayer, and counsel, I have opened a new Etsy shop with a different focus than my current one.  I was finding myself trying to be like a lot of other designers who were/are successful and was losing my vision and personality in that desire to imitate the good practices I saw other people doing.  Sense and Sensibility is not closing, I will still be blogging here, but I will be focusing my designing energy on this new endeavor.  And check back here for new products, holiday specials, and other deals that will be coming up as we launch this new shop!

Have a beautiful day!

I like making jewelry!!!

A few weeks ago, I was approached to make a set of jewelry for a friend of mine who is a bridesmaid this coming weekend.  I said of course and we began discussing what she wanted the look and feel of the jewelry to be.  My friend got her order in the mail earlier this week and said she was in love with everything so I thought I would share a few quick pics with you all here (the pictures are from my phone so they are a little fuzzy sometimes but I had to share because I had so much fun making it all).

The wedding colors are purple, black, and pearl.  The bridesmaids are wearing black gowns (its an evening wedding) so we ended up with designs that focused on the lighter colors for some accent pop.

For more info on custom orders or to check out my ready made designs, visit my Etsy shop at snsnsnsibility.etsy.com or click on the the shop link on the right!  Or send me an email (snsandsnsibility{at}gmail.com)!

Have a beautiful weekend, everyone!

Style Me Pretty & Destination Weddings!

A few months ago, I had the pleasure to contribute some jewelry to a beautiful wedding photo shoot that was going to take place in my beloved Hawaii.  It got my creative juices flowing in a lot of ways and I loved being able to do some custom pieces for a stylized situation that was elegant and unique.

Anyway, long story short.  That photo shoot was featured on Style Me Pretty's Destination Wedding blog today!  Rebecca Arthurs is an amazing photographer who did a fantastic job capturing the day (also, Hawaii being such a small place, I found out later on that she was the photographer for a friend's wedding!).  Let me put it this way.  If I had to do my wedding over again, I would probably do whatever was necessary to have Rebecca be my photographer and get all these amazing vendors to help me with my wedding.  =)

Check the full post and all the photos at Style Me Pretty!  Or visit Rebecca's blog!

Hope you enjoy it and have a beautiful day!

Thanksgiving is done, now for Christmas!

Did anyone else's Thanksgiving seem to fly by?  And now that that holiday is gone, we are racing at breakneck speed towards Christmas!!!

some of the new earrings going up in the shop today!

my Santa Barbara inspired necklace

And to help some of you with your Christmas shopping, Sense and Sensibility Designs is still running our Black Friday - Cyber Monday sale!  You can get 40% off your entire purchase with coupon code "BLACKFRIDAY"!  There are some new items in the store as well as some old favorites.  Check it out and keep an eye out for more deals as we get closer to Christmas!

Have a beautiful day and snag some good deals today!

it's the moments that fly by...

Babies and mommies.  I have been blessed to have some great play dates with women in my church this summer.  One of them is the extremely talented Kristin over at Petal and Thorn Handmades (check her out if you haven't seen her work already!).  As I have been spending more time with this wonderful women, I have been blown away by how God prepares things for us before we even get to a situation or a trial.  Life is never static and my other mommas have been such an encouragement to me.

This past week, I actually remembered to grab the camera as I ran out the door to meet Kristin.  Here are some of the pictures that we got from the day (they came out rather well if I do say so myself).

they're going to be super good friends =)

playing in the water

i got a picture with my growing boy!

playing with photoshop  =P

watching the little girl enjoy all the fountains (and Kristin is rockin' the new ring you can find in my Etsy shop!  but she always looks so stinking cute...)

the problem with water is that sometimes unstable little ones can slip - hence the sad face on momma.  Sisi was over it pretty quick though.  =)

 I will never get enough of play dates that involve coffee, conversation, and cute hats.  But more on the hats later.  =)

Have a beautiful day and a wonderful weekend!

kah-ray-zee week!!! (in pictures!)

I have come across different points in my life when I look at my calendar and things that I have to do and think to myself, "Man, you can not say no, can you?"  But then I give myself a minute and think, "But you were Super Woman in your dream last night.  Get your rear in gear!"  =P  So this is some of what I did this week.

I was getting crazy creative.  So here is a snapshot of what I made.  Some of these things may end up in the shop pretty quick so visit snsnsnsibility.etsy.com to see some of it pretty soon!

