Featured Reader: Let me introduce you to....

Happy Monday friends! This past weekend was all work and no play making more jewelry than you can imagine! A special thank you to my blog friends who have made holiday purchases, your orders are being shipped today!!! (My little elf's helped too... Hubby kept Will very busy this weekend)

If you would like to be a Featured Reader please send me a message at klacustomcreations@comcast.net

On to the favorite part of my week, I have the pleasure of introducing you to my crafty blog friend Mary Lea of Pink and Green Mama. MaryLea is so darn crafty, you have to check out all of the cool things she does with her kiddos. Mary Lea's girls must have so much fun, as a kid I loved doing crafts more than anything. Grab a beverage of choice, sit back and get to know Pink and Green Mama.

Name:

MaryLea a.k.a. Pink and Green Mama

Family:

Fantastic Best Friend of a Husband, we’ve been together for 13 years, married for 10. He’s a cancer survivor (brain tumor) of 13 years. Beautiful and Hilarious little girls, The Frog Princess age 5 1/2 and Mini-Saurus 20 months old.

How did you start blogging?

I started this September on my oldest daughter’s first day of Kindergarten. I thought we could start a new adventure together.

If you are a parent do you have a parenting philosophy?

My parenting philosophy is... Do what works for your family. Be in the moment. Tune into your children, love them unconditionally, admit to your mistakes, do the best that you can. Make art every day. Have kid zones where your kids can get into everything and explore without getting into trouble (but also leave some areas of your home “grown up” it doesn’t have to look like a day care center.) Laugh every day. Enjoy the little things and don’t sweat the big stuff.

You will never find me without......

My wedding rings...they won’t go past my knuckle so I guess they’ll have to be cut off someday.
Other parts of my daily life: Fall-Winter jeans, layers, pony tail holder (if my hair’s not already in a pony tail I need to have the option to pull it back) chapstick or lipstick. Summer: tank tops, capris or tennis skirts, sun glasses as a headband, flip flops.

Day job:

Stay at home mom, Artist, Wife, Housekeeper, Waste Manager, Cook, Chauffeur, Family Paramedic, Environmentalist, Zoo Keeper, Free-Cycler, Blogger of Pink and Green Mama, Scrapbooker, Creative Memories consultant my site , Classroom Helper, Art in the Schools Docent. I also sell some of my work at my Pink and Green Mama Shop

Favorite Stuff:

Music:


Everything! Black Eyed Peas, Cold Play, The Police, Dave Matthews, Alanis Morisette, OK Go, Jack Johnson, Keane, Fall Out Boy, Depeche Mode, Weird Al Yankovic, Maroon 5, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Sheryl Crow.

Food:

Salad. Chocolate Chip Cookies. Apples. Mexican and Italian food.

Tv/ Movies:

I keep my TiVo happy: Project Runway, Oprah, The Shield, Rescue Me, 30 Rock, Grey’s Anatomy, Jon and Kate plus 8, The Office. Favorite movies include The Shawshank Redemption, Training Day, Steel Magnolias, anything with Mark Wahlberg (my back-up husband)

Reading:

Favorite book: The Time Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.. Also love Jodie Piccoult (all of them), The Twilight Series, Catherine Newman’s Waiting for Birdy and a healthy but ridiculous Magazine addiction.

If you had to wear a T-shirt with your favorite saying on it what would it be?

I own and wear my 4 favorite shirts regularly: “Obama 2008”, “Green Is Groovy”, “Mom Juice” pink with a wine glass, and “Carpool Fuel” chocolate brown with a small coffee cup.

Favorite stores to shop at:

Michaels, Target, Thrift Shop, Whole Foods, H&M, World Market.

Other Good Stuff from Pink and Green Mama:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. My family supports a single mother and her son through a non-profit charity called the Box Project. We send a box every month and exchange letters and photos. I highly recommend it as a way to make a difference in the world and personally help someone in need. Please visit The Box Project

A special thank you to MaryLea, please be sure to visit Pink and Green Mama's site.

Please be sure to come back in the coming weeks to meet:

Jill of Scary Mommy

Toni of a Daily Dose of Toni

Feel Good Sunday: Life is a gift!

There is no gift greater than the gift of life! We all need to be reminded of this from time to time. The hand stamped "Life is a gift" necklace is available and ready to ship for holiday gift giving. Click here to purchase.

Product Junkie Approved: Simply Smashing

Have you tried Smashbox Lip glosses? I am a sucker for kits and usually only like one item out of a set. I must say, I am never disappointed with a set of Smashbox lip glosses. This set is only $29 and you get 6 lip glosses and I have to say I love every color. You can pick up your own set here .

