She's Back!

No, I am not talking about me, although it has been 3 weeks since I posted!  I needed a few weeks to rejuvenate after Provence.  :)

I am talking about the wonderful shop on etsy, SpaTherapy.  She was off on maternity leave but is back with her wonderful products.  I just placed my order today!!!!  The facial scrub is heavenly and I'm trying a toner this time too.  Be sure to check her out!

SOLD OUT!

Our SpringHill line and some of our Provence line is now sold out.  If you still want one of these pieces, you can email us to place a back order or visit our store here to place a back order.  Thanks for all of your support! :)

What a sweet smile

When I opened this picture, it just made me smile too.  What a sweetie!  Beautiful photography by Julie of UpperCasePhotography.  In this pic is our Peasant Dress in Sage Bouquet, Provence Headband in Sage Dot, and Sage Dot Ruffles.  I am hoping for the release of the entire "Provence" line on Wednesday. :)

The Solution

Earring wearing has always been a problem for me.  I just cannot stand them in my ears and after about an hour I always end up taking them out.  I have tried purchasing very expensive hypo-allergenic earrings and still cannot stand to wear them.  For the last 6 months I have barely worn earrings and now my holes are starting to grow over.  I always want to wear earrings to match my outfit but honestly it is not worth the aggrevation!  So luckily this week I came upon a site that has awesome clip-on earrings.  I always pictured clip-ons as these big gaudy things grandmas used to wear but these are just so delicate and sweet and I love the magnet back. SuzyMeiMei on etsy has a ton to choose from.  You can find her here.

 

These ones are a pretty petal pink, which reminds me that I have another sneak peek for you.  Here is our Tuxedo Dress in Petal Pink, with Petal Pink ruffles:

Cuuuuutie!

Here is another little sneek from "Provence".  Isn't this little one the cutest!  You can check out more work from the talented Andrea Burns here.

Ruffle Bloomers in Petal Pink

Bounty

We had a splendid Easter weekend here.  Lots of sunshine and warm weather.  It just didn't seem right to be wearing shorts and a tee at the beginning of April in Canada but I am definitely not complaining!  Reilly got to participate in three, yes three!, Easter egg hunts.  The treat drawer is just teeming with candy!  Below is his little crafty Easter basket.  You blow up a balloon, glue pretty tissue paper squares all over it, wait a few days and then deflate the balloon.  Then you want to take some scissors and cut a pretty edge and make a hole on each side to attach the pipe cleaner handle.  Next year Reilly wants to use a bigger balloon so his basket can hold more eggs (and more candy!).

I also got a nice Easter surprise.  Some pics of our "Provence" line that will be available next week!  Here is a little sneak peek of one of our pieces for baby:

Thank-you, Andrea, for the amazing pics!  More to come!

Chagrin

Hope that you are having a better day than little Genghis!

Yummy!

Don't these look good enough to eat!  I'm not sure if I could actually have these in my house because I think a curious 6-year old might try to take a nibble and would be in for a nasty surprise.  These soap licorice are just one of the many fun products that LoveLeeSoaps has created.  I love browsing through her creations - it is bound to make you smile!

Smiles are needed around here.  Reilly and Genghis collided last Saturday night and now poor Genghis is on pain meds and antibiotics and is wearing a cone!  He is so embarrassed, especially when he encounters other dogs on our walks.  Reilly just feels horrible and the cone is a constant reminder to him that he hurt his little buddy.  I would post a pic of the cone but every time I try and take a picture, Genghis turns away almost like he really is embarrassed of the thing.  Poor Genghis!  Here's to a speedy recovery.

"Provence"

Our "Provence" line will be available mid-April.  This time we are also adding something for boy and baby!  Check back for some sneak peeks!

Something Very Fab for Fab Find Friday

I have been looking at redoing Reilly's room and had thought about painting a scene or something on his wall.  Only problem is.... I am not so talented with the painting.  Luckily I came across these awesome vinyl wall decals.  Now I want to do my whole house in them!  Hubby has wisely limited me to Reilly's bedroom and I think this is the one I am going with:

Now to choose the colours!  You can find this wall decal here and many more awesome ones here.

