A Giveaway!

Hey loves! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! I have a giveaway for you from Kary's mum! She has opened up a little Etsy store called Ninfa Designs selling sweet accessories like earrings and headbands.

So to help her out, Kary asked if I could giveaway some items on here :)

This is the Graciebellabutterfly headband! (It's sweet that I'm named after something and it's butterfly themed)

And these are called Triangle earrings :) 

Sweet and simple.

Kary is a lovely, lovely person and she's like an older sister to me. Come and enter this giveaway to win some sweet pieces.

To Enter, comment...

1. Must be a follower of my blog

2. Visit Ninfa Designs and let me know your fave item

For extra entries (and leave a separate comment for each)

1. Heart the shop

2. Follow Kary's blog 

3. Blog about the giveaway

4. Tweet about the giveaway (use @ILoveMY2Dorks and @gracienne)

Giveaway closes Monday 4th April. Closed

Thanks lovelies! It would be much appreciated if you would enter and help support Kary's mum's new shop!

Collecting Memories

Lately, I've been trying to write in my journal more often. I've just felt the need to document my thoughts and even the mundane happenings in my life. I guess I feel that if I had to save something I would save my journals, letters and photos. 

This is my current journal. It's getting pretty fat because I always glue in little bits like clothing tags, movie tickets, stickers, little notes, all sorts of ephemera I collect.

I have about a third left and I hope to finish it soon. 

I took this photo of my pretty journals and notebooks that are ready to be used and filled with all sorts memories.

Do any of you like to keep memories? Write in a journal? Keep all your letters and little notes? I have boxes of these. Maybe I will take a photo of them sometime.

Anyway, I have a giveaway going on over at Sandy a la Mode. Go and check it out to win a headband, a pair of earrings and some mini note cards of your choice!!

A quick giveaway!

* Now Closed * 

Hello lovelies! I have a really quick giveaway for you. I bought the Frankie 2011 Diary because I thought it was adorable, but I think it's just a little bit too big for me, so I thought I would give it away. 

Via Frankie 

So this is an easy giveaway. 

To enter...

♥ Just leave a comment about anything :)

♥ Open until Friday 19th November

More mail

Hey lovelies. I have some incoming mail that I haven't shared yet. So much mail to catch up on. I'm at my parents house again right now because Jason is off to Sydney for some work training. Sigh.

Incoming mail...

From the lovely Micaela. That deer tape is adorable!

She included a package of paper bits for my creative use and a sweet little pen.

From sweet Belen. 

All the bits and pieces she included :) 

This is from lovely Megan. 

All the wonderful bits she sent with her letter. 

From the wonderful Lauren. I adore the TOMS shoe sticker. 

From one of my Dear Darling pen pals Hazel. 

This is also from the sweet Hazel. 

Another great letter from a Dear Darling pen pal, Nicole. She unfortunately doesn't have a blog but she loves butterflies too!

From the awesome Melody. She had a very unique way of writing her letter. 

From one of my first pen pals Alicia. I think we met on a pen pal site and we have started writing letters again. 

From Rachel who I met through Swap-bot :) 

And from long letter loving Joana. 

A close up of the sweet headband she bought me. 

And  great Postcrossing postcard. 

I have tons of letters and other bits to catch up on so I hope to do some of that today. I also have to announce the winner of the Kikki.K gratitude journal. 

The winner is 

From The Beat my Heart skips

I'll be sending that out to you shortly :) And I'm also participating in her Colours of the Rainbow swap. 

Have an utterly amazing rest of week everyone!! 

Love Bunnie

I have a pretty long work week this coming week so I wasn't sure when I would be able to blog.

Today I promised I would blog about a giveaway that is going on over at Bunnie Bar. She is celebrating the launch of her shop called Love Bunnie.

It's a pretty shop full of lovely accessories like headbands and necklaces.

In honour of the launch of her shop she is having a givaway over at her blog. Someone will win an item of their choice from the choices below...

Beckham Hairband

Janae Hairband

Kelsie Necklace

How to enter...

♥ Leave a comment on the launch post at Bunnie Bar. 

Extra Entries...

♥ Follow her on Twitter and tweet about her giveaway

♥ Join Bunnie Bar on Google Connect or BlogLovin'

♥ Like Love Bunnie on Facebook 

And mention in the comments if you are eligible for extra entries.

Closes on the 19th September 2010 at 11:59 PST

Make sure you visit her shop and blog because her accessories are really sweet! 

Oh and by the way my giveaway is still going too :) 

Have a wonderful week and I will try and blog this week! 

Swap Time!!

* Swap is now closed

Paper doilies used from puglypixel

* Edit - It would be preferable if you have a blog! Thank you!

