And the Winner is.........

Can I have a drum roll please?

and the Random Integer Generator says,

"Here are your random numbers:

28 

Timestamp: 2009-01-31 23:35:35 UTC"

And number 28 is Sara, Congratulations!!!

Sara said... My best was last year being able to spend the day with my hubby and our first baby!!
Sara

I really loved reading all the comments for this drawing. Check them out here. There are some really great ones.

Also, my cupcake giveaway and 20 % off sale is still going on, so be sure to enter. The tags I've gotten done turned out really cute:

Thanks again to all who entered!!!!!!!!!

Protection? Just say no - CPSIA

I think I'm as confused as the next mom/consumer about the new law from the CPSIA. I understand and respect the idea of the law to protect our children from lead and other substance that can be harmful to their health. I'm even glad that the government is taking notice of all the problems with recalls, but this new law seems to only make it easier for the large toy manufactures that have the large number of recalls. It puts up impossible barriers for smaller toy manufactures, crafters of handmade children's toys, clothes, and other items, and WAHMS (Work at home Moms) who's businesses focus on children's items. And this law has come just when I was finally able to buy handmade items that are safer for my child at a reasonable cost, and support other mothers trying to stay home and care for their children at the same time.

There are so many things wrong with this law and so many people that will be negatively effected that you might be better off reading it from those that have done much more research then I. One blog called Cool Mom Picks has a great post called Save Handmade and explains it well. They have compiled some great resources and articles that will explain the full scope of the law. While this new law does not effect my business it does effect my choices in the market place. Choices that I know are safe, but the testing was in the components, not the final product.

I hope this "Blog - In" day help bring light to this issue and makes the government aware how many people are unhappy with the law. I hope the media start to really cover this issue, too. If you care, please blog, call or email the CPSC, or your contact your congressman. The more voices the more they will have to listen.

Wordless Wedensday - Ghost Town Cadillac

(found in Colonias, NM. Colonias was settled in the 1830s as a community of ranch hands. Originally called Las Colonias, it is one of the oldest settlements on New Mexico's eastern plains.)

Bloggy Giveaway - Bleeding Hearts

Am I insane? Why give away more? (see Sweet Giveaway and Deal, Cupcake, you can enter to win this too) I think it is because I am insane? Or I'm just hoping to get more exposure, I mean that is why you do a giveaway. Right?


So what can you win with this one? How about something that would be nice for Valentines Day?
How about my Bleeding Heart Fine Art Print?
That's it, and in 8x10 with an off-white mat ($30 value not including shipping), so you can just pop it right into an 11x14 frame. It is great for Valentines day and spring.

And talking about Valentines, I would love to hear about your favorite Valentine ever. Was it in fourth grade when that boy you had a crush put a valentine on your desk? Or in high school when you got a red carnation from a secret admirer? Or maybe the first Valentine with your husband? Or let me know the Valentine you dream of.

What was mine? Oh, that is tough. I'm sure once I post something here I will later realize that there was something even more special that I momentarily have forgotten. But let me try.

One I remember clearly was the first Valentine with my husband, but at that time he was just my boyfriend. We had been dating since June of the year before and worked together, so it was all hush, hush at work. I was disappointed because I thought that there was no way I was going to get any flowers or anything for my desk. I had pretended to be single for almost a year, but of course there was rumors around work by now. Still I was sure I wouldn't get anything until well after the work day had ended because that would just be a conformation of the rumors.

Then, in the afternoon, around the corner comes a delivery main carrying not just a dozen long steamed red roses in a vase, but also a bouquet of balloons, a large heart shaped box of chocolates, and a sweet little teddy bear, and they were for me! WoW! The gig was up. LOL. But he didn't stop there. Later on my desk was an invitation to dinner with just enough information to peek my interest. I can't remember exactly where we went to dinner, but I do remember it was a wonderful day and I still have that teddy bear. Of course my husbands romantic nature is one of the reasons I married him.

To enter to win tell me your Valentine story and with it be sure it includes a way of contacting you. Comments will be closed January 30th at 12 pm EST. I will ship internationally for this giveaway.

For a second chance to win, blog about my giveaway with a link back and then post it in a new comment.
And a third, tell your friends via Facebook or Twitter with a link and let me know via a new comment.

On January 31st I will pick the winner of this giveaway using the random number generator ( found here) to randomly select a number associated with a comment entry name.

OH, and I have a sale going on in my store. It is a sweet deal, because if you put "sweet" in the notes to seller when you make your purchase, not only do you get 20% off, but you are entered on to my Sweet Giveaway, Cupcake!

This giveaway is part of Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival which runs January 26-30. Check out all the wonderful giveaways and free stuff you can enter to win at BloggyGiveaways.com.

UPDATE:

I have loved reading all of your valentine stories. Just wonderful. Thank you to all who have entered. I'm so glad I'm doing this via lottery, because I wouldn't want to try to pick the best story.

Sweet Giveaway and Deal, Cupcake!

It is almost time for the Etsy Street Team FAM (or Fabulous Artistic Moms) to celebrate its first birthday, and what a celebration it is going to be. The theme is cupcakes and in response I thought I would offer as a prize in the scavenger hunt that fit the theme. So I went out and found a cute little cupcake, took some photos and now can't decide which one to offer as the prize.
So I thought I would let you choose. And to give you incentive to vote I'm going to make it into a giveaway.

