Vera Bradley, Nautical Necklace, and Bird Ave art print GIVEAWAY!

On my current "must-have list" are all of the prints from the most amazing Etsy store, Bird Ave. I came across the store when I was looking for the perfect print for Harper's nursery. When I saw their "Oh Baby I Love Your Way" print, I knew I needed it!

The only problem was that I wanted a print that had blue and green in it. Well Jose solved that problem right away. I sent him color suggestions and he customized it for me! When I received it in the mail it was exactly what I hoped for and I was very impressed with the high-quality and vibrant print! A total steal for 20 bucks. So I wanted to share a little bit about Bird Ave with you all.

Bird Ave is the product of Jose and his lovely wife. They make an absolutely amazing team. One of my favorite series in Jose's store is the Cities Series. It is absolutely fantastic! I think I have to purchase the Greenville, SC print and have Jose match the color to my KitchenAid mixer. Wouldn't that be cute!? The series has cities from all over the world including Boston, Washington DC, Louisville, Sydney, LA, NYC, Wilmington, New Orleans... and MANY MANY More! You can check them all out HERE and these are some of my local favorites:

Charlotte

Nashville

Greenville, SC

Charleston, SC

He has several other "Carolina" themed prints that are fantastic. I think this one would look pretty darn good in garnet and black!

Jose Shared Some Facts About the Shop:

• A lot of effort is put into making sure each print goes out perfect. Even though I have designed the prints earlier, when each order is received I often make little changes that enhance the print or add dates, etc. that customers request.
• Custom requests are welcome. It is great when customers make requests for quotes from their wedding song or places they have traveled.
• We always want a customer to smile when they open their print or have a feeling that is unexpected.  So, we put a lot of thought into the packaging. (I absolutely LOVED the package!! I had a huge smile on my face when I opened up Harper's print!)
• We understand that artwork can be very expensive; therefore, the prints are designed to be affordable to fit Ikea frames.

I absolutely love Bird Ave and LOVE the fact that EVERYTHING and I mean everything can be customized. I sent Jose the two colors in Harper's bedding and he matched his print to the bedding perfectly!! Colors, wording, you name it and Jose will make it happen.

And are you ready for the best part?? Jose has offered to give one lucky reader their choice of any print from his store. In order to win you have to do two things:

#1) Follow my new "Greenville Baby" blog.
#2) Go to the Bird Ave Etsy shop and comment on this post with your favorite print.

And want to hear something even better!? The winner will also receive two other amazing gifts!!

#1) A gorgeous nautical necklace, perfect for the summer (retails over $50!)

#2) A Vera Bradley sunglass case!

So make sure you enter for the chance to win these fabulous prizes!!

If you would like an extra entry, simply blog about this giveaway. Leave another comment with a link to the blog and you will be eligible to win TWICE! Yippy!

And if you see a print that you love in the Bird Ave shop, Jose graciously gave us a coupon code that is valid through May 31, 2011 for an extra 10% off your order!! Just use the code FRIEDPINK or GREENVILLEBABY.


I will pick the winner randomly on May 27th!

And for all of you Apple nerds (like myself) here is a print of Mac shortcuts. Of course, I love this in PINK!

Back Scrapping!

I started scrap-booking when I was very young. I went to a Creative Memories party at a neighbors house and loved every minute of it. When I was in high school, I made an awesome senior scrapbook. I would actually skip school (don't worry mom, just a few days) to go to the scrapbook store and work on my pages. Some kids skip to party, I skip to scrapbook. That should be a slogan for something! ha

Anyways, I tried to start a new scrapbook when I was in college. But between football games, class, work, and my social life... I only finished a few layouts over a five year span.

But with the baby on the way, I really wanted to get back into it. Eventually, I want to make a scrapbook for him, well several books really! I am an artsy person... and I always have creative ideas in my head. I think I get that from my mama. And both of my grandmas... they are actually all artists. Scrap-booking seems to be a great outlet for my artistic side. Plus, I love to look back through old photos and relive the fun memories.

