Michelle's Tattoos

You have seen all of my tattoos already. But after getting the newest ones yesterday, I wanted to show you all of Michelle's. She didn't even think it was weird when I asked to take pictures of all of them. So, here they are..Michelle's artwork! All eighteen of them!

 Betty Boop lips on her butt!

Anchor on her left foot

Cherry blossoms on the left side of her hip

It used to say "Dude." Now its leaning more towards "dud."

Star on her wrist

On the side of her lower back

Anchor on her right upper ribs

Awesome lighthouse on her left foot

Diamond on the other side of her hip

Lightning bolt behind her ear

HUGE flowers on her ribs

"Sailor" on her ankle

"love" written in rope on the other side of her ribs

More huge flowers going up the side of her back


"Stay True" on her shoulder

Our great-grandmothers name on her wrist

Unfinished sugar skulls

The latest addition!

Day Five: Pay Day Rants, Tattoos and Cookout!

So, it's payday. I'm not sure if I've ever voiced my opinion about how much I hate direct deposit. I don't like having the money go into one spot. I like having a check in my hand, going to the bank, cashing it..and deciding how much I want to keep there. I live by the envelope system. I have since I was 16 and I really don't see myself ever backing away from it. I think it's hard for people to understand how it works. Danny doesn't. He just knows we are saving money. Anyway, today was payday. I had a fit this morning about how much I hate direct deposit...and then we moved on and I filled up my envelopes.

Me and Michelle went to Walmart to get stuff for the cookout. Like I said, it's payday. She thought it was so funny that everyone was stocking up on things for the next few weeks. I just think it's funny that you can tell when the entire town gets paid. Do most people just do their grocery shopping on payday? Maybe it's with the help of the envelope system that we go every week. I can't imagine getting everything I need/want only twice a month.

Okay moving on from my rant!!

Me and Michelle got tattoos today! We both got "Let It Be." She got it on her foot, I got mine on my wrist. That makes number 7 for me. And way more for Michelle! I just decided that someday I'm going to do a blog entry on all of HER tattoos! As usual the tattoo artist thought it was my first one. I guess I should start getting bigger more obvious ones! AND he thought all The Beatles were still alive...he must live under a rock!

 I'm paranoid that the birds don't look like birds!
I see a starfish, dolphin and wishbone...

We had a cookout tonight! The four of us, Reina and Dave, and Dan and Natosha. We had wayyy too much food. Reina made an awesome dessert, we named it the candy apple dip. It was a-maaa-zing! Miley even had a little play date!



Somehow we ended up at the bowling alley. Very rowdy, some of the boys had way too much to drink. It was a fun time hanging out with everyone! 


Interview with Carolina Clover

Searching for the perfect strength, quality and originality in every design is quite a hard time. But being in perfect with your chosen profession keeps you movin’ to venture out for more. Just like what our featured artist had accomplished. A perfectionist woman who keeps looking for the right materials to express herself through her design and is continually crafting for more variety of designs.Now, let's hear more about from our featured artist from an interview.



Picture courtesy of http://carolinaclover.com/

Wrap around your wrist this Pink Flower Cuff Bracelet. A fabric design enclosed in a gray ribbon embellished with a Rhinestone studded flower medallion in sparkly pink. An ideal match for a jeans and tee or garb it with your night out dress.




Feel like a star in this original design of Carolina Clover, the Tuxedo Rhinestone Cuff Bracelet. This Tuxedo cuff is roofed in black satin fabric with a silver and rhinestone cobachon / medallion / concho in the shape of a star!

Now, lets us turn our interest to our featured artist for an interview

Jane: Tell us about yourself, your location, your job and your goals

Dawn Crowder: I'm a jewelry designer and retailer of personalized gifts. I personally design hand stamped charms, beaded earrings, and blingy cuff bracelets. I sell most of my items on my web site, and I am currently opening my first retail gallery showcase at the Cotton Company in Historic Downtown Wake Forest, NC.

Jane: How did you start doing jewelry (or beadmaking) as a business?

Dawn Crowder:I started buying unusual jewelry during my domestic travels as sort of a souvenir of my travel, my friends took notice of my treasures so I began reselling and designing my own pieces from beads and other materials found during my travels. Realizing I had an "eye" for the unusual, I took up the very hobby I enjoy doing both in my workshop and in my travels.


Jane: Every artist has a personal "creative process", can you explain yours?

Dawn Crowder:My creative process is not something I can sit down and just "do". Day to day life of raising children creates a creative "fog" for me, while very rewarding and fulfilling in the Mommy role, my creative ideas come to me when I'm traveling, shopping boutiques, or just mulching the flower beds! And when those creative vibes start firing, I have to sketch it out so I don't loose sight of the design and when I get an energizing moment to devote to the design, I start hammering it out in my workshop.

Jane: When people start doing jewelry, they tend to try a lot of different things before settling down to something that resonates with them, tell us how has your jewelry work changed since you began?

Dawn Crowder: I started out beading earrings, then moved to hand stamping, and now I seem to be focusing on my cuff bracelets and now I want to move into matching earrings for my cuff bracelets, so I seem to have come full circle, loving all of it just shifting my focus here and there.

Jane: Can you share with us a some jewelry making or design tips?

