Ta Da.......! The winner is..........

Ok folks,  today's the day!!!Thanks for all your entries and all the great comments!  I wish you could all win.  So, without further  ado (what the heck does 'ado' mean anyway?).......
The winner is........

!!!!      eidolons    !!!!

Woo Hoo!!

(I used that cool random number generator thingy to choose the winner)

And to refresh your memory of what the prize is:

I'll be emailing the winner.  If, for whatever reason I don't hear back from the winner by June 4, I'll pick another winner.  (I'm adding a few days to SewMamaSews dates because of the holiday weekend.)  So eidolons, check your email and get back to me with your mailing address  and

CONGRATULATION !!!!!!!

Giveaway Day !!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!

This is the second year that I have taken part in SewMamaSew's May giveaway.  If you've never participated, start today!  All you have to do is go to a bunch of blogs and follow their instructions to enter to win whatever they are giving away.  It officially starts at 9am Eastern time, Monday morning, so you'll have to be patient until then. But at 9 am, it's GO TIME!!!  It ends at midnight, May 25.
So here's what I'm giving away....

 What I'm giving away.....

one of each:

8 inch square olive green wash / dish cloth

7 inch square dark olive star stitch wash / dish cloth

7 inch square varigated natural, greens and blues star stitch wash / dish cloth

3 x 4 inch natural "sponge"

These can be used in the bathroom or kitchen.  They're 100 percent cotton, hand crocheted by me. Keep them for yourself or gift them to someone.

Here's what you need to do:

Each action will result in a separate entry.

The first thing you MUST do is leave me a comment with your email address

(     like this -  myname[at]email[dot]com    )

(Sorry, with the cost of shipping, I have to limit it to USA entries)

For optional,  additional entries, do one or all of these:

+1-go to my Etsy store, come back and leave a comment about your favorite item in my store

+1-follow my blog, then make sure and tell me

+1-Blog about my giveaway on your blog, then leave a comment telling me you did

So, let's count.....that's 4 chances to win.

I'll be picking a winner on the morning of the 26th.  Make sure you leave an email address so I have some way to contact you, if you're the winner, to get your shipping info.

After you've done that, go to SewMamaSew's blog and start going through the gigantic list of really cool giveaways..it's SOOOOOO much fun !!

Wait for it..........

It's coming in a few hours!!!!!  The giveaway starts 9 am Monday morning......DON'T MISS IT!!!!!
You DO NOT have to have something to give away, you just get to look at alot of great stuff and visit lots of cool blogs and throw your name in the hat (last year I literally put all the entries in one of my husbands baseball hats and picked the winner, this year I'll use a generator), and have a chance at winning some great things!   You will have a few days to look through them all.  CAN'T.....WAIT.....

Giveaway coming up!!

Sunday night, May 22, I'll be posting a link to an AMAZING Giveaway day SewMamaSew is hosting.

I 'll be giving away one of my handmade items, but if you go to the SewMamaSew link in the blog post, you can click on HUNDREDS of other blogs and enter to win tons more handmade items !
Plan to set aside some time for this 'cause when I say 'hundreds' I mean hundreds!!! You'll have such fun looking at everyone's handmade stuff,  I can't even wait!!!All you need to do is go to their blog and follow their instructions, usually just leaving a comment and your email, but make sure to follow their specific instructions.  It's a great way to get free stuff for you or to give away as gifts!
You won't want to miss it. Check back Sunday night for more details....:)

It's about time!

I finally found the time to list some new necklaces on my Etsy site. I hate taking the pictures and then editing them and then trying to think of witty and interesting descriptions, but I
made myself do it so.........Here's few of them.......

Ok, so that's just a few and in the next couple of days I will be adding lots of earrings too. 

I would really love it if you would take a look around my little shop and let me know what you think!

And when you finish there, hop on over to my daughter's blog for a really cool giveaway.

And then , take a look-see at another daughter's (yep, I've got more!) Etsy store.

Fairer Than Morning by Rosslyn Elliott

Fairer Than Morning by Rosslyn Elliott

I think this is my favorite Christian historical fiction book so far. 

The main characters are based on real historical figures which makes the story that much more interesting.  Many historical topics are included in this book including slavery and the underground railroad and the practice of indentured servants. 

The story begins in the early 1800’s, with young Ann Miller, daughter of a saddle maker and traveling minister.  She has accepted the attentions of a dashing young man who proves to be unreliable.  As events unfold, Ann’s father encounters Will Hanby, a young man indentured to a horribly abusive master. His story is sometimes hard to read especially because it is based on real events.  His master regularly beats his servants, starves them and refuses them medical attention. Were it not for the compassion of the local doctor, who secretly does what he can, Will and his fellow servants would not have survived.  Will eventually makes a decision to run away from his master.  He remembers the kindness of Ann’s father and sets out on a dangerous journey to find him.  There are many surprises and twists that keep you interested. The friendship that develops between Ann and Will is a pleasure to read and at times seems like a tender sub-story to the other story lines. 

This is a story of cruelty, hopelessness, despair, secrets, danger and then, love, hope, faith and redemption.

This is the first in the series, “The Saddler’s Legacy”.  I can’t wait to read the next one!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from BookSneeze and Thomas Nelson through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Too Rich for a Bride by Mona Hodgson

Mona Hodgson's writing style and descriptive narratives paint a very clear picture of what a turn of the century western gold mining town must have been like. She draws you in and gives you the feeling you are walking through the streets of Cripple Creek as you read. This is the second book in her series "The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek". While it is a successful stand alone novel, I would have liked to have read the first one just so I could keep the characters and their relationships straight in my mind.

There is a long list of characters, a few pivotal ones and several peripheral ones but equally enjoyable. One of my favorites is young Abraham. He loves to make people laugh and thrives on thinking up new jokes to tell to anyone who will listen.

The main character is Ida Sinclair, one of four Sinclair sisters. She is a smart, ambitious, independent Christian young woman determined to break through the barrier and become a success in the world of business. After a very distasteful occurrence with a male professor, she travels to join two of her sisters in the gold mining town of Cripple Creek. Soon after arriving, she is employed by Mollie O'Bryan, a self-made, successful business woman, who is thought of by some as unscrupulous and of questionable character. She also meets two young men who are clearly interested in courting her. Colin Wagner is a sophisticated and influential lawyer who represents Mollie in her business dealings. Tucker Raines is a traveling preacher whose family owns the local ice house. His father falls ill and Tucker comes to town to take over the business while his father recuperates. On the surface, each man looks like a worthy suitor but each has his own secrets that for one reason or another, they are reluctant to share.

As events unfold, Ida's faith and deep convictions cause her to question many aspects of her life and the decisions she has made.

This is a very enjoyable story that touches on the issues of women's rights, mental illness, and the gold rush and all the economic and cultural developments that occurred at that time in our history, including the emerging Stock Exchange.

There are questions in the back of the book for book discussion groups. I'm looking forward to reading the other books in this series.

You can read the first chapter by clicking below:
Too Rich for a Bride by Mona Hodgson (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

I received a complimentary copy of this book from WaterBrook Press through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Stay tuned......

Hey folks ! I'm still here.  I've been sidelined by a nasty spring time cold which is finally easing up.  So keep on the look out for two new book reviews.   The first will be "Too Rich for a Bride"  by Mona Hodgson, an historical fiction about turn of the century old west.   The second is "Fairer Than Morning" by Rosslyn Elliott. This is also historical fiction, but is based on a real family in American history.

So stay tuned..............