Sponsors and Springtime Giveaway

I've slowly but surely been putting out my Easter decor since the holiday is just around the corner.  But this post is about more than Easter decor, so be sure to scroll ALL the way to the bottom of the post, to meet my new sponsor and to find out about my giveaway to celebrate hitting the 900 follower mark!

I know it's a LONG post, but hopefully the Giveaway at the bottom and the discount code for my new sponsor will make it all worthwhile!

I wanted to introduce you to a new sponsor with this post, but also to let you know that I've decided to monetize my blog...I can hear some of you groaning and I understand.

I won't make excuses or give you reasons why I feel justified in doing so.  It is my blog after all, but I did at least want to let you know that you will be seeing a few ads on here through Blogher in the near future.  I just felt like it was time, and if it covers a hair appointment, or puts a little gas in my car each month, well then that'd be just fine by me.

Now back to my new sponsor.  All of the sponsors you see on my sidebar have not paid me in cash, but instead have paid me through wonderful giveaway items I have shared with you all over the 2 years I've been blogging.  As a thank you for those giveaway items, I have included them in my sidebar.   And I have a personal connection with each of my sponsors, so that makes them all the more special to me.

So now, without further adieu, meet my new Sponsor!!!  I know all of you gallery wall lovin' people are going to love this company!

 

My newest sponsor is Five Dollar Frames.  A company which sells wonderful frames at great prices and they come in a huge variety of sizes.  But don't let the name fool you, these aren't dollar store frames people, these are high quality frames at discount prices.  And the best part is they have graciously offered my readers a discount, so read on to find out more and to get the scoop on the Giveaway!

When you make an order on the 5 Dollar Frames site you can receive a 10% discount (valid until June 30th, 2012) just for being a reader of my blog...yay!  Just be sure to enter the code LTHS12 at checkout to receive the discount!

Now for the Giveaway...are you still with me people?!  Since I somehow managed to get 900 hundred crazy people to follow this little 'ole blog of mine, I decided I should go ahead and host a giveaway to say thank you for all you do to keep me motivated to walk around in my PJs snapping pictures day after day...ok I do get dressed most days! ;-)

Since my new sponsor offers frames, I thought I would offer you all something to put into one of their frames.  So the giveaway is for one of my prints, but not just any old print, how about an 12 x 18 (or smaller if you prefer) Giclee printed on beautiful specialty Epson cotton rag paper from their Exhibition Line.  This line of acid and lignin free archival paper is well regarded by museums and top photographers alike for producing beautiful images with rich, true colors.   

If you win, you can choose your print from my website Kat Warren Photography and a frame from 5 Dollar Frames and we will ship you a custom framed Giclee print that will last for generations to come.  It's my way of saying thanks a bunch for following along and listening to my crazy ramblings!

To see examples of some of my framed artwork you can go to my most recent post, simply click on my header to get to today's post.

So here are the dreaded rules for the Giveaway which will end on Friday March 30th, 2012 at Midnight!

1.   You must be a follower of Low Tide High Style to be entered.  Please leave a comment letting me know you follow!  And if you're not currently a follower, well join the party, and let me know by leaving a comment that you have!

2.  For a second chance to win you can blog, FB, Tweet, or stop people on the street to tell them about the giveaway.  But be sure to leave a second comment letting me know you've done that.

*** Please do not comment on my FB page or sadly your comments won't get entered.  In the past I have added the FB comments to my giveaway, but it just gets too complicated, so please leave ALL comments on here, thank you! ***

Shells for Christmas

No words today...well these are words, but you know what I mean.  It's my birthday, I'm 29...again!!!...and my dear husband bought me a new toy to use on my camera, so I'm off to try it out!  I hope you enjoy these shots of my Hepplewhite chest all decked out for Christmas!

 

Oh, a few more words...thank you for all of your wonderful comments about my kitchen windowsill, and my other coastal themed decor from my last few posts!  Have a wonderful day!

Holiday Cards and Other Stuff

(click to enlarge any photo)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and to those of us who stuffed ourselves silly, I hope you are now feeling a little better!

We spent the holiday with extended family, and then the past few days were occupied  with yard work and hanging Christmas lights.  We also have our daughter to blame for our new addiction to the show Glee.  I had never seen it before, so she suggested we watch it on Netflix from the very beginning.  We watched 4 episodes back to back on Saturday evening and then another 2 this morning before she headed back to DC!