And then I was rearranging furniture to get my little reading nook.  So excited to look for some art work for that empty wall! (In case you hadn't heard, my father-in-law, brother-in-law and hubby spent last weekend putting laminate floors in my living room.  It was amazing.)

before and right before

the finished result - totally LOVE!

And then Sunday was Father's Day so we got some pool time with the hubby and the baby.

And my new favorite flowers...peonies make me smile.  =D  See?  I smile - even in blog posts.  =P

Linking up with:

 

Have a beautiful day!

12th & 11th Deals til Christmas 2011!

Hey everyone!  So lots of fun things going on recently.  I am going to be posting and linking up with the Cold Hands, Warm Hearts link-up party (courtesy of the awesome Sandy & Ilene!) pretty quick here.  I had an awesome partner (thanks, Tahnie!!!) - you should go check out her blog.  She is super inspiring and always encouraging to read.  So go visit her and you'll be hearing from both of us soon.  =)

But for now, here is your deal for today and tomorrow!!!

12th & 11th Deals til Christmas!!!

You, my dear readers, get free shipping!  Use coupon code "merryshipping" to get free shipping anywhere!  If you order asap, I will even do my best to make sure the item gets to you before Christmas if you are still looking for gifts!

So you could this...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84761475/pearl-drop-necklace-with-black-spinel

or this...

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49617321/corrine-earrings-with-semi-precious

or even a new item or two hitting the shop in the next day or two!

Hope to see you in the shop!!!   Have a beautiful day!

16th & 15th Deals til Christmas 2011!

Alright everyone,  I'm sorry this post is just barely on time but today is a good one!

16th & 15th Deals til Christmas!

With any purchase today (12/10) or tomorrow (12/11), you get a City Lights Bracelet free (regularly $15)!  So when you buy a Christmas gift for someone else, you get a little something for yourself or a second gift free!  Please include in message to seller which of the bracelets listed in the shop you would like for your gift!

snsnsnsibility.etsy.com

I am really close to being done with my Christmas shopping...just one more brother-in-law that is really difficult to shop for.  Ladies, you know the ones I'm talking about.  So if anyone has a great idea for a 20 year old college student, send them my way!

Have a beautiful day!

21st - 17th Deals til Christmas 2011!

Hello everyone!  I am so sorry it has taken me a little while to get this post up but I have a good excuse!  My bestie is visiting me!!!  And she arrived today and I totally spaced on hitting "publish" on this post.  So here it finally is!  And since I have company this week, you all are getting several days to think about what you want to shop for and several days to use the deal!

Get 15% off your entire purchase!!!

Use coupon code "sensiblesale15" at checkout!  

I hope you all are having success with your Christmas shopping!  Once again, I am stuck on my men.  But I have some ideas.  You may be hearing about them soon!  =)  

Have a beautiful day!

25th Deal til Christmas 2011!

Here we go everyone!  Buckle your seatbelts, it is going to be a crazy ride!  =)  But an absolutely wonderful one too.

So just like last year, there will be a different deal for everyday from December 1st (today, duh) to December 25th.  Hopefully, you will find a great deal on gifts for family, friends, and even maybe a little treat for yourself.  Prices will be adjusted on specific items or a coupon code will be included in the daily blog post.  These posts are also going to include some of my gift ideas/purchases for family and friends as I attempt to do all my Christmas shopping (once again) on Etsy to support other small business/handmade artists who are amazing and creative people!

Hope you enjoy!!!

-------------------------------------------

To get this party started, Sense and Sensibility Designs is offering you 25% off your entire purchase!  Use coupon code "sensiblesale25" at checkout to get in on the first day of this party!

city lights bracelets ($15) 

pearl drop necklace ($25) 

pearl drop earrings ($15)

Happy shopping, everyone!  Have a beautiful day!

Cyber Monday special!

Hello everyone!  I hope you all had fantastic Thanksgiving celebrations (I'll post some of my pictures later on today)!  I am definitely doing some Christmas shopping today from some of my favorite Etsy shops!  I would tell you what I'm buying (like I did last year) but I found out that several of my family members read my blog now.  =)  Which is great (love you guys!) but I will be much less specific than I have been in the past.

So in the spirit of Cyber Monday, here is my holiday specials calendar again!  And let me know if you find any amazing deals out there!

November 25 - 28

Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend sale!

Visit snsnsnsibility.etsy.com Friday through Monday to get 20% off your entire purchase to get this season started!!!  Use coupon code "turkeytechdeals" at checkout.  

