Pick 4...

Four random things that make me smile.



My September magazines. Filled with lots of ideas for my inspiration board.






Oh my Gosh! Got these gourmet cupcakes from Fresh Market for hubby's birthday. Flavors were red velvet, peanut butter and chocolate, oreo, and triple chocolate. I had the Red Velvet and it was amazing.




Never met a bead show I didn't like. Latest strands I picked up at a bead show.





Movie night candy. Enjoyed the candy until daughter's tooth chipped while eating Mike and Ike's. All is well, no root canal needed...yet.

Fit for Life...

In my never ending quest to get fit and stay fit for life, I tried something new yesterday. I read an article online a few months ago that a woman lost 300 lbs by walking laps in the pool. Now by no means do I have to lose 300 lbs, but I could stand to lose a good 30. When I got my latest issue of Shape magazine, the cover read Burn 300 calories by swimming for just 30 minutes.

Yesterday, I threw on my swimsuit, rubbed myself down with sunscreen, grabbed my towel and my pink goggles and headed out the door to my community pool. The above picture was taken at our pool. The water was incredibly warm. I have no idea what I was thinking, I swam not even 1/2 a lap and was exhausted! I tossed my pink goggles to the side and walked back and forth the length of the pool for 30 minutes. It was tough. Not at all like walking on a sidewalk.

When I got out, my legs were like jello. I walked home and was starving when I hit the door. That was an awesome workout. I got the best sleep last night. I'm definitely going to do it again. Hopefully today!

What interesting workouts have you done lately?

Orchids...

Well I took a brief break from making big eye catching earrings to make a classic necklace with matching earrings. The pink gemstones are gorgeous and the pendant is brillant!

Yay me for getting the hang of html! The pictures on my blog will now be larger so you can see detail.




Thai Hill Tribe silver orchid pendant. Thai hill silver is 97% pure silver as compared to sterling silver which is 92.5% pure. You are getting a quality piece of jewelry.


Orchid pendant accented with pink/purple agate gemstones and a sprinkle of purple freshwater pearls. Necklace is finished off with a hammered sterling silver toggle clasp.




Matching earrings with sterling silver leverbacks.

New Listings...

New listings currently in my etsy shop. With these designs I used the new beads that I got from a beachside bead shop while on vacation. Redwood, copper, bone, czech glass, and African wedding beads. For the month of August, follow my blog and receive FREE shipping. Simply click follow on the right hand side of my blog, email or convo me thru etsy and I will give you a coupon code to use for FREE shipping.


A very pretty orange colored wood beaded hoop earrings. Big, but lightweight.

Bone swirl components with avocado green czech glass beads. Green and chocolate brown: a great color combination for Autumn.

Tiger striped African wedding beads attached to copper hoops.

Cobalt blue African wedding beads attached to copper hoops.

Autumn Drool...

Oh Autumn where art thou? What i'm lusting for this Autumn. A nude bootie to wear with skinny jeans and long dresses. A leopard print wedge clog to wear with A-line and midi skirts. A tough flat studded motorcycle boot to wear with everything!


Nathan booties by Lamb

Wauwi wedge by Steven

Trash studded boots by Ash

Trail Mix...

I love trail mix, but you have to be careful with the store packaged trail mixes. They are loaded with calories and fat. If you aren't careful, you will find yourself eating the whole bag in one sitting which really is about 4-6 servings. I decided to start making my own.

Tollhouse dark chocolate morsels (about 2 yrs ago, I hated dark chocolate)
Walnuts (no added salt)
Dried blueberry cranberries

I mixed them together in a ziploc bag (1 cup total). Its great portion control. I carry it in my purse for a great energy snack on the go.


Oh, I gave my blog a little face lift. I got rid of the black backgroud. I like the white space. Also changed the name from Hip Jewels to Sydney Austin Designs. It still needs a little tweeking.

Pick 4...

This week's Pick 4, four random things that make me smile, are from our family vacation. We just got back from beautiful Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. We rented a lovely home with my sister in law and her family, my mother in law, and friends DJ, Traci, and their son Grant.



Reading a good book and watching the kids play in the ocean.

Walking for miles along the beach. It was a great way to get in some exercise and people watch.

When I vacation at the beach, I try to find local bead shops. The bead shops by the beach seem to have a better selection. Here are some of the beads I got from High Tide Beads. Wood, bone, czech glass, copper, and African wedding beads.

An awesome animal print hair clip. I found this when we went outlet shopping. Cost me about $2 after all of the discounts. The biggest steal I got was an ivory A-line skirt from BCBG. Regular price was $66. After all of the discounts taken off, I got it for $7!

Cherish the Day...

If you really know me, you know I love Sade. So you can imagine how happy I was when I heard on my car radio that she is coming to Greensboro, NC to perform on September 10th! I've seen her in concert twice back in the day. She was fab then, I heard she is even more fab now. Sade is timeless. I love the above look. Big, simple hoops with lots of necklaces! My kind of girl.
Stay tuned for my Sade hoops. They will be plain and simple, no beads. Classic. I will have medium sized, large, and jumbo. They will come in copper and silver.

Cherish the Day is my favorite Sade song. I hope you all are cherishing your day. Even in this heat. North Carolina feels like Jamaica yall.

