4.30.2011

Saturday Sun - April in Review


Can you believe it's almost May??? Crazy how fast this year is flying by! It's been a good month for me, my blog and my shop though... I'm feeling like things are coming together at last, and more importantly I know where I am heading :)

Here's a few of my favourite posts from April:


My esty shop is keeping me happy and busy too... I've stocked up with a few new necklaces and earrings... please stop by and take a closer look. And right now I am offering a free pair of earrings with every necklace purchased :) Just purchase the earrings and necklace you'd like, and in the message to seller put code "riverfun" and I'll refund the cost of the earrings!!! Feel free to spread the word ;) Head over to the shop HERE


Wooden Green Teardrops EarringsVintage Flower Necklace
Pearls & Feather NecklaceBeaded Felt Hairslide



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4.29.2011

We have a winner!!!!



Congratulations Christy!!!! Please email me at pixiemama@live.co.uk to claim your prizes!!

And if you didn't win you can still save with these great offers:

Buy Maggie’s e-book “How to shoot your kids” HERE for only $5 with coupon PIXIE
Save 15% everything in the ‘After Nine To Five’ Shop HERE with coupon PIXIEMAMA
20% off everthing in the Opposite Day Shop HERE with coupon PixieReader20
AND I’m offering a free pair of earrings with every necklace purchased from my shop – HERE
Checkout both as usual, in the message to seller write ‘riverfun’ and I will refund the cost of the earrings :)




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List 40: Moments from my week

After a less than sunny start, this week picked back up. I love spring so much... after a long, cold winter these sunny days are very welcome :) Here are my favourite moments from this week:


finding flowers on my strawberry plants! hurrah!

spending the afternoon lazing in the park, enjoying the sunshine
white chocolate stuffed raspberries for desert - yum yum!

picking flowers from our woods to brighten up the house
Mr Bear coming to join in when I was re-photographing the clothing for my shop!

finding this (and a matching one) bright crochet throw for my sofas!

What have been your favourite moments from this week? Link me up to any photos!



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Sponsor Interview: Bluebell and Rosie


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Name: Kate

Blog Name/Link: Bluebell and Rosie

Folksy Shop Name/Link: Bluebell and Rosie

Describe your blog in three words: Animal-obsessed, colourful, eclectic

What are three things I can find in your shop: Pretty bunting, fun brooches and cushions

How long have you been blogging/selling? I started blogging in May 2009 and I sold my first item (which was a candle!) in July. With working, I find its a constant battle to keep organised and keep everything moving to some extent! Its something I'm constantly working on (any tips are gratefully received!).


Where else can I find you: I'm all over the place! Find me on Etsy, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.

If you had 3 wishes, what would they be? To be completely happy and comfortable in my own skin, to have lots of children and animals and to be financially secure (to take care of said children and animals!).

If you were stranded on a desert island, what 5 essentials would you take? Lipbalm (I can’t go anywhere without a lipbaml!), moisturiser, shampoo, and a notebook and pen. The beauty products probably make me sound very vain (I’m really not!) but so long as I can wash my hair and smack on some moisturiser I feel good. 

If you could spend a day ANYWHERE in the world, with anyone you liked, where would you go and with whom? Tough choice but probably Mexico. I saw some photos of the Mayan ruins in a book years ago. I can’t for the life of me remember what the book was, something along the lines of ‘Real Life Mysteries’. Ever since then, something about it has really appealed to me. I’d love to visit with my boyfriend.  




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4.28.2011

Contest Alert!!

One of my sponsors - Kami from Searching for Serendipity is launching a fantastic contest on her blog tomorrow! Be sure to hop on over there and check it out!





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Guest Post: Maggie Keegan Gross Photography

Hello Pixie Mama readers! I'm Maggie. I'm a portrait photographer in Los Angeles, wife to a bearded tech nerd, and mom to an extremely energetic three-year-old girl.

