It's Party Time!

It's that time of year again!  Vicki, at the "2 Bags Full" blog is hosting her second annual "Grow Your Blog" party.  Over 500 bloggers have signed up and the fun will begin on January 25th.

She'll have a list of all of the participants and links to all of the wonderful blogs that are participating.

To join in on the fun, visit her blog by clicking HERE.  Visit as many blogs as you'd like.

There will even be give-aways on many of the blogs.

I love blogging and have been doing it for years.  I find it to be rewarding in many ways.

I love the creativity of putting together a post.  I love hearing from wonderful people and knowing that others are reading and enjoying what I have to share.  And, best of all, I love meeting and making friends with so many awesome people.  Blogland is a wonderful place!

If this is your first visit to my blog, allow me to share with you a little about what you will find here.

I'm a fiber arts lover and post a lot about knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, needle felting and more.  You'll see posts about cooking, gardening, crafting, sewing, and life.  I also love the outdoors and traveling.  So, I love to share my outdoor adventures and trips.  My trips are often much more of an adventure as I love to not only see new things but do new things as well...like mountain biking, canyoneering and hiking.  And, many of our trips include camping.  

I also share stories about my family.  Especially my wonderful daughter.

She's my best friend, she's fun, smart, amazing and she's a harpist.

I'm pretty sure I'll be doing a give-away for this party.  I just haven't had a chance to decide on a prize yet.  I'll post it soon and will probably provide some options to be sure the winner gets something they'd really like to have.  To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and/or any other post over the next month.  If you're a follower of my blog, you'll get an additional entry.  So, each comment and each follower will count as an entry.  I'll use a random number generator to pick a winner at the end of February.

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit!  Enjoy the party!

Blue Finch

The recent "Grow Your Own Blog" party hosted by Vicki at "2 Bags Full" was so much fun!

And, the fun continues...  One of the blogs I visited during the party was "Blue Finch".  I enjoyed her blog and began following it and left a comment.  I don't think I realized that she was giving away

a pair of earrings to each person that commented, followed her blog or emailed her.  But soon after I had left a comment, she emailed me to let me know she'd be sending me a pair.

After receiving her email, I popped over to her blog for another look and noticed that she had over 60 comments on that one post.  That's a LOT of earrings to give away.  Not to mention that it would be costly to send all of them.  I wanted to ease her burden and asked that she not send any to me.  But, she insisted.  I think she had a LOT of work ahead of her as she was just recently able to finish all the earrings, pack them up, and ship them.  I received mine this last week.

They're pretty!

They arrived in a fancy box and the earrings were attached to a cute little card stock finch...

I'm excited to wear them!  I really need more earrings as I always wear the same few favorites.

I think these will become part of my regular rotation!

It turns out that Rachel makes lots of beautiful jewelry.

She sells it from her online store... bluefinch.co

Thank you, Rachel, for your generous gift!

Sweet

The fun continues with Vicki's "Grow Your Own Blog Party".

I received another prize this week that I won from one of the many give-aways.

This one is from Carol at "Art and Sand".  Thank you, Carol!

The timing for this prize to arrive this week is perfect!

It's fits right in with Valentine's Day.  

It's a sweet, handmade gift...

 When I opened up the package, there was a tin inside.

Inside the tin was a sweet little red heart sitting on top of a drawstring cotton bag.

When I opened up the bag, this was inside...

It's a little spool, tied up with a cord and pretty little hearts.

On the spool are words of wisdom about the heart.

It's all handcrafted by Carol.  Isn't it cute?!

There are hand drawn hearts on the other side.

I like the red gingham strip that attaches the paper to the spool too.

It warms my heart to receive this handmade gift.

Thank you, again, Carol.  I love it!  

If you get a chance, be sure to pop over to Carol's blog, "Art and Sand", for a visit.

She has a beautiful blog.  I can't help but smile and stay a while whenever I visit.

It's so colorful and happy.  She shares pictures of her lovely home and garden,
wonderful things she makes, and paintings done by her husband who is a talented artist.

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Lucky Me!

The "Grow Your Own Blog Party" has been so much fun!

We're all making new friends, following new and wonderful blogs and prizes are

being delivered to lucky recipients.  I sent a prize yesterday to the lucky winner of my blog give-away.

And, I received the prize that I won on the "Knitalatte" blog.

