Giveaway Winner

A big thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway to win a daisy chain headband!
I really enjoyed hearing your feedback, and am so grateful for your lovely comments. They are very encouraging :-)
I wish that I could send daisy bands to you all, but there could only be one winner. I used random.org to make sure the selection would be fair.
...And the winner is:

Batool Jafri

Congratulations lovely, I hope that you treasure your prize XD

Amy xxx

Giveaway!

I've been such a bad blogger lately, and have not been writing about any of the many things that I have to share with you. So I have decided that it is time to do a giveaway! I've been meaning to do one since I started this blog! Better late than never, eh? I am also so excited to introduce you to my latest creations!

Here is George the lion

Ivory the elephant:

And finally Bella, the ballerina bear

They are all available for adoption now. I hope that you love them!

And now for the giveaway!

I openened by first Etsy shop, Blushing Dove Boutique, about a year ago now. It's been so much fun to create all of the pieces that I've added, and the lovely feedback I've received has been so encouraging!

I am so grateful to the beautiful girls who have modelled my pieces. I aim to create jewellery and accessories that make the wearer feel every bit as beautiful as she is.

Above you can see my vintage-inspired lace earrings. 

I also wanted the items that I make to be fun. I am a weight-conscious girl, and designed my measuring-tape headband (above) with the intention of making light of this hapless mindset. I abhor taking my own measurements! Seeing as the forehead is completely incapable of gaining weight, I thought it was the safest place for a tape-measure!

 I feel that I should mention that I think curvy girls are beautiful! I am one myself, and am gradually learning to love my curves!

All of the wonderful people I've met through Etsy have inspired and encouraged me to branch out and try new mediums. I have enjoyed crocheting (above) and working with Polymer clay (below) to create some of my favourite pieces in my shop.

And on to the Prize! I am giving away one of my daisy chain forehead bands! It has been my best seller, and so I would love for you to have it!



To enter: you must:

• Follow my blog
• Visit my shop(s): Blushing Dove Boutique and Teacup Teddies, choose your favourite item and leave a post here telling me what it is (please include your email address in your post)

For additional entires:

• Purchase something from one of my shops (3 entires)
• Follow me on facebook (1 entry)
• Follow me on Twitter. My username is: BlushingDove1 (1 entry)
• Blog, Stumble, Tweet, etc about this giveaway (1 entry)

Good Luck, I can't wait to hear what your favourite items are!!!

Wedding Memories

Although I had in mind to dedicate this blog mainly to creative things, I would like to share something a bit more personal this time. My husband and I have been married for almost two years, and have only just got our wedding pictures back! Yes, it is true that we are extremely unorganised- but how exciting it is to re-live those wonderful wedding memories all of these months later. I would like to share some of the pictures we received with you. I hope that in sharing my own memories of the most special day of my life, I will both remind you wives of how wonderful your own day was, and excite all of you brides-to-be who are planning your own 'Big Day'.

Here are my little flower-girls

My dress was by Maggie Sottero. Brides-to-be be warned: her dresses are stunning!

I really loved my Swarovski crystal wedding jewellery, and it didn't cost the earth either! I found a necklace that I loved for about £80 in the bridal shop (and, may I add, it was not even excellent quality. These shops just see you coming!). I didn't want to spend so much, so I looked around and found a Japanese lady in town who made beautiful crystal jewellery for a fraction of the price in the bridal shop. I think the necklace cost me just £25! So I would encourage you to look around too- there are some wonderful sellers on Etsy!

Our personalised wedding-cake topper was soo cute! I can't remember which site I brought it from, but oh how I wish I had discovered Etsy when planning our wedding! Ours was embarrassingly pricey, but you can find very similar ones on Etsy for much less! Happy Bead Day has some very similar to ours. If you don't have a high budget for such novelties, then Proverbial Daisies has some beautiful cake-toppers that won't break the bank!

I hope that you have enjoyed viewing our pictures! :-)

My Little Sugar: Box Opening

Oh how excited I was when, earlier this week, a Parcelforce van pulled up outside my house. Could it be a delivery for me? Surely not - Fairyland had only confirmed that my order had been dispatched at the beginning of the week! But, lo and behold, it was the box that contained my long awaited pukipuki Sugar!

It was much lighter than I expected, and I was overjoyed that it had sailed straight through customs!

The first thing I saw inside the box was this beautiful Fairyland calendar- what a lovely surprise!

Almost there...

              I ordered this little girl back in December, so finally getting her was really exciting!

Here is the beautiful 'Story Book' box that she came in :-)

                                                 Here she is after her long journey- better get some clothes on quick!

Her name is Ava and she's very girlie- just like me!

