Be My Valentine

This morning I was slicing up strawberries for my cereal (plain Cheerios, thankyouverymuch) and I found this pretty, almost heart-shaped strawberry. Which seems right, in that it is almost that time (next week! my goodness...) and because I wanted to do a little bit in honor of Valentine's day for the blog. So, we have a...

LITTLE BE-MY-VALENTINE CONTEST!
I want to send someone a Valentine package (it's a surprise...but will more-than-likely contain lots of paper-goods, some vintage goodies, some black apple stuff...etc.), and I thought that a fun way to choose the "winner" (of my heart!) would be this:

I have a thing for names. Interesting, pretty, hilarious...just good names. For a short time, I dreamed of collecting names-that-are-also-sentences in a little book. But my list was about 6 people long. So, now I just collect them in my head.
To "enter" the contest to win some Valentine love from me, all you have to do is comment, and in your comment, make sure to include a good name! It can be funny, beautiful, actual, imagined, whatever. It just has to be good. I'll compile a list, and then deliberate about my favorite. Very simply, if your wonderful name is my favorite (I'm sure it will be hard to choose), I will email you for your address and then reveal the winner in a couple of days. I cannot wait to hear some good names.
Feel free to include middle names/initials at your whim.

I've been making paintings:

Bella, 8"x10"x2"

Fox in the Snow, 8"x10"x2"

Tea Time Girl, 8"x10"x1"

(The little simple one at the bottom, obviously inspired by the amazing fabric I've been using in my kitchen lately!)

Happy Wednesday, my dears. I'm on round two of attempting to perfect Nigella's London Cheesecake...that "baking in a water-bath" stuff is so tempermental and persnickety. The good thing with cheesecakes is that even the mistakes are pretty delicious.

Comments

[emily]

hi there i wish i found your blog earlier it is amazing by the way. this was a great contest. just wanted to add to the rest of this great list of names

girls

Ada rose
Alice
Rosena mabel (nan)
ribbon
opal
malie
i also love my own name emily rose... just perfect ha ha ha

boys

clarance george lesley (my pop)
jose'
teddy
matthaus

and my cats name is adventure cat explains itself i think. i had a bunny named alfie who my fiance named sir bunnington
thanks
your work is awesome so inspirational

[Audrey-Mae Fox]

... (I'm not from there,im from Barbados,have you ever heard of it,its an island in the caribbean). ...... I am in love with my daughter's name: Audrey Mae. ...

Hi there, this interests me no end, as I am the only Audrey-Mae that I know of in Barbados. Yes, I am from Barbados... Can the writer please get in touch with me, I'm so interested to hear who is my namesake. I got my name from my dad's baby sister Audrey and my dad's mum, who was Elsie Mabel, (known as Mae-Mae). Please contact me so I can hook up...or Emily, can you give me the link this was sent from, I cannot seem to find the content (but then the eyes are'nt what they used to be!!) thnx

[Rhonda]

My son is Jordan Isaiah...love both names. If I ever have another son, I love the name Noah. My favorite girl names are: Raegan, Ivy and Elise.

I know your contest is over, but I wanted to share anyway. =]

[digibudi]

I'm in love with two names for a girl:
1.Billie
2.Nico

I like boys names for girls.

[nita]

I love the name Arimithia. And I love words. My favorite word is iridescent. You have an enchanting blog and your artwork is wonderful. Nita

[Mandy]

I've just found out that I'm pregnant again so have thoroughly enjoyed reading through some fab names. We called our daughter Ava May which I just love!

Also thought I'd add that when I was young I dreamt of writing a novel. The main character was always going to be named Fufka Onions! Tee hee, that is the first time I've actually written it down and it looks so damn funny!

Thanks Emily :D

[j.j.]

i'll have to refer back to this post next time i'm pregnant! but wanted to add that i love PENELOPE:)

[Michelle]

I love Nigella...having a British hubby helps! I LOVE your site and the strawberry is beautiful...

My daughter's name is Emma Rose, I happen to think it's beautiful, maybe you will as well.

[raesha]

What a great bunch of comments...I, like always, am a little late:) But I thought I'd submit my name to you as I think it's pretty cool:
Raesha Diane Terry de Ruiter Zylker

Terry was my maiden name and de Ruiter Zylker is my married name. My first name, Raesha, is a mixture of my parent's first names - Ray and Marsha - it's pronounced Ray-sha. I love it when telemarketers call and say "hello is this Msss.......(insert LONG pause here)"

[Annette]

My name is my cousin's name. My family is Polish and she's still living in Poland, so the name is a reflection of that.

