a note from Trista!

We sent Trista Sutter (the former Bachelorette) a necklace,

she's wearing it here... (hard to see but I know it's ours!)



and a bracelet for her, and also 3 keychains she requested for her hubbie Ryan and both her dad and Ryan's dad for Father's Day. She was kind enough to send us this thank you note that says:

Erin,
I know I thanked you via email, but I wanted to do so "officially" as the things you sent as part of the vintage pearl collection are now favorites! I've worn the necklace since it arrived and I know that the keychains meant a lot to all of the Dads in my life. It was a pleasure to work with you. Thank you for your thoughtfulness and good luck with your business,

All the best,
Trista Sutter
(& family)

*****

Thank you for the kind note Trista!

*****

Also,
thank you for the sweet words some of you left after yesterday's post,
they blessed me :)

a monday prayer.

Been a little stressed lately...
feeling like too much to do and not enough time to do it all.

A little overwhelmed.

And I've really been missing my Mom.
I'd give almost anything to be able to just pick up the phone and call her.

Praying for God to take over,
a little more healing in my heart
and for this week to go smoother :)

*****

The randomly picked winner of the i love you necklace is:



Caryn, who said:
I love the lower case around the edge! When my oldest son was born with severe heart defects we started teaching him to sign I love You at about a year old so even if he was intubated he could still tell us, and see us tell him we loved him!

Email us Caryn!

*****

The "I sign I love you" necklace will be available later today on the unique page!

Use coupon code
"iloveyou"
for 15% off any order
until wednesday night at midnight!

Have a fab monday...

And if you can, go call your mother :)

i love you { a giveaway! }

When we were at Disney in June,
we took the boat back over the water at Magic Kingdom,
probably around midnight.

I saw a dad and a son
happily signing to each other
and it sparked an idea...

a sign (i love you)...



We tried it out a few different ways...



This necklace (above) was made for Sarah (a newbie to tvp!), and right after she put it on she went to get ice cream with her girls. The lady behind the counter was hearing impaired, and touched Sarah's necklace, admiring it, she could relate to it!

Sarah went to her car, took off her name charm, then took the rest of the necklace back to the lady, touching her to tears!

Sarah was thrilled to bless her.



We made Sarah a new one (of course!)

around the edge in lowercase plain...



this one is slightly domed in whimsy...



and we plan to offer just the "i love you" hand on a charm as well :)

*****

Let's give one away!

Leave us a comment- which one is your fave?

Blog it, tweet it @thevintagepearl, and facebook it for extra entries (please leave a separate comment for each).

We'll pick a random winner on monday.

Happy friday!

love me some gussy!

My gussy laptop bag recently arrived from my friend Maggie, isn't it fab?



I picked out the main fabric and she added her infamous Gussy ruffle.

Love the infamous Gussy ruffle!

Shop her shop here
read her blog here
follow her on twitter here (she's fun to follow!)

*****

Take a peek at her shop, what's your favorite thing?

shopping with eden.

Last week Eden and I went to Hobby Lobby.

Eden refuses to sit in a cart.
She says "I walk with you , mommy."
So I let her walk with me, and we browse together.

She spots a football.
And she picks it up.
And before I can stop her, she throws it.

It was a football piggy bank. A ceramic one.
It broke into a million pieces.

She thought it was just a regular football.

She was surprised, but fine.

And I now have $14.99 less in my bank account with nothing to show for it :)

How do you get to church?

Jonah would take an airplane and Tessa walks sometimes :)

Bus Ministry Promo from Deana Spyres on Vimeo.

Isn't this the cutest video?

Thanks Deana, you did a fabulous job!

store progress { & the winner! }

A peek of the front retail space:


The walls are painted,
the trim is up and black {love!},
the french doors are hung,
and the wood floor is complete!

We are deciding where to put furniture, ordering the sign, thinking about price tags, building a counter, printing out pictures, advertising, window display... some big details, some small details... lots to do!

