Keychains!

 

We have a new product up on our site now.  Just in time for the holidays! The perfect gift for the "non jewelry" person in your life.  :)

Click here to take a look!

Know someone that might like this?

Grace Anne Allen

Baby Gracie is here!
We are thrilled that she is finally here. 

She arrived on our hopeful due date of 10.10.10

We are hoping to catch up on all of our orders that we need to get out.  Be patient with us-- we still aren't getting any sleep yet.  :)

Summer was fabulous

Summer was fabulous.  

I can't believe it is over (almost).

I know most kids have gone back to school and the official schedules of life have resumed in most households. 

But here we still have a preschooler (5 yr old) and an aspiring ballerina (3 yr old) and we are not yet ruled by the academic calendar.

And since it's still 80+ degrees, we are wearing shorts, eating popsicles, having playdates at the park, blowing bubbles and laughing so hard as we chase them.  

We are going to squeeze every last drop out of this summer.

Keep on Running!

So this morning I read in USA Today that in 2009, women outnumbered men among U.S. finishers in road races.  

We beat the boys by a score of 5.4 million to 4.9 million.  Nice work ladies!  

 

Of course we have more motivation to finish than the men--

i declare!'s customized running jewelry.  

Isn't it high time you treated yourself to a runner's brag bracelet?  

To celebrate beating the boys, runner's brag bracelets are 20% off this week.  

Just use code GIRLS20.  
(*Offer good until 11:59 PST 9.07.10)

And keep running girls.  Let's keep the title in 2010!

$50 Giveaway

Today was a red letter day for i declare!  

Our custom jewelry was featured on one of my favorite blogs--www.theidearoom.net  If you have not visited this blog, go check it out.  I'm sure it will become one of your favorites.

They are hosting a $50 gift card giveaway from i declare! 

What could you do with $50 at i declare!?

Inspiration

 Guest post from Mr. Sub 3 Hour Marathon (as he likes to be called):

 

15 miles at marathon pace.  Not my favorite workout.  I headed to the track like a dead man walking to the gallow's pole.  The idea of running 60 laps seemed like anything but fun.

I laced up and starting clicking off the miles.  After I had 10 miles in the bank my solitude was dashed as at least 15 families, complete with uncontrolled kids and pets, decended on the track.  Soon I was forced into lanes 7 and 8 as kids chased balls and dogs chased kids.  More than once I had to detour through the long jump pit.  Even as a parent I was more than a little annoyed.

Then on my 13th mile I began to notice two dads working to lay out and then hold taunt a 100 meter section of rope.  I couldn't figure out what they were up to.  Then I realized all this work was so a blind little boy, probably eight years old, could run a 100 meter dash on his own.

As luck would have it he started his dash right as I came around the corner for my 57th lap.  We ran side by side.  I wish you could have seen his face, his smile.  I'll never forget it.  I yelled out, "You are looking great!".  His reply was, "You are looking great too!".  

 

I got a lump in my throat.  I felt shame for cursing my lot--having to run 15 miles.  I felt a tremendous gratitude for the ability to run and I vowed to always run with that young boy's look on my face.  The look we all had when we burst through the school doors on the last day of class.  I promised to run like I did as a first grader during recess.

I challenge you to bring the same zest for life, for movement.

 

People say you don't have to look to far to find someone who has it worse off than you.  I say, you don't have to look very far to find inspiration.

Princess Party

A party fit for a princess

 Looking for a great way to entertain a bunch of 3 yr olds at a birthday party?  

Mix a plastic crown, some dress up high heals, a princess cape, a good game of the princess and the pea, hunting for the missing slipper, and lots of bubbles and pink lip gloss and you will definately have a good time.  

I can't believe my 2 yr old is now 3!  Where did the time go?...

Brand New Font (and a SALE!)

We've got a brand new font! 

I am calling it "typewriter font" since it reminds me of an old fashion typewriter.  It is a bit larger than our other fonts, so we can't fit as many letters on each charm-- but it is fun to have a new option around.

We have taken it to some of our expos this summer and have sold out of whatever charms we do in this style. 
It is really cute!

To celebrate we are offering a sale! 
20% off all orders for 4 days

starting tomorrow (July 21, 2010).

To get your coupon code make sure you have signed up on our email list. 

You can find it on the front page of our website

www.ideclarecharms.com 

Happy Independence Day!!

Happy Independence Day!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Growing up my mom always made a wonderful celebration of the 4th of July.

So I tried to imitate that a bit this year.

Here is a little treat that I whipped up. 
My 4 yr old calls them "Pledge of Allegiance Cookies".

It is basically a mini fruit pizza.

A sugar cookie base, a little cream cheese frosting, and some cut up blueberries and strawberries.

Swag Bags are out!

I should have taken a picture! 
The mound of gift bags was ENORMOUS!

But we finally got all 1500 gift bags stuffed with an i declare! charms gift card, and they were on their way.

Tonight they were given out at the Daytime Emmys.

How fun for little old i declare!

Daytime Emmy Swag Bags!

We are super excited!

We have been asked to include some i declare! sterling silver jewelry in this years Daytime Emmy Swag bags! We will be in 1500 bags to all those attending the Daytime Emmys this year.

What should be put in them??
What is your favorite item we have?

A necklace?
A charm?
Add the pearl?
Which font?
A bracelet?

We need some help!

(Anyone want to come stuff 1500 bags with us??) :)

It's A Girl!

We got some great news yesterday!

We had our doctor keep it a secret from us and put it in an envelope.  Then we took the kids to dinner and found out all together.  

Claire was excited. 

Lincoln's first words were, "Aw man."  

