Jikana Damaru

This week I'm grateful for... the week that was

I started 'Grateful Saturday' in order to take a moment every week to reflect on the things in my life that were positive and appreciated. It's a grounding, important thing in my life and I am convinced that it helps keep me looking for and focusing on life's positives.

I've always done 'three things'. Who knows why three, but three it is.

I've had a HUGE week in blogging land this week. Really awesome support and love coming at me from all angles and I'm positively overwhelmed and so very grateful. Thank you to everyone. I stand behind the fact that I think blogging makes us nicer people. I really do.

It's been so hard to stick to just three things, but, this week I'm grateful for...

145. Companies that 'get it' - Elk, Leona, Prey, I love that you got a random email from some chick with a blog and you ran with it. You didn't try to 'corporatise' me or go on and on about your 'brand'. You didn't have lots of rules and regulations... in fact, you had none. You just got that blogging is about having a conversation with a friend and you pulled up a chair. Are you listening, Ford Territory???

146. Shiny Tim - again. I know. It's boring now. But I'm just so darn grateful for those captured family moments, I really am.

147. Bloggers - Lots and lots and lots of bloggers. I'm probably running out of ways to say I'm grateful for our little community, but again, I am just so happy with the lot of you that I'll repeat myself again and again and again. And again. Thank you for joining in with Grateful Saturday each week. It means a great deal to me.

So, what's making you smile today? Add your I'm Grateful For post to the list below (and please, we love you, but it really does matter that your post is a Grateful one and not just a random), add the button (grab the code from my sidebar and paste it into your post) and pretty-please add a link back to me. Then pop over to visit other bloggers who are spreading a little sunshine.

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Enter our party giveaway by clicking on the image!

[Image by Tim Coulson]

Marie Nichols

Welcome to my new series of posts, Friday Feature. This week I am sharing with you the delightful work of stylist, Marie Nichols. After Marie completed her photography degree she discovered her dream job was interior styling. After working at Ideal Home magazine for six years, she left her job of deputy style editor and moved to Sydney where she freelanced for various home magazines.

I love her pretty, whimsical style with touches of glamour, more of which you can see in her portfolio and her blog, Whole lotta lovely, which is full of adorable inspiration.

Happy Friday, sweets!

i am

looking forward to the school

holidays & spending more days

without having to rush around

this first year of school is

going by so fast & I think we

need to stop & spend the next

couple of weeks slowing down

& enjoying the little things

in life like walks on the beach

in the winter sunshine & movie

days & lunches with friends &

bush walking to amazing views

i am looking forward to having

my school girl home every day.

28 weeks!

I'm behind on my weekly update, but since I'm at the beach this week I have an excuse :) We're having a wonderful time here, I don't think I will be ready to come home on Saturday! I'll post all about our vacation later of course; just wanted to say I am still around!

7 months-wow! I feel great- almost better than ever minus a little heartburn and back pain :) Every morning I wake up and feel so lucky to have my little girl nudging me. Loving every minute. (at least for now!)

Catch up with everyone soon!

Modelling BM3 Outtakes....

This week, I photographed one of my best friend Belinda's gorgeous baby girl wearing some my new designs... little Lily is 8 months old, and such an adorably petite little creature AND she seems to have taking a shining to my little Elliott! She looked so adorable in the designs (some of which are in store, others to come by Spring!) But working with babies and kids in general can be challenging... and even the most patient of babies get frustrated and bored with costume changes and being asked to sit still for any length of time! I managed to get some beautiful shots of Lily, but in between were a couple of funnies which I couldn't resist with sharing with you:

Tutu-'Halo'!

Life's too short to sit still...

Amongst my new range I'm working on for Spring are these baby fairy skirts made from layers of Tulle, vintage crochet detailing, lace and fabric. Stay tuned, folks!

ps. Baby Boy bow ties still on sale for $10 each -- but only til Sunday! Grab them from my Madeit site and make YOUR boy-o the coolest kid in the crowd!

pps. If you are located on the Central Coast and have a gorgeous baby boy or girl who would like to model my designs -- please contact me! I'm always looking for babies and mine have grown up way too fast!

HAPPY GIVEAWAY: Your perfect party outfit

Maxabella loves... Population: 1000.

Cue even more dancing in the streets than usual (or is that just me?).

So, we're going to need a celebration, right?

I couldn't figure out a fun way to have a party on a blog... but I do know that a dazzling party needs a dazzling outfit, so I thought why not supply the outfit and maybe the party will happen?

