It's a New Day

Hello beautiful followers,

This is one of those posts that you over-think and never actually end up typing incase it doesnt come out completely perfect.  So here goes! I wrote an email to a close friend last month sharing the what & whens of what I'd like to say and I think it'll be easier to just include little excerpts from that letter:

"I have been making jewellery since the age of 17, with this year marking 10 years of my love for the craft. Through each and every change in my life from bible school to marriage to babies, it has always been something constant that I have come to rely on for my creative outlet, meeting beautiful people such as yourself and so much more. It has also been a gift for me to be a stay-at-home mom for 3 years. This was something I would have worked until midnight for weeks had it been required! 

Having said all this, you might had read my blog post a little while back which brought to light my struggle with post-partum depression & adrenal burnout. This really was an incredible blow to every part of my life. The little energy & all the love and hard work I could muster was poured out on my kids and there were weeks when I couldn't even make my way into my workroom. After six months I began to recover my strength and creativity seemed to trickle back and I have started to feel like myself again. I was so excited to get back on track and get caught up with all my lovely stockists and start my rounds again, but something was just not sitting right. 

I have taken the last two months to be open to all possibilities and to see what in my heart of hearts I have a peace about and what the plan of God is for me. The first time I said out loud "I think it's time to close down Kristi Kyle Jewellery", I was amazed at the relief and the peace that I felt."

There it is, officially out! I was a lot braver when I typed that letter up than I am now trying to type this post. It's not a sense of regret or sadness that chokes me up, but I am just so grateful from the bottom of my heart for the 'beyond-words-special' people that have given me the time from their days to help me along this journey. 

I have a few more posts before I sign off of this blog. To stay in touch with you all, I have decided to start up a lifestyle blog of what I get up to - home projects / recipes / life stories / kids thrown in too. I will make sure to link up. You can also always follow me on @kristiannkyle for updates.

The birds are singing, the sun is shining and I'm going to hop off my computer and soak it all in while the house is quiet - big loves & have a wonderful day!

A pretty necklace just for me

I follow Heather from Skinny laMinx on twitter and almost every Friday she takes time out to make things that make her happy. This really got me thinking.

I love designing pieces for my business, but realize I haven't made much time to design something that I would really love to wear with 'that' dress or 'that'  blouse hanging in my own cupboard. You would be surprised to see how few accessories I have made & kept just for little ol' me.

To kick-start things in the right direction, the last two weeks I have taken on projects just for the plain fun of it. A few have been created out of time spent sitting with my supplies and re-hashing old ideas, and others have been fun projects that incredibly talented ladies have shared online.

My husband and I spent last Friday night working on a 'Teardrop Necklace' project that I found here. I had all of these supplies sitting in my workroom and was happy to put them to good use. We laughed and drank coffee while we literally watched paint dry for a few hours and finally put together the first of our little creations. Thank you to Ashley for this fun idea - I feel warm and glow-y when I wear my pretty necklace.

 

Jewellery-making tea party for little hands

I decided to put some unused beads to good use and host a jewellery-making tea party for the sweet kids in my complex. Ten kids in total. I loved watching their personalities jump out as each little pair of hands created something so unique & perfect just for them. There were also some heart-warming moments of making something special for "Ouma" or "Mommy" and some very proud faces as they showed off their works of art.

Between tying off bracelets, crimping necklaces and making sure everyone had something to work on, I didn't take any photos of the beautiful handiwork, but did manage to sneak a few while setting up.  

Five months in a flash

'I Love' Pop up shop at the artSPACE Gallery
Genevieve out-did herself once again and hosted a pop up shop in the artSPACE gallery down in Durban. Thank you Gen for allowing us to display our designs along with so many incredibly talented designers. You can find more of our display photos here.

Newborn Baby Headbands
We can't get enough of these little accessories. We have kept Baby Best stocked up with a few variations of our Newborn Ruffle headband. How sweet is this little cherub?

Here comes the Bride & her jewellery

We worked together with two brides in April & May. The first bride, a childhood friend, was married in Zimbabwe and the second beautiful bride married locally in Hilton where we worked alongside Bella Dama. Gift bags with personalized name tags were presented to each bride and selected bridal party. We have finally put together an album to show a little look at our recent bridal designs.
(Photo credit: Milestones Photography)

Wedding & Party Favours
We launched a range of fabric party favours - a helping hand to make wedding planning just a little easier. The idea is to mix and match a selection of  hairbows, bowties and ruffle hairclips in the colour palette of choice and essentially tick one more thing off the to-do list. 
(Photo credit: CC Rossler Photography)

Here's to a happy & productive month of July!

Hello!

I cannot believe it has been 5 months since I last posted on my little blog. 

Well, actually I can. 

I am so grateful for the life I have been given that it seems trivial to bring up the negative, but sometimes it just has to be said. My little bundle of joy marked some of the best moments of my life, but also the start of an uphill climb with what could be described as Postpartum depression and a very unexpected burnout. I am in awe of the love and support I have felt over these last few months. After what felt like wading through mud, I feel clearer and finally creative once again. 

I did manage to do a few bits and bobs in between and will do a little "Five months in a flash" post to bring you up to date with what we are doing and where we are going.

With love,

Kristi

{CC Rossler Photography}

Baby Best

My little wonder crawls closer to a new milestone in what seems like almost every day of his 7 months of beautiful life. It is vital to have a great baby shop in town to keep us stocked up with age appropriate nik naks and necessities. 

I stumbled upon Baby Best on the lookout for such a place. I was so impressed by Jo who runs her boutique with innovative forward-thinking. Half of her floor space is dedicated to pre-loved deals and the other with neat gift ideas and trendy finds. It is well worth a visit and a  feat to leave empty handed. I stopped by today and took a quick photo of a few of our newborn headbands now available in-store. 

{Photo credit: Kristi Kyle}

We're in a happy place with our new displays!

Before our holiday break in December, I took on the task of creating a way to showcase my range of headbands in-store. I wanted functional, neat & pretty. I strive for this little company's packaging to be as thought through as the accessory itself. 

I started with the headband cards. First scribbling out a design, followed by hours of playing with cuts of card stock to figure out the best usability. Lastly, I hired a local print shop to turn my sketch into my very first headband tag. I was delighted!

While that was underway, I went to work on brainstorming the actual display itself. With a simple plan drawn out, it was brought to life by a loving pair of hands. My better half! He worked for hours perfecting grooves and replicated the first few to deliver to shops. I stopped by Fat Tuesday this morning to snap a few photos to share with you.

I dare to say we turned a functional piece into something PRETTY.

{Photo credit: Kristi Kyle}