So here we are already November!  Where has the year gone?  It seemed that we just had summer like temperatures and were walking around in t-shirts in Minnesota in October and even into the beginning of November!  I'm loving it for sure and not excited about the cold temps that eventually will descend upon us.

At the NotesNBling studio it has been a very busy time creating, designing and making new jewelry items for the upcoming selling season.  Some are re-stocks of favorite items (just a few) but mostly some new necklaces, fun bright color bracelets and new design hammered wire earrings.  

Now lets get to the upcoming show dates so you can make your plans:
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UPCOMING SHOWS:

Date: Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025  
Event:  Monticello Women Of Today Fall Craft Show (Jewelry only)
Time:  9am-3pm
​Where: Monticello Community Center, 505 Walnut Street
Town:  Monticello, MN

Date: Friday, November 14, 2025    
Event:  Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Ladies Nite (NNB & Sauce/Crafts)
Time:  5pm - 9pm
​Where: American Legion, 30369 County Road 32
Town:  Paynesville, MN

Date: Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025    
Event:  Howard Lake Annual Craft & Art Show (NNB & Sauce/Crafts)
Time:  9am-2pm
​Where: Middle School & Activity Center, 8700 County Road 6 SW
Town:  Howard Lake, MN

Date: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2025   
Event:  Melrose Craft & Gift Show (NNB & Sauce/Crafts)
Time:  1 - 5 pm
​Where: Melrose City Center, 225 1st Street NE
Town:  Melrose, MN

Date: Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025   
Event:  Long Prairie Arts & Crafts Show (NNB & Sauce/Crafts)
Time:  9am-3pm
​Where: Grey Eagle Secondary School, 510 9th Street NE
Town:  Long Prairie, MN

Of course you can also find all these dates on the "Event Dates" page as well, but at least the ones coming up in November are all listed here for your convenience.  
Also always check my Facebook page: Facebook.com/NotesNBling for any last minute quick updates that I haven't had the chance to list on the event's page yet.
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THE JEWELRY:

I thought to give you just a few sneak peeks of a few items from the design desk this month.  Of course there are a lot more on the show tables!
Also as a side note - I just have not had the "umph" to invest time into my shopping page and I apologize for that.  I need to work on a re-vamp and re-listing soon.  The computer work seems to be tedious to me and it's something I tend to put off - because - after all there's ALL these design ideas in my head that NEED to be created into physical product, right?!!

​Cat lovers - I got the goods for you!!  Recently I went to the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar which happens every October where vendors from all over the region come to wholesale their wares to beaders, artists, designers.  I have my favorite vendors I always buy from because they have the goods!  They are the ones with the unique beads, vintage/estate items, rare stuff, awesome handmade designs in cool beads and of course the stones I look for.  
So I got to meet a new vendor who is my favorite now too.  She makes these super cute cat pendants and cat beads that are just funky and so boho - I totally fell in love with them and well blew my budget when I discovered her booth.  So y'all need to help me out and get some of the cool necklaces I designed and also a couple  pair of earrings I tried to match to a couple pendants.

So the first two pictures are a cat pendant necklace and cat earrings from said vendor.  I paired her beads with Czech beads capturing some of the colors in her cat beads.  
Then I had Czech cat beads in my stash now for a couple of years and decided I needed to get them out and pair them with the vintage gold beads I scored at the Bead Bazaar and Sardonyx or Onyx black stones. They are fun but they sure look elegant.  
The earrings are Czech butterfly beads with a handcrafted mini-hoop.  They are just beautiful and in retrospect I wish I would have gotten more, but there will be only two earring pairs and when they are gone - they are gone.  
The last photo is one of many bright colored trade bead/beach glass/greek heishi beads bracelet designs - there are MANY more colors to choose from!  They've been a blast to make!  
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LASTLY:

Last month I had mentioned about my cracked tooth and how challenging eating had become.  So I'm excited to announce that the tooth has been removed and they were able to put an implant in right away.  Now that has to heal for 3 months and I hope the bone grabs onto the implant and will be solid so I can get a tooth put on and get to chewing on that side again..... 