The hat was cute on her blog but when I opened the packaged I gasped at how beautiful it is.

Just look at the pretty colors in this soft, squooshy yarn...

I tried to take a picture of myself wearing it but just couldn't get a good one.  

It's hard to hold the camera just right and hold my head at the right angle to get a good shot.

So, here's a picture of the hat laying on my buffet...

An added plus is that it's a little slouchy.  I've been wanting to make a slouchy hat.

Thank you so much, Karen!  I love it!  

I'm planning to wear it to knit night tonight.  :-)

Hop on over to her blog for a visit.  It's a beautiful blog with lots of wonderful hand knit projects.

You'll love it!  Be sure to say, "hi" when you're there.  

Congratulations to the Winner!

The "Grow Your Own Blog Party" hosted by Vicki at "2 Bags Full" has been amazing!

I have about four times more followers on my blog than when it started.

I've had so many wonderful comments that it's been hard to keep up with writing back to each one.

I've visited and started following lots of fun and inspiring blogs from the party. 

And, best of all, I'm making new and wonderful friends from around the world.

Thank you to each and every person who visited, started following my blog, and left comments.

I appreciate every visit, every follower and every sweet comment.

This has been so much fun!

Part of the fun is a give-away!  Each comment on my January blog posts and each and every follower received an entry into the contest.  I used a random number generator to pick the lucky winner.

And, the winner is...

Sandra from "Curlerchick 2.0"

Congratulations, Sandra!  You won from your comment on my "Blog Party Prize" post.

You can choose a prize from my that post.  Your prize will be made especially for you.

I'll contact you through email to see what you select and find out what colors you like.

The party isn't over just yet!  Vicki said she'll keep the party up all year long.  So, you still have plenty of time to visit the many wonderful blogs participating.  She has a link to each and every one of the almost 400 blogs that signed up.  And, I'm still planning another give-away for February!  So, starting today, February first, through the end of the month, each and every comment will go into the drawing.  I will announce a winner on March first.  Good luck!  I look forward to all your visits and comments.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Blog Party Prize

Vicki's "Grow Your Own Blog Party" is so much fun!

I've found many wonderful blogs to follow.  I have a lot of new followers on mine.

I'm making new friends around the world.  And, for me, the party has just begun.  I still have so many more blogs to visit from the list of almost 400 participants.  It's not too late to join in on the fun.  Just stop by Vicki's blog, "2 Bags Full" for a visit, more information and links to participating blogs.

As part of the fun, many of the blogs are having give-aways.  This blog included!

To enter, just leave a comment on at least one January post.  You can receive an entry for each post you comment on.  You can receive an additional entry for being or becoming a follower of my blog.

The winner will be announced on Friday, February 1st, 2013.

I've been trying to figure out a prize that would appeal to anyone.  But, since we're all so different, I decided to provide the winner with some choices.  That way, the winner will receive something they'll truly want and enjoy.  And, the prize will be made especially for the winner.

Here are some ideas I've come up with...the winner will chose one...

A set of hand knit wash/dish cloths in your choice of color.

A ruffled bottle sleeve to catch drips on your wine bottle.  These work great!

 A pretty, needle felted, rose ring.

A sweet little nest ring with tiny blue eggs.

A cozy cowl.  In a color of your choice.  You can see more photos HERE, HERE and HERE.

As you can see, I've made quite a few of these.  They're cozy, warm and pretty.

 

Or a fun and chunky, cotton, crochet doily.  HERE's the original post with another picture.

HERE's another pattern possibility.  The picture of the green one isn't the best but I love this pattern and have made a lot of them.  They work great as place mats and they have a really neat edge on them.

I had planned to have several give-aways this month.  Some for the party and some for my birthday.

This month has been incredibly busy for me though and I haven't even had much time to blog.  

So, I'm planning to have another give-away next month.  The party has just begun!

Thanks for stopping by.  And, as always, thanks for all of your wonderful comments.  I love getting each and every one of them.  I so appreciate you taking time to leave them.  I try to respond to each and every one of them.  However, because there have been so many, it's been a bit confusing knowing which I've responded to and which I haven't.  Plus, many of them come through with a "no-reply" on them and no email to respond to.  For those comments and anonymous ones, I may not be able to contact you if your name is drawn for the give-away.  So, please be sure to leave a way to contact you or check back on Friday to see if your name has been drawn.  Good luck!