+Danielle Doerr Framed Frosting: June 2012

6.30.2012

Meet Sophie from Bagatelle Designs

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About the artist:


My name is Sophie.  I was born and raised in Belgium (oui, je parle le français) and moved to the US with my husband and our three daughters in 2000.  We decided to plant our tent in Colorado because we love the mountains so much.  I love the outdoors and to ride my bike in the beautiful Colorado countryside.


I have always been attracted by colors even before starting making jewelry.  I would always find a room to paint in our house or a piece of furniture to decorate in vivid colors.  Photobucket


What started as a relaxing hobby at the beginning developed into a full-blown passion for beads and jewelry.  I particularly love Swarovski crystals because of their inner beauty and sparkle.  Swarovski crystals have a magical and sparkly quality to them that reflects the beauty of the natural world surrounding us. They can be found in many of my designs.


I have now been making jewelry for many years.  I started selling my creations through house parties, local craft fairs, then moved my business online on etsy.


Etsy is a wonderful platform where you get to meet creative people from all over the world.  Each has his/her own style, inspired by their country of origin, and they all come together in a kaleidoscope of talents.

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What makes my jewelry unique?


As a busy mom always running right and left, I felt the need for a line of jewelry that would do all the thinking for me!  I wanted jewelry that would go with all my outfits so I wouldn’t have to wonder which earrings to wear today.  Busy moms don’t have the time for that.  That’s why Bagatelle Designs makes happy, colorful and versatile jewelry for women on the go who have little time but still care about their look!

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Thank you so much Sophie for sharing your story today!
Aren't her pieces just fabulous? Be sure to check out her shop!

Bagatelle Designs

6.29.2012

Our Love Story

I've been analyzing my blog quite a bit lately and what it means to be a "life and style" blog. I share PLENTY of style every week with my Current Crush posts. However, there aren't a whole lot of life posts. I'm hoping to change that in the upcoming months! Especially with moving into the new apartment in August, I am sure there will be some home decor and recipe posts along the way.

Today I thought I'd share "Our Story"



--- Meet Q ---



Time Together:   3 1/2 years

How We Met:   We met in high school at a basketball game. I was playing in the pep band and Quincey played on the school basketball team. We started talking and really hit it off from there. However, I wasn't allowed to date until I was 16 and he patiently waited. Then on the morning of my 16th birthday, I opened my locker to find it filled with flowers from his parent's greenhouse, a teddy bear, a Naked drink and cream cheese muffin (my favorites). Then I turned around to find him asking me out. It was the sweetest thing. We've been together ever since.





3 Things I Love About Him:

1. He is so SUPPORTIVE of my blog. I'll mention something like "hey honey. I reached 800 followers today" and he'll say things like "wow, that's awesome!" or "let's throw a party!"

2. He has AMAZING taste in jewelry and loves to shop for unique pieces on Etsy.



3. We have so much fun doing ANYTHING together. We love watching TV, with Modern Family and Love in the Wild being our favorites! We also love to bake White Chocolate Coconut cookies and go to sports games together. But we could both also be perfectly content laying on the couch and talking for hours about absolutely nothing.



Our Relationship:

For almost the entire time we've been dating, Q and I have been in a long distance relationship. We had a nice first year together when we attended the same high school. However, Q is a year older than me so he graduated and I still had another year to go. The university he picked was 2 and a half hours away and we only got to see each other every three weeks or so. Then last fall, I attended my first year of university. Our two schools are still about 2 hours apart and we only see each other every 3 weeks. It just depends on my weekend work schedule.

The time we've spent apart has been pretty difficult, but we've survived it. The short weekends we have together are something I really look forward to. But then at the end of the year I am usually counting down the school days left! Summertime for us means spending every other day together since we live in the same hometown. We tend to look at our summer vacation as a way to make up for all the lost time throughout the school year when we don't see each other.

This summer all of that changed...

Q found out in late April that he got a paid internship for a pretty large company...based out of Oklahoma! At first I tried to forget about him being almost 8 hours away. I tried to be happy for him and this new and amazing opportunity, but that was hard to do when he could see I was unhappy.

After praying about it for awhile and hoping for the best, Q got a call a couple weeks later. It turned out this company has two branches in Kansas as well. I was so relieved to hear that he would be only be 3 hours away now. For me, that was something I could handle since we've gotten pretty good at the long distance thing by now.

I moved Q into his new apartment at the end of May and couldn't be happier for him. He has a gorgeous apartment all to himself and a closet which is at least twice as big as mine. In my opinion this is completely unfair. You don't deserve a closet that big if you don't have the clothes to fill it!



