JWo Designs Holiday Sale!

We have survived the nuttiness that is Black Friday and now Cyber Monday is upon us! I'm actually have an ALL MONTH sale in my Etsy shop!

Use the code HOLIDAYS for 10% OFF your entire order! This includes U.S. AND international orders! Hooray!!!

In case you forgot or don't know where to type in the code, here's a refresher:

In your cart, click on "Apply shop coupon code" on the far right column of your item.

A text box will appear and that is where you type in the code and then click "Apply"! Simple as that!

The code expires on Janurary 1, 2015 so you guys have all month to shop for gifts! :) Thanks for stopping by!

JWo Designs BLACK FRIDAY SALE

Hey guys! This is my first actual Black Friday sale for my Etsy shop! I'm super excited! I love giving handmade gifts to friends and family because it's tailored just for them. Plus, it's supporting small businesses and artisans who put so much love into their work. Just click the image below to go to my shop!

If you use the code FREESHIP in your cart before you checkout, your entire order will be shipped for free! This is ONLY for DOMESTIC ORDERS in the UNITED STATES.

If you're new to Etsy, here's a step-by-step photo tutorial on where to type in the coupon code.

In your cart, you'll see "Apply shop coupon code" in the right panel of your item.

When you click on it, it'll open up a text box where you can type in FREESHIP and then click "Apply" and it will deduct the shipping cost from your order.

It's simple as that! Thanks to everyone for stopping by and hope that everyone has a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

I'm published! - CraftFail Book

Good news, everyone! I forgot to mention this, but I have been published!

Well, actually, one of my craft fails has been published in this new book: CraftFail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong by Heather Mann (creator of Dollar Store Crafts). So, if anyone ever wants to write an essay or research paper on craft fails, I technically can be cited as a source! So exciting! 

I was contacted by Heather in early July of this year and told me she was interested in putting my DIY Translucent Faux Pumpkin [Part 1] post in her upcoming CraftFail book. 

Of course, I agreed and here it is in all its glory!

My original post did end up as a craft fail, but it was salvaged in DIY Translucent Faux Pumpkin [Part 2]! 

The rest of the book is filled with other craft fails from craftsters around the internet. It is HILARIOUS. Seriously. I laughed till I cried!

If you're interested in purchasing this book for your own enjoyment, here's the link: 

CraftFail: When Homemade Goes Horribly Wrong

Disclaimer: I have not been paid or sponsored to write this post. I also do NOT receive any profit from the sale or promotion of this book. All opinions are my own.

Tattoo Commission for Howling At The Muse

Hello there!

Long time no see! Where have I been? My gosh, I don't know where to start! I'm terrible at keeping blogs updated, but I won't bore you guys with the randomness of my life.

My good friend, Howling At The Muse, commissioned me for a tattoo recently and I was extremely happy to take up this endeavor! I haven't drawn much in the past few years due to work and life so I was excited to get my motivation back.

She loves wolves and requested something geometric and galaxy influenced. I was doing some researching on constellations and was amazed to find that there was an actual "Lupus" constellation! I looked up its path and was EVEN more excited to see that it looked like a wolf running! My friend had requested a wolf running similar to a tattoo I had designed for fun for her years back.

The old tattoo design

Anywho, I am actually quite proud of what I came up with! Here are the results!

Original line work

Black line work with galaxy coloring done in Photoshop

Black line work with the mains stars of the constellation highlighted

Transparent/white lineart

 Well, that's it for now! More posts to come soon. I've been crafting up a storm! :)

Hope, Change, & A HOLIDAY SALE!

I'm back! Phew! It's been such a busy week! It feels like it's been a month with all the things I've been doing. My husband and I drove out to Texas last Wednesday to visit my brother and his family. Actually, our main goal was to look at prospective houses, go to job interviews (for me), and my husband had to go to the MLG Dallas gaming convention. 

We arrived on Halloween night which meant trick or treating with my nieces! I managed to finish my Kiki (from Kiki's Delivery Service) costume and tagged along. 

