Center Stage Naturals: Carlyne

Please introduce yourself.

My name is Carlyne also known as Creolelioness.

How long have you been natural?
I've been natural for 4yrs now.


What made you decide to go natural?

I decided to go natural because I was so tired of the damage that I was doing to my hair with a relaxer. I also got tired of the scabs I would get from getting burned by the chemicals. I wanted my hair to be healthy without having to go through the pain.

What were the reactions you experienced when going natural? Did you receive any positive or negative comments?

I attempted to go natural before but the responses I got had me double guess myself and I didnt last 2 months before I went back to the creamy crack.
The response was so negative and had not support. Then the following year in 2008 I decided that I would go natural despite what people thought. I decided that I would
love my hair and make it work.

Who are your hair inspirations, if any?

At the time that I went natural I did not know about the natural hair guru's I know about now. I did not know the natural hair community even existed. So I would
say that I was my own inspiration.

Do you have a regimen? If so, what is it?
My current regimen is, I wash twice a month using Dr. Bronners Castile soap, then I condition with Renpure Organics conditioner. To deep condition, I use a mixture
of conditioner, castor oil, and honey. I usually twist my hair up for the week after washing using Hello hydration conditioner and sealing my ends with coconut oil.

What are your favorite products?

Favorite products right now are Hello hydration, coconut oil, and Kinky curly Knot today.

You are the owner of Love Your Natural Hair. What made you want to blog about natural hair?

I started blogging because although there were so many other naturals out there, people wanted to hear from someone that had their hair type or similar. They wanted
to know what worked for me and what did not because they can easily relate to my hair type. I wanted to give them the information they needed if they couldnt find it else where.


You have an Etsy store and I love your black rose earrings!!  When can we expect new items in your Etsy store?

Blogging opened me up to so many ideas and opportunities and designing jewelry is one of them. It started out as a hobby then I began getting requests. It was fun for the
moment but it became to much for what I was doing in my life at that time. At this time I am not selling my jewelry. Im not sure what the future holds for Lioness Jewels but for now
I have nothing new in the works.

Where can we find you online?

You can find me on Instagram: Creolelioness Twitter: Creolelioness and on my blog Luvyournaturalhair.blogspot.com

Thank you Carlyne for gracing Catastrophe with your beauty and positivity. If you don't already follow this lovely lady on Twitter and Instagram, make sure you do!! Stop by Luvyournaturalhair.blogspot.com for your natural needs!! Tips, product reviews, and inspiration!!

Holiday Lanterns: $1 Edition

I love mason jars ...and I love mason jar lanterns.  I shared with you last year's Snowflake Lanterns but this year, I decided to make these simple dollar store treats.

Every year my friends and I do an ornament exchange in place of buying each other gifts.  This year I accompanied their ornaments with these little lanterns for the holiday season.

I got the idea for these lanterns on Pinterest (of course!) and pretty much everything it takes to make them costs $1.  $1 cranberries, $1 ribbon, $1 christmas tree greens.  The little mason jars were $2 and the big bag of snow was $6 but there is sooo much left for other projects. 

I simply hot glued the ribbon on, then the greens, and then the cranberries which I cut from $1 branches from Dollar Tree.

I filled them with snow and put a tealight inside. The picture shows a battery operated light but I used real tealights when I gave them as gifts.

When I gave them to my friends, I just placed the ornament string under the top and hung them from the lantern and had the perfect Christmas double gift. 

I love how easy (and quick!) these were and they turned out to be a nice festive holiday present!

Aren't Christmas crafties just your favorite kind?!! ;)

Style File: The Skull Blouse

I channelled my inner Jack Skellington on this one.  I love skulls! Everything with skull print on them will be owned by yours truly. So I was pleased as punch when I found this funky little blouse just a-waiting for me to take it home ...and it's a high-low!

The spikes on these shoes give me life! ...but are definitely dangerous, lol

Didn't get a close up of my cross earrings but they're super cute and dangly :) ...and I just love how the two-toned collar gives a bow tie impression.

Hope you enjoyed this little funky number and stay tuned for more Style Files to come!

Blouse: LoveCulture
Pants: H&M
Shoes: Rouge
Cross Earrings: LoveCulture
Cross Ring: KnockSoftly.com

Photography Courtesy of Photo By D

We've been Elf'd!!