A helping hand

Today's Fab Find was forwarded to me by a friend.  It is a beautiful bracelet kit by the talented Kaari Meng of French General.  My friend knows what a fan I am of French General and this bracelet is all for a good cause - haitibyhand.  Haiti by Hand is an etsy shop established to showcase and sell the handcrafts of the Haitians, as well as a shop to sell items donated by artists and crafters who want to help this group of Haitians rebuild and establish themselves after the devastation of the earthquakes.

You can find the bracelet kit here and other items for haitibyhand here.

Something for your tastebuds

Yesterday was such a beautiful day here.  I was actually out gardening with just a sweater on and I was actually hot.  Yes, this is Canada in early March and I am outside with no coat or mitts or toque and I am sweating!

After all that labouring in the garden, I decided to something quick for supper - my smokey cheddar cauliflower soup.  Now I am one who very loosely follows a recipe.  I have listed the actual recipe but put in brackets how I actually made the soup.  It does change each time :o).

Smokey Cheddar Cauliflower Soup

- 2 tbs of butter

- 1 chopped onion

- 1 head of cauliflower loosely chopped

- 1 10 ounce can of condensed chicken broth

- 2 1/2 cups of milk

- 1/4 cup of flour

- 4 pieces of bacon

- 2 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar

* Heat the 2 tbs of butter in a large pot until melted.  Add onion and cook until translucent (about 4 min.).  

* Add chopped cauliflower and cook about 2 minutes.  Then add the can of condensed chicken broth.  (I actually don't use the canned stuff.  I get either the chicken or vegetable powdered broth from our natural foods store to avoid the msg.  I then just run the tap until the water is hot and add about 1 1/4 cups of water to 1-2 tbs of broth and stir.  Add this mixture to your soup).

* Cover and cook cauliflower in the broth on mdm temperature for about 20 minutes or until soft.

* Meanwhile, in a bowl add flour slowly to the milk stirring the whole time.  I also cook my bacon now (in a frying pan but you could probably nuke it too) and set it aside.

* Once the cauliflower is soft, add the milk/flour mixture.  Bring to a boil and stir until the mixture thickens slightly.

* Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar. (The recipe says 2 1/2 cups but I never measure. I just break off a chunk of the block and shred it up.  I think I probably add more than 2 1/2 cups because Reilly likes his soup very cheesy).

* Pour the cauliflower cheese mixture into a blender and add your bacon (yes I realize adding the bacon diminishes the fact I don't use msg broth - but I do buy my bacon from the local butcher and it tastes so good!).

* Blend on low for about 1 minute.  Pour into bowls and garnish with yogurt or some more shredded cheese.  Serve with baguette or grilled garlic toast.

Enjoy!

It's back!

Okay, so Fab Finds Friday kind of fell by the wayside last summer with our busy "kid home for the summer" schedule.  But, I am vowing to bring this back and keep it going.  There are so many awesome, creative ideas out there that I see every day and I want to share them with people.  If you see anything neat that you want to share, feel free to post  the link in comments!

Today I was inspired by a little birdie I heard in a tree.  A brave little robin has already arrived back and I said a little prayer for him that there will be no further snow storms to make him regret his decision!  The robin's song is the most beautiful thing to hear after 4 months of snow.  Spring is just around the corner!

This robin is brought to you by stayawake.  Be sure to check out her Etsy store.  So many cute little finger puppets.

 

And, oh yes, I should tell you that we are working on our website today so it will be unavailable all day.  If there is something that you HAVE to have, go to etsy or just send us an email.  Happy Friday!

Brand Spankin' New

The blog got a little update thanks to the very talented Timi of Cinnamon Girl Studio.  Timi has revamped my blog a few times now and everytime she just wows me!

A little peace and tranquility.....

Ahhhh.....  all of the SpringHill pre-orders are out.  After all the chaos of the last few weeks, I took some time on my walk with Genghis this morning to just sit and enjoy the quiet by the pond.

Doesn't this view just make you feel so calm? Well, maybe if you aren't used to snow it might just make you feel cold, lol.

Here is our little Genghis enjoying the snow on our walk.  Only a few more weeks of snow so we are enjoying every minute of it!

Thankful!

