Gratitude

All too often I forget the many blessings that the Lord has brought into my life, and not just into my life but into the people's lives that I love the most.

So many times I get distracted with the little, unimportant things such as worrying about what I am going to wear or worrying about what people think about me. I could pretend that these things don't matter, but let's be honest, they do. So, I want to take a moment to list a few mighty things that God has done for me that I don't deserve. He does them because He loves me.

I am His child.

*Although there was a time this year when my husband's work went through a dry spell and we had no other income, we never went hungry, Amelia always had diapers, our home was still a comfortable place to live (better than many homes when compared to less fortunate countries), we still had gas for our cars; we were even still able to provide food for our cat...

The Lord takes care of us.

*Eventhough my father went through a long spell without work after being laid off (like thousands of other Americans his age), he and my mother were still able to pay off their home and relieve that debt on a 30 year mortgage; they were still able to travel here to visit us; and eventually God provided my father another job.

The Lord is faithful.

*God healed my brother-in-law after he was kicked in the ribs by a steer.

*God is still healing my uncle who had triple bypass surgery two months ago.

The Lord can heal all wounds.

Everyday as we are eating, playing, working, sleeping, God is in control orchestrating our health, our childrens' developing little bodies, our climate, our economy, everything.

How many times do our lives cross through dangers unseen by us that only the Lord knows we escaped through his protecting hand???

The Lord is in control.

I am thankful for all the blessings that I have received but I know that there are thousands that of "unknown" blessings that I have forgotten about or have been unaware of.

If you are reading this post, just think about all of the blessings you have at this very moment by just being able to do this simple act-You are literate; you are healthy enough to be entertaining yourself on the computer; you own a computer; you are alive...

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness (variation), neither shadow of turning." James 1:17

I hope you all have a joyous Thanksgiving with your families.

_{Images of Amelia Thanksgiving 2008}

Fill up a room with wintery snow....

Gorgeous location

plus...

Beautiful architecture

plus...

millions of fluffy snowflakes
plus...

ceiling to floor velvet window treatments

plus...

gilded moulding and a grand chandelier

plus...

ethereal lighting

plus...

tufts of powdery snow

equals a dreamy winter catalogue produced by Anthropologie.

Everything about Anthropologie-its clothing, accessories, window displays, home decor, and catalogues-is saturated with creativity, color, and beauty.

I just wanted to share with you this very inspiring photoshoot.

This year I am using touches of aged gold in my Christmas decorating and gift wrap...for a little bit of glamour.

Now, perhaps, all I need is some feathery snow...

_{Images from Anthropologie November 2009 catalogue}

Parisienne Petal Winner....

This giveaway has been an absolute pleasure to host. I want to thank all of you-old and new friends-for your encouraging words and for visting my Etsy shop. Many of you shared with me your favorite brooch and listening to your favorites is so very helpful.

After assigning each of the participants a number (some participants were assigned multiple numbers), I used a random number picker (much quicker than writing, cutting, and placing names in a hat) to randomly select a number. After the number was selected, I looked on my sheet of paper to find the corresponding participant and the winner of one of my hand-made brooches is....

Stephanie at Bonjour Madame!

Stephanie, a long-time blog friend of mine, has been such a loyal friend to me and to many of you as well. The image above came from her lovely blog. Be sure to pay her a visit!

I hope you all have a great Monday!

A la prochaine!

_{image -Country Living via Bonjourmadamestephanie.blogspot.com}

Dior and Chanel Haute Couture Inspired Parisienne Brooches~Classic Black

Here are a few other gorgeous brooches inspired by Dior and Chanel that one lucky winner of the Parisienne Petal giveaway may choose from. If you have not entered the giveaway, you must click here to enter.

The deadline is Saturday, November 14th at midnight central standard time.

About a month or so ago I did a post over Dior and Chanel's Fall Haute Couture.

I was so inspired by this romantic nude and black ensemble that I began creating...