I have to say that I love nothing more than to have all of my birdies in the nest, so this weekend was wonderful for me and Mr. Tide.  My Dad used to always say how nice it was to have everyone at home during the holidays, and I now understand why it meant so much to both he and my mom.  And it's funny, but my mother in law said the same thing when we left after our recent visit, that she remembered her own grandfather being teary eyed when they all left their family cabin each year.

I guess that's how life works, you rush around raising your little chicks with the intention of them flying from the nest.  But it sure is nice when they fly back home for a few days!

And speaking of birds, Mr. Tide and I have now officially declared ourselves old people.  And about a week ago we purchased a bird feeder.  The reason I say "old" is because when you are younger it seems like only old people enjoy watching or feeding birds.  Shoot, even in the movie Mary Poppins the lady that feeds the birds is older!  So we've always assumed, and maybe wrongly so, that bird watching was for old people, or maybe we ARE old now!  I would like to think that maybe we aren't old, but that we have just discovered a new found appreciation for everything ornithology! ;-)

After waiting a week for birds to grace our feeder, we were welcomed this morning by lots of little birds anxious for their own version of Thanksgiving leftovers.  I don't claim to know them all, but since I'm embracing my old person persona, I will likely have to break out the bird book soon so that I can be in the know about which ones are which!

I did however recognize a female cardinal without too much thought, and so I happily snapped away at her as she perched atop the wrought iron shepherd's hook that holds the feeder.  I was amazed at the clarity of some of the shots, so I decided to turn a few of the images into holiday cards.

I know that these would be more striking if it had been a male cardinal who had visited us today, but I still think Mrs. Cardinal deserves her due.  It's kind of like Santa and Mrs. Clause, no one lines up to see Mrs. Clause...poor dear!

I used a combination of things on these photos including the new free texture I got today from Kim Klassen, it's called Poetic, and I think that is a fitting name for this lovely new texture!  The top textured photo also has a free texture by Leslie Nicole.  I also highly recommend you purchase some textures from these lovely ladies as they have some great ones to choose from, and some are even on sale right now!

The other overlays I used (except for the one in the photo above which I can no longer find the source for!) all came from The Graphics Fairy.  I love finding beautiful license free imagery from The Graphics Fairy, it is one of my favorite places to go hunting for special clip art and backgrounds...especially for holiday projects like cards!

So there you have it, I'm slowly getting into the holiday spirit.  I was so pumped to get going on decorating this weekend, and then my dear husband lugged all of my Christmas tubs inside only to realize that my enthusiasm had waned slightly upon seeing just how much "stuff" I have!

In my head, I had visions of boxwood wreaths and all white trees, but my tubs full of holiday decor did not agree with my pared down simplistic approach this year.  And had Mr. Tide not pulled a muscle in his shoulder bringing said tubs into the house, well I probably would have sent them right back to the garage.  Instead I am letting my brain battle it out to see which will win, simplicity or surplus!  Until I do, those bins will act as wonderful ottomans for nearly every seat in the living room.  Which is perfect for watching more episodes of Glee right?!

Christmas Memories

I hope all of you are safe and warm tonight, snuggled up and waiting for Santa to arrive.

Eagerly anticipating what's inside each carefully wrapped package underneath the tree!  For me, Christmas is all about the traditions and the memories we create which will last a lifetime.  So each year we do certain things, the way we always have.  It's these little rituals that make it feel like Christmas.

On Christmas Eve my children have a special package to open.  They know what's inside, it's been the same thing for years.  It's a pair of PJs for them to wear while visions of sugar plums dance in their heads.  They are grown now, but they still love this tradition.

Also each year I buy my children an ornament to commemorate something important or special that has happened to them throughout the year.  For our son Bugs it was receiving his EMT certification last summer, so I found a special EMT ornament.

And our daughter, Angelfish, moved this year to her new apartment, so she received a key ornament.

I love the little card that came with this ornament, especially since we don't have a chimney for Santa to come down at this house, and neither does she at her new place!

When my mother passed away 6 years ago, I decided to purchase an ornament that reminded me of her.  And then when my father also died, I continued that tradition, and began purchasing an ornament in memory of him as well.  Some years I get a separate ornament for each of them, but this year I bought an ornament with the Kings Arms Tavern crest on it.  They loved Williamsburg and visited it each year, often dining at the Kings Arms Tavern so I thought it was a perfect reminder of both of them.

Sadly, I also lost my dear friend Dan this year, so I added an ornament to the tree in honor of him.  He loved Superman, and I know he is smiling down when he sees it hanging on my tree.  I also sent one to his wife and mother in hopes that they too will find comfort in adding an ornament in his memory to their trees each year.  For me it is a way of keeping those I have lost close to me during the holidays.

