Weekend Artists…Reata Rose Ranch & Mia Bella Collection

Happy Friday, Sweets!
I don’t think we have even scratched the surface of the many facets of Cottage Style/ Froufrou. This next trend is one that I feel, is timeless and beautiful. Around Lolli-Land, we’ll be calling it FrouFrou Cowgirl! Take a look…

We even have our very own Jennifer Hayslip as our model,

That photo was from last year’s Silver Bella event, on vendor theme night.

What do our two weekend artists have to do with Froufrou Cowgirl? Decide for yourself…

I’ve been creating handmade goods for 20 years, with a background in free-lance design – selling designs to publishers, as well as selling finished work. Acquiring a liking for all things eclectic first began during my childhood in the out-west version of ‘Mayberry’. Cosmopolitan city lightd came next and it was fun, then I settled into suburbia for a time but my roots on the range called me home. I never looked back.

My work is a reflection of eclectic living. Whether jewelry, historic reproduction dolls & bears or vintage goodies etc…I like to ‘mix it up’. I’m a horse-crazy cowgirl at heart; my husband and I are cattle ranchers in Wyoming. I dabble in photography, write a little for hire, love music – western swing, classical, jazz standards, oldies and ethnic flavors.

The old-time cowgirl was a creature of strong contrasts. She was tough…and tender, a product of the times in which she lived. The time-frame that produced the cowboy and cattle barons was the Victorian era. ‘Girly-girl’ cowgirls wore fancy handmade lace as well as sweat stained leather. Satin, florals, baubles and embellishments ruled their wardrobe. Picture the Gibson girls in flamboyant, wide-brimmed cowboy hats. Let me tell you, it ain’t easy being a girly-girl in a dirty world…on the ranch. Like my sisters from that bygone era, I also hunger for lace & fine-ness and sanctuary in pretty pleasures.

Every era and culture offers it’s own unique personality. Rules rule our world, but not the arts. While we can only live in one era at a time, we can play with and learn from all of them in the arts. I’m tickled to be a part of the Lollishop family … a ‘virtual’ village of unique boutiques for the online shopper to stroll through. Quality handmade merchandise in many flavors and various versions everywhere one looks! Thank you Sadie Lou for ‘Lolliland’.

~Shery Jesperson, Reata Rose Ranch

and now for Shery’s little sister,

“How it all began…”

I’m like most bead-lovers….my life-long bead-addiction began at childhood. My earliest memories began with Grama’s jewelry box, which was my favorite toy-box! If she couldn’t find me she knew

exactly where to look first! I started beading with dyed macaroni, pony beads, seed beads, any kind of bead I could get my little hands on! Now it’s mostly gorgeous expensive ‘good stuff’ you can’t find

at the grocery or dime store! I’ve created jewelry for myself all my life and used all sorts stuff….from pine needles and nuts, to thrift shop junk, lots of flea market finds, and re-working antique pieces I’d

collected over the years. Many design ideas I see everywhere nowadays, I’ve either tried or created for myself over the years.

Grama also began to teach me how to embroidery when I was 5yrs & my Mom always used her creativity with Christmas gifts, Valentine’s Day, or our birthdays. I was surrounded by wonderful creative women.

I made my first hand-sewn felt cloth doll & her clothes at 10yo, later in HS I sewed many of my own clothes (Seventeen magazine inpired me every month!), when my baby sons were born I embroidered tiny

white T-shirts w/swallows and teddy bears, eventually I created a wide variety of craft items, which I sold in my gallery in MI which also represented 40 artisans, it goes on and on….I’ve been a crafty gal

all my life! *Take note of my jean jacket smothered with buttons hanging above my worktable…I did that while living in Sacramento way back in 1987!!

Six years ago, I was seeking a new job/career and faced age discrimination for the first in my life. To make ends meet I began selling some of my worldly goods I’d collected on Ebay. One day, while brushing

up my resume for the 100th time, I took a break and clicked into Ebay to check on my active household auctions. Afterward, I detoured into the jewelry category….I snuck a little peek at all the jewelry

(total weakness)….”whoa, look at ALL the items and what they sold! I can DO that!!” The rest is history. I am truly blessed to be able to do what I love and call it my career too!

Mia Bella Collection Jewelry
Mia Bella Beads