Monday, March 29, 2010

I mastered the Tutu!!!! And welcome to the "Royal Highness" Collection

Hello to all of my fabulous SJ fans and followers! For those of you who keep up with me on FB, this might be a bit repetitive, but still fun! While I was working the SJ booth at Rodeo Austin, a customer walked in wearing a "tutu". She was a girl close to my age, maybe just a few years younger, but obviously I fell in love with the idea. And I was fortunate enough to be able to buy one at the Rodeo!


Now, for some of my followers (for instance Cheramie or Catherine), I'm sure you might be thinking I'm a bit crazy. And believe me, I do not plan on wearing this thing everywhere. But, while working the booth I figure if I hear someone say, "There is no way I can wear that!", when referring to an SJ item, then I can reply with, "Mam, I am 22 and wearing a tutu. If I can wear this and pull it off, then you can definately wear that!" And, the pictures I posted on FB stimulated so much buyer interest, it won't be long until we are carrying tutu's for grown size girls here at SJ!

Now, on to some new SJ creations! We recently debuted the "Royal Highness" necklace collection! Not only are the necklaces very different, new, popular and fun, but check out that name! My friends, Jessica and Kaycie Carter, were visiting the booth (and picking up their new SJ belts) while at the Star of Texas for the steer show, and I was telling them how I wanted to start naming the similar groups of my designs to make things a little more organized and fun all at the same time. So of course, between the 3 of us (if you know each of us personally, you would understand), we agreed that it had to be "queen or princess" oriented. So Kaycie spit out, "How about Royal Highness!?"......needless to say history ever since! Plus the fact that Tanner and I recently named our cattle business "Royal Genetics", well it all totally fit!

So, be looking for many new color comibinations and designs that feed off of the "Royal Highness" collection. Also, Texas' very own Miss Rodeo Texas, Devin Felger, already wore one to a performance last week! I think these are going to be a huge hit, and hopefully each of you like them as much as I do. Check out the pics! Oh, and Anna Spencer, from The Grace Photography, and myself will be traveling together to Round Top to shop and meet up with some friendly competitors, so check back to the blog for posts on the trip! Until the next blog.....peace, love and jewlz!

And my apologies for not being able to make the pictures fit where they would look best, I am a necklace designer, not a graphic or print designer. I need help, I know!





Friday, March 19, 2010

The Miniature Hereford Show! Starring: Mason Leifeste and Aubrey Blissard

One of the funnest things about my job is traveling to livestock shows and rodeos. In my down time (which isn't much), there is alwasy a show to catch, a friend to visit with, a concert to attend, etc. But, one of my favorite events that I have attended while "working the SJ booth" was the 2010 Miniature Hereford Show at the Star of Texas in Austin.

For the blog members who are not cattle enthusiasts, you may wonder: What are Miniature Herefords? And what is their purpose? Well, as posted on their association website, at www.mhbaonline.org, there are many reasons to raise and exhibit miniature herefords. They are smaller in size, which means they are great for kids, take less feed to maintain, take less time to be market ready, and have more appropriate size steaks when harvested. But of co
urse, I focus on their purpose for the kids. I absolutely love children. And I am 100% sure when I have little ones, that I will help them exhibit miniature Herefords if they want to participate!

So, there were two special exhibitors yesterday that will be featured. They are Mister Mason Leifeste and Miss Aubrey Blissard.

Mason Leifeste is the son of Alan and Samantha Leifeste of Cameron, TX. Mason's d
ad, Alan, is a Brangus breeder (which is the same breed I raise and show). Mason's mom, Samantha, was the Junior Director for the IJBBA the two years that I served on the National Junior Brangu
s Breeder's Board of Directors. Now, this was a couple of years ago.......so, you guessed it! Sam was pregnant with Mason when I was
on the Jr. Board. I remember Mason in her belly, his first show that he attended w
ith his play pen set up next to the cattle
stalls, and now I get to watch him exhibit his own show cattle project. Mason is known by Brangus breeders all over the nation. He is famous for his cute little quotes. Oh, and if you don't know Mason........he dates a very famous singer. Her name is Taylor Swift. If you don't believe me, just ask him about it.

