~ A Milestone Giveaway ~

Monday morning I hit 50 followers on my little blog here. A small number compared with some other, more popular blogs, but a milestone to me nonetheless. {Taking into consideration that in March of this year I had about 5 followers, this is a big deal to me.}

So, what better excuse to have a GIVE. A. WAY!!! Plus, it's Wednesday ~ we can all use a little pick-me-up to get over the hump in the middle of the week.

Some of you may recall that I purchased some pretty storage boxes from Michael's a little while ago. I had one I specifically purchased for a giveaway, along with a few little goodies to tuck inside.

Cute storage box with magnetic snap closure.

Journal, notepad and note cards tucked away inside . . .

To enter this giveaway all you need to do is leave me a comment below AND become a follower of my blog {hey, we need to get to the next milestone so we can have an even better giveaway!}. You'll have until midnight on Sunday, August 16, 2009, to enter and I will announce the winner on Tuesday, August 18th. This giveaway is open in the U.S. and Canada.

**There seems to be a few questions on where my "follow" box is. When I follow someone's blog I usually just click on the banner above the person's blog header that says "Follow Blog". There is also a box at the very bottom of my blog, where it shows the pictures of other followers, if you prefer to go that route.

~ Major Issues With Blogger ~

I don't know if anyone else is having this issue on Blogger, but the blogs I follow list has disappeared ~ COMPLETELY! I can't add new ones either. I understand other people are having this same issue so it's Blogger and not me {or the two computers I've been getting frustrated on}.

If you are having this issue too {you may never see this post}, but I wanted to let those that I frequently comment on know that I am having serious withdrawal and it is not by choice that I have not visited in the past 36 hours. Argh!

~ Blog Of The Week {Design Ties} ~

One of the first bloggers to befriend me when I started putting more effort into my blog earlier this year was Victoria over at Design Ties ~ and Kelly was close behind! My Canadian friend is very supportive and I believe we have a lot in common. I tend to think that when I feel this way about people I've never met, meeting them in person would be a gabfest as if we knew each other all along.

Over at the Design Ties blog you get that same feeling ~ like your sitting down with Kelly and Victoria and having a chat over coffee in Victoria's newly redone kitchen. Between the two, they come up with fantastic topics and the pictures to go along with them. I love knowing that Kelly loves purple and that Victoria is building a retaining wall in her front garden.

Victoria's Kitchen Redo

They also have some majorly nice giveaways! This tassel was one such giveaway, and I wound up purchasing a tassel for myself.

Good fun and good friends!

~ A Bright Spot On A Dreary Day ~

I don't know how the weather is by you, but today it is cloudy and rainy here ~ a very dreary day. I thought I would share some eye candy with you from a website that I enjoy visiting ~ Susan Goldstick, Inc.



Susan Goldstick, Inc., has THE loveliest cabinet knobs and pulls, finials and banister balls, bottle toppers, genie boxes, tiebacks, furniture and more. Prepare yourself for a deluge of delicious eye candy!

Furniture

Rods and finials

Cabinet knobs {in many sizes}

Tiebacks

More tiebacks

And, again

Cabinet knob

Assorted items

Cabinet knob

Genie jar

Genie jar

Finial

Drawer pull

Bottle toppers

Bottle topper with pedestal

Cabinet knob

Here is just a bit from the "About" section of the website:

In 1992 I introduced "house jewelry" - a group of ten distinctive cabinet pulls sporting names like Merlin and Aladdin, each lavishly colored in hues of emerald and amethyst. Hand sculpted and embedded with Austrian crystals. I thought of my creations as little treasures and I loved photographing them. (They're still my favorite subjects.)

These bejeweled cabinet pulls were forerunners to an exciting and innovative concept in decorative hardware; bringing focus to the small and precious detail. Interior designers, kitchen planners, cabinet makers and absolutely anyone who enjoys beautiful things, are among the many whom have discovered the challenge and the magic of decorating with the knobs.

The collection has now grown to include more than 100 different knob styles in an endless array of color possibilities from our special color palette. Plus we've added drawer pulls, decorative drapery hardware, lamps and even furniture! Like the knobs, our furniture is a work of art. Painted with layers of lustrous color and fanciful details, each piece is adorned with the knobs. It's the perfect harmony!

I'd love to get one of her items for a giveaway! Hmmm, I might just have to look into that {although, it would be totally hard to give it away!}.

All photos are from the Susan Goldstick, Inc., website.

~ Even More Home Office Accessories ~

Can there be too many posts about home offices and their accompanying accessories? I think not. Take a gander at the following items I found at Horchow's website. {Disclaimer: I use Horchow images a lot because they are really lovely items ~ not that they are in my budget}.

I think Ballard Designs might carry pushpins that match these paperclips. And look, they do. Although these are gold.

Photo courtesy of Ballard Designs

I have something similar to the above set, except my pen holder started life as a bathroom tumbler/cup that I found on clearance at Home Goods {and it's a harlequin pattern, not a check pattern}.

THIS would go so great in that home office in my mind that I posted about a few weeks ago. I must figure out a way to make my own as this magnetic board is $65.00 at Horchow and is 13 x 19.

Love the colors in these notecards and would love to find something similar but with home decor elements instead of shoes {although the shoes are really cute!}.

File boxes that don't look like file boxes.

All images from the Horchow website, unless otherwise indicated.

Along these lines, let me just offer up this teaser ~ I contacted a company that I've mentioned before in blogs {no, not Horchow} to see if they would consider a giveaway. I am very happy to say that they have agreed and will be sending me something of their choice as a giveaway item, some time this month. I don't want to say too much, because I'm always afraid I'll jinx it, but I think it will make for a great giveaway! Look for that giveaway later this month.

~ Red House Happenings Apron Giveaway ~

What a great post to see as I was sipping my coffee this morning. Red House Happenings is having a giveaway and it is this adorable half apron!





This giveaway runs through August 14, 2009, so head on over there, read the rules and enter for this little beauty ~ I am!

Blog Of The Week ~ Guildcraft Rugs

This week's blog is Guildcraft Rugs and Tracy Davis is the woman behind this very interesting and educational site all about rugs. There is even a video entitled "Making Our Carpets"!

Tracy Davis of Guildcraft Rugs

Here is just a bit from the site:

"We produce handmade artisan carpets for architects and designers, as well as design collections for private label by other companies. With weaving workshops in three countries, we can tailor materials and technique to the aesthetic and technical requirements of each designer’s creative vision."

I grabbed a few images of Guildcraft rugs from the site to share with you. The colors are fantastic!

There are also some great pictures of room settings with these carpets, as well as a FAQ section. Please head over to Guildcraft Rugs and take a look at Tracy's site, the eye candy is delicious!