Ya know what I mean???

I ran across this fun little post from a new lovely blogger friend and thought I would participate ;)

Why don't you link up as well?

1. What's your most favorite household chore?

"Favorite" and "household chore" do not correlate for me, sorry! :)

2. What's your least favorite household chore?

How about, "thing I refuse to do": toilets.

3. Coffee or tea?

Coffee.

4. Fried chips/french fries or boiled/steamed broccoli?

Smothered cheese fries with tons of ranch. And broccoli belongs in a casserole with lots of cheese too.

5. Your most favorite time of the day?

Late afternoon, late nights...I'm a night owl.

6. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear "sunday mornings"?

Sunday paper time! I love coupons & sales papers...hello, Michael's coupon!

let's shop!

Greetings all my lovely bloggy friends! I've been super busy listing about a dozen new items in my shop this week! To celebrate, I'm offering a 15% off discount this weekend only! Just leave a note in the messages to seller on Etsy!

Here's a few of my newest:

Shannon Leigh

Gorgeous Brooch made entirely from a men's necktie

T-Shirt Necklace

Soft, stretchy, fun!

Molly

New Upcycled Spoon Keyring

Poppy

Upcycled Sunburst Brooch

fun new items & spring fling announcement

The word of the day is ~new~! Or maybe ~news~! I've been super busy making gorgeous new goodies for my Etsy shop. My favorite part about this shop, these items...is that so many items were saved from the trash :)

Raspberry Lemonade

Kermit & Darcy

Harper

I am so excited to share some super fun news with you! April from Wildflowers & Whimsy is hosting a fabulous party called...

That's right--14 days of fabulous giveaways from more than a dozen (or two) awesome bloggers...yours truly included! If you'd like to participate, there are a few spots available, just contact April! Stay tuned for more details!

We Have a Winner!

*Congratulations*

to

~Chandeen~

from

Designed by Chance!

She is the lucky winner of the

$25 credit

to

Designs by Mila!

Please contact me within 48 hours to claim your prize! :)

A big thank you to those of you who entered, I hope as my blog following grows I can offer more great giveaways such as this!

Who wants to win???

Don't forget...your chance to win a $25 credit to Designs by Mila ends tomorrow at midnight EST!

Would you use your credit towards gorgeous green Poe???

Or perhaps this gorgeous sterling cloud?

Be sure to go here and enter...lots of ways to win!!! And show Mila some love on Facebook while you're at it :)

Artist Feature & Giveaway: Designs By Mila

If you've happened by my fan page, you may have noticed that I seem to talk to myself there...a lot...but I really don't, I promise! My trusty right-hand-second-admin comments as well, and you can't differentiate between us!

Her name is Mila and I would really love to introduce her to you! Mila (that's my-la, not me-la) and I have been real-life BFF's for over 10 years now.

Mila & I at her shower for Baby Eden a couple of years ago~time flies!

Mila is a stay-at-home, work-from-home, soon-to-be 27 year old wife to one (Eric) and mom/step-mom to many. Mila and her husband Eric were married on Halloween (sheer coincidence, but I love throwing that out there!) and now have a blended family that includes 6 kids and a handful of animals. Mila & most of her family currently reside in the gorgeous low country of South Carolina (I miss having her here in the Upstate with me), where she enjoys a truly beachy life! You can find some of her work for sale at Rae Rocco's in downtown Summerville, and at Pure Gifts, LLC in Mt. Pleasant off the IOP. So if you're local, or down that way, take a peek!

Amidst all of this Mila somehow manages to maintain not only her sanity, but a Facebook fanpage and a very successful (and still growing!) Etsy shop.

In Mila's shop, Designs by Mila, you can find all sorts of pretty treasures, ranging from broken china pendants:

To dainty & sweet monogrammed infant bracelets:

To gorgeous pearl bobby pins such as these:

Mila is generously giving away a $25 credit to her shop for you lucky readers! There are several ways to enter, giving you many chances to win!

