My Valentine Picks

All Things Bright and Beautiful is  a site that I have fallen in love with.  It is comprised of Cissi Wright and Melanie Galvan - a mother/daughter team of jewelry designers and crafters.  And they have been so kind as to show off some of their goodies with me. 


To compliment their line of handcrafted jewelry, they also keep a look out for exquisite objects like ornaments, decorative pillows, purses, jewelry boxes and other items that meet their high standards for beauty and quality. Additionally, they can perform small jewelry repairs to local customers (Austin  Texas area).


ATB&B are excited to brighten your world up with their beautiful products!  I want to share my favorites that I want to use as Valentine day gifts.


For Granny M who  loves dangled earrings and beautiful workmanship, I picked out the:

Cloisonne Feather Earrings

The rich details in these cloisonne earrings make them both primitive and elegant. Designed by Melanie Galvan.  These are only $13.00 for the pair so it is a very affordable gift. 

I am a major pearl necklace fan.  And was thrilled when I received my first strand not too long ago.  So here is the new one that I would pick out for myself.  I mean a girl has to dream right?  Pearls and sparkle....that is a great combination.

White Pearl and Swarovski Necklace

Crisp white button pearls and sparkling Swarovski crystals make this necklace both sophisticated and festive. Designed by Melanie Galvan. (17 inches, toggle clasp)  And a dang good deal for just $32.00.  I will have to wink at Dear Hubby and point him in this direction!

College Girl loves the unique and funky looks.  And I think I found the right one for her too. 

Garnet and Crazy Horse Bracelet

Gorgeous Crazy Horse beads with faceted garnets. Crazy Horse is becoming one of my favorite natural stones - it has so many colors and variations. The sophisticated garnets contrast perfectly with Crazy Horse but also bring out the rich color. Designed by Melanie Galvan (7.5 inches, sterling silver press clasp -- warning: the clasp can't be fastened alone)  Don't you think that $20.00 is not much to spend on a Valentine's gift for my lil girl.  (Okay, lil is relative....she will be 25 this March!)

Now this is what I would love to give my mom-in-law for her special gift.

Peacock Pearl and Swarovski Rosary

This rosary is truly breathtaking. The freshwater pearls shimmer in subtle shades of purple, blue and green. The sparkle of Swarovski crystals adds a remarkable element to this traditional piece.  This one is a lil harder for my own pocket book at $55.00.  But I know it is well worth it for all of the work and stones that it took to make it.  Depending on what materials they use and what you request, the rosaries can vary greatly in length. Some are large and decorative enough to hang on a wall, others are perfect as a traditional necklace. Others are small enough to carry in a pouch and we even make abbreviated prayer bracelets. This is a great item to custom order and a wonderful gift to share.

You can check out All Things Bright and Beautiful on Facebook too!  You would love talking to Cissi Wright who has been a buyer and a store owner.  She has quite an eye for design and beautiful things.  And make sure to give a shout out to Melanie Galvan. She has always been fascinated by all art forms and enjoy pursuing this interest whenever and in whatever way possible.  In jewelry, she loves natural stones and freshwater pearls.  I did not receive any jewelry or money for this.  I just wanted to share with you a place to find some nice unique gifts.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Ice! Ice! Baby

 Today is an Ice cold day!  It is my One Day.  One that will make this summer heat pale in degree to the fun your fixing to have.  With the non stop 100+ degree heat we have been having in Texas, I thought we should share it in a fun way.  And Ice is helping me do just that.


How?  Well they are offering a $100 gift certificate to one of my readers.  Isn't that amazing?  Yes, one of you can go on a shopping spree looking for a hot way to look cool as Ice.  What do you think you will choose?

Pearls?  Diamond?  Gold?  It can all be there.  I have found several items I would choose.  From the chocolate pearls to pink gold (oh that is so me!) to an opal.  That would be to honor my grandmother whose name was Opal.  I am really into pearls too.  Did you know that pearls were originally worn only by royalty?  Yes, divers had to find pearls without any breathing equipment so they were quite rare.  My engagement ring is a pearl due to Dear Hubby telling me I would always be his queen.

We’ll provide you with an award of  $100 to spend at Ice (some exclusions apply, see below).  Simply answer the question: Which actress is on the Ice homepage?  Hint?  Look for your One Day thought.

