The Stella & Dot Opportunity

A quick moment of thanks to all of you who have supported my business over the last 3 years. You have welcomed me into your beautiful homes, introduced me to your lovely friends, and you've walked away with A LOT of jewellery! :) Thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the opportunity to turn a hobby business into a full time career and still be a stay at home Mum.


In the last 3 years I have had the pleasure of working with some incredible women. We all have different reasons why we have joined Stella & Dot and what it has done for us personally. Half of the women that I share a team with are Stay-at-Home Mums like myself and the other half have either part time or full time careers in other fields.

S & D gives me the ability to take my girls to school and volunteer when the opportunity arises, travel, stretch my mind, and unexpectantly gave me the chance to help my husband this summer when he fell temporarily ill for nearly 3 months. I have hugged team mates when Cancer has struck, listened to them cry when parents have been stricken with Alzheimer's, shared in the birth of their children, high fived them when they had their first trunk show, and watched them as they've grown into confident and independant women. It's been quite a journey let me tell you!



If this was a movie, we'd only be in the opening credits for what is still to come!! We're going International!


With that I would be grateful for your referrals for women looking to spread their wings and work with me at Stella & Dot. I have been selected to participate in the Cross Border Sponsoring Pilot Program as I am officially welcomed to build a team in the United States and then Globally. This is not an option for all stylists so I am completed honoured.

I am looking for women of all backgrounds to join me in this business that suits their needs and lifestyle and would be ready to launch with my help in one of our busiest seasons, April! She can be anywhere in the US, including Hawaii where I will be mid-April.

She may want to earn a couple of hundred dollars with one trunk show per month or she may treat this like a full time career and build a real business with a six figure income, or meet somewhere in the middle.

Who do you know that would be great at being a stylist, is fun, fashionable, and wants a little more in her life? I will have an open and honest conversation with your referral to see if this is the right opportunity for HER!

Are you interested yourself? The opportunity in BC and in Canada is endless! Start your own business as an independent jewellery stylist. No glass cases or glass ceilings. Join my successful team now.

How to clean Silver Plated Jewellery/Gold plated/Vermeil

Give your silver a bath. Commercial silver "dips" are available which can dissolve stains without rubbing the silver. Contrary to what the word "dip" implies, professionals rarely actually soak silver in these products, at least not for long. Dips are generally harsh, potentially dangerous chemicals (both to the silver and to yourself), so follow the directions carefully and consult a professional when in doubt. You can, however, make a gentle homemade silver bath that gets rid of stains and tarnish by an electrochemical reaction. Be aware that both dipping and electrochemical baths can potentially damage your silver, and they will remove desirable patina, so they're not recommended for silver with an oxidized or French gray finish.

Many of you have been asking me to post my home remedy for cleaning your silver plated jewellery. This 'recipe' has worked quite well for me in the past but you may want to also consider a proper silver bath. Specially formulated silver polishes are your safest option for polishing silver and may be purchased at stores such as the Bay, Zellers, Holt Renfrew, or your local jeweler.


Heat up an appropriately sized container of water and dissolve a large amount of table salt into the water. Use enough salt such that it takes at least a minute to dissolve in the hot water with constant stirring. Washing Soda (such as Arm and Hammer) works as well.
Shape a liner for the container from aluminum foil and place the foil in the container of hot water (danger--do not touch the hot water!).
Place silver that has been previously cleaned with soap into the bath (inside of the foil) for several minutes. Tarnish should dissolve away.
For stubborn spots, remove and clean with soap and a damp rag before reimmersing in the bath.

Warning: This will remove any tarnish, even the antique-y ones. Dispose of salt water down the drain after cooling. This is a simple reaction between the aluminum metal and the silver sulfide (tarnish). The table salt acts as an electrolyte to allow the reaction to happen.

Pull up your Knee Highs and get to Work

I moved to Maple Ridge from Calgary 3 years ago with my husband and two daughters and endured some tough times (reality perhaps?) after living it up in the oil rich province. His job became less than desirable in comparison and we had to re-evaluate our situation and really buckle down.

With a diploma in Business Management, my options to supplement the family income was not much to jump up and down about but we were prepared to do what we had to do to keep the roof over our head. And oh what a roof we had gotten ourselves into. We were a bit panic stricken to say the least. What could I do and still support the lifestyle of commitment we had created for our children? Daycare all day? Would I be working to pay for daycare? It all suddenly felt suffocating as any mother will tell you! Do you relate?

I have looked at a few statistics here and there (I'm no journalist of course so my seeking methods are not likely dialed) have indicated that during the recession women were more likely to pick up their knee highs and employ themselves' in any position possible.


