Friday's Features...and a giveaway!

I stumbled upon a website a few months ago called La Dee Dah Art. I immediately fell in love with the art & pictures of painted rooms on the home page. I have always wished I could paint, so I really admire those who can!

Here is a collage of some of her art....

I contacted Dawn, from La Dee Dah Art, and am pleased to introduce you to her today!

I am always interested to see what inspires people to start their businesses. When I asked Dawn what her inspiration was, this is what she had to say.

"I have always had a craving to design or create in some form or fashion. After the birth of my first son, I knew that I could not leave him at home every day to continue my career. My entrepreneurial spirit and love for my family drove me to start a home-based business which is now call La Dee Dah Art. After much prayer and continued practice, God has given me the ability to create artwork that is actually sellable. I never cease to give God glory for what He has done and is continually doing in my life. I hope you enjoy what you see on my site and know that I am very easy to work with, am very detail oriented and take a lot of pride in the work I do..after all, look who I'm representing!!"

I love this nursery she painted...

Want it? Click here to shop @ La Dee Dah Art.

CONTEST CLOSED


Win it!! I don't normally do giveaways on my Friday's Features, but Dawn has offered a $35 Gift Certificate, plus free shipping, to one lucky Gift Closet reader! Yay...wish I could win this one! ;)

How to Win:
1. Simply leave a comment here, include your email address if it is not on your profile, and be willing to put my Gift Closet button on your blog, if you win, and if you have a blog. ;)
2. Contest ends Wednesday 3/11/09 @ midnight & is open to US residents only. Good luck!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Typically I feature 2 great companies every Friday. La Dee Dah Art is awesome...but this company is.....not so much!!

As a person who companies contact to review products occasionally, I feel like I should offer real & honest reviews to my readers. While this company did not contact me to review their products, I am offering my own personal review. I did not have a good experience with this, and maybe my readers can learn from my mistake on this one!

With all the hype about "going green", I finally jumped on the band wagon last year, and with no regrets! I am now recycling,making some of my own eco-friendly & affordable cleaning solutions for around the house,using re-usable grocery bags, etc.

One company I have purchased several products from is Reusable Bags. They have a wide variety of eco-friendly expensive products. About 5 months ago I purchased 2 water bottles& 2 sippy cups from them to the tune of about $50. I received a free re-usable grocery bag w/ my order (woo-hoo), which tore about 1 week after I got it.

The thing I want to share with you today is my experience with the $17 (each!) sippy cups I purchased. They are Thermos foog 7 oz Thermal Reusable Sippy Cups. I purchased 2 of these cups about 5 months ago. While they were $17 a piece, very expensive to me, I felt they would be worth it. I read the instructions for cleaning, which said to take apart the entire cup every time you clean it. I did that, or so I thought. Last week I discovered the yellow top cam apart from the blue top. When I took it part, I discovered permanent mold!!!
I scrubbed, scratched, washed, soaked in vinegar, and it will not come off. Now I am having to throw away $30 worth of sippy cups, after only using them for 5 short months. I contacted customer service and was told I didn't clean it properly. So, be prepared to take apart the entire cup every time you wash it, or better yet, don't buy it at all!

Do you appreciate honest reviews & great features? Vote for me on Technorati!


Thanks so much!!!