Sponsored Post: Dolce Vita

Alright shoe lovers, it's time to make some room in your closets. In case you haven't heard, Dolce Vita is giving away 1000 pairs of shoes this month through their LoveFest campaign on Facebook. I think Wednesday was the halfway point for the month, and since they've been giving away 50 pairs of shoes per day, I'm going to guess and say they have something like 400 more to giveaway. 400! That means you still have a good chance.

I just received the Jamison boots in taupe last week and have nothing but good things to say. They're so similar to this pair from Madewell that I drooled over for nearly a year. Such a great addition to my closet.

Be sure to sign up so you can win a pair!

June Sponsors

I found this old photo in my flickr archives that other day and thought I'd recycle it for a sponsor post! It was taken by my friend Cody at a snow cone shack in North Little Rock in 2009. There's a whole fun set of photos from this day that I'll eventually have to share with you guys. In the meantime, it's time to start thinking about new sponsors again! If you're interested in advertising your blog or shop in the month of June, please contact me at starrcrow@live.com for rates. I'll be back tomorrow with another Sponsor Spotlight.

May Sponsors

If you're interested in sponsoring A Thought is the Blossom in May, please email me for rates at starrcrow@live.com! I'll be back tomorrow with a giveaway. :)

Nest & Forage: Yosemite Satin Pillow Case

If your like me and enjoy digging through vintage home decor on Etsy, your going to love one of my newest sponsors, Nest & Forage. Audie keeps lots of lovely, old things in her shop, from milk glass vases to metal tins, rusty hole punches to ceramic planters. I think my favorite thing in there right now is the vintage service bell (which only makes me want to hum this song). I love this satin pillowcase that she's offering to my readers, too. It seems like the perfect thing to add to a parlor room (if you have one of those). If not, I'm sure it would look just as good in the den! :)

To enter, visit Nest & Forage and tell us your favorite thing from the shop. I'll draw a winner next week!

Sponsor Spotlight: Fossil Finds

I know I've posted about the 'Fossil Finds' section of Fossil's website before, but just so you know, I'm obsessed. With the big move happening next week, I've been scouring antique malls looking for the same type things for my new house. So far I've found a few wooden crates, an armful of tin pharmaceutical drawers, a wire letter tray, and a few other things I can hardly remember right now. Oh, I also got a huge vintage desk made of real wood from Salvation Army. I'm excited to get everything moved over to the new place so I can start decorating! I'll try to take photos once we're all settled. For now, you should go check out all the amazing vintage things that the Fossil team has collected.

Sponsor: April

It's sponsor time again! Got a blog or business you're trying to promote? Interested in sponsoring A Thought is the Blossom in April? I'm ready for ya. You can have a look at all my sponsorship info here. Please contact me at starrcrow@live.com for rates!

Sponsor: March!

Just a heads up that it's sponsor time again! It's unbelievable how quickly these months keep rolling by. Please visit my sponsorship sheet for more details if you're interested, and keep getting those entries in for the 5678 Vintage giveaway below!

Sponsor Spotlight: Moonshine Hill & Glasses USA

My current western kick may have had a little too much influence on my Moonshine Hill picks – I blame Deadwood, mostly – but please don't let them fool you. Katy's shop doesn't just cater to the cowboy's. She's got tons of great cocktail dresses and vintage curiosities in her shop, too!

Until recently, I didn't know much about Glasses USA, but I'm so glad they contacted me and made me aware of their incredible shop! They offer great designer frames for some of the lowest prices I've ever seen. Take for example those Masyn Tortoise frames. To get those, with a set of prescription lenses (-2.00) it would only cost about $38. Now, the worse your eyes are the more expensive the lenses, but the prices are still much better than what I paid for my glasses five years ago! If you do choose to check out their site, be sure to look at the retro frames, too. Lots of good options in that section!

Sponsor Spotlight: Modcloth & Misikko

Bookshelf Browsing Heel, Serious Shopper Dress in Blue, Big Cat on Campus Necklace

Paul Brown Hawaii Flat Iron, HANA Shine Shield Thermal Protectant, Elchim Uragano Ionic Hair Drye

Here's just a few lovely things from my sponsors, ModCloth and Misikko. I've done a terrible job at promoting my sponsors in the past, but another one of my goals for the new year is to change that. I think Maria and Julie do a great job at letting you know about great products/deals in their sponsors shop, so I'm going to steal the idea and do a little sponsor spotlight every weekend.

