Random.org tells me that #70 is our winner! Yay! *

And who is #70? Why, that would be Shawna.

So Ms Shawna, I will be emailing you soon. I hope you devour the book as quickly as I will!

Thank you to everyone for participating! Best of luck in the other giveaways. And a HUGE THANK YOU to Ms. Carey for being gracious enough to not only give away a signed edition, but to let me host the giveaway on my humble little blog.

*The numbers selected for Random.org started at comment #3 , because #1 and #2 were comments from my husband and I, so we don’t count.

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• Saints Astray giveaway!
• Contests Galore!
• Yay! An Apron Giveaway!

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Long time no blog. Things are always hectic in October here. I’ll have to get you all caught up in another post, because today I have something VERY exciting for you guys.

Jacqueline Carey, Author of the Kushiel’s Legacy series and companion Naamah Trilogy, has very graciously given me a signed copy of her latest book to give to one of my lovely readers! How exciting! Guys, this is the first giveaway I’ve had that I didn’t have to buy myself.

I think Carey is an amazing author. I’m not even sure where I picked up her first book. It could have possibly been Goodwill for all I know, but from there it was a mad dash to have ALL THE BOOKS! Saints Astray, and its predecessor Santa Olivia, are very different from the books that first made me love Carey… different like Nutella Vs Mac&Cheese different and you don’t see me turning either one down.

Here’s the book excerpt from Amazon:

Fellow orphans, amateur vigilantes, and members of the Santitos, Loup Garron-the fugitive daughter of a genetically engineered “wolf man”-and Pilar Ecchevarria grew up in the military zone of Outpost 12, formerly known as Santa Olivia. But now they’re free, and they want to help the rest of the Santitos escape. During a series of escapades, they discover that Miguel, Loup’s former sparring partner and reprobate surrogate brother, has escaped from Outpost 12 and is testifying on behalf of its forgotten citizens-at least until he disappears from protective custody. Honor drives Loup to rescue Miguel, even though entering the U.S could mean losing her liberty. Pilar vows to help her.

It will take a daring and absurd caper to extricate Miguel from the mess he’s created but Loup is prepared to risk everything… and this time she has help.

You can click here to read the first chapter or click here to order it on Amazon.

So, just leave me a comment, any comment — though preferably something about how pretty I am or that you’ll bring me gourmet coffee in bed every morning — and we’ll randomly select a winner.

Rules:

• One entry per person. Double entries will be disqualified. Even particularly flattering comments only count as one.
• Entries must be in by Midnight November 15th. Winner will be announced the following morning.
• Winner has 48 hours to respond. If no response in said time frame, another random commenter will be drawn.

Good Luck guys!

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• Winner, Winner!
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So far I’ve:

• Stained our garage utility sink tea-staining cheesecloth.
• Made about half a skeleton worth of paper mache bones.
• Redid a giant plastic pumpkin I picked up at a yardsale. It needed paint and sanding and such.
• Made PVC flicker candles
• And destroyed a lamp and chandelier and put it all back together as a, what I like to call, Lampalier!

Ta da!

Not bad, eh? I had an old shiny brass light fixture we took down out of the house and an aged brass lamp base I picked up at GoodWill for like $3. I took them apart, stuck them back together, had my dad cut some metal disks for the candleholder parts and painted. Of course, I don’t have any big candles handy at the moment, but you get the idea. And it’s very big and heavy. Very dramatic. Also, no “before” pictures. I’m lazy like that.

And this is where I admit where I was wrong. Was that a collective gasp I just heard?! I know, I know. I was babbling about what color to paint it one evening and my husband suggests Matte Black. I probably gave him the stupidest look ever. Matte Black? Seriously? Men have no sense. Seriously. So I pick out this hammered black color and grab some dark grey automotive primer and start priming away. Problem is I really like the primer color, so Matte Black it shall stay. I love you honey!

It’s gonna show fingerprints like crazy, but what doesn’t in my house?

Don’t ask about the chair on the table. I was gonna drape a background cloth but my family was giving me too many crazy looks.