Pick 4...

Four random things that make me smile.

A bowl of bing cherries.

Its the presentation! Beautiful. Dessert served to my mom when we celebrated her birthday this past May.

Fresh pink flowers. Floral bouquet given to me for Mother's Day from my 4 year old nephew.

Beautiful art. I just love this. A statue of a lady and swan taken at Nemacolin Resort and Spa.

Are you Single...

One single earring. That's all you need. New in the boutique Feathers, chains, coral, and turquoise. Perfection. Have a great weekend yall. Stay fab.

Infinite Possiblities...

My fingers can not bend, crimp, hammer, or cut fast enough for all of the ideas I have for Sydney Austin Designs.



Got these pewter beads way back yonder. Just took awhile to figure out what to do with them. Tribal looking. Perks up a simple copper hoop.

Wood beads on a strip of leather. Love these.

Ladies, you need these in your life! Earrings do not have to match. Have some fun. The chain earring is very long, shoulder duster. The hoop is simple, very lightweight. Who cares if someone says, "You know you have 2 different earrings on...right?" Just say, "Yup" and keep it moving!

Oh yeah, I'm on tumblr. Still can't get the hang of it, cause I'm an html idiot. Need a HTML for dummies book. Check me out here

Pick 4...

I am really trying to stay committed and blog regularly! Each week I will post a blog titled "Pick 4." It will be randomly selected moments, events, things, etc. that make me smile. Here is the first post.





View from the top of the Shenandoah Mountains before my mom and I started our morning hike while on vacation last week.

Martinis with 3 of my girlfriends on the patio of Bleu Restaurant in Winston Salem. Having girl talk. Mine was strawberry lemonade martini.

Having a delicious meal with friends. I rarely order steak, but my girlfriend Kim persuaded me to try it. Peppered steak, collard greens (under the steak), and oven baked mac-n-cheese. The beef was very tender, took half of it home.

Big Basketball Wives inspired hoops that I wore to Bleu. Sold a pair the next day on my etsy site to a high school classmate, Carmen! They have personality!

Summer Coral...

I love wearing coral in the summer. I recently stumbled upon some gorgeous coral branches. My favorite are the black coral branches. They are so light and airy. The black earrings have a lot of movement. Great to wear for Girls Night Out. All of the earrings are perfect to wear with a maxi dress. For purchase and more pics, check out my etsy shop here.

Afternoon Tea...

This past Saturday my daughter and I enjoyed an afternoon tea at the Secret Tearoom located on State Street in Greensboro,NC. Everything from the tea sandwiches to the scones were yummy. It was a wonderful place to have mother/daughter time. We can't wait to take my parents to the Secret Tearoom the next time to come to visit.













Devonshire cream and strawberry sauce for our English scones.

Daughter enjoying her tea.

Gorgeous tea cup.

Another pretty tea cup filled with apricot tea.

Girls Night Out...

Photo taken with camera phone of Prince on stage.

Purple Leather Earrings I wore to concert. Made by me.

Me and 3 girlfriends went to the Prince concert for our monthly "Girls Night Out." We had a blast! Excellent seats! Prince knows how to give an awesome performance. This is my 3rd time seeing Prince live in concert (Purple Rain Tour, Musicology 2004 Tour, and Welcome 2 America Tour). Although he is in his 50's, he still jams with his high heels. But... he did take them off for his last act and replaced them with some funky flats. His opening act was Chaka Khan. Amazing woman, she looked fab!

If Prince is coming to a city near you, you must get tickets. You will not be disappointed.

Trunk Show...

It's March Madness! If you aren't at the Colisuem tonight watching the ACC Tournament, the next best place to be is at the Honeybun Boutique! S.A.D. will have a trunk show at Honeybun tonight at 7pm until 10pm. Honeybun is located at 219 Summit Ave, Downtown Greensboro. Cocktails and finger food starts at 7pm. My latest favorite necklace shown above will be for sale tonight. It's Rock Star meets Audrey Hepburn. The freshwater pearls are big and bold! The black cross is very detailed!

I dislike mass produced so I strive to give you something the girl next door doesn't have!

Prom Night...

For the Naturalist...

It's not too soon for thinking about prom jewelry or bridal jewelry. These amethyst briolette gemstones are perfect for spring. Amazing Thai silver orchid pendant surrounded by lilac amethyst gems. The dangling earrings with sterling silver leverbacks are the perfect compliment.

Fit for Life...Zumba

Today was my first day attending a Zumba class. What is Zumba? It combines Latin and international music in dance routines featuring aerobic and fitness interval training done to a combination of fast and slow rhythms. The class was a lot of fun! The classes are held at a dance studio in Greensboro called Break-N-Out. It is a fast paced class that will have you sweating the entire hour. I wasn't Shakira, but I was able to keep up. I'm looking forward to the next class.

Handmade Valentine Gifts

Open publication - Free publishing

I am part of Etsy Artist of Color (EAOC) team and we have some very talented artisans. Group members are from all over the world. Our team leader, Shevon, developed the above catalog to showcase some of the wonderful handmade Valentine gifts you can purchase from EAOC. Take a look. One of my designs is on page 9. Enjoy!