Hot Right NOW...

Here's what's hot right now in the Dirty Pretty Things shoppe...
And, buyers receive a FREE GIFT and take 10% off any of these items if you mention this feature on my blog at checkout. ❤

{ { Prints and Mini Prints... } }

Shown, Clockwise from Top Left...

• Where's The Party {Madonna} Giclee Print
• The Sweet Escape {Gwen Stefani} Giclee Print
• Vivienne in the Graveyard Giclee Print
• Chop Siouxsie Giclee Print

{ { Cute -n- Naughty Greeting Cards... } }

shown above...

• Can I Play With Your...Banana Greeting Card

{ { Super Yummy Soy Candles... } }

shown above, L to R...

• Ginger Spice Soy Candle, 12 oz
• Sugar Kiss Soy Candle, 12 oz.
• Bavarian Chocolate Mint Soy Candle, 12 oz.

❤ BUYERS: Wait for revised invoice before you pay or convo me to correct & reserve your listing beforehand. Also, be sure to check out the featured items in my shop as they are 20% off this week only. This offer expires on March 31st!

Freaky Friday... Lisa Rinna

"Whoooo... Little ole' ME???
I am just as surprised as YOU that they think I'm qualified to be here judging other people's fashion sense and makeup!"

"I was yet again so very excited to be asked, so I had my hair stylist super glue my big early 90's hair into place and got my lips plumped up bigger than ever before."

"I even stayed up alll night practicing these poses...and I made SURE that they got my good side, you know, the side of my face with that huge killer "beauty" mark on my brow."

"People have always looked at me strangely, but I'm just positive it's because I am so damned gorgeous! If only they KNEW just how much I have to spent on my plastic surgeon and trainer to maintain all of this!"

"Anyway...do you like?"



"This is one of my faves 'cuz I'm looking over my shoulder like I'm a coy little school girl..."

"Oh, and my lips are sheer plumped perfection in this shot...You can't tell I'm trying to push them out even further, can you?"





















"I almost cried when I saw this shot...and I made an appointment with my plastic surgeon the very next day! Don't you think my amazingly fake boobs look like they are sagging a bit??? ...and I paid so much for them!! I'm so mad right now!"






















"Now, in this photo, I wanted to make absolutely sure that all the jewelry I was borrowing for the evening was shot. I know most celebs wouldn't admit that they are actually GIVEN almost everything they wear, but I will. What do I have to lose at this point in my life? I did in fact practice this pose beforehand, but it looks so spur of the moment, doesn't it?"













"I'll leave you with this one, so you can see that I've actually been working out so much that my back muscles are ripped. ...And, what gorgeous woman doesn't pull out an 'over the shoulder' look anymore? Eat your heart out, Megan Fox!! God, I'm SO beautiful...I'm off to have these babies framed."

...click images to enlarge...

Pretty Things to Get You Clean...

I've discovered a new shop with things to make you squeaky clean...and smell good too!
Long Winter Farm makes creams, lip balms, massage oils and the most gorgeous cold process soaps with quirky names like Jane Doe, Porridge, Bloody Lumberjack and Hippie Stink. The names just make you smile, don't they?

*❤*

And...Long Winter Farm is currently being featured by Nicole of Lillyella, Uniquely You and they have a very generous and super delish give -a-way going on right now...but HURRY, the deadline to enter is tomorrow morning!

Of course, you can still visit the Long Winter Farm shop on Etsy...and Lillyella always seems to have some sweet treats to share.

Thursday FUN!

Don't feel like actually working today? Me either!

So, here's another of those fun time wasters...MAKE YOUR OWN ALBUM COVER!

My band is called 4th Regiment of the Front Guard and my album is called "Trying to be in Love" {right}. Doncha just love it? ...definitely check it out!



...and now, go get yer own:

1 } Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random - The first article title on the page is the name of your band.

2 } Click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 - The last four or five words of the very last quote is the title of your album.

