Feature of a Favorite Friday.

I had this post planned for 3 weeks ago.  But the hurricane called life smacked us with a category 4 1/2 and posting hasn't happened a lot.  For that I apologize.  We are all well.  No worries, y'all. 

Anyway, I am proud to introduce you to the company, to the sisters, to my friends whose button you've seen to the right of my blog content for a while.  These girls and I met via a contest I won and then Amanda & I clicked and even became "real life" friends a little while later.  Her sister Jayme is equally as sweet as Amanda and I hope we will all three be able to get together soon, with our little girls in tow!

Be sure to go check out their blog and their Etsy shop.  All three of us Reid ladies have clothes from their amazing online vintage store!!

Without further ado...I will let them tell you a little about themselves.


Miskabelle was founded in May 2009,although it was a brainchild of ours years and years ago before we had the gumption to actually do it. Fashion has always interested us (we played with Barbies until almost our teens!) and our close friendship as sisters made it easy to become business partners. 
Drawing on our creative strengths in art, writing, design, and style, we put together our own vintage fashion shop on Etsy (which has now spread into a fashion blog and more!).  Jayme lives in Pennsylvania and Amanda in Virginia—which is great for finding a wide range of merchandise for the shops, but it also can be a challenge (and we miss each other!).
The shop name, Miskabelle, comes from our last name (Miska) and "belle" which means"beautiful" in French--a language we both studied and loved.
We have worked really hard to perfect the Miskabelle shop—evolving/improving how we photograph the items and searching for only the most unique and noteworthy pieces to add to our inventory, and in turn we've seen our sales and number of blog readers really grow over these past three years.  The whole thing has been a dream come true--doing what you love with someone you love never feels like work.

Feature of a Favorite Friday: Tara Heavner, Stone of Destiny

This is my friend, Tara, pronounced TAR-Uh.  She and I met through her husband when we were in college.  The first time I met her was at the Starbucks inside a Barnes-N-Noble.  We became friends and have been since! She and her hubs moved away and had a sweet little boy, Brennan!  She is talented like WHOA and is pretty artsy-fartsy.  Her recent endeavor is an Etsy shop featuring her handmade jewelry.  Read a little about her here on the blog and see some of her stuff on her Etsy page! You won't be disappointed!

Hi, I'm Tara, owner of the Etsy shop, Stone of Destiny.  My dear friend, Rici, asked me to share about my store!

First, a little about me.  I'm a wife and mother of a babbling, toddler boy.  I work a full time job during the week, and the rest of my time is spent chasing (literally!) my little one around unless he's sleeping!  Needless to say, I needed something to help relieve my stress from work.  Something just for me.

I had tried my hand at jewelry making before, but never really put that much effort into it until now.  I finally decided to get serious about it.  So, a few trips to Michaels later, I had a whole slew of supplies.  I make all of the jewelry you'll see on my site.  When I shop for supplies (beads, etc.), I don't go in with an idea in mind.  I prefer to walk around, up and down the aisles, over and over again and let inspiration find me.  With some pieces, I know pretty quickly exactly what I want them to look like.  With others, I have to lay them out, then rearrange, then rearrange again before I'm satisfied.  All of my jewelry is made with great care and thought, so even if you don't see a lot of items in my store at one time, you can be sure that each one was made with lots of love.

Now, on to the name of my store, Stone of Destiny.  I wanted a name that would a) reflect me and b) stand out and be a little different.  I researched the meaning behind my name, and found that it is "of Gaelic and Sanskrit origin" and the meaning is "hill; star."  Beyond that, I found that "ancient Tara was the site of the 'stone of destiny,' on which Irish kings resided."  So there you have it!  Stone of Destiny was born!  Please check it out at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/theavner.

A big thank you to Rici for sharing my site!

Feature of a Favorite Friday: Jen from Rella's Bellas

So, I am going to TRY and stick with this ya'll.  I have so many talented friends and bloggers that it would be a shame not to share some of my favorites with you.  I am going to start doing a "Feature of a Favorite Friday" every week. Or at least I'm going to try!

Our first lovely lady is Jen from Rella's Bella's.  We met at BlogHer '11 and just kind of clicked...we even dressed a like a few times...

(Jen is on the right, my other BlogHer '11 friend is Jessica you'll meet her later!)

Hi! I am Jen, or Rella. Rella is a nickname my besties gave me,7 years later it has stuck! I'm a dreamer, a coffee lover, a cupcake addict, a navy wife, a child of Christ, mama to my baby Khloe {fur baby} and I am positively obsessed with accessories! Earrings, belts, necklaces, hair baubles— I can't get enough! I started making handmade accessories to showcase my creativity, and because I feel that the right accessories have the ability to take an every-day outfit to the next level, it seemed only fitting for this to be my main focus. I can best describe myself and my shop as spunk, sass and a hint of class!  I specialize in creating accessories that transform a “Plain Jane” outfit into a sassy and chic ensemble. I love wearing handmade not only because each piece tells its own story, but also because I know that someone has put their heart & soul into every aspect of the product’s existence.

My husband and I are on a wild ride with the United States Navy. We will be moving sometime this summer but don’t know where our new home will be. I quit my corporate gig this past July to focus more on our marriage, and dabble in a few of my dreams. Opening my etsy shop was one of those dreams. It is most definitely a work in progress but it makes me happy and really pushes me to explore my creativity. The Lord has really spoken to me in the last year; he is working in my heart to be a better wife, friend and woman in Christ. My belief is if we all really focus on our gifts and talents we can make this world a better place. My hope is that every time my husband and I move we have made our city just a little bit better.

I blog at www.rellasbellas.com. I write about anything and everything. Some posts are light hearted and fun and with some I am spilling my heart out for the world to read. Getting my feelings out on “paper” is sometimes the best and cheapest therapy! I love fashion but am by no means a fashion blogger, maybe one day. For now I just have fun putting together fun and funky outfits and sharing them with my readers.   My blog was originally started to keep in touch with family after Scott proposed in March of 2009. Over time it evolved to a place that has allowed me to meet so many wonderful bloggy friends online and in real life!  I also write for various military spouse/support website sites and am currently working on starting my own website Navy Wives Unite.

 I hope you’ll come on over and join me in this crazy thing called life!

Website: www.rellasbellas.com

Shop: www.rellasbellas.etsy.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bellarellajen
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rellas-Bellas/248973915142108