![HERE'S THE BOOK I WROTE...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307460169?ie=UTF8&tag=thepropos00-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307460169"><img border="0" src="51XJtOU5-NL._SL160_.jpg"></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thepropos00-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0307460169" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />)
One of the many joys of blogging is how it encourages connections, virtual or otherwise, with other bloggers. I "met" bloggers Delana Nelsen and Libby Wilkie online, long before I met either in person. Delana (who's from Wisconsin Aix-en-Provence Provence
A passionate Francophile living in Fearrington, North Carolina (yep, that's the place with the lovely little ads you see in the New Yorker), Libby first spied the rugs in a Provencal market a few years back--and knew immediately they were special. She suggested that Delana find the woman who makes them...and she did. Delana bought "a bucketload" of rugs and shipped them to the U.S.
Delana sorted out all the e-commerce and shipping issues while Libby found a small factory to make acrylic accessories using the same French-fabricated fabrics. Now their lovely website is up and running and the orders are rolling in. More products will be added so check back often!
To celebrate the launch of Provence Rugs, Delana and Libby are offering one medium-size rug as a giveaway. To enter, simply leave a comment below and the winner will be picked next week. Be sure to leave your email address in the text box with your comment; signing in with your Google account or your website is not enough. Depending on what's available, you'll be able to choose your color.
I'm so glad the blog world brought these two cool women into my life! Meanwhile I say bravo to my sweet new friends and much success with your new adventure!
Euro Exchange Rate
Posts
What a great idea! The rugs look absolutely delicious! I just used a tablecloth that I bought when we visited Delana in Aix de Provence last year over the weekend and it brought back many wonderful memories. I wish you much success in your new venture! Sherrie Hansen sherrieh@omnitelcom.com
ReplyDeletePeople with fabulous ideas like this just fascinate me. I wish more people were adventuresome with business ideas. Best of luck to them.
ReplyDeleteThe rugs are gorgeous and their lovely colors will magically whisk one back to Provence every time you see them in your home.
Sam
Ironically when the wife and I were in Tuscany this past May on our honeymoon, one of the things we brought back was a sunflower print tablecloth made in......Provence! Best of luck in the new venture.
ReplyDeletemark.ricca chef1lizard@gmail.com
Those.
ReplyDeleteAre.
GORGEOUS.
J'adore anything that reminds me of my wonderful visits to Provence. Please enter me in the draw.
luxebytes at gmail dot com
Ironically, when the wife and I were in Tuscany on our honeymoon last May, one of the things we brought back was a sunflower print tablecloth made in.......Provence.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck in the new venture.
chef1lizard@gmail.com
I'd love one of these pretty colorful rugs.
ReplyDeletepwarren6@gmail.com
For years I dreamed of studying in Aix de Provence but never got the chance. This may be as close as I get! Love the colors...so cheery!
ReplyDeleteSuch lovely rugs, I'd take it with me when I go back to the UK to remind me of my Provencal home! abillows@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful rugs! And so nice that you have made friends through the blog!
ReplyDeletecongratulations. you have captured the essence of Provence. How wonderful to wake to dream.
ReplyDeleteI love Provence and try to fill my place with all things Provencal.
ReplyDeletecigalechanta@hotmail.com
Wow, some people actually act on their dreams and live them! My best to your success.
ReplyDeletetucsoncleo@comcast.net
I have tried to make our home as provencal as I can to remind me of our visits to Provence. I would love one of these colorful rugs!
ReplyDeleteGeraldine Ventura
gerrybonj@AOL.com
I'll join my voice into saying congratulations and best of luck to our pal Delana!
ReplyDelete-Mark Craft
Paris Insiders Guide
www.parisinsidersguide.com
I'm always in awe of folks who start amazing businesses from something that they love...I wish them much success!
ReplyDeleteToni
toni.stinson@gmail.com
So many beautiful memories flooded my mind when I saw these rugs in all their glory. I could almost smell the lavender and feel the hot sun. I will always remember my first trip to Provence and being amazed at the warmth, the light, and the scents. Wouldn't Julia and Paul Child have loved these rugs, and Simca too! Great good fortune with your endeavor, I'm certain you'll do brilliantly. Gabrielle
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous idea! The colors are beautiful and for those of us lucky enough to have traveled to this part of France, a great reminder of the gorgeous countryside.
ReplyDeleteWishing you great success in your new venture.
Kathy@airspd.net
I just love to win things and it just so happens I am looking for some new rugs for my little hut! Congratulations Delana and best of Luck!
ReplyDeleteLove marcios
marciemarie1999@gmail.com
Oh Julie... thank you, thank you! This is a great post.
