HAND CRAFTING CHRISTMAS, PART I

We are a pretty crafty bunch here at Waxing Poetic.  So for our new Summerland store's Christmas windows we turned to one of our resident artisans, Jessica Maher, who singlehandedly (ok, maybe she used two hands) constructed recycled paper mache renditions of our Pearl Banner Orb charms.

With all the glitter, glue and homespun, heartfelt sentiment, we are officially ushering in the Season!

ENCOURAGEMENT and FRIENDSHIP or Sometimes when you think you are supposed to give it, you get it.

My dear friend Jen Lippman has breast cancer.

Jen has breast cancer.

Jen has cancer.

And I can’t sleep, because I am thinking about her.  I have a nightmare that I have cancer.  A nightmare that disturbs me during waking hours. And then, as snowball-effect scenarios often play out, other assorted worries pile on.  Life gets tough.

So I call my friend to comfort her… to check in and see if maybe I can make her feel better, because, after all, she is the one with cancer.  She needs me.

"Jen” I said…

I can’t wait to hear her voice on the other end, (this is always the case), but in an unexpected way, she is more vibrant these days, and our conversations are different… and her voice is more reassuring than ever.

“P! What’s up?”

I was going to ask Jen for an update.  How has she been dealing with the side effects of chemo?  How is her daughter handling all of this?   I was going to offer her some encouraging words (or just asking her if she needs anything, or how her week has been).  But instead, my own anxiety and fears spoke:  How can I be strong, when I don’t want to be?  How I care, but can’t do enough.  How I am being tested, with greater adversity at the moment than I feel I can possibly bear.   Too many decisions, too much responsibility, and the world feels all wrong…

What the hell am I doing, talking about my petty problems to my friend who is dealing with breast cancer?  What kind of friend am I?

I think I said all of that out load, and was reminded that we all have problems.  I learned over the next forty minutes that I had already overcome so much in my life (she was there) and how my current troubles are so small in comparison.  That things will be as they should be and I can handle it even if it isn’t the way I thought it should be.  We barely spoke about her cancer.  Instead, she encouraged me.

And on the other end of the line, I was grateful, saved, and inspired.  I have so much love in my heart for my friend.   She makes dealing with her cancer so much easier on all of us who love her (there are many), by loving us back more.

Thank you Jen.  You are one incredible friend.  I can’t wait to celebrate your recovery.

A CHARMING LIFE

Meet Victoria. Victoria loves a lot of things: Laughing, her yellow lab Jack, her job in the fashion industry, good food, running, her doting husband, Russell and most of all being a new mom to her 6 week old son Dylan. I snapped this photo of Victoria and Dylan at the beach just before his arrival. Her necklace caught my eye, and when I asked to see it up close, she held it so perfectly over her pregnant belly; I had to snap a shot. Months before, Victoria’s husband came to me wanting to commemorate their first Mother’s Day as a family with a piece of Waxing Poetic jewelry. Victoria ADORES waxing poetic. He knew he wanted the piece to say something special but (like most men) he couldn’t figure out what. With some encouragement and a few suggestions, he decided that Dylan’s monogram and “I love you” written in Dutch, to honor Victoria’s heritage, would be the most loving sentiment. It made her first Mother’s day very memorable.

Dylan arrived on a warm afternoon in early July and was quickly swaddled in love and kisses, very strong and making squishy faces. Reminding us how beautiful life is. I love that I was able to capture a tiny moment in time, of my dear friend getting ready to greet her son and feel I privileged that she cherishes this photo because it captures two things she holds precious in life.

Carpinteria Avocado Festival 2012

One year ago, WP was the new kid in town, and wondering what kind of fun there was to be had here, all the locals informed us of the annual Avocado Festival. We cruised down the main street, tasting the delicious food and checking out the vendors. We got to know Carpinteria, and the year flew by.

This year, we are more settled in the cozy beachside town, known for its Citrus orchards, Avocado groves and flower farming. Our generous and fun-loving CEO Patti, took everyone to the festival this year, and the destination was the local brewery, Island Brewing Company, for an Avocado Honey Blonde Ale, a specialty brew that is only made for the “Avo Fest” (that what the locals call it).

The beer was, tasty and we very properly washed it down with guacamole and chips made by the Carpinteria Girl Scouts. Another successful Avocado Festival behind us, and looking ahead for the holidays!

HELLO SUMMERLAND

HELLO SUMMERLAND!

AND HELLO AGAIN DEAR FRIENDS.

We have a lot to catch up on. Not that we wanted to be away, but we (I speak for us all here at Waxing Poetic) were busy.  Very, very busy:
1. designing lovely new things,
2. living our lives,
and
3. building our new store in Summerland, CA, which is officially open as of last weekend! Summerland? It is between Santa Barbara and Carpinteria, somewhere on the way to LA, where WPHQ is located.  We seriously found THE PERFECT SPOT for our second store, and we could not be more thrilled with the results of the many months of design and build-out.  But more on that later.  Here are some photos of our Grand Opening weekend.

There were gobs of friends old and new all weekend coming out to show their support. A fantastic community welcome, we were over the moon.

Iconic facepainting happened courtesy of Kendall Pata

Music all weekend…

The Mobile Homeboys / Doublewide

Haddon Cord                                            The Kinds

Patti and Lizanne have a special dedication in the store to their mom, Lovely Rita (see our tree of life frescopauge…more on that soon too)!

Stephanie, one amazing artist.

