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Hello everyone!! I hope you are having a great week and are looking forward the week-end. I had a wonderful time with my parents! Tomorrow morning we'll get up early to take them to the airport... already!!! :S We'll be heading to Colorado. Lots of traveling ahead of us.. 

The last two days I've been working on a treasury. I haven't made one in a long time!!! What can I say, I got inspired. I want to share it with you.. I hope you like it. 

  

The LoveSparklePretty Giveaway is still going on here!!!! You have a little less than a day to enter... hurry up!!! :) 

 Another beautiful giveway is coming up soon!!! Stay tuned!!!! 

 xoxo,

the Tea Queen

 

I'm so glad to see the many entries for LoveSparklePretty's Giveaway!! I hope many of you are happy to have found such a cute shop and are hoping to win the beautiful headband!! Keep crossing your fingers!!! ;)

These last days I've been spending my time with my parents who arrived last week from Italy to visit us. I'm always very happy to have some time to be with them, as we see each other not that often {every 2 to 3 years!!}. Time is flying of course, but I'm enjoying every minute.

I also wanted to tell you that today I've received some Happy Mail!! I had recently won a giveaway and today I received my present... which I love!!!! It's a tea-spoon rest... something for those who love tea like me... I really feel like the Queen of England now!! :)

It was handmade by the adorable and very talented artist Jacy Pulford. You can find more of her art in her SHOP. She also designed my new Etsy banner!!!

 

 

 

Isn't it lovely??

 

Well, I'm off to bed now. Have a great night or morning... wherever you are!!

 

xoxo,

 

 

Feature Post: meet Kayla from LoveSparklePretty {Giveaway!}

Oh how I love finding new shops online {especially on Etsy.com, my favorite place to shop handmade!}! I have written a few posts about different cute finds. Today I have for you a little interview to introduce you to Kayla! The owner and lovely girl behind the adorable Etsy Shop: LoveSparklePretty.

 I don't know about you, but I love everything girlie, sparkly and pretty.. just like everything she makes and sells in her shop. This is what I ask her to share with us:

-Please tell us who you are.

My name is Kayla (a.k.a. wife and mommy) and I blog over at Love Sparkle Pretty. I share my love for "pretty" things with DIY projects, wedding/event planning, floral design, styled photo shoots, bridal pieces, event décor and lots of inspiration! I love to find beauty in simplicity and magnifying it! I believe in following your dreams no matter how crazy they may seem because God gave you your gifts and talents for a good reason.

 

-When did you start creating your beautiful Hair Accessories?

When I got married to my wonderful husband in 2010, I created flower hairpieces for my bridesmaids as well as many other details for the big day. It all really started there! I opened up my Etsy shop and created pieces part time while going to nursing school, work, starting a family and everything in between. I ultimately left work and nursing school to do what I am really passionate about and work full time on growing Love Sparkle Pretty. I am currently enrolled in a floral design class, I will be working on a certificate for wedding/event planning and I have been working with more photographers to create visions for their shoots. It's been quite an adventure and I love it!

 

-What is your inspiration?

I think my initial inspiration is rooted from my grandmother who has always been so creative. When I was younger, I would go with her to all of her craft shows and I loved it! Now, when I get inspiration to create new pieces, it seems to hit me in all sorts of ways. For example, I can be inspired by just sketching ideas in a notebook, looking through magazines, strolling antique shops, playing with different fabrics, browsing blogs, and even just sitting under a tree in silence. When an idea for a project tugs at my heart, it's a pretty amazing feeling and I don't want to ever lose that!

 

-What else do you like to do for fun?

I love to spend time with my little family and take walks, watch movies, and play board games. Snowboarding is a favorite past time in the winter and sticking my toes in the sand is a must in the summer. If I get "alone time," usually you can find me sipping a hot soy chai, strolling antique shops, and frolicking through aisles and aisles of fabric…is that weird? J

 

-Tell me one funny thing about you.

