Have you found the jewels you're going to wear for your wedding?

Have you found the jewels you're going to wear for your wedding?  Or have you thought about your bridesmaids, mother or mother-in-law?  Take a look at my Bridal Boutique!  You'll find many various pieces to choose from!

Click here to check out my website to see the rest of the collection!

Instead of sugar, why not get your little girl some jewelry for Easter! 

 

Check out my website for all the amazing choices: 

 

http://www.stelladot.com/sites/tammyshannon/productcatalog?page=productlisting.category&categoryId=1157  

Start Loving Your Job!

I know what it's like not to love your job and just go through the motions.  Not with this one.  I'm looking for three stylists to join my Stella & Dot team.  You'll be selling fabulous jewelry which have been seen in magazines recently like InStyle, Rachel Ray and much more.  Stella & Dot is doing a ton of marketing right now to help assist with making stylists successful!

Check out my website for more details at:  http://www.stelladot.com/sites/tammyshannon/our-opportunity?includeFile=affordable-start.jsp

Or send me an email at:  fabulousjewels@live.ca

Green Counters From Recycled Glass Bottles

Decorating Green

Fabulous design. Cutting edge looks. Interesting twists in color, fabric, and texture. These are all elements inherent in design that's ecologically sound. Yes, your creativity can have free reign even as you make choices that help protect the planet. Increasingly, manufacturers are creating products that have minimal impact on the environment, whether because they're made from organically-grown cotton or because they're made with renewable resources. We think environmentally friendly design is so important that we recently added a Green Design lesson to the Sheffield Complete Course in Interior Design.

In our "Decorating Green" column we'll look at a sustainable, low-impact element of design in each issue of "Designer Monthly." We hope these articles will help us all help the planet and the many creatures that share it with us.

IceStone and Vetrazzo

Remember when you were a kid, and you’d search the summer shoreline for glass that had been rubbed smooth by the sea and spit back out onto the sand? Sea glass, we called it, and it was a prize, worth, in trade, several perfect seashells or a really pretty rock with a white line running through it.
Now, Green design has brought something of that idea back to us: bits of colored broken glass embedded in cement and transformed into countertop and flooring surfaces used for the kitchen and bath.
As you’re probably aware, there are several elements that are considered in Green design. One is that you want to use recycled materials as much as you can, so that you’re not making demands on the earth’s resources in the creation of your home. Another factor is to consider the long-run, and to use materials that will themselves break down easily and won’t just sit in a landfill for a couple of thousand years.

These surface materials such as IceStone have a variety of differently colored bits of broken glass to give it its shine and color. The effect is a very pretty, smooth material that has a depth to the colors and in which the different shades blend and mix. And it uses glass products that otherwise would be sitting in the landfill for the next generations.
The concrete base of the countertop is designed to decompose when you’re done with the countertop, so you don’t have to worry about your grandchildren’s grandchildren inheriting it.

But another aspect of Green design is more immediately about the people involved. First, does the product emit chemical gasses after installation which can harm the inhabitants of the home? And second, are people exploited, or is their health put in jeopardy, in making the product?
With Green countertops, the fabrication process is designed to eliminate the dangers of the chemicals associated with many other kinds of building materials.

As companies dedicated to Green design blossom, they are tending to also pay attention to the way they treat their employees. In many parts of the world, including the U.S., there are still many people who work in punishing conditions with dangerous materials and equipment. But the new Green design companies give us hope that one day sweatshops will be a thing of the past.

On either end of the United States there sit two such companies which are dedicated not only to creating fully Green countertops, but also to treating their employees in a way that enhances their lives: Vetrazzo, based in Berkley, California, and IceStone, based in Brooklyn, New York.
Vetrazzo offers full benefits to its employees, and, according to the company, pays 50% higher wages than other area manufacturing jobs. “Workers enjoy natural light, safety equipment that goes well beyond what is mandatory, and a continuing education program. Vetrazzo believes this investment in their people produces highly motivated workers, greater retention, and a top-quality product,” according to the company.
On the east coast, IceStone provides a similar model. Their Mission Statement includes sentiments found more often in a yoga studio or psychotherapy practice than in a manufacturing plant. Their mission regarding employees is “To apply their passion, creativity, and skills to the work we do. To learn and grow in mind, body and spirit. To honor the balance between work and family.” IceStone also offers continuing education classes to their employees, including free classes in English as a Second Language, something deeply needed by many laborers in the U.S. Not bad for a place that’s also creating beautiful, sustainable materials that use discarded glass.