3 } Visit http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/ - The third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 } Use PhotoShop to put it all together.

5 } Post the link to your band's new album and, if you want, TAG up to 10 people you want to join in. {I'm not gonna tag anyone, but would LOVE to see what you do!}

Photo: JenKneeBee

Hey You Dirty Pretty Things!

...Wanna spend some fun time getting down and dirty with yer honey-pie and then take a long leisurely bath together to clean each other up??

Well then, you little minx...I've got just the recommendation for you!

The Muddy Moose Bath Boutique sells edible chocolate body paint....and the yummiest soaps and bath bombs! Get thee to the shoppe...oh, and do stop by her blog also for a sweet give-a-way.

*❤*

And, whilst your are shopping, you might wanna grab a card or two from the Dirty Pretty Things shoppe...There are some super cute cards that will definitely help set the mood for your night of fun, below:




From L to R...

• Hot Monkey Love Card
• Your Place or Mine Card
• Can I Play With Your Banana Card

Have You Been Wondering if I Still Love you?

"I do...I still love you more than you'll ever know!
I thought that YOU didn't love ME anymore. You never call, You never write..."

Have you been wundering why you've been losing followers and why people haven't been commenting on your blog for the past several days? Me too! I've tried many times to leave comments and the word verify on many blogs isn't working...so I did some research and wanted to share.

Here's what Blogger had to say...

The word verification form is currently failing to load for some users. As a temporary workaround, you can disable word verification from the Settings | Comments tab. We're working on a fix now, and apologize for the inconvenience.

For a list of other issues with blogger right now and how you might be able to work around them until they are fixed, such as losing followers, etc..., go HERE.

Now go and DISABLE your word verification.
I did...so now you can comment again and hopefully win some of the great give-a-ways we have going on this week! Good luck!

xxx
Raven

Pretty Things Fashion: The 81st Annual Oscar Awards

Here's a look at our picks for best, worst...and a little "meh" from the red carpet at the 81st Annual Oscar Awards.

✿ ✿ ✿

The Best...

Miley Cyrus - My pick for best dressed of the night surprised even me...and I took a long time to think about this one since I'm not a fan of Miley. Although many put her on their worst dressed list, I thought her jewel-encrusted gown by Zuhair Murad was absolutely delicious and her hair and make up just perfect. Getty Images

Evan Rachel Wood - Her pale satin and chiffon gown by Elie Saab was a perfect choice as she looked the epitome of Hollywood glamour. Getty Images


Anne Hathaway - Anne sparkled and looked absolutely stunning in her Armani Prive gown. WireImages [L], Getty Images [C,R]

Alicia Keys - Although her gown is in a Pepto Bismal shade of pinkish purple, it looks great with her skin tone. We though she looked absolutely amazing! Getty Images

Taraji Henson - She's been batting a thousand lately with her wardrobe, so kudos to her stylist! She looked stunning in her Roberto Cavalli gown and beyond gorgeous Fred Leighton jewels. Getty Images [L], WireImage [R]

Angelina Jolie - Angelina is finally out of the frumpy dresses and looked gorgeous in this black gown by Elie Saab. Of course, I'm sure many of you think that her having Brad Pitt as an accessory doesn't hurt either. Getty Images

✿ ✿ ✿

Meh...

Freida Pinto - We love John Galliano and the shoulder detail of this dress, so you'd think we'd be all over this Bollywood-inspired beaded gown with lace sleeve, but unfortunately the colour and the fabric makes it a bit too cheap looking. Getty Images

Penelople Cruz - Everyone seemed to just love her vintage gown by Balmain. We liked the bodice of the dress, but the skirt not so much as it looked liked it was taken off a vintage wedding dress. Getty Images

Kate Winslet - The colour of her Yves St. Laurent gown is gorgeous and most of its detais very pretty,...but the one shoulder detail looked a bit contrived and could have been edited. The dress would have been prettier as a strapless gown. Getty Images

Natalie Portman - Although she looked very pretty and, upon closer inspection, we do like the style of her Rodarte dress, the colour is just a bit too Pepto Bismol for us and doesn't suit her bottle-bronzed skin tone. Getty Images

✿ ✿ ✿

The Worst...

