100 Followers!

Wow! I am positively ecstatic because today I hit 100 followers on Lovely Llorys! Thank you guys so much, I know most of my recent followers are from the current giveaway, but I hope you decide to stick around! Also, please let me know what you'd like to see on my blog. I'm not great at DIY, but I love photography, music, food, travel, media, shopping, showcasing Etsy artists and other amazing and talented people, and more! I'd love to hear from you.

It's been a busy week, so I just wanted to share a few pictures from the giveaway prize that I was so lucky to win from Lazy Explorers. I won a Danny Brito Chubby Book from Pink Ghost. I love it! Haven't been able to do much doodling and writing yet, but I want to use this to help plan the blog and write down some inspiration. Yay!

& Thanks again to my 100 (and counting) followers: ) 

Goodnight! 

Giveaway with Katie from The Little Things

UPDATE: Thank you to everyone who entered! The winner was Alessandra Lalla. Enjoy your prize! : )

Today's giveaway is with Katie from The Little Things. I instantly fell in love with her shop, as she makes jewelry and trinkets featuring some of my favorite things - cameras, foxes, owls, mushrooms, gnomes, and more!

Here's a little about Katie!

"My name is Katie, and I am a 23 year old student currently living in the Washington, D.C. area.
Two years ago, I made the spontaneous decision to move to Portland, Oregon with a group of my closest my friends. While I was there I discovered this huge world of amazing artists and handmade crafts that I had never known about. At the time, my work space was constantly covered with cute little things I had made that had just been accumulating with nowhere to go. That's when I discovered that I could share all these things with everyone!"

That's extra amazing, Katie, because I just started watching Portlandia. It is way goofier than I thought it was going to be! Anyway, the winner of the giveaway gets to pick their favorite item in Katie's shop! It's a difficult decision - I guess I would go with the fox earrings since I'm trying to start a fox collection, but everything is super adorable!

On to the giveaway! I had a rafflecoptor widget up, but I'm not totally sure it's working, so let's just do this (leave a separate comment for each entry, please):

1. Mandatory entry - Like The Little Things on Facebook

2. Visit The Little Things on Etsy and tell me what you would pick if you won!

3. While you're on Katie's Etsy page, favorite it!

3. Like Lovely Llorys on Facebook

4. Follow Lovely Llorys on Twitter

5. Follow Lovely Llorys on GFC (right side of this page)

Good luck! (Open worldwide, ends 1/19 at 11:59pm, I will contact winner)

Tuesday Treasures #10 // Brooches

Kaylah over at The Dainty Squid sure makes brooches look like a must-have fashion accessory! She definitely wears them well and creates an urge inside of me to buy lots. I went a little favorite-crazy on etsy the other day and found a bunch of awesome ones. Oddly enough, only one or two of the sellers were from the U.S. I guess brooches haven't really migrated to the states yet! It makes sense; Sophie over at Oh My Clumsy Heart shipped my lovely fox brooch from across the pond. Thank you, England. This reinforces my wish that I was British! Here are some of my favorites:

This pi brooch from GeekModish is perfect for math lovers!

This deer brooch by ennashop in Germany is so darling!

Hello! From Delilah devine in Australia. So friendly!

Aw, I love this sleeping fox from goldenspleen, also in Germany.

SketchInc in the UK has some of the neatest brooches I've ever laid eyes on!

NewellsJewels also in the UK makes these gorgeous Russian doll pieces.

laylaamber in the UK makes one heck of an owl!

And Elizabeth Pawle makes the sweetest little kitty cat asleepin'. 

Sweet dreams!

Giveaway // Treats and Eats Christmas Ornament!

Ho ho ho, another giveaway! (Don't forget, the Telestrations giveaway is still open). Tis the season of giving! This is an exciting one for me because the talented artist is my friend from college, Angela. We are both Angelas! We went to Ferris State University for Music Industry Management (in case you were curious), and as soon as I found out about her craft on-the-side, I asked to partner up with her for this giveaway. Thankfully, she said yes!

Angela makes the most darling little trinkets and jewelry that look like treats - you know, lattes, cinnamon rolls, cookies, pies, etc.! She has a passion for food, so combined with her creativity she "decided to offer mini food trinkets to the masses." Her Etsy shop is so so cool, and Angela is being extra awesome and giving you 15% off with the order code LOVELYLLORYS. Take advantage! Since Christmas is on everyone's mind, Angela is giving one of my readers her Christmas Tree Cookie Ornament to deck the tree with! Aren't they adorable? This girl's got some mean "mini-making" talent. 