Both these companies have won Green design awards, and have participated in design shows. But the ultimate test is whether or not you love the way the stuff looks. The thought of the glass shards used in these Green countertops isn’t quite as romantic as the sea glass of childhood---if you look closely, you can see how indeed the caramel-brown comes from old beer bottles. But even that has a romance to it, if you think about how, by buying the product, you are doing your part in helping preserve the ocean and all the creatures that live there.
And it really is a beautiful product. This is a material that looks alive, as opposed to the old Formica countertops. Any time you use a living material, even if it’s trapped inside something as inanimate as a countertop, you can tell the difference. Just think of how different a plastic table feels as opposed to a wood one, even though the wood was long ago cut from its roots in the forest.
The same is true with recycled glass countertops: because the glass is mixed in throughout the concrete base, it’s got a rich, deep complexity that’s a pleasure to look at, and that goes beyond the superficial layer.
If you run your hand along the countertop, take a deep breath, and close your eyes, you can think you’re at the beach, rubbing a piece of seaglass between your fingers.

Multibionta Rocks

I've been using Multibionta which I got free to try because I'm a BzzAgent.  <img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/multib.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=6039502838&Campaign=0607804734&Uid=423196&token=e23eda8c696aad42626ebfd32c3db3d4" alt=""/>

Here's why you should too!

 

Strong immune defence begins in the gut.

As a digestive organ, the gut (or intestine) ensures that the body is supplied with nutrients. The foods and supplements we consume are broken down (digested) along the digestive tract and in the gut, and the assorted vitamins and minerals are then distributed through the body to their main areas of action. Good digestive performance is thus essential for physical well-being.
But our gut can do much more than just help with digestion. The gut is also a vital part of the immune system. As the largest immune organ, about 70% of the immune system resides in the gut, so it’s important to promote good digestive health in order to boost immunity. The gut directly determines the body’s natural powers of defence.
The 400 m2 surface area of the gut lining contains thousands of defence cells. Healthy gut flora support these cells in their important task of defending the body against unwanted intruders and pathogens, we sometimes call “bad bacteria”. The gut flora consists of 400 to 500 different types of useful or “friendly” bacteria, all of which have their own specific tasks.
Gut flora can be disturbed by a combination of stress, drugs (especially antibiotics), poor eating habits and physical strain, and this disturbance may weaken the gut’s own immune system. However, if the gut flora is healthy, it forms a natural protective barrier against troublesome bacteria. Taking probiotics can help keep a healthy gut flora.

Good vs. Bad bacteria

Did you know there are more than 400 species of bacteria that live in the gut? This may sound alarming, but these species are often referred to as “good” or “friendly” bacteria. Good bacteria promote digestion and help the body absorb the nutrients from your food. In addition, certain strains of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus work like a protective wall against harmful intruders in the gut and prevent unhealthy bacteria from taking refuge. Essentially, they activate the immune system and thereby strengthen the body’s own defences.
The good news is that you can easily influence the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut. You can help keep a high level of good bacteria by taking a probiotic supplement like Multibionta.

Map Dresser

 It was a plain wood dresser that we bought cheap a couple years ago. It was painted blue and some new metal knobs were added, nothing to exciting. It was pretty basic.

It also had some chipping paint that wasn't too attractive either. It really was screaming for a makeover! So I gave it a little sanding and some paint fix up, luckily I had leftover paint from the first try!

As I was preparing to decoupage my antique maps onto the dresser my star, Cheri mentioned using a mixture of white glue and water as my decoupage glue! I used 3 parts glue to every 1 part of water, just mix it up and your done. It worked really well and you can't get much cheaper. At back to school time they sell the white glue for around $.10. I just stored the left over in this butter tub to use on my next project!

I cut my maps to size for the drawer fronts and I did a collage of different maps for the top of the dresser. Here I am with my Pampered Chef scraper, my favorite decoupaging tool! LOL After the maps were dry from being glued down I put another couple coats of the decoupage glue over top to seal and protect the maps. 

On the side of the dresser I used DecoArt's Chalkboard Paint so my little guy can plan out his journeys. I used a rolling foam paint brush and it worked great, it left the surface really even and smooth! I did a couple coats of this right on the dresser, no priming, and it worked great!

Don't forget to prep your new chalkboard by rubbing chalk all across the surface. Of course after the paint has dried thoroughly!

I made the knobs for the dresser out of nuts and bolts (and a few other goodies) that I got at ReStore and Home Depot. Some of the configurations required some glue to keep them all together, enter Gorilla Glue's Super Glue! I mixed and matched old rusty items with new shinny ones. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how they turned out, so fun!

While all of that dried I wanted to work on the other elements that I had for my little guy's room. I headed to the salvage yard to pick up a few hubcaps.