Beyonce - Definitely not hot...and now we know what happened to those hideous drapes we tossed out. Beyonce is not 'all that' in this skin tight fish tailed nightmare supposedly designed by her mother. Getty Images

Heidi Klum - We love the red and the earrings, but for someone who lives in the world of fashion and judges others for their fashion sense, she sure doesn't dress the part herself. Dress by RM by Roland Mouret. Getty Images

Tilda Swinton - We love her, but her Lanvin blouse and skirt ensemble just makes her look frumpy and the colour of her blouse doesn't flatter her skin tone. Getty Images

Amy Adams - Her crimson gown by Carolina Herrera with geometric piped bodice just didn't go well with her hair and her necklace fought the details on her dress for attention. Getty Images
Viola Davis - The gold lame looking dress by Reem Acra flatters Viola's skin tone, but little else as it draped and clung to her oddly shaped breasts. The wrinkles in the fabric didn't help the look either. Getty Images

Amanda Seigfried - Her red dress by Valentino Haute Couture missed the mark with its large bow and unflattering bodice. Getty Images

Marisa Tomei - Her deco-inspired white Versace one-shouldered gown with pleated bodice and fish tail hem just didn't do it for us. We're over the fish tail and this would have looked better strapless. ...but we're so happy to see her acting again! Getty Images

Sophia Loren - Classic Hollywood glamour -Italian style...and very HER. But, this dress looks as if it's circa 1988 prom with all the ruffles and pouf shoulder details. I've never been a fan of her excessive tanning either. WireImage

Mickey Rourke - Looking like he needs a bath, a hair cut -- and a stylist, Mickey yet again doesn't disappoint in his attempt to make the worst dressed iists. Wait, is that a Scrabble tile necklace from Etsy? WireImage [L], Getty Images [R]

Artist Spotlight... ELSITA ❤

The winner of the paper cut print by Elsita is BRENDA. Congratulations!

“Anytime I try something new in my art, I get to know a part of me that it is less obvious." - Elsa Mora

Born and raised in Cuba where she graduated from art school, multimedia artist Elsa Mora {Elsita}, learned the most important things she now knows from her mother.

"She always told us that the number one thing that anybody needs is education. The second thing is to find out as soon as possible what you are good at. And the third thing is to make your dreams come true, not by a miracle or good luck but by hard work and discipline."

Heeding her mother's wise advice, Elsita developed a very successful career as an artist and now lives very happily in Los Angeles with her creative husband Bill {a Hollywood film producer} and their three children.
How Elsita finds time in her busy life to create such beautiful works of art is a mystery to us all, but she manages to create many wonderful things and take care of her Etsy store where she sells super sweet illustration art prints, adorable toys, jewelry, sculpture, the most delicious paper cuts and other handmade gorgeousness.

Spotlight... Elsita ❤

✿ Tell us about You...
My name is Elsa Mora and my nickname is Elsita. I was born and raised in the island of Cuba and I currently live in Los Angeles, CA with my husband Bill and our three children. I am always busy like everybody else and a fun fact about myself (not so fun sometimes) is that I am the worst person on planet Earth finding directions. I remember that during the first week, after I bough my first tiny house in Camaguey, a province of Cuba, I had to go out with the address written on a little paper so on my way back home I could ask people how to get to my own house.

✿ What inspires you?
Anything interesting inspires me, specially things that are new to me, or things that I have never heard about. My ideas come from some little corner of my brain where there is always a busy mini-me dreaming about the next thing that I would like to make or do. The other me, the taller one (still short, I am 5.2) is always taking care of all the practical things.