Her name is the Polish version of Agatha, which is Agata (Ah-Gah-Ta), and the family calls her Agatka (Ah-Gaht-Ka). When I met her the first time she came to visit us in the US she was this little cute 5 year old with blond hair up in a top pony tail and big blue eyes and pouty lips with missing teeth here and there. And her name was Agatka, and I thought it was just the cutest package in the world. She's still beautiful, but much older than 5 now. :)

My name, Annette, is also pretty wonderful in the Polish form. Anetka. I like that a lot as well.

[Bea]

I just had to add the wonderful names of the three adorable little girls down the street. The oldest is Grayce (called pickle), the middle is Eilea, and the youngest born last Halloween is Olive Malyn.

My sister wants me to post her name as well because she is so smitten with it. She's called Isidore Rodgers. Rodgers is her middle name and isn't a family name.

[Bea]

I just had to add the wonderful names of the three adorable little girls down the street. The oldest is Grayce (called pickle), the middle is Eilea, and the youngest born last Halloween is Olive Malyn.

My sister wants me to post her name as well because she is so smitten with it. She's called Isidore Rodgers. Rodgers is her middle name and isn't a family name.

[susan]

naming is very important. names are what others call you. and others like to be comfortable. my husband's name was Durant Saint Claire...how would you like that moniker? great if you'er maybe an English poet or legendary History professor but for a kid or young man ...it didnt do! he had to go to a lot of trouble to change it to Jack. our children are Nicole Francine and Claire Marie. best wishes. susan (not sue, not susie)

[Marina]

Stay excellent in the woild Jethroe.

[Kim]

I had a friend in middle school whose middle name was HARTLEY (Like a heart). I absolutely loved this name and it definitely goes great with Valentines Day!!

[Angie]

Hello Emily, I stumbled upon your page by accident - and I love it! I have a huge affection for all things craft and vintage. My favourite names would have to be either Lottie Devereaux which is what my future daughter will be called or Pushkin which is what my rabbit is called. Will visit again soon.

[J.Marie]

Joya

[J.Marie]

1.) Fontaine
2.) Bellou
3.) Bella
4.) Ettienne

[kelly]

My grampa's big thing was geneology, and he found someone in our family (from around the Civil War) named Zora del Norte. And "del Norte" was not the last name. I wish I could remember his story about why she was called that.

He also traced our last name, Tillery, back to Scotland. I later heard that it means stream or brook. I think it might be a good first name for a girl. Although there are so many good ones to choose from, even right here in these comments!! wow =)

I've also always liked Matthias Orion.

[Jen Higgins]

lol, too funny! I was going to share Lemonjello and Orangjello. I thought I would be unique, but I guess not! My husband came across the parents of the twins "Orangjello" "Lemonjello"'s parents child support case some years back!

[Elisa Ray]

I like Kimya Dawson's bebes name.
Panda Delilah.
or what about:
Andrewlius Cornelius con Julius.
or my first:
Elisa.
:]

[raysongrrl]

i have to write in since i saw my hebrew name posted here as a name someone else likes. my hebrew name is tziporah malke (malkuh). i used to hate my first name (blake) when i was younger since it rhymes with practically everything, and was always asked if it was a boy's name. i now love my name, and am proud when people comment about its uniqueness. in the future i shall name my dog (who will be a girl boxer with uncropped ears) "lady daffodil boxerton."

[cordeliaknits]

Well, I'll just submit my name, which is Cordelia Morgan (first and middle), and I think it's the best!

I love names too, good luck choosing!

[Heidi]

My sons' names are:
Lincoln Ray and Wesley Finn

If we ever have a little girl she will be named Merritt Lee or Vivienne Tate.

[Tricia]

oh fiddle dee dee! Am i too late to enter the contest?!!
here it is:
Honeybelles Beauchamps Fitz Hollingsworth-Huntington III.

[andi]

Dascher(day-shur) Kittybum
Harley Quinn Storybook
Rosebud Marrington

Love everyone's names! Great idea, Emily!

[Amy]

I know I'm too late but can't resist adding my favorite names--those of my cats:
Sula, Nina, Winnie, Joon, and the twins: Sunshine and Violet. (My daughter is Olivia, and I love that one, too!)

[eleni]

ok I know its passed the 410 mark but i just had to add some names to the list. Theses are my favorite.

-Delphyna (delfeeena) Star - my dogs name

-Spida Luna Hialea which I made up -spida like a spider - I interpret it as weaver of the tides and the ghetto

[Michelle]

Hayes Lafayette Delezene

or

Andres Agres Blukis

(sounds like An-dress A-gress Blue-kiss)

[Holly]

All of these are old family names that I love.

