MOVIE REVIEWS / THE HUNGER GAMES

We'll let's be honest here. I have the book, had it for a few months now, the mister picked it up for me, and I was meaning to read it before the movie came out... but I've been to busy to pick it up and get past the first 10 pages. I know, I know, how bad of me to see the movie over a book but the fact of the matter is, I'm more of a visual person. Though books are fabulous, and I do read to the kiddos tons, I just don't care to much to read myself a book. But a movie! Well I always love a good movie. So I went this past week with my SIL (who did read the book, she actually read my copy of it cause she knew I had it and asked to borrow it and then finished it in a day, ha!) and we enjoyed it. The story is based in the future and the "Captiol" (their government) once a year, chooses a boy and girl from each of these 12 districts to fight to the death to win for their district (and to hopefully survive life in general). Katniss Everdeen, the main character, steps up to take her younger sister's place who was chosen for the match initially. Katniss is one tough chick and boy can she surely shot and arrow. I think I want to take an archery classes now. The movie was entertaining and I would recommend it if you did or even if didn't read the book. Happy Weekend!


*Please note this review is based on my own personal opinion. And all images above found here

CUSTOM PET PORTRAIT // LOLA

Lola's owner is a friend and co-worker of mine who had seen my recent work and was hoping to get a print for her misters bday. Hush, hush, it's a still a surprise and she won't be sharing it with him till next week. I was excited to doodle such a pretty pup though and her eyes are just so fabulous. Such character and personality thru them and don't they even kinda look like mascara? I want permanent mascara eyes, how cool would that be. Hope you have a fabulous weekend! :)


CUSTOM PORTRAITS //
Looking for a custom pet or person portrait, do you have another idea in mind you'd like me to doodle up.
I am available for custom work you just need ask. To receive a quote or discuss what you're dreaming up please email me at adalou1(at)hotmail(dot)com

WEAR WARE WHERE (37) + HAPPY BIRTHDAY BECCA

We're waiting on or faux wood counter tops. I can't wait for them to arrive, still a few more week. In the mean time I keep spotting wood inspired products. How lovely is that printed pillow. So lovely! I really am drawn to clean graphic patterning like this one. That house is pretty impressive too. Enjoy and Happy Friday!

(Image credit above)

wear : Stump Necklace

ware : Wood Canisters

where : Modern Log Cabin, Netherlands

And a lil Birthday shout out this morning for my lovely SIL! Hope it's a happy one Bee.  See ya soon! :)
(Image credit above via here & edited by me)

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THANKS FOR READING!   RSS  //  BLOGLOVIN'  //   GFC
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WHAT I WORE : CHECK OUT MY BUNS

Yippie! So I can finally pull my hair in small buns, you were thinking the other buns, how silly of you. Either way I'm pretty excited about this cause I've been waiting what seems like forever for my hair to grow a bit longer. It's in a weird stage where it's not long but not short. I'm currently on the hunt to find hair do's which work well for the inbetweener (if that's a word) lengths. Do you have an up-do you love and wanna share? You also may or may not notice in two of the photo's below I'm wearing a collar... I just couldn't decided which way I  enjoyed more. The collar kept moving around so I removed it for a majority of the photos. And what think of that cute little moss and dandelion down bottom, isn't it so adorable. They're weeds but they are oh so cute. Hope your day is happy!

dress : thrifted

collar : thrifted

knee socks : Target

shoes : Target

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THANKS FOR READING!  FOLLOW ALONG -  RSS  //  BLOGLOVIN'  //   GFC
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THE SWING SET IS FINALLY HERE!!!

On Monday we had a bit of excitment at our home as our new swing set (the kiddos early bday gift) arrived! We decided a few months ago to get a new playset cause the older aluminum one, though still in good shape was kinda to small for growing toddlers. We visited Rainbow last month to hunt for a new playset and the kids were overjoyed at the warehouse as they played on everything. We placed an order to buy* this one (pictured above & below) but had to wait 3 weeks for it to arrived. We decided it best for us to let the pro's do the install at delivery. We have so much going on with the house and kitchen that we just figured it best for someone else to focus on it. Well, Monday was the day. At 9AM the man arrived, that's right just one man about our age built this thing. We (the mister and I) knew it would take a bit to set up, but little did the kids realize it would take all day (5 hours) to install before they could actually play on it. They were eager with excitement and constantly curious and questioning "is it done, can we play yet". They did a great job waiting it out and staying outta the way as their swing set slowly took form. You can see their puzzled little faces against the fence below as they question "ready, ready yet, time to play?" 5 hours is surely a long time when your 2 & 4 and you've been waiting what seems like forever to play on your new toy. By mid afternoon it was complete and then everyone jumped on it to try it out. My SIL showed the kiddos how to hang upside down by the trapize, I found myself with the kiddos in the clubhouse, my BIL played with my nephew (his son) on the tire swing, the mister rode the seesaw glider like a maniac (boy were they gliding really high!) with Wyeth and Penny practiced climbing the ladder and sliding the silde and was a pro in no time. We're so excited for our new swing set and have a feeling we'll now be spending A LOT of the Spring and Summer outdoors. Which is fine by me ;)

