My Jewelry Featured in AC Moore Stores!

So AC Moore stores have a new line of bead strands out called Nichole's Bead Shop.  Along with a bunch of new inventory all AC Moore's have a lot of new advertising/inspiration photos for the line featured in stores.

Andddd see that necklace right there? And that bracelet right there?

 

Yeah. I made them :)

And even this necklace right here!

Ok, obviously I think this is a little cool! It's so awesome walking into a store and seeing something you made right there in front of you! You may have remember me blogging about vising the Cousin Corporation headquarters back in February with all of the other Cousin ambassadors. While we were there we had a two hour design session where we got to play with and create pieces with the beads in the new Nicole's Bead Shop line! We had two hours to make a necklace, earring and bracelet set and I baisically felt like I was on project runway but for jewelry and just needed a Tim Gunn to pop out yelling MAKE IT WORK :)

While at Cousin I designed the pink/purple set.  Full instructions can be found online!

 

 

 

Then after I got back home from the trip I had a chance to design some gold pieces that were featured on A.C. Moore on facebook !

Here's a close up of those projects:

 Instructions for the gold necklace, bracelet and a set of earrings can be found online on AC Moore.

I really love how all of these project turned out and it was a fun design challenege as well as I was very limited in what supplies I could work with.  I think designers always prefer to pick out their own craft materials but somethings being forced to work with a set amount of beads and findings can really push you to be innovative and creative!

So next time your in an AC Moore, be sure to swing by the jewely section and take a peek and the new bead line!

Your Whims Wednesday #173 {And Features}

Time for another Your Whims Wednesday Party!

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/Becca187/YWWsnip.jpg"/></a></center>

Here are some of my favorites from last week:

Golden Oreo Strawberry Icecream Sandwich Cake by Life with the Crust Cut Off

  Green Necklace Set by Krafting Kreations   Dining Room Makeover by She Said   Earrings Tutorial by Giselle Designs   Thanks to all who linked up! Grab a button if you were featured :)  
<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/Becca187/featurededited.jpg"/></a></center>   Now... onto this weeks party!

I show off my girlish whims weekly on my blog, and now I want to see yours with 
Your Whims Wednesday!

Guidlines:

1. Link up as many projects as you would like: as long as it is one of your girly ways, you can link it! I'd love to see crafts, recipes, style posts, etc. Anything and everything feminine :)

2.Please add my button (code at the top of this post) to either your blog post or somewhere on your blog. 

3. Take a quick moment to comment on at least one other entry. We we all love comments!! 

4.I'd love if you would follow me as well :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Connections by Hallmark Cards

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

Today I have such a fun and sassy gift giving idea involving the new connections from hallmark cards available at walmart!



One of the things I miss most about no longer being in college is not having a gaggle of girlfriends just around the dorm room corner. I met so many awesome ladies at college and we did EVERYTHING together: we had classes together, would eat meals together, hang out on the weekend, even email each other stupid funny memes in the middle of class even though we KNEW we would each bust out laughing in the middle of a boring lecture. Whoops! We still text each other funny things from time to time (honey boo boo quotes anyone??) but nothing is as good as being together and being able to laugh in person.

That's why I was so excited that we were all meeting up last week weekend for a girls beach weekend trip! This is our second annual outing and I think it will be become a tradition - it's so nice to be able to see old friends that are all over the map in the same location again! We were all looking forward to some girl time, tanning on the beach, and drinking by the hotel pool bar ;)

Before heading out for our beach weekend I made a stop at Walmart and decided to pick out something funny to bring along for the girls.



I stopped at the card section and perused the new Buzzworthy Cards from Hallmark. These new cards are hysterical! They are rotated out every few weeks so they are always applicable to the current season. I loved this funny card I found: "I get my summer glow from a bottle... It's called 'Chardonnay'"



If you've been around here for any length of time you know that I'm a big wine fan. This card was just too funny to pass up! Of course, I had to pick up a couple bottles of "summer glow" to bring on the beach weekend to share with the girls:



I wrapped everything up all girly and cute and it was the perfect little card and treat to bring along for our girls weekend!!! Drinking wine out of a little mini bottle on the beach? That's my kind of summer glow for sure :)

This card was the perfect gift way to start our weekend off with some giggles. There were so many other funny options that I'm sure you could find a quirky and trendy card for any funny occasion you need! While you are stocking up on cards, remember that you can earn Hallmark rewards for every Hallmark card you buy at Walmart! For every 5 cards you buy you earn a reward.