See those candles? Made ‘em. Yep. I’m not entirely sure open flames will be a good idea, so these “candles” will be used with flickering LED tealights in strategic locations where I really appreciate things NOT catching on fire. Here’s a tutorial, if you are so inclined. I would like to add though, to skip the expending foam step. The stuff is expensive and a pain. Just turn your tea light on, put it in, and stuff some newspaper or grocery bags underneath it. You don’t need to worry about heat or melting or anything like that.

So have you started on your Halloween stuff yet? Is it too early to start decorating?

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Here’s a couple excuses reasons why:

• Went back to school at the last minute. (Not recommended. Summer semester with science and math is not recommended either.)
• Declan started Kindergarten.
• Halloween party planning.
• … Uhm, Pinterest?

Wow, that’s not nearly the list of impressive reasons I kept picturing in my mind. The good news is that I’m sure most of my followers know me somewhat in person and have been in touch on FaceBook.If you don’t know me personally… well, come say ‘Hi’. The worst thing that will happen is I end up with some crazy stalker and they leave dead animals on my porch. I already have a cat that does that, so you’ll have to try harder than that crazy, future, potential stalker.

Declan did surprisingly well with his first day. He seems genuinely excited to go.

 Just a few days after starting school, he lost his first tooth!

I’ve been working on a whole lot of Halloween stuff. Here’s a quick Save The Date I made for the party so far.

I only edited this to fit different wording. When I find the original source again, I will give credit where credit is due.

And if I was any kind of GOOD blogger I’d promise pictures of my Halloween stuff and whatnot. But we all know I’m not a very GOOD blogger so maybe, just maybe, I might post again soon.

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One of my goals this year is too get better with my camera and coincidentally The MCP Project 52 signups happened to cross my path.

Here’s the gist:

MCP Project 52 – It’s a way to encourage creativity, make photography fun, and provide a challenge without actual pressure. Participants will [sic] sharing their art work and images weekly while inspiring each other.

The theme of the first week, which I am slightly behind on, was “Around The House” so here’s my go.

Click to embiggen

I fixed some of the overblown and added a vintage photo filter to it.

I hoping that if I keep fiddling with my camera every week that I’ll get better. Hopefully.

If you’d like to join–and we’d love to have you–the information is here. And be sure to stop by the Flickr pool of all the participating photos here. There are some outstanding photos in there!

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This poem shows up randomly in my life often and every time it does I, well…, feel like sharing. This last time was via Juste Venteux.

Click to embiggen

This was written in 1927 by Max Ehrmann. Check out the wiki here.

Maybe I should just tattoo it and be done with it?

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Doesn’t that sound like a million pounds of fun? (Who really says things like ‘a million pounds of fun’?)

Anyway, the conference is in Chandler, Arizona on April 8th, 9th and 10th. Tickets are only $149, which is dang cheap for a 3 day conference of this type.

Check out the Agenda here. I’d have a hard time choosing which sessions to go to if I was able to go.

You can register here, but be sure to check out the whole Creative Estates website, especially the guest speakers.

If you’re like me and need to win tickets in order to go, be sure to check out Shey B’s Get Your Butt to Arizona giveaway post here. She’s generously giving away 2 or more all-inclusive passes to the lucky winners. YAY!

Do you already have your tickets? No?! Better hurry! And let us know if you’ll be attending!

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How do you like it? Anything weird that you notice?

And speaking of shiny, or more appropriately, shiners, how do you like this baby? He, sadly, did it to himself when one of the stools he was balancing on slipped out from under him. Poor dude.

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Not a handmade present, but Curt the Dirt was my crafting buddy through the 3 mad days I did most of these in. I really need to stop procrastinating.

Oh god, looking over these pictures.… I really should be shot for posting some of these. :S

Complete with tramp stamp:

Seat belt covers:

Tutorial here: Seatbelt sleeves by AfricanKelli

Car trash bag:

It uses boning to keep itself open. Cool huh? Tutorial here: Trash Bag by Make it and Love it

A few belts to help keep the pants up on my super skinny boys. Tutorial here: Boy Belts by Elsie Marley

Canister sleeves for my mother in law to match her red kitchen. Time consuming but super cute, eh?

Tutorial here: Quilted Canister Sleeves by HandmadeMommy

Some freezer paper stencil shirts. Apparently I forgot to take a picture of some, but here’s a few of them.

(I was trying for a grungy look. I swear. )

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Did you make anything for Christmas presents? Let us know!

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Love and light from us!

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