Amy Peters' Studio Buzz

Gratitude-Sneak Peak

There are very few memories of my childhood that don't involve my friend Kris. I'm trying really hard these days to not call her Krissey. I've known her since I was 3, she lived just 4 doors away from me, went to the same schools, same college, we were in each others weddings, we were pregnant both time together and became moms at the same time. We still talk as often as our busy lives allow.  We try to get together for weekend vacations and fun with our kids. She has a son Kyra's age and twin boys Nik's age.  The kids love seeing each other!

This past weekend she went above and beyond the friend duties. She took my kids for a play date, dinner and a movie without me.  While I would have loved to be visiting with her over a cup of coffee as the kids played, I was in the urgent care with my mom while she got IV's for a leg infection.

So what do you do to tell someone how much the help meant when words alone just don't seem to be enough. 

A sneak peak of our new pewter banners.  They will be available on our website in the early fall! There are 9 different sayings. I've been keeping these under wraps for the last several months, but finally had to share. Good thing Kris doesn't have time to read my blog with 3 boys home for summer break.

Kris and her husband Evan just bought a beautiful new house and I thought this would look great hanging on her wall to remind her of how lucky and blessed she is.  And how blessed I am to have known her for 42 years!

Thanks again Kris for everything!

True Friendships

A sweet little bird hangs out on a curved branch inscribed with the latin phrase "amicus vera est rara avis" which translates to a true friend is a rare bird. This is our newest addition to our limited edition collection. It comes on a 32 inch long and short link chain.  This necklace is made in a limited edition of 50, each will come signed and numbered with a limited edtion tag.

I've come to realize how important true friends are in life.  I hold them close to my heart and thoughts.  Let this necklace tell them how much they mean to you! 

The design are available on the website HERE. 

how it all began...

My parents  still live in Palo Alto in the house I came home from Stanford hospital to live and grow up in. 

My childhood home with the kids in front being silly

Going to my family home always gets me a bit nostalgic.  The last time I started thinking about my jewelry career and how I got started. For me, my inspirational jewelry career started in my childhood.  I took a jewelry enameling class when I was 8 and fell in love with adorning myself and family with my creations.

What really started my love of hand stamped words and inspirational sayings on jewelry can all be traced back to a good luck token machine called the Harvard Metal Typer.  It was at the Woolworth's lunch counter in the Mayfield Mall in Palo Alto during the 1970's. For 25 cents you could type anything you wanted to on a aluminum disc. 

I spent over 10 years looking at every antique shop I could find to hunt a machine down.  When Ebay started it was one of the first things I bought from a collector in Oakland...I found the machine within 3 weeks of looking for it. 

I've recreated one of the Good Luck Tokens in sterling silver and offer it hand stamped with a personal message. I've been using mine for 3 years as my key ring. It is a strong heavy charm that works great as a key ring or a necklace. We sell it as a charm alone so you can decide!

It can be hand stamped with 28 letters or numbers.  You can have us stamp half on the front and half of the back if you choose. Just let us know.

Check it out now...

 

 

rings and promises {contest}

Our word, message, stacking and statement rings.

I still remember the day I received my engagement ring.  It wasn't really a surprise that I was getting it or how is was going to look. I had picked out the diamond, chosen the jeweler to make it and sketched out what I wanted.   My husband has always said it is hard to buy jewelry for a jeweler, so I "helped".  It was right before Christmas, so I was sure we wouldn't get it until after.  The jeweler was too busy to finish it and we were in no hurry.  The day I got it, it was a surprise. I remember thinking what it meant when Jim pretended to trip, dropped to a knee and asked me to be his wife, 3 days before Christmas.  It was the beginning of our family.  The promise of so much. 

Later that year I carved out and created his first wedding ring.  It was never really a perfect fit, the ring was too thick.  It was difficult for him to play violin while wearing it.  So one day after taking it off to play, it fell out of his violin case...he lost it.  I was upset, hurt and then I pulled off one of my rings and handed it to him. Of course with a few choice words thrown in. It fit perfectly.  He hasn't taken it off since.  I had the ring made for me again in rose gold. It's a special reminder of our commitment and the challenges we often face as a family. 