Do you have a favorite lip product that the Product Junkie should know about?

Who Me? A Top Blogger You Should Know!

Visit Mom Bloggers Club


One of my favorite social networks to hang out at is Mom Bloggers Club. I have met some of my best bloggy friends at this fab site. I was so excited to discover that I am listed as one of the Top 10 Mom Bloggers Club Members You Should Know and this is out of almost 2500 members!

Mom Bloggers Club is a fabulous site that supports Mom Blogger's across the blogosphere, there are many groups to join and always great forum topics. Jennifer James who runs the site is very friendly and involved on regular basis, which I think is one of the aspects that makes the site so wonderful.

You can check out the other Top Bloggers HERE!

Fashion Friday: Fab Cashmere Finds!

The Allure of Cashmere by klacustomcreations

Did you know that Cashmere comes from the under-belly of a goat? Did you also know that you no longer need to spend your child's college fund to be able to afford a beautiful cashmere sweater! Would you like to learn more about how to pick high quality cashmere? Please read my article featured at Beautiful! Fabulous!

Go Elf Yourself! How Fun is this???

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thousand Words Thursday

We took Will to the movie theater for the first time, and to make it even better his first expereince was at a IMAX theater. We saw Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa, and he did really good. An hour into the movie he asked when it was going to be over. The IMAX is connected to The Henry Ford, which is a fabulous museum, it was all decked out for the holidays, we even got our picture taken for free, too bad we weren't dressed for he occasion. Will didn't want to see Santa, he said Santa is just too scary, maybe next year!

Would you like to participate in Thousand Words Thursday head on over to:

Ready To Ship Items In My Shop....

Need some stocking stuffers? These are just a few necklaces that are ready to ship and are available in my shop, Kristen's Custom Creations. A special thank you to my customers, I am very busy filling orders and custom orders will only be available for a few more days. If you would like a custom order please contact me ASAP, klacustomcreations@comcast.net

Wordless Wednesday

A Bit of This and That....

We have been busy working on some holiday shopping, so far we did pick up some dog bones for Kane. Check out Will's cart, he kept finding fab items for Kane.

I had the pleasure of spending 2 hours yesterday on the phone with Comcast, since I discovered that about half of my customers haven't been receiving my emails and I haven't been receiving theirs. My tech support guy kept saying, "This is strange" that isn't what you want to hear! It does seem to be fixed now, so Matt from Comcast is my hero.

I have also been very busy filling customers holiday orders. If you would still like to pick up a piece for a gift please place your order ASAP to ensure you receive it in time. I wanted to share the "Forever In My Heart" piece that I created for a special customer. I just put the piece in my shop if you would like one!

Featured Reader: Let me introduce you to.....

Happy Monday friends! Oh my goodness the holiday's are fast approaching. I don't know about you but in our house we are scrambling to get everything done in time. As I have said in past posts, the one thing I love about Monday's is having the opportunity to introduce you to one of my fab readers. I am pleased to introduce you to Clarissa of The Diary of a Poshpreneur. Clarissa is a fellow WAHM who shares tips on her site for other fellow WAHM's and also runs a boutique where she makes many beautiful items, you must check out here stuff, there are too many to pick just one favorite. Grab a cup of joe and get to know my friend Clarissa.

Name:

Clarissa Nassar of The Diary of a Poshpreneur and Tres Couture Boutique
I also blog/vlog on New Baby and MomDot, I go by "POSHpreneur Clarissa" on most sites.


Family:

My DH's name is Joe and I have 2 kids, Kayla-6 & Jojo-2 and a pup, Duchess who is 7 mos.

How did you start blogging?

I started blogging because I wanted to share with everyone the steps and fun and anxiety of being a small business owner...I think if ppl can get an inside look into things they would not feel so alone...or so afraid to start their own business! I wanted to be inspirational and encouraging to others.

If you are a parent do you have a parenting philosophy?

As a parent, I always thought that I would be the overly cautious type that cleans her kids hands every second and yells if they are running around crazy or just a "worry wart" type of parent (sorry if anyone out there is one of those! lol) but, my philosophy as a parent is that kids should be able to be KIDS and run around and get dirty (of course I clean them up right after they are done!) and they should be allowed to ask for candy at the store or for a special cereal or toy every now and then...kids are gonna be kids! Let them live and let them explore and let them dream and imagine and get into trouble every now and then!