Hello lovelies! Today is the day to join the ' Just because you're lovely ' swap. Feel free to use the little button thing I made for the swap.

So you can sign up from today until the 18th August. Partner will be assigned on the 23rd August and packages to be sent out on the 8th September.

The cost is around $15-$20 or more if you decide to spoil your partner :) and pretty packaging would be a wonderful bonus.

Remember to let me know whether you are fine with sending overseas or just want to send within your country. I will try my hardest to partner you up with someone in your country if possible.

So basically with this swap, you are putting together a package that is full of goodness for your partner. It's all about your partner. To participate it would be great if you could add a paragraph or so about what interests you. It could be your favourite colour(s), music, books, movies, what you enjoy, what you like to do, if you collect anything etc. This is so you partner can get to know you better and hopefully put a package that is completely you.

If you would like to participate please email me at gracienne.nancy@gmail.com with these details...

♥ Full Name

♥ Mailing Address

♥ Blog site

♥ A paragraph about you

♥ Whether you can send overseas or only want to send within your country

At that's the details. Please email me if you have any questions or comments or other suggestions. There are other details on this post as well.

Oh and if you would like to participate please leave a comment as you have two weeks to sign up. It would be great to start noting down interested participants. And again I say only sign up if you know that you can swap, because I really don't want anyone missing out. It's happened to me on various swaps and it's such a bad feeling.

So that's about it, please enjoy this swap! I'm also going to have a little giveaway for the participants in this swap :) It will most likely be a journal of loveliness. Like the fairytale journal I made for a swap.

And to celebrate 200 followers I have another giveaway in store.

I think that's it! Have a wonderful rest of week and I can't wait to see who participates in this swap.

Just because you're lovely

Via Flickr

Hello lovelies! Thanks for the feedback on the swap. I've decided to do the 'Just because you're lovely' swap. Maybe next time I will also do 'A few of my favourite things.'

Remember sign ups will be this Wednesday 4th of August (eep August!). I will have a questionnaire to fill out so I have some information about your swap partner. Yay! I do hope that you have fun.

Speaking of packages. I received a beautiful one from Sandy of Sandy a la Mode. I won her lovely bunting giveaway. Here's a few photos of the package.

The lovely packaging. I love that she included some butterflies! And those pins were handmade by her. I can't wait to see what her Etsy store will look like. It will be full of so much prettiness.

This is a peak at her beautiful bunting she made. She picked the colours and fabrics that I would like. I absolutely adore it!

At the moment I have it displayed on our staircase. It adds a nice bit of colour to the lounge room.

So remember to sign up for the swap on Wednesday. And only participate if you know that you are able to. Oh and I just need one more follower to reach 200! I was thinking of having a giveaway once that happens. Thank you to all my followers and anyone who reads my blog. You're so lovely!

Have a beautiful week!

Giveaway Winner....and book list

Via Weheartit

I really want to say thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway and for listing your favourite books and recommendations. I have a pretty hefty list of books now, which I will post. But first the winner!

This is Belen! :)

I really do want to say thank you to everyone. It has been fun.

Here is the list of books that were recommended. Some were listed a few times so I will just mention them once. It's listed in order of comments. I've also tried to look for authors so hopefully I have the right ones. Let me know if it's the wrong author (if it's a book you recommended).

* Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

* Eleven Minutes - Paulo Coelho

* The Bell Jar - Sylvia Path

* Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

* Polly - Freya North

* Kartography - Kamila Shamsie

* Beer in the Snooker Club - Waguih Ghali

* A map of Love - Ahdaf Souief

* On the Road - Jack Kerouac

* The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

* The Perks of being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

* Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

* Little Children - Tom Perotta

* Nerd in Shining Armor - Vicki Lewis Thompson

* Pages for you - Sylvia Brownrigg

* The Orion Series - Ben Bova

* Conversations with the Fat Girl - Liza Palmer

* Mr Maybe - Jane Green

* Percy Jackson Series - Rick Riordan

* The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

* Perfume - Patrick Suskind

* Company - Max Barry

* Snow Falling on Cedars - David Guterson

* Jennifer Government - Max Barry

* Adopted Jane - Helen Fern Daringer

* April Fool's Day - Bryce Courtnay

* Hunting and Gathering - Anna Gavalda

* Hannah's Dream - Diane Coplin Hammond

* The Doomsday Conspiracy - Sidney Sheldon (and other Sidney Sheldon books)