Of course I have beautiful new ornaments on my tree, but it's the ones that bring back fond memories from when my children were young that make me smile the most each year when I unwrap them and place them on the tree.  Like this Santa made from a crab shell by one of my chldren in elementary school!

Or this one made by my son when he was in kindergarten.  It seems like just yesterday that he brought this home all wrapped up as only a 5 year old can, and beaming with pride at his magnificent creation!  Ahh I miss those days sometimes!

There are ornaments that once graced the branches of my grandparent's tree.

And a beautiful tree skirt cross stitched by my mother in law not long after we were married always adorns the bottom of the tree. 

Of course with each year there are always new memories to be made.  This will be Misty Belle's first Christmas and she will find out that Santa doesn't just remember to bring toys and goodies to the adults...special pets will find something under the tree on Christmas morning too!

Unlike any other time of year, Christmastime is when we are flooded with emotions...both happy and sad.

And every one of the things I chose to put out each year, and then lovingly pack away until next year, have special meaning for me.

It may be the memory of who gave them to me.

Or the special place I visited where I picked up a certain something.

Each piece of decor has a story to tell.

A memory to awaken.

Of childhood...

Or Friendship...

Or family.

Some things spell it right out.

Others are more subtle.

But each thing, no matter how big or how small has meaning.

If not to everyone, at least to me.

They are the tiny threads that connect us to our past.

That remind us of who we are and where we come from.

And these things will create memories for our own children.

I hope that each of you will find those quiet moments during the hustle and bustle of ribbon flying, paper tearing, and the sounds of laughter and excitement on Christmas day, to stop and take it all in.  To drink up the joy that surrounds you and tuck it away into your heart and mind for safe keeping.

So that this time next year, or 60 years from now, you'll be able to think back, and although you may not remember what shirt you got, or how many pairs of socks, you'll remember the feeling.  The feeling of love, contentment, and happiness that Christmas is supposed to bring.

I wish each of you Happy Memories and a Very Merry Christmas!!!

Happy Turkey Day

I hope that those of you preparing for Thanksgiving are taking time to enjoy the process of getting ready for the holiday.

I will be spending the next few days cooking, cleaning and getting ready to have a house full of people here on Thursday...13 to be exact!

I will finish cleaning tomorrow and then set my table, but the rest of my Thanksgiving decor is in place and ready to welcome friends and family.

Thanks to my friend Doug Vogel, I have a beautiful centerpiece...all I had to do was add the pumpkin and I was set!  I'll add some fresh flowers throughout my house, not so much for the guests, but because having fresh flowers around always makes me happy!

I've collected Thanksgiving decor ever since I was first married.  It was much harder to find turkey day decor 20 years ago!

And of course you have to have acorns to commemorate the holiday!

I gave my parents this turkey from Williams Sonoma about 8 years ago, my mom had an amber one like mine above, but wanted a red one too!

My parents were married on November 27, 1953, so every year they were busy preparing Thanksgiving for our family right around their anniversary.  We always managed to have a few close friends, or even some stray military folks join us who were too far from home to celebrate it with their own families. 

I think the largest crowd we had was 26 one year, and my mother always managed to cook WAY more than we could ever need, but oh the leftovers were wonderful!

Thursday will be a little reminiscent of those happy gatherings.  It will be the first time that all of us kids will be together again since my father's passing 3 years ago.  And today I received a crazy phone call, one of my sister's best friends accidentally called my phone number while trying to reach her realtor, who has the same first name.  When I asked what she and her husband had planned for Thanksgiving she said they were going to a little French restaurant near their home.  I asked if they wanted to make the drive to spend the day with us, and after calling her husband, she called back to say they would love to!  So it will be like old times in many ways!

But if I stay on here much longer, all of those people will arrive to a messy house!  Contrary to popular belief, dust bunnies are not edible!  And I'm thinking they might want some food while they are here.  Thankfully, everyone will be bringing something.  But after I finish cleaning, I still have to make a turkey, lots of corn pudding, candied sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and peas...so I better quit procrastinating and get crackin'!!!

I know I'm crazy to host such a high work load holiday right after getting a tiny puppy, but hey no one ever accused me of being sane! ;-)  I'm just thankful that we will all be together again!

I hope each of you celebrating Turkey Day this Thursday will be surrounded by family, whether biological or chosen, and that you'll save room for dessert!