(You know, the one you're supposed to be keeping up with!)
Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Gwynn; a
fairly typical girl from Yuma, AZ. But here's 5 things that really seem to define who I am...
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| Jonathan & I at the Oliver-Ellis Wedding Feb. 2016 |
1. I am engaged to Mr. Jonathan Jones.
(Which makes me a Mrs. Jones-to-be! ) I have to say when
Jonathan and I started dating I knew instantly I was really in for it. He was
the other half that made me whole! (I promise not to get too mushy!) His love
for working with his hands and making things was perfect for my diy lifestyle
and the fact that he can cook is just icing on the cake! (Pun intended!) We
started dating the day after we went out for the first time and on our first
anniversary he recreated our first date but instead of his kissing me good
night at the door and promising to see each other again soon, he asked me to be
his wife and of course I said yes! It’s been a fairly stress-free engagement;
we are both on the same page as far as what we want wedding-wise and closing in
on 3 months til the big day we have just about everything lined up. So on
October 22, 2016 I will no longer be Miss Gwynn Roach, I will be Mrs. Gwynn
Jones! I can’t wait to share photos and lay out some of my favorite wedding DIYs
for our fall themed event!
2. I am a VERY crafty person.
Painting, stringing beads, paper crafting, dog bow making,
building small things (when Jonathan lets me use the power tools) sewing (a
learning process, my mom is teaching me via phone from St. Louis) and just
about anything else you can think of; if its crafty I want to try it! My senior
year of high school I refused to order the school provided graduation announcements
and went about crafting my own. I will be married to the love of my life in
October of this year and I am having a ball making all sorts of things for the
wedding as well as slowly piecing together our wedding scrapbook; the idea is
that by the time I get our pictures back all I’ll have to do is decide which
prints to order to fill in the book! Some new crafts I hope to learn a little
about would include leather tooling, cake decorating and advancing my skills as
a graphic artist. I also promise a whole tour of my craft room eventually! Its a bit chaotic but its my little happy place!
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| Brittany & I at a fashion show featuring The Branded Cowgirl bling! |
3. I started my first handmade business as a senior in high
school.
It all started with a few pieces of jewelry I’d made for
myself;
chunky, western stone jewelry were my favorite fashion pieces but being
that I am a crafty person I had to make my own. I ordered some howlite stone
beads from buckroobay.com
(in lime green and purple!) and made my first piece.
And then I made a trip to Michael’s Craft store to get more materials to make
another, and another. Soon I had a small collection and became the envy of
local rodeo queens who then approached me to make them some gawdy bling too. A
little bit of encouragement
(and need for weekend spending money) led me to
starting a small time handmade jewelry business. It wasn’t until my Ag.
Business class my freshman year of college that I had to write a business plan
for a fictitious business that it truly took shape. I took on the name
The
Branded Cowgirl and went from there. I began setting up at local craft fairs,
selling online to a fairly large Facebook following and in April of 2014 I even
opened a storefront!
(It closed 6 months later, but that’s another story!) I
adore creating new things and love trying new crafts and adding my own spin to
it. In 2015 when Jonathan and I began doing craft shows together (and some that
he traveled to on his own when I had to work my day job) it came time for a
name change to encompass everything I made. What started as handmade western jewelry
has become a line of fashion caps, jewelry, decals, tumblers, home decor and
now even an in-house printed clothing line! So
The Branding Iron Trading Co.
was born. We’ve traveled around Arizona to craft fairs and look forward to
doing even more of that in the coming year. Feel free to follow here for behind
the scenes fun as well as shop on
www.brandingirontradingco.com!
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| A more current idea of my business inventory; Branded Blossom caps, bling, home decor and more! |
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| Diamond in the Rust |
4. My Biggest Dream: Traveling the Country in a Vintage Camper!
There is just something about the shine of an airstream or
the wings and the “Z” on the side of a Shasta that has me captivated! So much
so that I’ve been known to park in a lot that had a Silver Bullet just to
admire it. If I were to take my dream a step further it would include the fact
that I want the camper to also carry my handmade business to travel and stop in fun little towns along the way. As much as I am
deeply rooted here in Arizona a part of me dreams of being a desert gypsy and
seeing this beautiful country around me. Fortunately for me I have people who
totally support my obsession. Jonathan and his dad happened to be in the next
town over one weekend and saw an old, beat up lemon of a vintage camper. The
owner didn’t know much about it but after seeing pictures it HAD to be mine.
Little did I know the owner was my lifelong best friends’ (twins) dad! So with
$125 in my hand I managed to swoop up one of the biggest projects of my young
life. I can’t wait to post updates of the restoration project, expect updates
this next year!
5. I am long winded.
Ha! As if you couldn’t tell already! I used to love sitting
down with my dad to talk about anything under the sun and 2 hours or more later
wondering how we got the subject we were currently discussing so I guess I get
that from him. Friends used to laugh and give me a random topic to talk about
and see how long I could ramble on about the subject. (My record is just under
5 minutes!) This blogging thing is something I’ve played with for quite some
time and decided to dive right in!
So in a nut-shell; this is me! A crafty, gypsy dreaming,
ambitious talker with a wedding just around the corner! I can’t wait to share
with you all stories of projects, home and life as well as learn a little about
the folks who silently read about the life I lead. I’d love to “meet you” so
feel free to tell me 5 things about you as well!
Try to keep up!
Gwynn