You will never find me without......

a HUGE handbag loaded with my cell phone, snacks, diaper, wipes & my Ipod!

Day job:

My "day job" is being a mama and running a household. First and foremost, I am a wife and a mother. It is the greatest blessing! In between real life I blog for my clients and myself, and sew for my boutiques. The wheels are always turning in my head for my next biz adventure!

Favorite Stuff:

Music: House Music all night long! lol I love all music but House & R&B are my favs
Food: ANYTHING and everything! My hispanic heritage and my husbands Middle Eastern heritage has brought me lots of different varieties of foods.
Tv/ Movies: Friends, Will & Grace & The Hills for T.V. Movies:
the list is way too long!
Reading: The Proper Care & Feeding of a Marriage is a MUST for any married couple

If you had to wear a T-shirt with your f avorite saying on it what would it be?

"Why are you trying to get me fired on my day off?" LOL It is a quote from Friday (with Dr. Dre & Chris Tucker) and my BFF and I would go back and forth with that ALL DAY at work...just a fun inside joke...when you work in the "Corporate World" you know you always have to CYB "Cover your Butt" so this was our little funny saying when we would catch the each other doing something silly {for example:
shopping online LOL}

Favorite stores to shop at:

Target
Joanne's
Michael's
ANY fabric store
ETSY!

Other good stuff from Clarissa:

I love to share my ideas and inspirations with everyone and anyone who will listen! I get the most satisfaction when I can help someone make their dreams a reality or help them towards their goals. I hope that I can be an inspiration to other parents who want to start a business or who have started and feel alone.

A special thank you to Clarissa for allowing us to get to know her. Please be sure to stop by Clarissa's sites. If you would like to be featured at La Dolce Vita please send me a email at klacustomcreations@comcast.net

Feel Good Sunday

A wise person does at once, what a fool does at last. Both do the same thing; only at different times. Lord Acton

The hand stamped "Wise" necklace is available HERE.

Product Junkie Approved: Relief

For many years I have been addicted to my Hand Relief hand lotion by Aveda. Back in the day when I use to get manicures every two weeks my manicurist always used it and I got hooked. The lotion isn't too heavy and I love the way it makes my hands feel. I use it year round. I keep a travel size tube in my purse, one by the kitchen sink and one on my night stand. I use it several times a day and it smells great and leaves your hands feeling wonderful.

This time of year my hands get so dry and this product just does the trick for me. You also have to love that Aveda uses all natural ingredients. I would say the Hand Relief lotion is one of my top 10 favorites!

Do you have a favorite hand care product?

Friday Favorite, Featured and Giveaway

Today must be my lucky day! I am a featured Mom at Maternal Spark and if you would like to read my interview please visit HERE. There is a giveaway at this site so be sure to enter for your chance to win my handstamped "I Am Loved" necklace, it would make a great gift for someone special on your list.

I am also a Featured Friday Favorite at Six Feet Under. Head on over and see what Tess has to say about my shop.

And last but not least, I am also featured over at the very lovely site Prim and Proper

A special thank you to all of these lovely blogs for featuring my shop. Happy Friday!

Fashion Friday: Warm and Toasty

Warm And Toasty Yet Oh So Fashionable by klacustomcreations

Mom would be so proud! Look at all of the fabulous cold weather items I have selected. Please don't tell my Mom, but I use to take off my boots, hat and gloves on the way to school, since I didn't think it was fashionable. I am so glad I have grown up, and now I opt for the warmest items I can find. Isn't it fabulous that warm and fashionable now go hand and hand!

It is so cold in Michigan and I am glad I have many fab warm and toasty items.

You can read the rest of this article at Beautiful! Fabulous! where my fashion articles are featured weekly.

Featured at MomDot......

Are you a fan of MomDot? I know I am! MomDot is a fabulous site that supports Mom bloggers all over the blogosphere. I am so honored that Trisha, the head Mama over at MomDot wore the necklace I created, for her photo shoot for the Hot Blogger calendar. Doesn't Trisha look fabulous in the above picture, if you look closely you can see the necklace. You can read her review here and also enter for a chance to win the MomDot necklace.

A special thank you to Trisha and MomDot!!!!

Thousand Words Thursday

Popcorn and a movie what could be better? Things have been crazy with the holiday's approaching and some days Will isn't taking a nap at all and others he falls asleep at 6pm and then gets up within a few hours and is ready to play until midnight! I guess he is trying to drop his naps, any tips that will keep me sane?



Would you like to join me in Thousand Word Thursdays please visit:

Wordless Wednesday

Be sure to visit my fab friends at La Dolce Vita and Friends!