Tanner and I met Miss Aubrey just a few
months ago. We
worked for her grandparents, Bill and Delores Jenki
ns, at the 2010 Fort Worth Open Shorthorn Show. Aubrey's parents are also shorthorn breeders. The first memory I have of Aubrey is her miniature cattle blow dryer. She of course carted her "blow
er" with her around Fort Worth, and anytime anyone else would turn on a "big person" blower and blow out the cattle, well then, Miss Aubre
y would have to turn hers on. Now she might not necessarily have been blowing a heifer or a bull, but she was helping "work".

Mason had Champion Pre-Juni
or Prospec
t Steer yesterday, and he also won this
title a few days ago at the Houston Livestock Show. I didn't stay for the length o
f the heifer show, but I did watch class number 1, which had only 2 entries in it. And those two exhibitors were, Mister Mason and Miss Aubrey. I had to get back to work and relieve my "help" AKA Tanner, so he could be r
elieved from sitting and working the "girl booth". But here are so
me pictures I took at the show. I hope each of you enjoy them as much as I do.












Monday, March 15, 2010

We are here!!!! At Rodeo Austin that is.....






Okay, my apologies for not blogging sooner. Thus, it will all roll into one. But the good thing is, I have a lot of pictures for the blog, so it will be easier and more interesting to follow.

Last Thursday, Anna Spencer (our super awesome photographer from www.thegracephotography.com) and I came and set up the SJ booth at Rodeo Austin. The best part about it all was the fact that we parked front row (literally right in front of the door by our booth), got to keep the truck there the entire time, were very prompt about getting set up, and....(dum, dum, dum, dum)....WE HAVE A HUGE PINK CROWN AT THE TOP OF OUR BOOTH! Check this stuff out:


Friday was our first day to start selling, so I came that morning to move in all the goodies and finalize the set up. Now this had to be one of the craziest, busiest weekends of my life that required me to run up and down the roads. A good friend of mine from back home (Bremond, TX) was getting married. Therefore, I had to drive 2 hours to a rehearsal and dinner. Then on Saturday, I of course was in the wedding. She was a gorgeous bride, and I had a lot of fun seeing friends that I had grown up with and not seen in a very long time. Roslyn (the bride) was one of my friends that I spent many, many nights and weekends with growing up. I think thanks to her and her family, my gypsy like instincts were created. Her mom (in the picture with her) is also a very good friend to my mom!

Sunday morning, (still in Bremond, TX), I had to go check on some show pigs, stop in Hearne
to meet up with Amy's mom to get her dry cleaning and bring it back to Austin (so she could continue to look adorable while working the SJ booth), get to Tanner's house to get a show heifer prospect we got sold loaded up with her new owner, change into my SJ-attire, and come back to Austin to work! Whew, just typing all that made me tired!

But, after the crazy and fun-filled weekend, it has been time to focus my time and efforts back to SJ! Today (Monday), we debuted our very our line of belts. And boy, were they a hit. If you are interested in one, check them out on our Facebook page, the SJ online store or feel free to email us at randa@southernjewlz.com. But here are some awesome pictures of them! They already make the booth look better and have been selling very well. Not to mention, they are just simply fabulous and can make anyone look cute!







And the last bit of excitement that I will share before I go to bed (which is where
I should already be), is the fact that Mr. Kyle Park himself visited the SJ booth this evening. For those of you who do not know him, he is a very talented Texas Country Singer. so you should look him up. He is also very nice, personable, and appreciative for his fans. For those Kyle Park fans out there, be looking for him sporting a Southern Jewlz koozie the next time you see him, because of course we shared one with him. And ladies.....he is single!!!!

Don't forget about our March promotional! Create your customer account at the SJ online store and be automatically entered for a chance to win $50 store credit. Check it out at www.southernjewlz.mybigcommerce.com. Peace, love, jewlz and GOODNIGHT!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

A relaxing 5 minutes...




This will be a very short post, because the Rodeo Austin posts (that will start tomorrow) will all be very long and intense.

