Thursday, February 18, 2010

They're Here....!





The 2nd issue of 2010 of Jeanne d'Arc Living

arrived today in
many boxes!


:)

This means that if 

you pre-ordered this new issue,

it will be winging it's way to you

in the next day or two!!!

Let the wrapping/packing/shipping begin!!

If you would like to order a copy,

they can be found

HERE


Just thought you'd like to know!


:)

~RUTH~

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Songs In The Key Of Life...

I don't have as much free time as I did maybe 10 years ago...

and that's okay -- I love what I'm doing now.


But every now and then,

 I pass by the room where my piano is

and I sort of sigh to myself 

and wonder what ever happened to the hours I'd spend 

sitting there playing just for myself...

no one home -- 

just playing for the sake of playing.


I decided today that those keys and I will get reacquainted...


My sheet music is hopelessly out of date, 


but that's okay

because I enjoy picking out a tune on the piano from memory and

though

I'm not great at it, I can somewhat 

just play by ear 

(hear a song enough times and then sort of knock it out on the piano)

so for now, I'll make do and

play the music

in my soul...


There are many such "lost arts" of mine --

glass painting

drawing


dance

sewing

floral arranging

crafting of all kinds...

But for now, 

I'll turn my attention to one of my

greatest loves of all --

music.


Do you have a "lost art" 

that has been lying dormant too long??


Did 
you 
hear 
that??

That was the alarm clock ringing ---

it's time for YOUR "lost art"

to awaken again.   


Rise

&


SHINE...

You are loved,

~Ruth~

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Two Finger Ringer


I am probably late to the game again (so what's new?)
but until today,
I had never seen a two-finger ring -- have you?

Pretty cool!

As web surfing often does, my online "travels" this morning led me to
the Etsy shop of 


{Yes -- Etsy strikes again}

She has a few different styles of these double-rings 
but also very nice bracelets, necklaces, earrings and
other things that she crafts herself.

Check her out if you'd like -- it'd be a 
fun way to "RING" in this new week!

~RUTH~


Saturday, February 13, 2010

Sending You XOXO's...


Happy Valentines Day 

to 

each of you

who takes the

time out of your

busy lives

to read this blog...

Whether it's every post

or once every few months...

I wouldn't have this blog

if it weren't

for

YOU.


I'm thinking of you on this

Valentine's weekend,

and wishing I were

sitting across from you just

chatting away over coffee.

Just wanted you to know...

You are loved.

You are appreciated.

:)

With love,

~Ruth~

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Sorry To Say It, But...

Just had a nice big box delivered to the doorstep...

FULL 

of the

"FABULOSITY"

that I showed you a sneak peek of

in the last post....


Well....


Sorry to tell ya,

but 

I'M KEEPIN' IT 

ALL!!!!!

Hee -- hee ...

Just kidding.

Maybe.

;)

After taking one of everything out of it's packaging, 
I heard myself saying 

"This is MINE!"

"Nobody's getting any of this -- I'm keeping this..." 

But then I remember... 

"Oops - I guess I shouldn't be greedy...."

The large square block of French lavender soap...

OH MY WORD... that's all I can say.

The French ceramic match strikers -- OH MY WORD... again.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the paper napkins - they're gorgeous on BOTH sides!!!!
Seriously... I may just keep that whole case of those...

The bags of herbs are BIGGER than I thought they'd be... always nice.
And they SMELL SO GOOD!!!

Here is a VERY IMPROMPTU shot of

the  "one of everything" I just opened scattered on my desk...
Okay, okay...

We'll get busy shooting pics and getting this all up 

on the site
FOR SALE...
(Less a few that will just have to come home with me...)
Just had to show you!


Have a great one!!

~Ruth~


Tuesday, February 9, 2010

A Sneak Peek At Some New Things Coming To The Store...

Late this week, we'll be getting in the first round of some great new things ordered for
the store and I thought I'd share a few of them with you:


Jute bags of one of my favorite cooking/seasoning blends -- Herbes de Provence.

If you're anything like me, you'd buy these for the bag alone!   

:)
Another personal fave of mine for decades has been French paper
"cheese leaves" --

but I use them regularly for WAY more than just for
when I'm serving an assortment of cheeses.

I've used them under sandwiches, pastries, deviled eggs,
biscuits/rolls, etc.

They come in a generous amount per package and include an
assortment of leaf varieties.

These particular leaves will be great going into Spring!







Giant square blocks of natural French soap 
packed full of fresh lavender fragrance.
You'll love them in the kitchen or the bath...




