Tessa Ann: Giveaway winner and some Etsy finds!

Thank you for all who shared a bit about your little princesses! I ended up printing out the answers, cutting into tiny strips of paper and having Steve pick one out. And....the winner was....................... Jaimielynndesigns

JaimieLynnDesigns said...
God has blessed me with two girls and my little one who will be turning 5 in two weeks would jut love to strut her stuff in such cute duds. Thanks for the chance!- Jaimie.

Congratulations!!!! You are our winner of the custom Modish Princess outfit! Shana from Modish Princess will be in touch with you about your special design!

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If you popped in here Thursday, you would have seen several different blog backgrounds...lol. I think I've bought and downloaded at least 6 backgrounds, but none really made me go...."yes, that's it!"

Well, I am not completely sure this is the "one" yet, but I do enjoy the colors and we'll see if it sticks :)

In my venture to find a new blog background I came across many sites that I thought would be fun to share with all of you if you were in need of freshening up your own blog!

http://ismitten.blogspot.com/ is a colorful blog filled with many blog designs that are only $5.00 each. They are extremely easy to upload to blogger!

http://www.giselejaquenod.com.ar/blog/blogger-templates/- If you love whimsy and birds you will love her designs. Again, colorful and very easy to upload.

http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/- This blog not only has many FREE blogger backgrounds, but has a lot of instruction on how to actually change the font in your posts. As you bloggers know, we are limited to only 4-5 fonts...really boring fonts to use on our posts, so here you can upload some new ones to use! Again, easy peasy!
http://www.simplyfabulousbloggertemplates.com/- Another FABULOUS site with FREE blogger backgrounds. There are many adorable ones there that I may just have to try out myself.

I've also been doing some shopping on Etsy for my packaging. My favorite part of packing my orders is gift wrapping each and every order. I love this part of my process. Choosing beautifully colored tissue paper, ribbon and trims....making the customer feel like they've received a little present!

Here are a few things I found on Etsy that I have really enjoyed spicing up my packages with:

I purchased several sets of labels in "thank you for your order," and my address labels from The Bohtique They make my packages look adorable! I will be doing a post later about packaging....yes, I am a wee-bit obsessive about good packaging!

I have also found a deep love for this "paper lace" by Brookerpie. I have 3 colors now and need MORE! She also makes super cute button rings that she included as a gift in my order and I really love wearing it!

Sugarelli is a wonderful graphic designer. I sought her out to redesign my packaging toppers, the ad you see at the top here and shop banner. She's amazing. I just spouted off my idea in an email and VIOLA she came up with my vision. I am finally satisfied with my "brand."

Steve and I escaped again last Sunday afternoon to Brasada Ranch to take advantage of their VIP Champagne Suite Special. This is the same place I shared photos of at Christmas time. As a family, we rented a 3 suite cabin and enjoyed the holiday together!

This little one night get away was under $150.00 and felt like such a treat! The room was so dreamy and had the most luscious bathroom. I think I enjoyed the large garden tub at least 5 times during my stay...lol. The fridg. was stocked with champagne and refreshments, there were chocolates and biscotti. You know the funny part.........I totally brought my work with me and created buttons and felt appliques while enjoying the mountain views and a nice cold glass of champagne. My parents joined Steve and I that evening for a nice dinner at the, "Blue Olive." I had Swedish meatballs and Steve had the 3 cheese penne pasta....aka-Fancy Mac-N-Cheese..lol. All was delish and so relaxing.

Here are the shots I captured as we were arriving to the resort. This is a long drive that winds up to the top of the hill where the ranch is:

A view of our room. A luscious king bed that was SOOO comfortable, a wet bar, the seating before the HUGE fireplace....I worked there...lol :)

The fireplace. The chairs are seated perfectly in front of 4-5 large picture windows which perfectly frame the mountain views that surround this resort.

My favorite part.............the bathroom. Lovely to the "T" Little luxury soaps, bath robes, and a dreamy shower made this room the one I spent the most time in..lol.