Most of us will never own a piece of haute couture (at least not by Dior or Chanel). Why not wear a little accessory that gives us a little taste.

black crinkled velvet, fabric the color of a faded ballet slipper, and black flocked chiffon with little dots~or as the French say~pois.
Delicate, Romantic, & Sexy...

Black and cream houndstooth brooch~timeless.
The perfect winter accessory. Pin it to your peacoat, your winter scarf, your black purse...

This sweet little gold and black dotted made one of Etsy's member curated treasuries, which can still be viewed by clicking here.

Each of these brooches are listed in my Etsy if you would like to know more detailed information.

Monday I will announce the winner!

Bonne chance, mes amis!!!

Giveaway!~Parisienne Petals~a la parisienne's new romantic brooches~

For all of my loyal friends out there, I wanted to share with you some exciting news. A couple of weeks ago, I added a new product to my Etsy store~Parisienne Petals~romantic brooches that have a vintage appeal. As a "grand launching" of this product and a thank you, I want to give one of these brooches to one lucky winner. Winner's choice!

A little bit about my hand-made flowers:

*Each brooch is made of luxurious fabrics-silks, velvets, brocades, taffetas
*All petals are hand-cut by me
(These aren't craft store flowers with a pin glued to the back.)

*The design of these brooches are one of a kind- I created the template for the petals and I select the fabrics.
*Edges of petals are treated to prevent fraying.
*I love using authentic vintage pearls, beads, jewelry and ribbons for the centers of my brooches.

~Le Petit Trianon Brooch~

This flower is my Marie Antoinette inspired brooch. I drew these colors from the gorgeous robin's egg walls in the Petit Trianon at Versailles and sumptuous dresses worn by the actresses in the film Marie Antoinette.

Although the color palette of this flower might be considered more fitting for the spring and summer months, I would still wear it in the winter...but that's just me.


~vintage vanilla cream brooch~

I hand-dyed the fabric used in this brooch to make it a creamier shade of white.


~La Sorbonne~

A charcoal raw silk brooch, with the appearance of linen is a great color for fall yet light weight enough for spring.



~velvet decadance~




This brooch is one of my very first creations. It is fashioned with layers of dusty rose and burgundy velvet. It is ruffled and so very rich.


~Satine~ Inspired by Moulin Rouge

~A scarlet silk and crinkled velvet brooch~a rich, classic, striking

How to enter the parisienne petal giveaway:

You must leave a comment below to enter. Anyone may enter!


If you would like to increase your chances of winning:
(For each of the following, your name will be added once more to the hat.)

*Visit my Etsy store, come back and tell me which brooch is your favorite.

*Become a follower. (Current followers will also be added to the drawing an additional time. Please mention in your comment)

*Become a Facebook fan of a la parisienne

*Do a post over my giveaway. (You must inform me of your post.)

*Purchase a brooch from my Etsy.

If you win, you may select another brooch for free-to keep or give as a gift.

You could have your name added to the "hat" up to six times for this giveaway.

Entry deadline: Saturday PM, November 14th.
Winner will be announced Monday, November 16th.

Throughout the week I will be sharing with you many of my other brooches. I look forward to hearing from you.


Bonne Chance!!!

Amelia as Madeline

I am not a huge fan of Halloween, but I do think that it is fun to play dress up every now and then. What better costume for a francophile like me to choose for her little girl?

Madeline!

Last year for Christmas Amelia received the entire series of Madeline books from two of her aunts. Aunt Nay Nay, as Amelia calls one of them, actually gave her the Madeline doll for Christmas, too.
So, I had the prototype, and the seamstress-my loving mother. We just needed the fabric for the dress.

