Honor thy Mother.

After spending the last few days with my mom in North Carolina, I thought it only fitting to mention Mother's Day is May 10th. Please remember to call your mother, send her a card and /or a gift this year. Honor your mother and let her know she is loved and appreciated. Don't take her for granted.

Amy over at Purplepinkandorange has put together a Mother's Day gift guide featuring a variety of gift ideas to honor moms, mommys, mother-to-bes, and mother-in-laws. This guide offers new selections from independent artists you should know, or get to know. Many of the shops are offering special discounts - look for them on the right side of the page.

Using Gaston Studio's computer.

Okay, for those who don't know, Jane of Gaston Studio is my mom. So when I posted a comment earlier today on Beth's blog, I posted as Gaston Studio! GAAKK! Quickly deleted, logged her out, and logged myself in. Yes, I'm at my mom's and using her computer.

A few days ago, I packed up the van with the kids, my 82 lb. dog, and all our crap, and headed to eastern North Carolina to visit mom and sister. It's spring break, in my neck of the woods, so what better time to visit family, right!? Also, my husband moved us 8 1/2 hours away from his mother-in-law, our children's Nana and Aunt Sandi, so we must plan this bloody long trip when the kids have more than a long weekend.

This time, we stopped over in Charlotte to visit friends, and break up the trip. Brilliant plan! I felt well rested and daughter got her BFF fix. With only 4 1/2 hours, I took 2 pitstops and downed only 1 Starbucks. FYI, Starbucks has very clean bathrooms.

So here we are, freezing in NC, I think it went down to freezing last night. My sister, very disappointed she couldn't go the month of April with no heat or no air conditioning, turned on the heat. Jeez, we could've stayed in Atlanta to be cold. I was looking forward to relaxing on their big ass porch with my coffee and putting puzzles together with the kids.

As I sit at mom's computer typing this post, mom and sister, are working my kids to the bone spreading bag upon bag of pine mulch. I escaped this task because my kids are being paid a nice little sum to do yard work and I don't want to steal their thunder. I'm taking advantage of the peace and quiet, only occasionally listening to a very pitiful yelp from sister's eldest dog Loki.

Well, darn, Loki set off the others, now all 4 dogs are barking like something has them by the tail. Better go investigate.

No April Fool's jokes this year.

Yesterday was the first April Fool's day I didn't play a joke on my husband. Maybe its because he's been a bit stressed at work like many people these days. Maybe its because I've been so busy making jewelry and getting ready for the market I'm participating in this Saturday. Maybe its because I haven't finished our taxes and I'm stressed about time running out. Maybe its because I had a lot of updating to do on my website. Maybe its because I was looking for my to do list and haven't found it. Maybe because I was anticipating "Lost" coming on that evening and was wondering what cool thing we'd discover. Or maybe it was because I couldn't think of anything really good this year.

I believe it was the first year of our marriage, I played a good one. When we married, I had a dog and cat, both fixed, of course. But my cat had the low hanging extra baggage that would shake as she walked. So while husband was showering, I told him that when Cookie (top right picture is her several months before she died at 18) escaped from the house, that she got pregnant. She was an indoor cat and it ticked me off that husband allowed her to escape. He said he thought she was fixed. And I said, well the vet said, sometimes it doesn't "take". I told him how excited I was to have kittens and started wondering who we could find to adopt some, but I wanted to keep one. Oh, trust me, it went on and on with my exurberance. I could sense his unhappiness and stress level rising over having kittens. For goodness sake, we didn't have children yet, what's the deal about another kitten!?

When I finally confessed and let him off the hook, he was relieved and said all he could think about was more vet bills and mouths to feed. I looked at him blankly and said, I'm not pregnant, its the cat, with a few kittens. Jeez, louise! He did like it though, said it was very creative .

Game on!

Okay, there's no game, really. And this is not an April Fool's joke people! Go to my website and sign up to enter the 2009 Happily Handmade Giveaway (click on the official pretty green badge - each sponsor has one on their home page). All you have to do is sign up with the entry form on each and every website of the Indie Sponsors for the Happily Handmade Giveaway. There are 25 glorious baskets brimming with handmade gifts valued at over $300 each. No kidding! This basket to the right includes a pair of my earrings.



