Old South Church Christmas Craft Fair

  Alright, I'm no longer in denial about it pretty much being Winter now.  Fine, fine.  It's cold.  It snowed today.  Again.
  But... That also means that the holidays are upon us!  I LOVE Christmas so much, for purely non-religious reasons.  The lovely music that never changes, the leafy garlands and pine-smelling wreaths everywhere, red berries, snow, beautifully-wrapped gifts with big ribbon-bows, hot chocolate, cider and eggnog with cinnamon, twinkling lights and giant, animatronic santas that would be tacky any other time of year, ice-skating, and that love-your-brother vibe.  I think that vibe is my favorite.  That warmth.  I love the palette of this time of year, the white, red, green.  It's abundant and alive in the midst of a time of year that can be a bit bleak here in New England, before everything renews in the Spring.  Last year, I went to midnight mass at this unique Catholic church in Waltham, and the service was mutli-cultural, with singing from Congolese congregants, pine-bow decor from its Italian congregants, and all of this hushed singing in the darkened church and candle-lighting throughout the service that was just wonderful.  Looking forward to exploring a new church of different denomination this year, and experiencing some new traditions.

  It's also a crazy, crazy time for a small independent jeweler/artist/crafter like me.  I am grateful for all of the opportunities, and wonderful customers.  But I am in complete work-mode.  I'll be doing a few craft shows in December, beginning with the Old South Church Christmas Craft Fair on Saturday, December 1st.  The venue for this show is stunning, a very old, exquisite church in the heart of Boston, with all the charm a church of its age brings.  From what I've seen, they deck it out quite extravagantly for Christmas as well, so I'm just excited to get to be there!  If you're in the Boston area, come by 645 Boylston Street (Copley Square) between 9:30 AM and 3:30 PM and say hi!

Happy holidays!

Dara 

100th Etsy Sale,and Black Friday (Cyber Monday) Sale!

So excited that we've made our 100th sale on our Etsy site, Hieropice on Etsy!  AND, it happens to coincide with Black Friday/Cyber Monday, how about that?!  So of course, we're having a sale!  To thank all of you loyal buyers, blog-followers, friends and supporters, we're offering 20% off all sales on our Etsy site.  When you check out, just use the coupon code "20BlackFriday" in the "coupon code" section, to redeem your discount!  It'll only be good for the holiday weekend, so get on that!  :)

Thank you all, and happy Thanksgiving!!!
Dara

2012 Holiday Shopping Expo

This Saturday is the 2012 Holiday Shopping Expo, a show extravaganza on the South Shore.  We'll be vending there, at 100 Coddington Street, in Quincy, from 10 AM to 4 PM.  There will be a TON of vendors there, and I've never done this particular show before, so I really have no idea what to expect.  I do know that the proceeds go to the Montclair PTO, which is pretty cool.  It has a holiday theme, which feels a little premature in early November, but considering we've already had several inches of snow here in Boston, perhaps not!  It'll be a good time, complete with Santa and cookie decorating.  You can check out the event page on Facebook, here.  I hope to see you all there!

Magenta and Chartreuse

I'm clinging to the last bits of color I can, as the landscape loses the remainder of its bright red berries and golden leaves.  So, I made a treasury list, with vibrant magenta and charteuse!

Etsy Gift Cards Have Arrived!

Bienvenue, folks!

If you have a wonderful group of friends with diverse and quirky tastes like I do, you've probably been there.  A birthday rolls around, an engagement party, a baby shower.  You know that busting out the Target gift card or the generic bath-salt/foot scrub set as a gift for this particular friend just won't cut it.  You want to give them something super-cool and unique but, alas, the risk is purchasing something that will result in an awkward, blank stare or expression of horror.  A gift that they awkwardly push aside and you inherently know they just don't like.  Unique gifts can also mean you just plain get it wrong, and end up with something that originated in the best of intentions, but landed in future-re-gift territory.  But now, Etsy has a solution!
Introducing, Etsy Gift Cards!  Now, you can purchase a site-wide gift card on Etsy, that can be used in many of Etsy's shops (all shops that feature Direct Check-out, which Hieropice does!).  Now, you don't have to know EXACTLY what that quirky/custom/unique/one-of-a-kind gift your bff wants is ahead of time, you can let them choose for themselves!  And, your sister can get a custom-made nursery-sign for her baby-on-the-way without giving away its gender before it's born.  It's all kinds of neat.

  I have a good friend who was recently engaged and is definitely an off-beat bride, but I couldn't, for the life of me, think of what to get her to celebrate her engagement.  She had pinned all kinds of Etsy items to her Pinterest wedding board, but I didn't know if she actually WANTED that bright purple flower/feather fascinator for her wedding, or just thought the concept was cool.  Now, you can avoid the dilemma I had, and get your independent-thinking friend an Etsy gift card, and let her deck her whole bridal-party out in purple fascinators if she wants to!  I am so excited about the gift cards, and pretty much all of my family-members can expect one in their Xmas stockings this year!  You can read more about the details here, and purchase the gift cards at etsy.com/giftcards.

Happy shopping!

Dara

Black and White, part deux

Had to follow up my last post with an ode to black and white, in treasury form:
(Click to see the products featured)

Black and White Maasai Beaded Necklace

    Considering the last item I introduced, Hieropice's Winter White Terrarium Necklace, and my newest item, one might think I've kicked color to the curb.  Not so!  Just embracing the absence of color, and the striking nature of sharp contrast.  Introducing Hieropice's Black and White Maasai Beaded Necklace.

    Contrast between two colors brings both to life, and enhances each.  And in fact, I think I misspoke, referring to black and white as the absence of color, when really, they are colors in their own right (thinking visually here, not light spectrum-wise).  I wear black to feel sophisticated, polished, maybe a little mysterious?  And white makes me feel regal and elegant.  The two together?  Judge for yourselves.  It's a special color relationship, for sure.  I am definitely a fan, hope you are too!

Cheers and pumpkin lattes,
Dara