Young Women Values of LDS church

I am a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As a young woman I was given the opportunity to earn the Young Womanhood Recognition Award. This award takes 6 years to earn. There were 7 values with corresponding colors. You made goals (at least 2 per year for each value) that helped you develop these values. Your last 2 years you did 2 projects each year that took a minimum of 20 hours each. I was so proud to earn this award! I wore it proudly for years. But after having children I was replacing the chain all the time. My children loved to pull on my jewelry and broke the necklace so many times that I quit wearing it.

A couple months ago I was on a social networking site and ladies were talking about why they don't wear their awards. I decided I would design a necklace that a small child couldn't easily break that would display the award and have meaning to those who had worked so hard to earn it. This is what I came up with.
The medallion sits at the bottom and is flanked on either side by 8mm crystals that correspond to the 7 values.

Faith- White
Divine Nature-Blue
Individual Worth- Red
Knowledge- Green
Choice and Accountibility- Orange
Good Works- Yellow
Integrity- Purple

The program has recently added an 8th value, virtue. I chose not to include it on my necklace since that was not part of the program when I earned my award. I am very happy with how it turned out and am now contemplating a charm bracelet that will incorporate the medallions that I earned leading up to this award and wire beads in the value colors. So stay tuned to see my first foray into making my own beads!

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Facebook!!!

Jewelry by Jen now has a facebook page! Yes, we have moved up in the world. On the facebook page you will find pictures of my entire inventory and prices for each item. Anything under $10 ships for free. I am so excited to start this new venture and to share my talent while helping others and taking a bit of the financial burden off of my husband. If you are on facebook recommend us to friends and help me spread the word! I am doing a promotion there, once I have 100 fans I will do a drawing to give away a pair of earrings. I am very excited about this! Thanks for all of your support, I can't find words to express how much it means to me!

New items up for auction!!!!

My sweet 8 week old woke me up nice and early this morning and refused to go back to sleep. Since I was up,
I figured I should go ahead and use the time to help out a great cause!!!
All three necklaces that I donated to the For Ginanne auction sold,
but here is your chance to try for some really fun earrings.
I must admit that I am in love with all three pairs and would gladly keep them for myself.
But in the spirit in which they were made they will be up for auction soon.
If you want them you will have to bid!!!

A special post...

All the items featured in this post are available for auction on a special blog. The blog is called For Ginanne. Ginanne is a woman I have become friends with over the last several months that is battling an unknown illness. She is extremely sick and can no longer afford the tests needed to find a diagnosis for what she is fighting. A group of her friends are trying to raise money to help her pay her mounting medical bills. Ginanne is a young wife and mother with a darling daughter. She is a kind hearted and sweet woman who is fighting desperately for her life. Please visit the auction blog and look through the items that have been donated and if something catches your fancy, BID!!! All proceeds are going straight to Ginanne's medical bills. And feel free to pass on the blog to all your friends and family!

http://forginanne.blogspot.com/

Taking photo advice!

I belong to an awesome online social group and asked for advice on my soon-to-be Etsy shop.
A couple great ladies gave me some advice on taking pictures of my jewelry.
Now I am not a photographer and do not pretend to be one, but until I can get one to move in,
I will try to constantly improve.
Here are some pics of some earrings and necklaces.
My new and somewhat improved photographs!

What do you think???

Going to be hard to sell....

One of the challenges of making jewelry is not wanting to part with it after you see the final product. A couple examples follow...
I love these pairs of earrings, but my husband says they are too big for me. I think he just doesn't want the house to be overrun by my creations!

Getting Started

I have finally decided to start my jewelry blog! I am trying to get an inventory built up so that I can open an Etsy shop. So far today I have made 7, yes 7 pairs of earrings. The biggest challenge is finding time to create with 3 small children running around and crying for my attention. I am so excited to share my passion for creating beautiful and affordable jewelry with others. So join me in my adventure and share your thoughts and requests with me!