Make sure you check out Connections from Hallmark to sign up for Hallmark Rewards, and to see great content from other bloggers. Join in the #Tendycards conversation on Twitter! #Trendycards #CollectiveBias

Your Whims Wednesday #172 {And Features}

Time for another Your Whims Wednesday Party!

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/Becca187/YWWsnip.jpg"/></a></center>

Here are some of my favorites from last week:

Floral Garland by Designs by Miss Manda

  BBQ Ranch Salad by The Diary of a Real Housewife   Wood Quote Sign by Vintage Zest   No Bake Almond Granola Bars by The Scent of Oranges   Thanks to all who linked up! Grab a button if you were featured :)  
<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/Becca187/featurededited.jpg"/></a></center>   Now... onto this weeks party!

I show off my girlish whims weekly on my blog, and now I want to see yours with 
Your Whims Wednesday!

Guidlines:

1. Link up as many projects as you would like: as long as it is one of your girly ways, you can link it! I'd love to see crafts, recipes, style posts, etc. Anything and everything feminine :)

2.Please add my button (code at the top of this post) to either your blog post or somewhere on your blog. 

3. Take a quick moment to comment on at least one other entry. We we all love comments!! 

4.I'd love if you would follow me as well :)

An InLinkz Link-up

6 Months In - Journey Realizations

Well it's officially been about six months since I've started trying to loose weight and this is the month I really realized that this weight loss thing is a JOURNEY!

I'm down a total of 41 pounds now, so three more than last month.  I've been a little frustrated with myself this past month as I was stuck at the same weight for like three weeks straight! We had a lot of weddings and events and fourth of July parties to attend and I just was not as good as I could have been.  

I have to keep telling myself that slow progress is still progress.  I'm still down more this month than I was last month, or the month before or six months ago.  I'm going to slip up and eat the pizza the boss orders for lunch on July 3rd when NO ONE ELSE seems to be in the office but I'm stuck there starring at that pizza box.  I'm going to eat a delicious danish during a sales meeting.  I'm going to go on a girls weekend to the beach this weekend to a hotel with a swim up bar and drink WAYYY more than I should.  All of these things are going to happen because I'm human and I even though I want to keep loosing weight my life does not revolve around it.  I'll slip up, I'll allow myself to cheat, but every Monday I'm still going to be back at it counting my calories and excited to go hit up the gym and go to Zumba again!!! 

If I would have quit every time I slipped up along these six months, I would still be the girl in the left of this picture: very much overweight and very frustrated about it.  Instead I'm the girl on the right: I'm no where near perfect yet but I'm finally able to tell that getting so much closer to where I should be.

I've noticed a lot of really great non-scale related victories this month too.  My wedding rings are loose.  My clothes fit SO MUCH BETTER.  I have a pair of grey dress pants that I stopped wearing this winter because they were so tight and uncomfortable.  Not only do those pants fit now, they are loose and baggy! I was able to fit into another pair of grey dress pants I saved from college that I probably haven't fit in for over three years.  Clothes just LOOK better on now too.  No more chub peaking over the top of my high waisted skirt and no more round face!

 What's really awesome though is seeing fat rolls actually disappear.  I'm not quite ready to post fully revealing before and afters (helloooo tummy trouble zone) but look at my back in this picture.  These pictures were taken one day off from year apart: June 15th 2013 and June 14th 2014. I only started trying to loose weight effectively since January so this picture from last June was at the start of another failed diet attempt.  Check out my back rolls!!! They are officially gone!! Praise the lord!!

Seriously though.  Back fat rolls?? SERIOUSLY unattractive.  Hubby has always loved me, but he is glad those bad boys are gone too :P

It's pretty awesome to have hit that 40 pound bench mark.  I feel legit now :) But overall six months in, I'm still committed.  Slow or fast past I'm still going. I've realized that this is a journey and I'm in it for the long haul. Progress takes a lot of hard work and consequently a lot of time as well. Until the next update...

Your Whims Wednesday #171 {And Features}

Time for another Your Whims Wednesday Party!

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/Becca187/YWWsnip.jpg"/></a></center>

Here are some of my favorites from last week:

Fabric Charm Bracelet by Quinton Wench

 

Elephant Nursery by Beachwood Place   Strawberry Poke Cake by Swanky Recipes   Ombre Clay Pendant by The Crafty Scientist   Thanks to all who linked up! Grab a button if you were featured :)  
<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/Becca187/featurededited.jpg"/></a></center>   Now... onto this weeks party!

I show off my girlish whims weekly on my blog, and now I want to see yours with 
Your Whims Wednesday!

