Upcoming Craft Shows and New Jewelry Items!

This past week I have spent some time photographing items, editing the photos and getting them added into my etsy store. The above collage is just a few of the new items I now have in stock and I have about another dozen or so new items to list (and they are extra sparkly!)

Speaking of my etsy store (seamless plug right there), I am having a 15% off EVERYTHING sale just because it's spring and I want to :)

Head on over to my etsy store (another totally smooth plug), browse the new jewels and score a great deal!

Also, if you are ever curious as to how any of my jewelry lays, want a better idea of the size, wondering how it looks on a person....just ask! I am happy to model and show off my jewelry more for you to give you a better idea of how awesome it will look on you! Here are a few of my own designs that I wore recently and if you can't tell...I am all to happy to ham it up for the camera.

sidenote: for some reason when I upload this photo collage, blogger automatically edits my photo making me look airbrushed and without some of my moles. I swear in real life I have wrinkles. And am more mole-y.

The items being worn are 1, 2, 3, 4 (clockwise from top right)

**UPCOMING CRAFT SHOWS!**

APRIL 12TH - I will be at the 'Art on the Chattahoochee' craft show this Saturday (April 12th) from 10am to 6pm. It is in Norcross, GA and the weather is supposed to be perfect, so come on out! You can find more details about it HERE!

APRIL 26TH - I will be at Madison Fest in Madison, GA. The event is just one-day and will be in Town Park from 10-4pm. There are also going to be a lot of plant vendors, so it is the perfect event to get some handcrafted goodies and also your new plants for your garden.

MAY 3RD & 4TH - I will be back at the Indie South Fair in Athens, GA. This is one of my favorite events of the year and I am so happy to be doing it again! Some of the most amazing vendors and wares are at this show, so be sure to check it out!

As always, reach out anytime with questions or say hi if you see me at a show! I love meeting my customers in person and without your support, I couldn't make jewelry in yoga pants all day. Thank you!

With Love, Ashlee

Life & Business Updates!

Oh my goodness, I am not sure what has happened, but 2014 is shaping up to be the busiest year yet for me. Instead of getting to wear yoga pants all day and living by my own schedule ... I actually am putting on pants with a zipper about 5 days out of the week and running all over the state with meetings and obligations that require my awesome jewelry briefcase.

Between business meetings all about town, getting more involved in the community and being more mindful of my time, I'm hustling all over the place and working harder than ever.

These last two weeks I have been finalizing the details on getting into two new retail stores. Last week I had the privilege of putting my items into the new Inman Dry Goods Store in the Inman Park neighborhood of Atlanta. It is an amazing boutique operated by the owners of SQ/FT in Downtown Decatur and has some of the cutest things in it! Think Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters.

Next week I am going to be dropping off items for the brand new Crafted Westside boutique in Atlanta's West End neighborhood and I am going to be one of the first artists in the store when it opens its doors April 1st! The owners contacted me a little over a month ago and it has been such a cool process to see how they are putting this store together. From finding the perfect building, to getting the displays, to renovating the space, it's all being done and I can't wait to see the final product. Their vision is spot-on and I am so excited to be able to sell/work starting next month!

In etsy news, with the rainy weather here in Georgia, I have had some great opportunities to photograph new jewelry. The cloudy weather creates some perfect photographing light in the corner of my living room, so on rainy days, I am typically hanging out in the corner photographing, rephotographing, and re-rephotographing items. I am trying to expand my delicate bracelet line, so I added these new trio bracelets which are available in either sterling silver or 14K gold filled.

Last week I also restocked my jewelry in Republic Salon & Agora Vintage (both in Athens, GA) as well as Homegrown & Wild Oats Billy Goats (both in Decatur, GA). All places have full displays and are ready to be shopped! 

Lastly, this weekend is the start of craft show season here and I have been making jewelry like a mad woman. My display holds more jewelry than ever before and I want people to have a lot of selection, so I have submerged myself into the wonderful world of playing with gemstones, jewels and vintage lockets. I am going to have A LOT of one-of-a-kind items and brand new items at these upcoming shows, so if you are in the area, head on over and get yourself some pretty cool jewelry.

