Guest Post - The Flowerchild Dewlling - Feather Desktop Background >>>

Hello Violet Bella readers! I'm Kelly Ann from The Flowerchild Dwelling, and I am incredibly honored to be a part of Laura's world today. She is such a dear friend and I was so excited when she asked me to guest post. :)

For my "feather-inspired" post, I thought I would design a desktop background, using one of my favourites poems by Emily Dickinson. I love that her wording is simple, yet intense - and so beautiful. Hope is in all of us, and so often it takes us through many, many storms without breaking.
Here is the poem in its entirety:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.


I included a few different sizes below --- enjoy! xo, Kelly Ann

Guest Post - Lune Vintage - Feather Magnet DIY >>>


First off, congratulations to Laura of Violet Bella on the launch of her line Roots & Feathers. I was happy to be asked to guest post on Laura's blog, since her vibe is real easy to dig. And, since I have a thing for feathers too - this tutorial seemed like a perfect fit.

This one is quick and easy, but gives a really satisfying result. All you need is some loose feathers, a wooden clothes pin, a small amount of super glue and adhesive magnet strips.

Choose your feathers, deciding on their position from largest to smallest. I used 3 feathers in this example. With each feather, apply a strip of super glue and press firmly with your feather in place. The top feather (or last to glue) should be positioned closer to the tip of the pin, allowing the quill to hang over the edge. Once your glue is dry, snip the quill with sharp scissors. Apply the magnet strip, either with it's adhesive back or with a bit more glue.



 I used mine to display an old map I pulled from a book (air from Cairo) and some pressed flowers I saved from our trip to South Dakota this summer. This simple idea is easy to make, so make a few and adorn a fridge, magnet board, metal door or desk with beautiful feathers.

Please come visit me at Lune Vintage for more tutorials and tips on wearing, collecting and styling vintage clothing.


Jill☾Lune


Day one of an amazing journey >>>

 Today has been an off the hook amazing day!  I have felt so much love pouring out from everyone!!!  I dont know why I was so nervous, this is awesome!  Its not nearly as overwhelming as I thought it would.  (for those of you just tuning in, I am the FEATURED SELLER ON ETSY right now :)  A day I will never forget.

Yesterday I was so excited it was cool enough in the afternoon to wear a little jacket!!!  My favorite time of year.  I seriously need to squeeze in a picnic with my boy this week!  


And yesterday morning when I was getting all nervous about today, the sun shone through my window and cast little rainbows all over the wall.  Those of you who know the story, know its my daddy shining through.  And then this morning, I burnt my toast, which funny enough, means my mom is with me!  The hardest part about this amazing success is not being able to call up my parents and scream for joy into their ears.  Gosh I will forever miss that.  But I know my mom is up there just rolling around with pure joy and love right now.  And my dad is saying 'way to go kiddo'.  I just know it.  


 Yesterday I made the best choice so far in all of my 'preparations' for this big day.  I know I just made an amazing shipping space in my studio recently, and its perfect for doing a few packages at a time, like usual... but I didnt want to be running back and forth from room to room during the shipping process.  So I set up this card table behind our couch, which is right next to my 'work' desk with my computer, so its all in one space.  And I can spread everything out and make it more streamlined.  Shipping today was funner than its ever been.  Which made James say... 'oh great, i bet that means its going to stay there then, huh?'... ha ha!  Funny enough, it made our living room seem huge for some reason!  Pushing the couch forward and adding another desk and it looks bigger, dont get it, but its true!


 Of course, I have my little helper along side me!  She now has her own pillow on my computer desk.  I tried for a long time make this my one space she is not all over, but its just not going to happen.  And even with the pillow there, 9 times out of 10, she still chooses to lay her butt up against me. 


 Today was the first day I wore my new glasses out of the house.  Ill be honest, I was a wee bit nervous b/c they are so big, Im just not 100% used to them yet.  But I got lovely compliments on them!  


If you havent read my featured seller interview yet, you can read it here.  I had a comment or two about how nice and clean my studio looked in the photo, well, this is how it normally looks!  I made it look nice for the feature.  Which I actually do clean up like that every few days.  I can only stand the crazy mess for so long, then I have to start fresh, and it always helps with renewed creativity!


I have to give a big shoutout to my friend Jen for coming over one night to help me cut cards and such.  It made the biggest difference ever.  Luckily we got done right before we got the call to go up to the hospital to see our new nephew.  And yep, Bella helped us cut cards too :)


 Can you tell Im just a little bit excited???  Eeeeekkk!!!!  


And possibly the best part of the whole day, was holding this sweet little girl.  Oh my lord I have not seen a cuter pup!  And she smelled so good and was so soft!  Look at that little spotted belly!!!  Puppy LOVE!!!


Thank you again to everyone who has left me sweet comments either here on the blog, on twitter, on facebook or on etsy!  You guys are what make this real!

PEACE,
Laura