Long Hair…

Ever since I can remember, I wanted to be the mom of a girl.  I always dreamed she’d have long hair, and I’d have fun doing different things with it.  The first part of that dream came true…the doing different things with it…not so much!

I am not very coordinated with my hands, unless you put me in front of a piano.  The most I could ever do with long hair was a pony tail :(.  BORING…

Last year I looked at a book Morgan has on different kinds of braids, and watched several video tutorials on how to do it.  None of them helped me.  I took Morgan for a hair trim one day, and our darling hairstylist demonstrated how to do a French braid.  I stood right there and watched her.  I came home and had to try it right away.  It didn’t turn out very well.  I kept trying, and I am happy to say that practice is helping me get much better at it!  I can FINALLY do a French braid! YIPPEE!!

Morgan has really long hair…like down to her waist.  If she doesn’t braid it at night, or put it up when she wears a coat, she gets HORRIBLE tats in it that make me want to take her straight to Brenda to have it cut off.  But her hair is absolutely glorious…I’m serious, it’s so pretty it takes my breath away sometimes.  I do NOT want to cut it off (I think her dad would divorce me…just kidding).  So being able to do French braids will be a great help in keeping the hair up and out of the way.  We learned how to do a few other easier braids from Morgan’s braid book as well…

Here is today’s French braid….not too shabby if I do say so myself!

In Which I Shamelessly Brag on a Friend’s Jewelry Business…

 

WARNING: Really long post, but I promise it’s worth it…and there are pictures!

My friend Kelly started a jewelry business on November 10, 2008.  She started the business with her mom on Etsy.  When I found out about it I bought a couple pairs of earrings.  They were the best earrings I have ever owned.  So I bought more….and more…and some more.  I never was a fan of long dangly earrings. I wore mostly posts.  When I started buying jewelry from Kelly’s shop, I bought all of the pretty dangly pieces, and LOVE them.  I even own three pairs of statement earrings that are really big.

LinkelDesigns on Etsy…you’ve got to visit.  Kelly always has great sales, ways to get discounts, earrings of the week, giveaways, and very affordable jewelry.  Her designs are GORGEOUS, and she is always creating new ones.  I have never been disappointed with any piece of jewelry I have purchased from LinkelDesigns.  It always comes very quickly in the mail (or is hand delivered to me at church), and her packaging is really nice.  Her customer service is the best around, and I know she takes a great deal of time and effort into making each piece perfect. Her mom Linda helps her design and make the jewelry, and her husband Darryl mans the glue gun, and helps with anything else Kelly needs to get orders ready to ship.

Let me tell you something about Kelly that I learned just yesterday, and really made me want to continue buying jewelry from her.  Kelly is a professional violinist. I don’t think “professional” does it justice.  She makes her violin SING.  It brings tears to my eyes sometimes.  Kelly has played in, and auditioned with various symphonies.  It is their loss, the ones she auditioned with, that she wasn’t up to their perfect standards (so they say…not what I hear), and she didn’t get the job. 

Fast forward a few years.  She is now the mother to two of the most adorable little boys, and though she still loves to play her violin, and still plays for several “gigs” throughout the year, she is now choosing to stay home with those lovely boys, and she can do it because of this business. It means more to her than playing with ANY symphony would have. She is with her lovies full time, and is homeschooling her oldest. That makes me want to support her all I can.  I hope you will too.  You just have to go check out her blog to see her sweet bambinos, her husband, who is one of the most amazing pianists I have ever met (and bass player extraordinaire), and all of the other creative ideas she has besides music and jewelry.  She is one of those moms that can do it all.  But she’s not “in your face” about it.  It’s all genuinely sharing her ideas with us, and wanting our input on how we run our households too.  Go visit her blog The Pretty Bee, and then go to her shop and check out her jewelry at LinkelDesigns on Etsy.

I got rid of all of my old, cheap earrings, and my jewelry drawer is pretty full of LinkelDesigns jewelry that I buy exclusively now. I just haven’t been happy with anything else. Look at my jewelry drawer!