 

 As a photographer, mom, and blogger who frequently posts pictures of my own family I get asked one question all the time: "Your family looks great together! How did you choose your outfits?" It took me a while before I could properly answer that question. It just comes naturally to me. I think in terms of colors. Maybe I have some form of Synesthesia, or maybe I just love color. I don't know what it is, but different days and different seasons feel like different colors to me. I have a need to coordinate colors in all areas of my life. Which is why, when my family goes out together, I usually make sure our outfits are color-coordinated. So, when people ask me how I choose our outfits, it seems obvious to me because I do it all the time, not just for photo shoots! After some careful thought and introspection about how I do what I do and what I like to see my photo clients do, I came up with some helpful tips: 

Make sure that your outfits don’t distract from your faces! You want your faces, and especially your eyes to be the star of the image. So, choose tops that are solid and relatively free of details and embellishments. Prints and patterns can be distracting, even when they look great in person. If you love pattern and details (As we know Polly does!), keep them below the waist. A cute patterned skirt looks fantastic with a solid top. Please don’t wear the exact same outfits! You don’t want to look like the wait staff at your favorite family restaurant! In the 90s the “everyone in white shirts and khakis or black shirts and jeans” look became very popular, you saw it in everyone’s family portraits. But listen folks, it’s 2011 and you can do better than that! You can still go well together without matching exactly. Complement each other without being identical. Choose three to four complementary colors and then wear different combinations of those colors, with each person wearing at least two of the colors to tie them in with the rest of the group. Here is an example from some family portraits that my dear friend Amy Schubert of Teegan Photography did for us a couple years ago:





You can see that I chose colors that are complementary: Blue, Pink, and Yellow, and then made sure that we each had at least two of those colors on. I wore blue with pink shoes, my daughter, Eleanor, was in yellow with pink shoes and my husband, Josh, had pink and blue in his tie. And we made sure to stay in similar tones of those colors. We were all in bright blue, bright yellow, bright pink, rather than a mix of brights, pastel, or jewel tones. Reflect your personal style. Don’t go out and buy outfits that you would never otherwise wear. Match your outfits with the style and personality of your family. You want your portraits to reflect who you really are as a family, not who you think you should be or who you think other people want you to be. Now take this info and give your favorite local photographer a call (that would be me if you're in Southern California) to book that annual family portrait session! You can check out my work at Maggie Keegan Gross Photography, read about my family's hectic, but always entertaining life at Making Me Cranky, or follow me on facebook and twitter!

4.27.2011

What I Wore Wednesday

Eeeeps... these weeks are just flying by!!! The sunshine seems to have taken a holiday this week :( But at least  I don't feel bad sitting inside getting some work done!! Somehow my to-do list never seems to get any smaller.... but this week I've had the urge to paint which hasn't happened forever so I've managed to sneak in some painting time!

Don't forget to go take advantage of my free earring offer --> SHOP HERE <-- simply checkout a pair of earrings and a necklace, put code 'riverfun' in the message to seller at checkout and I'll refund the cost of the earrings!

This outfit is what I wore to a birthday party the girls were invited to on Saturday.. and I wore it again on Sunday to go to the river (just with a different vest!)




I also signed up for Top Baby Blogs - and I'll love you forever if you spare 2 minutes and 2 clicks to vote for me! ♥♥♥

Click To Vote For Us @ the Top Baby Blogs Directory! The most popular baby blogs

Sponsor Round Up

I can't believe April is almost over already!!! Time is flying way too fast this year... any ideas on how to slow it down a little?! I've so enjoyed the first month of having sponsors here on my little blog - here's a quick catch up with a few of them!


Last week was one of my favorite weeks of the year, National Parks Week! There have been some great tutorials going up on Campfire Chic including sprucing up your about page and how to host your own photos.


In good old Fashion Melanie style I way over exerted myself this month. I was bridesmaid and 2nd photographer in a wedding, did photo shoots every weekend, decided to get a part time job as a product photographer, and opened an etsy shop where everything is 25% off until May 1st with coupon code PIXIE. I also blogged an average of 6 days a week about all sorts of fascinating things!


Hi Pixie Mama readers! I've been working, recording, blogging, planning my kickstarter video, and generally plotting world takeover :P Better keep me on your radar- crazy-awesome things are happening, and my new EP drops in a couple months!



I got married - woohoo! I've returned from my trip to Jamaica, coming home a married woman with tons of pictures to overload my blog with. :]


Within the first week of my shop opening, I made my first sale and was stoked! Yay! Right now Iffy Inklings isn't too full but expect to see more in the next month or so!"


Hello Pixie Mama readers! Hope you are all having a great month. I've been working on a few new blog posts that I'm pretty excited about, and I'm currently gathering supplies to bring back my log pillows to "Opposite Day" Shop. Be sure to check my blog and twitter for updates!



