The Secret Giveaway of Randomness

It's been a LONG time since I posted two days in a row, but hey, I'm the master of my own domain right, so I can do whatever I want!

It's not that I really have anything to say, or that I even have cohesive thoughts running through this pea brain of mine, but I did have the idea that it was time for another giveaway, so here goes.

Even when I don't post, I am thankful for those of you who pop by and look at my blog.  I appreciate the people who never make a peep, and those who are faithful with their comments.  We are all so very busy and I know I fall miserably short in the commenting and replying to emails department, but it's not because I don't admire the posts you write and the things you have to share with the world.

So I thought that in order to say thanks I would host a Giveaway while sharing some totally random images...a secret giveaway of sorts.  I'm not sure what the prize will be, but I will know it when I see it.  It will be something that stops me in my tracks as I'm surfing online, or browsing a favorite shop.  Those are the best presents don't you think?...the kind you didn't even know you wanted to give someone until the very moment you saw it?!

Kind of like the furry little caterpillar hiding up there in the top right of the photo, snuggly tucked amongst the rose petals.  I didn't see him or her when I cut the blossom, but their fuzzy yellow presence was a welcome sight none the less.

So here is the dealio.  

1.  You must be a follower of this blog.

2.  Leave a comment telling me what you hope to win...and don't be shy, wish for that string of pearls or that Villa in the South of France.  Of course they will likely not be what you receive, but it never hurts to ask right?!

3.  Blog, Tweet, Rent a Billboard, or FB the Giveaway and then come back to leave another comment for an additional chance to win...don't forget to leave a separate comment though.

The Giveaway is open to everyone, and will end at Midnight EST on Sunday, September 2nd...why that date?!  I have no idea, it just sounded good...another random thing about this giveaway.

So thanks again, for trusting that I will actually get you something worth entering for...and who knows, it might even be just what you've been longing to have!

Little Acts of Kindness

The past few days have been a serious whirlwind.  Work has demanded every waking moment of my time and by the time I'm finished late at night, I am ready for bed, so I haven't even surfed blogs or the web the way I normally do.

The good part is that I'm making progress, so even though it is time consuming, it is so worth it!  And I know that the payoff will be worth the effort.

Awhile ago, Linda from Itsy Bits and Pieces showed this gorgeous vintage Dutch tin on her site.  That girl is always finding the best stuff, and her prices sometimes seem too good to be true, except that they are true...so they are that good!

As soon as I saw it, I knew that the colors were perfect for using in photo shoots, so I sent Linda an email asking if she planned to sell this pretty little tin.  Much to my delight she said yes, and she even suggested we do a trade...some of my artwork for her tin.

Umm, heck yes I want to trade!  So I ordered her prints and she shipped me my tin.  When it arrived it was as beautiful as I had imagined, and I've already filled it with a lovely primrose that I picked up at the store yesterday.  The primroses at my local grocery store were 3 for $5 on special, so I snapped up quite a few of them in lieu of buying roses or tulips that don't last nearly as long.

I tucked one into my new tin and filled my wire basket with several others.  I truly love having fresh flowers in my house, there is  just something so refreshing about seeing and smelling beautiful flowers throughout the year.

Of course getting a package is always uplifting too, but especially when it comes from someone as kind as Linda!  She didn't just include the tin, nope, she also included a few other goodies, some of which I will show you in an upcoming post.  But those darling little clay stars above, well they were tucked in to my package.

Not only are Linda and her daughter (who is her partner in crime) super good at finding vintage lovelies, but they are also hugely talented and creative souls who make all sorts of wonderful things from things they find as well as things they make themselves.

And between the two of them they have several Etsy shops which you can visit by clicking on the links on her sidebar, on the right side part way down on her blog.  Just don't blame me if you find all sorts of things you can't live without!

For the past few days I've been up to my eyeballs in talking to manufacturers, learning about anything and everything there is to know about trying to make it in commercial photography.  Some people are so incredibly helpful that you can't really believe it, while others can make it feel like pulling teeth, and for no good reason I might add.

But hey, I'm always up for a challenge.  I was born competitive and those traits have served me well over the years, so I'm not planning on changing any time soon.  But when people like Linda show those little acts of kindness, well it makes you realize that right will always win in the end, because that's what matters most in life, don't you think?