So my mom and I started going to the scrapbook store in Spartanburg. For those of you in the Upstate, it is actually a really awesome place. It is called Scrapbook Creations and it is located at 3087 E Main Street in Spartanburg. It is a wonderful store with a very helpful staff!! They allow you to go in their work area and work on your pages when they are not having classes. Mom and I will go in the early afternoon and stay for hours. We even made homemade cards earlier this week. They are gorgeous and I can't wait to send them out to my loved ones. On Monday I learned how to emboss text onto the cards and it looked fabulous. I will start taking photos and will post step-by-step instructions on how to do some of the fun projects we make each week.

Here is a photo of one of my layouts. These photos were taken a few years back at the Bills vs. Panthers game. I even added an old Jim Kelly card that I found in my football card collection. I still have HUNDREDS of baseball and football cards from when I was younger. Some girls collect barbies... I collected NFL and MLB cards. I guess God started preparing me for a little boy a LONG time ago! haha

I am very excited to start my new scrapbook. I am going to try to do a bunch of layouts with college photos. Then I am going to work my way through the last few years of my life. Once Harper arrives, I am going to document every moment of that little man's life! HA! Well I say that now... once the baby is here I am sure my time will be very limited but I will try my best!

If you love to make scrapbooks or you are thinking about starting one, you should check out this contest on Shopaholic in Alabama blog!! You can enter the giveaway HERE for you chance to win an awesome scrapbook kit from At the Blue Barn!! Good Luck!! 

The winner of the Nautical Necklace Giveaway!

And the winner of the gorgeous nautical necklace giveaway is:

Monica Carron from Ribbons N' Pearls blog!!  Congrats Monica!

Monica, please e-mail me at JaimeNHuffman@yahoo.com so we can get you your prize!

And I apologize for not posting sooner. I meant to post it at the beginning of the week but life happened! :) 

And ladies if you want a cute necklace like the one above, remember to check out Tuckoo and Moo Cow on Etsy! 

Giveaway #3- Nautical Necklace and Wild Mountain Thyme Mini Painting

Hello all! Hope you are enjoying your week so far. I came across another amazing Etsy store. It is called Tuckoo and Moocow. The artist, Sarah, is a 22yr old college student at the University of Kansas (KU) where she double majors in Anthropology and Art History with a minor in Studio Art. 

She was married in December to a guy who has been her best friend for 9 years.  She enters juror-ed art shows and art fairs on a regular basis. Her Etsy shop, Tuckoo and Moo Cow, was opened May 19th of this year. The name stems from the first line of James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man."

She and her husband have been calling each other tuckoo and moo cow since they started dating 3 years ago. Her favorite mediums are oil pencil which she works like oil pastels (tedious) and watercolor. She is a part of the VAST: Visual Arts Street Team on Etsy. Her father is an artist and art history professor and her mother is a concert pianist with an MBA who usually runs non-profit organizations. She assumes she got any creative inclination directly from them.

She is a a voracious reader, and loves to go on long walks with her husband, Jordan, and Cairn Terrier, George. She journals a great deal, goes on frequent adventures, and loves history and archeology. She sings practically everywhere she goes, and has taught herself the piano and is currently learning the violin.

Her Etsy store is full of creative hand-made jewelry and paintings! Go check it out here!

One lucky follower will win this gorgeous sailboat necklace and original painting.

The print measurements: 5" x 7" with 1" border. The piece was made while listening to The Corries recording of "Wild Mountain Thyme" -- Scottish folk musicians from the 70s. 

Necklace: 1.5cm wide pendant with original watercolor painting sealed with resin. Comes with 19" chain. 

In order to enter there are only two requirements:

#1) You must follow my blog ( and comment that you are a follower.)

#2) You must go to Tuckoo and Moo Cow and comment with your favorite item in her store.

(That will count as one entry.)

**If you would like 5 additional entries, you just have to post about this giveaway on your blog. In the blog post please include a link to the giveaway, a link to Sara's Etsy store, and a photo of one of her items.**

Please post a separate comment for each entry. So if you follow and comment, that is one comment and if you blog about the giveaway, you will leave 6 separate comments.

I am going to use an automatic number generator to choose the winner. So everyone is welcome to enter and there will be absolutely no bias with the winner selected.

The giveaway starts today, July 8, 2010 and I will announce the winner in one week on Monday July 15th 2010. Good luck!!