Visit the shop today (11/28) and use coupon code "cybermonday" for 30% off your entire purchase!  And make sure you look around because starting today through Christmas, there is a sale section with several one of a kind items! (and the coupon works on top of those discounted prices!)

November 29

Handmade Holidays with Cotton Lane

A good friend of mine, Caroline, is hosting a big holiday shindig over at her blog with giveaways and sales from myself and several other amazing handmade artists!

December 1-25

25 Deals til Christmas!

Every day from December 1st to December 25th will have a different deal to help you check people off your shopping list and maybe give other people ideas for you too!

Have a beautiful day and happy shopping!

happy birthdays and a happy friday!

It is already November!!!  Yikes!  How did we get here sooooo fast?!  It seems like I just found out I was pregnant and now I have a seven week old baby!  It seems like I was just dealing with last winter and here it is starting to rain and get cold again in Cali!  (Dear God, I will try my best not to complain about the heat next summer.)  =)  It seems like I was just doing this last year and here we are, another twelve months have passed!

And that being said, I am giving a birthday shout out to two of my favoritest bloggers and dear friends that I have come to know through the blogosphere.  There are an abundance of wonderful people out there but I think these ladies are two of the greatest!  Sandy has a great blog full of fashion, food, and she is expecting her first baby soon!!  (so excited for you, Sandy!)  Ms. Megan has an adorable blog with movie reviews, her fav books, and she has two Etsy shops for beautiful cards and adorable little embroidered hoops!

Her birthday was on the first so this is a little bit of a belated shout out!  Happy belated birthday, Sandy!!!

Megan's birthday is tomorrow so swing by her blog and leave some love!

And then my family has kindly reminded me that my birthday is coming up on Sunday.  And I thought this is a great time to have a little sale in the Etsy shop.  

So check it out and get 15% off your entire order with coupon code "happybdayeveryone" from today through Sunday (11/6)!  I added several new items this past week and will probably be adding more this weekend so check it out and pass on the word!  

Have a beautiful day and weekend!

cold hands, warm hearts, and holidays around the corner!!!

Happy Thursday, folks!

I hope you are having a happy Thursday.  Or at least a productive one with the weekend in sight!  I just wanted to share a quick post of a few different things going on.

First, it was cold in Cali this morning!!!  So I made myself my (decaf) coffee and decided that a hot hard boiled egg sounded good.  Don't ask me why...I guess my cravings are back with a vengenance now that I'm not pregnant anymore.  (I actually had less cravings while I was pregnant than I did before...or after)  =P

Second,  it's time for the Cold Hands, Warm Hearts Swap again!!!  Two of my favorite bloggers (who actually inspired me to keep working on my blog and keep inspiring me with yummy recipes, D.I.Y ideas, and fantastic outfit posts) are hosting this wonderful swap again!  You really do need to check it out and get to meet a new friend and get an early Christmas present!!!  I had a wonderful time talking to my partner, getting to know her, reading about everyone else's experiences, and generally sharing the experience that I am very excited to do it again! (I already signed up.  You should too!!!)

Thirdly,  Sense and Sensibility Designs is slowly getting her holiday act together and there are new items in the store!  You should check it out and keep coming back because the fun (and new products) will be coming over the next few days!  I hope you like them!  (**Teaser alert! Keep coming back to the blog too because there are going to be some deals and special products for the holidays that you won't want to miss!**)

Have a beautiful day, everyone!

lacking confidence...

So...it has been a rough couple of days for me...which is frustrating me a bit right now. God has blessed me so much: amazing husband, beautiful baby, great immediate family and in-laws, fantastic church family, just to name a few. But in the midst of it all is one of my personal battles: my business.  And I am going to share it with you, my dear readers.  So if you would rather not hear my whining (some of it is a little whiny, I'm sorry), please navigate away from this page at this time.  (I don't do this often but I felt like I needed to get it out of my head. Thank you for your patience.  We will return to this blog's regularly scheduled program shortly.)  =)

I LOVE making jewelry.  I have always loved fashion and accessorizing and making women beautiful (in my small sphere of influence anyway).  But when I decided to take the plunge and try selling my designs, things didn't go as smoothly as they were supposed to.  I am all too aware that some of the problem is my lack of focus on business matters on a regular basis (another one of my "battles").  But an even bigger problem is my lack of confidence in myself.  As much of a "trend-setter" as I have been in different situations in my life, I still tend to be a huge people pleaser.  I want everyone to like my designs as much as I love them.  As I strive for that external goal of making everyone else happy though, I find myself designing for someone else and then I struggle even more because it is no longer my jewelry!  ::sigh::  Why do I do this to myself?

