Best of Zazzle – Fall Edition # 1

I love Autumn, in all of its colorful glory. This season’s holidays are my favorite – the fun Halloween celebrations, as well as the gathering of family and friends for Thanksgiving. Every year we carefully change our decor, the bright and deep reds, yellows and oranges surrounding us with every step. I try to make this change special for our children, as we do not always life in a place where we can truly appreciate the change of colors and temperature – like right now in Las Vegas – by adding some extra fun decor for them.

If you like Fall as much as I do, you will probably appreciate the following designs of independent artists surrounding this theme. They have captured my attention, and maybe you choose to bring them into your home, as I have done before.

For more information about the individual product, click on the image, or the link below the item.

Fall Pathway Postcard

Fall Colors At Portland’s Japanese Garden – Poster

Autumn Oak Leaves Mug

 

A Touch Of Autumn Serving Tray

Happy Autumn Postage

Tree Fall Wedding Binder

Aren’t these beautiful? As always, thank you for supporting independent artists with your purchase. You are truly appreciated!

Question:

What is your favorite season? Do you have any special activities you plan during that time of the year that you look forward to the most? I would love to hear from you!

Have a wonderful day!

Claudia

Best of Zazzle – Halloween Edition # 3

Time to send out theHalloween party invitations! The following invitations can all be personalized, and you can purchase as many or as little as you need. Just click on the individual image for details. Enjoy your party!

Special Coupon Code! 15% OFF ALL ORDERS | 30% Off ALL Card, posters and plates      Ends Thursday   (Oct. 8th, 2015)   Use Code: ZSPOOKYSCARY

Please party responsibly!

Have a blessed Halloween!

Claudia

If You Were Here With Me In Las Vegas – A Weekend Coffee Share Post

Hey there, glad to have you here again for coffee. Do you like this cup? It is one of my own designs, and yes, you can take it home with you.
I hope you do not mind that I will use your visit as an excuse to stop organizing my Zazzle stores for a moment. I did not bake anything this week, too busy, but I bought us some streusel cake.
So this week had been another busy one. I am trying to get ready for a few things, first the above-mentioned stores have to be ready for the upcoming holiday season. I have given them and myself a week to make them just the way I want to. By next Saturday, they better are that way.
Also, NaNoWriMo is only a month away. I want to have the first draft of a book finished by then and use that month to edit the mess I wrote. I say mess because the first draft is always a vomit draft – just a bunch of stuff written on paper – it is the subsequential stages that carve out a true story. Apparently this story will the intro to the town most of my Paranormal fantasy series will be centered in. So the details have to be right at the end. And they will be – hopefully.
Amazon is launching an Etsy-like business section for homemade products, and I am trying to find out as much info as I can. I really love the idea, and will be writing about it on the blog, whenever I get info about it. This will be interesting. (P.S. saw some of the pre-launch selection of some stores and darn they look good – impressive stuff)
If you were here  with me, I would tell you all of the reasons I do not like living in Las Vegas – the gambling in the grocery stores, the groves of homeless people in the parks, just a little bit away from tourist section, the dirtiness of the city, the personal stories of loss and addiction I have been listening to. It is a hard, dangerous city that takes so much out of so many people. On one hand, I see tourists and people with money (as obvious by their clothing, and expensive cars), walking around and partially stepping over people with no place to live. Poverty is everywhere in the US, but I have never seen it so much in your face and seen so many people act as if it is okay. It is not okay. But for me, a temporary resident only here to work for a few months, there is not much I can do. And that is what is killing me. I do what I can, donate where I can, listen to people’s stories and give a kind word or two. As I worry about the content of my next blog post, they are worried about what to feed their children or themselves. It took me a while to learn that I can not rescue everyone – an affliction my husband and I seem to share – so we do what we can to help. I just don’t feel like it is ever enough.

Okay, I’ll stop with the depressing talk, turning back toward my usual more upbeat self, hoping that you enjoyed your coffee, and I will bid you farewell with a blessing of prosperity and happiness, hoping that you and your loved ones will always have what you need, and wishing that you would share with those who do not.

Blessings!

P.S. Please check out all of the other wonderful people who write as a part of the “Weekend Coffee Share”. Give them some love!

5 Things I Am Grateful For Right Now – A Celebrate The Small Things Blog Post

Simple Beauty – Fall Leaf Small Square Tile

available on Zazzle

After missing a week of posting a “Celebrate The Small Things Post”, I am glad to be back participating in the wonderful blog hop, hosted by Lexa Cain. I hope you will join us, which you can, by simply following this link.

What am I grateful for this week?

1. I just found out that they are making a second installment of  the movie John Wick. Surprisingly the first movie was pretty good, and my son really enjoyed it as well, especially considering that the main character makes an appearance in on of his video games. And if you like action movies, you can not go wrong with a Keanu Reeves movie.And I do like action movies.
2. It is only a few more days until my favorite Author – Kay Hooper releases her new book “Fear The Dark. It is a part of her series around a special FBI unit, who’s members have special paranormal skills. If you like suspense and the paranormal I highly recommend her books (not her romance novels though).
3. It is supposed to get cooler soon – yay! It had been 10 degrees above normal in the already too hot Las Vegas, so I am looking forward to days in the 80’s rather than the 100’s. Until then, I am staying indoors – well mostly.
4. The cute little noises my dog is making in her sleep right now. She is dreaming and as usual, she  dream-barks. Sounds more like a little puppy, than a full grown dog, which makes it even cuter.
5. I have been working on my Fall collection of designs on Zazzle and they are turning out to be actually pretty cute! I love Fall colors, and I think I managed to capture some of that beauty. I am proud of those designs.

