June 2013 Life's Lessons for Women: Audrey Hepburn

There are very few women in the entertainment industry (relatively speaking) who garner the respect and admiration of everyone the world over.  One such woman, however, was Audrey Hepburn.

Audrey was an amazing woman in more ways than one.  We'll be exploring her life and learning from her this month.  To give you a "taste" of her elegance, beauty, and wit, I've created the following Printable just for you:

 

This is my gift to you so you can start thinking about this extraordinary woman, and seeing what attributes you share with her, because mes amies, I know that you probably share many.  Please respect that this is for personal use only ... however please feel free to share this link with others so that they can participate with us as we learn from women, past and present, throughout the year who created lives of beauty.  Who were able to see what true beauty was and who exemplified it in their deeds and actions.

I have to thank Karen at www.thegraphicsfairy.com for sharing the lovely pink background that I used for this graphic.  However, the quote is pure Audrey.  I adore this picture, which was taken at the time that Sabrina (the original movie) was being promoted

So ... look forward to a month of goodies, wisdom, paper craft tutorials, laughter, maybe a few introspections as well ... while we learn from one of the most gracious women who was a style icon as well as an advocate for the beauty and strength of women!

Have a wonderful week mes amies!!

Life's Lessons for Women April 2013: Coco Chanel

Well, mes amies, it's taken me a little longer than I had hoped but I am confident that you'll feel it was as worth it as I do. I'm so excited to announce our new journey to feeling beautiful by learning from successful women who have already forged the path ahead of us. And, as my loves of vintage fashion and all things french are so strong, I had to start of with Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, herself. What an amazing woman. What a path she blazed at a time when women had very few rights and very few comforts ... especially in the way of dressing. I don't know about you, but the thought of being trussed up like a Christmas turkey every day in order to wear my clothes, and then to try to get in and out of my vehicle with said clothes, while still breathing, is absolutely mind-boggling. I created the above graphic to get us started. Please feel free to download and print it out or save to your computer as a wallpaper. Many thanks to Karen at the Graphics Fairy for the beautiful french frame that I used in the background.

I know you all have a very busy life, so today's post will just be an introduction. But, if you do have time, please following this link HERE to a great, but not long, bio of her. It's in written or video form, and really quite lovely!

What is even more amazing about this woman, is that she was born in 1883 and lived until 1971, yet she still inspires fashion to this very day. Over the course of this next month, I'll be sharing little snippets of what made this woman so memorable. And, I hope it will inspire you to believe and know that you are memorable. You carry within you, all that she had. We're going to learn from her success, her mistakes, and her witty words of wisdom. It's going to Coco Heaven!! So hop on board, girls ... let's take this crazy ride!!

Before I close ... I have what I've been asked for, and promised, for quite some time to share with you ... a TUTORIAL!!!!! I know many of you think that you are not crafty. Many women think that you either have "it" whatever "it" is, that can magically make you creative, or you don't. Well, I don't believe that for a minute. I have found the most wonderful crafter who has hopped on board and will be taking this trip with us ... all the way. Her name is Tevis, and she will be offering 2 tutorials every month.

For those of you who are intimidated by crafts, there is Paper Crafting 101, which will be offered the first (1) week of every month. For those of you who are crafty, but want to learn something new, different, and maybe a little challenging, we will be offering Paper Crafting 2.0 (offered the 3rd week of every month). Each month the craft will correspond with the icon from whom we will be learning from. So, this month's craft is inspired by Coco.



This picture was taken when she was younger, but if you notice the bracelet she has on ... it could be just as popular today. So, you can click HERE to go to our tutorial page and meet Tevis. Or, you can click on the Paper Crafting 101 button at the top of the page.

Also, be sure and join either my facebook page, or my twitter as I will be sharing little bits of wisdom over the next month regarding Coco. If you're not a huge Facebook fan, but love Twitter, that's the way to go. If you don't tweet, but like to check in on Facebook, then that's best. Of course, you can join all of my buttons and just have a complete Chanel fest if you'd like. Anyway you want to ... come join us as we learn from one of the top 30 women listed as Women Who Changed the World!!

Bonjour Mes Amies ... I hope you enjoy draping yourselves with Coco's pearls this month.