Rescue Me

The living room and dining room are coming together nicely, but I will wait to show them to you since they are close, but no cigar as the saying goes.

Not much has really changed in the living room, it really is the dining room that has undergone the most change, but there is still more to do.

I have this annoying habit of envisioning a room before it's actually completed sometimes.  It's not so much the exact details that I have in my head, but an overall feel for a room that I'm after.  And sometimes that can be a real pain in the you know what because that means that you will hunt and search and spend hours hoping from store to store or internet site to internet site looking for just the right piece.

I'm currently on the hunt for an unusual piece to go next to my new cabinet, and who knew it would be so hard to find an old blanket chest for my bedroom to store my bed linens when they are not in use?!  

Yesterday I visited a few local places looking for said storage item and although I did find a few steamer trunks and a really pretty vintage wicker chest, they just didn't meet with my vision...sigh.

At least one thing has worked out nicely and that is my pretty new life ring that now hangs on the wall near my slipcovered chair in the living room.  I have been searching for a vintage life preserver ring for over a year now, but I could never find one that was the size and color I was after.  Then, a few months ago I saw that Caroline of Ekster had some.  I didn't get one when she first had them for sale, but when I ordered my cabinet I asked if she still had some and she sent a few down for me to look at when her husband Jon-Paul delivered our cabinet.  Voila, it was the perfect color, aged beautifully and big enough to fill the space where I wanted to hang it...everything I had imagined it would be...in my vision of course!

Sometimes I think I need more than a vintage life ring to rescue me from my design visions.  Some days I would love to be vision free and just go pick something up that would make do instead of spending hours hunting for just the right piece.  But then again what would I do with all of that free time I would suddenly have?!

And to the people who were totally freaked out by the rat photo in my last post, I apologize.  I know that we each have things that kind of make us feel whirly inside, even if those things can seem cute to the rest of the world.  For me that thing would be bats.  Even if there was someone out there who had trained a bat to hold a cute teddy bear and then managed to snap a photo of it, well it still wouldn't be cute to me...so I get it.  Note to self, no rat, snake, spider, bat, or other photos on the blog...well unless they are exceedingly cute, because cuteness knows no bounds! ;-)

The Golden Hour

A few days ago my neighbor called me to say that it really wasn't fair to the other trees in the neighborhood the way my maple was showing off this year.

I hadn't given it much thought, but she is right, it is a bit of a show off, and one both she and I greatly appreciate for being so boastful.

The leaves have not been as colorful or vibrant as they have in years past, but that's ok, everyone needs a little break every now and then, right?

Photographers often refer to the hour just after sunrise or just before sunset as the "golden" hour, but this time of year that golden glow seems to extend just a bit longer and I find it to be one of the prettiest times of year in terms of light.

It's been a crazy week, filled with ups and downs, frustration and jubilation, and a little bit of feeling yucky just for good measure.  But tonight, after having to cancel a lunch date with a friend who I've tried to hook up with since summer, and not making dinner for my friend "J" who is undergoing chemo (for fear I might give her something), I decided to just go outside with the dogs and enjoy that beautiful golden glow.

This time of year there really isn't a need for Photoshop or increased saturation, Mother Nature has taken care of all that for us.  So you can just point and shoot, knowing that whatever you capture will make you feel warm inside when you look at it later...though adding a cup of tea to the mix while you are resizing pictures never hurts either.


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Even the inside of my house was aglow this evening, and you have to love it when your crystal decanters, some of which are antiques, and your mercury glass leaf ornaments look like works of art.

I will be gone for a few days, the Midwest has requested I make a visit.  Ok, that's not really true, parts of the country can't actually request your presence, but if they could then I would have been sent a pretty embossed invitation asking me to come for the next few days, so off I'll go.

I hope each of you has a wonderful weekend, and that you find a way to bask in your own special glow.  Oh, and I will be back tomorrow to announce the winners of my latest giveaway, I wouldn't leave you hanging, even if the Midwest does request the pleasure of my company!

Don't Let The Sun

Don't let the sun, go down on me...