a moving studio sale

Over here I am getting ready for a big move: we are converting the garage into my studio/office space this month. We begin this weekend and will be working on it for the rest of the month! Everything is going into boxes and will stay there for a while, which means my Etsy shop will be closed for a few weeks.

As I've been cleaning and organizing, I've uncovered a few Soul Mantra necklaces, lockets,bracelets, and earrings that are now in the shop. This week, I hope you will help me clear the way for new creations I'll be making in my new space, so I'm having a sale.

Use coupon code AUGUST20 for 20% off everything in the shop through midnight on Wednesday, 8/8.

To use the code, just click on "Apply coupon code" above the "item total" column when you check out and then enter the code.

And I look forward to sharing photos of our adventure into this new studio space over the next few weeks. (Something tells me it is going to get a bit crazy around here!)

shop update

betty in layers

This weekend, I had some time to gather up beads + lockets + a few happy butterflies + a few other good things to create a new collection of Soul Mantra necklaces and bracelets that are now in the shop!

new soul mantras in the shop

Whenever I wire-wrap beads and hammer these whispered soul mantra phrases, my hope is they will be companions for you and remind you that you are not alone as you walk on your path.

May your day be full of peace and light,

Liz

give yourself the gift of this moment

A note from Liz: Today is the official launch day of The Gift of This Moment, a project I have been holding close to my heart for over a year now. I am so excited that it is ready to go out into the world to be a gentle and true companion for you on your journey. Read on for the details of this home retreat kit.

****

Some days it's the way the importance of what you're up to in the world sweeps you out, as if into a tide.

Other days it's the way the breeding inbox and never-ending details tap incessantly on your shoulder.

Or the way the future breathes down your back. And then you blink and turn the calendar and wonder where all those weeks and days and hours and minutes went. You wonder what you missed noticing and forgot to tuck in your heart and carry with you.

You wonder who you could have been if you let those moments change you instead of chase you.

Sometimes it's helpful to get tired of things like hype and speed and hamster wheels that promise you so much but in the end leave you spit out and spent with calendars heavy on scribbles and light on memories.

What if you didn't need a sabbatical in Tibet or a hike through the Himalayas to turn the ship around? What if reflective living was as simple as a moment in front of a mirror, a snapshot and a line penned on a napkin, or a book of holy heart words tucked in your bag the exact minute you need them?

What if it was a gift you could give yourself, that arrives gently at your door?

The Gift of This Moment Home Retreat Kit by Liz Lamoreux

Finally it's here: a collection of invitations, reminders and practices to keep you grounded, awake and clear so you don't miss your deep wisdom or your hidden treasures - those moments of seeing and hearing and embracing that first change us and then travel with us forever.

Give yourself this gift and receive:

• The Gift of This Moment: Practices for Reflective Living, a professionally recorded and beautifully designed audio CD featuring Liz Lamoreux's heart-felt stories and an introduction to her 3 Practices for Reflective Living.
• Seen: A Mirror Meditation Journal, a 30-Day companion for reconnecting with the person who knows you best - You. Paperback, 40 pages, including 18 invitations, notes and check-ins. Featuring line art by Liz Kalloch.
• In This Moment: Field Journal and Photo Album, your reminder to see and to notice, to root yourself deeply in the present. Carry with you, cherish, remember. Hard cover, double-wire bound, 86 pages, including 27 writing and photo prompts.
• Five Days in April: A Poetry Collection, for the times when your own words fail you. Paperback, 40 pages, including 20 soulful poems by Liz Lamoreux.
• Breathing from the Heart: Guided Meditations, five downloadable mp3s of professionally recorded meditations by Liz, whose training as a yoga instructor infuses and informs this journey.
• A Breathing from the Heart reminder sticker to place where you need it most.
• A custom-designed, travel-size mirror in a sheer organza bag to help you reconnect to yourself wherever you are.
• "Here" and "I am Beauty" temporary tattoos from Chickadee Road so you can adorn yourself with the reminders you most need to keep you present to your practice.
• Rejuvenate. Reconnect. Retreat. Black mini tote bag to hold together all the parts and pieces, plus your keys, your phone and other on-the-go essentials.

The Gift of This Moment Home Retreat Kit: All you need to rejuvenate, reconnect and retreat, any time, any place. No plane ticket required.

$135 USD, ships free worldwide

(From Jen Lee Productions)

celebrating sunshine + gratitude (and a shop sale)

When the sun comes out in the Seattle area and it isn't the middle of summer yet, well, we get a little excited. And when it shines for days and days, we start to act a little silly as we soak it all up. Over here, Ellie is clearing the yard of all dandelions and Millie is rolling around on the grass as though she can't believe it feels warm. 

