One year ago today my Magpie’s Nest Blog began.  Here I am 438 posts later.....what an exciting year it has been!

*****Time to celebrate with some blog candy*****

I Love altering cutlery, so I thought some spoons would make nice giveaways....again.

My husband is very supportive and just flattened, bent and drilled a new batch for me to play with.........so

..........here is how it will work, more comments = more prizes.

This sweet Paper Whimsy girl will get things started.  Click the pic for a closeup.

For every fifty comments, I will add another piece of cutlery as an additional prize. The first name picked by the random number generator will receive the first piece posted and so on.

For more chances to win, tell your friends, spread the word, all are welcome.

All you need do is leave your comment (one per person please) at this post by midnight EST, Monday, 20 October. You have thirteen days. The winner(s) will be announced on Tuesday, 21 October.

***************

Looking back for just a moment, there are two people that made a huge impact in my taking the plunge into blogland last October. Pat Sloan, who said, “Just do it” (she helped me so much along the way) and Charles (my husband's coworker), who got logistics going for me more than once. I couldn’t have done it without their help. I would also like to extend a special thank you to Lennie Stimpson, who is always so gracious and genuine in telling people about my blog.  Only my husband equals her PR skills for my Magpie's Nest!

There are so many people to thank for their help, encouragement and support along the way, you know who you are. I also truly appreciate everyone that stops by and leaves a comment especially in a world that spins so fast for all of us.  Having a blog has been life changing in many ways.  It has sparked my creativity and proves to be a fun way to share what I Love with other like minded people all over the globe.  My thanks to you....each and every one oxoxo

Everybody  knows a little girl who would love this Poinsetta Teaset and Tea Party Book!

Make a comment on this blog and you will be entered in the drawing for December 15th!  If you make a comment on another post that is fine - just be sure and mention that you want to be in the drawing!

Have to do with Willow, Chad, or Walden Farm?

It will take you to an entry page where you enter your name and your parent's email address. Once you entered the information, click enter.

An email verification will be sent to the parent's email address. The email will tell you to verify the contest entry by going to this site http://www.vikingpenguingiveaway.com/entry.aspx and then enter your personal information below and click submit.

You have now officially entered and good luck!

BE WATCHING FOR MY NEXT GIVE AWAY SOON!!

Win this new iPod Touch by leaving a comment. The government's financial relief act may not have passed congress this week, but TheRedSign.net's financial relief act did! We want to help your financial situation by bailing out your entertainment fund with a new iPod Touch.

Simply leave a comment on any post for a chance to win. On Oct 12, 2008 we will print all the comments and draw one from a hat.

To increase your odds and have three entries submitted, simply link to us on your blog or site! Just make sure to send us the link via e-mail so we can check it out, to Support@TheRedSign.net. It really is that easy!

In honor of my friends and family - and in honor of yours, too - I'm offering a giveaway on this blog for anyone who wants to sign up to win this very lovely design, "Roses for Mummy". I'll also be including a little surprise packet of pretty pink goodies to go with it. Signups will be open for two weeks, and on October 15th I'll draw a winner at random.

During October, Stitch Pinkwill also be holding give-aways. You can contact them directly if you want to offer something for one of the drawings. I've volunteered the Shepherd's Bush chart "Be Strong" with the JABC button pack.

I'll also do a random draw of all my etsy customers during the month of October for another breast cancer awareness giveaway, for Just Nan's chart "Miss Kitty's Dragons". You can read the details there.

Also, other plush toys will be released for sale at Toys R Us, Disney Store and the Club Penguin online store on October 24th.

• Pillsbury Stars and Stripes Cake Mix and Frosting
• Brownie Mix
• Quick Bread
• Pillsbury Apron
• and a Pillsbury Doughboy Doll that giggles

However, it's important to separate the book as a whole from a short op-ed piece. Lauredhel and I were both interviewed via email for the book by co-author Zora Simic, so it's not as if we are wholly disinterested in the message of the book, we want to know what others think of it. Here's where the giveaway comes in: Melbourne University Press kindly sent me a review copy plus two copies to give away to readers here and at Hoyden. I haven't actually read it yet, because I want to distance myself from the reaction to the op-ed first. But other people should definitely be reading it and making up their own minds.

So, this giveaway is open to any reader who has left at least one comment here before: the book will wing its way to the first reader who provides me with either a limerick or a haiku about the concept of the book - that young women are distancing themselves from the feminist label and that we need to understand why. There is only one condition - to qualify for the giveaway the poem must avoid buying into the fracas over the Dux op-ed. (Yes, I know that this leaves it open for those who don't want a copy of the book but who do want to make a point - they can submit a more withering disqualifying contribution just because they can - do it if you must, but abide by the comments policy as you do, please.)

Please make a comment on my blog and mention this tea set and you will be automatically entered in my drawing for this lovely tea set!  I have a lot of lovely names in my folder - yours could be the one to win!

