Folk Art by Campbell Jane

Beautiful Mermaid Beach Angel Print
I love folk art, I think it's one of my favorite types of artwork. The whimsy and colorful nature of folk art expresses itself well in these mermaids, which is the artwork of Janet who runs an Etsy store by the name of Campbell Jane. Her mermaids are so sweet and colorful with a touch of whimsy. There are original paintings and many prints of these wonderful mermaids as you browse through her shop -- if you'd like to see more of Janet's artwork stop by Campbell Jane and take a look around her gallery of artwork.

Angel of Lost Homes Print

Cloning Pets -- What's your opinion?

I was reading this article about dog cloning and started to think that I'm not crazy about this idea.
news.aol.com/article/woman-gets-five-clones-of-her-pitbul...
Now I love my dog and will be devastated when she passes, but cloning or not there will never be another Lena. I mean isn't it all the time that you spend with your pet, the hours of love and attention that you give and receive from them that makes them the pet that they are? Even if I got her cloned, it still would not be Lena, so why not just get another dog? I don't know, maybe I just don't get it, but there will never be room for another Lena in my heart -- and when she passes I will miss her so much that my heart will ache, but there will never be another like her even if I did have her cloned. So I guess my answer to this question is no, I don't think I'd like cloning a pet. All of the dogs I have had in the past hold a special place in my heart and I always thought I'd never be able to move on and get another pet, but with time I did and then I was lucky enough to get another dog who filled my heart with love and joy. I imagine this will go on until the day I die -- and I definitely don't want to be cloned.

TulipsTreasureBox

Sunflower Cuff
I recently joined the Etsy Bloggers Streat Team and since Etsy and blogging are two of my favorite things I thought what a great concept for a group -- combine the two. One of the requirements of the group is do a feature on an Etsy shop -- now that's a requirement I can wrap my arms around! So this month our featured artist is jewelry designer and beadweaver from the shop TulipsTreasureBox. I love beadweaving, it fascinates me that people have the patience to bead these tiny little beauties together to make such lovely creations. You can just look at each piece and see the level of love and care that goes into each one. I have added a beautiful 'Sunflower Cuff' as an example of this art and also 'It's a Druzy Necklace' to showcase some of her other jewelry designs. If you'd like to see all of her lovely creations feast your eyes on the rest at TulipsTreasureBox.


It's a Druzy Necklace

InkDropDesign

Big Owl
Today our feature is the Etsy shop InkDropDesign, run by Shondra, who has cards taken from from her original hand drawings, photography and digital illustrations. These are a couple of my favorites, I love the colors and whimsy of these two cards featuring her artwork taken from original illustrations.

Goldfish

What do you do to save money?

I have been told by friends that I’m a penny pincher, by family that I’m cheap (you know family can call you that) -- but I prefer to be known as frugal. I try to save money at every turn and at times I’m sure I can get on people’s nerves including my husband, but at the end of the day he’s grateful to have someone like me.

When shopping for groceries, I always use coupons and never buy anything at full price, buy one, get one free, love it! We have our mortgage at a low interest rate and even have a summer home that we are building little by little as the money comes in. As far as the electricity I never keep lights on, that’s one of my pet peeves and will turn it off as soon as someone leaves the room -- my stepdaughter’s favorite line is “I’m going back in there.”

We also keep our credit cards as low as possible and keep our credit score up to try to get the best rate we can. We never go out to a restaurant, just cannot afford to, we want to spend that money elsewhere, more wisely. As far as shopping for clothes we try to keep that to a minimum and always buy what’s on sale. I really don’t think I’ve paid full price for anything in a long time.

I have seen to many friends and family with financial trouble and it can destroy families. It is so sad that a family can fall apart because of financial wows, but I know for myself when we do get into a crunch financially (and I don’t care how careful you are with money we all get there now and again) we seem to argue a bit more. So if you’re having trouble getting your finances together or need some tips on saving why don’t you visit Bills IQ -- it’s a place to start, maybe they can help you out. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it -- Bills IQ can help with all your financial needs:

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Yorkshire Terrier Charm Bracelet

The charm bracelet is made up of reclaimed jewelry parts, a hand-sculpted Yorkie center piece, a 10mm Swarovski crystal heart and silver key and a silver dog house charm. All components and chain are silver, but not sterling silver. I added a few charms to start you off, the rest is up to you! This would make a darling charm bracelet for any Yorkie lover! The Yorkie was hand-sculpted of polymer clay and has Swarovski crystal in her top knot. So cute! The chain measures 7-3/4" long and has a toggle closure.

Perry the Punk Kid Bead

Perry is one of my Punk Kid beads. This little guy is definitely into punk and he loves goth. He hangs out at the club on the corner with all of the rest of his punk friends, they love to listen to music and party in the mosh pit.

Perry is hand-sculpted from polymer clay. He is all black except for a skull and crossbones tee. His hair is in a black mohawk and he has a Swarovski crystal on the side of his head.