I am so thankful to you all for making our SpringHill line such a success.  We are busy working on the orders and will let everyone know when the pieces are about to ship.

Julie from UpperCasePhotography was instrumental in bringing this line to life with her beautiful photography.  Here are just a few of her amazing pics:

Can't wait to work with you again, Julie! :)

SpringHill is up and a Contest Winner!

SpringHill Pre-Order is up and running!  It is available on etsy and on our new website at www.giraffikiki.com.

And we have a SpringHill contest winner.  Number 111 was selected by random number generator (random.org) and that mailing list member is Tracie Faler!  Congratulations Tracie!  I will email you later today regarding your free piece from SpringHill.

And now for some eye candy courtesy of the talented Julie from Upper Case Photography and Tammy from Tammy Wahl photography.

SpringHill Pre-order starts next Monday!

Pre-Order will start next Monday, February 1st and will run to Friday, February 5th.  Some pieces are limited so get ready!

The Inspiration

Our Spring 2010 line was inspired by something very near and dear to us .... SpringHill Farm.  This property has been in my husband's family for four generations and I feel truly blessed that we are now able to raise our family here.  It is not much of an actual farm...just 3 acres nestled into suburbia...but it is truly a magical place.

This here was the old milkshed which backs onto the pond.  I always thought it looked like a little hobbits home the way it is folded in between the trees.

Here we have some of the bounty from our gardens,  Gooseberries, rasberries, currents, strawberries - yummy!  And my favourite time of the year is when my peonies erupt into flower.  The heavenly scent!

 

A little peek-a-boo to the pond where we spend hours in the spring and summer catching frogs during the day and watching for fireflies at dusk.

And here is the old homestead.  Although this place is a nightmare to heat I just love all the old wood and archways.




For us the below quote is so fitting: 
 

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it."
-- George Moore

Tammy Wahl....

is just fantastic!  I was looking for someone to photograph my spring line and was referred to her by another photographer.  What could be a better referral right?!  Well, I have not been disappointed.  Not only does, she have amazing backdrops (being that she is one of the lucky souls to live off the beach in Hawaii!), but her shots are awesome, she is conscientious, quick, friendly....I could go on and on!  You must check out her blog including the amazing photo that she did for the MJ Photo Love Contest.  Here is a little linky to her blog: http://www.tammywahl.com/blog/

And another little sneak peak of a piece she shot for our SpringHill line:

 Click on the pic to see a larger image.

I'll have a post next week on our other fabulous photographer, Julie from UpperCasePhotography!

Website and Pre-Order!

Yay! Our website is almost finished and we should have it up and running by the last week of January. That means you will be able to pre-order SpringHill as early as the end of January! I will have more details on the exact dates that we are going to run the pre-order. It will only run for one week and you will find some great savings - like dresses at approx. $40, tops and skirts at approx. $30, and bottoms at approx. $24. Wow!  We will also run the pre-order on Etsy but at slightly elevated prices to account for the fees there. 

And I couldn't do a post without including a pretty picture.  Here is another little sneak peek provided by the talented Julie Wagoner of UpperCasePhotography!

Click on the pic to enlarge.

Happy Friday and a Chance to Win!

Happy Friday all!  I am so happy that the weekend is finally here.  Just thought I would throw in a contest to celebrate!

Join our mailing list before Saturday January 30th and you will be entered into a draw for a free piece from our SpringHill line.  The added bonus of being on our mailing list is that you always get free shipping!  The draw will be January 31st so don't be late!  You can find the sign up at the bottom of this page.

And just a little sneak peek to entice you.  This dress was shot by Tammy Wahl, and there will be more on this wonderful photographer later....

Click on the pics to enlarge.

:0) Shelley

We can learn so much from our children....

"Even though I may be small, I have a big soul and I can accomplish big things with my life."

~ Reilly, age 6 - On being teased about being one of the smallest kids in his class.

He amazes me...

Happy New Year!

  Wishing you and your family a wonderful new year!

And just thought I'd throw in a little sneak of our SpringHill line.  The line has just been sent off to be photographed by Tammy Wahl Photography & UpperCasePhotography.  Be sure to click on the link under Amazing Photographers to check out their work.  They are so talented!  For now though you will have to make due with my poor photography, lol: