a new music find

Hi :)

This week I've been getting caught up on my blog reading as well as starting a bunch of Christmas presents, on top of working on a commission project (pictures for this to come... just know it is the biggest project I have been commissioned to do!)

While getting caught up on my blog reading, I checked one of my favorite blogs by Chandi of Expression Fiber Arts. In one particular post she updated on a scarf she was working on, which happened to be started the same time as the KAL that I started and the same exact project for the KAL (mentioned here, here, and here), so I was excited to see her finished piece.

Not only was her scarf gorgeous, she also included a YouTube video of a man singing acapella. I listened and I was immediately covered in goosebumps.

I've been listening to him non stop since; while crocheting, knitting, playing games on Facebook... he is in the background.

I am not a super religious person and I won't get into any religious things on here, but his voice is so beautiful and angelic. It makes me smile and feel good inside.

All this talk just to share with you :) I believe his voice should be shared.
So just take a moment and listen, you won't regret it!

Sam has other videos on his YouTube channel, so if you enjoyed this, I suggest you go check it out :)

Thanks for reading and listening. I hope you're having a wonderful day!

new series :: polished

Hi :)

Today I'm introducing another series I'll be calling:

I love nail polish and I am obsessed with looking at nail art on Pinterest and from other bloggers [see here and here], so I thought that I would have posts dedicated to this love of mine with links to nail art tutorials and pictures of designs to inspire you.

This week's theme is: Leopard Print

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I came across this website [Pack A Punch Polish] on Pinterest and I was excited from the first glance.
Most of Samantha's designs are inspired by outfits or an item of clothing she has. If I had the time and polish, I would totally be doing this as well lol

On her blog, she not only pictures her designs, but she also has video tutorials that show you how to re-create the design yourself.
So, I'll be posting a lot of her designs in this series :)

She also has a YouTube channel if you want to check out some of her other designs and videos.


That's all for today. I hope you give this design a try. Let me know if you have any designs worth sharing :)
See you back here tomorrow!

I won a giveaway!! + review

Hi :)

So I recently started reading a new blog called Emma Deer, and I am just in love with that space.
Last month, Emily (the beauty behind the Emma Deer blog; also known as Em or Emma) had a giveaway on her blog for a $20 store credit to the Whale & Wasp Etsy shop, run by Amber of Whale & Wasp blog.

I entered almost everyday...

...and I won!!

(P.S. How cute is that GIF?!! I was just as excited to see it as I was to see the email in my inbox lol!!)

I was so shocked and happy because I always enter giveaways and I usually don't win so this was a very pleasant surprise :)

I've admired Amber's shop for a while, but never had the chance to purchase anything from her. After I found out that I had won the giveaway, I went straight to her Etsy and placed my order!


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I had a really hard time picking something from her shop... All of her pouches and hair bows were calling out to me! Ultimately what sold me on this beauty was the fact that I have been looking for a clutch type of purse for a while now, and the colors of the cute flower print with the bright teal zipper were just perfect!

I placed my order and it was shipped out within a couple of days. She lives in Canada and I live in the U.S. so I was expecting for there to be a bit of waiting before it came, but I was so surprised to see it in my mailbox 7 business days later!

I've been using it everyday since :)

I took some pictures the day I got it and wanted to share how beautiful it is with you guys!
(Sorry in advance for the not-so-good-looking pictures... I only have my phone camera to take pictures right now.)

 I love the inside fabric! And I love that she's added her own personal touch by adding the name of her shop sewn into the inside.

She even included a nice little note as well as her business card.

The clutch is perfect size for the essentials; right now I am using it to hold my keys, phone (not pictured because I am using it for the pictures), receipts and drivers license... maybe a candy or 2 lol

The wrist strap is so convenient because as a mom, I always have my hands full so this is a great feature. I have pretty wide wrists as well so I am happy that my hand fits through the strap, but that the strap is not so big that it will fall off my wrist if I wave my arm around.

It is also made very well. The fabrics are good quality and the zipper doesn't stick when you try to zip it open or closed. I can tell she took her time to make this and didn't rush through it just to make a sale.

Overall:

I am one happy girl!!! And I will definitely be a repeat customer!

Please go check out her shop! You will not be disappointed! :)

Thanks again to Emily for having the giveaway and thanks to Amber for hosting it and being so great to order from!


You can follow Amber here:
ETSY • BLOG • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • TUMBLR • INSTAGRAM

And you can follow Emily here:
POSHMARK • BLOG • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • TUMBLR • INSTAGRAM • PINTEREST • GOOGLE+

♥

playing catch up :: vol II

Hi :)

I follow a lot of blogs (via Bloglovin') and I haven't had a chance to go on there lately to get caught up... I logged in today and it said I had 295 unread posts. O_O

So, it's time for another blog catch up sesh! Here are a few things/posts I loved:

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How great are these 2 videos that Kaelah from Little Chief Honeybee shared in her Things I Love Thursday post? She always finds such rad things!


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How exciting is it that Vickie Howell has come out with a self striping yarn? I mean look how great those color combos are! Her other lines [Sheep(ish) and Cotton(ish)] have gorgeous saturated colors and I can't wait to get my hands on this new yarn of hers!


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I love doilies! They are just so pretty to me :) Sandra of Cherry Heart recently posted all about her doily obsession with tons of beautiful pictures and links to all the patterns she used. I will definitely be making some of these for myself. She also has some great tutorials!


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How cute and ridiculous is this match up? *sigh* Des Hommes et des Chatons knows how to cheer a girl up that's for sure! lol





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Amanda of Little Lady Little City shared this super cute GIF in her Friday Fancies post and it pretty much sums up what I love about fall... PIE!!!