Yesterday I went to a ladies bible study and we were in John Chapter 5.  In verses 1-9 a lot of things stood out to me about the man sitting by the side of the pool having a health condition for 38 years.  We come to find out that it was a sin that he held on to because Jesus later told him to "sin no more".  
So at this pool at certain times an angel would come and stir the waters and whoever made it into the water first received healing.  So whoever got there first was watching as they waited and were ready to act.  
The man of 38 year long illness apparently never made it into the water because he said that he never got help from anyone to put him into the pool.  So he sat, staring at a pool of loss, he depended upon others and wasn't watching as he waited because he could have sat much closer to the pool to at least roll his way in there....

Jesus asked him the question "do you wish to get well?".  At first glance it seems like quite a silly question, because yeah of course who wouldn't want to be well. This question however had a specific purpose for the man to think about why he was in that condition and did he really want to be well or hold on to something he should have let go of years ago.   Because so often we can hold on to a sin because it has become part of us, or it has become a strange comfort zone (because it's what we know and the unknown seems daunting, especially when we are to give up something even at the cost of our wellbeing).  
After the man gave his excuse, Jesus in His grace and mercy gave him healing by saying " get up, pick up your pallet and walk".   The man immediately became well but he also had to DO something which was to pick up his pallet and walk.  

Same with us.  We always need to be watching, praying and listening to the Holy Spirit so that we are ready for a move of God when God moves and then we need to do our part and move.  

I'm grateful for the grace of God and His mercy to still heal us, love us, correct us, guide us despite of our sinful nature.  

Just had to share that and maybe it's something that may encourage someone who reads this to be watchful in their waiting and press into the Holy Spirit to seek His guidance in letting go of whatever ensnares us so we can be free and complete and in peace and rest in God.

Well, let's hope for a good weather November for all the craft shows for safe travels to and fro and I'm looking forward to seeing y'all at the shows!

Thank you for your support for my small business!

Blessings,
​Sam

The summer outdoor under the tent season has come to a close with last Saturday's Backwards Bread Anniversary Celebration Market in their parking lot.  Weather was gorgeous, felt like summer, a bit breezy but not too bad for the jewelry thankfully.
People came out, hubby Warren with Warren's BBQ made brisket breakfast burritos and BBQ beef brisket sandwiches closer to lunchtime and we had a lot of other fun vendors out besides the coffee wagon & the radio station.

Now everything is moving inside again for the winter season starting with the Sartell Winter Farmers Market the first Saturday in November.

Although I very much enjoy the outdoor atmosphere and for the most part we did have nice and decent weather again this year, I am glad not to have to deal with the tent setup for a while, or dealing with windy weather.    So on to a good spurt towards the holiday season, then a break and just a few shows in the early winter months in the new year before the spring/summer season starts once again.
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UPCOMING EVENTS:

Date: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025  
Event:  Sartell Winter Farmers Market (NNB & Sauce/Crafts)
Time:  10am-1pm
​Where: Sartell Community Center, 850 19th Street South
Town:  Sartell, MN

Date: Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025  
Event:  Monticello Women Of Today Fall Craft Show (Jewelry only)
Time:  9am-3pm
​Where: Monticello Community Center, 505 Walnut Street
Town:  Monticello, MN

(more shows, see the "Event Dates" page)

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​THE JEWELRY:

My Annual Jewelry Open House could not have had any better weather for the studio backyard sale that happens once a year.  I was a little sad that the turnout wasn't like last year despite the good weather, but those who came out got some gifts through drawings, snagged some sales and also drew their own sale % amount.  Some ladies stayed to visit on the deck enjoying beverages, soup and snacks and good conversation!
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​Here are some photos from the Open House!

There always is a sign out by the street, then this one up the driveway pointing to the backyard where the tent was set up with all the goodies inside.  I utilized the planting table for the earring displays and behind it is the deck with the seating and more prize drawing items.  Then the side table beside the deck had the other drawing prizes on it.  
​If you missed this year - hopefully you can make it for next year which will be the 7th Annual Open House then.  The Lord willing we all stay well and healthy to have the blessing of another year.

Also the winner of the $20 Gift Certificate was Kat!!  Congratulations!!
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LASTLY:
Again I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who came out to shop or just to hang out!  You made my Open House very special by your care, your support and your patronage!

Now I'm going to take a couple of weeks just to focus on my health, work on a few new designs or stock-ups for the upcoming season.  