This baskets to the left contains a pair of my earrings! To me, the game is entering through all the Indie Sponsors websites. There are so many talented artists, so I get side tracked looking at all the goodies on their websites.

Let me know what you think of this giveaway.

Rainy days in Georgia and other ramblings.

We have had the rain. All outdoor sports were cancelled, so my son was bummed about missing baseball. Daughter's volleyball game was on and they won! All in all, not such a bad weekend, we got several games of Monopoly in. My seven year old played his dad a few times and kept winning. He also bragged about it. My husband thought this very funny, especially that he came to me to tell me how badly he was beating his daddy.

Lo and behold, I beat everyone on Sunday for our one hour time limited game. Such fun playing board games with children. You learn a lot by doing this.

I also found time to work on my Happily Handmade Giveaway page that will be up on Wednesday, April 1st. No joke!
Be sure to stop by Dee-Zigns' website and register to win.

My daughter wanted to create a logo for her jewelry business, yes the apple doesn't fall far from tree. She's been making earrings like crazy ever since she got her ears pierced. This is the logo she came up with.

This Saturday, April 4th, I will be at the Sweet Apple Village Market, in Roswell, Georgia for a soft opening from 11am-5pm. I will have a lot of one of a kind jewelry for Spring and Summer, including my new metals collection. I don't know what other vendors will be there, but when I find out, I'll post them. The Sweet Apple Village Market will officially open June 6th, with a market every Saturday and Sunday. All the neighborhoods around have been anxiously awaiting the opening.

Going now to ask the rain gods to skip this Saturday, so we can have a fun and beautiful day!

My mom, the blogger.

I know so many family bloggers, usually moms and daughters, or sisters. We women are the creative ones and love to talk, right?

I have learned many "new" things about my mom from reading her blog. She swears she's told me these little stories before, but I guess my memory has gone to the toilet, because I swear, I've never heard them before.

Take for example her recurring dream, you can read it here. It gave me the heebee, geebees when I read it. I wasn't surprised, she's always telling me things that send goosebumps up my arms. Like the fact that there's a poltergeist living in her house, it's a huge 100 year old house with creeky floors. My sister, who lives there as well (my mom and sister share this huge old house in Kinston, NC), says the same thing. This drives me nuts! I don't want to know! They think its funny and fascinating, I don't.

I'm the chicken that still cannot look at a fly the same way, after seeing the original movie "The Fly" when I was a tween. If I remember correctly, mom and dad were out for the evening, and my aunt was babysitting and she loves scary movies. So we watched it. OMG! That was the most horrific movie I had seen up to that point in my young life. I've had nightmares ever since. It took me years to get over seeing "Alien" when I was 18. Now, it fascinates me and I've seen all the "Alien" movies with Sigourney Weaver.

Happily Handmade Giveaway begins April 1st

The Happily Handmade Giveaway is back, woo-hoo! If you haven't heard about it before, the HHG, is a massive giveaway created in appreciation of indie shoppers everywhere. They took a much needed break for 2 years, regrouped with a new website and new logo and are back and better than ever! As a shopper, you can be generously rewarded for your continued support of indie businesses. You can feel good about making the conscious decision to shop indie and limit your big box purchases.

The Happily Handmade Giveaway began in 2004 as the result of a brainstorming session among several indie artists looking for a unque way to promote their businesses and reward their customers. The last event gave away nearly $15,000 worth of indie merchandise to 51 lucky shoppers around the world.

The 8th event begins April 1st with entry forms easily found on each sponsors' website. Mark the date and go to Dee-Zigns Handcrafted Jewelry & Accessories to enter to win fabulous prizes (all handmade, of course) worth around $250!

Since I'm one of the sponsors, I'll have the huge sponsor list posted on Dee-Zigns website. The Farrah Earrings and the Sun Necklace are two of the eleven items I donated. Check back often for additional details.

Going on a Blog Hunt!

I saw this on Scoutie girl and decided to put my list together. I enjoyed visiting blogs that I haven't (I'm sorry to say) visited in a while. Be sure to stop by each one and see for yourself what incredible writing there is to be read out there in cyberspace. And please let me know what you think of my list!