* John Grisham novels

* The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

* Eat, Pray Love - Elizabeth Gilbert

* Why Women should Rule the World - Dee Dee Myers

* Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - Jonathan Safran Foer

* The Kind Diet - Alicia Silverstone

* Skinny Bitch - Rory Freedman

* Bitter is the New Black - Jen Lancaster

* To Sir with Love - E.R. Braithwaite

* The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

* Can you hear the Nightbird Call - Anita Rau Badami

* Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin

* The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne

* Memoirs of a Geisha - Authur Golden

* The Notebook - Nicholas Sparks

* Twilight Saga - Stephenie Meyer

* Southern Vampire Mysteries - Charlaine Harris (I've read the first few in the series)

Via Weheartit

* The Giver - Lois Lowry

* Mandy - Julie Andrews Edward and Joanna Westerman

* Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli

* The Curious incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon

* She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb

* Ender's Games - Orson Scott Card

*Emma - Jane Austen

* Paul Arden books

* Seth Godin books

* Love Walked in - Marisa De Los Santos

* A Year in the World - Frances Mayes

* Dead Sleep - Greg Iles

* The Enchanted Forest Chronicles

* PS...I love You - Cecelia Ahern

* Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins

* Last Olympian - Rick Riordan

* Lost Colony - Eion Colfer

* Until You - Judith McNaught

* Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson

* Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky

* Griffin and Sabine Trilogy - Nick Bantock

* The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde (currently reading)

* Five Quarters of the Orange - Joanne Harris

* Karen Kingsbury books

* The Knife of Never Letting go - Patrick Ness

* Maze Runner - James Dashner

* Homeland - RA Salvatore

* Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery

* A Tree Grows in Brooklyn - Betty Smith

* And God created the Au Pair - Benedicte Newland and Pascale Smets

* A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

* The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

* Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt

* A Little Princess - Frances Hodgson Burnett

* The Magician's Nephew - C.S. Lewis

* Charlotte's Web - E.B. White

* Because of Winn Dixie - Kate DiCamillo

* Jane Austen Books

* Before you know Kindness - Chris Bohjalian

* Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult

* A Womans Place - Lynn Austin

* Handle with Care - Jodi Picoult

* The Double Bind - Chris Bohjalian

* The Tale of Genji - Murasaki Shikibu

* Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

* The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway

* Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse

I've highlighted ones I've read (which isn't many). Maybe next time I will list all my favourite books and other recommended ones. I will let you know how I go. And please comment or email me (gracienne.nancy@gmail.com) if there is a book on this list that you try and really enjoy.

Feet Love...and award

I've finally decided to join Nicole's Tuesday = Feet Love. I guess we are a little early here in Australia though.

These are my new cute little ballet flats I mentioned in my last post. They were a gift from Jason's brother and his girlfriend for my birthday. I love them.

These are my awesome fluffy, soft ballet like slippers I also mentioned in the post. They too were part of a birthday present from the sister in law. These are so comfy.

And I received an award from lovely Sandra. We are new blog friends :) It's so wonderful to make another friend. Thanks Sandra!

Rules: Post on blog | Link to the other bloggers within your post. | Let them know you have shared this award with them by commenting on their blogs. | Share the Love by linking to the person from whom you received this Sweetalicious Blog Award.

I'm awarding this Sweetalicious Blog Award to: Megan, Mara, Caroline, Bunnie, Alyssa and Fiona. All lovely blogs and girls.

And just letting you know that the giveaway is now closed. It's Tuesday here in Australia :) Thanks to everyone for entering. I will announce the winner tomorrow and list the books too.

Much Love Monday

I've decided to participate in a series via Much Love. Every Monday you can take a photo of something heart shaped and write down one thing you love. Simple :)

I love: This book to write about your other half. I got it from Kikki.K. I was meant to give it to Jason for Christmas but I didn't have it finished. Then I tried to have it done for just after the wedding...nope. So I tried for Valentine's Day. Still not done so I finished it for his 25th birthday (which was on the weekend). I had to have Post Wedding answers because some things had changed.

Other things I love....

* Breakfast with my family

* Dinner with friends and pretending I'm really into the sports that are playing on the 4 tv's!

* Cheesecake!

* Cute new ballet flats (I will show a picture with the feet love post tomorrow)

* Shopping for clothes to wear to ballet classes

* Wearing soft, fluffy ballet look slippers after getting my feet wet (because it rained again and it even fell through our undercover area) while having dinner with friends and pretending I'm into the sports that are playing on the 4 tv's (and not being able to complain because it's Jason's birthday)

I will have to do more of these lists with photos next time. It will make it more interesting to read. And I have a lot of random photos I want to share because some of them are really cute :)

Via Kikki.K

I just wanted to mention that I bought this Kikki.K stamp set too. It's completely adorable and I used them in the Love book.

Remember you still have at least another day to enter my giveaway. I will announce the winner on Wednesday and list the books that were mentioned. Thank you for your suggestions. It will keep me busy.