buy* - Some of you have already addressed to me "how much was that thing!?!" Honestly, it was a bit more than a bit, and if you really care or need to know you can email me directly. With that said, let me just point out, we are in no means rich or have oddles of money just laying around to buy things like this. If that was the case I would surely hand some out to all of you. We do however live in the land of plastic and financing.

LINK LOVE : 4 DIY PROJECTS I LOVE!

There are a lot of great DIY projects out there and I wanted to share 4  I'm currently obsessing over...

1. These hand painted sticks (driftwood) by Ren Ariel Sano are spectacular! ** 2. I've been obsessed over a pair of tights similar on the Modcloth website but they have since sold out months ago. I started hunting about and came across this amazing tutorial on 3191 Miles Apart on how to make your own. Boy oh Boy! I surely know what I'm doing this weekend! 3. I saw a tutorial around Valentines day how to make similar scratch tickets for your sweetie. At that point I just wasn't to sure what I'd do with them. Well Kaylah worked her magic and now this scratch ticket idea is making me badly want to make some tickets for a craft show I have right around the corner. What a great idea! 4. These coasters are so lovely. I love the clean lines and geometric shapes which Abby shared on her coaster DIY. Well I hope you enjoy these links. What DIY's are you loving lately?

** Number 1. Missing Images - I found this tutorial last year and had it bookmarked on my personal computer to blog about. Just getting around to sharing it now and either way her beautiful photos are now gone. Though the images on her blog are now missing the typed out tutorial is still there. Maybe she'll post the photos again some day.

ARTIST : BELLER "RE-TURNED" WOODEN BIRDS

I spotted these birds early this morning over on "From Scandinavia with Love" (which btw is a great design site packed with inspiration, linked below) but I just had to know more about these wonderful birds. A little click-click and then link on over to Beller and I then spotted exactly what I was looking for. Norwegian artist Lars Beller Fjetland has nurtured his lifelong fascination for the marriage of function with the finest of nature's materials. Thus thru furniture, interiors and lighting. Among these concept these birds were one of his creations. Amazing, right?! Now if I could only get my hands on a set they would look oh so lovely in our home. Enjoy!

Image credit via Beller spotted via From Scandinavia with Love

TAKE TEN TUESDAYS : SNAKES

Photo  //  Belt Buckles  //  Staple Remover  //  Shoes  //  Converse

Print, Alyssa Nassner  //  Nails  //  Ring  //  Cufflinks  //  Pendant

Happy take Ten Tuesdays!

NICOLE'S FAV FIVES // RAINY SPRING DAYS

Hello Adalou readers! It's been awhile but I'm finally backed and couldn't be more happy about it! Spring has arrived in some very different ways all over the country but one thing you can count on is that we are going to have some showers before summer gets here. I've put together a look to make sure you still look bright and super stylish on those dreary rainy days! I hope you enjoy my picks and your spring has started off amazingly! Be sure to hop on over to my blog to see what sweet Miss Sandi has put together for her Fav Five this week! 

IMAGE CREDIT

Jacket  //  Earrings  //  Umbrella  //  Boots  //  Bag

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Thanks so much Nicole for sharing your collection today. You may click here to view Nicole's previous Fav 5's on the AdaLou blog; or pop on over to Pussycat Vintage and say hello and view my Fav 5's here. Happy Monday friends!

GIVEAWAY WINNER // MUSHROOM BOWL

Thank you all for the lovely comments about Spring on the Mushroom Bowl Giveaway, I so appreciate all of your support and learning what each of you is looking forward to this new season. I know all of you are eagerly awaiting an answer as to the * giveaway winner. So without further ado Congrats to CINDY (Comment #64) who is the lucky lady who won this giveaway today. Thank you again to everyone who entered. Cindy when you have a free moment please email me your contact info to claim your prize. Thank you all so much again and Happy Monday!