So, yesterday evening in the middle of loading up my truck, finishing jewelry preps, working on orders, laundry, and everything else going on to finalize Rodeo Austin prepraration, I actually stopped for 5 minutes. I realized what a beautiful day it was. And as Tanner and I were getting into my truck to run an errand, I had a few moments to just watch some of our show heifers graze. I know some of you (those that aren't show cow fanatics like me) won't understand this, but for the rest of you---I just love watching the cows graze on a beautiful day! It is very rewarding to me, especially when I had raised them. So, I took a couple of snap shots and of course wanted to share them with my blog. So, I hope all of you (cow enthusiasts and non-so cow enthusiasts) enjoy!



Monday, March 8, 2010

Royal Genetics Debut at the 2010 Houston Livestock Show!


Hello all SJ supporters and followers! Boy, is this just a busy time of the year for us. We just returned from the Open Brangus Show at the 2010 HLS&R. Let me fill most of you in
on a little history before the story begins.

I grew up in Bremond, TX which is located about 20 miles from Camp Cooley Ranch in Franklin, TX. In high school, I bought and showed Brangus heifers from Camp Cooley, which at the time, was home of the famous Brinks Brangus herd. They also raised Charolais and Angus. Their fall bull sale was famous! They sold over 1,000 head each fall of bulls alone, and of course had a top notch female sale as a preview to sta
rt off the weekend. If you have ever attended a Camp Cooley sale, you know that they also served an amazing steak dinner each night to all of the customers and attendees.

While in high school and even after that, I had much success with my Camp Cooley Brangus show heifers (which are now the basis and donors of our show cattle business 'Royal Genetics'). I won many Texas majors and also the 2005 National Junior Brangus Show. I still own each of these females and enjoy raising show and donor prospects out of each of them.

Tanner, my boyfriend, grew up actively showing American Steers. He has also won many banners himself, but his are breed champions from all of the Texas majors with his show steer projects. His oldest sister, Dusti, however grew up showing Brangus heifers. Of course she was a bit older than me, and I never knew her from showing. But, Tanner and his family both have roots in the Brangus breed. The neat thing about it all, is we both have a love and passion for show cattle!!!
So, now that I am a self-employed business owner (thanks to all of the fabulous SJ customers!), I can also still pursue one of my favorite hobbies -- showing cattle! The Open Brangus Show at Houston is the most prestigious Brangus show in the USA. Many exhibitors from all over the nation, as well as international exibitors, owners and Brangus cattle enthusiasts attend this show.

My dad and I left Wednesday morning with the trailer loaded down with all of our tack, feed, equipment, and of course, the cattle. Tanner needed to stay in school and my brother, Jacob, had recently had his appendix removed. Thus, dad and I were in charge of hauling, unloading, setting up, and taking care of the cattle until Tanner and Jacob arrived to help us Thursday evening.

The bull show was Friday. Even though we didn't bring any bulls we raised along with us, Tanner, Jacob and myself helped some fellow Brangus friends get prepared for the show. Tanner and Jacob helped fit the bulls, while I was in the show ring exhibiting them.


The next day, Saturday, was the day the Brangus females would show. Tanner's good friend, Jason Schroeder, along with the rest of Tanners' family (his dad, mom and little sister Emily) came to watch. Som
e other supporters that came to help us were Amy Hughes (a good friend of mine that I actually met through Camp Cooley and showing Brangus heifers), Ashleigh Sowell (my brother's girlfriend, an SJ employee, and a dear friend), and Dustin Burke (a fellow judging team member and college friend from Texas A&M).

On show day, I had to show both of the heifers of ours, a handful of heifers from Louisiana, owned by Bob Savoie, and because a fellow Brangus breeder and friend, Traci Middleton, from Puryear, TN woke up extremely sick, I was in charge of showing her string of heifers as well. Needless to say, as I am typing this blog, my hands and shoulders st
ill hurt. Not showing in a while can definately make you sore!

Probably the coolest addition to Royal Genetics within the past week and our trip to Houston, is the fancy signs we had made! I am extremely proud of them, hence why they are posted all over the blog.

Tanner and his family are headed back to the Houston Livestock Show this week with market steers. Myself and Southern Jewlz will be headed t
o the Star of Texas/Rodeo Austin to set up our booth! We will be there selling fabulous SJ goodies from March 12-March 27, so be sure and check the blog for upcoming pictures and happenings!