I actually found this fabric at a local estate sale for $2.00 the weekend my mom and I had made plans for her costume. When I brought the fabric home and compared it to the doll, I was shocked at how perfect it was!
The doll actually comes with a blue felt peacoat...You should have seen my mom's face when I mentioned that a sweet little peacoat would be cute, too.
Needless to say, I decided that a blue peacoat wasn't that necessary!
As for the golden yellow beret...I honestly didn't make much of an effort looking for one.
My mother and I decided that a golden yellow bow could replace the yellow collar of the doll so that Amelia could wear this dress throughout the fall/winter.
However, for some reason I like the big yellow bow, even if it looks somewhat "clown-ish."

As you can see in this picture, Amelia hasn't really attached to the Madeline doll yet, but I am certain that in the months to come, she will begin to appreciate dolls more.

When Amelia is a little older, will she love Madeline like many young girls have for the last couple of generations? As Anna Quindlen writes in the introduction to Mad about Madeline:The Complete Tales, "Madeline books endure because they understand children and epitomize what they fear, what they desire, ans what they hope to be in the person of one little girl." I can't help but wonder...
What will Amelia fear? What will be her dreams as a young girl?

Only time will tell.

Bon week-end, mes amis!

I have an exciting post to share with you on Monday. You won't want to miss it!

Glorious Shades of Autumn

Honey, Spice, Pumpkin, Caramel, Nutmeg, Butterscotch, Cinnamon, Sienna, Burnt Orange...these are the glorious shades of autumn as summer goes backstage and allows automn's chilly winds, rain showers (here in Texas), and cloudy skies to debut.

I couldn't help but gravitate toward the assundry shades of orange while in Quebec provided that these beautiful colors are not common in Texas during the fall.

This rock building and sweetly painted butterscotch window pane reminds me of a walled city in the south of France.

I kept telling my husband, "If I could preserve one of these golden maple leaves exactly as it is with it's gorgeous color, I would safely wrap it up and tuck it into my pocket..."

Throughout our last day in Quebec, we witnessed the quebecois bringing out pumpkins for their outdoor fall decorations.

I captured this close up in front of the Aux anciennes canadiennes restaurant. I just loved the saturated color of these dried (pods?)
If anyone knows the name of these orange pods, please share. I do feel quite ignorant for not knowing....

Oh, and I had the best creamy pumkin soup here....Absolument délicieuse!

As my husband and I were strolling along the Terrasse Dufferin in front of the grand Chateau Frontenac, I noticed this sweet couple enjoying the view of the St. Lawrence river.

It appears that they also enjoy hues of autumn!

I felt that if I included pictures of absolute stangers, I might as well include a picture of myself.

Hope your weekend is lovely~

A la prochaine!

_{All photos in this post are by a la parisienne}

Faire une promenade: Vieux Québec's Faded Charm

I had a couple of moments to steal away and share a couple of glimpses of Vieux Québec-Old Quebec-the portion of the city that is envelopped by a walled fortress.

My husband and I were fortunate enough to stay three of our four nights in Vieux Quebec on rue St. Pierre. We felt like we were in the center of everything, yet our hotel was tucked away bearing few pedistrians/tourists.

This is probably my favorite picture that I took. I love its paleness and innocence. To me, it possesses a fairytale quality.


These images are just a taste of Québec's charm. I have many more that I would love to share...Perhaps in a couple of days.

Bonne journée, my friends.

Une promenade romantique in Québec

Throughout our busy days of caring for our families, working, paying the bills, etc. I would like to invite you to faire une promenade with me through Quebec City. Each day, I will share with you a glimpse of Quebec's beauty during our blissful stroll.

No walking shoes necessary.

A demain - See you tomorrow.

Happy Return from an Autumn Reverie

Bonjour, mes amis. We have finally settled back in at home from our autumn getaway in Quebec City.

With over 1,000 photos of our trip, I am going to do my best to sift and select the very best pictures and share them with you soon.

I am in the very center of a creative endeavor, so I will do my best to keep an even balance between taking care of my family, running my Etsy store, blogging, visiting your blogs,...

the list keeps getting longer!

It's great to be back home. I look forward to catching up with you.