The winner can redeem the $100 prize by simply shopping using a link that Ice will provide.  Note that Ice.com is in the USA and Canada.  SO, open to both countries!  Perfect.

Prize Exclusions:  Not applicable on sale or clearance items, watches, engagement rings or The Persona Charms Collection. Not applicable on taxes or shipping costs, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

Helping Granny M

Well the Yucky Bug has hit our house.  We are all feeling a bit under the weather.  But I hate it when it hits Granny M.  She is all bundled up in her granny gown (honestly), house slippers and been hiding in bed quite a bit.  I coaxed her out this morning with the promise of hot tea.  I fixed her Celestial Seasonings Sleepy Time Wellness tea.  She loves the warmth and flavor of this one.  And I was hoping it would help her rest later.  Also the warm tea may help her chest cold too.  Hot tea is one of Granny M's indulgences.  We get her all different kinds of flavors.  She loves her lil piece meal tea set too.  The lil creamer is to represent her doggie Penny Bright, her lab she inherited from my Dad.  The sugar is like a lil dutch mill. And her spoon rest is right out of the 50's and says "I will hold your tea bag."  We found the tea pitcher and cup at lil sales.  It is all on a bright striped tray.  One day I will find her the right lil tray to go with all of this.  (Tracy you can keep your eyes out for something too!)  

I have looked for lil things to help out Granny M.   She loves her word find books and we pick them up for her often.  And of course we all know that she adores caring for her plants.  They take over the front porch during the warm weather.  In the winter they cover our house.  Almost time to bring them in too.  Whew!

But I did find her a nice lil gem to help her out.  It is a magnetic jewelry clasp.   This makes it so much easier for her to be able to change out her necklaces for church and all.  The Hercules Magnetic Jewelry Clasp is hard to take apart horizontally so it will not just pull off.  Instead it has a lil puzzle design so you take it apart vertically instead.  And the magnet is strong so it does not just come apart either.  Granny M loves that we have two, one in silver and one in gold.  She can use them for almost all of her necklaces.  It does not work with barrel clasp.  Oh and at only $5.00 a clasp they are well worth the cost.
Other ways to help her out?  Well we provide most of her meals.  She very seldom has to fix anything for herself.  I do all the housework, except her room.  She likes to keep rule of that area.  Dear brings her sodas (she is a Coke fanatic) on his way in from work pretty often.   And of course she has the use of the car to go to her daily outings of tea with friends and card games in the evenings.  But I think today she is just going to stay bundled up in bed and rest.

Surprise for College Girl

College Girl received a new surprise from us (the loving Parental Units) this weekend. Well, first I want to say that CG is unique in most ways. She is not a girly girl at all but still loves fashion. So we are always on the lookout for something that just says HER. And we think we did it this time. We found her a titanium ring that is a concave band. It is different yet still simple (the way she likes things). And quality too! We even was able to have her initials engraved on the inside too.

What do you think? Pretty! Unique!

We love it and she was jumping up and down when she saw it. What a perfect production gift to give her for Saturday nights play at her University. See here is another shot of her ring.

I just had to share this with you. We have not found much that just says simple yet perfect at the same time. And to find this Titanium Wedding Band at a good price. (Of course, College Girl is not using it as a wedding band.) Well, I knew you would want to go and look and see what else is there. You can pop over to Tungsten Rings Online and find all kinds of bands. They have gold, platinum, ceramic, tungsten, milgrain, palladium, titanium and others still. And they have lifetime warranties on the rings. Check them out. Oh and here is a close up of College Girls ring. Isn't it beautiful in it's simple lines yet still unique. You can tell we love this ring.

Ring-A-Ding-Ding

I did a post not too long ago about a Promise Ring for College Girl. It was a beautiful looking ring at a fantastic deal. The ring was on jewelry vortex. Well they showed a great bargain.

Special Price :

$29.95

$145.00

$219.00

86%

And it has FREE SHIPPING TOO!

We were really excited and ordered the ring. This was a good ring at a great bargain. One we could afford. It was advertised as titanium metal. That should be able to with stand all that an active theater student can dish out.

Well the ring came in. Here it is on College Girls hand. Looks pretty, Right?
Well the "titanium" metal is actually a plastic ring.
We are greatly disappointed.
It looks good but who wants a plastic ring for $30.00?

Guess who is returning the ring?
Yeah...you got it.