Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Latest in Heroes of the West Series!

Tombstone Gem Saloon Necklace $99.00

This is one of my latest creations in my Western Badge Series. Anybody know what this was for? It's a Token from the Gem Saloon in Tombstone Arizona. Not a typical historical badge, like the rest of my necklaces so far, but a Token from a saloon in Tombstone that is "Good for One Night"!  Concerned that I would include a Bordello Coin in my Heroes of the West? Actually, I am very passionate about including it.
My Artistic Brand is Montana Belle. I am named after and inspired by a Notorious Outlaw Woman of the West, Belle Starr. (More on her in another Blog)

I find it inspiring that these women came out here, and did what they could to survive in this rough harsh frontier territory. . Sometimes, you may feel, it is a rough harsh frontier territory where you live right now. I know it is for me, with our changing world and unstable times.

I see  this coin as our shadow side, you know the parts in all of us, that we may not be so proud of or like so much.  It's parts of me that aren't so great, but helped me get through a difficult time in my life.
(I'm thinking Cheetos right now! They're not good for you, not healthy, but...) Any way you know what I mean.  But the shadow sides are part of us too. We can't just be all good and perfect parts?
 I say let's Embrace our shadow sides.
Carl Jung speaks of Embracing our Shadow Side; those thoughts, fears and behaviors that hide in the corners of our minds. He taught that by  shining Light on them, we move from Fear to Love.
And that's where I want to live.
In the Light of Love.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

montana belle jewels: city girl inbig sky country!Five years ago, I s...

montana belle jewels: city girl in
big sky country!

Five years ago, I s...
: c ity g irl in b ig s ky c ountry! Five years ago , I started my journey, moving here to Big Sky Montana. I had all these ideas of wha...

city girl in
big sky country!

Five years ago, I started my journey, moving here to Big Sky Montana. I had all these ideas of what life would be like. Well, of course, things are never the way you thought they would be. Somethings are much better than I ever could have imagined, and some things that I imagined, were just totally so unrealistic for REAL ranch life! After all, how would a City Girl from an area with over 4 million people have a clue what it would be like to live in Montana. This state has less than 1 million people! 
(Do you know I have to drive 2 1/2 hours to get to Costco! Oh, sorry, I digress...)

Anyway, am I the perfect Cowgirl?
"Riding my Horse on the Range"? 
No, truth is, being a Cowgirl is more about Raising Healthy Cows
Am I a fabulous horse back rider?
...ummm...not so much, 
but it turns out you don't have to be! 
        Here's a NEWS FLASH! 
       MY COWS DON'T CARE!
So my point is, I'm still here. I'm not  perfect, and I am definitely in the "In between stages" of creating my Cowgirl Life. 

But I'm doing it! 
I'm living My Dream! 
And that's what really matters!
 
 

Friday, September 21, 2012

FIND TRUE BALANCE

Okay, it's been quite a while since I've done this new Blog thing! I'm taking a new Kelly Rae Roberts course on expanding my online presence. Wow, do I have a long way to go!

SO let me start by sharing this with you. Last night I opened a bottle of Red Wine, my head swimming with ideas and new information, and this is what was written on the cork!
How cool is that? A great start to my new venture!

More from me soon! 

Friday, July 29, 2011

montana belle jewels: Summer Bliss

montana belle jewels: Summer Bliss: "“I wonder who benefits more from this, me or my horse”, I thought to myself the other day, as I wandered back from the horse pasture. ..."

Summer Bliss

“I wonder who benefits more from this, me or my horse”, I thought to myself the other day, as I wandered back from the horse pasture. You see I had just been out spending some time with my horse Rusty. Just fun things like grooming him and then giving him treats. We’re building quite a relationship, him and me. It all started last year when I announced to my husband, Bob that I had moved to Montana to be a Cowgirl and I didn’t even have a horse! The search began and soon we found the perfect horse for me, an eight year old Tobiano Paint Gelding (for you Non-cowgirls and Non-cowboys, it’s a really pretty horse like Little Joe’s on Bonanza!) We rode some a little last year, but not much, not enough. 