I still only see him every 2 or 3 weeks which is different than our normal summer schedule, but I am just thrilled that he's not 8 hours away. When we have a weekend together we make the most of it! So if there's a weekend where I'm not blogging or on Twitter much, it's probably because he's home.

So that's our love story. 
I'd love for you to leave a link to yours!


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6.28.2012

Current Crush: Bright Lights

It's Thursday and you know what that means...Current Crush time! Feel free to write up a post and share what you have been "crushing" on for the week. Then, just link up your post below!


Today Danielle (what a great name!) from The Life of an "Ordinary Housewife" is co-hosting with me. Since she's donating a FABULOUS giveaway prize, she'll be the only co-host this week. And just like last week, there will be another giveaway! You MUST be linked up in order to win. I'll be using Random.org to pick a # in the Linky and that will be my winner for the week!

{If you'd like to donate a giveaway prize or be a future co-host, please e-mail me!}

 Follow your host:
Danielle from Framed Frosting

This week's co-host is:


The Rules
1. Follow your hosts
{They are the first 3 in the Linky and they WILL return the favor.}

2. Say Hi to at least 3 new people
{Or more! Introduce yourself... Its a great way to make new friends!}

3. Spread the word!
{The more the merrier! Grab a button and add it to your blog, 
Also, feel free to Tweet or Facebook about the link up.}







Current Crush Thursdays

Congratulations to Courtney from Baxtron Life! You were #51 to link up and the winner from last week's Current Crush post! Please e-mail me within the next 48 hours to claim your prize!



This week we're giving away...



$35 credit to Danielle's Etsy shop!
{this credit includes shipping costs}

So this week I had a little shopping spree at Kohl's as seen here. After I bought those bright coral capris, I went back and bought a pair of mint green ones. I am absolutely obsessed with both of them. They are such a simple way to spice up an outfit and they are super comfy! I can definitely say that's what I've been crushing on this week. Here are a few of my favorite BRIGHT pieces...

bright lights


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6.27.2012

Track Your Blog Stats

As you all know, I've been blogging for a little over a year now. Until January of this year, my blog was mostly for me. I only had 100 followers or so, but not many of those interacted with me, left comments, etc. so I made a New Years Resolution. My goal was to grow my blog and not to be afraid of what others would think of me.

So I began engaging more with other bloggers, I signed up for Twitter, and I got my name out there. In the past few months my blog has expanded from those 100 followers to now 800 (as of Friday!!) It makes me a proud mama to say that my blog now has eight times the amount of followers. I am so thankful for each and everyone of you. The relationships I've made, the bloggers I've connected with, and all the new people I've met along the way.

One thing I've continued to do each week is to track the amount of followers I have. Some weeks are better than others and that all depends on how much you're promoting your blog. It has been so exciting to see the blog grow more and more each week. I also love being able to analyze each small statistic to see what social media outlets are working the best for me, bringing in new followers, etc.



To track my stats, I use this handy little chart. I made it myself and it seems to do the trick quite nicely. It's also really handy to send to potential sponsors who are interested in purchasing advertising space on your blog. This way they know exactly what kind of growth they can expect from you.



Do you track your blog stats?
I love seeing how much it can grow in just ONE week.



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6.25.2012

Weekend Update

It's time for...the Weekend Update with Seth Myers. Just kidding. But seriously, I love watching that segment of SNL each weekend. Seth is just hilarious and I love the nights when Stephonn joins in for the hottest clubs! Anyways, today I'm linking up for the Sami's Shenanigans Weekend Update!


Here's a look at my weekend in pictures...


1.  finally found some great sunnies at Target for $16.99

2. one of the new tops I tried on at Kohl's

3. what I ended up purchasing at Kohl's

4. "track your blog stats" tutorial will be posted Wednesday!



5. baking my favorite recipe, Best Ever Banana Muffins

6. the blog reached 800 followers this weekend :)

7. my Sponsor page got a re-design thanks to Amanda at RDD!

8. eating those muffins and some cotton candy milk



9. listening to the John Mayer Pandora station

10. giving myself a much needed pedicure with Zoya Jancyn

11. Fruit Punch Recovery from APS; LOVE using this in smoothies!
{they also have lemonde, orange pineapple, and blueberry}

12. working on my essay due Tuesday for my online class

Another thing I did this weekend was sign up for Shanna's Bauble Swap. Basically it's a jewelry swap so you send a new piece of jewelry to a blogger and get one in return! Sounds like fun!






What did you do this weekend?