Prebble Lucille loved chickens more than anything. As a young girl she insisted on tying colorful ribbons and trinkets from the rusty nails in the hen house.

ParaLee was called "Crick" her entire life. No one can remember the origins of this unfortunate nickname.

Wilma Rose was my great grandmother. She was made to work in the cotton fields as all children were in that era. I would love to have just one more conversation with her. She always let me play with her button box and keep whichever I wanted. She kept all her clothes in an old broken down deep freezer in her bedroom. She said there was nothing like it to keep the insects out.

[Lonnie K.]

A few more that I've been thinking about, even though I'm way over the 410 mark..

-Constelletta
-Felinica
-Avocadia
-Mer
-Merrina
-Terra
-Willow
-Cirrus
-Dayton
-Daelan (my son's middle name is Dae)
-Xandy "Zandy"
-Catz
-Coco
-Kohl
-summit
And a couple of funny ones...
-Figbert
-Coindexter

[Veronica]

HI Emily, I'm not sure if my favorite girls name would be in the contest but here it is:
Frida Sofia
Happy Valentine's Day!

[Danielle]

The names thats been in my head for a long time for possibly future child: Birdie Garland :)

[Katie]

My daughter's name is:

Juniper Jean.

she was named after a letter I read once in an exhibit of letters home from WWII.

see the link to the online exhibit:
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=1017&display_order=1&sub_display_order=6&mini_id=1396

She's my darling Junie.

[Iris]

I posted yesterday after reading 228 comments, all lovely names. I noticed today it is gone. *Poof*! Ah, well, even at the rish of being past the cutoff, my favorite name is Anjuli Dawn.

[bigpinkcurlers]

my fav names are:

tallulah jane finklestein (this is my cat's name...)
and
svevah crumb (svevah is an african name--how great is it?)

happy valentine's day emily. i love your blog and your etsy shop! so colorful and happy.

[Amy Penrose]

My mothers maiden name was Kutey (pronounced "Cutie") She hated it in grade school because it was so close to "cootie" but it fit my grandfather perfectly. He was a little round polish man and he was always smiling and was full of more encouragements than I have ever seen. He was constantly gushing over how much he loved his family and how proud he was of everyone. What else could you call a man such as this other than "Mr. Cutie"?!

[Natasha]

nevermind, i'm stupid!

[Natasha]

Weird, it says that someone named Anastasia made my post, and i was given credit for a post about "Marguerite Verville"...

just for the record, the Calliope Crumpet post was mine, (whatshesaid.etsy.com) not the Anastasia person's! And the one my name is attached to was someone else's!

[Beth]

I just had to add this. My great grandmother's name is Gillian Minonette Black. I have always loved her name. Her real middle name is Catherina, but her family had a thing for nicknames. She comes from a long line of Tougard's from france. The original men that came over with the French Foreign Legion took nicknames as well. Seems back then they did not give you numbers in the military, just nicknames. Guillaume Tougard was thus named Guillaume Tougard dit LaViolette due to his large stature. Guillaume Tougard the violet... so, I also like Tougard and for a girl Laviolette.

[Anne]

My father always used to talk about his fictional friends Herkimer Higby and Hector Petie. He even vandalized my junior high yearbook with notes from those two characters, and I had NO sense of humor about it at the time!

[caroline]

My son is called Kirby, and my future daughters will be..
Loretta,
Sophia,
Ruby,
Mimi,
LouLou,
Annabella,

[senri]

Mairead, an Irish name, pronounced "mir - ade"...so beautiful!

[mg]

a 400+ cutoff is very understandable. i would still like to contribute:

i love Lotta Jansdotter's name (as well as her designs). Lotta is sweet, and i have a fondness for nordic patro/matronyms.

i've also been reading up on gillyflowers. i'd like to nickname someone in my life gillyflower.

[eva]

ok, I did comment yesturday, but its not here :( sad, sad...
long story short -

AENEAS
MINEA
MEDINA
ASSISI
and

VANSUELA SUERTE

[twitchy fingers]

Paterson for a boy... after a weed variety in Australia and a great Australian poet, A B Paterson.

And Lola for a girl.

My little one is Lily and its my favourite, although Holly and Poppy are lovely too (there is perhaps a bit of a theme?)

Love your site and Bella is gorgeous!

[Morgan]

I almost forgot- Magnolia (we'd call her Maggie)

[Morgan]

Ophelia, Henry (of course, my son), Olive, Finn. Makes me want to have more kids so I can name them!

[Nicole]

boy names

Arym...Arym Diamond...one of the funniest boys I know.

Taj

[jo]

don't know why it posted twice...sorry! one more girl name: jade (my sweet neice)