Hope you all are having a great Saturday.  I'm making sure to keep mine extra lazy just like it's meant to be! xo.

December Sponsors

I'm always so terribly late with these sponsor reminders, but I guess they're better late than never! If you're interested in placing an ad on my blog for the month of December, just shoot me an email (starrcrow@live.com).

The perfect fall accessories. . .

I'm impressed with all the great accessories my sponsors have to offer right now! Browns, oranges, capes, horses, and oxfords. . . I can't believe I was able to compose this post without affecting my bank account!

These people help to make this blog possible, so be sure to go check out all their shops: Adrian Company Vintage, Moonshine Hill, To Be Determined, and Misikko.

If you're interested in sponsoring my blog for the month of November, just email me for rates.(starrcrow@live.com)

October Sponsors

It's time again to do the sponsor dance! If you're interested in advertising or holding any giveaways on my blog for the month of October, shoot me an email – starrcrow@live.com. I deleted my sponsor page for the time being because I plan to make a lot of positive changes in the next few weeks, so feel free to just email me so we can talk about rates!

My New Amazon Store & September Sponsors

I went to get photos at an odd time yesterday, and silly me forgot to change the camera settings for that time of day. Most of my photos were extremely dark and pixelated–this one was really no exception, just doctored to the max–so I figured I'd take this time to talk about September sponsors and my new Amazon store instead!

First, for the sponsors. . .
If you're an independent designer or an etsy shop owner, and you're interested in an advertising spot on my blog, check out my sponsor page or email me at starrcrow@live.com.

As for the new shop, this morning I created an Amazon Associates Store to house my favorite Amazon items! It's a great way for you guys to shop the trends I'm coveting right now too. I went with a utilitarian theme this time around, but I plan to update it with new themes pretty often, so be sure to check back. You'll be able to keep up with it by clicking the 'shop trends' link on the navigation bar of my blog. Hopefully it'll help some of you guys find great clothes, shoes, bags, and books from Amazon!

I hope to have a round of shoes in the Etsy shop later, so keep your eyes peeled for that too. 

UPDATE for all of you who are interested in getting involved in the Amazon Associates program, just go Dashboard —> Monetize —> Amazon Associates. You should be able to take over from there!

Sponsor Wishlist, Shopping Ban, & NYFW

Hat: Tigercult Vintage, Shoes: Slubird, Shirt & Overalls: Modcloth

Earrings: City Birds Nest, Everything else: Modcloth

Dress: Slubird, Purse: Timely Vintage, Shoes & Plate: Modcloth

Everything from Modcloth

Dress: Adeline's Attic, Shoes: Timely Vintage, Scarf & Book: Modcloth

 I didn't get around to taking any outfit photos yesterday, so I decided to torture myself with a sponsor wishlist post instead. Even though I feel as broke as my sophomore year of college when my roommate and I took turns calling our parents for money, when we were too broke to buy a lawn mower and opted to snip the grass with scissors instead (we we're insane!), I still have very little discipline when it comes to shopping. Normally I buy what I want, when I want it, but this time I've agreed to take a really fun trip instead! Boo-hoo to an awful month long shopping ban, but yipee to an exciting, once in a lifetime trip to New York Fashion Week! I can't wait for my first trip to NYC with some of my favorite fashion bloggers. Let the shopping ban begin!

All that said, I still found lots of great inspiration from my amazing sponsors!

August

Yet another summer month down and only one more remaining before I have to go back to school! I'm now accepting August sponsorships to anyone that wants to support me in my final month of freedom. I made a few more changes to the sponsor sheet, so be sure to look over it real good if you haven't already, or you can contact me at starrcrow@live.com.

Retro Polka Dots from TigerCult Vintage

Dress: c/o Tigercult Vintage
Clogs: Thrifted $7

I'm baaaack!

I still don't have either one of those camera remotes I've been waiting on (yes, I ordered two just in case this happens again), but I've got so many great outfits stacking up and thought it was about time to start shooting them whether I had a remote in hand or not! I'll just have to use the suitcases to focus my camera until one of them gets here. I tried to at least change up the the luggage a bit by decorating them with an old eyelet sheet and one of my 70's wine bottles. The navy and yellow table lighter was an obvious choice. I normally refrain from buying anything with stars on it because it's just way too cliche with my name (Starr), but I couldn't pass on this star print. I love, love, love it! And just because I brought up the whole anti star thing, I think I need to tell you that I just bought a star print skirt that you'll probably be seeing on the blog real soon too. It's the same colors as the lighter (well maybe more gold than yellow), and it reminds me a lot of a wizard! I can't wait to get it hemmed and photographed.