When someone touches your heart....

I have the pleasure of meeting some of the nicest people via my business and via my blog. I wanted to introduce you to a very special customer who touched my heart. Kori of My Life As A CFERS Wife is a Mom of two, Jacob and Calob and wife to Richard. Kori's husband has Cystic Fibrosis and has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 recurrent Colon Cancer.

Kori contacted me and asked me to create necklaces for her boys, with a special message from their Dad. Kori and Richard wanted the boys to know that their Dad will always be in their heart (ok tearing up as I type) One of the things I love about creating custom jewelry is helping customers create keepsakes that will be treasured for many years. I feel truly honored that Kori asked me to create these pieces.

Please take a visit over to Kori's Blog, where she opens up from her heart and shares her families journey, she is an amazing women who exhibits strength and courage through every post that she writes. I feel lucky to have met Kori and hope you will also. Please pray for Kori and her family and also see how you can help support a cause that is near and dear to their hearts.

Featured Reader: Let me introduce you to.......

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Can you believe it is December already? Monday's are always fun here at La Dolce Vita since I have the pleasure of introducing you to one of my fab readers. I am excited to introduce you to Krista of Boutique Flair. Krista and I met at a social network a while back and became fast friends. Krista and I have so much in common and we both love all things Beautiful and Fabulous, speaking of Beautiful! Fabulous! are you a member yet? What are you waiting for??? Krista is a very busy WAHM who wears many different hats, grab a cup of joe and get to know my dear friend Krista.

Name:

Krista L. Peck of Boutique Flair Boutique Flair

Family:

I'm married to James, whom I met when he bit my hand at a club in Florida...Yes, love at first bite. And, as our engraved iPod says: James + Krista = Connor & Lily. Our son, Connor, is our 5 1/2 year old soccer playing, smart, handsome Kindergartener. Our daughter, Lily, is our 1 1/2 year old beautiful, miracle, special needs fairy princess who inspired my boutique.

How did you start blogging?

That's a bit of a winding story. Once I joined the boutique world by opening Lily Cait, I created Boutique Flair, to showcase the many fabulous items found in boutiques and other shoppes on the web. To add interaction and depth to the site, I added the Boutique Flair blog, which has grown and evolved so much in one short year.

Classic Tutu available for sale at Lily Cait

If you are a parent do you have a parenting philosophy?

I parent from the heart. Soon after becoming a mother, I found it natural to nurture my children and guide them along their paths. I suppose I'm not disciplined enough to be a true attachment parenting person, or anything like that, but I take a little of the best, and lots of advice from friends and family along the way!

You will never find me without......

My Clinique SuperBalm Lip Gloss. I love the feeling and the shine.

Day job:

My MS in Counseling & Psychology is currently on the shelf while I stay at home with my kids for a couple more years (economy willing). After Air Force wife and mother of 2, I am Krista, the business owner. My boutique Lily Cait offers couture tutus and hair accessories. It's my therapy and creative outlet! My other business, Boutique Flair is my stylish spot on the web, complete with daily fab finds, style tips and trends, rave product reviews, a shopping guide, community Beautiful Fabulous, and many other features.

Favorite Stuff:

Music: Alternative, Rock, Classic Rock & Celtic. I like lots of girly stuff like Tori Amos, Jewel, Natalie Merchant, Indigo Girls, etc.
Food: Pizza
Tv/ Movies: I choose to spend time behind the computer instead of the tv, for the most part. My favorite movies are Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Braveheart and Anne of Green Gables
Reading: Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Anne of Green Gables

If you had to wear a T-shirt with your favorite saying on it what would it be?

"Fabulous!" It's such a girly, over-the-top word. I love it. I say it way too much.

Favorite stores to shop at:

Ohhh, too many! To name a few: Nordstrom, Victoria's Secret, Anthroplogie (one of everything please!), American Eagle, Express, Banana Republic, Gap, Gymboree (for Lily), Target (for everyday, fun stuff).

Other good stuff:

Thank you for the space on your blog, Kristen. Yours is one of my favorite blogs...and of course I'm a huge fan of your gorgeous jewelry!

And, thank you to your beautiful readers for taking the time to read about me! You can find me on Myspace, Twitter, Facebook by searching for "Boutique Flair", and a few other places on the web!

A special thank you to Krista for a fab interview. Please be sure to stop by her holiday guide for some great shops, yours truly is included in the Boutique Flair guide.

If you would like to be a featured reader please send me a email at klacustomcreations@comcast.net