five favorites :: handmade shops

now, I obviously have WAY MORE than

five favorite handmade shops,

but today I'm sharing some that I have

purchased from, own their products,

and absolutely love them. 

I'm sure I'll share more favorites another time!

knitty bitties

Andrea's items are super cute + extremely well made!

I have one of her little pouches and hoop art that she

made for me, and they make me smile.

livy love designs

I have at least 3 of Diana's prints on my walls,

and one of her chevron necklaces that I always

get compliments on. Love her!

happy days

I think my favorite thing about Hannah's shop

is how she uses color in unexpected combinations.

Her earrings are simple and beautiful, and the

colors always seem just perfect, even though

I would never think to put certain colors together.

pretties by meg

I love every pair of earrings I own from Megan's shop.

my husband says they're trendy, plus they're pretty & lightweight!

little green thread

I mentioned Alison's shop in a post last week,

and I ordered this sweet cell phone case.

It arrived super quickly & is totally adorable;

my new favorite thing in my purse!

seriously, go browse each of these shops;

I know you'll fall in love with all sorts of pretty things!

>>>>><<<<<

would you take a minute to enter this week's giveaway?

there are some pretty earrings up for grabs,

so don't miss the opportunity!

cappuccino ice cream pops

I've been loving homemade popsicles this summer,

and I found a really yummy one that we tried recently.

It was in a magazine at my mother-in-law's,

but I can't remember the name of it...

so I just thought I'd share the recipe. ;)

cappuccino ice cream pops

2 cups chocolate ice cream, softened

1 Tbsp instant coffee granules

         (I used a packet of Starbucks VIA)

1 cup frozen whipped topping

paper cups + popsicle sticks

         (or popsicle molds)

>> combine ice cream + 2 tsp. coffee granules, stirring gently until well blended

>> combine whipped topping + remaining coffee in a separate bowl

>> spoon ice cream mixture evenly into cups/molds, top with whipped topping mix

>> place sticks/handles into pops + freeze at least 4 hours

enjoy!

Five Sixteenths + a giveaway!

happy Monday! I have another fun little feature & giveaway for you today...

read on to learn more about Moe of Five Sixteenths blog + shop!

I am a recent grad (class of 2011) who is living the post graduate dream by moving out of her parent's house & in with her best friend.  I've been out in the real world for a year & have grown so much!  I run a little blog called Five Sixteenths & have an esty shop by the same name!  Five Sixteenths blog is a place where I share posts on living a creative life, DIY's, blogging tips + tricks, helpful photo apps, my BFA in ceramics, and musings of a 20 something.  Often, my Yankee boyfriend (Zach) will make an appearance.

The Five Sixteenths shop is a place of trendy & affordable pottery, accessories, & blog design. Each piece of jewelry or pottery is One of a Kind & even the premade blog designs can be customized to fit your theme, colors, etc!  I also dabble in fully custom blog designs & have my design queue open!  I've been working on living my creative self-employed dream for a while now & can't wait to get

started.

what are 3 words that describe you?

I'd choose Happy, Dedicated, & Creative.  I am a fun loving person who laughs way too much, am too stubborn to let things get in my way, & love that I can crack open any craft supply and have at it!

where do you find inspiration for the lovelies in your shop?

Since I have a load of different things in the shop different things inspire me.  But an overarching inspiration is nostalgia.  I love making things that remind me of being a kid, of a certain memory, or look like a certain era.  For example, my blog design Market Bag was inspired by when we'd go strawberry picking when we were little.  A lot of my jewelry is inspired by memories of summers by the lake: very natural & earthy.  My formal artist statement deals a lot with nostalgia & how we are more alike than we are different.  I love discovering shared experiences.

what is your favorite item in the shop right now?