*****

A peek of the back studio space:

One of our managers wrote this scripture on their board, love that they encourage each other this way! Isn't that awesome???

Eden comes to work with me and she "works" :)

LOVE these turquoise plates I found at Anthropology when in NYC, aren't they pretty?

Our dainty drop crystals.



So what do you think so far?

*****

The randomly picked winner of the dainty drop bracelet is

Shana, who said: i would be thrilled with a dainty drop bracelet . . . can it fit 6 kiddos? i really, really love your stuff. you've got some crazy skills.
blessings on your day!
shana

Email us Shana!

dainty drops bracelet {win one!}

After MANY requests we have taken one of our most popular necklaces...


(dainty drop necklace with our cursive letters)

and turned it into a bracelet...


(dainty drop bracelet in our whimsy letters)

The dainty drop bracelet AND the chunky message bracelet:


(chunky message bracelet in our tiny lowercase plain letters)

will both be added to the site here later today!

*****

Want a dainty drop bracelet?

Leave us a comment, we will randomly pick one name to win one tomorrow!

look at me mommy!

I can "hoowa oop!"



She holds it up to her forehead and then spins in circles!

She entertained many at Wal-Mart this morning :)

free charms & winners!

FREE CHARM FRIDAY!



Leave us a note in the extra notes box FREE CHARM when you check out and we will slip in a surprise charm for you!

*****

I loved reading everyone's entries for the bracelet!
It was such a hard decision, there were SO MANY amazing ones!
I had LOTS of favorites, here are just a few...

La:
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beuty of their dreams." Elleanor Roosevelt
(so inspiring!)

***

momto4:
"Some People Only Dream of Angels. I held one in my Arms"
In Loving Memory
Anna Kiara
8-28-99
(tugged at my heartstrings!)

***

A Write Life:
Dream
The Impossible Dream
For
Impossible
Is Only An Opinion.
(inspiring!)

***

Barb:
"From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another." John 1:16
(great scripture!)

***

apexmom:
If I were to win this bracelet, I would have things my sons have said while growing up that make me laugh every time I think about them.
Santa Closet ( Santa Claus), Hammerhead Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln), random things that like.
(I love inside jokes like this!)

***

Sarah:
"Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value.” ~Albert Einstein
(so inspiring!)

***

maroon58:
i would put 'shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars' -anonymous
(just love it.)

***

Leanna:
'I love you a bushel
and a peck
and a hug around the neck.'
07-07-07
(my mom used to sing this to me!)

***

Paula:

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." Robert Brault
(a great reminder!)

***

Sarah:

Distance between two hearts is not an obstacle, rather a beautiful reminder of just how strong true love can be.
(her hubbie is being deployed.)

***

Trish:

-By the grace of God & one red light~

Chris & Trish
Aug 12, 1995

We met while we were both stopped at a red light while on vacation in Myrtle Beach. He lived in Georgia and I lived in Kentucky. Four months later he proposed and we have been together ever since.
(what a great story!)

***
***
***

But the one that struck a chord with me {the most},
being a mom always striving to be the BEST mom,
and often not feeling quite up to par,
(don't we all from time to time?)
was this one:

ElsMom:

“There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one” Jill Churchill

LOVE it :)

A few others had the same or a similar quote, but this was from ElsMom was the first one of them I read, and I immediately loved it.

***

and the randomly picked winner is:

Heidi Jo:

oh my word...this is EXACTLY what i have been waiting for. i love my two necklaces, and wanted a bracelet next....but none could fit the wordiness of this WOMAN. or more accurately the size of my brood. i have five beautiful children, and this would be the most precious thing to me.

"The keepers of my heart:
NICHOLAS, OLIVIA, KATHARINE, ANDREW, ELIZABETH"

Please email us ElsMom and Heidi Jo!

Thank you to all that entered :)

The chunky message bracelets will be added to the site this weekend!

last day of summer, first day of school

Yesterday was the last day of summer before schools starts.
I told the kids we could do whatever they wanted.

The days was THEIRS.

