Monday, December 26, 2011

Giving is better than receiving

This Christmas season, I received a couple of custom orders for gifts from new clients.  It's always nerve racking for me to take on custom orders even though I LOVE them.  I love to work through a piece of jewelry that will truly be one of a kind - a piece that someone thought about specifically for a loved one and just needed a little help from me to get from point A to point B.  It's an amazing feeling when it works out how you both hope it will.  


Yesterday, on Christmas Day, I was lucky enough to be rewarded with a photograph of a beautiful, young girl.  A girl who loves natural stones and all creations of the earth, such as trees and the moon and her native country of India.  After talking with her Aunt, we came up with a fantastic idea for a Tree of Life pendant that would be made specifically for this amazing girl.  I researched the trees of India and found a perfect fit.  I created a tree just for her that was based off of the Cannonball Tree found in India.  Even though I was very happy with the tree, I still worried, as I always do, that she wouldn't like it, or it would be the wrong size.  Just normal jitters, I suppose.  Yesterday, I received a picture of a beautiful, smiling girl, wearing the necklace I made just for her.  She had an amazing glow on her face that brought joy to my heart and a tear to my eye.  


Later yesterday evening, after all the festivities had settled down at my house here in Dallas, my dear friend, Laura, sent me a note thanking me so much for the jewelry she had received as a Christmas gift from her mother.  She was overjoyed and clearly expressed her love and gratitude for the gift.  Now, Laura and I have been friends for several years, but I've never met her mother, nor knew her name.  It took a while, thinking about it to realize which order must have been for Laura, but I figured it out. :)  A lot of online sellers get frustrated when they have to do more than take someone's money, make a product and ship it.  But I took time to help this mother through Etsy and how it works.  Even with PayPal having issues and hurdles being thrown our way, we figured it all out and the jewelry made it to its destination in time!  And not only did it make it in time for a Christmas gift for my client's daughter, it made it in time for my dear friend to open at Christmas with her mommy.  Priceless!


Anyway, I know I've been going on for a while here, but I wanted to put some joy into the world today.  While it wasn't my personal best Christmas ever, I had a part in at least two good ones and that makes up for a lot.


Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, etc.....


XOXOXOXOXO,
Jamie

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