Erich and family (our real-life Renaissance Man, who designed the store…more on him later!)

The Waxing Poetic Family

The store is located at 2350 Lillie Avenue, in Summerland, California. It was a real act of love for all of us who helped it come to life (those pics soon). We’d love to have you come by, see our latest work, and say hi if you are in the area.

Much love and gratitude,
Patti

Featured Retailer: Gracie's from Galveston, TX

Each of our retailers possesses distinctive individual charm, spreading the personal touch of Waxing Poetic in their local communities every day. As a token of our gratitude to our retailers and because we think you’ll love them as much as we do, we’re delighted to introduce Gracie's.

Located in the heart of The Stand District in Galveston Texas, Gracie's is an adorable boutique featuring an array of name-brand gifts, furnishings, children's toys and clothing.

Our favorites include the Wing & a Prayer Collection, the Healing Gems Clear Chain and the Rolo Chains.

What are your favorite pieces?
This is a tough one, but our personal favorites are probably the Flutterby Pendant and the Square Insignia Charms.

What are your customer’s favorite collections?
Our top sellers and customer favorites seem to be the Your Heart is Your Map Pendants, the Remedy in a Bottle Pendants, the Camp Charms and the Faith Crystal Pendants.

What are your customer’s favorite pieces?
If we had to choose a couple, we would say that our customers favorites include the Rolo Chains, the Rivet Insignia Charms, Crest Insignia Charms and Twisted Link Chains. They love the vintage look of all of the Waxing Poetic pieces and the mix of brass and silver!

Do you have any fun stories or interesting tidbits that you would like to share?
One of our customers, named Pam, came in and purchased a Large Brass Ball Bracelet for her babies (aka: dogs).  She selected 3 initial charms, a Whimsies Paw Charm and the Silhouette Portrait Bone Charm.  The next day she came back to purchase the Multi Strand Rolo Bracelet with her initials and her husbands initials. The funny part is...the dogs came first before her husband!

Thank you so much for joining us today!
If you are in the area be sure to check out Gracie's (www.graciesgiftshop.com) located at The Strand in Galveston, Texas.  We can also be reached by phone at 409-762-2515.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Hi All,

It’s already the middle of October! October, as you ought to know, is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is a particularly big deal at Waxing Poetic.

We’re a company predominantly composed of women, we make jewelry (for everyone, but especially ladies), and we’re generally obsessed with honoring mamas everywhere, so when a designated month appears to spread the word about the ongoing battle to vanquish a foe that threatens our heroines, OH YES we’re going to do something about it. Several somethings. And keep on.

One thing we want to do this month is cheer – for survivors, for battlers, for the wonderful women who left us too early (but not without fighting, or making indelible marks on our hearts), for their families (and ours!) and for the healing power of shared storytelling, which raises awareness and empathy in ways that we can’t even track.

When it comes to profiling Breast Cancer heroines, we have a hard time choosing – you are legion, after all, and we don’t play favorites at Waxing Poetic (which makes selecting a single person for today VERY hard!).

We want to honor EVERYONE! All at once! If only we could make links for ALL your stories! But, that would jam servers and cause all manner of digital problems and probably make Facebook annoyed, so right this second, we’d like to direct your attention to the candid, casually glamorous, sometimes flinty, often-inspiring and really brave survivor blog of Santa Barbara County neighbor, Hollye Jacobs.

Slightly over a year ago, Hollye was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and in the months that followed, opted to chronicle her fight in a one of our favorite 21st century public/private forums, and in doing so, joined an inspiring, motley squad of complicated, wonderful, contradictory ladies who tell us how they are, and in doing so, make it ok for the rest of us to answer, more honestly, the question of ‘how are you doing?’

Read more about Hollye in her own words at www.brooksidebuzz.com, and feel free to share your own thoughts/feelings/stories and bloglinks with our ever-expanding community in the comments section below.

With love, respect, and gratitude,

WP

Behind the Scenes of our 2011 Catalogue Shoot

We had such a wonderful time at our catalogue shoot this year, we just had to share part of it with you. Check out some behind the scenes footage set to the tunes of one of our muses, Haddon Cord.

2011 Catalogue Shoot - Music by Haddon Cord from Waxing Poetic on Vimeo.

Custom Wine Bottle for St. Mark's

We were asked by our dear friend Polly Firestone Walker to design the label for a special cuvee as part of a fundraising event for St. Mark’s-In-The-Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos. St. Mark’s is our neighbor, and we love to support them whenever we have the opportunity, so we jumped at the chance to design the bottle art. Our designer Stephanie Kheder designed the label, featuring her hand illustrated St. Mark’s lion etched into the glass. What a fun project, and all for a good cause. For this year's event, as well as offering some unbelievable bottles of wine for auction (1945 Chateau Calon-Segur, a 1949 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild, and a 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc are just three of them that pop to mind) Brooks Firestone decided to create a one-of-a-kind 18l bottle of Santa Ynez Valley Syrah, blended from some local producers (Doug Margerum, Jorian Hill, Curtis Winery and Clos Pepe among others). When the idea was raised to have an etched label, Polly immediately thought of Patti and Stephanie and all the amazing artists of Waxing Poetic. As well as serving its parishioners, St. Mark's also provides a space for various groups like the Jewish Community, the Foodbank of Santa Barbara, AA, the Valley Community Theater, Pacific Pride Foundation, Toastmasters, and the Los Olivos Rotary to name a few. St. Mark's is also home to a thriving Pre-School.