PS: If your name is Kate then you've won the Just Lovely/Fawn & Flora giveaway!  And the winner of the Shabby Apple $75 giveaway is Brooke! I've e-mailed you both already.

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6.22.2012

Friday's Fancies: Color Blocking

It's been awhile (see here) since I last linked up for Friday's Fancies, but I have missed them so much. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE doing my Current Crush posts but with the two being back-to-back, sometimes I run out of inspiration. However, today I have plenty to go around! 

 Any girl who is a friend of mine can tell you that I am obsessed with a few 'C' things: chevron, coffee, and color blocking! So alas, I'm linking up today to share my love for color block!

color block love



Psst: If you're interested in participating in Friday's Fancies, head on over to Long Distance Loving to sign up and receive her weekly e-mails. This way you'll know the themes in advance and have plenty of time to create your own inspiration board.





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6.21.2012

Current Crush: Bright Sunnies

It's Thursday and you know what that means...Current Crush time! Last week we had 38 fabulous ladies link up to share what they had been "crushing" on for the week. And just like last week, there will be another small giveaway! You MUST be linked up in order to win. I'll be using Random.org to pick a # in the Linky and that will be my winner for the week!

{If you'd like to donate a giveaway prize or be a future co-host, please send e-mail me!}

 Follow your host:
Danielle from Framed Frosting

This week's co-hosts are:

The Rules
1. Follow your hosts
{They are the first 3 in the Linky and they WILL return the favor.}

2. Say Hi to at least 3 new people
{Or more! Introduce yourself... Its a great way to make new friends!}

3. Spread the word!
{The more the merrier! Grab a button and add it to your blog, 
Also, feel free to Tweet or Facebook about the link up.}







Current Crush Thursdays

Congratulations to Brooke from Covered in Grace! You were #26 to link up and the winner from last week's Current Crush post! Please e-mail me within the next 48 hours to claim your prize!


This week I'm giving away...
another Guest Post on Framed Frosting


This week something terrible happened...I broke my favorite pair of sunglasses. I teach swim lessons each morning and with the strong reflection off the water, sunglasses are a must. So now I'm on the hunt for a new pair of sunnies that I can wear and hopefully not bust this time. The funniest part of the story is that I didn't drop them. Nope, I went to fold them up and the one side just came right off.

bright sunnies


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6.20.2012

#photoadayJUNE: Part One

I started the Photo a Day Challenge in May and had so much fun. (See Part One and Part Two to catch up) Today I'm here to share with you Part One of my #photoadayJUNE challenge.


I lay in bed for at least an hour each morning while I read through blogs & tweet.


DAY 2: Empty {no picture}
 

Chipotle hard tacos with chicken, rice, and cheese. YUM!


This was a hint for one of the 10 Days of Giveaways (anyone have an idea which one?)



Getting the concessions posters ready for the Newman fundraiser on Friday!



Day 6: Hat {no picture}



I seriously wouldn't be able to live without this.


Day 8: Six O-Clock {no picture}



Working the midnight shift and spending time in the breakroom watching Grey's re-runs!



The Justyn Newman Fundraiser on Friday. More details can be found HERE.



My bedroom door in all it's boring white glory.


My fabulous scarf collection. There's about 18 different ones!


My new KU wall hanging from the fundraiser silent auction.
Can't wait to hang this in my apartment next fall!



Winding down at the end of a long day to catch up on blogging and e-mails.


A fabulous birthday card I made today. What do you think?


Day 16: Out and About {no picture}


My Little Black Bag, which is my purse at the moment.
 Filled with my VB wallet and all my extras including some yummy lip products!



{follow me on Twitter to stay updated 
with my #photoaday challenges.}



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6.19.2012

10 Days of Giveaways: Shabby Apple


Like I promised all of you, I added an extra day to celebrate reaching 600 followers! Then, a few days later I exceeded 700 followers so this is a BIG giveaway to celebrate both. Unfortunately, this will be the LAST giveaway for quite some time as these have been a lot of work, but so much at the same time. I hope you've all enjoyed them as much as I have!!

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As you all know, I absolutely adore Shabby Apple. I haven't had a chance to purchase any of their gorgeous dresses although I find myself drooling over different ones each time I visit their page.

Like this one -- perfect for summer!

10 Days of Giveaways: $75 gift certificate to Shabby Apple

But right now, I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with the nice, vibrant yellow pieces. They are so bright, yet fun, and sure to catch anyone's eye!

Here are a few I'm currently loving...

