...a happy french giveaway!

~ OH ~

 Happy Friday!!

~

Would any of you

maybe like to win one of these?!

well,

all you have to do is go here:

http://www.alittlebitfrench.blogspot.com/

and sign up to follow Rhonda's new blog!

4 will win, just by signing up! 

She has the most fabulous french paper things in her etsy shop

which you can visit here:

http://www.parisgal56.etsy.com/

Anyway, around christmas time she had listed a pretty little shadowbox

similar to this one and I just had to have it!

You can have one for your own here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=37415728

This is how they looked on my mantel ~

close up ~

So ~

stop by her blog and say hello, and sign up for her surprize pack giveaway!!

xo

it's time!!!!

to show you

these

hand dyed,

wonderland

wear

collection

slips!!!

I have been busy all week in the studio,

designing,

snipping,

sewing, dyeing,

sewing,

sewing,

and now this collection is done!!

aaahhhhh,

(a sigh of satisfaction!)

I have had the most fun with these,

probably because these are not colors that I usually choose to work with,

but it is in the style of 10/6,

or burton influenced!

I can't decide my favorite,

although I'm leaning towards

"alice runs through the roses"

and

"mad hatter's tea party"

I am pleased with how they look in the back too!

I designed these wonderland tulle aprons

so you can wear the slip with or without it!

...and now I'm off again to wonderland,

 to design some

White Rabbit glove purses!

xo

...inspired

...after reading a post on one of my FAVORITE blogs,

(wink, wink!)

 who ~

(I hesitate to tell you this, because I want to win!!)

is having a most fabo giveaway

for something I have been thinking about for awhile,

but didn't know it ~ florabella,

a program to use with photoshop,  

and all the fun things that go along with that rabbit hole!!

Her blog's photos are gift cards just waiting to be purchased!

(hint, hint Kasey!) 

I'm not kidding, check her out for yourself here: 

http://www.lolabboutique.blogspot.com/

and see if you don't agree!

...just DON'T enter! ha!

~

xo

ps. see "mimi charmante", I can play too! teehee :) 

http://www.mimicharmante.blogspot.com/

...one awesome day!!

wow-wee-wow-wow-wow!!

...and He made all this for us?!

Sometimes we just jump in the car for a mini get-away,

randomly,

 as to not build up any expectations!

(We've been know to go with nothing but the shirts on our back,

thinking we are just going shopping at Ikea,

but end up having to stop at good ole' walmart for overnight supplies!)

It's like an adventure, so to speak,

as we never really know where we will end up!

The only thing we do know is, the resounding choice is always ~ 

to the beach!!

And no matter what time of the year we visit the west coast,

it never dissapoints!!

~

It always takes my breath away

and

brings me to my knees in tears!!!

I truely feel God's magnificence as the salty sea mist kisses my face ~

and feel those mighty waves rolling over my bare feet

that are anchored in the warm sand.

hhmmm...

That is a most befitting description of how I feel when I am there

~ bare ~

before

Him.

and strangely, as I gaze out as far as the eye can see

all the cares and worries are carried away and

there is peace in that moment 

overwhelmed in His love,

in His grace,

and in His gift! 

We always stay a little longer than we should,

(I hate driving in the dark!!)

but ~ how could you not want to stay?!

 As the sun is setting on our backs,

I look over to my beloved and think ~

today was one awesome day

and here are the smiles to prove it!!!

xo

...omar has picked the winner(s)!!!

Yes, it is true ~

the Omar giveaway has come to a close!

and the winner is.....

Sissie!

from Sissie's Shabby Cottage

Congratulations Sissie!

but wait ~

Omar couldn't help himself drawing names,

 so, he drew another!

SO ~

Candy!

from Rock Candy

Congratulation to you too!!

~  please let me know where I can send your Omar packages!

Thank You to all who entered!

I enjoy reading all of your comments.

and just remember...

you never know what's behind the curtain,

or what I may do next!

Happy Monday!

xo

...dream!

...close your eyes

and

make a wish...

...open your eyes

and

realize your dream!

Do something today ~

out of the ordinary.

Laugh just a little more,

Give a complement to a complete stranger,

Whisper to your beloved that you adore them,

Bake a small cake and put extra frosting on it,

Buy yourself some fresh flowers,

take a bubble bath and

...dream!!!

  

Happy Sunday!

xo

...pink kisses

It's that time of year ~

you know,

when you can get away with extra hugs and kisses

and your kids won't think a thing about it!! HA!

~

Don't you adore this 

It's a centerpiece of kisses!!!!