Want to see some of my favorite pieces up close? Here we go…My most recent pair of green earrings.  The photo is a bit blurry, but these earrings are just STUNNING in person.  They sparkle when they catch the light.  I really love them.

This next pair I wore to the mall the other day, and I had EIGHT people come up to me and ask where I got them.  I have since gotten several of Kelly’s business cards so I can hand them out when I get asked about my earrings.  The detail on this pair is amazing…

 

I have had this next pair for a while, but it is one of my very favorites.  They are so pretty.  This design is still available in Kelly’s shop…I just saw it the other day.

Here are the statement earrings I mentioned.  I have them in navy blue, black, and red.  They are also available in pink, an aqua color, and a brownish color…They are so pretty…

 

I love these little blue pumpkins…so darling!

 

These orange earrings are a little more modern looking.  I love the silver hoops, and I just think they are so pretty and classy looking…

These blue earrings are beautiful.  I just love the vintage look, the intricate detail on them, and how they look on.

This pink and pearl pair is just stunning.  The picture doesn’t do them justice…

 

All of my pictures are of earrings, because I am not really into necklaces or bracelets.  I do have 3 necklaces made by Kelly, and when I want to wear one, those are the ones I would choose.  Kelly makes/sells necklaces, rings, earrings, and even darling little hairpin sets. When I wear her pieces…I feel pretty. :)

There are so many other things I could tell you about my experiences with LinkelDesigns..behind the scenes stuff that convinces me that this is a job Kelly loves, and one she puts her whole heart into.  Things like fixing little glitches that were not her fault, with no extra cost to me. NO questions asked.  Things like little extra surprises showing up in my order from time to time. Things like presenting me with a beautiful necklace to remember my deceased daughter’s 16th birthday, when no one has EVER remembered her to me that way.  She didn’t make the necklace, but she knew what I liked, and had it made for me. Things like reserving pieces that I can’t afford right now, but REALLY REALLY want to buy when I can, so I don’t miss them.  All of those things make LinkelDesigns my FAVORITE place to buy jewelry, and I will do it for Christmas, birthdays, graduations, and just to bless someone like Kelly has me…

So what are you doing reading my blog?! Go check out The Pretty Bee, and go find some amazing jewelry at LinkelDesigns.  If you do, PLEASE come back and tell me what you buy.  I LURVE to share the joy…Happy shopping!

No Sew Blankets….And Scarves :)

A few years ago my mom made no sew blankets for my littles.  They LOVE them.  They still sleep with them every night, take them on all of our trips, and snuggle up with them on the couch.

About a year ago, my mom taught me how to make them.  I wanted to make one for a dear single lady in our church.  I thought that would be the perfect gift for her, as she had no place of her own, and was struggling to make it financially.  When I gave it to her, she was appalled that I would do something so special for her.  It was just a no sew blanket.  In return, she paid for my daughter and I to go to a mother and daughter retreat at our favorite Christian camp.  I did NOT expect anything in return, but she was so touched by receiving that blanket.

I have always wanted one myself, and wanted to make one for my husband as well.  I bought some fabric a while back that would match the colors in our bedroom.  The base of both blankets would be a lovely kelly green, and Andy would have blue on the top of his, and I’d have burgundy on the top side of mine.  This fabric has been sitting in the closet for quite a while.

Today my daughter found it, and asked if she could make a blanket.  She did the whole thing from start to finish, and the end result is lovely.  She made my husband’s blanket, and he is very happy with it.

Here she is lining up the fabric and getting ready to start cutting…

Next came the tying stage…

The final result…a lovely blanket!

This is the fun part.  There was a long leftover strip of the green fabric, so Morgan created a no sew scarf with it.  I love it! I’m sitting here with the scarf wrapped around my neck right now! I think Morgan is a better model though :)

I took these pictures with my iPhone, so they are a bit grainy.  Tomorrow, Morgan will make my blanket with the burgundy and green material.  She had so much fun working on the blanket today!