Ava fits right in with my little critters XD



BJD Confessions

I must confess that I have been a lover of dolls from a very young age. Whilst my sister would shriek at the site of baby dolls, (and still recoils from anything remotely doll-like), I secretly harboured a desire for a baby-born (complete with 'feedable' mouth and nappies that needed changing as a result). Looking back, I feel that I owe some gratitude to my sister as her hatred for these dolls spared me the delights of cleaning up baby mess in those tender years. This privaledge was reserved for my adolescence, where my part-time job in a nursery sated my curiosity as to what I had been missing out on. Nevertheless, my love of dolls was something I harboured throughout my childhood, school life, and university career, and did not revisit until recently.

Since joining the Etsy community, I have come to know some wonderful and inspiring artists who have encouraged me to explore and celebrate the side of myself that I had formerly concealed as 'juvenile'. Part of this exploration involved admitting that I do love dolls, and has evolved into a desire to own as many as possible! The revellation that I am not alone in this pursuit has also been enlightening: I have met some wonderful, artistic doll collectors through the Den of Angels forum!

In this and following posts, I would like to introduce you to the wonderful world of Ball-jointed-dolls, and to share some of the beautiful dolls and doll-related items that have been created by Etsy sellers.

I was looking to buy my first BJD (ball-jointed-doll) with the money I received as a Christmas gift (hoorah) and I really had no idea where to start. Fairyland was recommended to me by an Etsy artisan, and I just fell in love with their dolls! Their pukipuki 'Sugar' was the one that I just HAD to have, she is just too cute! I don't have a picture of her yet as, although I ordered her in December, she has yet to arrive (unfortunately the processing time is quite a wait).

And now a further confession: I have ordered my second BJD! Her given name is 'Lan' and she belongs to a company called Angel of Dream. At 44cm, she is larger than a pukipuki (a wee 4") and I think she is just beautiful. They are both on their way and I can't wait to post pictures of their box openings once they arrive! Any inspiration as to what to name them would be greatly appreciated!

Here is AoD's Lan

Dolls on Etsy

Everytime I browse this intriguing online marketplace I am astonished by the talent that I find. I adore 'Howl' the wolf, who has been made by The Mushroom Peddler. Her little corner of Etsy is a cavern of creative delights!

Another proficient artist of glorious dolls is Garden of Dolls. Her beautiful designs include adorable elf dolls, sultry gothic dolls, and pretty fairy dolls. Below is one of my favourite.

The lady behind Damsel Dolls skillfully customises the make-up of Obitsu dolls. This is very skilful work, and I am intrigued by the beauty of her dolls.

The following doll has been made by Uniquely Yours By Bdent. Brenda Dent is a full-time doll artist been who has been sculpting OOAK (One Of A Kind) dolls in polymer clay since the early 90's. I think her work is just stunning!

I hope that I have suceeded in introducing you to the wonderful world of BJD's, and that you will peruse the shops owned by these fabulous artists! Even if you cannot afford to buy these beautiful works of art, (and do not wish to save every penny you have towards owning one, as I do), I hope that you will enjoy viewing the artistic expression embodied by each piece. I love the photograph opportunities provided by popular BJD's (made by companies such as Fairyland, LUTS, Volks, Angel of Dream, etc), but still love looking at those crafted by Etsy artists. I cannot wait until my dolls arrive, and look forward to taking photographs of them to share!

Allow me to Introduce Clara's Closet Bags!

This is my first ever shop feature, and I cannot think of a lovlier Etsy seller to feature than Sallianne Norelli! She and I met through Etsy-she is the first ever adoptive parent of a Teacup Teddy!

Sallianne Norelli and her mom, MaryAnn started Clara's Closet Handbags in the summer of 2010 as a tribute to Clara, MaryAnn's mother and Sallianne's grandmother. Clara had been a lifelong crafter and everyone in the family prized her creations. When Clara, whose Alzheimer's and kidney failure got the best of her in later years, finally passed away in 2007, the family was left without a creative force. So mom and daughter decided to do Clara proud by creating artsy handbags sewn by hand. They are decorated with vintage accents like buttons or pins from Clara's collection.

 

The Clara's Closet line then grew to include home decor items like soft pillows. The pillows are called "Pillows with a Purpose" as a portion of the proceeds go to Alzheimer's research. Sallianne then started adding her handmade softie animals to the collection and also vintage finds like perfume bottles and other vintage wares. The selection is always changing.

 

Sallianne and her son, Joey

 

Sallianne not only makes gorgeous items, but she blogs too! I had a read of her blog and thoroughly enjoyed it! She certainly has a way with words.

 

 

 

The Clara's Closet Blog celebrates a new artisan or home crafter with each entry. The Norelli ladies both believe in cheering other artists on as well as giving back to the community.

 

Please visit Sallianne's wonderful shop and show this fabulous Etsy seller the support she deserves. My nan had Alzheimer's, so I think it is wonderful that we have sellers like Sallianne who raise awareness and give support to such charities.

Valentines Discount!!

Happy Valentines everyone!
As a special gift I'd love to offer you a discount in my shop

You lovelies can have 15% off until the end of the week!
Just type in this coupon code at checkout:
1VALENTINES1

Enjoy :-)