I realize now that I had been waiting for the “Cowgirl Goddess” to come in the middle of the night, and knock me over the head, so I would wake up a Real Live Cowgirl! Well, not so.  Thank goodness! No, to be a real cowgirl requires much more time and effort. And what a blessing and journey it is turning out to be!  As the author Susan Richards puts it “Having a horse means your life has been touch
touch by a beautiful mystery.” And so it has been.

I also got this really great saddle. You know more of the Crown Victoria Cadillac kind, built for comfort, not speed. An old cowboy once told me “You need to have enough room in your saddle for you and your fear.” And I get that, but now, the more time I spend with my horse, I would change that to say “you need to have enough room in your saddle for you and your love”!

I was just reading about Jane Goodall the scientist who spent her whole life studying Chimpanzees. Her favorite toy when she was young was a stuffed monkey, of course! I was encouraged to look into my own childhood, to look for that same foreshadowing, the seeds of magic that I should seek to ripen. For me one of my special memories was in Tennessee going horseback riding. You can imagine how special it is to have my horse now. Yes, I’m middle aged, or so they tell me, and no I will never ever be a Champion Barrel Racer or Rodeo Team Roper, but it does not mean I cannot be a “Real Cowgirl”! 
So here’s my encouragement to you. Look into your childhood and see the seeds of magic that have been waiting for you.

One of my other favorite childhood memories was playing dress up. My sister and I were very fortunate, to be raised by good Southern grandmothers, both women with plenty of jewelry and accessories for us to “Play Dress-up”. We couldn’t wait to get to our grandparents houses and go through their pretty things. I’m sure that was the seeds of what now has become my Montana Belle jewelry business. ‘Creating things of beauty for myself and others.
 
My goal now is to Play more, and Enjoy the dreams of my childhood, and Watch the seeds of destiny as they begin to sprout. Sounds really good right? Well I have a little confession to make. I have been having this problem lately with, oh let’s just call it...hoarding. No, not like the kind you see on TV. ‘Just the innocent little kind, where you don’t want to sell the really pretty jewelry pieces that you make. 
I know its weird right? Um, this is supposed to be a business right? But it seems like the pieces I love the most are always the ones that I sell the fastest. It should be a good thing in my mind, but somehow a few things have gotten a little mixed up. But here’s where Rusty, yes my horse, come is in. My new relationship with this beautiful 1500 pound animal has helped to turn this around in my mind and allowed me to let go. I don’t really get it, but yes, Let Go. ‘Not the easiest thing for us humans to do, especially me. Yesterday, I finished some commissioned pieces for two lovely women out in Eastern Montana. They are both beautiful women and I was thinking of how radiant they are going to look wearing their new necklaces and bracelets. I thought of the love and good energy I was fortunate enough to send them through my artwork. Somehow my work with Rusty has changed things. I don’t think of making my beautiful pieces and keeping them all to myself. I now look at it as an opportunity to create beautiful artwork and share it with these incredible women all around the world. That’s a wonderful thing.

I can’t tell you how my two childhood joys are connected, or how they work to enhance and heal each other, but they do. It’s a pretty incredible journey. So here’s my wish for all of you. Play more, Enjoy the Passions of your youth, and see what Seeds of Destiny blossom in your own lives!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Welcome to my new Blog!

This is my place to share my thoughts on Jewelry and Women of the West! What do the two have in common? Everything, when it comes to my jewelry. My jewelry is all about empowering the inimitable bold spirit in women.
My company, Montana Belle Jewels, is named after the notorious turn of the century outlaw "The Bandit Queen", Belle Star. A movie was made about her, in 1952, staring Jane Russell, titled "Montana Belle".

I became intrigued with these turn of the century Wild Women, after moving to my home here in Montana. I love it here, with it's wide open spaces, but it takes a special breed of woman to like it out here. Life is a bit rougher, and the stakes are a bit higher. It got me to thinking, what was it like for the women who settled this country? They truly were a special breed of Bold Spirited Women!

But we all posess that spirit. Regaurdless of where we live and what our circumstances. My goal is to encourage that spirit through stories about these wonderful women and creating beautiful jewelry as symbols of that bold spirit within each of us.
The Buddhists call it "Bodhisattva", the Enlightened Warrior Within, I call it the Bold Spirited Woman. Call it what you may, I just encourage you to embrace it!

Montana Belle Jewels Bloghttp://www.montanabellejewels.com/