Jehanna Friendship Knot- coloring and embroidery

Today is my friend Jehanna's birthday. We've been friends for over a decade and she loves knots a lot. So I drew this friendship knot for her-

It has 12 sides for the journey around the sun she's made since her last birthday.

It has circles that represent friendship, love, sharing, experience and eternity.

The simple line version is for embroidery because she loves to sew.

I hope you all enjoy this. Print, color, embroider it, and if you have a moment, send a good thought to Jehanna to wish her a fantastic birthday!
Click the versions below for larger version to print and color.

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Embroidery version:

August Birthstone and Flower Mandala

Happy Birthday to everyone born in August!

August is poppies and peridot. I love the alliteration and the light olive green of peridot makes it one of my favorite stones. This is probably one of my favorite mandalas to color so far in the series. Poppies come in so many gorgeous colors.

You can find the rest of the mandalas in this series here-
The Birthstone and Flower series of Mandalas

Click the images for larger versions to print and color!

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Large PNG version:

I usually link to a gift idea or two. This time, instead of something with a poppy theme, it's one of my favorite glitters. Love this stuff.
Usual disclosure- when you buy something from Amazon using my links, I make a small commission. That commission helps support this site and my book habit.

July Birthstone and Flower Mandala

Happy Birthday to everyone born in July! Which includes The Amazing Turnip Girl!

The birthstone for June is ruby, and the flower is either larkspur or waterlily. I decided on waterlily for this months flower and stone mandala. 

You can find the rest of them here-

The Birthstone and Flower series of Mandalas

Click on the image for a larger version to color.

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Large transparent PNG version:

And some gift ideas for the July birthday in your life from Amazon.com, Amazon links help support this site and my reading habit. 

June Birthstone and Flower Mandala

Happy Birthday to people born in June!
The birthstone for June is pearls, and the flower is the rose. I think it's safe to say that most people, even if their birthday is not in June would be happy with pearls and roses! June is the only month with a birthstone that isn't actually a stone, and there are a lot of kinds of roses. It was a hard choice what kind of rose to draw, but I'm pretty happy with this one. It was June which inspired the birthstone and flower series of mandalas after I drew this one last year.

The Birthstone and Flower series of Mandalas

Click the images for larger versions of the mandala to print and color.

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Large transparent PNG version:

It's My Birthday- Retro Owl Tape Giveaway

It's my birthday today! So I'm giving away presents. 5 people can win one roll each of Retro Owl Duck® Brand Duct  Tape. I'll even autograph the rolls. I'm sorry, but because of shipping costs, this is USA only. 

So how do you enter? Leave a comment. It's that simple. Make sure you give me some way to get in touch with you if you're the winner. Email address or Ravelry name will do nicely.

Extra entries? Sure. Leave a comment for each one of these that you do-
Follow me on Pinterest
Like Shala's Beadwork and Printables on FB
Share this giveaway on Twitter, Pinterest or FB (link to this page, leave a comment with the link of the page you shared it on)
This giveaway will start today, May 16, 2013 and end on my husband's birthday- June 12, 2013.
Winners will be drawn randomly by The Amazing Turnip Girl.

Good Luck!!

May Birthstone and Flower Mandala

Happy Birthday to everyone born in May!

Including me! Yay! (want to see my Amazon wishlist?)

The birthstone for May is emerald and the flower is lily of the valley. Lily of the valley is a flower that has long been a symbol for purity and humility. They are small, lovely and have an amazing fragrance that's very popular in perfumes. For the emeralds, I chose an emerald cut emerald of course. 

The Birthstone and Flower series of Mandalas

Click the images for larger versions. Print and color!

Small JPG version:

Large transparent PNG version:

February Birthstone and Flower Mandala

Happy Birthday to everyone born in February!

For the month of February, there are 2 flowers, violets and primroses. So I asked my friends list on Facebook which one I should use. Everyone who commented said they liked violets!

The birthstone is amethyst which leads me to this border. My mom bought me a lot of amethysts through the years because they represent protection. Most of them were delicate little sterling rings, and a lot of them were handmade imports with braids, twists and granulation and cabochon stones. So the settings for the jeweled border this time borrows themes from those rings. The bezel is a zigzag, set in a circle of granulated balls and mounted on a braid.

Click the images below for larger versions to print and color or use for embroidery.

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Quote art, Vesta, Blogrolls and Birthdays

Click on the image for a larger version if you want to print it.

I updated We Come From Stars  today about Vesta. Still working on the final design for that blog and on a link list for the sidebar.

Also, I want to do a blog roll here. If you want a link to your crafts or cooking blog leave a comment.

With my birthday coming up (May 16! It snuck up on me this year), I've been trying to come up with a wish list. It's pretty skimpy so far.

• Donate to the SPCA
• Donate to PBS
• Bring old magazines and books to your local hospitals
• My Amazon.com wishlist 
• A favorite recipe, emailed to recipes (at) donteatthepaste *DOT* com that can be used with credit later on a recipe card

Working on it, my family keeps insisting that I'm impossible to shop for, so I try to give them some ideas every year.

Rainbow Birthday Set

Brand new template today! This one is for a card that can hold money, and a matching envelope. Instead of being long and narrow like most money cards are, this one folds like a billfold to make a smaller card.

Available with and without a Happy Birthday message, this set includes a 3x3x1 inch box, the card, and matching envelope. I'll also be posting the blank templates for sale in my Etsy shop.

Print them at 300 dpi. Click on the images for the full sized versions. The envelope matches both cards so I only made one envelope. Print the card and box on cardstock, and the envelope on paper.

Cake box for all of you!

Tomorrow is my birthday and since I can't share my amazing, wonderful cake from The Flying Dutchman with everyone, I made you a slice of paper cake.

This is made so 8 slices will make an octagon shape for favors. Click on the image for the full size 100 ppi version. I'm including the blank template for you all as well.

If you're ever in Anchorage, check out the Flying Dutchman. For the last 27 years it's where my birthday cakes have come from, and I think my dad looks forward to my birthday as much as I do for those cakes. They started carrying cupcakes as well as their usual line of delicate pastries, tarts and cookies. 

Busy Busy

Yesterday I did some stuff around the house, posted some new beadwork to Beadwork at BellaOnline and caught up on some reading. Plus working out some electronic stuph.

Currently I have a couple things in various contests if you'd like to take a look.
Slogan at Threadless.com, sign into Threadless to vote.

Cocktail fabric voting at Spoonflower, I'm very sure I won't win. There are some amazing designs in this contest. Go take a look and vote for your favorites! I think I wound up voting for 14. One of my favorite contests yet and I don't drink very often.

When I do drink, it's mostly locally produced micro-brews and just one, but we are going to try and go on a tour of the local mead brewery next weekend for my birthday. This weekend we are going to the local Saturday Market. Yay! The company my kids love best won't be there until next month, but it will still be grand.
I'm turning 39 on the 16th, the current plans are for my husband to grill chicken with my homemade teriyaki sauce, zucchini and mushrooms with his garlic butter/olive oil combination which isn't even vaguely healthy but tastes just incredible and to get a cake from the bakery I've been getting my cakes from since I was 12. My dad looks forward to my b-day just for those cakes. We are also talking about going out hiking. Look forward to lots of photos if it's warm enough.

I'm actually going to make 2 batches of teriyaki sauce. One will be my normal recipe, the other will be a sugar free variation for my uncle. I'll let you know how the sugar free one works out. I know he's very eager. He thinks Mike's grilled zucchini is one of the best things in the world as well.