Well, it's not so "funny" to me but to my husband, he finds it hilarious. My second toe is longer than my big toe (like quite a bit longer). I think it's pretty normal but others have made comments about it. I just say, "it means I'm intelligent!" lol

 

-Tell me one of your dreams.

If you mean a future goal of mine then I definitely have an answer! J I would LOVE to open a sweet little boutique with beautiful gardens where you can have tea parties, weddings, bridal showers, and other lovely celebrations. This same boutique would be my wedding and event planning "home" that also showcases many of the designs and creations made by me. One day…

Thank you Kayla for sharing with us a little about you!! And thank you for giving one lucky reader the opportunity to win one of your gorgeous headbands! Precisely the Red Blooming Headband!! Perfect color and style for a lovely Valentine's Day {and any other occasion!!}...

 

 

 

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you participate in many!! Good Luck to you all!!!!!

xoxo,

 

Lovely Red Hearts

The weeks preceding Valentine's Day are my favorite weeks for crafting! I love cute little hearts, lovey-dovey creations, sweetie-pie things.. everything looks so sweet and nice. It may be just appearance, but it makes me want to craft! So, yesterday I made a new cup-cozy for my SHOP.. and one day I will have the courage to go to Starbucks or another coffee-place and ask them to sell my cozies there!! What do you think? Would it be something possible? We'll see....

In the meantime I crochet and I sell on my Etsy Shop. Here is my newest cozy, inspired by the cuteness in the air. :) My goal is to sell tons... but maybe I won't sell any and I'll just use this one and sip a delicious coffee feeling pretty with my CozyHearts.

 

Have a sweet, lovely night!!!

 

xoxo,

 

 

 

 

A Little Sweetness

It's Thursday night. Wow! Tomorrow it will be one week since my little family moved in the new apartment... Things are going great! Today I accomplished a lot!! I organized my sewing and crocheting things...and I sorted a mountain of socks!! It's incredible how socks hide everywhere.. we found socks in the couch, under the beds, the dresser, the fridge!! :) I collected all the socks I could find from the old house and today I did the job to find for each of them their "twin-brother"... it took me a while.

This past week, many things have happened.. with the mess surrounding us we even celebrated the birthday of my sweetie-pie husband!! :)) I wanted to make him a nice card, find something he needs.. in the end, among boxes to unpack and clothes to fold, the only thing I did was baking!!! and I know he loves it! We celebrated his birthday for 2 days in a row, on Sunday with the kids.. I prepared a gorgeous Black Forest Gateau. I had never done that recipe in my life.. not even tasted it... ever... but the picture on my "Tea Party Treats" lovely book was so inviting.. and it came out delicious!! It's basically a chocolate cake filled with cherry jam and whipped cream. Everything topped with a smooth and creamy chocolate ganache. mmm

The next day {the actual birthday},  while the children were in school, I made him some incredibly good Limoncello Meringue Pies.. tiny pies... just divine! I wish they were bigger!!!! The lemon cream had a hint of Limoncello {I used the one homemade by me}... I can't describe how good they were.. I just know I will make them again soon! :)

 

 My gorgeous book...

My yummi cake!..

One of my tiny Limoncello Meringue Pies :)

 

I'm getting hungry looking at these pictures.. maybe it's time for a little night-snack.. ;)

 

Hugs to you all!!!

 

xoxo,

P.S.
Welcome to my newest sponsor!!! The lovely Kayla and her adorable SHOP! You will meet her soon on my blog!!!

 



Books for rent!..and more...

I'm finally back at blogging!!! What a nice feeling... :)

Today I want to introduce you {if you don't already know it} to a very interesting and appealing website I recently heard about...

