St. Francis Quotes - Franciscan Pet Blessing

I finished a new St. Francis Chaplet tonight for my Let Our Light Shine store on Etsy.  I will list and photograph it tomorrow and share photos.... As I worked on this chaplet, I was reminded of many of St. Francis' quotes.  I will share a few of my favorites.

(As a Christian vegan who loves all of God's creatures so much, this is a favorite quote of St. Francis:)

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men."

"Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."

"For it is in giving that we receive."

"Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

"Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love."

" If God can work through me, he can work through anyone."

"It is in pardoning that we are pardoned."

"Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self."

Pray As You Go - http://www.pray-as-you-go.org/

One of my favorite prayer websites; one that I return to each day is Pray As You Go. It is not a "thought for the day" or a sermon, instead it is to prepare you to pray. It is organized like a monthly calendar and each day has prayerful music, scripture verses to pray about and thoughts about those verses. Just taking these few minutes to focus on the Bible, prepares you to focus on your prayers. 

If you have not had a chance to visit this site, please take a few minutes and if you are like me, you will look forward to visiting it each day.  There is an app for it and each of the daily prayer preparations may be downloaded as mp3 files.  I noticed on their homepage that this is their 10th year.  Please take a look....

What is an "unbreakable wire" rosary?

This rosary is made using an "unbreakable wire" technique.  The idea is to put each section of the rosary together in such a way that each loop is intertwined with the previous loop.  You actually make the bead section with wire that has been wrapped on each side; keeping the bead in place and without leaving any closures that may open.  The beads are still subject to break so you still need to be careful with your rosary because even if the beads don't break, they could scratch. 

I also use key-chain links on the centerpiece and crucifix so that they do not fall off accidentally.  You have to really focus on what you are doing as you make this rosary because if you are like me, and get distracted once in a while, you have completed the loop, wrapped the wire and forgotten to add the next link... so you have to cut it apart and do that whole section over again.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/459543576/rosary-handmade-catholic-gifts?ref=shop_home_active_1

Many people love to carry the one decade rosary since it has 11 beads, rather than 59.  It fits in the palm of your hand or around your wrist with the remainder in your hand.  

Many of my rosaries are made out of stainless steel.  The purpose is to be the strongest, yet lightweight, rosary possible.  Stainless steel does not tarnish and will look the same many years from now.  

Another unique feature of this one decade rosary is that it is made using a flat shaped wire.  If you look at the photos closely, you will see that the wire is more flat and curves beautifully around each post.  

Each rosary that I make has at least one vintage crystal bead.  I love the colors and shapes of these beautiful beads and most of my Our Father beads are made with crystals.  The decade beads are vintage glass or smaller crystal beads.  

If you would like to see more information on this particular one decade rosary or others I have in my shop, please click on the link below the photo.  Each rosary is unique and no two are exactly alike.

Remember to pray every day because prayer can move mountains.

God Bless!  Jen

Rosaries - Love the Crucifix, Centerpiece, and Medals

One of my favorite things about making rosaries, in addition to mix and matching vintage beads, is choosing the crucifix and centerpiece and/or medal.  I try my best to make a variety of each so that my customers have a choice, and not everything is the same.  My focus, as I make items for my store, is for customers to find an heirloom or gift that will last many, many years and a unique rosary.  

When you open a shop, you have to decide if you want pre-made items that are available and can be mailed immediately or items that are made to order. I use vintage beads and a traditional rosary has 59 beads.  It would be unusual to have more than one set of beads that are identical and even if I did have more, I would not want to make two rosaries that are exactly alike.  The creativity of having each one unique and beautiful is my goal.  So, all of my rosaries are pre-made and there is only one item available exactly like the item for sale.  One of the joys for me in design, is to put together a rosary that I feel is special, just for you.  And when you look at it, you will know it is the perfect gift and the colors and design are perfect for you or your loved one. 

One of the most difficult things for me to do is not to order hundreds of crucifixes, centerpieces, and medals.  I have hundreds now, but I love to look and collect more.  I also love the wire available and want additional tools, that I really don't need, but would be a luxury item in my toolbox.   The artist in me wants more supplies and the business person in me says... wait, sell more first, then buy more supplies.  It is a balancing act for sure. 

Tonight I finished another one decade rosary. I have not posted it as yet and will post it tomorrow.  It is referred to as an unbreakable rosary. Look for it tomorrow.  I love the one decade rosary because you can pray the same as your traditional beads but with your rosary sitting completely on one hand.  