March 22nd & 23rd: 10am-5pm both days, Booth 256
Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival (in Conyers, GA at the Georgia International Horse Park)

March 29th & 30th: 10am -6pm (Sat) & 11am-6pm (Sun)
Stone Mountain Blue Grassroots Art & Music Festival (at Stone Mountain)

May 3rd & 4th: 10am-6pm both days
Indie South Fair (in Athens, GA at 660 N. Chase St)


There are going to be a few more shows in April and May but I am still waiting to hear back on final confirmation from those. But you should be able to find me in the Georgia cities of Norcross and Madison and the Atlanta neighborhood of Kirkwood this spring. 

PHEW!!!!

Stay up to date with me on facebook and get overloaded with photos of my puppy on instagram.

~ With Love, Ashlee ~

It's Business Time!

Woohoo! Spring is finally peaking out from all the ice and snow we have been getting here in Atlanta and I am grateful for this slightly warmer climate. The birds are chirping, my puppy dog is hanging out in our backyard (his kingdom) for most of the day and I can stop moaning about how cold it is to my husband every few minutes. (I know that I am going to be missing winter though once the humidity hits here in the summer one month.)

I have been a busy bee these last few weeks on my business expanding into some new retail spaces, getting accepted into some spring craft shows, adding over 30 new items to my etsy store and having my first ever Facebook giveaway (don't worry, there is still time to enter)! 

Here are all the deets....

First - Athens, Georgia friends....you can now find me again at the store Agora Vintage on Broad Street in Downtown Athens. At the moment, I am no longer at the original Agora, just the new one on Broad. I will definitely be sure to let you know if I go back to the old space, but for right now, grab your jewels at the new location! 

Also, I have a new retailer in Atlanta that is coming together. Should be there in the beginning of April once the store opens, but I will give you all those details once it gets closer to the opening date :)

Second - I am going to be at at least one craft show in March (maybe two....). If you like seeing me person and love craft shows, come to the Conyers Cherry Blossom Festival in Conyers, Georgia. The event is going to be March 22nd and 23rd and you can come say hi to me and my helper husband at booth 256. 

Third - New jewelry pieces have been photographed, edited and uploaded to etsy. I had a goal of getting at least 30 new items in my etsy store in February and I got 33 done and added (brushing my shoulders off). 

Clockwise from top left: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

Clockwise from top left: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9

These are just some of the new items in my store that you should go check out in my etsy store! 

(p.s. - everything is 15% off right now until March 4th at midnight)

Fourth - I am having a Facebook giveaway right now for one of my popular infinity bracelets. Just head over to the facebook page, share the giveaway post  and comment whether you want your bracelet to be sterling silver or 14K gold. 

One winner will be chosen randomly at 2pm on Monday, March 3rd, so enter now!

(p.s. - it would be super cool and mean a lot to me if you 'liked' my page on facebook too).

Phew....so I think that is about all the updates for now. 

Thanks so much for your continued support!!

~ With Love, Ashlee ~ 

Busy Bee...

Pretty much every day the past few weeks has called for a 50% chance of rain. 

This has slowed me down in the getting a nice tan on the beach department, but it has been great to photograph new items (cloudy weather makes for good lighting). 

The past few days I have edited thousands of photos and added over 20 new items to my store and I am pretty darn excited about them. 

I focused on making more sterling silver designs, adding some new bracelets to the mix and creating more colors of my hand painted earrings. 

 1/2\3/4\5/6\7/8\9/10\11/12

 1/2\3/4\5/6\7/8\9/10\11/12

So there you have it! These are now available in my etsy store.  

Check them out!

Do you have a favorite item?

~ With Love, Ashlee ~

My First Tropical Storm...

So far Andrea isn't quite as exciting as I had hoped it would be. 

It's raining a lot and my puppy is refusing to go to the bathroom due to his immense dislike of water. He's just sitting downstairs right now with his puppy legs crossed, staring out the window, waiting for the rain to let up.

Today I spent the majority of my time indoors besides leaving to have a bicycle race with myself to get to the post office before my t-shirt became soaked with rain. 

I won. 