4.26.2011

Guest Post: DIY Spring Wreath

Today I have a great tutorial from Ashley of After Nine To Five for a Spring Wreath. I can't wait to make one of these for myself :)



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A really easy way to add some color to your home for Spring! Total cost was less than $10.
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Supplies: Wooden wreath, fake flowers, butterflies, hot glue gun

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Remove flowers from the leaves
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Place glue where you would like to position the flower
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Press flower into the wreath and hold firmly for 15 seconds
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Repeat until the wreath is covered to your liking
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Attach the butterflies to the wreath or the flowers
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When attaching butterflies, they can be removed from the metal stand or left on - both methods are shown. If keeping the metal on, I wrapped it around the wreath and then used the hot glue to keep it in place
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Ready to hang!

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A morning to myself

The hubby has taken all 3 girls out to the cinema this morning (they're watching Gnomeo & Juliet!) so I've got a couple of hours to myself.

I love having the house to myself once in a while. I can listen to whatever music I like (Neil Young this morning)  without any complaints, and tackle some of my to-do list!!! This morning I'm finishing a couple of paintings, and starting a new one.



I have a couple of orders to post today, and I need to make a start on organizing Lola's 8th Birthday - which is just under 3 weeks away :O

The sun isn't shining today... which means I have no excuse to ignore my work any longer!

Don't forget that all this week you get a free pair of earrings with every necklace bought in my SHOP. Simply purchase both as usual, and in the message to seller write code 'riverfun' and I will refund the cost of the earrings :)

I'll be back this afternoon with a fantastic guest post.

4.25.2011

Living Life Your Way.... Interview with Michelle from Oh,Mishka


I've been working hard the last few months at overcoming my fears and following my dreams. So I'm running a series of interview with inspiring people to see what part fear has played in their life and how they've overcome it to live life their way...

 This weeks interview is with Michelle from Oh, Mishka


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Hey! Tell us a little about yourself.
Hi everyone! I’m Michelle and I write Oh, Mishka. I’m 24, I live in Wyoming in the USA with my boyfriend and my cat, and I just recently starting going to college again to get my degree. 



Is the life you lead now the life you've always dreamt of?
Nope! When I was younger, I was one of those people who had huge dreams, like living all over Europe, speaking 10 languages, and being really rich. I never knew what I wanted to do though! As I’ve grown up a bit, my priorities have shifted and now I’m more than happy living a quiet life with my boyfriend, focusing on school and my blog, and finding little ways to enjoy life every single day. I’m incredibly happy and I think a lot of that is due to the fact that I’m no longer spending all my time chasing an unrealistic dream.


When you have faced difficulties, what has been your inspiration to keep going?
A lot of the reason I push through difficulties is that there really isn’t any other option. I don’t like to quit and I don’t like to do things halfways, so what other choice do I have? I’m very lucky to have my faith, my family, and some wonderful friends to support me though and I try not to ever take that for granted. 


Fear affects us all at some point. What part has fear played in your life and how have you overcome it?
I always fear that I’m making the wrong choice! Whenever I have to make a decision, whether it’s my degree in school, a career choice, or even what jacket to buy, I have to weigh all the options and I spend forever thinking about it. While some thoughtfulness is a good thing, I do it to the point that it’s harmful to my success. For instance, I went to college for a year, then took the next 4 years off because I wasn’t positive what I wanted to get my degree in and was too scared that I’d make a decision that I might regret later.

Eventually, I just got to the point where I realized what I was doing and said, “No more!” So now when I catch myself putting off making decisions, I force myself to make a decision. Maybe I’ll regret some things later, but it’s all part of a learning process that will help me to grow as a person. 

What advice would you offer on following your heart and living your dreams?
I think you should always always follow your heart. That being said, you should also take some time to think through all of your dreams and decide if they work together and will truly bring you happiness. And as far as living your dreams goes, just be prepared to work hard. Very few people become an overnight success at anything, so it’s pretty likely that you’ll need to work extremely hard, possibly for a long time, before you’re really successful. If you care enough about what you’re doing though, hopefully you’ll enjoy it and it won’t always feel like work.


What do you think are the three most important things you need to lead a happy and radiant life?

A sense of purpose, supportive people, and love for yourself.

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Michelle blogs at Oh, Mishka and you can follow her on Twitter too!