Wonderful ceramic match strikes from France!
We carried these before (in a slightly different pattern) 
and we just could not keep them in stock.
SO happy to offer them again!







I'm a sucker for great paper napkins because I keep them
out in my kitchen next to the coffee maker 
at all times.


I use them every day and I like to have ones
that aren't just plain...


These fit the bill nicely!


:)



And these perfect little French enamel signs -- for the
artiste' in all of us!

Perfect for your creative space.
:)
Hope you are all having a great week so far !


Blessings,

~Ruth~

Sunday, February 7, 2010

The New Orleans Saints Aren't The ONLY Winner Tonight!!!



I confess...

I did NOT watch the game.

BUT!

I asked hubby who won just a minute ago,

does that count??  

:)

I went up to Starbucks for a while to "caff up" 

so I could stay up and

pick the winner of the French bottle rack tonight!


OH!  I'm sorry... 

Did you want me to tell you who won??


So... I was sitting there having my Grande Triple Breve Latte 

taking a little time out and enjoying the whole scene at 

Starbucks...


OH!!  I'm SOOO sorry! 


You don't want to hear about my trip 

to Starbucks, do you....

you want to know who won!!


Okay --- no more playing around....


THE WINNER IS:


I sooo love doing giveaways!!!  

I hope you enjoy your new "toy", Cathy!

To all of you who entered, 

oh how I WISH I could send each of you one of

the bottle racks --- truly I do.


Stay tuned, 

there will be other giveaways.

I've just passed my 200th blog post mark
(the fact that I can yak about just about anything -- not so surprising)

and I'm inching toward 300 followers 
(THAT totally amazes me)

so there's probably another giveaway not too

far out in the distance.  

:)


Cathy, if you wanna shoot me an email at your convenience with your 

address info, I'll get that bottle rack right off to you.

And how APPROPRIATE that tonight since I'm giving away

a FRENCH-style bottle rack, the

New Orleans Saints won!

Coincidence???  I think not....

:)

To the New Orleans Saints, 

all I can say is:

see what a great looking French-themed outfit 

er, I mean  uniform 

can do for ya?!

(Can you say "Dress for success?")


I knew we had a winner when I saw those fabulous

Fleur de Lys

on their outfits 

OOPS

I meant 

uniforms...

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Sharing The Love -- TWO Valentine's Giveaways


This giveaway is now over -- the winner has been picked... BUT stay tuned for other giveaways soon!


As promised, it's time for another giveaway...

no real reason - just want to.  

:)

So....

Here's what I'm thinking:


Think you can use this big guy?

If you'd like the full scoop on it -- all the dimensions and
various ideas for what to use it for,


So if you are so inclined, 

leave a comment on this post and get yourself 
officially entered to win!

I'll draw a name on Sunday afternoon,
that way I can ship it out
to the winner on Monday!

If you'd like to pass the word via your blog,
feel free!   ;)


It's such a neat piece and is just 
fabulous to have around for enteratining -- 

holds many, many glasses/mugs on the buffet!   

When you're not using it for your swanky soiree,
it is just as at home on your arts/crafts table 
holding scissors, spools of ribbon, and all manor
of other essentials of creativity!

Hope you'll enter -- I'm thrilled to give one away
to some lucky winner.


Want to know about 

ANOTHER FABULOUS GIVEAWAY?

This one is from my sweet friend 

Heidi from



Heidi's giveaway features

 a

giftcard from.....

ANTHROPOLOGIE!

I hope you'll head over there and check out
her blog!

So... 

that about does it!

There are more new things on the way to the shop from
fresh, new vendors -- can't wait to show you!

Good luck to you all -- wish I could just send 

EACH OF YOU 

a prize!

Have a FABBY weekend and I'll
check back in on Sunday
to announce the winner!

Don't forget to go see Heidi at
Dreams Intertwined!  

~Ruth~

P.S....
Just switched up the music
playlist in honor of
Valentine's Day ...
ENJOY!

Monday, February 1, 2010

The Last Items From Our Last Jeanne d'Arc Living Shipment Are Finally UP ON THE SITE!


Just a quickie post to let you know that the very last of the things we 

still have lingering

from our last shipment of 2009 

from Jeanne d'Arc Living have

FINALLY

been 
added to the site!

WHEW!



These adhesive vinyl numbers are really neat.

They are super easy to apply and 

REALLY VERSATILE

since you can cut the characters apart

 and use them really

any way you'd like.