Oh, wow! I don't really know what my favorite item is. hmmm...I think the Purple Marbled Beaded Necklace is my favorite.  It reminds me of being at the lake during the summer.  The beads remind me of swirled sand & my favorite color is purple!  It's a pretty classy piece but still reflects nature.  As a person who works a 9-5 job as well, its important to me that pieces reflect my tendency towards earthy elements but are still sophisticated enough to wear with office clothes!

connect with Moe

blog >> shop >> twitter >> facebook

& Moe is generously giving away this pretty pair of earrings!

enter using the Rafflecopter widget below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

links + things

It's Friday. I'm sitting in Starbucks in my "hometown" {for those who don't know, the Mister & I moved about an hour away for his job} while my husband has his once-every-8-weeks doctor's appointment + medicine infusion.

I've been feeling a little blah about my blog + shop lately. I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but I might need to take a break sometime soon. We'll see. It's hard for me to stay away from my little corner of the internet. ;)


Kim's thoughts on blogging was a post I needed to read. Way to get up on your soapbox, girl!


Julie always cracks me up. She's awesome, seriously. & her latest printable? Yes, it is SO ME. {go check it out!}


My sweet friend Alison re-opened her shop on Etsy, complete with a new name. She is so talented! I may have already bought something because I couldn't resist... ;) shop here + use the code WELCOME for 10% off!


Morgan started a new blog this week purely for motivation called Swift Kick in the Rear... I think that's what I need to quit my snacking habit + work out more!


If any of you want to help a girl out... my husband told me I could go ahead & buy this bag if I sell 5 of my ruffled headwraps. 1 down, 4 to go! Plus, as a special thank you, I'll include some extra goodies (for free!) with any headwrap purchase, no code necessary.


have a wonderful weekend, friends!

five favorites {iPhone apps}

I wanted to start a new little series called {five favorites},

where I share five favorite things based on a theme,

like music, movies, hair products, etc.

Today I'm going to share some of my favorite apps,

which started as less than five & turned into seven...

but I'm just going to go with it. ;)

>>>>> <<<<<

Instagram >> this is probably my all time favorite app.

it's one of the first things I downloaded when I got my iPhone,

and I just really enjoy it. love taking pictures & making them look

better with filters, even if it distorts the color a little. ;)

plus, I love my Instagram community!

I feel like I can connect better on Instagram than on Twitter.

Chrome >> I think my favorite thing about Chrome on my phone

is that I can sign in and have access to my desktop history/bookmarks

right from my phone! makes it so much easier when I just want to look

something up quickly... before I would just google it until I found the right link.

plus, I'm not limited to just 8 tabs, which never seemed to be enough!

MyFitnessPal >> I'll be honest, this is more like the app I love to hate.

I like that it's super easy to keep track of calories, but I hate counting calories.

my current goal is to be better about portion control & such,

so I'm trying to stick with it, but I refuse to become a slave to MyFitnessPal.

It is a good resource, though; rarely is there a food that I can't find in the database.

MapMyRUN >> before I had my phone, I would just try to guess how far

I'd walked/ran/rode... this app makes it super easy!

even though I only have the running version right now,

you can track anything from it (biking, running, even dog walking).

it even talks to me now, telling me how many miles I've gone + my pace,

which is perfect for when I ride my bike & can't see my phone.

YouVersion >> this Bible app is my favorite mainly because of the

reading plans in the app (I don't really read the Bible on my phone,

because I like to have the physical book in my hands,

highlighting + making notes), and because it's easy to look up different

versions of the verses I'm reading, just to get a different perspective.

Pandora >> I don't really have a lot of music on my phone,

and Pandora is my go-to. It's free, I can make different stations

depending on what I want to listen to

(my Sarah Brightman & Andrea Bocelli station is a favorite),

and even though I don't have complete control over the music played,

I just switch stations if they play a lot of songs I don't like.

Buy Me a Pie >> I've tried a lot of different list apps, but

this is the only one that I've used for any length of time.

it's simple, & my husband & I can both access it from our separate phones.

I use this app during the week whenever a need pops into my head

(otherwise I forget), but I still sit down & make a paper grocery list

before I go shopping, because I can organize it the way my mind works. :)

What are your five favorite apps?

I'm always interested in new ones!

linking up with Krystina for What I Love Wednesday.

>>>>> <<<<<

I just realized that I never

picked a winner for the

Sand & Starfish giveaway...

oops! 

Amy P. was the randomly

chosen lady, and I've already

sent you an email. :)