Canadian Rockies Art

The best Christmas EVER

Yes, this will be the BEST Christmas EVER!

Why? Because my mom’s first round of chemotherapy went well today (we found out over the past two weeks that she has ovarian cancer) and she should be released from the hospital tomorrow, so that she can be home with us for Christmas Eve! Yay!

We always have a very quiet Christmas here since it’s just the six of us (my husband, my parents and our two puppies… and myself, of course). I’m keeping things very simple (since mom isn’t eating a whole lot, and neither is dad) with finger foods and a light dinner on Christmas Day. I’ll let my hubby polish off the many deserts and cookies I bought (yes, I bought them, I was not feeling well enough to bake anything from scratch this year), and I know this will make him happy.

We’re just really happy of the thought of having mom back at home with us at home. The puppies anxiously await their Nana’s return :)

From our family to yours…

We want to wish you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

I will return in the New Year with new one of a kind jewelry designs and some surprises too – look for them in my Canadian Rockies Art Artfire Studio and Etsy Shop… stay tuned!

Also, don’t forget to support KIVA (if you can) this holiday season. I’m getting money back from previous people that I’ve made loans to earlier this year, so I am re-loaning out that money to help other women start up or grow their business. I was able to help a woman in Nicaragua on Kiva earlier today and it made my heart very happy :-)

Namaste…

Nathalie

Happy Birthday to me & Spreading the LOVE!

It’s my birthday and I’ll *smile* if I want to… *smile* if I want to! :)

(cuz I ain’t gonna cry!)

I’m not getting older… I’m getting better with each passing year!

I’m excited this morning for many reasons, so let me start telling you why without any further delays:

1. Today is my birthday, and this meant that following in my Kiva tradition, today, I have invested/lent US$25.00 to help another woman with her own small business.

Today I have selected to help Lidia, a lovely woman located in Lima, Peru. She is 38 years old and has 4 children, and she is raising money to help her with her new restaurant. Good cooked meals always sell, and from her story, I know she will do very well. So it makes me really happy to be able to help her with her restaurant that will enable her to support her family and make a living for herself. She has such a lovely genuine smile and good vibe about her. I’m really glad I found her on Kiva this morning.

2. I am also very happy to announce the TWO winners of my special birthday giveaways!

I had two parts of my birthday giveaway this month, the first one was for all my newsletter subscribers – just for being a subscriber to my newsletter, everyone on the list was automatically entered to win (no purchase necessary) a free ANORA sterling silver chainmaille pendant a value of US$39.00!

And the 2nd part was that buyers who shopped in my Canadian Rockies Etsy shop between August 1st and August 25th (up to 11:59 PM Etsy time), were automatically entered in a special draw to have a chance to Win their Purchase!

So, without any further delays, I am very happy to announce the two winners:

The winner of the  Newsletter Anora Sterling Silver Pendant giveaway is:

Linda of Nunofakind on Etsy!

You can find her fabulous handmade creations here:

www.nunofakind.etsy.com ,  www.nunofakind.com and she has a blog:

www.nunofakind.blogspot.com

Congratulations Linda in Ontario!!!

And the winner of the “Win Your Purchase” giveaway is:

Wendee of Hazelknits on Etsy!

She had purchased a pair of Sterling Silver hoops back on August 16th, and I have refunded her purchase in full via Paypal.

You can find Wendee’s cool Etsy shop here (very cool if you enjoy knitting!):

www.hazelknits.etsy.com

Congratulations Wendee in Seattle!!!

I want to say a big thank you to all that have signed up for my newsletter and all that have purchased jewelry in my shop during the month of August.

I will be having other special promotions for my newsletter subscribers between now and the end of the year, so if you haven’t signed up already, you can do so by either clicking on the button at the top (near the right side) to sign up, or, alternatively you can go to my own website to sign up with the form on here (one person had a problem with the sign-up button on my blog, so this is another way to sign-up):

http://www.handmademetaljewelryart.com/pages/Newsletter.htm

Don't miss out on your chance to benefit from some special promos and giveaways!

Now I’m going to enjoy my day and relax!

My Animal Rescue Group for July

5% of July's sales on my own website and in  my Canadian Rockies Etsy Shop (plus the 5% match by my family) will be donated to Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) located in the province of Alberta. You can visit their website here: http://www.arf.ab.ca

ARF rescues dogs and cats from First Nations and rural areas and places them into temporary foster homes where they are vaccinated, de-wormed and spayed/neutered prior to adoption. ARF also provides spay/neuter and educational programs to residents of First Nations communities as part of the effort to reduce the population of unwanted animals. Visit their website to find out more about them, and to help in any way you can.

My family matches "dollar-for-dollar" all the money raised from my jewelry sales, so that we can give a total of 10% each month to my rescue group of choice. Thank YOU for helping me help others!