I also had the pleasure of working on and packaging up a custom order for a lovely bride and her lucky bridesmaids. 

 

During my lunch break, I spent an hour knitting while watching a rerun of America's Funniest Home Videos. 

Does anyone else love that show as much as I do? 

 

I started working on a wool hat for John (I know that June doesn't seem like an optimal time to knit a wool cap, but I do what I want). 

I found this pattern and had the yarn on hand to recreate it, and hats are my favorite thing to knit, so there ya go! 

Wool hat being knit in June.

That's how this knitta rolls. 

Lastly, today I started a massive storewide sale in my etsy store, My Sweet Nomsa. Everything is marked down 15%!

Sale ends June 17th at Midnight!

Hope everyone is having a great day and staying dry if you are on the East Coast.

~ With Love, Ashlee ~

Tax Sale!

Hey Everyone!

So I currently have 2,478 excel spreadsheets open on my lap top and mounds of receipts all over my office floor. 

I am doing my accounting and taxes for 2012. 

Hooray!!

Worst thing about being a small business owner (besides having to deal with health insurance) is the whole accounting/taxes aspect of it all. I am terrible at it, I put it off and I beg my husband for help with creating various formulas that supposedly calculate things for me.

I have a busy two weeks ahead of me with trying to figure out this stuff so I decided to go ahead and have a sale in both of my etsy stores while I sit here, eat some dark chocolate and cuss to my puppy about how unfun math is.

I recently added a lot of new things to my stores, and right now you can get the new items as well as the rest of the items for 15% off!

First up - some bright, hand painted, color block brass earrings in various shades of spring and summer.

Find them here!

I have some new chan luu inspired wrap bracelets which feature some fun new buttons. Is that elephant not adorable?!?

Find them here!

Lastly, some sweet cameo lockets. Blush pink, cornflower blue and classic black are all available. 

Find them here!

Check out both 'My Sweet Nomsa' & 'Nomsa' on etsy to see all of my items that are 15% off. 

Everything is on sale right now, so if you have had your eye on something, now is your chance!

Have a great evening everyone!!

~ With Love, Ashlee ~

New Branding, New Name

Over the past year, I have been trying to develop a cohesive look and have a singular brand.

When I first began 'Nomsa' in 2009, I really didn't think that it would grow into what it has and I didn't do enough research beforehand on the name. 

'Nomsa' is a Swahili word meaning grace and is a common name in South Africa and Swaziland. I came upon this name while on a mission trip and it was love at first listen. 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of brands and websites (especially in that part of the world) that use 'Nomsa.' 

Too many.

Later on in 2009, I started selling my handmade jewelry on etsy and didn't want to have it in my Nomsa store. I wanted to keep the hair accessories and jewelry separate. 'My Cellar Door' was born thanks to the movie Donnie Darko. In the movie, Drew Barrymore's character tells Donnie Darko that a famous linguist once said that of all the phrases in the world and all the combinations of words, my cellar door, is the most beautiful.

Whether or not this is true, I don't know, but it stuck. 

Two years roll by and I start to get an urge to have one brand. I am selling online, in stores, at craft shows and I need one name that I can tell people rather than explain what item can be found where.

One business name that in encompasses everything. One identity.

So after some brainstorming, my husband and I came up with 'My Sweet Nomsa,' which translates into 'My Sweet Grace.' This business has always been a much needed creative outlet for me and is a form of grace to me. It allows me to be what I want to be, an artisan. 

So I got this website, started blogging again and I have officially changed the etsy store 'My Cellar Door' to 'My Sweet Nomsa.'  It was a bit scary to change the name because there is no changing it back, but it needed to be done. 

After some hemming and hawing, I finally decided on a brand look that is all my own. I made everything about it, so I can do whatever the hell I want with it :)

I just got all my new branding and packaging stuff in the mail, so I thought I would share. 

Let me know what you think!

( I absolutely love how my jewelry is packaged now. Makes it more like a present to yourself when it is wrapped up so pretty!)

Bright, Colorful Jewelry! And Bracelets!

 I am so happy to announce that I FINALLY have bracelets available for purchase in my etsy store!!

