Black Friday Through Cyber Monday Sale 25% off!

This Black Friday through Cyber Monday Julia Catherine Jewelry will be having their Annual Sale. This is the only time every year where you will automatically receive 25% off all items in my etsy shop! All items have already been marked down 25% with the original price noted in this description.

Please also join my mailing list on the right side of this blog for free giveaway contests and early notification of sales like this one.

I hope everyone had an amazing thanksgiving!
xoxo
Julia Catherine

... And Im Back!

It has been a very long time since I have blogged. I am happy to be back. For all of my fans, I am glad to see you are still reading. Newbies, please sign up for my mailing list to the right of this post.

I would like to share with you some new items!
Please take a look at my etsy store to see the new things I have been working on. Check back frequently, I will be added a couple items daily to try and get everything I've been making the past 2 years up.

My shop has a bit of a new look, as you will notice. It's still the same thoughtful, stylish, work I have always made though. I hope you enjoy the new look of Julia Catherine Jewelry.

NEW CONTESTS!! 
I will be starting up my contests again soon! So please join my mailing list, again to the right of this blog post. Mailing list members will get a sneak peak and headstart on all contest and of course VERY generous coupons. All exclusively for mailing list members only! 

A little taste for blog readers though. Visit my etsy shop and type "WELCOME2012" and get free shipping automatically. 

Thanks everyone!
xoxo Julia Catherine

February Contest

This month's contest is to solve the riddle related to an item in My Shop.
The riddle to solve is:

"In the section for your ear
You will surely be near,
Find the studs that are pink
And you've got the right link!"

How do you win? What do you win?
Just shoot me an email to juliacatherinejewelry@gmail.com Use the subject "Blog Contest" in the subject line and copy and paste the link or the name of the item that the riddle is referencing.

If there is more than one person who submits an answer they will be submitted to a raffle to win my 'Floating Heart Earrings"! Now remember that as always the winner will also be extended the offer of free shipping on any shopping in My Shop. As well as 15% off coupon for any other shopping they would like to do.

Mailing list members have already gotten a head start! Make sure you join so next time you can too.

Good luck everyone! Answers will be accepted up till February 15th, all correct answers will be put into a raffle and drawn on the 16th.

xoxo
Julia Catherine

p.s. Comments have been disabled for this post so answers aren't mistakenly left as posts.

January Giveaway Finalists

So last night I printed off all the names and consulted my 'associates' on the best name for these earrings. Click here to read more on my January Giveaway. My Favorites are the following

Winter Blossom Earrings -Submitted by Jillian of Eternal Images


Le Jardin de Monet (The Garden of Monet)- Submitted by Jules of Whimsical Peacock Arts

Please cast your votes using the 'widget' to the right of this blog post on my blog sidebar. Voting will continue till January 26th, then the winner of the earrings will be announced. So keep checking back and make sure your favorite stays on top! Don't forget to also join my mailing list so you can be notified each month of sales and giveaways!
xoxo
Julia Catherine

New Sweetheart Necklace and Ice!

This morning I posted my new sweetheart necklace for '09. A perfect size floating heart pendant. Handcrafted from sterling silver. This design is similar to a heart pendant I have created before. The overlap at the clef of the heart makes it unique and gives it a bit of dimension. This heart is a free floating heart so it may hang at times from either arch of the heart or sometimes even up side down. The necklace is completed with a 16 inch sterling silver cable link chain. Chain closes with a spring ring closure, all jump rings have been soldered closed. Really gorgeous! thinking of making one for myself. head on over and check it out.


We had a bit of rain and ice yesterday. Not nearly as bad as the ice storm last winter but the trees were hanging pretty low. Luckily we did not have any power outages in the area that I have heard. I took a photo of our poor butterfly bush encased in ice. Although there is a sort of beauty in this photo, I can't wait till spring...
xoxo
JuliaCatherine

January Blog Giveaway Kickoff

This month's contest is a 'Name that piece' contest. The pair of earrings below are the ones that need a name! They are faceted amazonite quartz roundels with cranberry czech glass flower accents atop each. The ball end headpins and earwires are both sterling silver and handmade by me. These earrings dangle 1 1/8 inch. I see lots of possibilities for names but im going to leave it up to you all.

It will go like this. Leave your name/title suggestions (up to 5 names) as a comment on this post along with your email address. On the 15th i will take all the entries and pick my favorite from the bunch. Those few will be posted to be voted on in the form of a poll right here on my blog. Readers of this blog, and your friends and family will have till January 26th to vote. Make sure you give them the link! Then i will take a tally of all the votes and the winner will be selected. Soon after i will post the winner right here on my blog. (PLEASE make sure you leave your email, etsy shop URL or Flickr URL so i may contact you!)