That's it for now. I'll share another catch up session with you guys again soon! If you haven't done it yet, check out the list of blogs I follow here, or click on the links I've included in this post!

See you tomorrow!

monday, funday

Hi :)

I hope you had a great weekend!

It's starting to get hot around here again :( BUT, I am getting things crossed off my mental 'to-do'
 list so I am a happy gal. {Pictures to come! I don't want to spoil surprises :p}

Since today's post won't really be a progress post, I thought I'd share a very easy, beginner type of crochet project for those of you that are itching to start making something (other than the granny square).


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How awesome are these headband/turban/ear warmers?

Stephanie, from All About Ami, has a lot of great free patterns, but I thought this was a great starting project for the newbies :)
Not only does she have a totally amazing name, her Tumblr is inspiring and her little one is so cute!

I also wanted to share that I am listed in her 'Crochet Blog Directory'!
How exciting is that?! There are tons of blogs listed so I suggest you go check them out! Get inspired! Crochet is a wonderful thing :)

See you back here tomorrow for our crochet lesson!

blog love :: okay, allison

Hi :)

I hope your week is going well.

Remember in this post I briefly mentioned my buddy, my pal, Allison? 

Well, I first came across her blog through Jennifer, who blogs over at Grits and Moxie, when she posted this feature sponsor post. I went to check out Allison's blog and it was love at first read. 

Allison is super funny (read this post and this post) and, through her writing, I could tell she was a 'tell it like it is' kind of girl. I like people like that. I left a couple of comments here and there on her blog before and once I started this blog I included the link in with a comment on one of her posts. I didn't think she would stop by, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to sneak it in.

She stopped by THAT DAY and emailed me THAT DAY.

I was so shocked/excited/surprised to see her name as a sender in my mailbox, I literally refreshed my browser page 3 times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. She said that she was grateful for my support of her blog and offered to advertise my blog button on her page to show her support. I felt like I was in a dream reading this.

I had wanted to make crochet and learning to crochet apart of this blog before I decided to make it official. After Allison posted her interest in learning to crochet, I told her that I was planning on doing a crochet 'how to' series and she thought it would be genius (and it is) for us to get together on the series. She will be learning to crochet through me! I'm so happy to be teaching someone to crochet, even if it is through a computer screen.

We talk through e mail and I follow her on every social media outlet I'm signed up for, and we've just bonded through all this correspondence. It feels great to have that support, especially from someone who I admire as a blogger and, now that I know her a little better, as a human being.

She has such a huge heart and is such a sweet, supportive person and I'm glad I left my blog link in a comment on her blog because I feel like this friendship is going to be a great lasting one :) I can't wait to meet her 'in real life' someday! haha

Stop by her blog today to learn a little more about me and see how she's doing with the Crochet 101 series.

See you tomorrow, friend!

playing catch up

Hi :)

I've been feeling so behind on my blog reading lately! I go to blogloving to get caught up and there's like 200+ posts I haven't read yet... Yikes! Slowly getting through them all this morning/today though. I just can't stay away! haha

Here are some recent favorite posts from a few of my blog favorites:

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I've mentioned the Des Hommes et des Chatons tumbler before... There will be many shared posts from them in the future because, well I love kitties and the pairings that they do just make me smile :)

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I love Alisa's art work. Both she and her husband are so so talented and they both have such different artistic styles. Their daughter is quite the little artist as well ;) I just love when she shows peaks into her sketchbook... They're all so colorful and inspiring.

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I love when Kaylah posts her weekly nail posts. I wish my nails could look this fabulous... My polish always chips after day 1 from washing dishes and whatnot lol

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Sarah posted this the other day, and I have to say that I can relate to this comic strip as well. I am horrible at receiving compliments. I just don't know how to respond!


I love everything about this outfit!
And I love everything about this girl! [More on my love for her in another post;)]

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I found this on Pinterest (not any of the blogs I follow), but since it has to do with Harry Potter and current events (and it's funny) I squeezed it in ;)

There's so many other good posts that I'm reading today, but if I posted them all, this post would be forever long! I'll most likely be sharing more of my favorite posts from other blogs again next week, so keep your eyes peeled for the greatness!!

Do you follow a lot of blogs?
Do you find yourself playing catch up too?

I hope you're having a great day :)

I'll see you back here tomorrow! Yay!

lust list :: vol III

Hi :)

Happy Friday!

I hope your week is going amazingly! 

Have you been following along in my Crochet 101 series? If so, that is great! I hope you're having fun learning something new :)

Today's Lust List features the artwork from Annya Kai.

Seriously, I want EVERYTHING!!! Here are my top 5 favorites in her Etsy shop:

This Peacock in Full Bloom is absolutely gorgeous!

This Mom & Baby Hanging Sloths print! I love sloths, and it reminds me of my son and myself :) Plus the colors?! GAH!

This Panda!

This Little Red Riding Hood - Dark Fairytale is so simple and mysterious, but so gorgeous!

and last, but certainly not least

This beautiful Snowy Owl print reminds me of Hedwig :)

Aren't these stunning?!! The colors! The details! If I was rolling in the dough, I swear I would be clearing out this woman's stock!

One day... haha


You can find her art prints and cards in her Etsy shop. She also makes iPhone cases and other accessories, which you can find on her Society6 page. For other various items, you can check her out on Zazzle.

You can also "add" her as a friend on Facebook to see what she's up to!

Please, if you have a moment, check out her work. 

*While her  official website is currently under construction, I wanted to add it for when it is back up and running.

Have a great weekend!