I'm her biggest fan

My favorite blog designer, Carrie, my wonderful daughter who tweaks my blog, at my will, is donating a blog make over.  The host of this give away is Pink & Polka Dot, go see what she has to say, and enter to win.  You won't be sorry.

Give Away

Robin's having a give away.  I think you should check it out.

Who doesn't love a giveaway?

I saw this at Carrie's:

Who doesn't love a giveaway?

Allover Art is hosting a giveaway which runs from Friday, January 16th to Friday, January 23rd at 11:59pm EST. One winner will be chosen. The prize this time is a $15 gift certificate! The gift certificate can be used in her Etsy shop,www.alloverart.etsy.com, where she has a wide variety of items {several hand-painted fine art resin pendant necklaces, fine art prints of some original paintings, note card and envelope sets, original oil paintings on canvas, and more!}

Head on over to AlloverArt's blog to read about it and to enter!

Black Friday Books

December 1, marks one year of blogging for me, so I decided to give away some books. I know, you're surprised. If any of these books "floats your boat", just tell me which one(s) in a comment. I don't mind if one person wants all of them, just tell me which one(s) you want to be entered for, and I'll do a drawing. I'll post the winners on the 1st. Please do not leave a comment if I won't be able to contact you. Thanks.

Fiction:

The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova, autographed

Mudbound, Hillary Jordan, wonderful complex debut novel

Dancing in the Lowcountry, James Villas

Memior:

When Wanderers Cease to Roam, Vivian Swift

Marley and Me, John Grogan

We Bought a Zoo, Benjamin Mee

Cookbook:

Winter, Williams-Sonoma Cookbook, by Joanne Weir

Nature:

Why Birds Sing, by David Rothenberg

Travel:

Lonely Planet BlueList 2008, travel guide

I won, again

I'm really on a roll. I won something else. Simply amazing.

Liz is the queen of give aways, her blog is A Give Away A Day. If you're feeling lucky, check her out, put her in your Reader, and enter when you see something you'd love. That's how I won this:

It's a soap dish and it was donated by Simply Daisy's Etsy Shop.

I won!

Did you see this give away at How About Orange? Well, I won! Out of 584 people who said what their favorite poster is, from The Poster List, I won! I don't normally enter give aways like this, but I've always loved their posters. So since, I won, I got to choose two.

The first one I chose is "Keep Calm and Rock On", in sage. Don't you think that's a great motto.

And, I chose "Antenna Birds", I love the graphics on it and antennas are much history, now.

Recently, I won something from Louise, and now something from Jess; maybe I should enter more give aways.

Jan, you got something from Albuquerque

I really did get something in the U.S. mail from Albuquerque. While visiting Louise, she of The Potted Frog, recently, I entered a give away, and I won, well I placed 3rd and there were 3 winners. Louise is very cool, and sent me what Winner #1, and Winner #2 didn't want. I'm so lucky, I love what I received. This is what was in my package - a hand-made JOY banner and a hand-made note from Louise.

Here's the banner hanging over the fireplace, which is where I'll probably place it each and every Christmas. What do you think? I'm pretty lucky, huh?

Give-a-way

Carrie's having a give away, and I thought I'd give her a plug.  She's giving away a new custom header for a blog or website, designed by her, (she does mine, of course) and inspired by you.   The give away ends on Nov. 2, so hurry over and enter.

Book Giveaway

This just in - News Flash!

Carrie is having a giveaway, you only have until 9 AM tomorrow to comment for a chance to win a great book.

You can read my review, here. I'm having lunch with one of the authors next week! I'm spoiled, I know it.

Give Away

My pal Lisa is having a contest, it's a guessing game. Her goal is to give away a $100 Visa gift card, apparently, it's burning a hole in her pocket. If you don't know Lisa, you should. Check her and the contest out. Good luck, but I hope I win.

I don't know if it will look like one of these, but who cares, it's spendable.

The last of the Give Aways

This has been a very busy month for me, and I've been slow about announcing winners for my give aways. Here is the first announcement, if you're wondering, and here are the rest of the winners.

Drumroll, please.

Taste of Home Cookbook, Wammy, aka Jan of The Ellis Family.

Supernatural Rubber Chicken: Fowl Language, Beckie, from Hineykapopple

Super Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One, someone called mbabecka, who's blog is not opened to everyone, and left no email. I hope she returns to find out she's won.

America, America, Alison, The RDH Mom.

I also sent the hollyhock seeds out this week. I included directions; no head scratching allowed.