After I cleaned them up (which was quite an undertaking) and primed them they were ready to be painted red, yellow, and green. The colors of a stop light. DecoArt's patio paint did the trick and like Cheri said, if a snow storm every hits my little guy's room, these hubcaps will hold up nicely! This patio paint is legit!

I love the hubcap stop light and my son has been obsessed with the colors. I never imagined that they would become a learning tool but it seems to be a nice side effect!

Once everything was dry, I assembled everything and put it in it's place. Here is the dresser in all it's map glory and hardware glory!

A look at the cool knobs and a close up of the maps. I guess if we ever lose our GPS we can just grab the dresser!

My kids are thrilled with the chalkboard on the side! We get to write on the furniture? WHAT?

The top of the dresser turned out fantastic too, I love looking at the maps trying to figure out what states and areas are on there, since I just kind of cut and glued without looking what was going up there.

This is the whole set up.

Above the dresser I hung some of our old license plates, I'm sure we'll have a pretty good collection by the time we are done with our journey in the military! I hung a shop light in the corner as a pendant light. It is so super cute....for a shop light!

So there you have it! An awesome automobile room for my little guy! Something that can grow with him for years to come.

So there you have it! I think it all turned out pretty awesome and my son seems to love it too! Phew that was a long post! Well now I think I will go catch up on the things that have been neglected in the name of competition; the house needs a good clean, food needs to be bought, and my nails could use a good manicure (and a pedicure while were at it)!!! Thanks everyone for your support once again!

Linking up to these great link parties!

Extending my Stella & Dot ~ Reach for a Cure to April 30, 2011

Stella & Dot ~ Reach for a Cure

 

From now to April 30, 2011, I’ll be donating 50% of my commissions from the sales on my website to the Canadian Cancer Society.

As you are aware, cancer has had a big effect on my life and I want to support the cause as much as I possibly can. From being a patient myself, my mom and many other friends and family, I’ve seen what donations do.

When you go to my website:
http://www.stelladot.com/tammyshannon

Click “Cant’ make trunk show” and then type “Cancer Society” for the hostess.

Please share this with your friends and family. I will be doing random draws for people that purchase a Stella & Dot piece and/or make a donation.

If you don't want to purchase anything but would still like donate, please follow the link to do so: http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR?fr_id=9811&pg=entry

 

How to make a recycled candy wrapper treat pouch

Sweet Tooth Pouch

We don't normally have a lot of candy in the house.  Well, the Halloween candy (at least nothing with chocolate - because that's all eaten within hours) is still in a jar in the kitchen cupboard.  This little project was inspired by my son who asks for candy from the brightly colored packages at the checkout at Target.

So, here's a little "sweet tooth" pouch.

You'll need two candy pouches - I used skittles and M&Ms.  You could use candy bars too (you just might need more than one per side to make it a bit bigger).

You'll also need:

iron-on vinyl 
a zipper (7 - 9" works well)
two pieces of fabric for lining (each should be the size of your candy wrapper).

thread, sewing machine, zipper foot, iron, X-acto knife

First, we'll put the vinyl onto our candy wrappers.  Carefully remove the back of the candy wrapper leaving the top piece fully intact.

Cut two pieces of vinyl slightly larger than the wrapper.  Peel off the paper backing and stick to the front of the wrapper, smoothing out with your fingers.

Using a clean rag (or ironing cloth), iron the vinyl for 8-10 seconds on medium heat.  Repeat for the other side.  Trim any excess vinyl.  Repeat for the other wrapper.

Now that you have your wrappers covered in vinyl, we'll assemble the pouch.

Place your lining fabric right side up and then place the zipper on top matching the edges.  Zipper should be facing up, as in the photo.

Place the wrapper on top (right side down). 

Increase your stitch length and using a zipper foot, sew along the length of the zipper.

Fold over the front and lining (so wrong sides are now touching) and add the other piece of lining and wrapper to the other side of the zipper.

Now the top looks like this:

and the other side looks like this:

Now fold the bag so the the lining is touching and the wrappers are touching (right sides together) like this:

Starting with the lining, sew around the bag.

Make sure you pull the zipper partway open so you can turn it inside out later.

When you get to a zipper, make sure it's "pushed" toward the lining.

Continue around the bag, leaving a large opening at the bottom for turning.  A large opening is best (even larger than pictured below).  The vinyl wrapper is a bit stiff and difficult to fit through a small opening.

Trim the extra zipper bits and trim the corners (turning points).

Carefully turn the bag right side out.  Sew up the bottom of the lining (by hand or machine) and tuck it into the pouch.

Don't forget to have your little one fill it with treasures - a favorite car, a new library card and of course, a frog.