So I guess this post was just going to be a small opportunity for me to be honest with myself and admit two things.  First, that I try to please other people when it comes to my business (other than when I am making custom orders which is what I'm supposed to be doing in that situation).  When I stop designing things that I think are beautiful or things that I think are fashionable, I start stumbling and lose my focus and drive.  And secondly, that I see things as failures that are not necessarily failures.  Just because I haven't reached a goal when I thought I was going to, does not make it an immediate failure.  It just means that my path has taken a different turn than I had planned on.

Alright.  I feel better.  And hopefully I can walk away from this post and try again.  Try to design jewelry that is expressive of me and myself and strive for reasonable goals for my business and be patient until I reach them.

city lights bracelets

Have any of you struggled with a similar dilemma in your life?  Whether you have a business or not, I'd love to hear from you!

Angela & Jordan - Custom Wedding Jewelry & Accessories

I love weddings.  =)  I love seeing two people promise to love and honor one another for the rest of their lives, being faithful to each other and the new family they are forming.  It is so exciting!!!

One of my favorite favorite things though, is doing custom jewelry for brides who are celebrating the day of their dreams!  So I thought I'd share some of my work that I have done and show you the pictures and share some of my design process with you!

I hope you enjoy!

Angela & Jordan's Wedding

I have known Jordan since I was about 6 years old and got to know Angela in high school.  No, they have not been dating that long but they definitely had a wedding that looked spectacular!  The happy couple chose red, white/ivory, and black as their colors and the rest was easy!  They were married in beautiful Hawaii and so there are elements of the islands in the jewelry and accessories as well.  Enough talk - here are the pictures!

the bridesmaid necklaces

the bride's and bridesmaids' hair pieces

via: flickr.com/jpdezignz 

via: flickr.com/jpdezignz

If you or anyone you know needs jewelry for their special occasion, email me at snsandsnsibility{at}gmail.com!  I'd be happy to design something for them!  


Have a beautiful day!

anyone else feel overwhelmed right now?!

For starters, I admit it - I woke up this morning and had to go and find a picture of Kate formerly-Middleton's wedding gown.  Anyone else see it?  What did you think of the royal wedding?  I was determined to continue with my life because I thought, "Fairy tale wedding?  Psshaw.  That's great but what about my stressed out and humdrum life right now?"  And then I woke up this morning and thought, "C'mon, Aime.  Another couple is promising to love and honor each other for the rest of their lives.  Be happy for them and she is obviously going to be beautiful so go look at the pictures!"

Weddings are just precious times and things to be cherished and I firmly believe in "fairy tale" weddings no matter what your budget is or if you are marrying a prince or not.  It is your special day and the fairy tale part comes from seeing the man of your dreams standing in front of you, you wearing a beautiful dress, and promising to love one man and one man exclusively, as long as you both shall live.  So celebrate true love and everything that comes with it - especially the party after the ceremony!  =)  I had no clue my father was such a good dancer until we had our father/daughter dance at my wedding.  It made me almost start crying while we were dancing (apparently, my mom was crying).

i'm not sure what it looked like to everyone else but it felt like a scene from an old movie!  that's how good of a dancer he is!

And speaking of weddings, the reason why I titled this blog post what I did is because I am getting to "take part" in several weddings this summer!  Which is totally exciting.  Except that now I'm realizing that I need to get my rear in gear and start pumping out all those lovely wedding jewelry designs that have been rolling around in my head.  So you will all get a chance to see some of those things next week hopefully.  I also have a few very good friends getting married and since I dabble in graphic design, I designed some different wedding invites for one couple.  Here's a sample - what do you think?  

So there is a little bit of how crazy life has been.  But in good ways.  I really have been so blessed - I have nothing to complain about in life and my gracious God and Savior still cares, provides, and forgives for me when I get finicky under stress.  One of my biggest blessings is my mom.  And since Mother's Day is right around the corner, I am having sale in the shop.  Use coupon code "mothersareamazing" to get 15% off your entire order.  Hopefully it will make some of your shopping a little easier.  =)

Have a beautiful day!