I got this dress in a lovely package from Sadie over at Tiger Cult Vintage at least two weeks ago, and I've been dying to wear it ever since. It's fun and retro and just the right kind of dress to have with you in the summer months (cotton and comfy). They've got some other really great stuff in their shop too, so be sure to check it out when you get the chance!

Spinning Records In The Upside of Wonder Dress

Photos by Hannah

Dress: Available @ The Upside Of Wonder
Trouser Socks: Saver's .69 cents
Wedges: Cynthia Vincent for Target via Ebay
Petal Cap: Alabama Antique Mall $3
Harmonica Necklace: Modcloth $16
Indian Necklace: DIY

It looks as though this new photo setup has become my latest addiction! I've been trying to get off the internet more when Jake's at work during the day, and I'm glad to see that this backdrop is helping. I've pissed away so much time online these past few months when I could've been working on something more creative! All that's in the past though. I went shopping at Saver's today (photos tomorrow) and scored lots of really great things for the shop. Hannah and I were so excited about our finds that we came home and photographed one of the dresses. I'm also working on scheduling another shoot with Katy and then another one with Hootie for next week! So much productivity going on around this place; I'm just hoping that this wave of energy doesn't wind down.

After we photographed that dress for the shop, Hannah was kind enough to take these shots for me. I lost my camera remote (got another one on the way) and was having trouble getting the self-timer to meter for me and not for the background. I know the lighting's not perfect, still working on getting that just right, but we had fun playing around.  Do you like my dress? It was sent to me by the lovely Amanda from The Upside Of Wonder and is available in her shop if you're interested. I'll be sad to pass it on because it really is the most comfortable dress that can be styled a million different ways and will easily go with you from summer to fall.

Sponsors & Less Than Perfect Pictures

Photo by Cody Henslee/ March '09

I'm really getting into imperfect photography right now, and this one from my flickr photostream fit right in with the things I'm liking. Even though I haven't always liked the shitty pictures with the photographers shadow hanging out on the side, this particular photo has always been a favorite of mine. I'll show more inspiration photos of this style later, but for now I'm back for my monthly sponsor talk! The blog has grown a lot this past month (thank you everybody, old and new), so what better time to get an ad for your shop (or blog). I bumped the large sizes out of play because they were just a little to big in my opinion, but I left the other two size options available for anyone who's interested. Just check out my sponsor sheet.

sponsor giveaway & insects

For today's giveaway I teamed up with Katy from the Moonshine Hill to bring you one of the sweetest vintage button ups I've ever seen. Not only is it done in everyone's favorite fabric of the season, chambray, but it's also handmade from the 70's and filled with the cutest novelty insect print. I picked out my favorite insect on the shirt (the butterfly, duh) and rounded up a couple photos of them! It seems as though butterflies have been inspiring people for years now.

Source: Google Images

I would wear it with the cuffs rolled up with either a high waist denim skirt or a pair of pleated denim shorts. I'm not sure how they would work, but I think I'd go for a pair of bright red socks with my sky high Cynthia Vincent platforms (you'll see them soon). I'd definitely pair it with my new Baggu canvas backpack (which I've also yet to show you, but LOOOOVE), and some sort of hat; I'd have to try on a few of those to figure out which one works best!

But, it's not up to me. It's up to one of you guys.

The shirt is a size small with a bust measurement of approximately 34".

To enter visit Moonshine Hill and pick out your favorite item and tell me how you'd style it. Even if your not interested in the shirt you should still check out Katy's site. The photography is very similar to my style, the website is really well done and easy to navigate, and the clothes are really cute too. To keep up with shop follow Katy's blog or become a fan of the shop on Facebook.

Ollie Otson Giveaway Winner & Sponsor Jazz

It's the end of the month and time again for all that sponsor bees-naz. If your interested in advertising on my blog throughout the month of June just check out my sponsor sheet. The prices are reasonable, and the sponsorship includes an option for a giveaway! Spaces are limited so just email me if your interested: starrcrow@live.com

Now to get into the fun stuff. The winner of this weeks giveaway was selected at random through random.org and goes to my good pal Veronika at Tick Tock Vintage! Thanks again to Tracy for Ollie Otson for donating such a charming piece of jewelry to one of my readers. Stay tuned, I have another great giveaway coming later today!