✿ Apart from creating things, what do you do for fun?
Honestly, the most fun thing that I have been doing lately is something like this: I close my eyes and dream about being less busy. It makes me smile, and then I go back to normal.


✿ Do you work at your art/craft full time or do you have another job?
I currently have three jobs, one keeping my Etsy store and having galleries shows, second: full-time Mom and third family therapist. Not the kind of therapist with an office but the one that gets lots of phone calls from relatives asking for emotional support.

✿ What has been your most memorable moment selling your art?
Once when I got commissioned for creating an artwork for some European President. When I got the check I didn't want to cash it because I wanted to frame it, but I ended up cashing it because I needed to buy some groceries, I was then living in Havana.

✿ What are your current obsessions?
Trying not to obsess about anything :)




✿ Any advice for fellow artists...
Don't listen to any advice because that will distract you, just listen more to your inner voice. I think that if you deeply love what you do and if you're willing to share it with everyone out there, then whatever you give is going to come back to you in the form of little hearts.

✿ If you could be any character, who would it be and why?
I would like to be a Moto-Moto fairy, I don't know what that is by my daughter drew one the other day and I really liked it.

✿ Do you think you lived in a past life? If so, where & when?
I would need to ask my friend Tam, she is a palm reader in her spare time.

✿ What are your future business plans?
My plans are to keep going doing everything with lots of heart.

✿ Anything else you'd like to add about yourself or your work, etc….
That it makes me happy when my work makes other people happy :)

✿ Anyone you'd like to mention as a favourite Etsy seller?
My friend Margie, she is terrific. I am going to meet her in person in May. I will fly to Canada in order to meet with her. Yay!!! Her Etsy store is called knitalatte. Behind this store there is an extraordinary woman...I have seen her imagination and creativity explode thanks to the energy that she has gotten from the Etsy community. This energy is all over the Internet, making all of the creative people a strong and important force.

✿ Shoppe: Elsita
✿ Blog: www.elsita.typepad.com
✿ PaperCutting Blog

❤ ❤ ❤

This give-a-way is now closed...Congratulations to BRENDA who won the paper cut print by Elsita!

This week's delicious give-a-way is an 8.5"x 11" black and white print of an original paper cut done by Elsita entitled "Secret Anatomy of a Young Girl".
This print is so beautiful in person as the black ink is very concentrated on the paper, which has a nice textured surface. It look almost like velvet. The 285 gm paper used for this print is acid-free and is of an archival professional grade.



✿ To enter...Visit Elsita's shop. Then, come back here to tell us what you favourite item is and why it's your favourite.

✿ For extra entries into this contest...
1} Get ONE extra entry by following my blog.

2.} Get TWO extra entries by posting a comment on any other post on my blog, not including artist features.

3.} Get TEN extra entries by doing a mini write up about this blog and contest on your blog. Post here with link to the feature.

❤ ❤ ❤

Most Important Details... I will make sure all extra entries are entered into the give-a-way. All entries are handwritten by me, so I DO check every single entry and comment. The winner's name is drawn randomly by hand. If your favourite piece of item by Elsita is not part of your comment and some sort of viable contact information is not included, your entry will be disqualified. Give-a-way is shipped out via the artist. All entries must be received by 3pm on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 PST. There is a clock on the right side of this blog so that you may check Los Angeles {PST} time. This contest is open to everyone, everywhere.

Best of luck to you, my Pretties!

Fashion Report: Spring has SPRUNG!

In the midst of the current Fall 2009 shows, the Spring 2009 collections have finally arrived in stores... and if you were around in the 80's, you just might be surprised at what's back!

Here, a look at some of our favourite offerings at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Click on images to enlarge.

{ { Spring 2009 Shoe Trends... } }

✿ And, if you order online, use code SFASHIP for FREE shipping on orders of $200 or more at SaksFifthAvenue.com.