Watch Out Belgium, Here I Come!

Finally!!!  I will be heading out this Saturday to Antwerp, Belgium, on my first *official* diamond-buying trip!

To say I am excited would be a gross understatement.  I am psyched.  When I went last year, I was in a great place emotionally and kind of dreaded the time away from my children.  This year...well, our house is on the market, nobody is in preschool, and Mommy has zero adult company most days.  Y'all know I adore my boys, but I am in dire need of a break.  I would probably go to the closest Best Western for a week if I had a chance, so I am feeling pretty lucky to get my Mommy time in a beautiful city searching out some beautiful diamonds.

To celebrate, I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane, and revisit my five-part series from last year's trip.  Click on the captions to go to the full post from last year:)

Part One: Welcome to Antwerp!

Part Two: Antwerp Eats, for all you foodies out there!

Part Three: Celebrating the Birthplace of Lace

Part Four: In which a purse is stolen but it turns out okay.

Part Five: Paris!

Thanks for taking this stroll down memory lane with me!  It's not too late to place an order for your own hand-selected diamonds...just email me at personaldiamonds@gmail.com or message me on Facebook, and we can chat.  I will see ya when I get back, friends!



P.S.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway for a membership to Doozy Cards!  Click here for all the deets:)  Contest ends on the 4th!

It's a Doozy! {A Fun Giveaway!}

Don't get me wrong, I love paper.  One of my favorite crafts is card-making, and don't even get me started on the scrapbook section at the craft store.  Nevertheless, about a year ago I started sending more e-cards, reasoning that for certain occasions an e-card is totally appropriate, and that it saves both time and paper.  How about you? Do you send e-cards?

Photo: Doozy Cards

Well if you do, get excited because today I am bringing you a great giveaway from Doozy Cards, a family-owned e-card company that is offering TWO readers a one-year Premier Membership--a $19.95 value--at doozycards.com!

Photo: Doozy Cards

The Premier Membership includes:
~Unlimited Access to ALL of their 1,600+ cards
~A Birthday and Holiday Reminder System
~An Online Address Book
~Original Artwork and Music
~Brand New Cards Created Throughout The Year

To enter this giveaway, visit Doozy Cards, then come back and leave a comment telling me which two cards you like!  

For extra entries:

~Share this giveaway on your blog, Facebook page, or tweet about it, and leave me a separate comment letting me know! (1 entry for each time you share!)

~Like Doozy Cards on Facebook, and leave me a comment letting me know! (1 entry)

~Follow @doozycards on Twitter, and leave me a comment letting me know! (1 entry)

This contest will run through Monday, October 3rd, and TWO winners will be chosen on Tuesday the 4th.  Best of luck!!!

Fall Nesting? Sorta.

So, yeah, our house is still on the market.  It's been two months and I am super anxious to sell, but maintaining a holding pattern in the meantime.  As I felt Fall approaching this year, I have been reluctant to confront the fact that I would be nesting for the change of seasons, still in my current house.

Then I decided to go for it.  Can't be Summer forever!  So when I discovered I had already packed up my Fall decor...and that the box is either mislabeled or irretrievably buried in the garage...and therefore I have no Fall decor...well, that was a major bummer.

So this year's Fall decor is...let's say...spare.  Spartan.  Minimal.  I made a wreath from simple stuff on sale at the craft store.

Doesn't it look awesome with my attractive lock-box?

I also "decorated" my chalkboard pot and had my son find me enough acorns to use as a filler on a candle.

And I threw together this mantel from the leftovers of my wreath project and a few candles.

Yes, I am virtually unchanged from Summer.  Still with the old window.  Still with the sticks.
Help!

Like I said, minimal.  It's okay, though.  I am kind of digging how easy it all was.  And I will more than make up for it next Fall, when my new house will be covered with pumpkins from August-November!



P.S. Lovin' the Linky's at:

The Inspired Room

Easy Paper Project

Today I am sharing a quick little project I whipped up a couple of weeks ago while my son was doing his own craft project.  He wanted a new piggy bank, so I gave him a little coin container I had from somewhere, covered in paper that he decorated (although he insisted that I be the one to draw the pig).

The artist at work!

That project (along with these awesome pencils I found at Walmart)  inspired me to take an old Crystal Light container and just cover it in some cute scrapbook paper...and my new pencil cup was born!

Before:

The worst picture I have ever taken.  But you get the idea.

 After:

Cute, easy and fast.  That's my kind of craft!

Pinned!

I'm so proud of myself!  I did something crafty!  Okay, so I totally stole the idea from something I saw on Pinterest, but I won't tell if you don't.  Here was the great idea I saw:

Photo: via Pinterest
(If you know the original source, please send it to me.  The original link is to tumblr, which doesn't help so much).

 Instead of buying one cute iphone case, you can buy a clear one and switch out cute papers...so smart and so cheap.  Here's the one I did today:

Love that it's the logo I designed for my business cards...oh I just feel so coordinated!  Speaking of my business, I am getting so excited for my trip to Antwerp coming up the first week of October.  There's still time to pre-order your diamond earrings, engagement or anniversary ring!  Give me a shout if you're interested in learning more...as always, consultations are free, easy and fun for me:)