Shari Dixon's Handmade In The USA Jewelry

I was super excited to see that little white USPS box sitting at my doorstep last Friday afternoon. I quickly walked inside my house to open it up. I knew what was in that box. I couldn’t open it fast enough. In that little white box I found three gorgeous pieces by jewelry designer Shari Dixon of Memphis, Tennessee.

It was love at first sight.

 

You in love yet?

Let me tell you a bit more of why these pieces are so special to me and near to my heart. First of all they are handmade. I bet you didn’t you know that I’m obsessed with all things handmade, now did you? OK, well maybe some of you knew. But anyways I LOVE handmade items, especially jewelry.

Secondly, I love to garden (have learned to love it anyhow… at first not so much) I LOVE herbs, especially rosemary and I have it all over my backyard. I cook with rosemary often, I diffuse rosemary essential oil and I simply just love the look of it.

I love me some hydrangeas too. I wish they’d last longer though. They don’t last long at all for me which is kinda a bummer, but when they do bloom they are gorgeous and definitely one of my favorites.

Shari Dixon has captured some of my favorite parts of nature and preserved them into beautiful, handmade, high quality jewelry made right here in the USA.

 

(Hydrangea on Canary Yellow pictured above)

What makes many of her pieces so unique and special is that they are REAL botanicals that she has pressed and has preserved in resin. I think that’s pretty darn awesome if I do say so myself. Now my hydrangeas will last forever with Shari’s stunning pieces.

 

How sweet is this this rosemary pendant from Shari’s Vintage Seed Pack Collection? The back of the pendant actually reflects the shape of a seed packet. Precious. The rosemary is a sprig of the actual botanical. Love it. Friends: get ready to be seeing me wearing this piece constantly.

I not only love the look of her pieces, but I love the feel of them. They are not lightweight, nor are they heavy. They are perfect. I find myself constantly touching the pendant when I wear these pieces. They just feel good, It is comforting if you will.

Friends, if you are looking for a great gift (Mother’s Day is coming up quickly!), not to mention graduations, birthdays or better yet a “just because”- head on over to www.sharidixoninc.com You’ll find these beautiful pieces and much much more. Guys, support made in the USA, support handmade, support small business!

More on designer Shari Dixon: 

Merging her graphic design training with a strong background in fashion, Shari Dixon has created a line of jewelry that is not only timeless and artistically well rounded, but stylish as well.

A firm believer that women want to feel beautiful, feminine and strong all at once, her motifs incorporate natural elements and mixed media such as pressed flowers, leaves, herbs and snakeskin, immortalizing their fragile lives by sealing them in a poly resin, preserving the form and adding a spectacular glazing effect.

These elements then become a handmade design combined with curious and daring color choices in a multitude of natural stones, fresh water pearls and interesting fibers. The results are whimsical and extremely unique designs of personal adornment.

Dance Camp Coming Right Up at Sol Dance Academy!

My daughter Ciera hearts dancing. She’s constantly dancing. Even to NO music. At church on Sunday I went to go get myself a cup of coffee, turned back around only to see Ciera showing off her recital dance to a few of the ladies at our church. She’s not shy at all. Never really has been, but about a year or so ago, I don’t think there’s any way she would’ve just dropped everything to rehearse a dance in front of people, whether she knew them or not.

Dancing has brought Ciera such confidence and passion. It allows her to be creative and express herself with some great physical activity involved as well. For this, I give all the thanks to Sol Dance Academy and Miss. Sharon Sandor.

Ciera’s school recently had a “Dress Who Inspires You Day”, while there were many teachers, doctors and sports players walking around the school (and don’t get me wrong, those are wonderful choices) Ciera chose to be Miss.Sharon:

There she is all dressed up in her “Live 2 Dance” shirt. Nothing too elaborate, but she definitely got the message across. She knocked on her classroom door that morning before school started and proudly showed off that shirt to her teacher “who do you think I am?” she said, and before her teacher could answer, Ciera started twirling about the classroom and dancing- no joke. It was super sweet.

Ciera has been dancing with Miss. Sharon at Sol for about a year and a half now. It’s been wonderful. The dancers are gearing up for their spring recital soon, and Ciera has been practicing SO hard. I’m SO SO SO proud of her. Not only are we looking forward to the recital, but SUMMERTIME is coming, WOO! And that means DANCE CAMP! Sol has many fabulous dance camps going on this summer, and if you are in the OC area, it is SO worth checking out. Sol’s dance camps are affordable and you will be absolutely in awe of what these kids learn in just a weeks time. I’m not gonna give away too much about them, but I can honestly say that we love Sol’s dance camps. Ciera attended Sol’s Frozen themed camp last year and it was amazing. She woke up every morning very much looking forward and anticipating what lie ahead of her at camp that day.

Sol has many camps to choose from, for a variety of ages. I’ll let Ciera choose her camp and this year she’s very interested in Teen Beach Movie, although lots of others look enticing as well! In these camps the dancers will learn all types of dance styles- tap, jazz, hip hop, ballet, lyrical and even musical theater.

Be sure to jump on this great deal, if you sign your child up for dance camp before May 9th, 2015 it’s only $150 per student. It’s worth every penny. Oh and did I mention that Sol Dance Academy had received the award for the 2015 BEST SCHOOL OF DANCE IN MISSION VIEJO? (no surprise there though!)

Give Miss. Sharon and her friendly staff a call at  949.305.0005 or email them at:

Sharon@soldanceacademy.com or info@soldanceacademy.com

Stop by to say hello:

Sol Dance Academy

25571 Jeronimo Rd #3 Mission Viejo, CA 92691

“Like” Sol Dance Academy on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/SolDanceAcademy

Want to read more about Sol? Check out my blog about last years dance camp.

EASY Carrot Cake Cookies!

You ever get a massive craving for something sweet, that you just have to have immediately?

Or is it just me?

The other day I was at Mimi’s house (aka: my mom-in-law/Charlie and Ciera’s Grandma) I was dying for SUGAR! I knew I DID NOT want to wait a long time for something to bake up, cool, yada yada.. I searched her pantry and found some cake mix. Well, if you know me, you know how I feel about boxed cake mix- not a fan. There are a few exceptions though. Such as carrot cake. (I know, I know, I’m a little crazy).

Well thank goodness Mimi had a carrot cake mix in the pantry. I didn’t want to make an actual cake though- too long of a wait.

So I made COOKIES! Carrot Cake Cookies!

I know I’ve blogged about my cake box cookies before, and since I love them so much, I’m gonna blog about them again. Plus share some super adorable pictures of my little baking partner in crime, Ciera.

Here’s what you need for this recipe:

1 box of carrot cake mix

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the Icing:

1 8oz bar cream cheese

approx 2-3 cups powdered sugar (eyeball it to your achieve your desired consistency)

1/2 stick butter

approx 1-2 tsp milk (again, eyeball it)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil with a fork. Roll into 1 inch balls, and bake on parchment lined cookie sheet for approx 10 minutes. Cool.

For the icing, combine all ingredients with an electric mixer. Ice the cookies once they are cooled (or not) haha.

 

Love that little baking buddy of mine.

 

I also LOVE all that natural light that Mimi’s kitchen has. It makes for some great food photos.

Hope you enjoy this recipe. I got great reviews from my taste testers! Of course I can’t take all the credit, I’ll give that to Miss. Betty Crocker :)