I meant to get around to this weeks ago, but alas got sidetracked by the Haiti Fundraiser, my home remodeling project, lots of snow, a new laptop and life in general. So, here we are better late than never and I’m finally sharing some of my links for knickers and underthings. Maybe a little too late for a Valentine’s Day purchase, but a girl needs pretty delicates year round, right?

I will be featuring more cute underthings’ shops all this week.

~~~ Gilda & Pearl Lingerie ~~~

~~~ under the root ~~~

~~~ Love Baby Grand ~~~

~~~ Hopeless ~~~

A couple weeks ago some of us bloggers had a brief &  spontaneous twittersation about blogging, competition, inclusiveness and other stuff. Out of our twittering came the idea that we should all collaborate in some way. Ideas were tossed around and mashed together and out came the concept for the Blog It Forward Mash-up.

Coordinated by Victoria of sfgirlbybay, the plan is to share a connected stream of blogger posts on ‘what inspires us the most’ on our individual blogs, but link back & forward to the other blogs participating, a bit like a chain letter (but, hopefully a lot less annoying!).

With over 300 blogs participating this should be fun!  The Mash-up starts on Feb 10th and runs until March 24th and I am participating for sure. I am scheduled to post on March 2nd, but please check out the schedule and keep up with the Mash-up before then…you just might find some new blogs to follow.

I’m taking today off…another trip to ikea and then errands before the big storm hits later today. But before I go, I wanted to share some pics from the Indie Fixx Holiday Decor Flickr Pool with you.

You should join & share your pics from your holiday decorating…all holidays are acceptable, even National Talk Like a Pirate Day, but right now we want to see your Valentine’s Day decorations!

Samantha from 15Clove Studio shared this image of a Valentine’s Day tree that she made with her kids.  How sweet!

Amanda from Pretty Messes shared this cute V-Day banner she made and even offers a free download of  it on her blog.

You deserve a treat, don’t you? Of course, you do. We all do. It’s been a rough year and a half with this recession and all. I’m going to hazard a guess that Oprah and Bill Gates aren’t reading this blog, so probably all you have been impacted in some way by our current economic situation. Then, there’s the daily headache that comes from paying attention to the goings on in Washington. No matter what our individual politics may be, nothing really seems to be getting done for anyone.

I was thinking about all this and about all the generous folks who took part in my Haiti Fundraiser and I was thinking what I could do to treat you all to something special. I came up with a contest, of course. I wish I could treat every single one of you—that’s just not possible at this point–but I can treat 2 of you to a prize of goodies donated from some of my favorite crafter makers. You can see the prizes and donaters below.

Since, I can’t treat all of you (or myself, for that matter) with this contest, I want you to decide to treat yourself and share your plans. It can be something small & cheap or something big & expensive…whatever you are able to do. The goal though is for you to do something for yourself or take some time for yourself. You really deserve it. So whether you plan on doing someone like taking a long overdue bubble bath, treating yourself to a frothy coffee confection, getting some books from the library and luxuriously reading them all weekend, buying a bottle of some fancy perfume or planning a fabulous vacation, it really doesn’t matter.  The important thing is to treat yourself!

So, how to win the giveaway? Leave a comment below with your plans for treating yourself. You can leave multiple comments to increase your chances, but each comment must include a different way you plan on treating yourself! You can also include your prize preference. I will choose 2 random commenters to win the prizes. This giveaway will end February 14th at 11:59 pm EST.

Prize #1 - Valued at $175

1. Glass Vial necklace (value up to $50) from Plum and Sage
2. 2 winner’s choice posters from Field Trip
3. Plum Ruffle Bum Panties (size 6) from Flapper Girl
4. Vice Gift Set (perfume, soap and scrub) from Haus of Gloi
5. Antique Shell Necklace from Dig Under Rocks

Prize #2 - Valued at $168

1. Winner’s choice of Mini Pouch (under $22) from Oktak
2. Earrings from The Broken Plate Pendant Company
3. Edith Tote from Queen Bee Creations
4. ‘I Love You This Much’ Print from Stephanie Fizer

Here are some jewelry lovelies from the Winter Love Galleria.

• Beth Pohlman
• My Sunset Road

•  Renegade Handmade
• Freshie & Zero

•  Renegade Handmade
• Glass Elements

• Tasha Mckelvey
• Kristin Perkins

• BuenoStyle
• tinahdee beautiful jewelry

The Indie Fixx Galleria is an online showcase of handmade, indie-made & vintage goods. Think of it as an ‘indie mall’ featuring a mix of designers & boutiques to provide a curated shopping experience. Participants do pay a fee to take part, but the Galleria is juried.

Now accepting applications for the Green Galleria - March 5th - April 23rd

All types of goods will be considered including handmade & vintage, but there will be a focus on green goods (both eco green & color greeen) as well as goods for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, April Fool’s Day and Earth Day. All artists, designers, crafters and indie boutiques that create or carry handmade, vintage and/or indie made goods are welcome to apply. The cost is $20. The deadline to apply is: March 2nd.

Send your url or 3 small images to apply.

Nina Glaser sent me an email introducing me to her Shop and I’m so glad she did. It’s full of such loveliness and includes home decor, paper and valentine’s goodies. The goods are pretty and so is the photography, which is something that is sure to keep me poking around a shop.

Take a look for yourself I think you will agree that Nina’s Shop is filled with plenty of eye candy.