Wow, 2021 - it's impossible to recap 365 days of life - the emotions, the challenges, the love, the adventures, all of it. Those memories must live in our hearts and minds. As I look back on this year, I am filled with pride. Pride that we made it through another tough year.
I often struggle to take time to celebrate and enjoy my wins as I tend to just jump to the next thing but as I was scrolling through my year of photos on Instagram I couldn't stop smiling. Only a few months had passed but I had already forgotten some amazing moments. But mostly I'm filled with gratitude. We did this. I shared my dream of creating casual, high quality jewelry to celebrate the magic of every day and YOU shared your every day with me. You allowed my jewelry to be with you on your best and worst days. I'll never be able to express my immense gratitude.
But as we move into 2022, here are just some of our top memories from 2021 -
Vivian the Volkswagen got a new license plate! Yes, my car's name is Vivian. This license plate is more than a piece of metal on my car. I ordered this plate in the spring and waited the 8 weeks for it to come and one week before it arrived I saw a post from Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx, that she had a Spanx license plate when she first started her company because she wanted every single person to know about her vision and her business. It felt serendipitous. I love when people notice or ask about my license plate. Please beep if you see me out and about!
All 749 orders in 2021 were packed by me!
Valentine's Day Limited Edition Elsie Studs
First in-person pop up of 2021 at Pure Barre in Mt Lebanon
This is a family business! Everett tried out product photography.
A seriously proud moment of 2021 - we partnered with Julie Plake McMinn and Cristin Goss of The Solid Brand Sessions to design and create the Limited Edition Stronger Collection to raise $1,480 for organizations supporting maternal mental health. We were honored to hear from so many women about their maternal mental health stories and to provide critical community and connections for women.
A gorgeous city view at the Beyond Boss Summer Kick-Off Event!
Mother's Day Collection featured dried flowers from local shop Roxanne's Dried Flowers.
A work in progress of the bestselling Georgia Drops from the spring collection.
Bee-utiful studs from the Simple Summer Collection.
The Rothrock Family went to Rothrock State Forest for an amazing week away from home. We hiked, splashed in the lake, played a lot of board games, and ate so much ice cream from the Penn State Berkey Creamery.
Emerson designed her very first pair of earrings for the limited edition Birthday Capsule Collection - The Butterbean Studs. Named for her nickname given to her by my mother.
Everett and I took a break after a very stressful week to enjoy the Carnegie Museum of Art.
We added a new family member to our house! We adopted Oliver "Ollie" Muffin Rothrock from Paws Across Pittsburgh. Ollies loves to shop small also and is so handsome in his bandana from Emajen Designs.
And capped off the busy retail season with a literal dream come true - Handmade Arcade! I applied and was rejected from Handmade Arcade 4 times before applying and being accepted for the largest handmade market in Pittsburgh. Loading into the convention center and getting to see thousands of people supporting local artists was the highlight of my year.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting my small business. I've gotten to connect with so many fellow business owners this year who have provided advice, support, a listening ear, or opportunities to collaborate. My dear friends who have checked on me, helped to put inventory on cards, worked my pop up booths, and shared a glass of wine or two after especially stressful weeks. To my amazing family who lets the jewelry supplies sometimes take over the dining room table, countless post office trips, and the emotional rollercoaster of owning a business. To my amazing customers - thank you for trusting me, for sharing Leo and Lynn Jewelry, and for shopping small.
Thank you for all of it. Let's bring on 2022!
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