They're about 16+ inches long x 3" high and are
$19.99. 



                   



We also have two pillow designs that are new to our store
from Jeanne d'Arc Living!

This pretty "La Cafe'olatte" pillow

And...

This fabulous, bold "MBK" monogram pillow


Both come with a very high quality feather & down insert --
ready to toss right onto your couch or bed!

As for our remaining stock of our other 
Jeanne d'Arc Living things,

well -- as you can imagine, 

the stock is dwindling 

and from here on out

we'll try and keep the available quantities

posted on the item page when 

the numbers begin to get "dangerously low".  

:)

That's all from here!

I'm thinking that since it's almost 
Valentine's Day....

AND

since I missed "celebrating" my 200th post

AND 

since I just kinda love ya

it's probably as good a time as any 

for me to

do another

GIVEAWAY

don't you think?

Let me think about what to give away

and I'll make that my next post!

FUN!

That's all from here for now....

Just wanted to let you know about the posting of the
last few items remaining from our 
last shipment from
Denmark.

Again, here is the link to see it all on one page:

Thursday, January 28, 2010

IT'S COMING!! Issue #2 Of Jeanne d'Arc Living Magazine!!



Oh yeah....

It's coming our way...

Want to

Or do you need some more pics to convince you?




Yes...

It's gonna be another

big batch of

Nordic-French

EYE CANDY...


Shipping in a couple of weeks...

or sooner if we get them sooner.


Isn't life grand??

:)

Great way to start a weekend, huh?

~RUTH~

Monday, January 25, 2010

A Window Shade Project, A Book Search For A Customer, And Some New Items! WHEW!

So... long time no talk!

Well, long time no shop talk.   :)

To say it's been busy is, well

a ridiculously crazy understatement.

Life as we previously knew it (as in a few years ago)
is gone, baby, gone.

Hours spent at the shop/at my desk there are
innumerable and I think it best to start getting used to it
and realizing that it is the new "normal" and not just
"a season of busy-ness" anymore!

And you know what -- that's awesome.

I'm soooo thankful and my heart is so full and blessed by it all.
How can anyone NOT love working like this?

I'm surrounded by all things beautiful and there is always a fun, "festive" vibe
in the air -- could it get any better?

Okay -- meeting called to order now, and we have some
business to attend to!    :)

FIRST ON THE AGENDA:

I have a customer who is desperately seeking a copy of the
Jeanne d'Arc Living book "French Atmospheres" and it is no longer available
anywhere that I can find.   We sold out of all our copies and I don't know of any
place to direct her, so I told her I would go to "my sources" our here in blog land...
YOU!
If any of you purchased a copy of the hardbound book called
French Atmospheres In The Nordic Style from us (or anywhere else, for that matter)
and are willing to part with it (for a price) I just may have a buyer for it.

If you are interested in getting with my customer about selling her your copy of the book,
please email me and I will put the two of you together and between the two of you,
you can reach an agreement on price, payment, etc.

I know she will sure appreciate it and so will I,
since she pre-ordered a copy from us last year
and then we ended up NOT getting the books somehow.
So, I feel somewhat beholden to her
and would love to see this work out for all parties.

Let me know -- and I'll put you two together.

SECOND ON THE AGENDA:
I got an email from my sweet customer, Debbie, who wanted to show me the window shade she created from one of those fabulous jute/burlap grain sack rugs.

Oh my -- it turned out as beautiful as I always thought it would!

We suggest on our site that you can certainly use the rugs/runners for way more than just
floor use and she actually DID IT!!

Look at this!!!


Is this not just
TO DIE FOR??

Back when I painted our kitchen, one of the first things I did was measure the
windows for possibly using the rugs as shades for the kitchen windows,
 but the windows
were bigger than the either size we carry... bummer.

Thank you SO MUCH, Debbie, for sharing your handiwork with us!!
Your window looks incredible!


THIRD ON THE AGENDA:

Just got in these wonderfully thick, sturdy charcoal grey striped towels in and they are MY FAVORITE EVER!




They are sold individually and are the perfect kitchen towel, but they work equally well as an oversized Euro-style bistro napkin at the table.  You're gonna love them!  



These galvanized "number" stools are back in stock and their



industrial-quality good looks must be very in demand because


we already have only one left until our new supply arrives!




Below is one of the hearts made by my daughter, Olivia,
according to my specifications and she did a FABULOUS job!



ALL proceeds
from the sales of these hearts will go
directly to her "fund" to help pay for two mission trips this year --
one Ethiopia
and another trip to China!