{image + game via marta writes}
play along if you please.
link it up. spread the love.


link a blogger who...

has an online shop: The Pear Project
has flawless taste: just beachy
has admirable qualities: purplepinkandorange
has awesome links to other blogs: scoutie girl
is an artist: Peggy Li Jewelry
is intriguing: Mimi Love 4 ever
is a daily read: youlookfab
is an old favorite: fashionista
is creative: Orange you lucky
is a designer: the material girls
is wildly prolific: indiefixx
features fabulous layouts: modish
features loveliness: MissMalaprop
features fantasticness: Indie Collective
lives far away: Mixed Plate
lives pretty close: Funky utopia
lives pretty far: desire to inspire
takes fantastic photographs: heather bullard
tells great stories: Gaston Studio
crafts up a storm: Craftster
writes about life: blissfully caffeinated
gives fabulous recipes: the pioneer woman
gives fabulous tips: Modish Biz Tips
makes me want to be her best friend: laurenandkellytalk
makes me believe in the goodness of people: dollar philanthropy
makes me laugh: dooce

March Clearance Sale

Its time to take advantage of the serious March Clearance Sale going on at Dee-Zigns Handcrafted Jewelry. Seriously, I am cleaning house and making room for new items for Spring and Summer. More than 70 handmade jewelry treasures are on sale with earrings starting at $10.40.

This is a perfect opportunity to rack up on the deals, before Easter and Mother's Day rolls around, to give your loved ones a one of a kind gift. If you've had your eye on anything on my website, now is the time to buy!

Animals are creatures of habit.

Whoever said, "Animals are creatures of habit" sure knew a thing or two.

Case in point, after I kiss my kids and send them to the bus stop, my dog, Collins, and cat, Kitty go running to the kitchen. They are expecting their breakfast. I got into the habit of feeding them after the kids left for school and I had my second or third cup of coffee.

Collins is my male comrade and office/studio companion. He is truly a male in every way. Once he finishes his meals (two a day), he wants to go do "his business". I can set my clock by him. (she pauses) Sorry, had to go let Collins outside. He got ancy and gave me a quick "ruff" which means, stop typing now, turn around and come let me outside - now!

Kitty is our male cat, yes a male cat named Kitty. My daughter named him, after a visit to my mother's house, which led to us adopting this sweet little guy. At that time, my mom had three cats of her own, and didn't want a fourth. Mom acquired Kitty after rescuing him from several large dogs. The timing couldn't have been more perfect. Fresh victims were about to enter the adoption zone... my kids and I! Erika fell in love immediately and wanted to take him home. Mom had no offers, so after several days of Kitty cuddling with me, I caved. See the picture of Kitty sitting in the light box I set up to take jewelry photos for my website. Click on the photo to enlarge and you'll see the necklace peeking out from under his bottom. He's a typical male, always trying to get my attention. :)



After Kitty eats, he is ready to aggravate Collins! He's such a tease and dances around my legs which makes Collins nuts. So they start the game and eventually must be sent out of the room. The chase is on, up the front stairs, down the hall, down the back stairs. That 9 lb. cat sounds like a herd of elephants. Collins, at 82 lbs. always sounds like a herd.

They crack me up and make me smile. Animals, you gotta love 'em.

Erin go braugh!

It's 7:33am and I know first hand the Irish party-goers in Savannah, GA have been going at it for sometime.

How would I know? Many years ago, as a young Lass growing up in Savannah, my friends and I would begin the day with green eggs, green bagels, green beer and any thing else dyed green to begin a fun filled St. Patrick's Day. We would make our way to Riverstreet and meet up with other friends and family members. If you weren't wearing green, you'd be pinched! I was covered head to toe! It's all about the wearing, eating, drinking and celebrating of the green.

St. Paddy's Day is an event not to be missed in Savannah, it is one of the biggest celebrations in the United States. The parade is something special every young child should witness. Have I taken my kids to Savannah for St. Paddy's day? No. Maybe next year. Even though Savannah literally shuts down for this special day, other cities don't and its hard taking children out of school to go party on Riverstreet with their parents.

According to the Savannah Visitors and Convention Bureau, 400,000 visitors are expected for the 3-hour parade on March 17, traveling from all over to celebrate this month long event. No, its not a one day event, Savannah celebrates all month.

Get free priority mail shipping at Dee-Zigns all day today, use coupon code GREEN at checkout.

