GIVEAWAY - Hand Embroidered Secret Message Necklace by love, maude - CLOSED

CLOSED - WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED FRIDAY!

"love, maude" is the amazing hand embroidered accessories shop of Sandie from Indianapolis, which she named after her grandmother.

I fell in love with her work at first sight and know you will, too!

I also fell in love with her profile which reads:

"I like pretty. Just because it's pretty. I like kind words and happy people. I adore manners.

I like traditions. Using my grandma's blue willow dishes for special occasions and looking through boxes of holiday decorations carried down from the attic year after year warms my heart.

I like red lipstick. Even though I am quite tall, I love to wear heels. I prefer to wear skirts and dresses. I'm just more comfortable in them.

I love to sew. I have a chinz, overstuffed chair in the corner of my living room that I call "my stitching chair". Curled up in my chair with a needle in hand, coffee on the table and stories in my mind makes a perfect afternoon."

Don't we love that!

We are so lucky to have one of her gorgeous pieces for this week's giveaway!

WHAT YOU GET:

One lucky winner will receive love, maude's gorgeous hand embroidered secret message necklace!

HOW TO WIN:

It's easy, peasy - just leave your contact information below and be sure to check out love, maude's shop - what gorgeous Mother's Day gifts!

For additional entries:

(5) Twitter this post
(5) Blog about this contest; linking to this post
(5) Follow my blog
(5) Facebook this post

Let me know if you have done these things so I can give you additional entries. This contest is open to everyone. CLOSED

when a hug isn't really a hug ....

I recently had a conversation about Facebook with my brother. He believes that Facebook represents the time we are living in and is not something a business person desiring 'personal' connections with people can just skip.

This is where my problem comes in becomes I can't totally silence the little voice in the back of my head

(the little voice that is often right)

that tells me something is not quite right about all of this.

I once read something like - you’re an introvert if you recharge your batteries while being alone and you’re an extrovert if you recharge in the company of others - and most people are somewhere in the middle and can do both.

When my daughter was little and I had a job in a place outside of my house, a place with other people, I definitely recharged from time spent alone.

Now, that I am alone alot - pretty much the opposite is true - I need the company of others more and more often to recharge.

Now, sometimes this 'company of others' takes place on Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr or wherever ... and these things do fill us; for a little while - the feeling just doesn't last though.

(kind of like eating Chinese food)

There's a great deal of talk about the business value of social networking.

I can't help noticing that alot of this talk is circulated by people trying to make money from it. But taking advice about how the fish are biting from the girl selling you the bait is not the best idea.

(this advice is kind of like the sellers on Etsy with ebooks about how to make money selling on Etsy who have never sold anything other than ebooks about how to make money selling on Etsy - now if this person wants to tell me how to make money selling ebooks on Etsy, well then, I'm listening ... but otherwise not so much)

Anyhoo, back to Facebook. Yes, it is happening right now. Yes, I am a part of this world, right now. Yes, I do not want the world to pass me by ...

(well, except for maybe that honeysuckle color that is Pantone's color of the year - I am just not feeling it, that can pass me by, I think, and Charlie Sheen he can pass me by, too)

but maybe there are ways to raise our visibility without always raising our accessibility. I just don't think this is all sustainable.

For now, I continue to update my Facebook and tweet once in a while - I am not about to jump completely out of these fast moving waters because it may be very hard to find my stroke if I have to jump back in.

(did anyone see that guy on Dr. Phil who gets off work at 3 and then runs until 6, all the while photographing his run and then spends every night after dinner updating his Facebook or blog about his run ... while his wife goes crazy with the kids and his entire life falls away from him and he doesn't even notice)

But, I think it is time for me to challenge myself socially and get out there in the real world because I don't want those muscles - that were never exactly Linda Hamilton in Terminator II anyway - to weaken to the point where upon meeting new people I immediately become their 'friend', give them a hug and a friendly poke (not too friendly) and a great big thumbs up.

(so today it's back to the library and off my Nook - a little face to face time with other readers and I think our librarians have been missing us ... baby steps)

* print #17 from HappyTownUSA

10 Days Until Spring (or is it 9 because we won't count today or is it 8 because we won't count the actual first day)

let's just agree on 8 that sounds alot better ...

* some new pieces in my shops within the last few weeks 1) the royal wedding cork bracelet, 2) the vineyard wedding cork necklace 3&4) the gorgeous photography of the amazing Joy St. Claire graces my lockets

Next week will be my final spring cleaning crafty closet cleanout giveaway - last week's winner chosen by random.org

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1
Max: 356
Result: 201

is Karen L - Congrats Karen!

Also check out my post over on the Ecoetsy team blog where I give a eco-friendly team member Herban Lifestyle's shop a little tweaking and friendly critiquing - there might be something there that will resonate with you.

My new blog series will kick off next week! Have a wonderful weekend all ...

Upcycled Tutorial - Window Corkboard - create an industrial size corkboard with some old fashioned character in minutes!

There is almost no limit to the amazing things you can do with an old window!

If you don't have one in your garage you should be able to pick one up for just a couple bucks when the garage sale / flea market season starts up in a few weeks.

You can even make a huge industrial size corkboard!

You will need:

an old window
cork (I used cork underlay for flooring- you can also buy cork rolls at the craft store and cut foamcore sheets to fit underneath the thin cork and support your pushpins)
glazier points
flathead screwdriver

You can make your old window like new first with a fresh coat of paint

(you might want to use a lead test strip first if you do not know the age of the window and the kind of paint used)


I like things to look a little aged so I am just going to leave this one alone.

Measure your openings and cut your cork to fit (1), using a flathead screwdriver and some glazier points attach your cork to the window frame (2), that's it (3) - easy peasy