Diana Exhibit

Are you ready for a new exhibit? You'll have to go to London to see it. Some of the late Princess Diana's fashions and gowns will be on display at Kensington Palace March 26, 2012 through August 31, 2012. The exhibit is called "Diana". (source)

Designers in the exhibition include Versace, David Emmanuel, Catherine Walker and Bellville Sassoon Lorcan Mullany.   

Proceeds from the exhibit will raise money for the new palace renovations. Kensington Palace underwent an $18.8 million dollar renovation. It will be used for charity events and receptions.

The catch is the exhibit is extremely small. They're only showcasing 5 of her dresses (I've attached the ones rumored to be showcased). So would you pay to see 5 of Princess Diana's dresses? Right now the website has the cost at £14.50, which equals to $19.12 (USD). Children under the age of 16 get in free. 16? I wish that age was implemented here in the states. LOL Also, are most museums in England FREE? I think that's great if it's true.

Any Londoners out there? What's the word on this exhibit? Info is very hush hush over here. 

Also, what's the financial state of The Royal Family? I've noticed they've been cutting back as much as everyone else. Share your thoughts.

A PrintRunner Giveaway!

When a representative of PrintRunner contacted me and asked if my readers would be interested in a giveaway from their company, I told them my readers would LOVE a giveaway. With today's economy, we're all appreciative of giveaways and receiving a great product.

Who is PrintRunner and What services do they offer? PrintRunner is a leader in online printing. They are a full service, high quality printing company located in Chatsworth, California. Their commitment is to provide the BEST VALUE and HIGH QUALITY full color printing at an affordable price.They offer a lot of services you guys: stickers, postcards, business cards, greeting cards, CD/DVD sleeves, thank you cards, magnets, banners and SO MUCH MORE. Whatever your printing needs are, they've got you covered. Click the "online printing" link above to see the vast array of services they offer.

A Very Sweet Announcement! I was going to announce this a little later, but I felt with the PrintRunner Giveaway, this would be the perfect time. I plan on opening A Very Sweet Online Shop soon and linking it to this blog. Sorta like a blog sale. I'll be selling a little bit of everything: clothes, shoes, handbags, clutches etc. All are lightly worn 1-2 times or never worn (yep, the price tag is still on some items). To tempt you I have an extra Jason Wu dress (that 1st lady Michelle Obama wore) and a really cute COACH clutch to sell. I plan on tissue wrapping the clothes I sell and I NEED STICKERS to secure them. I'm getting PrintRunner to print stickers for me. The online store should be up in less than 2 months. Almost everything will be $50 or less. Check my sidebar to subscribe and be the first to know.
  

The PrintRunner Giveaway Prize! So what's the giveaway prize? Stickers! Do you need stickers for your blog, business, event, store, personal reasons etc.? If so, enter PrintRunner's Giveaway below! One lucky reader of A Very Sweet Blog will be chosen.

Here are the details:

Giveaway Prize: Stickers

Sticker Shape: Standard Stickers

Flat Width: 2"

Flat Height: 3.5"

Quantity: 250

Paper: Premium Sticker Stock

Colors: Full Color (4 Color Process), Black and White

Proof: NONE

Ready to Ship In: 3 Business Days

 

*Giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above

The deadline to enter this giveaway is March 6th (12 Midnight CST).

A winner will be announced March 7th (in that day's blog post).

PrintRunner will begin awarding prizes to the winner and host of the giveaway on March 15th.

To Enter Do The Following:
Follow A Very Sweet Blog on GFC (Mandatory) (+1)
"Like" A Very Sweet Blog on Facebook (+1)
"Follow" A Very Sweet Blog on Twitter (+1)
"Like" PrintRunner on Facebook (+1)
"Follow" PrintRunner on Twitter (+1)

Tell me what you did to enter in my comments sections, your email address 

and what you plan on using them for. 

I VERIFY all entries, so no cheating!
A WINNER will be selected by Random Number Generator.

Disclaimer:Thank you PrintRunner for providing this giveaway to my readers, I will receive a set of stickers for hosting this.

Remember! Even if you don't win, PrintRunner is your convenient online printing resource. 

Check out their custom sticker printing services.

Fabulous Faux Desserts

Several years ago, I wanted to put together a really sweet birthday present for my mom. The idea was to give her small boxes of treats and attach tiny envelopes with various gift cards and money to each item. After giving it some thought, I decided not to use real cookies or cupcakes. Any kind of oil, frosting or crumbs on the gift cards/money would not be cool. LOL

So, I came across a website entitled Kathy's Faux Desserts. Kathy makes an array of faux cakes, cupcakes, cookies, petit fours, chocolates and truffles. I thought her creations were beyond beautiful, her prices fit my budget and I thought her designs would be perfect for my mom's gift. I sent her an email explaining my idea and this is what she put together for me. Yes, an exquisite array of treats. She is just as sweet as the treats she makes.