To celebrate this sun and to continue to create space in my studio as I keep finding more necklaces and beads and lockets that I have been meaning to put in the shop for months, I am having a shop sale. Just use coupon code MAYSUNSHINE for 20% off everything in the shop through 5/17.

When you visit this shop, you will see that I am continuing to take a break from custom orders for a few months. However, the shop is stocked with new items that I think you will enjoy. Lots of new soul mantra phrases and the return of some old favorites. And lots of new beaded necklaces and a few bracelets. Most of the items are now ready to ship and many are one of a kind.

You will also see a new collection called "She Stories." When I unearthed an old idea journal a few months ago, I came across a list of very short stories beginning with the phrase "she who..." My original plan for these little stories included tucking them inside the pockets of bags, but instead I am "tucking them" inside lockets. Each of these very shorts stories are inspired by the women in my life and the ways they share their light with the world. [Half of this first batch of She Stories has already "flown out the door." So delighted that these are speaking to you because I really love them!]

***

And I want to say a big thank you (as in oh my goodness if you came over for tea today I would give you a huge hug + cupcake kind of thank you) for your enthusiastic response to yesterday's post about my "Inner Excavate-along" idea! Wow! Your comments really filled me up with so much joy and gratitude and pushed me to know that it is totally okay to feel the way I feel and want to celebrate my book and honor it at this time. 

More details coming soon! I am cooking up a few things to really kick it off! And right now the tentative start date is June 11. 

We are going to have so much fun!

strawberries and soul mantras

new necklaces in the shop

Last Wednesday, I stood at the kitchen sink cutting strawberries while Ellie was eating them almost as fast as I could cut them for her. While getting into that rhythm of quartering them, I had a series of thoughts that went like this, “Maybe we could go to the Farmers’ Market Saturday. Wonder what they will have. Flowers! Maybe this could be the first Saturday in a long line of Saturdays that we get out and have this time as a family. She is so inquisitive. She will love picking out veggies and fruit this summer! And seeing the dogs…. Crap! I have so much to do this weekend. We can’t go to the Farmers’ Market. I have too many custom orders to make and emails to answer.”

And just like that, I dismissed my desire to live deeply and widely with my family.

I didn’t listen to this clear voice in my head telling me what I need and want and went back to the reality I was creating in that moment about not being in charge of my own business.

And then this weekend I spent an hour photographing some lockets + soul mantra pendants I have been meaning to put in the shop for weeks. These are the pieces I have been making alongside the many custom orders I’ve been doing over the last few months. These are the phrases and words that have literally whispered to me and insisted on being included in the batch I was working on. Phrases like: 

You Are Enough
Love Big
So I Fly
Each Day I Open Up More
I dance. I love big. I live.
Live It Baby Girl
Seek Joy
I choose love
Connect
Breathe
See Your Light
Trust
Here 

And as I opened each one, placed it on the rock I use as a prop, and snapped the photo of the mantra inside, I found myself saying the phrases aloud. And then nodding: yes yes yes.

This piece of realizing you have gotten a bit lost in the business of things and forgetten about the business of living – that is where I found myself as I took those photos.

I started thinking about how going to the Farmers’ Market (and all that it represents) is the most important thing a Saturday morning (and all that it represents) should hold. I know this. I would tell you this if you came to me with this as a piece of your story.

And now it is time to live it more often.

Things have been shifting with my business for almost a year now. I have owned my call to teach + write more and poetry is taking center stage again. I am listening to my desire to start adding mentoring sessions to my offerings (thank you for asking for this! more details soon!). And I am leaning into the truth that superwoman can do anything but she can’t do everything*.

Oh and I am realizing I don’t want to superwoman. 

The first step has been to change how I run the shop. I am not taking custom orders for the next few months. Probably until the holidays. The shop will still be filled with Soul Mantra jewelry, but they will almost all be ready to ship, “what you see in this photo is what will arrive in your mailbox,” items. They will be the phrases that are most insisting to be in this world, and I hope you will enjoy them!

Go see! I’ve already stocked the shop with several of these new pieces. 

Thanks for reading all of this today as I wanted to share these pieces of my story in case you have pieces of your story that need to shift. In case you want an invitation to shift your schedule to make more time for Farmers’ Markets and all that your heart is telling you it needs…

Big love,

Liz

PS If you or someone you know is a virtual assistant who works with Etsy shops, please email me. I am looking for someone with administrative experience supporting Etsy artists. Thanks!