We ourselves' have heard more than one anecdotal story from Calgary friends, where previously stay-at-home mothers have found jobs after their engineer husbands have lost their job or became underemployed. In many households, women have gone back to work as the men have either lost their job, or had their hours cut back.

On that note, many women may have taken part time work to supplement their household income. I'm not entirely sure how the unemployment rate treats part-time employed, but it might be informative to look at hours worked by gender and of course the pay equality would be interesting.

For myself, I began exploring options and long story short fell into a direct sales business, albeit a very stylish one called Stella & Dot. Having never attended 'parties' before I couldn't imagine being the next pink car driving Mary Kay lady (even MK has gotten more modern) and resigned my thoughts to going back to the Gap for work, a job I held in college.

That was until my girlfriend asked me if I had heard of Stella & Dot before and encouraged me to seek out more information. Direct Sales isn't for everyone, I see it all the time and gently steer many women per day away from the thought in all honesty but I see so many stay at home moms from Tupperware to Pampered Chef to sssshhh those sexy parties that all the husbands so generously support, and I see a revolution.

There is a story here of empowerment, solid friendships, gratefulness, and a way to show our children how to be role models/entrepreneurs and find success like our grandparents did, through hard work and determination.

We're mommies who want to walk our growing babies to school, feed our families, feel important outside of laundry day, and have some happiness that we can healthily share with our husbands. I am also getting older so a facial once in awhile is a really nice treat! ;)

Women work and network in a way that is so foreign to men. I work with ladies who are dealing with aging parents, so much Cancer lately, sick children and husbands, etc, etc. I listen to them, cry with them, and celebrate their joys and successess too. The flexibility and earning income is incredible and allows us to deal with curveballs here and there.

So, I've rambled likely but hopefully you see my passion for my unlikely business and see something within these words that you can identify with. xoxo Stacy

Another Reason to love Natalie Portman

In a recent interview with InStyle Magazine (February 2011 edition), there were a few tips that she divulged to the writer.

What's the best makeup tip you ever got from a professional?

Early on, someone told me never to pluck my eyebrows. I always pluck between them and on the sides. Whenever I see young girls with amazing eyebrows, I tell them, "Don't let anyone do anything to them."

My daughters both have amazing eyebrows, mostly because they come from caterpillar brow stock so this is a lesson that I will teach them. Having gone through the Cholita faze of over plucking and penciling in, I see the value in this advice.

In another excerpt from the magazine, Natalie expels some advice that she received from Alber Elbaz at Lanvin.

He told me, "People will try to make you wear heels because you're short. But that's the most beautiful thing about you, so only wear flats." I've learned it's very French to celebrate something about yourself that others might say is your flaw.

I will learn to embrace my short stature and quit apologizing by way of stacked heels and wedges. Well, most days anyways.

Will you do the same?



On another note, check out the Feburary 2011 InStyle and flip to page 134 for their Deals and Steals. There you will see my favourite new necklace from Stella & Dot, www.stelladot.com/williams.

The Revival Tassel Necklace is $89 Canadian and is an instant style maker. Vintage brass chain tassel swinging from crystal pave balls and a string of reconstituted ivory beads with a 30" length of beads.

The revival, along with a few other pieces were the designs of our guest jewellery, Nancy Liebowitz. Nancy started her jewellery line, Nathan and Moe, after working for years as a publicist for daytime dramas. Some of her celebrity clients include, Eva Longoria, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Salma Hayek are all sporting her signature Boho Chic look, and now so can you.

Strike a Pose

A chin tipped slightly up can stretch out a double chin. But don’t overdo it or you risk an uninvited view of your nostrils. Or tip your head down, and the focus is on the eyes. Keep lips partially open or smile generously, but avoid the Mr. Ed horse smile that is all gums. This is a problem of mine! J Vamp it up, but never to the extent of appearing like a caricature of a drag queen of beauty pageant contestant. When in doubt, smile! Any flaws in your outfit or pose disappear when you look like you’re having a great time.

Lastly, don’t make the mistake of not capturing your life on film because you aren’t happy that day with your hair, arms, weight, etc. I’ve learned that I’ll never 100% love a photo of myself but I want to be able to look back and marvel at all of the amazing things we did together as a family and with friends. It all goes by too quickly and if you’re always saying “Tomorrow I will”, it will be too late.

Need a great photographer? Try http://www.wsquaredphotodesign.com/. We were incredibly happy with our family photos with Amy Williams (no relation!)