Lorraine

Happy Pre-Easter!!

Well, it has been a little bit since I posted. In the meantime I drove to Albuquerque and back to help my son and his lovely new wife move here to live in the town where my husband and I reside. They will be starting school again in the fall, and so decided to get a head start on finding employment before the rest of the college crowd try to compete for summer jobs.

AND ... yesterday was my birthday, and I will admit that I turned 49 ... my last year of my 40's. So I plan to enjoy this year as much as possible before I roll into my 50's. And, while aging might be a problem for some women, it truly doesn't bother me at all ... at least not yet. Now while that's being said ... I still color my hair, so I guess the correct response would be that aging without gray hair doesn't bother me! The most wonderful part of my birthday was realizing that ALL of my children were here to celebrate it with me. That hasn't happened in years, and it truly was the best present I could have asked for (besides the homemade lemon cake that my husband made me!).

So ... here are my juicy updates that I have waited with bated breath to share with you!! Many of you (my lovely and much loved facebook followers) have asked for tutorials on how to use some of the graphics that I create. Well ... they're coming, they're coming, they're coming!!! I'm so excited. I have been working on the evolution of my blog for several months, and spent hours upon hours working on what I wanted to share with you. All of the effort is finally paying off. So, I'm going to give you a little teaser ... you will definitely want to check in the beginning of April (and this is no joke, mes amies) as it will be the beginning of all of my plans coming together. I can't wait to share them with you.

So ... here are some teasers:

* Coco Chanel
* Life's Lessons for Women
* A Craft for Beginners (or those who think that they can't make anything ...)
* A Craft for Crafters (something to tempt even those who think they've done everything)
* Give Aways
* Contests
* Reviews about things that we all want, know, or love!
* A continuation of Freebie Fridays, but most of all ...
* Motivation that you ARE beautiful. You ARE special. You HAVE value. You ARE WORTH IT!!!

I hope you know that I care for each of you who reads my blog. I want you to feel what has taken me so many years to discover for myself: life is too short to spend any more time feeling doubts about your own unique beauty or self-worth. So, if you'll stick with me ... we're going to make sure that you do!

In the meantime, I created a graphic for my Brag Monday. For those who are new, I create something each Monday using one of the Graphic Fairy's beautiful vintage images. You'll find her link to left. I wanted (SO BADLY) to jump the gun and share next week's graphic, but I restrained myself and focused on Easter so I wouldn't fudge and ruin my surprises.

I hope you enjoy this graphic. Please feel free to use it in a non-commercial way. You are more than welcome to click on the picture and then right-click to save to your computer. You might use it as a desktop wallpaper, print it out to frame and decorate for Easter, or even create cards or crafts with it. I only ask that you not mass produce it. You may, however, send anyone my way to get their own copy.

And while we're talking about sharing ... if you haven't signed up for my facebook page, please do so. That is where you'll find past Freebie Fridays, some that weren't shared here, although you can always click on the Freebie Friday button to the right for the ones that were posted here. I try to switch things up between my followers. So, to make sure that you don't miss anything, you'll want to follow me in both places. I promise, some are truly treasures (at least that's what I think, as well as many of my followers). Last Friday's ... well ... does the name Audrey Hepburn mean anything to you? I don't think I need to say more! LOL!

Mes Amies ... have a very lovely week. I hope it is filled with beautiful thoughts and wonderful happenings for you and your life.

Warm Regards,

Lorraine



Im also linked to: Mosaic Monday

Inspired by the Inspiring

I am back from Washington, D.C. and am so excited to share with you every little minute of the 3 days I was there. Alas, I know you don't have that kind of time, so for the next several days I'll share a little bit at a time.

As I mentioned before, Google so generously honored me with the opportunity to represent the state of Indiana as an Ambassador of "Get Your Business Online." If you'd like to see what all that entails, click HERE. So, in Washington D.C., I was able to meet with 42 other Ambassadors around the country. It was so inspiring to meet people from all different backgrounds, all types of businesses, and to hear their story of how they are changing their lives, simply by following their dream and making it happen.

One of the things I love about the internet, is that NO ONE can tell you no!! How many people have tried to find a new job in this economic slump, and been told:

No ... we don't have any openings
No ... you aren't qualified enough
No ... you are competing against 500 other people, and you're just not what we're looking for.
No, No, No!!