How much dirt is too much?

I don't walk around with a dust buster behind my kids (anymore) so I'm okay with a little dirt and a little mess. I want my kids to have fun and I am not going to stress over every little thing out of place and the house not in perfect order. I have chilled tremendously about keeping a perfect house! Life's too short, right?

And I realize how great it is to have children that want to play outside. The stream (maybe its a lake) behind our house fascinates my kids. They find various items around the water and have made secret hideouts with the neighbor kids. But water is water, and there is something alluring about putting your hands in the water, next comes the feet and before you know it, they are filthy and wet.

My big complaint - the dirt! The amount of dirt they collect on their bodies, shoes and clothing is mind boggling. The process just to get "clean" to come into the house is truly exasperating. Take off your filthy shoes, (whine) now the socks, oooh, they are wet and filthy. Okay, son, you are so disgustingly dirty you must strip down in the garage. Go scrub your hands and fingernails (more whining). I need one of those outside showers you see at the beach. Daughter fusses, telling me she's not that dirty. Uh-huh.

I have friends that would love to see their kids play outside instead of sitting in from of the tv or computer or even playing on the Wii, X box or any other gaming device. These kids are probably clean and neat.

The shoes are a huge problem, I have purchased boot scrapers (you know, the cute animal kind) to help them clean their shoes off before coming inside. Well, a boot/shoe scraper doesn't work if you don't use it.

Don't get me started on the laundry. I have tried every stain remover to remove said stains. The clothes are so bad they need cleaning before they go into the washer. What's a mother to do?

So seriously, how much dirt is too much? Any suggestions on ways to control the dirt before it is deposited into our house will be happily noted.

Green for Spring

I was happy to see this post titled "Green is trending for Spring" as anyone who knows me, knows I love the color green. I especially love the green trench coat Angie featured on Nordstrom website priced at $128. There is a red one featured on the same page that caught my eye because red is my all time favorite!

I'll never forget a night a neighbor stopped by to purchase a gift, naturally I had all my jewelry on display in the dining room (the life of a WAHM selling her wares from her house). After Janie (not her real name), perused the jewelry, she commented with a giggle "You really like the color green". I cracked up, walked over and sure enough, I had many one of a kind jewelry pieces in various shades of green. Not everyone likes green.

When we moved back to Atlanta, I decided on a fresh grass green, Baize Green from Sherwin Williams, for my 2-story foyer, up the stairs and down the hallway. In this dining room I went with a slightly darker shade aptly named Great Green, above the chair rail and a darker shade, Leapfrog, below the chair rail. I love it and will probably never tire of it. My husband, not so much. After 20 months, he's never said he likes it. He's more of a blue guy!

You can find many shades of green in my handmade jewelry at Dee-Zigns. One of my favorites is the Josie Necklace shown below.

Goody bags at birthday parties.

This has bugged me for years, what insane mother started giving goody bags to their child's birthday guest when they leave the birthday party? Are you kidding me? This has never made sense to me. The birthday child is the guest of honor. The children invited to the party should not be given gifts for attending a friend's birthday party. The "gift" of friendship should be enough. Are we teaching our kids they should for friendship? Think about it.

I especially don't like the junk that is typically in a goody bag. Usually plastic trinkets and candy that probably cost the parents a small fortune. How, pray tell, do I know filling goody bags can cost a small fortune? Because I have been there, done that! I have purchased little crap from the party companies and taken great pain choosing neat stuff and have spent upwards of $15 per bag. Kid's birthday parties are so outrageously expensive (read - over the top) why spend additional money when it isn't unnecessary.

Why did I do this? Because everybody does it and I didn't want anyone thinking less of me for not doing it. Well now I say, forget about it! And if you are going to think less of me, so be it. You and I probably wouldn't have been BFF anyway.

So enough with the goody bags! Kids are already on a sugar high when they leave the party, they don't need extra candy from the goody bag. The children may play with the plastic trinket for a minute, or less, then the parents are left picking up plastic trinkets from the car floor or pulling them out of the vacuum.

Okay, I'm finished with my rant, what do you think?

Snow storm and jewelry market in Atlanta.