On to the giveaway! To enter, you must visit Angela's etsy shop, Treats and Eats, and leave me a comment sharing your favorite item. Then use the rafflecopter widget to officially submit that entry. There are more ways to enter as well if you want to increase your chances. You have until next Wednesday at midnight, and you must have a mailing address in the U.S. or Canada. Good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spotlight on (and discount for) Three Little Cats Shop

Today I am featuring an Etsy shop from one of my favorite countries, Italia! Francesca's shop is called Three Little Cats Shop and she has lovely hand-painted trinket boxes as well as brooches, cross-stitch patterns, and necklaces. I fell in love with the owls and cats, so Francesca let me feature her! She is offering my readers 10% off with the coupon code LLORYS10, so take advantage of that! Below are a couple of my favorite items from her shop and a little about Francesca!

"My name's Francesca; I'm 21 years old, and I live in Tuscany, Italy. I love art and the handmade world. I enjoy a lot doing handmade stuff that I create in my free time. I have always had a passion for crafts since I was a child. Creativity is a big and magic world to me, making me feel nice. I like to always try something new, new techniques, new things... I love to learn and experiment, creating unique ooak (one of a kind) stuff. My biggest inspirations are animals; I also always try to have an artistic vision of everything that happens in my life. I can't live without my imagination, it makes all things better!

I currently work as a graphic designer. My love is not limited just to traditional handmade stuff; I'm also a digital art lover! In fact, I create custom graphic designs and digital cross stitch patterns. I also have a passion for photomanipulations. I'm known as "DeadLulu" on Deviantart. I have an independent short movie productions company with my boyfriend, the Frozen Lake Movie Productions. My boyfriend is my life. We are two loving birds. : )

What I love: art, crafts, cinema, music, cooking... And I LOOOOOVE cats! =3"

Aw, two loving birds. I like that. Thanks, Francesca! Keep up the adorable arts and crafts!

Berkley Illustration

Today I am loving these animal portrait prints from Berkley Illustration. They are featured on Fab.com for the next couple of days - $26 a print (11x14)! They have everything in the food chain spectrum from chipmunks to T-Rex. This bat really freaks me out, but it's so spot on that I had to show you. Here are a few more of my favorites. (Photos borrowed from their feature on fab.com)

Happy weekend! I am at my parents' house because my wonderful father turns 50 on Monday! I love spending time with them and my cats. My mom and I are going shopping today, I can't wait! What are your weekend plans? 

ArtPrize 2012: Part 1

I have been so incredibly busy, so I've had all of two hours time to see ArtPrize this year. No wonder the outdoor pieces tend to do so well, outside is the only 24/7 venue and we didn't even get downtown until half an hour before the venues officially closed. We went to West Coast Coffee first, where we saw this fun vinyl piece! 

Then we walked around outside because we wouldn't have had time to stop in any museums: / We saw some really neat things though! These animals were made out of recycled materials. I'm all about that!

This one is so cuteeeeeeee!

This is how it looks right before a T-Rex skeleton eats you.

Doug a.k.a. BIG BUBBA

Muahahaha, so silly.

This one is super pretty! Last time I checked it was in the Top 25.

We accidentally ended up going to this space, called High Five. I loved it! I love getting to go into secret spaces, and this was certainly that. I proceeded to tell lots of people to go though!

Photos of a hand, like way blown up, (I think)

 Verrrrry relaxing piece. The chairs were a nice touch.

Paper cutouts!

Shot of (most of) the space

Have you gone to ArtPrize this year? It just seems like everyone I know is way too busy and that's such  a bummer! I love getting to see all the art but I have no timeeee. I have to work tonight until late then wake up early and work, but I am determined to go with Andrew before the Top 10 voting is over tomorrow night! What piece is your favorite?

Spotlight on (and discount for!): Nüwoods

Whoosh, moving is so much work! I have been wanting to update for days and just have not had the time! Anyway, with all the buzz about the iPhone 5, today I am able to feature a Grand Rapids father and daughter team that creates beautiful iPhone and iPad skins. They call their project Nüwoods and they "bring nature back into our modern lives." If you visit their Etsy shop in the next two weeks, Nüwoods is offering my readers a 20% discount with the code llorys20. How exciting! They already have great prices, so if you've been looking for the perfect iPhone or iPad case, check them out! They are local and lovely! Also, Nüwoods is working on a case for the iPhone 5, so if you've hopped on the bandwagon, stay tuned for the new skin!

Here's some more info about the shop from Nüwoods' facebook page! 