Guidlines:

1. Link up as many projects as you would like: as long as it is one of your girly ways, you can link it! I'd love to see crafts, recipes, style posts, etc. Anything and everything feminine :)

2.Please add my button (code at the top of this post) to either your blog post or somewhere on your blog. 

3. Take a quick moment to comment on at least one other entry. We we all love comments!! 

4.I'd love if you would follow me as well :)

An InLinkz Link-up

How I #SparkleWithDASANI and Zumba!

This is a sponsored post but all opinions are my own.

Since I've started my fitness journey and have been losing weight I have cut out all regular soda products.  Regular soda has WAY too many calories to be worth drinking!  However, I still do like drinking something besides plain water everyday so diet soda and flavored water products have been a nice treat for me. I was excited to get to try out the new DASANI Sparkling flavored water beverages for a new beverage treat.  With 0 calories per serving and the refreshing flavors of berry, lemon, lime and apple, these sparkling cans of water were a hit for me!!

Because the new DASANI sparkling waters are fun, fresh and (most importantly) sparkly, DASANI had to do something awesome to celebrate....and what could be more awesome than winning a FREE trip to Florida??

That's right! DASANI is giving away a free trip to Ft. Lauderdale Florida for you and three friends!  It's SUPER easy to enter.  All you have to do is upload a picture of what makes YOU sparkle to twitter or instagram with the hastage #SparkleWithDASANI. Be sure to follow @dasaniwater so they can contact you if you win! That's it!

DASANI wants to know what makes you sparkle in your everyday life: your kids, your hobby, spending some "me" time getting a manicure, whatever it is just snap a pic and upload it to twitter with the hashtag for a chance to win the free trip! I entered the contest with this picture hubby snapped before I left for the gym, because going to ZUMBA makes me sparkle!!!
 

I love getting in a good workout by just being able to dance and have fun! Wearing cute workout clothes with a matching sparkly headband are also pretty enjoyable too :)

But enough about me...let's hear more about Florida! If you are the lucky winner of the contest you will win...

Roundtrip airfare for you and three guests to Ft. Lauderdale, FL

 

Two deluxe rooms at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa for three nights

 

PLUS two 50-minute spa treatments per guest.  Sounds amazing to me!!! For more info on the contest go here and don't forget, just use hastage #SparkleWithDASANI when you upload a photo to twitter or instagram of you doing what makes you sparkle!

Easy DIY Dainty Jewelry

Are you chunky jewelry kind of girl, or do you have more of a dainty style? I've always leaned toward a chunkier style in the type of jewelry that I wear and that which I like to create. I view jewelry as a true accessory and if I choose to wear jewelry with an outfit it's because I think it coordinates well and I want it to be seen! Hence why I tend to lean towards wearing more statement necklaces and big chunky earrings.

However I got the chance to play with some pieces from the new Daintyfield line by Cousin Corporation that will hit Michaels stores on August 15th, and I think I might have to give dainty jewelry another chance! I really love what I was able to make from this line!

Here's a peek of what I got sent to play with:

The Daintyfield line features lots of itty bitty charms and slim chains and bangle bracelets. I picked the girliest charms to make a new necklace with: this cute Paris pack with a mini bow, Eiffel tower, and pearl charm!

This line of jewelry supplies is great for someone who wants to get started making jewelry or doesn't have a ton of experience yet because it is very easy to make a finished product with just a couple quick steps.  To make a necklace all I did was use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the jump ring and extender chain on the one end of the necklace. 

Next I strung the three charms onto the chain

And then used needle nose pliers to reattach the jump ring and extender chain and I had a cute new necklace!

I put this necklace on after making it and was surprised by how much I actually liked it! It was a nice change to wear something a little more "dainty" and "cutsey" than I normally do.

Since I liked the necklace so much I decided to go ahead and try out making something else.  I got this adorable arrow charm to play with that I knew would look great as a bracelet. I took a bracelet chain and cut it in half in the middle using wire cutters.  Then I used two small jump rings and needle nose pliers to attach the arrow charm to the middle of the chain.

Depending on the size of your wrist you may have to cut a little chain off of each side of the bracelet like I did.  But when you are done just reattached the clasp and extender clasp to the ends of the chain and you are good to go.

I think it turned out so cute!

Making these pieces was a nice motivation to try out a new style I wouldn't normally pick for myself.  I think I might have to try making some more dainty pieces soon :) If you want to make something similar be sure to look for the Daintyfield pieces in Michael's in August!