*When I was little, this saying (superwoman can do anything but she can't do everything) was up in my house above my mom's desk. 

trust, rest, and a shop coupon

trust . a new bracelet in the shop

Last week, I closed the shop for about ten days to give myself a bit of breathing space. I wanted to spend time with my family and focus on a couple of other projects and big dreams that I am hoping to make real. It was also the breathing space week in my Create Space ecourse, and it was simply nice to practice what I am teaching as I work alongside my current ecourse participants.

This made me think about how we really should give ourselves the gift of a break every now and then. Even though I wasn't actually on a true vacation (oh my goodness I know there is a white sandy beach in Maui calling my name but I won't be visiting her for a long time) and in reality I was working almost every day, I needed to take a break from being in the studio and creating for others. I needed this break so that I could come back refreshed and ready to create these special talismans.

(I am writing more on the idea of rest and redefining what rest can mean as part of the next "Field Notes: Adventures in Creative Self-Care" newsletter series, so stay tuned as I will be sending it out later this week. Sign up here if you want to start receiving this newsletter-only series and other fun things like coupons for the shop, retreat announcements, and so on.)

Earlier this week, as I reorganized my project table where I create most of the Soul Mantras designs, I felt called to create this new "trust" bracelet for myself. I have been working with trust as one of my personal soul mantras for a few months now, using it in meditation and with my personal altar practice. And I have been wearing this word inside a locket. But I felt called to make it even more present. I need to see it on my wrist to remember each day that it is time to trust the love that surrounds me, the wisdom within me, and that I don't have to know and do everything. I paired it with an amethyst crystal to help calm thoughts and give insight. I have been wearing it stacked with my mala beads and a few other bracelets, and it has made me so happy that I decided to add it as a new available design.

As I celebrate getting back into the studio, I am having a 20% off sale in my shop today! Just use coupon code "leap2012" TODAY ONLY to receive 20% off of your entire order. (You just have to click "Apply Coupon Code" right above the item total in your cart. Then enter the code before you check out.)

May today include a bit of what you most need...

Blessings,

Liz

heart.full (a shop note)

a few of the new items now in the shop, including several new items added to the heart.full collection

Last February, I shared a bit about the girl I used to be:

She wasn’t one for a month all about love or stringing hearts up about the house. She rolled her eyes at the idea of one day when someone you call sweetheart is supposed to buy you roses. She had spent so many days alone that even when she found herself in love and loved in return, she still tried to ignore this need others had to make one day about something that never quite felt real. She was quiet about it but mostly tolerated seeing everyone in red, and then she bought the chocolates when they went on sale.

And in that post, I shared how part of this story changed forever on a day in the summer of 2010. Now I am a girl who loves hearts (as in I kind of can't get enough), who believes that "love is all you need," who believes we must invite in joy and peace and love each day, who believes in turning the idea of Valentine's Day on its head and making it more about love for self, for kindreds, for those who help you say "yes" to knowing you are not alone and that your story matters.

Last February, the Heart.Full Collection was created as a way to say thank you to the hospitals that saved Ellie Jane's life in 2010 and to honor that love comes into our lives in so many ways. 15% of the profits from this collection are split between Mary Bridge Children's Hospital and Seattle Children's.

And I am happy to share that starting today through Valentine's Day, I will be giving 10% of all the profits from each item sold in the shop to the Heart.Full Collection contributions I will make this year with your help. Thank you for your support and kindness. Thank you for sharing your stories and catching mine.

*****

I am delighted to share that I am part of 52 Photos Project's Handmade Valentine's Day showcase this week! Each day Bella is highlighting a shop and mine is up today.

I hope you will visit 52 Photos Project throughout the week to see what other good things Bells shares.

a shop celebration

Earlier today, Kelly sent me an email that said:

SIXTEENHUNDRED SALES! WOOHOO!!!!!

congrats chickadee. smiling over here and doing

a little happy dance.

After reading her words, I headed over to my Etsy shop and saw that today I had indeed hit 1600 sales. 

Thank you!

Thank you for cheering me on and visiting my shop and sharing your stories and reaching out through emails and reminding me that what I have to share in this world matters.

To celebrate the gratitude I am feeling, I am having a 16% off everything in the shop sale from now until Sunday at midnight. Just use coupon code HAPPY16 when you check out (just click "apply shop coupon code" above your order total in your cart).

And I have added a new Collaborations section to the shop that now includes each of the nine One Word Girls paired with a Soul Mantra word that Kelly and I have chosen. We have been getting some notes from people saying that they wanted us to choose a word for them, so we thought we would add this option to the shop! I have also added photos of the necklaces with some of the new happy beads that are now part of my One Word Girl vintage moonglow stash.

And here is a little something I am writing down in the self-care section of my journal: You should always surround yourself with people who support you and remind you to celebrate your successes and call you chickadee.

(Thank you my friend.)

Blessings and light,

Liz