(And the crowd goes wild)

I have had so much fun making these and love all of the different colors, metals, and leather possibilities. These really have been a great project to work on and helped me focus on what direction I want to take my business this next year.

Basically, this coming year, you are going to be seeing a lot more colorful, romantic jewelry added to my line and some of the older designs phased out. My eye is naturally drawn to bright, flirty jewelry and since I want to wear it, I might as well make it!!

(That's the best part of being a jewelry designer right there. You get to make and wear anything you want!)

So cue the color-block earrings! Fun and festive, these dainty earrings are a delight to wear!

And here is also some jewelry for those that like the romantic look. Simple, sweet, and perfect for everyday wear.

Check out all of these new bracelets and designs at my etsy store - www.mycellardoor.etsy.com. 

I am so excited for this new direction and I can't wait to share more new designs with you over these next few months!

~ With Love, Ashlee ~

Monday, Monday, so good to me...

Well goodness. 

Anyone else feel like vomiting up a few sticks of butter after this past holiday weekend? 

No? 

Well, let's just say I made Paula Deen pretty proud. During the cooking process on Thursday, I had to ration the amount of butter that we were cooking with because EVERYTHING called for butter and we simply were going to run out. 

Four sticks and one tub of butter later and I look a few months pregnant.

But what is Thanksgiving without butter? And what is the Thanksgiving holiday weekend without shopping till we drop. Or shopping online until your wrists are a little sore from the odd angle of your laptop. 

As most of you know...I am an artisan. I make jewelry for a living and have been doing so for over three years. I love creating new items and sharing my handmade goodies with brides, husbands looking for anniversary presents and ladies just treating themselves. 

Get your holiday shopping started off right with awesome, well-made, handmade jewelry. I use sterling silver, 14K gold, freshwater pearls, swarovski crystals, gemstones and lots of unique vintage charms and lockets. Everything I use is nickel and lead free, so you won't turn your skin green or get a rash. 

Until Tuesday night, I am having a 20% off sale on everything in both of my etsy stores!! 

You can buy this sweet monogrammed necklace with you and your loved ones initials. 

Only $22.00 after 20% off!

 

Or perhaps a personalized wax seal necklace charm is more your style?

$18.40 after the 20% discount!

So please, take advantage of this great sale and support me, an artisan. 

Happy shopping!

What's New Pussycat....

With Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Trample Old Women at the Walmart Saturday coming up....I wanted to get some new fresh items in my shop. Here is just a sample of what I recently added over the past few days. 

 Vintage Czech Glass Jewel Earrings in a Jade Green Hue. Antiqued Brass Findings and Earwires. 

Found HERE

Vintage Hammered Brass Charms. Antiqued Brass Earwires.

Found HERE

 

 Czech Glass Flower Charms. Antiqued Brass Bead Caps and Earwires

Found HERE

 Necklace and Earring Gift Set. Swarovski Crystal Briolettes in a Golden Shadow Hue. 14K Gold Filled Chain, Wire and Clasps. Vermeil Gold Earwires (vermeil gold is 24K gold plated over sterling silver). 

Found HERE

 

  Necklace and Earring Gift Set. Swarovski Crystal Briolettes in a Light Blue Hue. 14K Gold Filled Chain, Wire and Clasps. Vermeil Gold Earwires (vermeil gold is 24K gold plated over sterling silver). 

Found HERE

 

Hand knit hat. Super soft acrylic yarn, non-itchy and one size fits all. 

Found HERE 

 Hand knit hat. Super soft acrylic yarn, non-itchy and one size fits all. 

Found HERE

 

 Hand knit hat. Super soft acrylic yarn, non-itchy and one size fits all. 

Found HERE

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

New Items In Stock!

As many of you know, I have been having a 20% sale for the past few days. The sale officially ends at Midnight tonight (EST), so if you want to get take advantage of these never-before-so-low prices, you better act quickly! The sale is going on in both of my etsy stores - www.mycellardoor.etsy.com & www.nomsa.etsy.com.

I added a bunch of new items to both of my stores. I have oodles of new designs that I still need to add, so check back often in the next few days for a lot of new items! If you want any more information about any of the items below, just click on the photo to get all the details!