Here goes:
The present I was so dang excited about this year was my mom’s. I ordered her this back in August. Victoria Tillotson is a jewelry maker out of New York. She can be found on Instagram under two names: @chicmetal and @victoria_tillotson. My dear friend Beth had introduced me to her page during the summer and I fell in love with her work. She made a necklace previously very similar to this and I just knew that Mom needed one. This is made of natural ruby. Victoria was such a peach to deal with! She sent me photos of some stones to choose from, and we went from there. I was so pleased at how the final result turned out. And mom loves it! Y’all check out her work!
Many of you that follow myself and my family on facebook know, but the first week of December, my sister’s beloved horse Moose passed away after an unexpected illness. To say that my sister grieved, and is grieving, would be putting it mildly. He had seen her through good times and bad; and had been her very best companion. The day that he passed, I messaged my friend Beth, of Wildling Artistry, and asked her to make a special bracelet. She made it with a sterling silver horse, amethyst stones and labradorite to help with grieving. Also, my friend Brandi Bonanno of Moo Boo’s Bowtique and Udder Stuff also made my sister a sentimental piece. She took a photo that I sent of Rheba and Moose and created this pendant.
Back in September, I asked my friend Beth to make a special Mala for my best friend Krystle’s birthday. I wanted something calming and peaceful. Beth had shown me a turtle charm that she had recently gotten, and I asked her to include it on Krystle’s mala. I thought that the moonstone and sea sediment stone mala turned out perfectly.
I also commissioned Beth to help with my BIL (brother-in-law). I was at a complete loss for what to buy him this year. Finally, I thought about embroidered hats! I had Chris Rogers handle the designs for me. I sent the designs to Beth, she had them digitized and they were ready to be embroidered. She also made a hat for Rheba and Nichole for me.
Poor mom had themes for her gifts this year…it was either jewelry, reading material, or yoga-based. I won’t say that Mom is just jumping up and down to get to yoga every week. But she goes…and I am so proud of her and how far she’s come. First, I bought her a gift certificate to Krystle's yoga class, just to pay for a few classes in advance for her. I decided to support myself a little bit, and I ordered a yoga mat for her with one of my photos on it from Fine Art America. It was her favorite photo of mine.
The Fall that my dad passed away, my mom, sister and I went to Fernandina Beach for a week to rest and recoup after having such a trying year. I had downloaded some music to take with us, which included a cd from a former classmate of mine. Y’all….I don’t think we changed the cd the entire week. They loved it. This Summer, KW and I were over in Cedar Key celebrating one night and we happened to walk past a restaurant and hear TJ singing. Well, of course, we had to go in. He had just recently recorded a new CD. So, I went ahead and picked up copies for Mom and Rheba.
Now, we have a lot of local talent in the area…truly, we do. And after seeing a pendant that she made for me one night, I knew that I was going to have Cheryl wire-wrap a few pendants for me for Christmas gifts. I looked through a few of my very favorite stones and chose a bloodstone for my friend-cousin-and old coworker Chris. I thought that the end result was fantastic. She made it look masculine enough while also leaving the stone as the focal point.
Speaking of Cheryl, who is also a local tattoo artist at Artistic Soul Tattoo in Chiefland…Let me tell you about my friend Jen. After Rheba lost her horse, ideas began spinning in her head for what she could do to honor him. As Rheba has always loved a half-sleeve tattoo, she has chosen to do one in memory of Moose. One of my last-minute gifts (because it was close by and didn’t require any advance notice) was a gift certificate for Rheba to help with the cost of her tattoo.
I mentioned the Bird’s Nest in one of my previous posts. While I was there early this Fall, perusing all of their homegoods, I found a turtle bottle opener. Given that turtles have significant meaning for my friend KW, I went ahead and picked it up that day. I ended up saving it for her birthday gift (along with the mala).
Now, while Walgreens’ is not what I would consider a small business, I did end up getting a couple of gifts from them this year. While I have an account with Fine Art America, and sell my prints on there, I get no discounts or percentage back when I buy an item of my own from them. And because I wasn’t sure that mpix could get me the canvases in enough time, I went to my local Walgreens…which now offers same-day canvases (on some sizes). I had a photo that I had taken at Mercier’s Apple Orchard while we were in Blue Ridge put on canvas for my mom. I had a photo of one of my favorite areas printed on canvas for my friend Matt. I just wanted them to have one of my photos.
While this is not all of the local/small business items that I bought for Christmas…I wanted to share them as they are some of my very favorites. If you have any questions about any of the names/businesses that I’ve mentioned, please let me know.
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