Remember to go visit the Southern Jewlz online store at www.southernjewlz.mybigcommerce.com, or by clicking on the collection tab while viewing the Southern Jewlz website. Everyone who builds a customer account during the month of March will be eligible for the drawing of $50 free store credit! Also, email us your pictures of you and your SJ gear to randa@southernjewlz.com to be included in our customer collage that will be part of the SJ booth at Rodeo Austin!




Tuesday, March 2, 2010

A very touching jewelry party and weekend...



This past Friday evening we had our first home jewelry party (well the first in a long 2 years). It was held at Lexington, TX at Tiffany Patschke's house. All day long, my new friend, Anna Spencer of The Grace Photography, and myself prepared for this party. I am also waiting to see the fabulous pictures Anna took of the party and will share them as soon as I have them. Anyways, back to the story. We took over Tiffany's house and decorated it with SJ goodies all over the place! By the time we had left to get ready and returned, many guests had arrived.

There were probably 25-30 ladies in attendance. One thing that I thought was so awesome, is most of these ladies were wives and mothers, but were childhood and high school friends and they still keep their relationships strong. That's definately how I was to be with all of my girlfriends in 5-10 years!

There was one younger girl in attendance. She is a sophomore at Texas A&M University majoring in Nutrition Science. I noticed she look at many, many items but only bought a pair of earrings. I don't know for sure her family life, but I do know my friend Anna put one item t
hat she had wanted aside and let me know she was buying it for the girl. I of course asked, why? what's wrong? I believe she lost a or both (not for sure) parents while she was in high school. One of the young mom's from Lexington was her high school counselor, so that's how she fit into the crowd. Anna soon told me that the girl had worked 2 jobs in high school to afford an apartment for herself. Because she was ranked at the top of her high school class, she couldn't move in with her aunt and uncle like her other siblings, or she wouldn't be able to qualify for valedictorian of her high school class, which would then cost her a lot of scholarship money. Now, this gorgeous and bright young lady is a sophomore by year, but junior by hours and plans to attend medical school. Needless to say, I had to fight back the tears hearing Anna tell me the story.

So of course, I told Anna many of the items the girl seemed to had wanted, that way I could give them to her, but they were already purchased. Little did I know, but some of the other w
omen were buying them for her. The only thing that I knew she wanted that hadn't been boughten for her yet was this necklace.

For all of you followers and readers who know me personally, it will come to no surprise that I wanted her to have this necklace. But the problem was, how were we going to give all of these items to her without her thinking she was needing charity in our eyes. So, we called her high school counselor over, told her we had compiled everything she wanted, multiple necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, and we wanted her to have them. The counselor called her over and explained that the ladies and myself wanted her to have all the items to wear an
d promote SJ while working at the Texas RoadHouse in College Station, TX. She of course did not want to accept the gifts at first, and with tears in my eyes, I told her I would love for a
girl like herself to promote my business. She did accept and by this point, tears had created in her eyes.

By the end of the night when I was taking Anna home, I explained to her how truly touched I was by the young girl. Then, as if I wasn't already fighting to hold the tears back, she told me that she wanted her little girl (whom I absolutely love) to grow up to be just like me. That was one of the sweetest and most genuine things anybody has ever said to me! By the time I had dropped her off, I called my mother (keep in mind it was 1am at this point) and just cried
to her. From telling her how much I love her (my mom), how blessed I am, how I try to be the best influence to others, and explaining how the night worked out, I could barely breathe in between the tears. Of course, my emotions were probably influenced by the time and me being tired, but I explained to my mom that I know I have pursued the correct line of business and am creating an amazing future for myself and others surrounded by me.

So, moral of the story - Realize just how blessed each of you truly are. Say your prayers w
hen you go to bed each night and when you wake up each morning. In today's society, it is so easy to take for granted all the gifts that life truly has.

I am now booking jewelry parties for the months of April and May. Please email me at randa@southernjewlz.com if you are interested! Of course, as a host, you will receive a very nice discount towards your SJ purchase. Until the next blog, stay fabulous SJ followers and customers!