I just had a root canal done and my mouth isn't feeling too great, especially since on the other side I have a cracked tooth on top of it, so eating has been quite challenging.  Would appreciate your prayers.

Thank you again for coming to the shows, for loving my jewelry and being such great customers and friends.  God bless you!

​Sam

It has been quite the busy summer for us!  Lots of outdoor events, craft shows, art fairs, a visit to KR-Digital gift store to stock up on jewelry inventory, visiting with friends, playing music for a ladies retreat and the usual summer yard stuff that had to get done.

Now that summer is winding down and with it the outdoor shows, we have only 3 outdoor events left to do.    One is coming up this Sunday (Sept. 21) which is the St. Cloud East End FestiFall & Car Show  on East St. Germain, my Annual Open House at the Studio and setting up at Backwards Bread Co. for their Annual Celebration on Oct. 4.  
Then everything will move indoors, which will be nice, because we don't deal with the wind issue which can be disastrous like the first day of the Old Creamery Annual Craft Show in Rice, when we had rain and then the last storm brought in a wind gust event that picked up part of my tent which hit my table and everything got knocked over and thrown on the ground.  So I had to close down for 30 minutes to regroup and set everything back up.   Rain is usually not an issue, it's the wind that is so bad for light items like jewelry and other vendors who have light weight items.

However, in spite of possible wind (which only happened at two shows this summer thankfully), I do enjoy the outdoor events where I get to meet a lot of new people, see old friends and loyal customers (who tend to become friends too after a while).  It's always such a good time.

Now on to the upcoming Fall events:
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The first two pictures are chokers with pendants made from a real glass fragment found alongside the Roman Road and obtained from a reliable source that can attest to it's centuries old age and archeological significance.
Each piece of glass has been rough polished through time, so no sharp edges.  I then pair them with leather cord, brass (or silver) findings and some with cross charms and matching beach glass.
The other photos show my latest bracelets, one with a southwest vibe with the silver feather, the other is Premo Austrian Crystal link paired with a flat soft leather and a silver chain (there are others with copper also) and a silver chunky cross with Czech beads on leather.
All these and more are available to purchase at the next upcoming shows!
Don't have your size?  Special orders are accepted!
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LASTLY:
I'm so thankful for the custom orders I have been getting.  It's been fun to either create something special, or just make something you've seen in your size, or make an addition to something you've purchased (like earrings or a bracelet matching a necklace for example).
During busy season and having to do a lot of restocking for upcoming shows I'm grateful for your patience as I'm navigating all that plus trying to get your orders done.
Thank you all again for your continued support for my small business.

One more thing about the Roman Road Ancient Glass....
See, the "Roman Road" also refers to the face key verses from the book of Romans that share the Gospel message:
Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 5:8 - but God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23 -  for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 10:9 - that if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord", and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10;13 - for "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved".

Our country and nation needs God more than ever!  First repentance, then His forgiveness, salvation, grace and a relationship offered to us through Jesus Christ and also  grace and forgiveness toward one another.  
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Until next time,
Much love to all....  Sam

My customers are just the best ever!!!  I'm beyond grateful for the positive responses my jewelry has received from so many of you at the last few shows for my new designs and loving my style and vibe!  You are my tribe!

July and the beginning of August were some VERY busy months with shows every single weekend, with a 3 day-er that was HOT and HUMID in Glenwood.  Whew.  We were super thankful to have had a shady spot smack dab under a big tree.  Hope we get that spot again next year!

The rest of August will be quiet on the show side, we are taking a bit of recuperation time, catching up on custom orders and some medical stuff.  Beginning September we will be back in Rice at the Old Creamery for the Annual Craft show.
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THE JEWELRY:
In between all the shows I had to do some restocking of my popular vintage look sparkly bracelets (and will need to create more new ones soon), some beach glass and turquoise items.
I'm super excited about the White Buffalo & Turquoise chip stones I got in recently and a couple designs already found a home with their person!

