last giveaway of the year!

a big thank you to everyone who entered last week's giveaway :: your sweet comments make my day! the lucky winner of two sets of pretty postcard packs from the dear machine shop is oona.

and now for this week's giveaway, the last one of the year...

i'm giving away three 4 x 6 photographic prints, shown here...

"a mile in her shoes"

"alphabet soup"

and "vintage elixir bottles"

these three prints look fabulous together as a set, and i'd love for you to have them!

to enter: please leave a comment and your contact info. you can submit extra entries if you tweet or blog about the giveaway- please leave one comment for each action.

thanks so much for participating! the giveaway closes next thursday, december 2nd at 10pm pst and the winner will be announced on friday, december 3rd.
good luck and thanks again to everyone for stopping by the blog!

giveaway #3

thanks again to everyone who entered last week's giveaway :: the lucky winner of any 8x10 print in the dear machine shop is Janice.

and now for this week's giveaway...
a set of 10 postcards featuring two of each of the following five photos ::

to enter: please leave a comment and your contact info. you can submit extra entries if you tweet or blog about the giveaway- please leave one comment for each action.

thanks so much for participating! the giveaway closes next tuesday, november 23rd at 10pm pst and the winner will be announced on wednesday, november 24th.
good luck!

please hold

this is what i wish i could do... drop everything and just enjoy the lovely things. ah, but life doesn't usually work that way, does it?

i just spent 1/2 hour reading blogs {a luxury i don't seem to have much time for lately}, and several bloggers wrote the same things i've been thinking for the past few weeks :: feeling filled beyond capacity, wondering if they're taking on too much, struggling to make ends meet doing what they love. my dear friends, you are not alone.

i have definitely taken on too much lately, trying to keep three etsy businesses afloat {boy, it sounded like a good idea at the time!} and i keep hearing the words of a friend who told me months ago "jack of all trades, master of none..." in other words, would you like three sometimes-successful businesses or one super-successful business? hmmm...

don't get me wrong, i LOVE every minute of this. the etsy world, the blogging world, craft shows, clients, the creative life... love it, i say! i just don't get a break. the last time i got out of town was summer of '09. oy. this, it seems, is what it takes to do what i love for a living.

so, i may be in and out of the blog world this next month or so but i am still here! cutting, pasting, sewing, stitching, photographing, crafting, selling, marketing, networking, planning, designing, dreaming. making it work.

xo, havilah

photo by me

another giveaway!

wow, this is fun!
the winner of my second photo giveaway is alvin.

and now for #3!
the winner of this giveaway will get to choose any 8x10 in the dear machine shop!
it could be...

"elegant fruit" . . . . . or . . . . . "beautiful decay"

"devout" . . . . . or . . . . . "silk tower"

"pink days of april" . . . . . or . . . . . "vintage pink notions"

"flying north" . . . . . or . . . . . "farmhouse lavender"

or

any other print in the shop!

to enter: please leave a comment and your contact info. this time, i will allow extra entries if you tweet or blog about the giveaway {one entry for each action}.

thanks so much for participating! the giveaway closes next tuesday, november 16th at 10pm pst and the winner will be announced on wednesday, november 17th.
good luck!

holiday market time!

it's that time of year!
last friday night, jenny & i had the absolute pleasure of helping set up for the little winter market in portland, which took place over the weekend. we also attended the pre-sale party and chatted with market organizers chelsea from frolic blog + abby from abby try again. it was so fun + everything looked incredible! {check out those links for more info + photos. top photo by shanna murray}

AND

more big portland crafty holiday news- the crafty wonderland pop-up shop opened today!

i haven't dropped by yet, but they posted a few photos on their e-newsletter {which i copied over here- credit to the photographer} ... doesn't it look like so much crafty goodness?!

i have to admit, i'm in the holiday spirit already. funny, i've spent the past several years feeling only mildly excited about the holidays, but i'm definitely getting back into it now. especially when there are so many indie artists out there offering amazing gift ideas!

three wish fish are back!

i've been busy back at the sewing machine + i've made lots more "three wish fish" for the upcoming holiday season! say hello to my fishie friends!

each item is created using a unique combination of new, reclaimed, + vintage fabrics. i keep all of my materials as natural as possible :: bamboo fiber stuffing, vintage button eyes, jute twine, + a maple twig from my backyard.

did you know that each fish grants a single wish? that's three whole wishes! see why these guys make good friends?

three wish fish are now available in the darling savage shop! i will also have them available at several holiday craft shows in portland very soon. details to follow.

yay fishies!

parisian style

i just learned that "darling savage" in french is "sauvage cherie". ha, cool.

1. world traveler pendant by kimiko611 2. hand dyed seam binding by frenchmarket

3. nightfall in paris photo by lolas room 4. provincial style coffee table by utopiauf

photo giveaway #2

this week's photo giveaway is for a 5x7 print titled "whole world" ::

just leave a comment and contact information below before 10pm pacific time next tuesday, november 9th- good luck!!

www.dearmachine.etsy.com

giveaway winner

thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway! it's so fun to see the lovely comments you all leave. :) this week's winner is jennifer v., who gets these two 4x6 photographs::

if you didn't win, don't despair- i am having another giveaway later today! and another one every wednesday until december 22nd. AND don't forget, the sale is still going on in the dear machine shop until november 30th :: 30% off all prints.

oh, and do you like my latest blog header + design? i like this one a lot, i think i'll keep it around for awhile. ha, we'll see.

fall flowers

photos by me

le chat noir

i probably should have posted these yesterday {halloween and all} but i think my little black cats are more cute than spooky- don't you agree?

aren't they so well-behaved? actually, dx and i were quite amazed- i was setting up a table to take some more macaron photos {coming soon!} and, as cats are prone to do, they both hopped right in the way. so i started snapping photos while dx danced beside me, distracting them long enough to snap some great pics!

feist is in front + sebastian in back. see little feist's single white whisker? she had two- one of both sides- but the other one fell out! i really hope it comes back, she looked like a little walrus-kitty.

and here is mr sebastian. what a handsome boy! he always sort of has that bewildered look on his face, which i find utterly adorable.

if you haven't heard the kitten story yet, click here to see these guys {and their sisters} at 2 weeks old! and you can see lots more kitten pics at my flickr site.

happy november!!