I visited a lot of wonderful blogs that participated in this event last year, and decided I would take part this year. Talk about a one stop giveaway bonanza: visit One World One Heart logo to find out more (the logo is also clickable).I am offering a collage painting for the giveaway: Invoking Clarity (10″ x 8″). In order to be eligible for the draw for this painting, you simply need to leave me a comment on this post. I will pick the winner on February 15th (by drawing a name), so leave your comment by midnight, February 14 (Valentine’s Day).

Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad!  In the spirit of giving and Christmas, I’m giving away a copy of my new book, Laughing in the Midst of Marriage: Finding Joy in Being a Wife!  Whooo HOoo!  It is a devotional for wives of all ages, full of true life stories to inspire you and make you thankful for your husband.  To enter just LEAVE YOUR NAME in the comments section.  My contest committee will hand write them… hand cut them… hand them into a bucket… and hand select a winner from the pile.  This is all done quite officially, really.  The winner will be chosen on Dec. 18th late at night.  So that makes the official cut-off time “when I get home on Friday night.”  Good luck!!  and God be with you!!

Side note:  this will be the only post this week until the winner is announced…. because for my Christmas present, my sweet hubby is taking me away for five days…. without children.  Am I excited?  YES!!!  So, pass the word about the free draw and I’ll be back on Friday night.

If you’re one of those people who never wins anything, you can buy the book at www.cbd.com and probably be reading it before the winner!

Enter to win a FREE Heritage Makes 20 x 20 canvas credit just by becoming a fan of Heritage Makers. By becoming a fan between now and November 29, 2009, you automatically enter the drawing to receive this great addition to your home décor. On Cyber Monday (November 30), we’ll post the winner on our fan page. Don’t miss this chance. Become a fan today by following this link http://bit.ly/4mwI9e!

On the morning that the Buggy Bag® Site Launched, I was honored by an invitation to come and show the new Lap Blanket at a ConnecTra Workshop at the Vancouver Public Library. As it turned out it was also the ConnecTra Societys 10th birthday. The event was fairly well attended despite the rainy Vancouver day and the “HandyDart” http://bit.ly/wTjCO strike. I had the opportunity to speak with most of the people in wheelchairs as I went around the room getting everybody to fill out the entry form for the draw. The winner of the draw for the free Buggy Bag® Lap Blanket was a woman by the name of Violeta.

Happy Birthday ConnecTra http://www.connectra.org/… and thanks for having me come and show the Lap Blanket!

CONNECTRA IS… ConnecTra is a connecting agency, linking people with disabilities to activities and programs that will, over time, allow them to gain confidence and become more active and involved in community life (it also includes self-employment group Abilities Business Co-op). ConnecTra is one of the six affiliated societies that make up the Sam Sullivan Disability Foundation Did you know?….. Sam Sullivan served a term as Vancouver City Mayor.

By now you must be thinking I am obsessed….. and I am. The amazing funky big button people ( well lots of different size buttons, but its the big’un I like) have gone all modern and got an etsy.

YES ON ETSY

www.ButtonsByMcAnaraks.etsy.com

To celebrate this amazing event I have two beautiful buttons to give away to some lucky button lover.

But nothing is that simple, first you have to know your buttons.

Just email your answers to these four simple questions by 2pm Sunday 17th May and all the correct answers will be put on a dog snack in the park. The first dog snack eaten will be the winner.

EMAIL: jpinfo@btinternet.com

1. Which group of people would never wear a button?

2. What team is the fastest Button on?

3. What is a button in America?

4. What are the McAnarak buttons made off?

The video of the dog snack prize draw will be posted along with the winner on Sunday at 4PM. I will post them anywhere in the world.

Good luck.

In honor of mothers on Mother’s Day 2009, I decided to share the love and give away one of my books Laughing in the Midst of Mothering: Finding Joy in Being a Mom.  (A quicker title choice would have been MOM – JOY!)  All you need to do to enter is put your name in the comment section of this blog.  I’ll put them all in a hat and draw one on Monday.  My panel of qualified homeschooling judges will verify the security of the ballots and the non-biased choice of the winning ticket.

Laughing in the Midst of Mothering is a devotional for moms of all ages (and dads have found it amusing as well) and a compilation of stories that have actually occurred in my home.  If you think your children are interesting, wait ’til you read about mine.  If you need to verify the contents of the book as truly joy-bringing you can check it out at:  www.LindaCrosby.com, www.cbd.com, www.amazon.com, etc., or wherever fine books are sold on the net.

Mother’s Day is nine days away so here’s the deal.  I need mailing time, so the deadline for this thrilling contest is Monday, May 4, 2009 at 9:00 pm, AZ time.  (I think we are on Pacific time at the moment…. we never move our clocks down here in AZ.  The rest of you confuse me on this deal.)