It has begun!!

You guys, it is hilarious. The first day of this adventure, Zee was pretending to be excited but I could tell on her little face that she was slightly terrified. LOL!! Seriously, she just kept talking about the elf over and over again and putting her hands on her face and shaking her head and saying, "I'm just... I'm just so nervous."  SO FUNNY.  It wasn't until later when I talked to my sister and friends that I realized how terrifying the idea really is ...a toy coming to life at night and messing with things.  My friends think I am crazy for doing it but she is starting to get used to it now.  The one thing I have decided to stay away from is having our elf ...Woody... interact with any other toys.  I was going to have him play a card game with Woody the Cowboy, Buzz, and Jessie, but then I realized, if the elf freaks her out,  I don't want her to now be afraid of her other toys as well.  So Woody is on his own.

Here are some of the shenanigans Woody has found himself in so far...

I am looking forward to putting Woody in all kinds of new predicaments.  There are so many fun ideas on the Internet and I have 19 more days of adventures to plan!!

I would love to see some of your elf's fun happenings. Share your links below!! :)  

Happy Elfmas!!!

...2 Turtle Doves and a Leg Plagued with DVT

My schedule for blogging was thrown off a little bit this week because I was hit with some health issues.  Saturday in the middle of the night, I was woken up by pain in my thigh, a kind of burning, aching feeling with pressure in my inner thigh.  A few days before I had been feeling some aching in my calf as well. It was sore throughout the day but I didn't want to go to the emergency room if it was nothing and being that it was Sunday, my doctor's office wasn't open.  I had to wait it out until the next morning and then I called my Dr's office who told me to come in that afternoon.  After I explained my issue to the doctor she recommended I get an ultrasound just to check for blood clots and such. She didn't think it was that but just to cover all bases. She took some blood work as well.

I was unable to get an ultrasound for that day so I had it the next morning, and turns out, it is a blood clot ... in my inner thigh.  I was diagnosed with Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and sent to the ER.  Once there, the doctors explained to me what the treatment was going to be.  

"A daily dose of Warfarin (blood thinner) and daily injections." 

"Ok, that's cool."  

"Daily injection done at home, by yourself." 

"...I'm sorry, what??"

I can't stick a needle in myself!!!  Lord have mercy!  ...but that is the treatment and that is what I have to do TWICE a day 0_0  It took a lot of positive self talk to get that needle in the first time, I'm telling ya!

The thing is, the treatment really just stops other clots from forming. It doesn't really do anything for the clot already there. My body has to break that one down on it's own.  In the meantime, I just have to hope that it doesn't break off and go to my lungs or heart because that could be potentially life-threatening.  I tell you! This has really put me in touch with own mortality. Seriously. I am fine when I am busy doing stuff but when I get a minute to myself ...mini anxiety attack.  The fact that it could take months for this thing to be gone means I get to think about suffocating every day for months.  How's that for stress?  But I am really trying to stay positive. It's my favorite time of year and in the words of the Grinch, "There'll be no sad faces on Christmas." 

But I just wanted to check in and let you guys know what was up and also ask you guys to shoot a few prayers my way.  Any extras would be great!!  

If you hung around for this whole story, THANK YOU!  and we will now return to our regularly scheduled programming ;)

Catastrophe Blog Launch ~ Giveaway Winners!!

Thank you all so much for stopping by Catastrophe and joining in on the giveaways!! ...and now its time to announce the winners!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations!!!

I will be emailing all of you today to get you your prizes!!  Thank you again to everyone for entering and following and being a part of Catastrophe and there will lots more fun to come!!

Snowflake Lanterns Revisited

Last year on my previous blog, Everything Under the Moon, I came up with this little Christmasy treat that I wanted to reshare here with everyone!!

I wanted something wintery to light up my home and accentuate some of my Christmas decor. I had seen a few lanterns done with lace that I loved but I wanted to give something a little bit different a try.  That's when I came up with this.

First I went to Michael's in search of a perfect snowflake stencil and I came across this snowflake scrapbook paper. Perfect!!

I taped it around the jar to get it to hold and then...

...out to the yard to spray paint in the cold!

...and Tada!

So SUPER simple! ...and pretty :)

They glow beautifully and after lighting them a few times, the stencil actually got even more pronounced.