However, if you do have a dream, you can make it happen on the internet. I hope you take the time to read some of the stories of the people I met. I promise, you will come away inspired!! If you type in www.gybo.com/[insert the state of your choice], you'll read some really inspiring stories.

So ... as always, I had to come up with a free printable for you to share the inspiration that is bursting in me! The background is a Victorian postcard. I have embellished it, cleaned it up, and created a printable that I hope you enjoy and that it inspires YOU to follow your dreams!!



**As always, this is for personal use only. You may click on the picture and then right-click to save to your computer. You may print it out for personal use, use as a desktop wallpaper, but you may not mass-produce. Please do, however, feel free to share my site with others so that they may get their own copy. Also, if you click on my Zazzle store (located to the right), you will find a whole slew of products that I designed using this

As always, mes amies ... have a wonderful week and I'll keep you updated, a little at a time, about my wonderful trip! Now go out, and inspire others!!

Bisou Bisou,

Lorraine

What a Man!!

Today, I have to say thank you to my husband, for trying to help me dig out of the wreck of last week. I've almost thrown him back in a couple of times, but decided he was a keeper! And, I'm glad I did.

The sweetie brought me a big bouquet of flowers to put on the table where the tile disaster happened, to try and put a smile back on my face. He fixed the dishwasher, fixed the fridge, scraped off the tiles so that I could redo them, and this on only a couple of hours sleep. So, in homage to his kindness, I created a free printable for my Brag Monday entry. The print is from the Graphics Fairy (see her button to the left) and the quote from Barbra Streisand, of all people. I hope you enjoy and have a chuckle to start off your Monday!

As always, this is for personal use only. Feel free to click and then right click to save to your computer or print for non-commercial use.

Au revoir mes amies!!

Lorraine

Brag Monday Entry

It's a rainy, cloudy, Monday morning (whoops it may actually be after noon now) and I'm still in my jammies, trying to be "inspired" for the day. But, it's not really working. I got enough rest, I should be raring to go, but it's just one of those days when you want to stay in bed, eat chocolate and watch "Sleepless in Seattle" or something else where you get to cry!

But, a promise is a promise, and I've made a commitment to myself that I would get my Brag Monday entry in every single week to the Graphics Fairy, so here I am ... following through (but still in my jammies - isn't the internet wonderful!!).

So, here is a picture of my entry:

I chose a graphic from the Graphics Fairy (thank you Karen) that is from an old birthday card, probably from the Victorian era. During that time, giving flowers meant more than just a flower, each flower had a meaning. I almost wish we lived in that time, where a bouquet not only meant that we were loved or admired, but that each flower in the bouquet had a hidden message for us.

Well, the Iris is the national flower of France, and is, in fact what the Fleur de Lys was taken from. I feel silly that as much as I love all things French, I didn't know that the Fleur de Lys was an Iris!! Hopefully I'm not the only one out there my age that didn't know that. The Fleur de Lys was traditionally named after King Louis, because as royalty he represented perfection, light, or life. Joan of Arc carried a flag showing a Fleur de Lys being blessed by God to inspire troups as they marched to victory.

So, that is why I've chosen the word "Inspire" to put on this graphic. I hope that it inspires you to learn a little more about flowers. I had a wonderful time learning about their names, the history behind them, etc.

I love flowers, particularly since I was able to live in Holland for a year when I took a year break from college. It is traditional there, that if you go to anyone's house that you bring a bouquet of flowers. Everyone has flowers in their home, and it is amazing what that one little touch can do to brighten and beautify a home.

Later, I read one of Alexandra Stoddard's books about decorating (she is an amazing author if you haven't read her works yet, you should) and one of the suggestions she had to beautify your space, was to have real flowers in your house. I have never forgotten that, because I knew exactly what she meant after having lived in Holland. So, my challenge to you this week is to go out and get some flowers (even if it means getting them out of your yard (not your neighbor's, unless you ask) and bring some into your home. I promise you, your spirits will lift from that one little touch in your home.

Which reminds me ... I think I'm going to go out and pick some of my hydrangeas and take some of my own medicine!

Bonjour mes amies,

Go out and inspire!!