Link love and a portrait of Connor

Back in October, I have the pleasure of winning a giveaway over at one of my regular blog reads, Dee*Construction. Do you have a blog that you love to read because it makes you want to live in that person's living room (in a non-creepy way)? That's Dee's blog. It's the one I like to sit and page through on lazy days in my pj's with a hot cup of coffee. It has a wonderfully vintage, homey-feel that I can't get enough of.

All photos property of Dee*Construction

I'm one of those people who would love to have a house full of vintate-y things, but since it doesn't come naturally to me, my house ends up looking more like a garage sale. That's why I live vicariously through blogs like Dee*Construction, Bleubird Vintage, and Cakies.

Besides peeks into daily life, Dee also has tons of wardrobe refashions and makes the most adorable dolls. Oh, and she's expecting baby #5 soon. I don't know where she finds the time to do it all. If I had 5 kids, I'm pretty sure I'd just hang out in sweats all day watching reruns of What Not to Wear on a pile of laundry. I can barely attempt to craft with 2 children.

Like I was saying, back in October I entered one of Dee's giveaways to win a custom portrait from one of her sponsors, Stella of the blog The Golden Adventures of a Very Dark Horse and the shop Frank and Dean. When I enter giveaways, it's usually something I do without really expecting to win, so I was so thrilled when Dee notified me that I won! The prize was a custom portrait of a person and background of my choice.

After a lot of deliberation, here is the picture I decided on (my Connor boy back when he was little and squishy!):

Here is Stella's portrait based on my photo and background choice:

Isn't it awesome? The likeness and colors are just beautiful, I feel so lucky to have won the giveaway! The portrait is hanging out on my mantel right now, along with my DIY hurricane vases that I worked back into my mantel decor after Christmas.



If you're looking for a custom portrait, shoot Stella an email. She's one talented lady!