Dawn Crowder:I'm a perfectionist which is both a great quality and a disturbing quality in artistry! The first tip I can share is that I wrap my jeweler's tools in blue painters tape to keep from marking and scratching my silver wire work and my hand stamped charms. I also had to try like a billion different fabric, embellishment, and jewel glues and adhesives until I got the ones that work for me and give me the look, the quality, and the strength I needed. Not really a tip, I guess, but I guess the lesson is, keep looking until you find the right materials that express your design.

To view more of Dawn Crowder's jewelry design,please check out these sites:

Shop: http://www.carolinaclover.com/
Blog: http://carolinaclover.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/CarolinaClover
Etsy: http://carolinaclover.etsy.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wake-Forest-NC/Carolina-Clover/158493306344

Download lots of free jewelry making tutorials at DiyLessons! Are you a jewelry (jewellery) making teacher/ tutor? You can also list your tutorials here too.Don't miss a post! Subscribe to Handmade Jewelry Club by Email FREEBookmark and Share


We Have A Winner


Well, majority rules!  I have chosen from the last giveaway post who the winner will be.  I transferred every entry onto a piece of paper and drew the name.  I apologize to those who voted to draw from the original post, I don't mean to offend.  Had I drawn from the original post, the original posters may not have seen that I was resetting the giveaway and quite frankly, I do not have time to chase the winner down...especially since they didn't even know there was a reset on the giveaway!

So....here's the winner:

Jane Campbell!!!

Okay...here's the deal - Jane, contact me with your email address by Sunday morning.  If I do not hear from the winner by Sunday 31 July, I will draw another name, so keep checking back until I confirm the winner has contacted me.

The contacts and prize must be sent by Saturday of next week because I am leaving for a 2 WEEK VACATION on Monday morning, 9 August!  Yup...I'm going to see my mom in North Carolina!!  It will take me two days to drive there, I will be spending a week with mom and dad at their house.....and for the best part:  Dad has rented a house on the ocean shores of Oak Island for a WEEK...we are talking the beach front here, folks!!!!  


I can't wait - I love the ocean so much, I have a mini-ocean in my family room!  My coral reef tank I have posted about in the past.  I have never had the opportunity to spend so long at the ocean, I am not passing this up!  Therefore, the prize has to get mailed before I leave.  In addition, I am doing custom jewelry sets for a wedding party of 5, a custom order of 9 pieces of button jewelry for the editor of a popular garden journal in my area and finishing a 60" x 60" quilt for a woman to give to her daughter that just got back from Afghanistan (she's a medic in the Air Force).  Plus working the evening away making 1940's dresses to wear during the vacation.  Whew - it sure is busy here.  Hubby is getting lonely with the hours I have been in my studio this past week!

So the race is on!  Thank you to everyone who commented :)

Winner Winner!

I'm psyched that I have had some luck with giveaways!

I won a great cookbook from Kara over at The Ramblings of a Marine Wife. I haven't had a chance to make anything from it yet, but I think the cover recipe is going to be the first one. Seriously, look how good that looks!


I also won a super cute necklace from Mrs. Gambizzle at Life as a Sailor's Girl. The necklace made it's big debut at the Paul McCartney concert. Seriously, love it. And she is so sweet, she sent Miley a jewel for her collar.


I still have one more that I really want to win! Please go vote for Miley over at Head Over Heels into Dog Handling. Miley could win a dog training kit!

Folksy Friday Green Apples

The apples on my tree are just about to start turning from green to red now (assuming a bit of helpful sunshine comes along!) and they inspired today's picks! Click on any of the picture to be taken to the shop



ialbert heart zeena's shopshoples
cute creations love poppetHave a thing about me


1. This striking fine art print by ialbert would make a fabulous wall hanging

2. This lovely screen printed cushion is called Audrey, and comes with a red or green apple to suit your preference. Beautifully handmade by heart zeena's lovely little shop

3. Apple handmade soap by Shoples - you can smell it from here, can't you? (Love the shop name too!)

4. How could you not smile at this green apple ring by cute creations?

5. You could almost squeeze the pips out of the padded keyring from love poppet 

6. These apple earrings are completely handmade from wood and a vinyl record by Have a Thing about Me

This Folksy Friday is a bit late, due to blogger giving me some grief earlier.  But I'm able to post now, thanks to the help of a very kind military guy from Holland who was on the blogger help forums at just the right time.  Thank you, complete stranger!!

Click here to tweet: A handfull of lovely green apples on Folksy

Folksy Friday Green Apples

The apples on my tree are just about to start turning from green to red now (assuming a bit of helpful sunshine comes along!) and they inspired today's picks! Click on any of the picture to be taken to the shop



ialbert heart zeena's shopshoples
cute creations love poppetHave a thing about me


1. This striking fine art print by ialbert would make a fabulous wall hanging

2. This lovely screen printed cushion is called Audrey, and comes with a red or green apple to suit your preference. Beautifully handmade by heart zeena's lovely little shop

3. Apple handmade soap by Shoples - you can smell it from here, can't you? (Love the shop name too!)

4. How could you not smile at this green apple ring by cute creations?

5. You could almost squeeze the pips out of the padded keyring from love poppet 

6. These apple earrings are completely handmade from wood and a vinyl record by Have a Thing about Me

This Folksy Friday is a bit late, due to blogger giving me some grief earlier.  But I'm able to post now, thanks to the help of a very kind military guy from Holland who was on the blogger help forums at just the right time.  Thank you, complete stranger!!

Click here to tweet: A handfull of lovely green apples on Folksy