olive & willow

Olive & Willow is the most marvelous shop. it's full of beautiful prints and stunning jewelry. i think their necklace charms are what sealed the deal for me. rainbows + animals + jewelry = an extremely happy moi. if only i had $126 to spare, i think i'd buy myself that gorgeous owl. but for now i'm content perusing the charms and prints. actually, looking through the prints is a lot more satisfying since they're hardly as expensive as the necklaces. maybe i'll get one for my room, they do involve animals. and i'm such a sucker for artwork featuring animals! (more evidence of my love for animal jewelry/artwork here)

ps- don't forget to stay updated with me, my blog posts, and my random (often very random) musings on .

oh, henry! necklace giveaway

♥ to enter this giveaway simply visit Oh, Henry! and leave a comment below ♥

this absolutely delightful giveaway is from Irena, the lovely lady behind the Oh, Henry! shop and blog. she is offering her Good Luck Charm necklace to one very lucky (no pun intended) reader.

as you all know, i'm slightly obsessed with color. big bold pops of color are a dream for me, and i adore this pink necklace. needless to say, i was quite excited when Irena contacted me about a giveaway and i saw all the gorgeous colors in her store, especially in her necklaces. this specific necklace is made with pink beads and pink satin ribbon. it's simple yet versatile, so you could think up oodles of ways to wear it!

for extra entries (one seperate comment each):

-follow my blog, or let me know if you already do!

-tweet about this giveaway, put @LuluDreams somewhere in the tweet.

-blog about the giveaway. leave me a link!

so thats a total of four ways you can enter! i know, i know, sometimes these giveaways can get kind of confusing what with the rules always being different and all. good luck to everyone!

ps- this giveaway will close on August 16th.

♥♥♥

sara skotte

i stumbled across Sara Skotte's website on a blog i was perusing a while back, but completely forgot which blog. i love the simplicity of Sara Skotte's pieces, especially her jewelry. porcelain makes for a delightful and slightly unexpected medium. the clean lines, beautiful shapes, and small dash of color on her budgie bird necklace make these pieces timeless. the fact that they're all in the shape of animals is what draws me to them, though. i have such a weakness for animals in jewelry!

ps- i'm sorry i've been such a slacker lately. i've been super busy and trying to catch up on my reading in my spare time. i'll try to post as regularly as i can, but i don't know if it will be daily. also, i'm sorry that i haven't been reading all of your wonderful blogs lately! i'll check my blog reader asap.

studio mhl

these are the cutest pieces of jewelry! and i absolutely adore the way drawings goes off of the brooch and into the background, creating a little world that you could just pluck up and pin onto your blouse. these beauties are from studio mhl which i discovered via the wonderful blog lushlee. everything about these photos and products are simply delightful. i'm smitten!

etsy: norwegian wood

Norwegian Wood houses some of the most creative pieces of clothing i've seen. cage skirts, harnesses, and leggings are just a few of the ingenious items you'll find in the shop. there's also a rather wonderful array of funky necklaces to drool over and be inspired by. speaking of inspiration, here is a great Etsy video* that shows Angie Johnson, the creator behind Norwegian Wood, having a bit of dress up fun with her outfits.



*if you don't subscribe to the Etsy Podcast already, i highly recommend it. it's definitely my favorite video podcast out there.

molla space

Chocolate Sweet Magnet - $18

Zipper Cup: Set of 2 - $40

Eraser+ing Eraser - $5

aren't these items from Molla Space the most ingenious little things? i love that tea cup! so clever! and those chocolate magnets are made from a special wax that lets you break them however you want, just like real chocolate. pretty awesome, yes?

my very first giveaway

hi there! so i realized it was probably time to do a giveaway (actually, i just really wanted to!) and say thank you to all of you lovely people who give me wonderful blog support and are just very sweet in general! this post might be a little long because i'm going to go into detail describing it to you haha. it's a little "box of treasures" and each of the items in here have some sort of significance to me. everything will come in this cigar box, like so:

i've always loved the way cigar boxes smell, so that in itself makes me happy. the items that are in this box (i lined the bottom with blue felt) are...

1. a little box of Bon Bons mini nail polishes (i love painting my nails!)

2. a set of black and gold bangles (jewelry! ah!)

3. a little plastic squeeze fish (as seen in this post) and a little yellow bow i made from Sculpey a while back. bright colored knick knacks are another thing that make me happy.

4. a wee miniature violin, because i adore miniature stuff!

5. a skeleton key and tiny buddha. because both of them make me smile!

6. a stamp covered matchbox that i made when i was a little girl. way before i realized that you had to pay for stamps and that they were a form of money...inside are some cute stamps i put in there as well (my folks had a huge stamp stash that i would raid whenever i was looking for something fun and pretty!)

7. two Avon costume rings that my grandmother gave me. she gives me a ton of funky costume jewelry. i love dressing up =]

8. a handmade fair trade soapstone (i think it's soapstone...) donkey from one of my favorite shops, Global Exchange.

9. three shells that were collected at the beach in Pensacola. i used to visit a lot because that's where most of my family live, but i haven't been back in a really long time since i moved to Portland.

10. (my personal favorite) an Alice in Wonderland children's book from one of my favorite vintage shops. it's such a cute size and the pictures are adorable.

11. and a sprinkle of buttons (because i figured glitter would be too messy!)

also, the box will come with a handwritten card/letter/postcard (all depending on my mood at the time, so it'll be a surprise!) 

to enter:

-you must be a follower (reader) of my blog.

-leave a comment below with your name and some way for me to contact you if you win

-for an extra entry you can blog about this giveaway (leave me a link in another comment)

-and you can also tweet about this giveaway (leave me the link or put @LuluDreams in your tweet) on Twitter for another comment

ah i hope that wasn't too confusing! if you have any questions feel free to email me!

xoxo

etsy: the black spot books

remember when i posted about this lovely necklace? i love it so much i figured another post about the designer's Etsy shop wouldn't hurt anyone. The Black Spot Books really is a wonderful shop. inside of it you'll find lots of book necklaces, photographs, jewelry that isn't made from little books, drawings, and more. of course i'm partial to the wee books and necklaces made with even tinier ones, but i also love the regular sized journals. the other items in the store are worth taking a look at, too. the photos are quite raw and personal, they draw you in. the metal cast jewelry has the same feel as the photos. actually, everything in the shop does. that amazing vintage feel is what makes the shop what it is: a great little place of curiosities. it's almost as if you would find the items from The Black Spot Books inside your great grandmother's antique chest all covered with dust and residing in the attic. the pieces are timeless and they tell a story. and in the case of the book necklaces, you're given room to write your own tale.

ps- you can watch a video about the process of making the books that are in the shop here.