The controversial Whale Bed cost us this challenge. I really don’t think it was the bed. I really think Mahdi and Melissa deserved to win. Did you see their room? It was fantastic. Especially if it were in Miami or California……..Gulf Shores, Alabama has never seen a room like that!!

OH, this week was a doozy! We bit off more than we could chew with that board and batten in the guest bedroom challenge! It looks amazing finished, but the caulking and the nailing and the spackling and the sanding and the painting!!! Wow, it was a LOT of work! 3 days was not enough time for that challenge! We did learn that if you are going to paint over purple and do a wood treatment covering the walls. You should paint the whole wall BEFORE you start adding the boards. That would have saved us so much time!!! #lessons

We are heading into Week 4 on Beach Flip. I feel like you should know that this home renovation for a tv show is actually a social project. Taking 4 teams who have never met and put them into a situation where they have little sleep, junk food, no time to call home and not see our families for 8 weeks in a pressure cooker is a social project. I feel like they should’ve had scientists taking notes in the control room while we were on and off camera. 

The Kitchen challenge. This one was a doozy! Remodel a kitchen in 5 days. Seriously, this was HARD!! Daphney and I have a lot of experience with kitchens. Together we have renovated or built at least 15. NEVER in 5 days or with the restrictions set upon us by HGTV. But, we signed up for this task and we wanted to put our best foot forward!

Wow, I can’t believe we are on Beach Flip on HGTV!! Daphney and I auditioned for the show last August and call back after call back, we found out in December we would be leaving our families in February for two months! Needless to say, they weren’t too happy. It felt like something we would regret NOT doing, so we went for it!! 

Hanging out with the Smoking Glue Guns is always fun. We pull together a fun craft and the girls come over to eat dinner, drink a little wine and go home with something hand crafted. 

We invited Wendy Garner over to join us and she brought a camera crew…that girl! She wanted to do a segment on our local tv station about girls craft nights. We were thrilled she wanted to show off some of our crafts! We decided to do something everyone can do and something that everyone needs! We all have birthday gifts to give and everyone knows presentation is the most important part! 

Around here we love our jewelry. I love to find new ways to create a statement piece. Our Smoking Glue Guns craft night recently created our own statement necklaces using felt and beads. Now this is not your typical easy peasy craft. This one takes patience and time. Of course, you can make yours as easy or as complicated as you want, but we like to show off!

I’m thrilled to announce that I will be a participant on this summer’s hot new HGTV renovation show called, Beach Flip!

I swear, I’m never negative and for me to put that last pity party post out was out of my comfort zone. You know why? I know things will work out as they are supposed to. I know that I have lessons to learn. I know that all will not be good and I have to have hard lessons in order to grow. 

I filled my car to the rim last Wednesday night. to. the. rim. I put 8 doors, stands for the doors, bins of necklaces, cuffs, extra tools, business cards, post cards, koozies, everything you can imagine you might need to set up for the biggest show you’ve ever done. Three days. Thousands of people expected. 

Be brave enough to travel the unknown path, learn what you are capable of. -Rachel Wolkin

I fell off the face of the earth. On February 5, I left Birmingham on an airplane and landed in an unknown place to work on a huge project for the next 7 weeks. I got home last Saturday and all I can say is, I’M BACK! Seriously, I can’t give you any details! The big reveal will happen sometime in June and you are going to DIE! It was an incredible experience and I can’t wait to share the good, the bad and the ugly. There were a lot of all three!

It’s amazing what can happen in a year. I literally put down a plan last January to make my business my priority and I’m astounded at where it is today. I had 5 stores that carried necklaces and cuffs, been in one magazine, two big shows I planned on attending and one part-time creative friend that helped me make jewelry and listened to all my ideas. Today, I have 14 stores, a HUGE thing (haha, sorry) coming up in a month, have been in several magazines several times, will be at the Country Living Fair, Southern Makers in the Spring and plan on countless trunk shows and heirloom workshops in my studio!! Not to mention, I have employees! 

Follow along with our home’s progress using the #moonglowlake hashtag on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! 

I have been dreaming of this house for over a year and we are just a few weeks away from finishing. (like 6) I’ve been documenting along the way on the social media sites mentioned above all along and have had so much fun seeing your comments and oohs and ahhs! It’s so inspiring to me!

I was asked to do a Tablescape for the Birmingham Home and Garden show earlier this year. One of my friends, Betty Bussey, is the spokesperson for The Lovelady Center. A center that is empowering women so they can return to society as well-equipped women of God. Read more about how the center helps women on their website. 

We live in a little cottage in the woods. Our house is adorned with lots of gingerbread trim and I call it Hansel and Gretel. It’s very fairytale-like. 

I love this question. I never set out to be a jewelry designer. I did decide in high school that I would  be a buyer for a major department store. I had my eye on Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, but close to home was Parisian. Yes, the department store of the South. It was the bomb.com growing up and practically in my backyard. So, I went to school and studied Marketing and Fashion Merchandising, did an internship with Parisian one summer and they offered me a job upon graduation. It was a dream come true!!

Where are you on the 2nd weekend of each month? If you are within driving distance, you should be at Scott’s Antique Market in Atlanta! I usually make it from Birmingham 4 or 5 times a year. I recruited a friend to go with me over the weekend and we found a few treasures! 

It’s been in the works since May 4, 2013. The Southern Makers team has been meeting once a month, at least, to create another one of a kind event to celebrate the Southern Makers of Alabama. We’ve traveled to Nashville and Huntsville to research and promote what we know as the best of Alabama. We are so proud of this event and look forward to continuing the promotion of the South and those who make it a genuine place to live. 

It seems simple to me, but it doesn’t matter what I’m doing, I’m noticing all the details. It may be the texture of the plaster, the arch of a window, or the pattern in the wood. I’ve always been that way and am a big advocate of texture in all aspects of my life. I love texture in the clothes I wear, the home I live in, and the jewelry I make. 

Welcome to my home, aka Hansel and Gretel!  This isn't my front door, but it's Mr. Snowman and he wants to welcome you to our home that is filled with character all year long!