I wonder how many of you, dear readers, are still in college.. but for sure you know somebody who is studying!! Who doesn't study nowadays? I graduated from college in 2001, exactly 2 weeks before I got married and moved to America!! I studied Languages, my favorite subject ever {did you know I fluently speak 4 languages? English, Spanish, French...and of course Italian!}.. ;) I have beautiful memories of the time during college.. how many books I studied! I cannot even count them... and the website I want to show you is about renting text books. I never heard about such a service! I wish I knew about it when I was in college... please check it out, it's called CampusBookRentals.com . The website is very professional and easy to follow, they explain everything in every detail. You can save 40-90% off of bookstore prices.. the shipping is FREE both ways.. you can highlight in the textbooks {my favorite thing to do}.. and once you are done with your book and send it back you can earn money if it gets rented by somebody else!! I would have loved something like that!!

Here's a video that explains everything:

How does it work?:

 

Another amazing thing about this website is that with every book rental they donate money to Operation Smile , an international organization that helps children born with a cleft. I think it would be nice to study your book knowing that you're contributing in healing a child's smile...

 

 

Well, I hope you can all check it out and spread the word about CampusBookRentals.com .

That's all for now!!

 

xoxo,

 

 

Happy to be here!!

Heyla'!!! It seems like many weeks passed since I wrote my last post.. well, it was actually 10 days ago!!! Maybe it's the longest I've been in silence.. Days are passing by so fast, I moved in a new place  3 days ago, you can imagine me surrounded by big {and small} boxes, mountains of clothes to sort, books, video-cassettes {yep, the kids watch videos.. I buy them at goodwill for 1$ each!} and many other things to organize. I'm getting there! I think this new apartment is starting to look like a home and that makes me happy.

Leaving our tiny-tiny little house was like closing a chapter of our life. We have been there for 5 years! My youngest son has lived there all his life {he's almost 4}.. :) We are going to miss many things, especially the big yard and the fruits, fresh from the trees, the birds chirping loud early in the morning, the daily chit-chatting with the mail-man... there are also many things I'm NOT going to miss.. but all I have to say is that it was time to go. God provided another place for us, which so far looks perfect and much bigger!! The kids can actually sleep in separate rooms... yes, that's how crowded we were.. the tiny house was reaaally tiny. :)

Anyways, I will be more active now!! on the blog, in my shop.... I'm also very excited to have a new Sponsor on my blog! I'll speak more about her in the future but I was just want to introduce you to Laura, from La Caseta de Paper. Adorable shop! Please check it out!!

Valentines Hearts

Big hugs to you all!!! So happy to be back...
xoxo,

 

Back to Normal?

 

How have you spent your vacations? I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

I came back two days ago from a beautiful week spent in Washington State with my family. We go visit my Mother-in-law every year for Christmas, I think it's our new tradition and we love it! I'm glad my kids have an opportunity to spend some time with their grandma.

Now I wish I could say we are back to our "normal" life.. but we are not!! We are supposed to move in a new apartment.. hopefully that will happen soon! I closed my Etsy Shop for a few days, almost everything is the house is packed, we are living as if we were camping! :) It's fun but I long for the moment in which I will be finally in the new house and everything will be magically in order and organized! Will that ever happen?? We'll see.. ;) I know there's a lot of work ahead of me!

 

One of the most important things for me to do is to organize {somehow in this great mess} the Feast of the Three Kings that is celebrated tomorrow. This might shock you but my children don't wait for Santa Claus every year but for Melchior, Balthazar and Gaspar, the 3 Magi who came from far away to bring presents to Jesus and adore Him. It's the Feast of the Epiphany, celebrated in the Catholic Church, that closes the time of Christmas.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoration_of_the_Magi

 

Tomorrow my children will receive their presents!! We will hopefully go to a celebration in one of the parishes that has organized the visitation of the Kings (they really come and greet the children!). It's a beautiful way to pass Faith to our kids and really the most beautiful time of the year. We are waiting for them with excitement!

 

Happy Feast of the Epiphany to all those who celebrate it!!!

 

Hugs to all!!

 

 

Happy New Year 2013!!!

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to all my readers...
                               with Love,