Newsletter

BAREFOOT NEWS AND VIEWS!!

BAREFOOT BYTES NEWSLETTER – Valentine Issue, February 2006

Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you –

And to all those men out there – If you’re wondering what to get YOUR sweetheart for Valentine’s Day remember that there’s hardly a woman on earth who doesn’t like jewelry. Why not consider a bracelet to match a new outfit or a pair of barefoot sandals to go with a cute teddy? Choose from our selection of beautiful, chunky beaded bracelets or contact us to custom-design one in your honey’s favorite colors. We also just happen to have 2 very special Valentine’s Day Barefoot Sandals! Both “Romantic Ruby” and “Red Hot Love” are available now on our website. You’ll find them right on our home page as well as the Barefoot Sandals page.

Also, if you’re one of those couples who are planning a winter cruise or vacation to a warm, sunny place – a pair of our beaded foot jewelry would make a perfect gift. And Destination Beach Weddings take place all year long, so whether you’re the bride-to-be or a wedding guest, seaside weddings call for barefoot sandals. Jewelry is a gift for any occasion. We make it our goal to ship within 48 hours.

INTRODUCING NEW DESIGNS

If you’ve visited our bridal page recently, you’ve seen 3 new beach wedding sandals. Love is the theme of Hearts Desire, created with tiny, white, cat’s eye hearts, pearl cubes, clear glass rondelles and 6mm Swarovski crystals. This “love”ly bridal sandal features an elegant silver medallion imbedded with rhinestones. With our Heavenly Glow bridal sandals, your feet will twinkle in this sparkling combination of aurora borealis atlas beads, clear glass rondelles and 6mm Swarovski crystals. We’ve topped off this design with a gorgeous single rhinestone-studded centerpiece in glistening silver. And finally, Seaside Splendor, features aqua glass biconee beads coated with an aurora borealis finish. This pattern also includes 6mm Swarovski crystals and silver round spacers and is highlighted by a mother of pearl flower medallion. Make sure you take a look at these new additions to our beach wedding collection.

VERY EXCITING NEWS!!!!

We recently received some great news! The year is starting off with 2 new firsts for Jewels by Jan. You’ve probably never seen barefoot sandals in a shoe store but one brand-new store in Bolivar, Missouri is breaking new ground! Their first order of sandals has already been delivered and is just waiting for the store opening to be introduced to their customers. You can find Jewels by Jan Barefoot Sandals very soon in the new DiVini Shoes.

We also just learned that yet another retail store will be introducing our sandals. Paradise Point Resort & Spa located on beautiful Mission Bay in San Diego, CA will be introducing Jewels by Jan Barefoot Sandals in their gift shop in May 2006! Paradise Point Resort and Spa is just one of the many Noble House Hotels and Resort properties, which are located in several U.S. coastal cities. We think this will be the start of something great! Until then, there’s going to be a lot of bead-stringing going on!

YIN AND YANG

Yin and Yang are famous symbols of the Tao & Taoism. The Symbol (Yin-Yang) represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents “everything”, while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called “yin” (black) and “yang” (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other.

Since some of our customers have been asking for a black and white barefoot sandal, we decided that this new design should be made with yin and yang beads. Whether you attach your own meaning to yin and yang or whether you just like black and white – check out our latest design in foot jewelry. We’re only making a limited number of these sandals so act quickly! Send me an e-mail and I’ll send you the photo!

WE WOMEN LOVE OUR JEWELRY

The practice of adorning our bodies with jewelry goes back to the beginning of time. While every culture uses bangles and beads, the people of India have a long and interesting history of how jewelry plays a part of their lives. In a 2002 article written by Nitin Kumar that we found very informative, “the people of India have expended limitless energy and creativity in the invention of ornaments that celebrate the human body. Adorning the visible, material body, they feel, satisfies a universal longing for the embellishment of its intangible counterpart, namely the human spirit. Complementary to such thought is the conventional view that the graceful form of a woman is said to epitomize the ideal beauty and mystery inherent in nature. Thus befittingly each and every part of the feminine physique including the head, torso, limbs, and between the appended parts – have consistently been used to support ornaments, often in ingenious ways. The Indian idea being that only things covered with ornaments are beautiful.