May your wildest dreams come true

I love everything that rings symbolize. No ending or beginning, eternity. A commitment to yourself or to someone else.   The promise of something incredible.  Whether or not it's given to you by a loved one, a dear friend or chosen by you as a present to yourself, it holds tremendous meaning.

For years now, we've been getting requests to have custom wording on our rings.  So HERE they are finally..ta da.  Custom hand stamped rings. We have three different font styles from which to choose. They are the same size and style of our word, message and statement rings and of course look fabulous stacked.  Think of lovely mommy rings filled with kids names just in time for mother's day! 

Go shopping now.

 

We are giving away one hand stamped custom ring!

First Entry: Tell us what you'd have us hand stamp on the ring and why.

Extra Entries: Tweet about it, Facebook about it, blog about it. 

We will let Random.org choose the winner tonight at 10 pm PST.

ripples from a pebble

When I was younger my mother was a stay at home mom.  As we grew and became less dependent on her she decided a part time job would be fun.  She found a job as a secretary at Stanford University for several research professors. 

The students she also worked with would often travel and they would return with small gifts for my mom.  Not wanting them to spend money on her, my mom suggested they bring her a pebble from where they had traveled.

She has always collected rocks, shells and pebbles whenever she is out and about. This way she could be connected to the places she might never have a chance to visit. 

Over the years she collected hundreds of pebbles, each inscribed with where it was from and who had given it to her.  The pebbles and memories of those students mean so much. 

 

 

When a pebble is dropped into a pond it creates ripple effects that can be felt far away. What has created ripples in your life?  Who or what has touched you?  Where do you want your ripples to reach?

Pebbles. Small sterling silver tags can be hand stamped with special words, a date or a meaninful saying. Next to it hangs a beach pebble chosen to adorn the necklace as a sweet reminder of the ripples that have touched and changed you. Strung on our adorable long and short link chain.  I love that the pebble can be worn in back of the tag or in front to keep the message hidden and just for you. 

Go Shopping.

We have been listening to our customers and we have heard you loud and clear.  You want more additions to our personalized line.  The next two weeks we have a lot of new hand stamped designs to share. 

For this Contest:  We will choose two winners.  We are giving away both of our example necklaces to two lucky readers. 

First Entry:  Tell us about the ripples in your life, that have affected you. 

Extra Entries: Tweet, Facebook or blog about this giveaway. 

We will let Random.org Choose the winner on Sunday Night at 10 pm

 

 

 

 

 

daisy chain {contest}

Growing up in Palo Alto, all of the schools had small daisies planted in the grass fields.  My friends and I used to spend all of our recess and lunch breaks tying them together to make beautiful crowns and daisy chain necklaces for each other as little thoughtful gifts. 

I love the simplicity of daisies, the happiness and pure joy of them. 

Our newest design is actually an old design, re-designed a bit. I found this adorable link chain and it fit so well. Several of my employees found the charms and asked me to bring them back.  I introduced these charms first in 1999.  I really can't remember why we stopped making them! I've always loved them.

Welcome back our daisy necklace. 

Did you used to spend hours making daisy chains?  Did your school have tiny daisies in the fields like mine?

Today's contest we are giving away one daisy necklace:

Manditory Entry: Tell us what simple gifts you like to give.

Additional entries: Tweet, Facebook or Blog about our contest with a link back to our blog.  Then comment here for each thing you do.  We will let Random.org pick the winner at 10pm PST tonight. 

 

If you just can't wait, go shopping now.

 

{be brave} enough to live creatively {contest}

There is a quote from Alan Alda that I just love.

Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You cannot get there by bus, only by hard work, risking and by not quite knowing what you are doing. What you will discover will be wonderful; yourself.    Alan Alda. 

Sneak Peak of our new Matte Choker: Be Brave

It will be on the website next week

Just think of what you can accomplish when you step out into the big scarry abyss. There are so many thing in life that you can hold yourself back from because of fear. What if you didn't hold yourself back? Just think.  What if you just went for it? What COULD you accomplish if you set your heart and mind to reaching your goals?

