The Origin of the Logo Lady - part 1

The excitement is building as we near 2011.  New Year.  New Name.  Although it has been a tremendous amount of work to switch everything over, the journey has been a really fun one.

You may have noticed that I decided to keep the infamous 'Lady Logo' for the new company name and there is a good reason for this.  No, not because she is the icon behind LifeLines Bracelets and it would therefore make sense to keep her as the symbol people know and trust.  Well, that was one reason.  The other reason is her 'origin'.  I believe a big part of who we are or our purpose presents itself when we are children.  As adults we sometimes go in a different direction because things that were important to us as children seem silly now or unrealistic.  It was a trip down memory lane that dramatically changed my life and the reason LifeLines Bracelets and Astraea & Co. exist today.

THE ORIGIN OF THE LADY LOGO

Most girls dream of getting married and having children.  I dreamt of high heels and briefcases.  While other girls were playing 'house', I wanted to play 'news anchor'.  Seriously.  When I was a little girl, I could not get enough pairs of those plastic fake heels they make for children.  Some had (to my absolute delight) fake jewels on them and some had fuzzy feather things and others had glitter.  They were just the most beautiful things I had ever seen. Walking in them took a little practice but luckily I was a stubborn child.  Yet it wasn't only the beauty of them that hooked me.  The very best part was the sound they made when you walked in them.  Click Click.  Click Click.  Click Click.  That sound .... it said, I am lovely and graceful and grownup.  It was the sound of being a Woman.  I LOVED it!  So I click clicked all over my small suburban neighborhood with pride.

(These days they even light up.  Lucky girls!)

Here I was, a small skinny girl with long, thick blonde hair in my glamorous plastic high heeled shoes.  And I was absolutely CERTAIN that this is what I looked like.

                

Do you see the shirt that is cute and flirty and ever so gracefully slipping from her shoulder?  The golden hair that is (always) flowing softly in the wind?  The mysterious sideways glance?  How about the beautiful flower in her hair (I settled for dandelions)? Oh, and the bracelet on her wrist!  Once I mastered the art of walking in heels, it occurred to me; you certainly need accessories to match the sparkly fake jewels in your shoes.  Yes?!  So this was me - circa age 5.  My entire life was ahead of me.  Imagine my horror, then, when the newest fashion craze hit America.  The Dorothy Hamill haircut.

And just like that, this was me - circa age 6.  No, this haircut does not 'flow softly in the wind' quite the same way.  My mother was ecstatic (no more combing knots and tangles from long golden hair).  I was beyond mortified!  To add insult to injury, my feet no longer fit into my beloved heels.  My entire life was over before it had even gotten started.

The Secret Life of a Dreamer

Well just about the time I started to add 'goodies' to LifeLines Bracelets (i.e. Blog, Twitter, Facebook), I began dreaming of a Brick and Mortar store.  That led me to contemplate a new, more glamorous name to grace the front of the new dream store.  Which led to a total redesign of the company.  Boy do I have some great ideas!

Funny how in dreams you can never accurately calculate the time involved to accomplish said 'great ideas'.  Hence the huge gap in time between this Blog post and the previous one.

It is a good thing God both graced and cursed me with a severe case of being stubborn.  When I put my mind to something, there really is no stopping me.  In this particular case, a grace.

Beginning January 1st, 2010, LifeLines Bracelets will become Astraea & Co., LLC.  Everything you know and love about LifeLines Bracelets is the same, only our name is changing.  Actually there are some changes but they are all in addition to what we already offer.

• New Clasp Styles
• New Charm Choices
• New Bracelet Styles
• New Chain Choices for the Mommy Necklace
• New Custom Engraved Products

Here is a sneak peek at the new logo.  See, we even kept the lovely lady.  This will be a painless and very pleasant change - I promise.

During the next few months, I will post all Blog entries on both the LifeLines Bracelets Blog and the new Astraea & Co. Blog.  You can check out the new look and feel of LifeLines Bracelets by visiting the Astraea & Co. Blog right now.  Just click the link below.

ASTRAEA & CO. BLOG

New Beginnings

Over the past 5 years, I have had the honor of listening to some amazing stories from my customers. And from these beautiful stories, I've had the opportunity to create pieces of jewelry that have truly captured feelings and memories and journeys. 

When I started this business I knew that I wanted a way to bring emotion into jewelry.  We have family scrapbooks and we have greeting cards and even chocolate (hee hee) ... but I, as a woman, LOVE jewelry and I knew that if I could take the most positive moments of our lives and string them onto a bracelet or necklace ... we would look at this beautiful object every single day and it would help us to remember the JOY and the LOVE and all things GOOD.

Five years ago, I had no idea of how my little business would spread and grow and evolve.  My life, also, has changed in many ways over the past few years.  I've been given a great opportunity ... but, as is usually the case, I took the long, hard (spooky woods with paths that go in circles - yeah) road to enlightenment.  Weird ... how that 'road less traveled' always takes longer than you anticipate.  I took this summer off to gather my courage, heal my heart and gain a new perspective.  I've made a decision to get more in-depth with my jewelry.  There are many new products coming out this year that will be a lot more detailed and custom.  I truly believe this is the next step for LifeLines Bracelets and I'm really excited to see what will happen.

I will share with all of you, the first sneak peeks of the new items and I'm also going to add some blog exclusive coupon codes that you can use on the new website:  www.lifelinesbracelets.com.  Yes, the website is finally up, it's pretty organized, and it WORKS (hooray).  I'm also going to share behind the scene stories from my life.  The latter may end up as comic relief for someone's day but I'm going to do it anyway. 

And now, I'm going to go to bed because the Nyquil has finally kicked in.  I do love the Back to School autumn cold.  WHY do I get it every year??!!!  Goodnight.  Sweet dreams.