Happy Thanksgiving and upcoming events and sales.

 

Hi Friends, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that you had a wonderful time, even though it was a different year. We celebrated on Wednesday and didn't have family or friends come to visit so needless to say it was a quiet one. I did get to take all the kids to see the new shop where I am selling my jewelry. If you are in central PA check out Belle Mercantile in Bellefonte, PA.  As for our Charity auction this year we were able to raise $80 to be donated to a charity that helps People in Mexico with disabilities to make art. Thank you to all who joined in with us to be able to give back this year. 

What have you been up to? What did you do for Thanksgiving? 

I hope to return to blogging more here in the new future. I have been inspired by The Beading Gem. She posts on a regular basis about handmade jewelry artists and I am inspired to go back to sharing about handmade artisans that I have come across. If you would like a feature send me an email. These are hard times and there are so many amazing makers out there that I would love to do my part. So stay tuned. 

Here is what I have coming up:

• 11/27-12/18 Shop small Crawl: Bellefonte, Pa sponsored by Downtown Bellefonte #shopsmallcrawl #loveBFT You can head to several locations and pick up a tote and then visit local shops and gather pins to try and win some prizes and support small shops!
• now through 12/2, Our entire ETSY Shop is 20% off with a $15 purchase... Come and check out what's available and get some Christmas gifts we will wrap and ship it for you!

• 11/28-12/2 From a Distance Craft Fair on Instagram sponsored by Maker Made Collective: We will be joining several other small shops on Instagram for a holiday sale, come and check it out follow the hashtags #fromadistancecraftfair #fadsbe 
• 11/30-12/4 Five Days of Giveaways: We have reached over 6k followers on Instagram and we would like to say thank you and bless you for the holidays so we have teamed up with several small shops to bless you with 5 days of giveaways!! Make sure you are following us on Instagram. and follow our hashtag to see all the awesome items and shops #fivedaysofgiveaways each day there will be new prizes to enjoy and win.

• One of our latest projects is Art To Go State College. Where you can find our handpainted leather earrings. It is a vintage vending machine that dispenses pieces of art from local artists. 
• Lastly, you can now find our beaded mask chains at The Nittany Quill in State College, PA 

Hope you can join us for one of these events and that you are well. Take care and stay safe. 

 

Hello Friends! How are you? It has been a long time since I wrote a blog post and I would really love to get back into it. 

It truly has been a tough year for most people. I know many of us are still just getting by. Trying to get used to the new norm of social distancing, wearing masks, and being overly cautious. I have pretty much-been home because I am auto-immune compromised and I find the few times I have gone out my anxiety levels are on high alert. I am sure many of us just want it to end. I keep trying to focus on the positive and on the Lord to maintain my sanity. How are you doing it?

Our charity giving will look different this year. In years past we have done a box of handmade goods that you would purchase and we would give the proceeds to a charity. This year we are doing an auction and you will receive the item directly from the maker. So you still get wonderful handmade products still and the proceeds will still go to a charity but doing it this way makes it all much safer for everyone. 

So how does this charity auction work? Head over to our Instagram @handcraftedartisanpr and follow the hashtag #makersgivingback The auction is happening right on Instagram, on our page. 

We have over 14 handmade shops participating. Come do some Christmas🎄 shopping and help with an awesome cause!!

Cause: El Arca en Queretaro IAP @globalgiving

Helping Mexicans with disabilities create Art!

When: Nov 8-14

We hope to see you there. Thanks for helping us makers give back this holiday season. Take care and stay healthy. 

Repurposed Jewelry. My first Jewelry Refashion.

Hi, friends! How are you? Wow, it has been some time since I have posted. Sorry about that. Life has been very full and tough for our family. My husband started grad school this fall and we have been trying to balance life and caring for our kids with special needs.

One thing I have been thinking a lot about is my impact on the environment and fair trade, particularly where fashion and my business play into it. How can I do better? In what ways can I care for the environment and also for those in need?

In the past, our company, Mt Nittany Creations, has sold a box of handmade donated items to raise money for charity. The last two years we have given to Maya works, helping Guatemalan women and their children to be educated and find jobs. Going forward we hope to continue to give a percentage of our sales to groups like this.

In addition, we try to reuse shipping materials when we send out our products. One thing that I have recently become really excited about is repurposing old jewelry. One of my favorite blogs is Refashonista so I wanted to try a "refashion" of a jewelry piece. Thanks for all of your refashion inspiration Jillian.

Over the last several months, I have made some fun finds. In my most recent project, I got to use some of those pieces that I found.

So I found this really cool necklace, which I was almost tempted to just keep. I went at it with my pliers and separated some of the beads and chain and attached them onto a pretty ribbon with ribbon clips. 

I also added in a bead someone gave me for Christmas that I thought matched well and these adorable pink tassels from Jesse James Beads. 

What do you like to use to repurpose or refashion?



Sign up for our newsletter to learn more about our jewelry and Young Living Essential Oils. If you have a jewelry piece that you would like me to refashion send me an email.

Currently, we are donating two jewelry pieces to Auction for Aspen. Head over to Instagram and help them raise money to build a school in Africa.