My mom loved her gift! I was suppose to turn these into a centerpiece, but never did. Instead they were wrapped and sitting in my closet for years. HaHa I JUST took them out again to snap these pics for you guys and tell you about Kathy. It's been YEARS (before 2005) since I've looked at them! That shows you the remarkable craftmanship of her work. So if you're a fan of making centerpieces, need a prop for a photoshoot, need a store display or looking for a special gift, think about Kathy's Faux Desserts. And remember these are NOT edible! LOL

Couture Cake Sprinkled With Sugar Dust

Has anyone been to the store lately? What happened to all of the Valentine candy? I swear these chocolate candymaker companies are repackaging the prior holiday candy (valentine's day) to meet the current holiday (easter) candy demand. LOL I wonder what the shelf-life is for chocolate? When I walked into the store the other day, I had to rub my eyes. There were Easter bunnies, baskets, grass, eggs, and candy just waiting to be purchased. Easter is April 8th!!! HaHa Tell me what hasn't been commercialized!?! I love all of the above you guys, but please remember it IS a religious holiday! Sheesh.

Oh well. To satisfy your springtime easter pastel palette, I bring to you an editorial entitled 'Moon Dust Is Icing Sugar' that appears in the 2012 Spring-Summer issue of UK's POP magazine. Unlike me, I KNOW the model didn't gobble down any of that cake on set! HAHAHA It was probably faux cake anyway! LOL It features model Frida Gustavsson. Fashion editor Tamara Rothstein has picked designs from Christopher Kane, Viktor & Rolf, and Valentino. The set was designed by Gary Card (click on his blog! OMG'd the sets he has designed and campaigns!!! Ah-mazing!) and flirty curls by Tina Outen. Makeup is by Inge Grognard. The photographer is Daniel Sannwald of Management Artists. Enjoy and I would like to thank everyone for all of the beautiful birthday wishes! I enjoyed reading each and every one. I had a wonderful birthday! Now, I just need a dress like the one below, without the poofy hips! This baby has enough back! LOL  ;)

Birthday Cake!

Ahhh, you thought I was going to start singing and talking about Rihanna's new song collaboration with Chris Brown on "Birthday Cake"!?!

You did hear about it right? He collaborated with her on her new song "Birthday Cake" (the lyrics are NOT for the demure at heart... highly provocative.... some like it... some say it's raunchy) and she collaborated with him on his song "Turn Up The Music".

 They're rumored to be seeing each other again. What do you think about that? That last domestic abuse knock down drag out fight they got into would've been enough for me! But of course she made that song S&M! Just sayin! LOL It could be they're just working professionally together. Hmmm...Who knows? Would you mix business and pleasure? Hmmm.

Well anyway, there life just happened to fit in with my post for today. The title of Rihanna's new song is "Birthday Cake" and HER birthday falls on the SAME day as mine (yesterday Feb 20th). I just thought I would mention it, show you my Mardi Gras Themed Birthday Cake and some other cool goodies I got. I don't know if I'll have a post tomorrow, because today is Mardi Gras. Much eating and drinking hahaha (but responsibly)! I'm finally responding to comments! Will do some more later today. Have a good one! I'll have another piece of BIRTHDAY CAKE for ya! Woot!

My Birthday Cake came from Swiss Confectionery on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This was my first time trying them. They were REALLY good and they deliver for a small fee.

It was a simple almond cake with buttercream icing and decorated in Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold.

The PURPLE represents Justice. 

The GREEN represents Faith. 

And the GOLD represents Power.

It's Mardi Gras time here in New Orleans! Just think carnival! There are parades, beads, marching bands, kings and queens for a day, balls, good food, music and drinking. Below is the wreath on my door, the 2012 mardi gras parade guide, tree filled with beads (a lot of trees end up looking like this one because people throw beads from floats)...I know poor tree! And I'm an environmentalist! :( Ohhh, there's also lots of king cake. Think HUGE cinammon twist roll with icing (sometimes filled) and decorated ONLY BETTER. Manny Randazzo's is the best! They even ship wink wink!

Oh The Food! Anything goes when it come to eating during the two week Mardi Gras festivities! Thank God for me this is the last day of it. I have Soooo NOT been on my diet. LOL Ummm yeah, just take a look at what I've been snackin on. LOL Pizza, left over Russell Stover Valentine candy, bbq drummies and wings...oh yeah! I did have a salad! HaHaHa

Get Into The Spirit! I'm off for the rest of the week. So today, I'm trying some "spirits". If you're younger than 21, skip to the end of this post! Now! hahaha  Everybody else, read on! I bought some Imported from France Pinnacle Whipped Vodka (Thanks Becks from Oomph for the suggestion! Hopefully I feel like that girl in the commercial. hahaha) and Malibu Black Coconut Rum (black in liquor terms simply means it's the best). Drink responsibly!!! I'll be mixing it with cranberry, orange or Del Monte pineapple juice. I love pineapple juice :)

...and now for the icing on the cake! I received a lot of nice gifts and money. I'll only feature two here (the least expensive and most expensive item). I received Philosophy's Happy Birthday Body and Shower Wash, lip gloss duo. I really liked the packaging! And I tried it last night. It smells so good! It's like vanilla cake with frosting! What I like about it, is you only indulge in it while showering! After you step out, you don't smell like cake. The most expensive gift I received was a gift card for The Ritz Carlton Hotel. With it I can stay a weekend at the hotel and go to the spa. Yeah, it was worth that much. I was jumping up and down when I received it. I was so surprised. So I'm going fingers crossed in July (it's cheaper and I can maximize my card amount during that time)! Of course I'll document my stay there. The Ritz is FAB!