 

Years ago I went to a summer camp where we did a ropes challenge course.  We had to climb rope ladders, cross bridges and perform tasks high in the air, all the while harnessed in with rock climbing gear.  At one point we had to walk out on a small platform and jump to catch a ring 5 or 6 feet away.  It was 40 feet in the air.  I hesitated, because of fear and didn't put my heart or muscle into the jump....I missed the ring.  

 

Over the years I've replayed that moment in my life when I start to let fear hold me back.  I've found that if I'm scared and unsure it means that it's really important to me and I really need to push past the fear to get to the good stuff.

 

I've learned that fear does nothing but paralize us into doing nothing.  Be brave, push past it and become the best version of yourself. 

 

To enter today's contest:

First Entry, mandatory! Tell us what is holding you back from your dreams AND how are you going to push past it? Be Brave. We will let random.org choose one winner from the comments to receive one of our new Be Brave matte chokers. 

Extra entries.  Tweet about the contest.  Blog about the contest. Facebook about the contest. Comment for each thing you do.

We will choose and post the winner via Random.org at 10 pm PST. 

always dreaming {contest}

All month long we will be celebrating for my 45th birthday.  Each week on the blog I will focus on one main topic.  I will change up my normal blog routine to give you all some special treats. This week is all about lessons learned. 

This summer I worked with my production assistant Carrie to help her make a ring.  She picked a saying that was meaningful to her.  It is SO Carrie and it so perfectly describes her outlook on life. Always Dreaming.  She chose one of my smaller lowercase fun fonts.  I have a bit of an obsession with steel stamps, so she had quite a few fonts to choose from.

Learning to look at things from a different and unique perspective.  This time through someone else's eyes and thoughts, lead me in fun new directions.  I had been wanting to add a few rings and this taught me to look past what I knew and open up to different possibilities.  The new font choice is a fun and fresh take on our rings.  It gives the rings a more whimsical feel.  So of course I had to add a few new sayings into our ever popular ring collection.  We did a sneak peak awhile back.  Some of you have already called in to order them.  So, I figured I needed to hurry up and get them on the website. 

 

1. forever grateful

2. learning to fly

3. finding joy

4. always dreaming

5. seeking peace

We will be giving away one of the new rings today to a lucky blog reader.

Enter by telling us a time where you have looked at something from a different and unique perspective. What did it teach you? Where did it lead you? Were you able to come up with a better solution to a problem?  Did you take a new direction in life? 

We will choose the winner at 10pm PST and post the winner here on our blog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introducing: She flies with her own wings

This year Kyra has been studying Latin in junior high. I've fallen in love with the language, the history, the connection, the mystery of it all. It's amazing how much of this "dead" language is woven throughout our daily lives.  

I just had to add some latin into my collection. So, I've designed several necklaces that we will be introducing as limited edition designs.  There will only be a total series of 50 of each these necklaces made, once the series is complete the molds will be destroyed and not available again.  Each necklace will be hand engraved with my signature personally and have a limited edition tag on the chain noting the number in the series. They are available exclusively on our website. 

The first necklace in our limited edition collection is inscribed with the latin saying, Alis Volat Propiis. Translated this means:  She flies with her own wings. The satin finish sterling silver charm comes on a heavy handcrafted sterling silver chain with an antiqued oxidized finish. 

Check them out HERE!

 

Introducing Faith and Virtues

Our two newest additions to our pewter build your own collections are our Faith Crosses and Virtues collections. They work so well together that I just couldn't put them on different pages of our website.  Mix and match the charms for your own unique, personalized look. 

Here are a few of my favorites. Just add our chain!

Put our hammer textured cross with faith and perseverance.  So often our lives really do require a big dose of faith with a helping of perseverance added in.

What a great reminder that great things come to those who wait.  Patience really is a great virtue.

My version of faith, hope and love. 

These charms would make great gifts for your bible study, youth group or as a fundraiser for a church group (email us for discounts for non profit groups).

Find even more fun ways to put them together! HERE.