While Indian culture has many types of adornment, did you know that an Indian woman wearing a “wristlet” or bangles signifies that she is married? Besides being a mark of a married woman, these have enormous romantic and amorous connotations. Often the Indian poet would indicate a woman pining for union with her husband or lover by bracelets slipping from her wrist due to her becoming thin in the agony of separation from him. The tinkling sound of women’s bangles is full of significant messages expressing her presence, her wish for attention, her anger or desire to exchange glances.

An important concept associated with this feminine ornament has been responsible for its continuing popularity. It is a universally accepted idea that bangles identify the wearer as a married woman, reiterating her status as the beloved of her husband and the honored mother of a family. To the Indian woman, ornaments for the wrist have always been significant emblems of marriage. Even when changing bangles, a woman never allows her arm to be completely bare. A simple string or even the end of her sari is wrapped around the arm, until the new set is worn.

Feet are the support of the entire body and therefore accorded great significance. Indeed the foot is the human pedestal, in direct contact with Mother Earth, absorbing vigor from her powerful emanations. In a charming aside, it is worthwhile mentioning here that women in some tribes are given foot bells, chains, and tinkling anklets, not only to frighten snakes away when they move outside at night, but in order that their husbands may know where they are when they cannot be seen!

(For more on the use of jewelry in the Indian culture, check out this link: http://www.exoticindiaart.com)

FEATURED WEBSITE PARTNER

Since starting our business two years ago, my sister and I have had the good fortune of meeting some wonderful business partners…many of whom we have never met in person! These business acquaintances’ graciously agreed to display and sell our barefoot sandals on their own websites not only because they have related products or services but also because they saw that Jewels by Jan barefoot sandals were a unique, jewelry item that women of all ages would love. One of those websites is MyWeddingAccessories. With each newsletter I’d like to feature one of our website partners by giving you a little history of their business and what you can find when you visit their site.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mary, the owner of Humphrey Florist and MyWeddingAccessories when we both attended a bridal soire’ as vendors at a local San Diego invitation shop by the name of Truly Truso.

Mary has owned a full service floral design business specializing in outdoor and beach themed weddings for twenty five years. That evening, Mary displayed a collection of beautiful photographs of bridal arrangements she had created during her many years as a florist. She has worked with countless couples to create their special day from creating their floral bouquets to all the wedding accessories needed to carry out their beach themed wedding. With the recent increase in Destination Beach Weddings, Mary has now turned her focus toward the wedding accessory arena with her new accessories website. Like flowers – weddings have no particular season.

Weddings take place all year long, all over the world and San Diego’s beaches and warm climate have made this city a popular place for a destination wedding. From the moment you announce your engagement, MyWeddingAccessories can be your exclusive resource in helping plan your special day. Many brides-to-be are telling family and friends about this new Bridal Gift Registry service provided by MyWeddingAccessories.com. This unique web site has revolutionized the wedding experience. Brides join the Bridal Registry online and create a wish list from more than 2,000 wedding accessories and wedding gift items. Wedding guests and family are able to do their gift shopping and even help the Bride-to-be acquire Accessories needed for the wedding.

Your wedding shower guests can shop for gifts, the friends and family hosting the bridal shower can find everything they need to host a perfectly lovely event and the bride and groom can shop online for everything from wedding jewelry and wedding favors to wedding ceremony and reception accessories. It doesn’t stop after the wedding either because this website also carries a wonderful selection of Dining, Kitchen, Luggage, Electronics, Bed & Bath and more for the bride and groom’s new love nest!

Talk about one-stop shopping! This site has it all and if you happen to have a wedding in your future, whether it’s a traditional church wedding or a seaside ceremony, you’ll do yourself a favor by visiting this website. Just go to our links page and get started!

Jan