"The world is becoming very fast paced, with great advances in science and technology. These advances have helped form who we are, but we need not forget to take time to slow down and remember creativity and the natural world all around. We believe that the simplest and most effective way to do this is with wood. Wood is both a sustainable and eco-friendly material as it is renewable, unlike metals and plastics, and doesn't require the chemical processing that paper does. Wood is also biodegradable, since it came directly from nature itself. Because of this organic quality, all of our products are one-of-a-kind and truly unique works of art. We hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Nüwoods was founded by father-daughter team, David and Stephanie Farina, in the great city of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Being in a state surrounded by water and full of natural wonders, we naturally both love spending as much time outdoors as possible. David has been a craftsman since childhood and has always been very mechanically and technologically inclined. He loves working with his hands. David also has many years of experience in the printing industry. Stephanie has a fun loving personality, formally trained in Graphic Design. She is very creatively inclined and has a great appreciation for the arts. As a fundamentally down-to-earth team we merged our combined passion and experience in the form of laser engraving on a natural medium, wood veneer."

Enjoy the discount and happy Tuesday!

Giveaway: Heather Pritchett Illustration

UPDATE: The winner of the owl print is Kelly! Congrats, girl!

I'm excited to announce my third giveaway today, Heather of Heather Pritchett Illustrations has kindly offered up one of her adorable owl prints to one winner. All you have to do is like her facebook page! There are additional ways to win below. After my owl post yesterday, I'm thinking I could use some more owl lovin' on my walls, and I love all of these guys - I think I'd choose #3 - what about you? You'll certainly get to choose if you win! 

Heather has also graciously offered 15% off any order on her Etsy Shop with the coupon code lovelyllorys. I hope you decide to take advantage!

A little about Heather - "After I graduated art school a year ago, I started taking work as a freelance illustrator/graphic designer. My Etsy store is a way to sell my art that's more independent and self-motivated, somewhere where I can create and sell whatever I'd like. I live in southern California, and I hope I never have to leave. It's the most beautiful place on Earth!"

Southern California is really beautiful! I bet she finds a ton of inspiration for her designs there. Thanks for letting me host this giveaway, Heather! 

You have until Saturday at midnight to enter the giveaway, and I'm trying out a widget this time, so no comments necessary (although I'd love to hear what you have to say)! Good luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Collections: Owls

As a precursor to a new giveaway I'm hosting tomorrow (check back!), I'm sharing my owl collection with you! I know it's like super cliche to have an owl collection now, but I started mine a few years ago, so I think it's legit. I went around the house getting things to photograph, and the collection is actually pretty sizable these days! I even have a.) more here than I didn't photograph and b.) more at my parents' house, so I'll get to do a follow-up post at some point! Something to look forward to: )

Above, left to right: Mug from a thrift store, mug from China Town in SF, painting I did of the picture frame in the below picture, cookie cutter that was a gift, and figure/not really sure of its actual purpose that I found at a thrift store.

Golden figurine from thrift store, iron-on labels that were a gift, picture frame from Urban Outfitters, napkin holder from thrift store, clips from IKEA, tea light holder from UO, little figurine from Target's dollar section, flower-owl figurine from thrift store, little figurine that was a gift, owl made of stones that was a gift. (Paper underneath is from World Market).

Clock from a thrift store. It works and is totally silent, so I love it!

Owl Always Love You decoration from Urban Outfitters, container from Urban Outfitters, bottle opener from UO (super sturdy), catch-all from UO (yeah, redundant, I know!), hot plate holder from thrift store, white container from UO, and two containers on the right end from thrift stores.

Cuff from a stand on the island of Hvar in Croatia, "Give a Hoot Don't Pollute" pin can't remember from where, two rings - one from Forever 21, the other from Rue 21, necklaces - Forever 21, gift, yard sale, etc., and a candle holder from Bath and Body Works. The painting is by my friend Brea. So detailed!

Tank top from Forever 21 and bag from Kohl's.

Towels - all gifts, mostly from Kohl's!

There you have it. I haven't been thrifting much lately, but all the well-known stores around here seem to lack owl things (darn hipsters). So I have to dig off the beaten path, but that's half the fun! I can't buy everything owl thing I find... or can I? Anyway, what collections do you have? I shared my mug collection here, and I also collect mushroom things, vinyl, pin-back buttons, and a few other things. I've always been like this - my mom claims I brought home used napkins from birthday parties, but I don't remember that.

Happy Sunday! And remember to check back tomorrow for the giveaway I mentioned: )