Now it is your turn – join our blog hop and tell us what you are grateful for. And do not forget to visit all of the other beautiful peeps who are participating in this group of Gratitude!

Blessings!

Claudia

Best Of Zazzle – Halloween Edition #1

 

Click on the individual pictures for more information on the individual product. As always, please support independent artists! Thank you!

Entertainment, Cookies and Coffee – A Weekend Coffee Share Post

Friends and Coffee Poster by wildapple

If you would come over for coffee today, I would tell you about the books I have on my virtual shelf right now, waiting to be read. I would tell you that I love being a reviewer for NetGalley, but that the downside of that is, my reading list is usually very long. Seldom do I have less than 10 books waiting to be read and reviewed. Thankfully I have always been a fast reader.

One of the books is rather spiritual in a New Age kind of way. The Power Of Positive Living by Norman Vincent Pale is not a new book, rather an old classic, that is now being re-offered as a mass-market paperback. If you are interested in creating a positive life, I highly recommend checking his work out. I personally think we can always use more positive thinking practices in our lives.

The other one I want to mention is a book I got via Kindle Unlimited. Dollars Flow To Me Easily by Richard Dotts had raving reviews, declaring how great of a book about abundance it is. Considering that I was able to borrow it for free, I thought that it would do no harm to check it out.

When I am finished with both books, I will write a review promptly, sometimes in the next week.

Did I offer you yet cookies? How about some of these Brownie Roll-Out Cookies, a recipe I have come across recently. Enjoy!

If you would be over for coffee, I would start talking to you about the upcoming Fall TV season. While I do not see myself in having much time to watch television over the next few months, I make it a point to catch the premieres of my old favorites as well as the new ones coming up. I have collected a few trailers of the television shows I am most looking forward to watching:

Trailer “Blindspot”

Trailer “Code Black”

Trailer “WonderGirl”

Are there any shows, books or movies you are looking forward to watching or reading? What is on your list?

Before you go, I would urge you to join us with your own blog. Just follow this link, and sign up, so we can visit more often.

Happy Weekend!

Claudia

 

 

Celebrate The Small Things – Las Vegas Edition

 

Vintage Las Vegas Poster

;

I am happy to back blogging, and to be joining you all in this weeks “Celebrate The Small Things” Blog Hop, hosted by the wonderful Lexa Cain.

We finally completed  our move to Las Vegas, which was not just relocating ourselves but our entire business, and as you can expect that took some time, especially considering that we are also in the midst of expanding. So I am grateful to be sitting in my apartment (albeit small) typing this post and connecting with you all. Thank you for all of the encouraging words and well wishes we received since we announced our move, and throughout it. This meant a lot to all of us.

I am also grateful that the pets (two dogs and the cat) did well on the trip from Tampa to Las Vegas. We drove, so this took a while, but they all adjusted fine to the trip, and are now comfortably resting in our new place.

The people in our neighborhood are very friendly, so that is also wonderful. I am grateful for everyone greeting each other, as well as for the some short conversations I had with fellow dog owners. Our place has a special pet court yard which has grass (a luxury in the middle of the desert), and there is a dog park within two minutes walking distance (thank you to the neighbor who pointed that out to me)

It’s almost fall time, and I am so grateful that I can switch my attention from summer decor to fall decorations. I am launching my home decor and lifestyle blog within the next few days, and I am looking forward to sharing some of the beautiful finds, I have already run across (and of course I had to purchase some of them, I just can not help myself).

Hopefully all of you also had a great week! It will be fun reading what you guys wrote, and if you have not joined in with this group of wonderful bloggers, but would like to, just follow this link and add your blog to the list!

Till next week!

Claudia

Customizable Invitations – The Fall Collection

Invitations, may they be for your Wedding, Bridal Shower, or Birthday, require a personal touch.

Designing them yourself can be a hassle, and purchasing them simply from a card store makes them impersonal. Thankfully the dedicated and talented artists at Zazzle have created a wide variety of customizable templates in the most stunning settings, which makes creating them a snap, without breaking your budget.

The following collection showcases Fall Invitations, however, there are many different non-seasonal styles available as well.
I hope you have as much fun customizing them, as I had fun collecting them especially for you.

Fall Invitations

Brightest Blessings

  – Claudia

Halloween – A Poem

Halloween

Danger lurking in the street
Shadows you will never meet

Until the wrong turn in the night
Shapes fun into a frightful sight

Of bloody mayhem, torn apart
Mangled pieces of a heart

The spirits left to haunt the space
Float amongst us without grace

And merge with living souls to play
Creating terror on this day.

© Claudia Blanton 2013

(I wrote this poem last year for my old blog, enjoy!)