Giveaway from Chicnova!

I'm so excited to be teaming up with chicnova to offer you $30 to spend on whatever you'd like on chicnova.com!  I've been looking through about every category on the site and I have too many favorites to even fathom (maybe because I'm a clothes hoarder).  Please see the entry rules below to get a chance at winning!

Find my favorites show above here:  knit top, leopard pants, denim vest, lace dress, tank dress, gold top

To be eligible for the giveaway, you MUST follow the giveaway rules.  No exceptions.

1. Become a fan of chicnova on either facebook, pinterest, or tumblr.
2. Register on the chicnova site.
3. Leave a comment with a link to your favorite item from chicnova AND the email address you used to register (without this you cannot be awarded your prize).

There you go, easy peasy!  This giveaway will last for 10 days, and the winner will be announced following the giveaway's end.

Black and Roses

Lately I've been painting, and I've had a lot of ideas.  Well, I usually have a lot of ideas, but lately they've been a little more focused which is always nice, because sometimes I feel like they're so varied, it's what my marine dad would refer to as a cluster-eff-you-sea-kay.  I seem to have roses and flowers on the brain, and here's a little bit of what I've been working on...

They're all currently available as prints in my art shop, and I'm having a little sale as well because I've got way too many prints on my hands.  Just enter the code BLOGREADER20 during checkout for 20% off everything in my shop!

I haven't been working on mint, but don't you just love it?!  It's time to replant this mint that's been in my kitchen window, and unfortunately it's going to have to go in a pot that's to big to fit.  Aside from smelling it or adding it to tea, what do you use it in?  And can you juice mint?

Recycling is rad.

Being green may be a current fad, but unlike the Harlem Shake, vegan cleanses or thick bangs, it's one I can fully embrace!  Our pal Jeff owns a skate/snow/bike shop downtown, and in addition to boards, accessories, and rad t-shirts, he also carries a line of his handmade, recycled skateboard products.  I loved his keychains and bottle openers when I first saw them, but I really (okay, figuratively) fell out of my chair when I saw his latest product: coasters.

To get an idea of how he makes his recycled skateboard products, and see a little bit of his process, this time lapse video showing part of the making of a cutting board is pretty neat and definitely makes me appreciate the products even more!



Find them here: coasters ($10), bottle openers ($12-$18), keychains ($4-$6)

Pretty neat, right?  It's one thing for a bottle to be made out of a low percentage of recycled materials and call it green, but it's another thing entirely when someone follows the three R's and the outcome is something you'd actually use!  My coffee table is an old wooden storage trunk that won't be hurt by the sweat on a glass, but I'm going to teach myself to use coasters just to have a few from Scene 3!

What are some of your favorite recycled or green products?  And do you make any yourself?

What I've been working on...

Do you watch the show 'How I Met Your Mother'?  If you don't we can't be friends. I JEST!  But really, it's hilarious, and I always feel like I want to start my posts by saying, "Well, kids..." or "Kids, lately things have been..."  But I digress before I even get to the point at hand: I've been busy!  I feel like I've had so many new ideas lately (and lots of others that aren't quite ready to show), and I love when things are complete so that I can share them!

Rings, Tote, Earrings, Necklace, Bracelet, Earrings, Bracelet, Bracelet, Bracelet, Necklace, Tote

In addition to jewelry, and to follow along with the entertainment vein, I feel like I've been living in a less exaggerated version of 'Honey, I Shrunk The Kids' only without kids, of course.  Do you remember how their house was filled with little gadgets and techie, scientific ways of doing the simplest of things?  Chris has been talking for months now about making a generator of sorts so that while I'm riding my exercise bike, my work powers the screen rather than batteries.  What greeted me when I got home last Friday afternoon was 1. a completely disassembled laptop (why, I have no idea as it has nothing to do with the bike generator) taking up one section of our home office, 2. a generator in the works that took up another section of our office (which of course was accompanied by an in-depth description of electrical workings, components, and tech talk I don't understand), and 3. the cherry on top, a completely disassembled exercise bike in the exercise room.  I feel like I'm living in one big science fair project.  I'll be glad to have my exercise bike back since I have yet another injury that keeps me from running, but it's kind of neat to be married to s guy that's so smart and fully grasps the logistics and workings of things I generally take for granted.