The winner will win the earrings they named, and free shipping on any other purchases they would like to make in my shop. (don't forget to sign up for my mailing list to the right so you can get discounts too!) The earrings will be posted using the winning title/name and the winner will also be given proper credit in the listing also. "proper credit" in this case also includes a link to your etsy shop right in my description. Here they are! Good luck everyone! If you have not already also make sure to join my mailing list to the right of my blog posts, this way you will be notified of these giveaways, coupons and sales before anyone else!
xoxo
JuliaCatherine

Oh Yes The Holidays Have Begun...

Yesterday afternoon into the evening I printed shipping labels, set up and packed the second half of my orders from last weekend. I was so happy my sale was such a success. Thank you everyone! So That was my task yesterday afternoon and evening.

Next for me it was making thank you notes for my orders. A long time ago I decided to start making my own instead of buying them. It's alot less expensive especially when you have a high order volume. I like to buy something called "luxury stack" which is a smaller size stack of pearlized gorgeous papers from my local craft store, ACMoore. These measure 6 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 if i remember correct. I use my cutter and scorer that I have purchased a long time ago for my personal use for making cards for friends and family as well as scrapbooking! I cut them in half lengthwise around 3 1/4 inches then score them across the middle at about 2 1/4 inches. I then take my nifty stamp, ink it up and stamp the entire stack with the word 'thank you'. After they all dry i go back and fold them in half and put and elastic around them.

The entire stack of 'luxury papers' costs me about $10. This last time i managed to be at my local store on a day they were having a sale, so this last time they were $6. Just a little time and effort on my part and voila! I have about 300 thank you cards. Lasts me awhile!

Last night was a busy night for me! For dinner I hadn't put out anything for the meat eaters earlier that day so it was going to be a meatless dinner (yay) I wanted a baked potato but that wouldn't have been enough of a full meal for the meateaters. I thought if i made it a soup that would count!
Baked Potato Soup!
5 large russet potatoes
1 rib celery diced
1 medium sweet onion diced
2 cloves garlic, smashed and diced
1 tsp kosher salt
3 dashes ceyenne pepper
half a brick of cheddar shredded
Boulion cube for 1 cup- chicken i guess for meat eaters? I use Vegetaable
a small bag of broccoli-cook in the micro till done
3 cups milk
3 Tbls flour
3-4Tbls oil (olive i love)
1 cup reserved potato cooking liquid
Cooked and crumbled fake or real bacon
I peeled, cut and cleaned all my potatoes and cut them into bite sized pieces, then put them in a pot barely covered with water. Boil till potatoes are tender to your liking. In another larger pot i heated my oil over MEd hi heat then put my diced onion, celery and garlic. Sautee for a couple minutes then add your kosher salt. If your using regular salt use less. When your onions are translucent add your flour and mix it all together, break up the lumps. You will start making a roux this way. Slowly add your milk. It will be really thick till you get nearly 2 cups in the pot, i would say. Adding it slowly will prevent lumps! Once you have it all incorporated and brought to a light bubble (keep stiring frequently!) then reduce your heat to med. Add your cheese. Stir it all in. Add your boullion cube to your 1 cup of potato cooking liquid from your potatoes. mix it up. add it to the pot! add in everything else including your cooked broccoli (cut in bite sized pieces) Mix it all up. bring back to med hi heat till its bubbly and then when all your cheese is melted your done! If you like a vitamin B boost add about 3/4 -1 cup of nutritional yeast flakes!
Hope you all enjoy my recipe, im not exactly a recipe writer but im good at coming up with them! Dont forget to sign up for my mailing list to the right>> to receive notifications of great sales and be entered for my giveaway!
xoxo
Julia Catherine

Announcing My First Blog Giveaway!

If you have already subscribed to my mailing list there is no doubt your enjoying the little coupons and tidbits about upcoming sales and new products. But if you haven't subscribed! Your really missing out. Especially now. This month I will be taking all the people who sign up and have signed up for my mailing list and picking one lucky one to win! Enter NOW to the right of this blog post. My mailing list is a double opt in- so you will have to click a link to the email that is sent to you. Once you do that, your smooth sailing! You will also be notified of any future sales and giveaways.

This months giveaway item will be a pair of my most popular Apple Green Drop Earrings. They are a $16 Value. This is absolutely free including free shipping and free shipping on any additional purchases you wish to make from my shop. Just join my mailing list to the right! Winner will be drawn this December 15th!
xoxo
Julia Catherine