With so many young people & little girls visiting my booth, there are now small bracelets for tiny wrists available.  Aren't the lil turtles super cute? The Agate bead colors are beautiful!   Also I needed to do some re-stocking on my lava bracelets and chose more Amazonite stones for those.
Then....the White Buffalo chip stone from Tucson!  It's been the craze lately and since it's apparently a popular (and not cheap) stone, I had to secure a strand to see how it would be welcomed by my tribe.  Apparently it's a winner!  The silver pair of earrings I hand formed, hammered and wire wrapped the White Buffalo stone to it.  This one actually sold last weekend.  The square pair is still available and I'll be making more.  
The short necklace is made with beautiful abalone shell and gemstone heishi beads.  So summery!

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LASTLY:
Again I want to say a huge 'Thank You' to you all who have supported my booth, designs and art in the past shows.  You Glenwood folks are hardcore with the weather we had!!  Heat, humidity, rain, thunderstorms....yikes!!  But I'm so thankful to have been there and meet so many new wonderful people!

Elbow Lake's Flekke Fest was fun, with seeing a few of you again who where in Glenwood and get some hugs.   Our friend's store KR-Digital & Gifts, is a really cute gift & frame store right on Main Street in Elbow Lake and you wouldn't think it by the name.  They do photography, custom framing and photo duplication on one side of the store (that's the digital) but the other side is filled with all the cutest gift items you could dream of, including my jewelry in the barn wood cabinets my husband specifically built for my store display.  

Well now that we have a show-break, we are going to enjoy our summer, the warm days and the longer daylight which is way too quickly starting to fade already and get ready for some fun fall shows.

Don't forget about my yearly NotesNBling Open House the last Saturday in September.  There will be 50% off, 30% off, 25% off selected items, drawings, snacks, and hopefully it'll be nice like it was last year where we all could sit outside, have conversations with each other, your friends and just have a fun relaxing time at the studio back yard.

See you at the shows!!

Welcome Summer!!  July is here and with it a lot of Art/Craft shows I'll be attending!
How are you all enjoying your summer so far?  We've had some strange weather, sometimes super hot and humid and then a tad "chilly" for this time of year.  But yesterday for the Art Show it was the best weather day ever!
Even when it's a bit sticky out, I'm still thankful for the warm days, the rain....just not the mosquitos...🤣

Here's the lineup of the next upcoming events...

THE JEWELRY:

Since the last show I had in May at Bobbing Bobber Brewing Company, so much "life" has been happening, that I barely had time to create things.  During June and first part of July I usually do not have any shows lined up due to hubby's TNT Fireworks tent selling season late-mid June to after the first week in July.  Not much creating wasn't happening either.

So the last three days, right before the Art in the Gardens show at Munsinger Gardens in St. Cloud, I worked super hard to flesh out the ideas I had in my head for a while with the beads that were waiting to be used.

So here are a few new items:

Beach glass has been one of my favorite beads to work with and they've been much requested by many of my customers.  Nice to have them in SO many color options.  For these bracelets I chose the green seafoam and blue Beach glass and some other cool beads to create the first two styles.
The Turquoise inspiration came from an idea I saw online a long time ago but always wanted to create something similar so I used the beads I recently got in and paired the Turquoise with Moonstone, Amazonite, Czech Melon beads and Coffee Jasper stones.
The handcrafted ceramic starfish bracelet also features Freshwater Pearls, Beach glass and Tube beads.  The necklace also has a handcrafted beige/blue starfish pendant placed on an African handmade silver "Wollo" ring and the leather is lined with blue beach glass and tube beads.  Lobster Closure.

There are a few more summery styles, I will need to list on the sales page.  It'll be a moment as I'm at quite a few shows the next couple of weeks.  
Just email me: [email protected] to inquire of any of the styles you see here or on my Facebook page as they get posted there quicker daily with the ability for me to schedule posts.
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LASTLY:
I want to thank everyone who came out to the "Art in the Gardens" at Munsinger Gardens yesterday (Thursday, July 17) and visited my booth.  Your enthusiasm over my designs brought much joy to my heart, your purchases blessed me so I can pay bills and keep getting new beads in for more design styles and seeing so many of you return to see what's new was super cool!
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Weather wise, you guys.... it couldn't have been any better!!!  It was picture perfect with NO wind, wonderful temperatures and sunshine without everyone having to sweat or deal with humidity.  It was just beautiful out and many came out to visit all the artists.  So thank you from the bottom of my heart for your patronage and your encouragement.

Until the next show,
May you be blessed as I've been blessed and more so....
​Sam