a happy mailbox.

So the last few days have felt like Christmas for me, minus the food babies, excessive spending and annoying family. I knew I had a little surprise on the way from Annie Cristina, but I had no idea that she'd basically send me an entire store! I can't lie, she's one of my favorite blogging friends, and I often wish Florida and Virginia were closer to one another! Even Chris was jealous; anytime I get fun packages in the mail, he always says that maybe he should start blogging for all the great friends!

Can you believe everything she sent me? And I also got a cute beaded elephant bracelet in the package, but I forgot to photograph it (even thought I set it out for that very reason). I'm sure you can see why I feel a little spoiled right now! Side note, do you feel weird about posting pictures of yourself? I do. Okay, so as if that wasn't enough, that's not all I received! The sweet and beautiful Fritzi Marie offered to send me a set of Grease buttons! Growing up, my brother and I religiously watched Grease and Mannequin every single day of our summer break for several years. I still love Grease and sing the songs quite often, and I imagine this button now makes me an official Pink Lady (Frenchie was my favorite)!

While I'm on the subject of gifts, remember how I begged you to help Chris and I out with the altruismed project? Well, I still have some little gifts waiting around to send to anyone who prints out a card (or multiples) and lets us know how they used it!

charlottesville necklace winner!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who visited my little display on Saturday! I hope this giveaway was as exciting for you as it was for Chris; he couldn't wait to draw the winner's name last night! So, without further ado, the winner of the bullet casing and rutilated quartz necklace is...

Carrianne K.! Carrianne, please email me your mailing address so I can send your new necklace! Thanks so much to everyone who participated. Maybe I'll do it again next time!

charlottesville, i love you.

So after all the work and fussing (thanks, Chrissie, for being a good sport) in preparation, the show in Charlottesville is now a thing of the past. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love Charlottesville. The people are so much more friendly, the atmosphere is completely different, the restaurant selection is better (yes, I love to eat...a lot), and mainly, it's just a more diverse city with more to offer. Anyway, it was a nice, if not ridiculously hot, day yesterday, and while it started off slow, I think I did pretty well in the end; certainly better than I would have done sitting at home yesterday! The only problem is that Chris and I were in vendor mode and forgot to take pictures of my display! Here's what we did get...

The gallery is split into two buildings, so to direct traffic to our nice, AIR CONDITIONED building, Sarah was kind enough to make funny signs to get the shoppers attention! The next picture is of my pita-and-coca-cola-stuffed self on the way back to the parking lot after dinner. Out of all the nicknames I've picked up along the way, I think "Finch" is my favorite. Haley started calling me that a while back, so I told Chris to get a picture of Finch by Finch to show Songbird (Haley)!

At first I had nothing but spiders...EVERYWHERE! Luckily they've seemed to move on, but now my yard has been overtaken by grasshoppers, and by the looks of the picture above, I'd say I can expect a lot more. This couple kept me company while I was resin casting the other day on my deck; they weren't shy, either.

P.S. If you entered the giveaway at The Bridge yesterday, don't forget to check back in the morning to see if you're the lucky winner! Also, if you haven't already, be sure to enter the bullet and aquamarine necklace giveaway!

it's time for a giveaway

I'm a little behind on doing another giveaway, but hopefully you'll think the item up for grabs is worth the wait! Since these seem to be the most popular item in the dinosaur toes inventory, I figured I'd give you the chance to win a bullet necklace. This particular necklace is made from a silver tone .38 caliber bullet casing with a raw chunk of aquamarine; the casing and stone are suspended from a vintage brass chain that I've oxidized to black.

You have multiple chances to enter, and here are the rules:

-Leave me a comment telling me your favorite gem stone (1 entry, and mandatory)

-Leave me a comment if you are a follower (1 entry)

-Leave me a comment and link if you blog or tweet about this giveaway (1 entry)

-Leave me a comment if you purchase something from our shop during the giveaway (10 entries)

I hope you like the giveaway item, and I wish you luck! This giveaway will close on Sunday July 31, and I'll announce the winner right here the following day.

wishlist wednesday!

Most of the wish lists I do are made up of things I really like, and let's be honest, wouldn't mind having, but they aren't my heart's desire. Today (and pretty much ever day) I've been thinking about California, and how there's some indescribable and powerful hold it has on me; it's like when I go there I feel like I'm home. If I can ever convince Chris to go along with it, California is the place I'd like to be. Permanently. So my wish list today is what I really, truly want more than anything else...

First, I'm going to need a plane and a ticket to take me there. SFO, LAX, doesn't matter as long as I'm California-bound! Next I'll need a suitcase full of (all new...maybe?) clothes for the California sunshine. And I don't really need a plate, I'm sure there are plenty of plates in California so I won't need to take my own, but I needed something that actually said California, right?

Just for kicks (pun not intended at first), I thought I'd share a tangible thing I wouldn't mind owning. Cotton candy pink vintage cowboy boots! I'm truly not a pink, girly person, but how awesome are these?!? I could be a pink person for these babies.

Have a wish list you'd like to share? If so, please leave me a link in the comments section so I can see what you're currently lusting over!