Our Lady- a New Treasury

I created a new Etsy Treasury, featuring some beautiful Rosaries. These are mostly created by my fellow Mary's Graces Etsy team members.

Graceful Leigh is also featured in a separate Etsy treasury. This is always such a honor! Scroll down to see that treasury as well.

'Our Lady' by GracefulLeigh

A collection of lovely Rosaries to inspire your prayer life.

Custom Family Rosary HillairCreatio... $1.00	Unbreakable Rosary Of T... robertd5198 $410.00	Roses of St. Therese Mo... benerita $75.00
Our Lady of Perpetual H... AWingAndAPraye... $24.00	Our Lady of Olives Gree... TheWoodwifesWa... $32.00	Unbreakable Full-Size O... foodforthesoul $59.95
Bronze Wire Wrapped Ros... ImmaculataDesi... $290.00	SALE- Rare Glass 1900&#... VINTAGELOURDES $46.00	14k Gold Rosary Blue To... HeartFeltRosar... $2199.00
Red Saturn Bead Gilt La... TheRosaryLady $63.95	Pink Lady Rosary RosaryGardens $300.00	Glass Pearl and Crystal... StLudmillasJoy $15.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

I

'Mary Full of Grace' by LittleBirdWares

Happy Feast day dear Mother!

Vintage SACRED HEART of MARY... mariposafuerte $145.00	Cute Virgin Mary Charms VERY... PATHWEAR $2.00	Extremely Rare St Anne Gilde... VINTAGELOURDES $48.75
Becca Bag - Quilted Guadalup... OurLadyQuiltDe... $55.00	SALE - Was 25.00 - Now 18.00... craftymule $18.00	PRAY Mod Mary Our Lady of G... TheWoodwifesWa... $125.00
Saint Fatima Madonna and Sai... blackforestros... $12.00	Our Lady of Guadalupe waterm... PATHWEAR $25.00	Two-tone Blue Knotted Cord L... TheRosaryLady $20.95
Mary's Roses - A One-Dec... foodforthesoul $37.95	Virgencita Ruega Por Nosotro... Mexicanisima $7.99	Repurposed Vintage Earrings ... GracefulLeigh $35.00
Summer Sale...Tote Antique R... angels9 $39.00	Our Lady of Guadalupe SALE H... blackforestros... $65.00	Sacred Heart devotional meda... diddywadiddy $14.00
Garland of Roses - A Very Ma... foodforthesoul $38.95

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

A Period of Discernment

I am currently in a process of discernment for joining the Order of the Daughters of the King. This is a lay religious order for women of the Episcopal church, founded in 1885. There are two rules- one of daily prayer, and one of service as well as other group-specific functions like meeting attendance.

Public Domain Image

Also, once I become a member I am to always wear a modified Greek fleury cross like the one pictured below.

Daughters Of the King Cross Image from Canterbury Episcopal Chapel 

I will be designing some new Graceful leigh items later this coming week, when my son is back in school.

Jewelry Trend Survey

I just took an online survey about jewelry trends posted on Jill Mackay's blog.  I encourage my fellow jewelry designers to take part in this survey. I am one of her blog followers, and am excited to see that she will be presenting the newest jewelry trends at the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) winter show this January. I look forward to reading her report of this presentation!

Public Domain

My son, Liam returns to school the end of this month, and I will return to crafting more jewelry for my Graceful Leigh shop then.

Feast Day of St. Mary

The Choir of the 2008 Wells Tudor Music Course sing the Magnificat from Orlando Gibbons' "Short Service" as part of a Choral Evensong in Wells Cathedral. Conducted by Richard Smith.

Here is a beautiful recording of the Magnificat (Song of Mary) you can listen to in honor of St. Mary's Feast Day today. This is one of my favorite songs to hear. Today, I read the English translation of this song as part of the morning portion of the Daily Office. 

Enjoy!

Christmas Packaging Vintage Style

Everything business related I read or come across says sellers should plan ahead for the Christmas rush by figuring out their holiday packaging during summer's down time.

Normally, I wrap each jewelry item in a vintage handkerchief, and place it in a scalloped edge box. I also always add a Holy Card.

Vintage Handkerchief angel and Madonna and Child gift tag.

For Christmas, I discovered these adorable angels made from vintage handkerchiefs, with crocheted wings and heads. They are sold by Nelia's Primitive Place on Ebay. I realized I could wrap my jewelry pieces around them, or hang earrings from them before placing them in a box.

Vintage style Madonna and child and vintage handkerchief angel.

I also discovered these beautiful, handmade holiday tags by Luvcrystals on Etsy.  I love the vintage look these tags have. Now, all I need is a little ribbon to wrap the boxes in!

Jewel Print Fashions For Fall

Jewel print clothing is a new fashion trend. In his fall 2012 line, Oscar De La Renta, for example, revealed numerous prints featuring jewelry. As did designer Mother of Pearl.

From blog post about Oscar De La Renta

From Mother of Pearl's Autum 2012 collection.
Photo from Popbee.com. 

With clothing like this, I wonder if you are clothed and bejeweled in one step, not needing additional jewelry? Or, do you still have a desire to throw on just a few sparkles before heading out the door?

My Day of the Dead Line is Here!

My Day of the Dead line of jewelry is here, and only two days behind schedule! The collection consists of nine pieces, using very bold colors. Along with sugar skull Howlite beads, each piece includes a cross and flower element which is in keeping with Day of the Dead symbolism.

Here are some pictures of the nine pieces. As always, you can see more detailed pictures in my Graceful Leigh Etsy store.

See more pictures here.

See more pictures here. 

See more pictures here.

See more pictures here.

See more pictures here.

See more picture here. 

See more pictures here.

See more pictures here. 

See more picture here.