Since I started my blog May 26 - as of today I have had 4,802 clicks on my blog! That's 4 months -  THANKS FOR VISITING MY BLOG !!!

I know you’re happy with her,

So I decided to give you away,

Knowing it will just break my heart,

For you don’t know how it tore me apart.

I chose to let go now of your hand,

For I know it belongs to someone else,

I don’t have to fight for it,

For even before I started, I am already beaten.

I know it is really hard to give up,

Someone whom you have learned to love,

But it is better than to find out,

He doesn’t love you anymore,

So he decided to walk out.

Twilight_1201

Thanks to each of you for stopping by. It really does add excitement to my days! It has been my pleasure to make many fun connections with caring, sharing and talented people all around the globe.

OK, back to the winner of my brass ATC……….(I will have to explain just how special this random pick is)………*** #8 Bev ***….The Universe AND the random number generator have spoken!

Bev and I met in the Paper Whimsy Forum not all that long ago. She was kind enough to tell us all about her nearby city of Vancouver BC which really helped us plan and get excited for our recent trip there.  Thanks to Bev we were armed with information, brochures and hot places not to be missed.    Her kindness and generosity are boundless.   So it really is extra nice that she is the winner.

I truly wish everyone could have won something. As a little bonus, I am offering a few recent photos of faux relatives picked up in an antique shop in Christiansburg, Virginia.  These are FREE DOWNLOADS just for you.  You may want to start a Magpie’s Nest photo album because I do plan on sharing pictures more frequently now that I have the sizing figured out.

Next month I will be celebrating my 1st year blogaversary with a few little surprises, be sure and check back then.

Here are the FREE DOWNLOAD pictures for you to enjoy!  *** Clicking on each one will bring up the full size!

flower

Originally uploaded by Ako Tsubaki

I was intrigued by the work of Ako Tsubaki from the first moment I laid eyes on that fated piece! I could not figure out what medium she was using upon first inspection, and a good mystery always gets me going after a long day! Her images were all so fantastic, and full of so much energy and motion, that I found myself flowing through her magical worlds with complete comfort and ease! I could live in those moments forever, nestled warm and full of peace!

As it turns out, she is painting with SAND! 

This brings about images for me of the Tibettan Monks creating intricate sand mandalas in front of temples, and then destroying them upon their completion to signify rebirth and release. 

These beauties aren't going anywhere, and we here at Pheakkley are glad of that fact! Her work is so free and inviting, it's almost contagious! Please take some time to peruse her galleries and show her some Pheakkley love!

Bravo!

---

8x8 Mixed Media collage mosaic

Originaly posted on Etsy by. candraboggs

We are enamored of Candra Bogg's body of work! Having recently developed a taste for collage, we think that this particular style and creative process are a cut above the rest. No pun intended. =) Her work is obviously painstaking and exact. The meticulous cutting and glueing of each and every one of these lovely pieces of magic must not only take a great deal of time, but an amazing amount of patience! What a wonderful practice in meditation it must be to create something of this phenomenal quality!

We also know she is a high school art teacher, which makes her spot in our heart just that much softer.

Please take the time to visit candraboggs at her Etsy shoppe to see the rest of her amazing body of work. We know that you will be as impressed as we were with all of her lovely creations! 

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Tune in next time for another exciting edition of Pheakkley's Featured Daily Artists! Until we meet again...

Since it's my day and I loved the 80's. Why not have some fun with everyone?

I'm giving away a $10 Starbucks gift card to the person with the BIGGEST and FUNNIEST 80's hair!!! You will also get a personalized award to put on your blog!

Email me your photo and I will post them online with a link to your site on Wednesday, October 1st. You don't need a web site to enter... only really high HAIR. Whether you were 5 or 35 back in the day, you probably had big hair!

Bring on the perms, hairspray and scrunchies... join in on the birthday fun!!

Entries are DUE by Tuesday the 30th. Send your 80's hair photo to: livinglocurto@me.com

Here is a little something to inspire you. Recognize this birthday girl? Whoa! Now that is some big hair!! ha!

The winner was announced! Check out the big haired mamas!!

• • • • •

Subscribe to Living Locurto for FREE. Just click the image below.

Abigail Criner Photography is doing a VINTAGE Session giveaway!  What in the world is a "vintage" session?  When will it take place?  What do I have to do to enter?

The Vintage session will not be your typical Abigail Criner Photography session.  What?!  I love color, I love crazy walls...You can see that in all my images.  I want to do something a bit different.  So, this photo session will be a completely Black and White, no color photos, with places and poses inspired by the past. 

The winner will receive a free vintage style photo session ($250 value), for 1-2 persons (sorry, no families), 10 really cool 4x6 prints, and a small brag book to show your coworkers!  All this is worth over $300! 

Sound good?  Want to enter? 

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post (make sure you include your contact info...NOT in the message for all to see).  I will put you name in a basket.  The random drawing will take place September 30th at 2:00pm. 

The winner will be contacted via email and given the date options to choose from.  (Session will take place in Waco.)  Everyone who enters will receive something....! 