Give Away(s)

July has been Give Away month for me. It's not over, but here's an update of who has won items, so far.

The Socks, the wonderful socks. I had several packages, and here are the lucky people:

Mrs. G, Derfwad Manor

Barb, Spotlis (Canada)

Lisa Marie, Lisa's Chaos

Alison, RDH Mom and daughter Cassie

Jen, Half-Baked Brownie Guider (UK)

The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane, was mailed to Judy from GrandLife. She also won the Terracotta Warrior playing cards.

Heart in the Right Place, by Carolyn Jourdan, was shipped off to Allie from The Chambers Family. She's always very lucky, here. I think it's her excellent karma.

This morning I notified Oliver Rain that she'd won The Story of Edgar Sawtelle. As soon as I hear from her, I'll get it in the mail.

So, that's the update. There're 3 more Give Aways, so far, this month. If you're interested check them out. One is a cookbook, some Children's books, and America, America by Ethan Canin.

Give Away

The book for this give away is America, America by Ethan Canin. It's a new release hardcover. This book is so hot it sizzles. If you're interested, leave a comment. I do the drawing on th 23rd.

Give Away

Another Book Give Away, this time for kid books. Check them out and leave a comment on which one(s) you're interested in.

Age: 8-11, Geek Chic: The Zoey Zone - Margie Palatini (Advance Reader's Copy, pub date, 9/23)

Age: 11 and up, The Savage - David Almond (ARC, pub date, October)

Age: 6-10, Supernatural Rubber Chicken: Fowl Language - D.L. Garfinkle (ARC, published)

Age: 5-9, Super Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One - Judy Blume (Hardcover)

Age: 8-12, My One Hundred Adventures - Polly Horvath (ARC, pub date, 9/9)

Age: 9-12, The Girl Who Could Fly - Victoria Forester (Hardcover)



I'll do a drawing on the 21st, and get them out to the winner(s).

Give Away

Another book Give Away, why am I doing this, you may ask. This month is a Big Birthday month for my family, so I've been giving things, mostly books, away. This, the 5th offering this month is a cookbook. I received it from the publisher, this is a blurb about it:

The 2008 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes Cookbook gathers all 653 recipes form the 2007 issues of Taste of Home's Simple and Delicious magazine. You'll find family favorites like "Dijon chicken and Spinach" and "Steak Sandwich Kabobs" in this hardcover book. All recipes are indexed two ways, and special-diet recipes are noted. 336 pages, hundreds of full-color photos.

If you're interested, leave a comment, and I'll do a drawing on the 19th.

Give Away

Another book give away. This one, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski, is getting a lot of positive press, and for good reason. This is Wroblewski's first novel, and I'm sure it won't be his last. The copy I'm giving away is hardcover, and it's autographed by the author. If you're interested, leave a comment, and I'll do a drawing on the 17th.

Give Away

This is a soft cover copy of Heart in the Right Place, a memoir. You can read my review of it here. If you'd like me to mail it to, you leave a comment, and on the 15th, I'll use a random number generator to pick the lucky recipient. I really loved this book.

Give Away

This is a fabulous book, I loved it. Dennis Lehane is one of my favorite authors. This is part of the review I'll publish in September, The rest of his novels have been mysteries, this is not. It is historical fiction, at it's finest. Well written, well researched, The Given Day covers a turbulant time in American history, at the end of The Great War and, of course, it's set in Boston. Over 700 pages, but truly a fast read; because you can't put it down, it just flows and you are swept up, as you read it. I told a fellow bookseller, It flows like silk"

It will be published in September 23rd. I happen to have an extra copy of the Advance Readers Copy. This is a soft cover, uncorrected proof, provided by the publisher. I will be happy to ship it to you. Leave a comment, and I'll do my drawing on the 12th, using a random number generator.

Give Away

3 missmatched socks, one with a pocket

This is my next give away. Yes, 3 socks that don't match, sized for Adults. Let's see who would like a set, just like the picture. I actually have more than one set to give away; leave a comment if you're interested. I'll pick a winner(s) on the 10th, using a random number generator.

Give Away

I decided to have some give aways this month. This is the first one, a deck of cards. I got an extra set when we saw the Terracotta Soldiers, last week. Sadly, no cameras were allowed, but I did get some souvenirs. If you'd like an unopened deck of playing cards, just leave a comment, and I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner on the 8th.

By the way, the exhibit was fabulous. It was both educational and beautiful. I urge you to see it, if you have a chance.