Please leave a *separate comment* for *each* item you do so that all of your entries can be counted! Be sure to include your *email* address in the comment if it is not linked in your Blogger profile so that I can contact you if you win. The giveaway is open until midnight EST, Sunday, 2/20/11.

Here's how you can enter!

1-Follow me here at A Crafty Southern Chick. Leave a comment letting me know you're a new follower so I can say hi! If you're already a follower, well, leave a comment and let me know! (one entry)

2-Visit Mila's Etsy shop. Then come back and leave me a comment telling me what item you'd use your $25 credit towards. (one entry)

3-'Like' Designs by Mila on Facebook. Leave a comment here when you do. (one entry)

4-Mention this giveaway on your blog (in a separate post or as part of another). Leave a comment here with the link to your post (two entries).

5-Mention this giveaway on your Facebook fan page. Leave a comment here with the link to your fanpage so we can "like" you too :) (one entry)

6-If you don't have your own blog or a Facebook fan page, leave a comment here and say "I don't blog or have a fan page but I'd really like to win!" :) (one entry)

Good Luck!

Multi-tasking Mama Award!

Have you met Jordan from Military Spouse House? Well you should! She is super sweet, has a fun blog and a really cute Etsy shop. She made my day today by giving me this:



So thank you, Jordan, because I needed a pick-me-up! I know I am a small blog with lots to learn, but it's super nice to have someone take note of a post or something you've made, and take time out to spotlight you! Yay! :)

colorful new jewelry

I've been in a jewelry making mood lately...my sister-in-law is a travel-PT (physical therapist) and is in Texas right now...we missed her birthday because she'd already left here for there...so I thought, hmm...I'll send her some goodies...I don't want to specify what is for me and what is for her until she gets her package...here's a peek what I've been making...

Blue, green, and turquoise beads, accented in sparkly silver...knotted onto black waxed linen and fastened to black chain. A small black fleur de lis was added for a bit of detail.

Bright pink and green crackled glass beads knotted onto gray nylon thread to create a bracelet that reminds me of grapes :) A large, faceted, round bead through a loop in the thread provides a closure.

Round silver-tone "disco ball" earrings...on black ear wires. Simple, flashy, dressy or casual. Love.

Oblong pink tube beads knotted on black nylon thread to create a necklace with a pretty elephant charm at the focus.

I've really enjoyed drifting off into jewelry-making world this week...what do you think?

Manic Monday

Hey y'all!

Here's what I've got going on:

--new items for ShenanAgains

--fun things I've been working on for gifts

--a feature on a fabulous jewelry maker you're going to love!

And last but not least...I need your help!

I want to make letters for my little man's nursery...but I don't know how I want to embellish them or even what kind I want to use!

Canvas? Chipboard? Wooden cut outs?

So I'm asking for you to please show me your ideas! Whether it's something you've made, a tutorial or picture you've seen, anything! I want to see! You can comment below or email your ideas to me!

I would really appreciate it!

What are you working on this week? :)

Upcycled Necktie Scrap Wreath

I use my extensive stash of thrifted men's neckties to make lots of fun things...ornaments, necklaces, hair pretties, brooches...As a result, I have lots of scraps left over. Some are large pieces, some just a few inches long. I decided to wrap them onto a wreath form to see what happened...I didn't have a particular style or pattern or heck...even an idea. Just wreath+tie scraps=who knows what :) Oh, and I didn't want to buy *anything* to do this. So I only used what I had on hand.

A 10-inch styrofoam wreath form.

Some soft, white cotton felt/batting cut into strips for wrapping around the wreath form.

I used Aleene's Foamtastic glue to hold the cotton in place, and 2 straight pins just at the very beginning to make it secure since the glue needed time to dry...and I'm impatient.

I wrapped the entire wreath in the cotton, partially to fully cover the styrofoam and partially because I knew I'd be hot gluing the tie scraps and didn't want to melt the wreath form.

Then I broke out my brand-spankin'-new zebra-print glue gun...