If your name is not chosen and you think this is still a fabulous Mother’s Day gift, order one for your mom, your friends, your aunties and your neighbors. It’s guaranteed to bring a smile to the most prune-ish face.  Again, www.LindaCrosby.com.  For a discount on mailing more than one book, please send me a note and I’ll hook you up.

Happy May Day!  And good luck!

I’ve been reading this book my therapist gave me, “Art as a Way of Knowing”, I’m not sure how much I really like it though.  I like the fact that she mentions how art is such a judgement loaded word and can really turn some people off.  That would be me!  She says she tends to use the words images or image making so people won’t limit themselves, which is good but it gets a little annoying after awhile.  I think after awhile the whole book starts to feel a little too new agey for me.  She has this method that she uses of setting an intention (I’d like to know more about my inner critic, for example) and then you just set about making ‘marks’ on the page and let whatever comes, come.  Sometimes this works ok, other times I don’t know…  I mean ’scribbling on a page can be fun and interesting but sometimes it’s just …scribbles.  I’ll probably finish reading it but, I can’t say I’m going to be trying anything else out from the book.  I think no doubt I’ll still let myself goof around and scribble as that’s about all I feel comfortable doing here in my moms house.  I think I’m gonna move on to my other two art books though and see what they have to offer.  I might put up to examples of things that came out of this book experience though.  Stay tuned.

On 1st March, I promised to blog every day for the month as this is my 12th month of blogging.  And now we’re half way through and so far I’ve kept that promise.

My second promise was that I’d  give some prizes away.  So here goes.

The names of all people who leave a comment on this blog from now until 31st March will be drawn out of a hat and will receive a small present from me.  The more times you comment, the greater your chances of being drawn, of course. 

However, I’ve noticed that a number of you read my blog while I’m sleeping.  Is someone out there recommending me as a cure for Australian insomniacs, or are these readers perhaps in different time zones?  I’d like to think that it’s the latter.

So there are going to be two draws.  One for Australian residents, and one for those of you in the rest of the world. 

I can’t tell you what the prizes will be as I’ll try to match them with the winners, but I promise that they’ll be worth at least AU$25 and I will post the international one anywhere in the world.  They’ll be knitting related of course. 

No other rules – leave a comment, agree with something I’ve said, or disagree with it,  or just say “Hello”.  If you’re outside Australia, tell me where in the world you are. 

EXCEPT . . . . my sister.  I know she always reads this and has contributed lots of comments but it would perhaps look slightly unfair if by chance she won a prize.  But keep reading, Judith, and keep on commenting.  At the end of the month, I’ll send you a gift anyway.  I’m that kind of sister!   

It is now two weeks since the draws of the One World – One Heart took place. Hundreds of them. And how exciting it was to meet new people, read new blogs and learn about new crafts. New to me, that is.  We all had great fun, and will continue to do so for a while yet, as we visit those blogs that we didn’t know existed before.

Well in the spirit of the warmth generated from that event, I am offering a freebie giveaway this week. There is one prize, but the winner gets to choose from two items. The items 0n offer are:-

Two pairs of handcrafted earrings, made by myself. One pair is blue, and I think, ceramic, although they could be glass, difficult to tell. I have to admit to being the worlds worst at labelling beads when I get them. The other pair are very distinctive owl faces – the sort of thing you either like or dislike. I have no idea what they are made from…looks and feels like bone or ivory, but could be synthetic. I have a feeling they are bone.

The alternative prize is materials for crafty people. I originally put it up as a swap, along with a similar package. The other one has been swapped, and this one is left. The picture is fairly self explanatory, but if you want a run down and description…here goes!

 Parcel 2

Debbie Mumm quilting fabric, christmas tree design, measuring 19.5″ x 11″ (50cm x 29 cm)
Red Hessian strip, open weave, red, measuring approx 12″ x 2.75″ (31cm x 7.5cm)
Green hessian strip, same as red
Selection of star cutouts in holographic card,  4 x red , 1 x gold
3 x matt gold star embellishments, quite chunky.
Two little train engine embellishments (with adhesive dot attached)
4 x red berries.
Packet of gold sequin type snow flakes.
Felt square, bright ed, 9″ x 9″ (23.5cm x 23.5cm)
2 x gold bows, organza (I think!),
One red holographic box,  fits CD, but I sometimes use for special cards with chunky embellishments.
Plus one secret gift!

If you would like to win one of these, all you have to do is leave a comment, either on this blog, or one of my other three blogs (see sister blogs at top of sidebar) and tell me that you’d like to be entered for the draw. You may enter five times, but no more.

On Friday 7th March at mid-day GMT, I will close the draw and give all entrants a number and then use the random number generator (http://www.violetsareblue.net/random/ to pick a winner. The winner will be announced on this blog, and I will contact them so that they can tell me which prize they’d like. Any questions, just leave me a comment.

Good luck and enjoy!