Last Sunday, I participated in Spruill Center for the Arts 1st Annual Jewelry Market (Dunwoody, GA) and offered my new Metals collection. The day began cold and rainy with the weather people predicting snow, severe winter weather, they called it. Yeah, sure, the day before it was almost 70! But as we finished setting up our space, we saw a few snow flakes. Nice.

Atlantans go nuts when they hear the word snow, so the organizers and the participants at Spruill's jewelry market were not expecting many shoppers. Boy, were we wrong! Surprisingly, people began flowing in doning galoshes, snow boots, hats, gloves, scarves and umbrellas! I looked outside and saw that it was snowing heavily. It wasn't keeping them away. In fact, people were excited about the weather and didn't want to stay home as recommended by the weather people. They had been anticipating Spruill's jewelry market and wanted to see the many artist displaying their handcrafted jewelry. A lot of gorgeous jewelry went home to happy people through-out Atlanta. It turned out to be a wonderful event and a successful one at that.

It's organic!

For the last several quarters, I've been taking metalsmithing classes at Spruill Art Center. I've always wanted to learn more about jewelry making, so having the time and opportunity to take classes, is a dream come true.

"It's organic" is one of the many humorous comments my instructor, Kristin Wilder, says while examining students' projects. It always cracks me up! Oh my gosh! Everything I create is organic. I don't believe I could produce two identical items if my life depended on it and, that's okay. I prefer one of a kind. People are one of a kind whether they realize it or not.




These photos contain my first projects in metalsmithing. Please let me know your thoughts and feelings about the organic jewelry designs in these photos.

In the next couple of days, I will be adding this new line of jewelry to my website, Dee-Zigns Handcrafted Jewelry & Accessories.

New creations for your favorite Valentine.

Here are the latest one of a kind necklaces and earrings found only at Dee-Zigns Handcrafted Jewelry & Accessories.

Guys, this Valentine's Day, don't rely on chocolate and flowers, handmade jewelry will last a lifetime. Your loved ones will appreciate a gift that won't add pounds and die after a few days.










I'll be creating new items, so check back often!

Happy New Year, finally!

Happy new year everyone! I know, I know, it's been a while since I last posted. We spent 10 days in AZ for the holidays. It was wonderful being with family for so long and the weather was fabulous. Coming back to Atlanta and reality was difficult. The weather was gloomy and overcast for about 8 days, so that got me down and I was finding it hard to get motivated.

We missed our dog and cat very much so it was great coming home to them! Going through mail, emails and getting back into the routine of school (and all that entails) was painful.

Fortunately, the sun returned and we're back into our routines. Life is good.

Now on to something fun... getting ready for Valentine's Day with new jewelry creations at Dee-Zigns Handcrafted Jewelry & Accessories.

Be sure to visit Purplepinkandorange.com and their Valentine's Day Gift Guide for unique gift ideas. You'll discover some of the finest independent designers selling handmade goodness, including Dee-Zigns.

Last giveaway at Modish

Jena at Modish is offering 3 days of giveaways. Dee-Zigns' Bree Earrings are listed as one of the gifts. You really must enter to win one of these 3 giveaways - there are tons of wonderful gifts for yourself and for others on your holiday gift list - each giveaway is worth over $700 dollars! Deadline to enter is tomorrow, so hurry on over!

Shopping online makes sense!

As I sit at the computer, drinking my coffee, I am compelled to write about the "Countdown to Christmas" I put on my blog. Part of me loves it because I can see the exact time to prepare without having to look at the calendar. The other part of me is freaked out by it, because I see time ticking away and I have so much to do!

My shopping is almost completed - woo-hoo! I love shopping online. For those of you still undecided, here are just a few reasons why I shop online.

1. Easier - No parking issues or aggravation searching from store to store. Easier to do comparison shopping.
   
2. Safer - No worries that someone may be lurking in the parking lot, ready to rob you, or worse.
3. Comfortable - No make-up, hair can be messy and you can be in your pajamas!
4. Convenient - You can shop 24 hours a day - have a real lunch instead of shopping on your lunch hour.
5. Save money - You save on gas, find lower prices, and many deals and promotions from your favorite merchants.
   
6. Less Stressful - You avoid crowds! A lot of smaller, independent designers offer free gift wrapping - we do at Dee-Zigns Handcrafted Jewelry & Accessories.
   

Read this article about shopping online.