Earlier today, I posted a baby blue one decade rosary which looks like this:  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/459245156/rosary-handmade-catholic-gifts-one

The pearl glass beads were taken from a necklace from the 60s and the beautifully cut crystal, Our Father Bead, was also from the 60s.  They are simply beautiful and of course the crucifix and center match the blue theme.  They would make a wonderful gift or a special item to keep.

I hope you enjoy my daily story about my Etsy store: Let Our Light Shine.  I hope that through my rosaries many more prayers will be lifted up.  God Bless!  

Jen  

 http://letourlightshine.us

Catholic Gifts

Catholic Gifts at Let Our Light Shine

As I continue to build my Etsy storefront, I am continuing to learn how to get my items seen by those customers who will be looking for my items.  You can make the most beautiful products and be super proud of your work and excited to share, but without an audience, your work is virtually in a room all by itself... waiting to be found.  

I have a growing number of beautiful rosaries that I have handmade.  I have made these rosaries and chaplets from a collection of beads that I collected in the 80s and 90s.  Most of my beads were from jewelry that was purchased twenty to thirty years earlier and so, using these beads, my rosaries are unique and usually one of a kind. 

The most important thing that I learned today concerning my work was that I have to identify my audience.   Even though this may seem like obvious information; putting a name to your customers, you now have words that they can search in a search engine, so they can find you.  I guess you could say you are creating a trail for them to follow... to find your artwork.. in my case, my rosaries.

I consider myself an artist.  My focus is on the piece of artwork that I am making.  The rosary is my artwork.  In the past, I have sold my work at art shows and through friends.  Now, I want to share my rosaries with a group of customers all over the world.  I have to make my store in a way that customers will find me... using Etsy search but also through other search engines, such as Google.

Today, I made sure that I added key search words in the title of each item.  Hopefully, it will bring those of you who are looking for Catholic Gifts to my store.

Thanks for stopping by.  God Bless!

Jen

One Decade Rosary

I made this beautiful One Decade Rosary from my vintage collection of beads and added it to my Etsy store today. I wanted to have a rosary available for those who would like to pray a decade at a time or even a decade a day. As I mentioned in previous posts, I began collecting beads in the 80s and particularly loved crystals. Many of the beads were from the 50s and 60s. After making a rosary for my youngest grandson’s baptism, I fell in love with making rosaries and chaplets.

Handmade One Decade Rosary: Vintage Hematite beads - Vintage Austrian Crystal Our Father Bead - Holy Communion Eucharist Chalice Center

*********************************************************

A Decade A Day

Unlock the power of prayer in your life by praying a decade a day on this beautiful rosary.  Many people pray the rosary throughout the day completing one decade at a time which you may also do on this rosary. However, if you are not praying the rosary daily, make it a goal to pray at least one decade of the rosary a day, and you will feel closer to Jesus.

One suggestion for saying One Decade A Day Rosary:

THE OUR FATHER (once)

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.   Amen.

THE HAIL MARY (ten times)

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

THE DOXOLOGY (once)

Glory be to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen.

**********************************************************

Please let me know if you have any specific questions about this One Decade Rosary.  God Bless!

Rosary Redesigned

Rosary Redesigned

Today as I was looking over my rosaries and chaplets that I made for my Let Our Light Shine Etsy store, there was one set of beads that I felt had something missing. It was an entire rosary made with iridescent blue beads.  The photos hardly do them justice as the colors are so strikingly beautiful, it is hard to capture this even for a photographer. In any case, I knew they needed something special.  My goal, when I make each rosary or chaplet, is to create a heirloom rosary and chaplet that will be something very special. 

Originally when I made these beads, the decade beads were so beautiful (blue with shimmering purple and gold) that I decided to leave the Our Father beads the same bead as the decade beads.  As I looked at these beads closely today, I decided the design needed a little tweaking, so I searched through my vintage bead collection, and then removed the Our Father beads and replaced them with beautiful Austrian crystal beads.  These vintage beads, which I collected more than 25 years ago, were full of rainbow colors in the light and would make the perfect upgrade to these already beautiful rosary beads.  

Handmade Rosary with Vintage Iridescent Blue with Purple and Clear Crystal Beads

Lesson learned... even when you have completely finished a design, there is still room to improve.  Don't leave it the way it is unless you are in love with the finished product. Now, it is ready for someone special.  God Bless.