We're Doing A BIG Sponsor Giveaway Over At Lola B's Blog (Woo Hoo, Kasey!!)

I'm SO excited about this!!

I mean, I definitely LOVE doing giveaways anyway,

but

I am REALLY excited to be able to do it over

at 

LOLA B's ....

only one of the cutest, funniest blogs EVER!  :)

I know you know Kasey and her LEGENDARY blog

(did ya hear that, Kasey-girl??  

I said your blog is

LEGENDARY!)

She blogs about anything and everything and keeps you in 

stitches most of the time while doing it.

The Beautiful Life is a happy sponsor of Kasey's blog

and as such, she's giving us a chance to do a giveaway over

at her place, so ....

WHATCHA WAITIN' FOR??

Head over and enter!

The winner gets everything pictured in the photo above,
PLUS
(insert: "But Wait!  That's Not All!")
you get the latest copy of the
Vakre Hjem & Interior magazine!

I mean, that IS the fitting thing to include in a giveaway
containing a mug and towel singing the praises of
"A cup of tea, a new magazine and a bar of chocolate...."

And if it weren't so blasted HOT here, I'd even throw in
that BAR OF CHOCOLATE...

But it would be more like Hershey's chocolate syrup in a wrapper
by the time it arrived on your doorstep, so...

OH!  WAIT!!

BEFORE YOU GO!

1.)  DON'T ENTER HERE!

(I mean, please, leave me a comment so I can feel the love, too...)

You need to GO to Lola B's and register your entry! 

Your comment here won't officially enter you,
so leave me a comment by all means

(I mean, I do like to hear from you...) but in order to be entered in the giveaway,

ya gotta

  GO TO KASEY'S PLACE

The giveaway closes at midnight on Tuesday, so hurry over!  :)

2.)  I have SO much to mention to you, including a new

e-zine coming out that I'm SO excited about and 

3.)  I miss ya!  I wanna do a post to just chat you up and see what's been

going on in your life, etc... so... blog posting will resume!

Just wanted to GET THE WORD OUT about 

THE GIVEAWAY!

Faux The Love Of Zinc! {A tutorial for the zinc-crazed. Like me.}

Remember last month when I did a post about 

going "dream shopping" across the internet 

(mainly Restoration Hardware) for bedroom furniture?

Remember this beauty I had on my 

wish list?

I do love this piece, but it carries with it quite a hefty price tag

(umm... $1,895.00 to be exact) and while I am SURE it

is well worth every penny....

Ahem...

I don't think it will be being unloaded off a delivery truck at my house anytime soon.

So imagine my glee when

(ugh - that reminds me of the TV show, Glee...

do any of you watch that??  I just don't get it...

but I digress...)

I saw this tutorial on a blog that shows you how to 

VERY CLOSELY reproduce the zinc finish!!

Just LOOK at the "faux zinc" version:

The details are perfect!

Below is the "real deal" -- the one from Restoration Hardware:

And right below here is the "faux zinc" treatment...

What do YOU think???

I was initially directed to the tutorial via one of 

my favorite blogs, Brooklyn Limestone.

I clicked over to Freckled Laundry's blog and saw her step
by step directions -- not too, too daunting -- actually seems like something I
could pull off!

Want to try your hand at "Faux Zinc"?  View Jami's tutorial HERE

I fell in love with her blog and I think you will, too!

Have a great weekend everyone!

That's exzinctly what I plan to do!
{I couldn't resist...}

A Few New Pretties For The Shop, An Amazing Giveaway, And A Blog Award...

The vintage-style reproduction FRENCH GRAVE HEART WALL HOOKS,

as show above, is something I'm so excited to have now in the shop.

The real deal is almost impossible to come by here in the states,a

and I suspect would cost a pretty penny.

Imagine my glee when I discovered these faithful reproductions that 

serve as useful wall hooks!

We've finally restocked this GIANT SACRED HEART

after being out of stock for many, many months:

And THESE BEAUTIES....

Hand-sculpted and painted ROSE NECKLACES.

No two are alike -- just as in nature.

The rose necklaces were made up in three special colors for us --

Pewter (French Grey), Aubergine (a lovely plum-y, eggplant color),

and Blush (a parchment color with blush-pink tints).

I hope you'll stop by the NEW ITEMS page and see all that's new in-store!

ON TO THE GIVEAWAY 

that I know you'll want to know about!!

Carol, from Raised In Cotton, is having what just may be 

one of the BEST giveaways I've ever seen in blog-land.

Let's just say...

If you are a Jeanne d'Arc Living devotee, um...

this is GONNA KNOCK YOUR SOCKS DANISH CLOGS OFF!

Go HERE to see and enter!!!!

Another sweet blogging "sister" gave me a blog award and I am just

tickled pink.

Adrienne, from A WHOLE LOTTA LOVE blog

passed along the Sunshine Blog Award to several bloggers including moi.

Thank you so much, Adrienne!!!

I kind of feel unworthy getting any blog award anymore since I find that

WAY TOO MUCH time goes between blog posts. 

I hereby pledge to do better!!

In the last few weeks, my daughter has gone to and returned from 

another trip to China.  Many amazing things happened (all good)

and she even got to meet up with some of the same students she saw last year.

I had a birthday (I'll do a separate blog post on the super fun

steampunk jewelry I got!!).

And one of my sisters was diagnosed with and had surgery for uterine cancer.

She is now in the healing stage (both physically and emotionally) so if 

you think of her, please remember Libby in your prayers.  

There are six of us girls (and two boys) in our family and we love each

other dearly --- a blessing we do not take for granted.  It hurts us all

when one is hurting.     I know you know what I mean.

Well, sweet friends, its about time for me to think about cooking supper.

Oh.

I need to actually do more than THINK about it, right?  ;)

Have a great evening and I thank each of you for every little 

stop you make here.

I intend to try and hunker down (boy I really dislike that phrase) 

and find time to go through all YOUR blogs.  Things have been 

so crazy here and I have gotten REALLY far behind on that!

And it's something I really love to do, too!

Good evening to you all and

if you have any supper ideas, I'm all ears!  

:)

  

Jeanne d'Arc Living Magazine Closes Out Summer With Breath-Taking Beauty....

Our order for the last "summer" issue of Jeanne d'Arc Living  has been completed 

and should be on it's way to us before long!

As beautiful as ever, you won't want to miss this issue --- filled with

articles and inspiration to give one last "hurrah" to the carefree, lazy days of summer,

while gently rousing interest and excitement for what lies ahead in the coming months.

This issue will invite you into a lovely Danish country kitchen (which we cannot wait to read about!) as well as a guest-room feature and plenty of other inspiring articles, features, and as always, new recipes to try your hand at.

I don't know about you, but my favorite time of year is when we begin to transition from the heat of summer 

into the promise of the crisp fall and the cozy, snuggly weather of winter. 

This issue typifies that transition and I cannot wait to immerse myself in it's pages!

Reserve your copy HERE.