Picked out some random scraps left from the neckties and trimmed them with pinking shears...

...and started attaching the scraps. All of mine were pretty short, so I couldn't wrap more than once with each piece. I just secured the pieces on the back side with hot glue.

As I was close to finishing, I noticed that it didn't seem 'finished' to me...like it was missing something. So I finished with the tie scraps...

...and cut some 2.5 inch wide brown satin ribbon in half with my pinking shears to wind around the wreath.

I just twisted it loosely and randomly and spaced it out so you could still see all of the different textures and patterns of the ties...

...then decided everything is better with a rosette so I made one from the remaining ribbon and a tie scrap and attached it with my super cool zebra print glue gun and...

..ta-da! Scrappy tie wreath!

It doesn't yet have a "home" but I'm very pleased with the result! What do you think?

I would really love to get a larger wreath form, one of the plastic-covered straw ones, and use several different ties in their entirety to cover the wreath...maybe I can do that next week? :)

I'm linking up here:

Versatile Blogger Award

Jennifer at Life, Crafts and Whatever nominated me for the Versatile Blogger Award! Thanks Jennifer! :) The rules are similar to the Stylish Blog Award:

-Thank & link back to the person who gave you this award

-Share 7 things about yourself

-Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers

-Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award, and let the giver know you accept the award.

Since I have done a couple of recent posts about myself I thought I'd try to be a bit more creative and think of some interesting trivia.

--I volunteer with a great organization called Soldiers' Angels, that provides support to members of our military, their families, and veterans. No matter how much or how little money or time you have, I promise there is a place you can help. There are currently over 1,000 deployed soldiers waiting to be "adopted" by someone like you or me--soldiers that have little or no support from home and would love to receive letters and the occasional care package. Please visit the website and find a team that interests you, or adopt a soldier!

--When I was 16 I had to have my wisdom teeth removed because they were impacted in such a way that my 12-year molars could not come through my gums. I had 5 wisdom teeth. Fun.

--My absolute favorite flower is the calla lily.

--Ever since I was little I knew if ever I got married, I wanted a huge wedding...I got my wish. All total there were 11 groomsmen, 11 bridesmaids, 1 jr. bridesmaid and a flower girl. It was so awesome to be able to include all our family and friends.

--I always thought it would be so awesome to work in the field of psychology, especially with the FBI. The human mind is so fascinating, and I don't think it would ever get dull studying minds.

--When I was tiny and just eating solid foods, I had a love affair with carrots. I ate so many, that I turned orange. Yes, my skin was orange. There's even a word for it: carotenosis.

--I really, really love snorkeling. I've been fortunate enough to do it in both the Caribbean in St. John, and in the Pacific in Hanauma Bay.

Now I would like to pass this award on to the following bloggers:

-My World Made by Hand

-Homemaker on a Dime

-This Train Doesn't Stop

-Petal Picking Designs

-Seconds from Crazy

-Eat. Sleep. Create. Repeat.

-Mich L. in LA

-Giddy Up

-Wildflowers and Whimsy

-Vagabond Carnival

-The Pumpkin Seed

-Spunky Junky

-Not JUST a Housewife

-Lucky 7 Design

-Happy House Happy Home

I'll be back later with a post about my new wreath made from men's necktie scraps :)

Swap Followings Linky Party @ Homemaker on a Dime

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope your week is starting well...mine, not so much...but I'm hoping to re-route the direction of the day with some linky party fun :)

Head on over to Homemaker on a Dime and join in on the fun...trust me, it's really neat to find some new blogs and you'd be amazed at who all is 'out there' waiting to be discovered and discover you! Please be sure and read the post in it's entirety if you're new :)

If you're visiting me for the first time, you can learn about me personally by checking out my love for shoes or hop over to my 6 things about me post. After that, maybe you'd like to check out the two blogs below--Jessica's blog and Tara's blog. These are two fun blogs I found at last week's party :)

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Don't forget to check out SJ's blog too, she's hosting this fun get-together!