* Please note all giveaways winners are chose via random.org

BENANDI SHOP UPDATES // BIRDIE NECKLACES AT NOON (CST)

Well here's another peek into what I've been working on lately. Do these look familiar, remember my wall hanging post from last week. Well these necklaces will be the first jewelry items to pop into my handmade shop, Benandi, today at noon! Over the next few weeks there will be more fun items which I'm hoping you'll all love. This is a completely new venture for me as I branch out to explore my artwork in different mediums than the norm of ink on paper. I'm eager  and excited to share it all, so you'll be seeing a handful of updates here on the blog as I go. Thanks for being so patient as I get everything in order. Did I mention I'm going to be taking custom requests on a few of my pieces? These birdie necklaces (plus the wall hanging) will be offered as items which will be customizable, with a name of your choice that is. Fun, fun, right! The details for this will be on the listings in the shop today at noon. Have a Happy Monday!

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Mini Collections Mondays // For those of you following this collection, hopefully you didn't miss it today, as it posted right before this post earlier this morning. Thanks again for all of your support and sweet comments. :)
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MINI COLLECTIONS : BUSINESS CARDS

Last week for Take Ten Tuesdays I shared some creative reached around business cards, you can view them here. In my post I mentioned I own a decent handful of cards myself and I had one sweet comment from miss Mandy asking to see some of my collection. I'm not going to share them all, cause there are far to many, I've collected tons of them do to either the wording, layouts, colors or they have just been aesthetically pleasing to me. I'm going to sound completely bias* but I think designers/artists seriously have some the best business cards out there. Like I said I picked thru some of my favorites to share today and I hope you enjoy them. Happy Mini Collections Monday!


p.s. I'll be back at 8am (cst) with a shop announcement, hope you'll swing back by ;)

Top image business cards belong too the following:

Early Jewelry //  Kellie Bloxsom-Rys  //  Tag Team Tompkins  //  Sugaroni

Decoy Lab  //  Petit Reve  //  Happy Doodle Land  // Aunt June  //  Two Stitches (no longer)

Sea & Sand Jewels  //  Dirty Laundry  //  Deb  //  Modern Logger 

*I told you I'm partially bias to artist/designers. 

All yellow links belong to talented co-workers. 

All but 2 of these links are lovely KC local artist ;)

ARE YOU READY FOR SPRING?

(image above via smart gardener)

Spring is here, are you ready for it? I'm so eager to start planting our veggies and being outdoors more. We have a bunch of plans for or yard this year and it all starts Monday with a new swing set being delivered for the kiddos. Would it be odd for me to say I'm more excited about Monday being here than the weekend which is just beginning. I can't wait to see the kiddos faces light up, after their huge (literally huge) early birthday presents arrives. After the swing set, we have plans for getting our garden started, oh how I love fresh veggies, tomatoes, herbs, strawberries. We're in the discussion of adding more fencing to the other side of the yard. Wouldn't those marbles (photo 3 below) be so cool to add to your fence, I doubt the mister will let me drill holes in his new fencing, but ya never know though. We'll also be adding a few more plants (shrubs, decorative grasses, flowers, etc.) about our yard to make it look a bit prettier... and maybe even an outdoor picnic area, I'm on the hunt for a table and chair so we can eat outdoors this Summer. I'm so happy Spring is here though and to top it all off our weekends lookin' to be a nice high of 79, woohoo! Hope you have a wonderful weekend. So tell me, any big plans for this Spring? :)

Images Above // Garden Crates  //  Planting Garlic  //  Fencing & Marbles

WEAR WARE WHERE (36)

I'm loving that over the shoulder messenger bag, it's so wonderful. I'm in love with yellow lately so this really caught my attention. Those mid century mod spice containers caught my eye too, as they would be a nice touch in our remodeled kitchen, but then again I may have to repaint the walls from green and I'm not to sure if that would fly with the mister. The bottom image of The Forgotten Temple of Lysistrata. Ok WOW!!! Take me here please. How cool is that? Hope you have a wonderful weekend, Happy Friday!!!

wear : Yellow Cross Body Messenger Bag

ware : French Ceramic Spice Jars

where : The Forgotten Temple of Lysistrata, Greece

JEWELRY I'M LOVING // AMIRA JEWELRY

So lovely! I found this handwoven macrame chevron necklace made of rare waxed nylon strings from Brazil, over on Big Cartel, created by Amira Mednick of AMiRA Jewelry. She has a bunch of other lovely pieces, like the rings and geometric earrings over on Etsy too. Isn't this beautiful though? I'm such a sucker for Chevron patterning. What about you? Happy Thursday!

Find ARiMA Jewelry elsewhere

Site  //  Blog  //  Big Cartel  //  Etsy  //  Facebook

(All images credited to ARiMA Jewelry)

ARTIST : SAMUEL CASTANO

I love this mix media work by Colombian artist Samuel Castano. His combination of pencil illustrations and assorted papers and mix media textile patterning is wonderful. To check out more of his spectacular work, pop over to his flickr or personal site. Enjoy!

image 1  //  image 2  //  image 3  //  image 4