So I got in touch with three labels that I absolutely adore and that I have raved about on my blog before (because I want them to like me). Guess what, they like me and they were only too happy to provide us with our perfect party outfit.

Cue the marching brass band!

Up front on’ fabulous frock’, we have none other than...

Leona Edmiston

I’m a big fan of this label’s ability to make me want to flaunt my curves rather than hide them. The winner of our giveaway gets to choose a Leona Edmiston Ruby dress from the fabulous online store. There are so many gorgeous frocks to choose from and stock changes monthly, so you’re sure to find something you love to bits and pieces. I absolutely love that Leona Edmiston has been kind enough to allow our winner to choose the style that suits them best, so it really will be the perfect party dress.

On amaaaaazing shoes, we have...

Shoes of Prey

Seriously, how cool is it that these guys allow you to design your own shoes? Hello Manolo! Shoes of Prey is absolutely amazing and I am saving up to make my perfect pair of leopard print flats. But our winner won't need to save up as they will receive a $220 voucher to put towards designing the perfect Shoes of Prey shoes to match their Leona. Did I just see a duck that was looking particularly fortuitous walk by?

And providing the high notes we have...

Elk Accessories

I adore my Elk Accessories necklaces and pendants and I never fail to get complimented when I wear them. I am very happy to hear that they are launching a ‘Mr Elk’ in August sometime. It’s my dream come true: LOML and I can match! (Just kidding. No, really!)

Anyway, I managed to persuade Elk to contribute a pair of Silver Birdie stud earrings (of course they’re birdies!) to our darling party outfit.

They are go-anywhere-and-look-beautiful earrings, but they will look particularly glam when accessorising your designer party outfit.

So, that's dress, shoes and accessories all taken care of - dazzling indeed.

Won't you look sensational?

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How to enter

One lucky winner takes all.

One Leona Edmiston Ruby dress from the online store.
One $220 voucher from Shoes of Prey
One pair of Silver Birdie stud earrings from Elk Accessories

Winner selected randomly from comments left on this post by 14.7.11 / 5pm Sydney time (winner announced 9pm Sydney time on 15 July). Please make sure you have an email address attached to your comment profile or included in your comment to win. Oh and because this celebration is all about the following, you need to be a follower of Maxabella loves... to win.

There are lots of ways for to gain entries (just make sure you leave a comment for each one!):

For one entry, just leave a comment on this post revealling what your perfect party outfit looks like.
Tweet this post for one extra entry (leave me a separate comment to let me know you tweeted, oh and I'm @Maxabella2 but I'm a hopeless tweeter so don't get excited).
Facebook for another one (leave me a separate comment to let me know you’ve faced).
Write a post about the competition and you'll get three extra entries (leave three separate comments to let me know you've posted, one with a link!).
Put my giveaway button up on the sidebar of your blog for two extra entries (leave two separate comments to let me know you’ve done this, one with a link to your blog)

<div align="center"><a href="http://maxabellaloves.blogspot.com/2011/06/your-perfect-party-outfit-giveaway.html" title="Party Giveaway at Maxabella loves..."><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-PzEETA6_Pz77HKGv7NoeYhhq0gYIXaLCLi8H5bPJqHiNw_41D1_PfXK97HhrL6jiYN0pJ3z5I0ZAy1XGFKGSDN_hjiGTCC0EZqzSKMatdhRwxKX0tkhbz8K2GAlFXFPUxVJ6aFNsRIF/" alt="Party Giveaway at Maxabella loves..." style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Good luck and have fun checking out the collections at Elk Accessories, Shoes of Prey and Leona Edmiston. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to Prue from Leona Edmiston, Ziba from Two Birds Talking for Elk Accessories and Jodie from Shoes of Prey for not laughing at my random email and being a part of my blog sort-of-kind-of party. Enjoy yourselves!

[Party image found here. Please let me know if this image is yours and sorry I butchered it to make my giveaway button!]

[Oh, and I used this Code Generator to get the code for my button - it was super easy so I really appreciate it.]

Glass Jars

This week on "Wonderful World of Etsy" I bring you a selection of pretty glass jars, whether it's for the gorgeous photography or the brilliant pieces like the mason jar chandelier. I love a glass jar and have quite a few, from ribbon spool filled apothecary jars and soap filled bird jars to candy filled jars. What do you keep in your glass jars?

Have a sweet day!