So am I having a great birthday or what? Who wants to come to New Orleans and join me? HAHA Oh yeah, this post is suppose to be about birthday cake. Well, I'll just leave you with Rihanna and Chris Brown's Birthday Cake song! I only posted the sample (go to youtube; type in rihanna and chris brown birthday song and you'll get the version with him in it). Don't play or sing the lyrics around your mother! LOL I'll talk to you guys Thursday! I have to recuperate Wednesday! LOL Laissez Bon Temps Roulez ("Let the good times roll").

Happy Birthday to Me! Birthday, Lies and A Winner!

Today Is My Birthday!

Why the hell am I blogging today? LOL Seriously though, I'm truly grateful and glad I can share it with all of you! :)

I came across this "Happy Birthday To Me" pictorial spread on TokyoFashion.com in January. It's a Birthday-for-One fashion editorial and I thought it was SO much fun!

I can't explain why I love it, because I'm truly a minimalist and this is wayyy over the top with stuff. However, it all just seems to come together.

I love the title of the pictorial, her happy birthday tiara, box of krispy creme doughnuts, confetti, cards, balloons, streamers, strawberry shortcake, makeup, party hats, colored hair..OH MYYY! HaHa

To me it's like Alice in Wonderland gone Haywire. LOL Everything I love is meshed together.

The pictorial features Japanese model Hirari Ikeda. The photographer is Kira. Hair and Makeup Artist is Mai Kiyota. Concept is Hirari Ikeda.

Enjoy!!!

 

See the Making of "Happy Birthday to Me"
in the video below:

To see the COMPLETE spread click HERE.

 

Soooo, what's a party without gifts?

I was going to do a giveaway today on my birthday, but a disturbing and serious situation in the last giveaway came up, that made me decide not to (and rather address the problem in this post). 

I'm very disappointed in a blogger that LIED about an entry in Rowena's giveaway. The blogger claimed to have followed Rowena's page on Facebook and her Etsy shop. She did neither! I despise a deceptive person and definitely a liar. 

I work too hard to supply nice products in giveaways for someone to falsify and try to CHEAT other honest bloggers out of a win/prize. For the most part (as do so many others) I use my own money to pay for prizes, that are presented in my giveaways. I supplement the cost of prizes by writing posts for companies (sometimes featured on Fridays) that I believe in and whom want a sponsored post to appear on A Very Sweet Blog. I could keep that money for myself! But instead, I turn that money into a prize for my readers. 

To show you how serious I am about this incident, I've deleted you from my blog roll and will no longer comment or patronize your blog. You may not care, because there are a million blogs out there that can replace me. However, you will remember this post and what I'm saying to you. You messed up! You made a bad decision! In life, I've messed up! I've made bad decisions! No one is perfect! But it's recognizing what you have done and learning from it. Don't hurt people that are nice to you. There are few of us out there. But trust me there are plenty of wolves.


Bad decisions like this affect your CHARACTER. Your character is everything. It's your word. It's how others perceive you. If you fudge on something like this, what else do you fudge on? Break this bad habit NOW!You will only lose in the end and make a bad name for yourself. I'm chewing you out and jumping in your ass publicly because I liked you, valued you as a reader and never want you to do this again. You hurt me and disappointed Rowena. We're not deserving of this. We both forgive you, but want YOU to be a better person than what you showed and thought of us last week. I'm nice, but don't ever try and get over on me. I will not stand for it. Instead of responding to my reader's post tonight, I had to take time out and write this. You have my email and Rowena's if you wish to apologize or talk about this situation.
 

 The winner of the 8x10 print from Rowena's Etsy Shop is... 

Samantha of Style of Sam

Congratulations Samantha! You picked the Mercer print!
I'll be contacting you by email to confirm everything! 

Rowena of Rolala Loves is offering ALL of my readers 

20% Off and Free Shipping

on any order from her shop through 2/27/12

Use the code: AVERYSWEETBLOG

Isn't she a doll? That's very generous! Thank You Rowena!

Ok, it's Mardi Gras time here in New Orleans and it's also my birthday so I'm off to celebrate!
I promise to read your blogs. I haven't forgotten about you, but I had to address the situation above and I've been celebrating my birthday/mardi gras all weekend 
(Mardi Gras ends Tuesday at midnight). 
Everything will be back to normal soon. ((HUG))