Raised In Cotton

Fun May Happenings

2012-05-23T18:17:59-05:00

Well Hello! How the heck is everyone doing? I took a much needed break from my blogs to get some projects done and apparently I'm not the only one who took a blogsphere vacation. It seems everywhere I turn bloggers are not posting as much. Do you see the trend by chance? What I'm finding is more and more are turning to Facebook because it is fast and easier to give status updates. I have found my increasing interest in Facebook and really enjoy the interaction I have on my pages. I still love blogging and will continue to do so because this is where I've met some of my Dearest Friends!

So what has been keeping me so busy?? For one I went to California earlier in the month to speak at a lovely creative event for Women. It was four days filled with inspiration and laughter at a beautiful Manhattan Beach Hotel. On one of the days we took a 12 hour bus tour shopping and stopping at the Irvine Flea Market, Urban Barn Sale and Vignettes Antiques in San Diego. I did manage to shoot a few photos at Vignettes~

When I returned I had to complete a couple of photo shoot projects which I will share more about in the future. But I also got to do an engagement photo session with my Son and his sweet girl. I can't begin to tell you the emotions I felt when I uploaded all of the photos of them. What an honor to be able to capture their joy and love.

Tomorrow I'm headed to a barn sale to hopefully replenish our shop inventory. Hopefully I will have good finds to share with you!

Blessings,

Carol

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May Musings

2012-05-02T06:21:56-05:00

Just a few random May Musings~

Congratulations to Kent and Liz who will be married on Saturday~I did an engagement photo session with the lovely couple a few months back and enjoyed every minute spent with them. Can you tell they were really easy to photograph?

Ok you know me and my obsession with chairs right? I about fell over (once again) when we found this fabulous vintage treasure~Almost reminds me of something you would see in Anthro:)

Construct your own garden arbor out of a few salvage pieces~ 2 porch columns, springs from the backseat of an old 1940's car for the top then add a pretty chandelier.

I'm heading to California with my daughter (Ms PartyPants) in a couple of days~

I am very honored to be the luncheon speaker at Kim Caldwell's Event in Manhattan Beach~Read more about it here.

Back next week with details of the California trip:)

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Cheers Bloggers!

2012-04-23T06:17:11-05:00

Thank you so much for the wonderful discussion on Blogging! I think Joyce said it best that blogging provides a "Mental and Visual Vacation" and I couldn't agree more. So cheers to us that continue to offer a bit of inspiration on our blogs and the gift of the many friendships we have made. Keep Shining:)

So to start your week off, my gift to you~

"Blogging Is The Devil" Lesson Learned

2012-04-22T10:08:04-05:00

This post is a departure from what I usually write about, but I thought it was a good time to do a bit of reflection. Please let me know your current views. As always I Thank You! Carol

Recently a friend I know said to me, "Blogging is the Devil!" I was a bit stunned with her statement but after a lengthy conversation she further explained that visiting blogs always makes her feel very inadequate and unworthy. That it seems if you don't have some incredible house or incredible DIY project or incredible photography or traveled on an incredible trip to post about, why bother? Basically her take was the fairytale world of bloggers was filled with narcissistic personalities that wouldn't know the real world if it bit them in the ass. Ouch right? I tried to justify to her that my reasons of blogging were to connect, inspire, market the business and mentor. And how I've always been grateful for the friendships and opportunities that have come my way because of blogging. But wait, did her view of blogland have any merit? Do my own blogs fall into that same fairytale world she described? Probably to some extent, but that's because I'm very conscious about putting out the best content I possibly can on my blogs. I owe that to the people who take the time to visit and have been supportive over the years. Also, I understand that blog readers usually are looking for two things, information and inspiration and that is what I always try to provide. That there is enough ugly in the World we live in and being able to escape in blogland for a bit is OK.

Why you blog and the content you offer is a decision that is ultimately yours. But as my friend reminded me of in her assessment about blogland, don't get caught up in the smoke and mirrors of blogging that you feel the need to constantly produce to obtain favor. In reflecting, a dose of "Real" might be in order for many of us that blog~don't we owe that to our readers and ultimately ourselves?

The internet has fostered a wave of instantaneous gratification and short term memory loss. Basically any fame you receive from the internet can be very fleeting so remembering that and taking things in perspective when you post should be a lesson for all of us bloggers.

Chair Love Part 2

2012-04-17T22:41:48-05:00

Remember "The Chair" I posted about a few weeks back? It is now for sale in the shop. I've been on a bit of a chair buying spree as of late and have several in the inventory so this one has now come available for purchase.

Chairs have always been a good seller in our shop and we are constantly looking for ones with good bones that we can take to our upholsterer. The brown spindle desk chair is a recent find and we had the seat recovered in a brown/tan zebra material. I think the print is a bit unexpected but seems to work well with the style of chair.

We used a sweet bird print to recover this side chair and it quickly sold.

A floral pattern in black, tan and white was the fabric choice for this small chase. Our customer bought the black table along with the chase to use in her bedroom.

Stop by and visit us at the shop soon:)

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