My 16 year old son, Nathan, made it for me...

aaaahhhhhhwwww

I know right!!:)

I feel the love!

Hoping YOUR heart is filled with sweet surprises this weekend!

xo

Don't forget ~

there's still time to enter Omar's Giveaway!

 http://ozmaofodds.blogspot.com/2010/02/omar-giveaway.html/

...I'm in wonderland!!!

I've been lost in wonderland this week,

creating things of blue ~

dying practically everything around me

 from coffee filters

to roses, to vintage slips!!

I have been sooooo inspired by the up and coming

"Alice in Wonderland" Movie, 

directed by Tim Burton, staring Johnny Depp!!!!

~

I have so many sides to me...

extreme sides,

and sometimes I'm pulled between them,

like

I choose and love to live in a french country, magnolia pearl, shabby chic kinda style,

but

I sometimes seek that rabbit hole ~ 

and welcome getting lost in the fairytale world of visionaries such as

Tim burton, 

and in other's, such as in those in "MirrorMask" and "Howl's Moving Castle".

It's almost as if my studio is in wonderland

and I am creating things for those that live there!

For example,

along with the wonderland blue color

  black has also made it's presence,

not my intention, but just were it ended up!

 ~ and when I say Tim Burton style,

I mean something with an edge,

like steampunk, london underground, dark romance stuff.

It is not meant to be, or resemble anything negative,

 ~ on the contrary ~

only to be darkly beautiful!

These are things that I would usually put into my

Black Moth Studio on etsy,

and I still may ~

...after my return from wonderland!!

xo

Don't forget to enter the Omar Giveaway in this post here ~

http://ozmaofodds.blogspot.com/2010/02/omar-giveaway.html/

...the other side of Cinderella!

as in Rella's side!!

I seek and appreciate beautiful things

....shoes, clothes, food,

items to beautify my home with...

you know, basic stuff most girls like! 

and today I was day dreaming while dying some slips a wonderland blue

and I was thinking to myself how beautiful is this color ~ blue ~

then I started thinking  

 what is beauty, and who decides what beautiful is? 

Here are my thoughts

In the wake of the tragedy in Haiti ~

I think it's fair to say that life is not always a fairytale!

and most of the time, we just didn't ask for this!

and I dare say

that not very many of us

have not had the wind knocked out of us

HARD at one time or another!

and wouldn't you agree

that instead of complaining about it,

 that there are times when it is necessary

to simply put up your hair, roll up your sleeves

and put these on instead!

because stuff happens!

and it's quick,

like no time to think quick!

and it is in these moments...

these come at you from nowhere moments

that I want to be beautiful...

not outside per se,

but inside!

that's what I mean by Rella's side!

At the ball, Cinderella was elegant and beautiful to look at on the outside,

but most of the time, she had her hair up and her boots on!

Each of us are unique,

... in our talents,

in our gifts

and in our beauty!

We need to believe in ourselves and know that each and everyone of us

 has something wonderful to share.

And that we make our own fairytales by how we chose to live everyday! 

and I think it is in those moments,

 the everyday moments

that we allow ourselves to be who were meant to be,

that we are the most Beautiful!

xo

Don't forget to enter the Omar Giveaway!

...the omar giveaway!!!

...Yes, It's true!

It's Omar's giveaway time!

Now ~ in a previous post, I introduced you to Omar!

(indulge me and allow me to expound)

He is a french bull fighter! (oh la la!)

and his beloved's name is Odette,

she has a charming little patisserie just outside of Provence!

They are very happy together and have a fabulous rose covered cottage!!

~

Now, for the giveaway~

Omar and Odette would like a lucky winner to receive

a bag of chocolate covered pretzel rods just as Odette sells them in her patisserie ~

sprinkled with organic lavender buds and dusted with edible sparkle powder!

A tin of organic, italian chamomile tea (chamomile, hibiscus, lemon peel, rosebuds)

and a set of 6 tags that feature Omar, Odette, and their rose garden, with grunge dyed ribbon ties!

~

this time we will play just a little different,

all you need to do is

just leave a comment on this post 

and if you like, post "Omar's Giveaway" button on your blog.

because, here's the different part~

if you are visiting because you saw my button on another blog,

be sure to put who sent you! 

and if your name is drawn as the winner,

the person who sent you will win the giveaway prize too!!

( a potential of two winners!)

Omar will pick a winner on Monday, February 8th !

Have fun and spread the happy, happy, joy, joy!!!
and be sure to grab "Omar's Giveaway" button on the topside!


xo