But look at that smile.  I think he'll come around.  :)

So now the name battle begins.  We are rather fond of the name Claire (obviously) and want something that is a beautiful and classic for this next little girl.  

We are tossing around:

Grace

Kate

Jane

Bella

Chloe (to rhymey with Claire?)

or ....????

We need some good suggestions!!

Expo Specials

Expo Specials are coming!

You know, I could just kick myself for not taking a picture-

but we had the CUTEST expo special at the Disney Princess 1/2 marathon expo.

We brought along a special necklace just for that event.

And it sold like crazy!
We were sold out the first day!
So we took orders, came home and whipped up some more, and shipped them out.

It was such a success, and what a fun keepsake/momento of running your race!, that we decided we will make an exclusive EXPO ONLY necklace for each race.  

For the Disney Expo we brought along a fun little crown charm, added  a pink birthstone for some bling, and made a "princess 13.1" charm to hang with it.

Come see us at our next race and see what we will create just for your special race!
p.s.  If you have a picture of your Disney Princess expo necklace special- send it my way and I will post it here! 

Here There and Everywhere

What a month this has been! 

We went back to back to back to expos around the country. 
We hit New Orleans for

then we were home for 3 days and then hit Orlando for

then we were home for 3 days and then headed off to Dallas for

We're a little tired.

But it was great fun to again meet so many of you!
We LOVE it when you come by and show us your keepsake running jewelry that you got from i declare charms at another running expo.
Here are some of our friends that stopped by to show us their jewelry:

And this is my mom.  My sanity this month is because of her.  I have been feeling so sick with this pregnancy that she flew out to Orlando to meet me at the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon expo and then went to Dallas to help as well, and then came home with me for another week to make and ship all 4 million orders we got (almost!).  Plus she took care of my kids, did my laundry, cooked dinner and helped me stand up straight.

Let's hear it for Mom's!!!!!!!!!!

Big News Little Person

Due Oct. 15, 16, or 17

(depending on who you ask)

Big news around here.  #3 is on the way.

Weird how you can be so happy and so sick and so tired and so happy and so miserable.

And feel so blessed.

I am really looking forward to meeting this one.  

I hope he/she has a nice mix of tender-heartedness from Lincoln.  

And some spunk from Claire.

And some humor from Dad.

And some good looks from me.

Well... there goes the triathlon training. 

On to even harder

And better.

Customized Sterling Silver Running Charms

Here are some custom orders I did this week that turned out really great.  These were the customers own ideas.  I love it when you all get creative!
Just remember-- we can custom make almost any charm you would like. 

For the runner, for the mom, for the friend, for the daughter, for whoever!

 

 

For this one the customer asked that we drill a hole through the Hollow Circle Charm so we could hang another charm in the middle.  I had never done that before... but I think it turned out quite nice.

Runner's World

I must start by saying I was very happy to get this large order.  Ecstatic in fact. 

But then I had to actually make it and get it shipped.

I had NO IDEA how long it would take to put together 450 keychains in those teeny tiny bags with my sticker on them.

And then put them in those beautiful blue organza bags with my card in them.

And then tie the Runner's World card on them. (They are gifts for race directors from Runner's World at a convention this weekend).

And then find a box big enough to ship them.

And then pay an arm and a leg to overnight a 40lb box.

I was so exhausted as I stayed up all night getting them done to ship today.  

I was tempted to leave them out in hopes that Rumplestiltskin would stop by, but decided better of it.

(P.S.  These very cool key chains will be available on our site very soon for you to personalize!)

Sneaky Chef

One of my goals for 2010 is to eat healthier.  That means me and my family.  For Jeff (who prefers to be called Mr. Sub 3:00) and I, that just means making some better choices.  Eating out less, at home more.

But for the 4 yr old and the 2 yr old, this requires some serious sneaky work.  

I grew up eating whole wheat bread, home-made every thing, and no sugary treats or soda.  Except for the occasional "big deal".   How then, did I morph into the mom that feeds my kids dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets, hot dogs on a stick (corn-dog), and fruit snacks?

Because it's easy.

But those days are gooooonnnnnnnne.

I found this awesome book called "Deceptively Delicious".  Heard of it?  Very sneaky I must say.

It's by Jessica Seinfeild (Yep, Jerry's wife).  I would of thought she had a personal chef and a nanny.  But apparently she is making food for her family, the in-laws, and the neighborhood kids.  And all of it has vegetables hidden inside.  

The basic gist of it is this:

All vegetables are steamed or baked, and then pureed so that you can sneak them into recipes and no one will be any wiser.

The trick is to prepare them ahead of time.  So that is what I worked on today.

Soon to be future mac and cheese, quesadillas, pancakes, brownies and more!

Mmmm. Zucchinis steaming away.

hmmm....  good thing this butter nut squash tastes good.  Because it doesn't look that way.

And here we are!  Ready to eat healthy no matter what!

So the 4 yr old comes up to me in the middle of my baking, steaming, pureeing, pouring process, and says, "What are you making?"

"Vegetables."

"EEEWWWW.  I HATE VEGETABLES!!"

ahahaha....  thank you 4 yr old for validating my day's work.

A give Away!

Monday!  What better way to start off the week than with a give-away?  

Exactly.

But...it's not on our blog. 
We know of a fabulous blog called My Dear Trash and our give-away is over there. 
You will love it.  

She has such a way of seeing the treasure in life, in "junk", and in everything around her.  I love reading her entries.  She will really pull you in with her witt and humor!  
Click here for a link to the give-away.

And here is what you could win:

... personalized with what ever you would like on it!

Good luck

and Happy Monday.