So, these hearts will not only beautify your space, but will be a direct
blessing to her -- and in turn, those she goes to minister to this year around the world.



And again, if any of you has a copy of the
French Atmospheres book you are willing to part with,
please let me know and I'll put you in touch with Teresa -- you'll
make her a very happy lady!!    :)

Great "visiting" with you all again!!

Missed ya!

~Ruth~

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Evidence of Miracles... Remember Little Amos Who SO Needed To Come Home From Haiti???

We cannot appreciate the miracle of a sunrise


unless we have once waited in the darkness..."


~unknown




Thank you ALL so much for your prayers for Aaron & Jamie Ivey to get their son Amos out of Haiti safely... 


no one could have expected the 


SWIFT 


answer they would get...


Aaron and Jamie Ivey (and countless other adoptive parents) waited in the darkness not 


only figuratively for years, but literally all night last night 


after getting word out of the blue that their sweet Amos was


being placed on a cargo plane in Haiti was heading to Florida!









Read the following excerpt from Aaron's Twitter account 


to get the 


"rest of the story...."


(Start reading at the bottom to get it all in chronological order)




Frsh showr-new clothes-ready for ATXhomecomng  ATX airport! Hes bringing more vibe to ATX http://twitpic.com/zdeq


First escalator ever.http://twitpic.com/zcxhv 















  1. RT @jamie_ivey In his mommas armshttp://yfrog.com/359aqajfrom Tweetie
















  2. First picture. The one we've waited for 2.5 yrs. Amos here in USA. http://twitpic.com/zcq7kfrom Tweetie
















  3. Howerton's son out. This is impossbly hard. These kids come out devastated, scared, &unfamiliar with evrythng. 1 of hardest things I've seenfrom Tweetie

















  4. Nap time on the floor.Airport floor isn't as hard as it looks. Lights are bright. Wondering if Amos has slept any tonight?
    from Tweetie
















  5. "it could still be hours..." latest word we got. go to bed people. It could be a while. Crazy. Frustrating. Amos is here in this building.from Tweetie















  6. Whew. 4am here. Sun up soon. We might be heading straight to Orlando airport &skipping hotel. We know nothing. Feeling out of loop.from Tweetie







  7. from TweetieTrying to pass time. Media from ABC is here. They've been here for a LONG time! No news... Red cross says stil workingfrom Tweetie














  8. Lots of people moving around here... I see people with badges... They look like they know something I don'tfrom Tweetie















  9. Sleep is overrated. Stay up with us. Grab a snack. RedCross just brought us ComfortKit snacks http://twitpic.com/zbzqnfrom Tweetie















  10. We just heard they are finger-printing kids right now. I hope Amos knows his mama & papa are CLOSE!!from Tweetie















  11. Food court has become holding pen for adoptive parents. All eager & anxious. http://twitpic.com/zby4ufrom Tweetie















  12. Ok looks we have a party tonight. Looks like a bunch of late-nighters waiting up with us for Amos! Twitter rocks. No news. Waiting...from Tweetie















  13. Ok who's staying up with us to see the first pic???from Tweetie
    Still waiting. They are processing all their papers... Come on!!! Theres about 20 of us here...ready...waiting...

















  14. Orlando airport Jamie is happy 
    http://twitpic.com/zbcmpWe are all waiting in the Sanford Airport food court. Any moment now they will release the kids... What an epic moment this is.
    from Tweetie















  15. Landed in Orlando. Getting rental car & driving to Sanford, FL to meet Amos. Should be a 30 min drive.from Tweetie















  16. Praying for the rest of the kids from our group to get out of haiti tomorrow. Not ALL made it but they ARE coming soon! Pray for them now.from Tweetie















  17. We will see our boy on US soil in a few hours. Ohhh myyyyyyyyyy gosh.from Tweetie















  18. We are all crying &shaking-God just did impossible-Woodlnds to Hobby, purchsed tikts, thru security &on plane in 1hr. Thank u SW airlines!from Tweetie
















  19. Oh my gosh Southwest held our plane!!!! We are on way to get Amos!!!! Thank you God. Another mountain moved!! Crying in row 20from Tweetie















  20. I will post when we have a solution for flightfrom Tweetie















  21. Anyone in Houston that has a plane that just happens to be fueled up? My son is getting in Orlando late night. Let's do this.from Tweetie















  22. Just got word that Amos is on a bus to get on a military plane right now to Orlando. No flights out tonight. We need a jet or a spaceshipfrom Tweetie