10 Days of Giveaways: $75 gift certificate to Shabby Apple

10 Days of Giveaways: $75 gift certificate to Shabby Apple

10 Days of Giveaways: $75 gift certificate to Shabby Apple


Today Shabby Apple is giving one lucky reader the chance to win a $75 gift certificate!


They are also offering Framed Frosting readers a discount! At checkout, use the code: FRAMEDFROSTING10OFF to save 10% on your entire purchase!


Giveaway Details:
- This giveaway is open to US readers only!
- You MUST "Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook to be eligible
- Giveaway will last 4 days so be sure to enter before it ends!
- Winner will be announced on the blog and contacted via e-mail.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

6.18.2012

10 Days of Giveaways: Just Lovely


I'm back with the last original 10 Days of Giveaways. But then the blog hit 600 followers shortly after these giveaways started so there will be an "extra" one coming up soon!

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Today's giveaway comes from the oh so talented Heather from Just Lovely.

10 Days of Giveaways: $25 to both Just Lovely and Fawn & Flora Shops!
 
She blogs about so many things, but one of my personal favorites are her Thrifting Thursday posts. Heather also shares some amazing recipes and her love for DIY projects and photography.
  
Not only is Just Lovely a blog, but this fabulous girl also owns her own shop! The Just Lovely shop is a place where Heather sells gorgeous hair accessories like a few of the ones seen below.

10 Days of Giveaways: $25 to both Just Lovely and Fawn & Flora Shops!

10 Days of Giveaways: $25 to both Just Lovely and Fawn & Flora Shops!
 
She also runs a monthly subscription service called the Love Club. For $12/month, you are guaranteed to received one hairpiece and some other fabulous beauty and fashion goodies too! I just signed up for July and I am so excited to receive my first box. You also earn reward points for referring friends to the Love Club, so if you sign up be sure to write my name down :)

10 Days of Giveaways: $25 to both Just Lovely and Fawn & Flora Shops!
Heather also co-owns a gorgeous shop with Dana from The Wonder Forest. If you're a lover of pretty packaging and all things floral, this is the place for you! They have absolutely everything.

10 Days of Giveaways: $25 to both Just Lovely and Fawn & Flora Shops!
1 // 2 // 3 // 4

I definitely plan on purchasing a few things from their shop to use for my new shop. I'm thinking of sticking with my general blog theme in mint + white and plenty of pretty packaging to match! I am seriously so in love with this mint green chevron washi tape. That will be a must for me!

I also love this wooden display tray. How adorable would this be in a home office? Perfect for keeping things nice and organized! It also comes in a Chesnut finish too which is gorgeous.



Today Heather is giving one lucky reader the chance to win a $25 shop credit to Just Lovely. The same winner will also get $25 shop credit to Fawn & Flora, the shop that Heather and Dana co-own. **Note: The Fawn & Flora items you pick can ONLY be from the US shipping divison**


Heather has also been so generous to offer Framed Frosting readers a discount! 
At checkout, use the code: FROSTING to save 15% on your purchase in EITHER shop!
 


Giveaway Details:
- This giveaway is open to US readers only!
- You MUST be a Framed Frosting reader
- Giveaway will last 4 days so be sure to enter before it ends!
- Winner will be announced on the blog and contacted via e-mail.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

6.17.2012

Meet Jennifer from Our Love and Blessing

Hello!  I'm Jennifer and I blog over at Our Love and Our Blessing where we talk about life, our baby and all things DIY and I'm thrilled to be here today posting for Danielle.  She's one fabulous giril!  And a very sweet friend of mine.


I'm excited to share a quick little "painted jar" project with you today.  It's so easy and most importantly it's pretty!

Supplies: 
- a few 53 cent wal-mart acrylic paints
- glass jars: I used left over pasta jars, a frappuccino jar and a few mason jars 
- wax paper
-flowers

1) applied my paint, 2) swirled it around in each jar until the inside was completely covered with paint, 3) set upside down (on wax paper) to drain the leftover paint and, 4) turned them over to let them dry over night. 
The colors are perfect for summer and would go great on a kitchen sink shelf, 
a mantle, as a centerpiece or even an entry table.

I hope you liked this project and will make a few yourself!  We have tons of easy projects on our blog (among other things).  Come over and check it out!  You can also follow us on twitter, bloglovin, pinterest and hellocotton!

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Thank you SO much Jennifer for sharing this project with me and all my readers.
I've got a few mason jars laying around here that I can't wait to re-design now :)
You all should DEFINITELY check out Jennifer and her sweet blog.
She is so creative (can't you tell?) and absolutely lovely!
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