So we swam...





and then we bowled...



and went out to lunch...



then went to the arcade...



and won lots of tickets...(there is one game that Tessa almost always hits the jackpot on!)



and then swam some more...





I was exhausted.

But they had a fun day :)

*****

Today was the first day of school.

Caleb started 4th grade...



Jonah started 2nd grade... (not sure why this was the smile I got, he really was excited, I promise!)



and Tessa started 1st grade...



*****

A HUMONGOUS thank you to my Dad and Aunt Sharon
for spending the night and hanging out with Eden
so I could help take them all to school
without having to chase my firecracker around their classes!!!
And for folding and putting away the mound of clothes I had washed.
And for washing the sink full of dirty dishes.
And cleaning up the kitchen.
What a blessing to come home to :)

artful blogging

When Artful Blogging emailed a few months ago
to ask if I would be interested
in sharing in their next issue
I was honored and delighted!

I'm a huge fan.



It's an amazing magazine full of inspiration...
beautiful pictures (even the covers are total eye candy!)
and stories from fellow bloggers.



I shared just a bit of our story ... how it all began...



... and the daily balance of it all :)



Thank you to Artful Blogging for the opportunity!

hope for orphans.

I have had this strong desire to adopt a child.



I don't know yet it it's
my want
or God's plan,
so for now Ryan and I are just praying.

But we do have friends that have adopted or are in the process of adopting.
We have loved watching their journeys along the way and
I can't help but admire what they are doing.

I wanted to help :)

So the profits of this ready to ship hope for orphans necklace go towards helping loving families that are adopting!

The purchase of each necklace
helps a waiting child or baby
go home.

And they are just $25!

A fabulous gift for someone who needs a reminder of hope :)

* Please blog, tweet or facebook about this necklace, help spread the word*

Let's help some babies get home!

NYC and Martha Stewart

A couple of weeks ago I was happily surprised to get an invitation to Martha Stewart's blog party in her building in Manhattan! Jill came with me and we had a blast! I even had a chance to chat with Martha and give her something we made for her!





We stayed at the famous New Yorker hotel,
took taxis everywhere,
attended the party,
peeked inside one of Martha's studios (mega inspiration!)
met lots of fun bloggers,
including Allison, Beki, and Danielle,
chatted with some of Martha's editors and staff,
and ate lots of yummy food.



We also shopped at Anthropology (we don't have one in OK!),
met up with Sheylynn (Shey B) at the Statue of Liberty,
shopped at the famous B&H Photo (a DREAM!)
got a new camera and lens (STOKED!)
wandered around Times Square,
and saw Justin Timberlake shooting a movie (we think "Friends with Benefits" maybe?)
and basically just had a fab time :)

Thank you to Martha and her team for inviting us!

chunky message bracelet (new!) giveaway

This bracelet is perfect if you have alot to say...



The sterling silver rectangle charm measures about 2" x 1" and can be handstamped with up to 5 lines of text, about 25 letters per line, in our lowercase tiny font. Perfect for lots of names, a scripture, an inspirational phrase or quote, etc.

{ we love this quote from Eleanor Roosevelt }

Add the hammered copper heart (optional) for a beautiful 2 tone effect!



Finished with a sturdy sterling oval chain and a sterling lobster clasp.

*** wanna win one? ***

Just leave us a comment-tell us, what would you put on your bracelet if you won?

We will pick 2 winners!
( One will be randomly picked and the other will be our favorite comment. )

Happy wednesday!

thrifty finds.

With our low budget in mind, we have been thrift store/garage sale shopping for things to decorate the new store with! These are some of my faves...



1. vintage gumball machine ( what would we put in it? )
2. large wrought iron bird cage (love!)
3. LOVE the legs on this table, I had to purchase it- I think we will paint it ( what color??? ) and make it our coffee bar.
4. turquoise potting table- love the color and the structure of it.
5. ladder shelf to give a pop of red somewhere.
6. cute secretary desk- I {heart} secretary desks.

Which one is your favorite?