My other niece is not pictured. 

 The dress is actually my grandmother's dress that I resized to fit me.

DIY Dryer Hose Pumpkins

The autumn themed crafts continue! I did not make my own tutorial for this post, but I will provide links to the two blogs where I found the tutorials. The good thing is that these are pretty cheap and quick to make! I made 2 pumpkins from 5 feet (4 inch diameter) of dryer hose and it cost about $7 total for the hose and spray paint.

Aren't they cute? I'm currently obsessed with white pumpkins. I really don't like the color orange in general, so I chose ivory! Plus, ivory pumpkins are really unique! I know they exist, but I've never seen one in real life. The stick for the "stem" was found in my backyard and I had some leftover gold organza ribbon from an old project that I tied around the stems.

Here's how they look before painting and after hot gluing together.

[TUTORIAL] Hooked on Fishtail Skirts

I'm at it again! Ever since I made that fishtail skirt the other day, I've wanted a lighter, flow-y one that would flutter behind me as I walked.

Outfits I devised to go with my new fishtail skirt. I like the far left and far right best.

So, I decided to use some vintage floral lightweight fabric I found in my stash that I inherited from my grandmother. I have devised a mini-tutorial of sorts on how I made it.

There was a lot of flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants in this post. I made up stuff on the fly and nearly literally set my skirt on fire. We'll get to that part in the tutorial....

JWo's Super Awesome Spaghetti Sauce

Hello everyone! Let me start today's post with a moment of silence for the victims and families affected by the Aurora, Colorado movie theater shooting.



Today's post is going to be a recipe of my infamous spaghetti sauce. I've made this sauce for about 6 years now for many friends and family and they LOVE it. I've had people request it even though I haven't seen them in years.

The problem with me and recipe blog posts is that I am a cook. Not a baker. For those of you that are confused, cooks don't measure ingredients, but bakers do. I NEVER measure anything. I just throw in about how much I think it needs and hope to God that it tastes good. So far, I haven't messed up......... much.

Also, another problem is that about every time I make this spaghetti sauce it tastes different because I add different spices every time. I actually don't remember what the real recipe is so..... yeah. So, today I am going to make the basic sauce! Let's begin!

Long time no see!

Well, hello world! Long time no see! Did I ever tell you guys that I was TERRIBLE at keeping up with blogs? No? Well, I am.

LOTS of things have happened since I last posted. Well, I GOT MARRIED on October 15, 2011 to my amazing husband. He's currently finishing his masters and will be graduating by December. So hopefully we'll be able to move somewhere nice. I don't work at the hospital anymore. I quit in May and was just burnt out on the excessive overtime and long hours and night shift schedule. At the moment, I do not have a real job and I've been bumming around the house and managing my.....

ETSY SHOP!!!

Awesome, right???? I FINALLY got off my lazy butt and opened it! AND EVEN HAD MY FIRST SALE! (Yay!!!) You'll probably notice that there are no products that look familiar to any of my old pictures I've posted in the past (i.e. Sculpey clay earrings and such) because most of the products in my shop are ready-made and ready to ship. I'm hoping I'll be able to get back to making Sculpey jewelry soon.

Oh! I actually sold at my FIRST craft fair this year as well! My best friend, Ashlei, who runs FiberLuxe on Etsy, and I teamed up at the Starkville Cotton District Arts Festival in March and did quite well! Ashlei won Best in Category -Jewelry! Awesome, right??? She does amazing embroidered necklaces and earrings so you should go check her shop out right now!

As you may notice, I've FINALLY changed the look of the blog. I really need to get around to personalizing it and making my own header and such, but eh. I'm so lazy. So this will have to do for awhile.

I will TRY to keep this blog updated as much as possible. I may even start a JWo Designs Twitter feed to keep customers updated on new products or possible products for sale. Who knows. I'm trying to work out all these kinks at the moment. Thanks for reading my long winded post. Have an awesome day!