ReplyDeleteHere's to our new adventure!
oxox Libby
These are beautiful and would make a beautiful addition to any home. That is such a beautiful region and Delana is certainly talented.
ReplyDeletemdhill@noralyn.com
How exciting....these are beautiful as are the items on the accessory page. Count me in. I'll be sending the shop link to several friends this evening. These might be perfect for holiday giving. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteOh. It's giuliageranium (at) gmail (dot) com.
xo/Susan
Best wishes on your new venture. The rugs are luscious.
ReplyDeleterusthawk at gmail.com
Dear Ms. Mautner,
ReplyDeleteLike "Sam" (of "My Carolina Kitchen"), I'm inevitably intrigued by folks who have not only had a "great idea" (that would be about 90% of the folks on this planet, at one point or another in their lives), but also managed to find a way of DOING something with it (which would be about 5%, at most, of the folks on this planet). You can call that "monetizing" one's website/blog (not necessarily the most romantic phrasing)...or "making your dream real", etcetera.....
The fact remains that a lot of folks are realizing that they can start a blog/website, reach out to like-minded strangers, and actually find themselves being able to make a living from what used to be a "hobby", and actually ENJOYING the work while they do it? Go figure.....
I wouldn't be the first to have noticed (and I notice this on a very regular basis, during these cyber-days) that women seem to be remarkably more adept at adapting to this sort of work/connecting than men are.
Alice Waters started Chez Pannisse with no particular ambition beyond running a place where her friends could eat good food. I've always admiringly regarded her as the ANTI-Donald-Trump...and take a moment to compare how they've both ended-up.
Similarly, I've been intrigued by this blog since I first encountered it. I thought "Oh....this smart lady's figured out a way to 'commercialize' what she happens to love. I bet she finds that lots of folks share her enthusiasm for the subjects she covers." I find Ms. Mautner's enthusiasm incredibly encouraging in the midst of what seems nothing-but-bad-economic-news.
In any case, I just went to the Provence Rugs good (and well-designed, user-friendly, etcetera) website. Once again, I thought "Smart ladies....". (I should admit that I also wondered why I keep spending so much time flying over to France and Italy several times per year when Libby "Provence Rugs" Wilkie and Frances "Under The Tuscan Sun" Mayes both live about only about a twelve-mile walk from my own front porch steps.)
Well, consider me to be desperately longing to be considered for this give-away. I bet a shiny, red apple that I can top all of the other pleas......
I have a house full of grown (and duly domesticated)west highland terriers, and a single, 4-month-old, completely rambunctious cairn terrier (he was recently castrated, and the vet wrote to me "This dog is like a combination between a tasmanian devil and a pogo stick"). I also have ("had" might be more accurate) a very lovely, 4'x5', hooked-wool rug at the foot of my bed......made by my great-grandmother in Tennessee back in the early 1900's.
I woke up yesterday morning to find that, while I and all the grown dogs slept, the puppy had gone to the rug, found one loose-strand of wool.....and begin pulling until he'd de-nuded about two square feet in the center of the rug. What do you do?...he'd already gone back to bed and had no idea of what he'd done while he was "playing". You can't scold him for what he doesn't recall in his walnut-sized (at his age) brain. I'll be spending several nights (whenever I have time to get around to this chore) repairing the rug while grimly listening to NPR.
So, I need a new rug, and I really hope I get this one from The Provence Ladies. does that sound sufficiently desperate and pitiful?...
Bemusedly as ever,
David Terry
email: dterrydraw@aol.com
www.davidterryart.com
Too far away to mail me one so please give to a local old peoples home if I win, with my best wishes of course....
ReplyDeleteAlan ;-)
What beautiful rugs, I would so love to own one of them.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful...bringing a little taste of France home.
ReplyDeleteChartres8@gmail.com
Oh, how beautiful these rugs are! As I saw them I knew that my mother would love one, so I decided to leave a comment...maybe I can win one for her, who knows? Nowadays it's important to make her happy all the time, because times are very unfortunate for my family these days.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the chance to win and to get to know these two amazing ladies!
noncsi0730@gmail.com
Oh, those colors are lovely.
ReplyDeletesoluckyducky at gmail dot com
Those colors are so lovely!
ReplyDeletesoluckyducky at gmail dot com
How exciting! It's amazing to see the connections and journeys that blogging can foster. Delana and Libby's partnership sounds like a perfect blend of passion and entrepreneurial spirit. I'll definitely check out ProvenceRugs.com—it sounds like they have some truly special offerings!
ReplyDeleteIn case you need info about furniture collection at lowest prices, take a look at here.