So enter now....and tell you friends!

Here are your random numbers:

3

Timestamp: 2008-09-22 17:27:35 UTC

So, many Congratulations to Kae

• Kae Says:September 18, 2008 at 10:33 pm eSo cute. My kids love pirates right now. I would love to see a princess or ladybug kit.

Kae, if you could drop me your email details, I'll get the kit packaged up and out to you.

Many thanks to everyone who made a suggestion for a kit.  I'm going to have a think, and play with some design ideas for all those that were mentioned and I'll let you know which I'm taking forward - and if yours was selected, I'll be in touch for details for you to have the first kit.

I'm not forgetting about my other etsy shop Hand-Me-Downs Yarns! If you're a knitter who has bought one of my patterns or my yarn and you upload works in progress or finished product photos to my ravelry group "make your own handmedowns" or to my flickr group by this Friday you'll be automatically entered into a drawing to win the lovely skein of handspun below!

It was so much fun last year, I have to do it again this year!

“AUTHOR’S HOLIDAY GIVE-AWAY”

Date: From 22 September to 10 December 2008

Time: Ends midnight, December 10, 2008

Location: USA

Everyone who purchases a copy of my novel “Save Them All,” directly from author (address below) or through PayPal will be entered in my “Author’s Holiday Give-Away” drawing for the goodie basket below.

">The winner will receive a green and gold harvest basket filled with a blue plaid fleece throw, a crazy cute pink poodle, an over-sized mug with Sen-Cha tea, a happy snowman, festive reindeer hand towel, a spiral "fat book" for note taking, a wildlife print pen, an aquamarine cushion grip pen, some sweet treats and a signed copy of my novel, "Save Them All” with wildlife bookmark to gift one of your favorite people.

The contest begins on Monday, September 22, 2008 and will end midnight on December 10, 2008 when the winning name will be drawn.   The winner will be notified by email on December 11, 2008 to let her or him know their prize basket is in the mail.

For your copy of “Save Them All” and an automatic entry into the “2008 Author’s Holiday Giveway” drawing, please send check or money order in the amount of $21.95, which includes shipping, to:

Novel / Save Them All
130 Aldersgate Road
Jacksonville, North Carolina
28546

I encourage you to ENTER!! It’s definitely a lot of fun for me, you receive a GREAT read and I still believe your ODDS of snagging that basket and it’s goodies are much better than powerball, our state’s lottery or even a scratch off card!!

Just ask Bea B., last years winner.

Good Luck and have Happy & Safe Holidays!!
Linda Bergman-Althouse

Bizarrely I put Sunday 22nd September - but whilst today is Sunday, its not the 22nd, and in the interests of fairness, I'm going to leave it running until tomorrow 5pm GMT.  So if you want a chance - you've still got almost 24hours....

See this post for details.

SLOAN IS COMING TO LETHBRIDGE.  Caps Lock was very very necessary. Sloan, right here in Lethbridge Monday September 22nd. Which is this Monday coming up! Excited!

I am running a contest to win two tickets, one pair, to Sloan for the 22nd. How it works:

At 7:30pm I will be posting a Sloan trivia question on this blog. The first person to correctly answer the trivia question in the comment box will win a pair of tickets to SLOAN! Woot.

So, stay tuned to CKXU 88.3fm and log onto this blog at 7:30pm for all your dreams to come true.

Now, on with the show...

This weeks playlist:

artist - track title - album  * = Canadian

1. The Notwist - Good Lies - The Devil, You and Me

2. *The Paper Cranes - Middle Class Guilt - Halcyon

3. *Novillero - The Prank Note - A Little Tradition

4. The Wombats - Patricia the Stripper - A Guide to Love, Loss and Desperation

5. *Taking Aba Lonia - Lady Hourglass, Your Heads on Fire

6. *Vancouger - (I Hope Your) Money (Keeps You Warm) - Canadian Tuxedo

7. Amy Curl and Dan Kennedy - Dorian Grey - Sharing a Head

8. The Exploding Club - Forever - Freedom Wind

9. Herman Dune - Pure Hearts - 1-2-3/ Apple Tree EP

10. King Khan and The Shrines - Took My Lady To Dinner - The Supreme Genius Of...

11. *Women - Group Transport Hall - Women

12. *Human Kind - Romancing the Dark - It Will All End in Tears

13. Endless Boogie - Executive Focus - Focus

14. The Plastic Constellations - We Are Genius Millionaires - We Will Appreciate You

15. King Darves - This Ivory - The Sun Splits for the Blind Swimmers

16. *Beef Donut - Equally Awesome - Triple Back Flips into the Splits

17. *Wolf Parade - Call it a Ritual - At Mount Zoomer

18. Mates of State - Great Dame - Re-Arrange Us

19. Library Voices - Things We Took from Vonneguts Grave - Hunting Ghosts

20. *Alena Manera - Patchwork - Alena Manera EP

21. Butcher the Beat - Sex Szene - Sleep at your Own Speed