Greetings friends, I’m baaaaaaack from a whirlwind trip to Southern California.  Sadly, we drove south to pay our respects to my beloved uncle who passed earlier in the week.  Despite the circumstances, I reconnected with aunts, uncles, cousins, and extended family – that was completely wonderful.  

I had a chance to meet up with fellow Californian and blog buddy JJ from The Blah Blah Blahger who I met at the Blissdom conference back in February.  

JJ is so much fun, it was great to get some gal time with her and chat all about blogging and life and our shared passion for great wine.  That’s what I love about this blogging adventure, the opportunity to mix and mingle with great people from across these fruited plains.  Big hugs JJ, can’t wait to meet up again in Sonoma !

I also spent two days in Carmel-by-the-Sea, oh me oh my, talk about gorgeousness all around in one charming town.  Will post pics later ! 

It’s party time peeps !

I’m not one to throw blog parties very often, but since I love the Fourth of July, and since we’re throwing a patriotic bash this year, and since YOU all are a fantastic source of inspiration, let’s have a party gang ! 

No doubt many of you are getting your craft on in anticipation of the upcoming Fourth, plus I know many of you love to bring out the red, white, and blue in July, plus I also know many of you can whip up some amazing summer recipes, so let’s celebrate, shall we ?  

Mark your calendars ! 

Anything decorative or DIY or delicious will do, as long as it has something to do with the red, white, and blue.   Just about anything related to the Fourth of July works for me, so link up with your decor related posts, or party planning tips, or scrumptious recipes!  I’ll be sure to work up something snazzy as well. 

And I’ll try to get some sort of button thingy in the sidebar. . . . HTML – it boggles my mind sometimes. 

Before I forget, the lucky winner of the Geezees giveaway is none other than lucky #102, Heather S. who won because of a Tweet, congratulations Heather !

Heather will choose these words for her personalized canvas, “I don’t care too much for money, money can’t buy me love.”  

Oooooh, a fellow Beatles fan, I love it.  Heather, send me your contact info in an email so you can collect your lovely prize.

Finally, today I’m excited to bring you a giveaway from The Pleated Poppy !  

The Pleated Poppy offers all sorts of fun and feminine accessories, from zippered pouches to notebook covers to stylish aprons to pleated poppy pins !

I’m in love with these petal pusher ruffle pins – perfect for adding just that dash of panache to your lapel, your hairband, a purse or hat.  

Call me eccentric, but I do believe these would looks fantastic on a banded lampshade, wouldn’t that be so flirty ?  

There will be two lucky winners of this giveaway !  Each one will receive a $30 dollar shop credit to The Pleated Poppy. 

Eligibility to win one of two $30 dollar shop credits to The Pleated Poppy: 

1) Hop on over to The Pleated Poppy and pick your favorite item.  Come back and tell us all what you’d choose if you won in a comment, that’s it ! 

2) For a second chance to win, either post a link to this giveaway on Facebook, OR tweet about this giveaway on Twitter (with a link), then leave a second comment telling where you linked (either FB or Twitter). 

Giveaway ends Saturday June 5, 2010 at 8 p.m. PST.  Two winners chosen by Random.org.  

Good luck friends !

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TGIF friends, how are you ?  I have a great giveaway for you this weekend, brought to you by Geezees Canvas Art, a shop specializing in personalized custom canvases for your home.  Geezees will take your chosen photograph and print it on canvas for you, then add your own customized words as well.  The creative possibilities are endless!

Busroll art makes quite a statement on a wall.  If you’ve toured the streets of a faraway place, this is a chic way to recreate the sights you visited in a piece of destination artwork !  

Or perhaps you have a favorite saying or birth announcement you’d love to see printed on canvas? 

Read the rest of this entry »

Congratulations to

#139 Emily who wrote:

“I love the spiral bound photo books – will keep those in mind for gifts. If I win the canvas (even if I don’t I’ll probably just go for it myself!) I would use a photo we took of my son at 5 days old – he’s now 3 and a very different size, but I treasure that tiny baby memory.”

#83  Christine R. who wrote:

“My favorite has to be the gallery canvas wrap that you’re giving away! I have the perfect photo that I’ve been wanting to do this with for a while! It’s from our trip to Italy when my husband and I got engaged! I want to hang it above our bed. Thanks for this great giveaway chance!”

Congratulations ladies -there’s a free 12 x 16 gallery wrapped canvas coming your way!

A big BIG thank you to my sponsor Color Incorporated for their generosity. 

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In addition, I spy with my little eye a mention over at OhDeeDoh ! 

Thanks so much Carrie at Apartment Therapy ! 

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Greetings all, happy Friday.  I have a fantastic giveaway for you this weekend, brought to you by my fabulous sponsor Color Incorporated, your one stop shop for photography services !   Everything from prints in all sizes to greeting cards to wedding albums – all with an excellent service guarantee.  

They also create photo books – perfect for vacations, family reunions, or childhood memory books. 

I also love these spiral bound photo books !

So why do I love Color Incorporated ?  OK, they sponsor my site, so I love that. 

But why do I really looooove  Color Incorporated?  The big smoochy kind of love ?

Because I uploaded this sweet shot of my boy running on the beach.

And they turned it into this keepsake for him in his room. 

(Oh, who are we kidding, it’s a keepsake for me.)  

A canvas I will treasure forever. 

A moment I will reminisce about when he’s a teen and leaves his sweaty baseball gear all over my house. 

And when he asks me to drop him off at the corner instead of in front. 

And leaves the toilet seat up again.

Yes, it is then that I will remember this sweet smelling handsome little prince who is not too embarrassed to smooch me in public.   

Color Incorporated’s gallery canvases are wrapped by hand around a 1 ½ frame with the finest attention to detail.  Each piece is properly finished with a wire hanger and bumpers.  You can choose to leave the back open or cover it with Tyvek® backing.  In addition, your canvas will be coated with a protective spray which protects your work from harmful UV rays so it will maintain its beauty for years to come ! 

Now I’m sure you have a few photos you’d like to have enlarged and made into your own gallery wrapped canvas, well today is your opportunity !

Color Incorporated is giving away not one but two 12 x 16 gallery wrapped canvases just like mine !   Each one is a $73.00 value.  Choose any photo in your vast collection and they will create your personalized work of art ! 

Two lucky winners, yay !

Eligibility to win one of two 12 x 16 gallery wrapped canvases from Color Incorporated:

1) Hop on over to Color Incorporated and take a peek at all of the products and services they have to offer.   Come on back and tell us what product or service you like, and also what special photograph you’d have turned into a gallery wrapped canvas if you won !

2) For a second chance to win, link to this giveaway on Facebook, and come back and leave your Facebook name/profile in a second comment. 

3) For a third chance to win, tweet this giveaway on Twitter, then come back and say “I tweeted” in an additional comment – leave your Twitter profile too. 

Giveaway ends Monday May 10th at 8 p.m. PST.  Two winners chosen by Random.org. 

If you have pictures you need to print up for an album, friends or family, don’t forget  Color Incorporated will even give you your first 25 4×6 prints for free with the code cen10 !

****************  THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED  ****************

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