Leave a comment letting me know which cupcake is your favorite and you could win a 8x8 print and four 3x3 gift cards of it. The most popular cupcake image will be the one I use as the prize for FAM's birthday bash. Comments will be open until Saturday, February 7 at 5 p.m. EST.

Want a second, third, fourth chance to win?
2. Blog about my giveaway, and leave a link in comments.
3. Twitter about this. Again, leave me a link so I know you did it.
4. Lastly, buy something from my Fine Art Photography etsy shop and put "Sweet" in notes to seller.

How do you know if you won? Check back on Sunday, February 9th to see who won. I will put each entry in a bowl and have my three year old daughter randomly pick a winner. It could be you. (I will also try to contact the winner, but if I can't and don't hear from them in 5 days I will pick a new winner. )

You want more? Maybe a sweet deal? How about 20% off any purchase in my LJDesignPhoto Fine Art Photography shop, just mention "Sweet" in notes to seller and you will get the discount and that extra entry to the giveaway. I will send you a revised paypal invoice, or a refund of you pay via paypal.

And what about FAM's Big First Birthday Bash? The celebration will start on Feb. 15th, so make sure to check back then for more details.

If your going to blog, here is a graphic to help you out:


<a href="http://ljdesignphoto.blogspot.com/2009/01/sweet-giveaway-and-deal-cupcake.html" title="giveaway"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ePILCYSg3vg/SXz6f5RUdMI/AAAAAAAAAhk/8j7xlqXII-E/s200/cupcakegiveaway.jpg" /></a>


A new post to announce the winner at:

And the Winner is.....

Abandoned Route 66 - Wordless Wednesday

Untitled - Cuervo, NM, originally uploaded by ljdesignphoto.

(Cuervo, New Mexico on old Route 66, today a ghost town.
The settlement began around 1901 when the CRI&P Railroad came through.
"Cuervo" is Spanish for crow, and the town seems to be named after the closest peak.)

A historic day of hope.

While we don't know yet how President Obama will be remembered in the historical books, we do know that today is a historic day and for many Americans a day for hope. You can feel it in the air, just as you could the day he was elected into office. It seems like it has been years since so many people are excited, and some nervous, about the inauguration of a President.

I think it is not just that President Obama is the first African American President, though you can't discount that fact, but part of the reason for the excitement is that Obama was both the underdog and a positive voice. It was the Americans that believe in him and did not give up that helped excelled him to the White House. It feels like the positive won out over the all the negative rhetoric of the last 15ish years. I'm not saying that the past few presidents did not have their positives, but there always seemed to be something negative looming over their terms.

Today I reflect on the past and consider about what I hope for in the future. I was glad to vote this past year for someone I truly believed could be a good if not great president. I believe he has positive qualities that will sever him well in this job and give many young Americans a new champion to look up to. I know that the next few years will not be easy, that even positive change can be a difficult road. I have a realistic outlook of the world and where our nation stands, but I still feel that in four years from now the United States will be stronger.

Mother Moment

If your a mother, you know that every day, almost every hour something funny comes out of your child's mouth. I do try to record some of the better ones for my scrapbook, though I'm not really great at writing them down, but my daughter just said something that I had to share.

So, she is three and a half and loves to help me around the house. Tonight when I went to change the laundry she asked if she could help. I said she could for a hug. After the hug as we went into the laundry room I told her I really liked hugs.
She said, "I really like kissies" (tried to spell it as she says it, rather then the correct spelling)
"Really?", I said. "I would love a kiss."
So I bent down and she gave me a sweet kiss on the lips. Then right afterward, as she usually does, she wiped her lips with her sleeve.
I said, "What? Didn't you like the kiss? Why did you wipe it off?"
And she said, "I did it because I think it make the love more true."

Boy, how can you argue with that.

Adventures of a Lifetime

The other night I was looking though some of my old Journals and found where I had written down a list based on a TV show I had watched called 101 Things to Do before you die. It was interesting to see what I wrote down in 2001, and how much of it I would still love to do. Here is the list I wrote down:

*See the Aurora Borealis
Skinny dip- done
*Go to the Burning Man festival
*Ride the Orient Express
Visit Time square @ New Years
Visit the Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
*Join and archeological dig.
Visit Keck Lab in Hawaii
*Visit Machu Picchu, "Lost City of the Incas"
*Visit all 16 Smithsonian museums
Visit all the major Museum Cities: Paris, DC., New York, London, Rome -done
Visit Pompeii - done
Visit Area 51 area - done
Soak in the Dead Sea
*Take a journey to the Galapagos Islands
Be James Bond for a day, Visit Flemming's Golden Eye, where the books were written.
Take a screen test
*Visit Iceland's Blue lagoon
Join the circus
Visit Stonehenge
Visit the a rain forest
Visit the wailing wall
Take a trip to see the Titanic ($35,000 in 2001)
*Do the weekend space camp for Adults
And 101 in the program was to Make your own list, set a dead line, and make it happen.

I look at this and think, wow that is ambitious. A few things I have done, like visiting Pompeii, Area 51, New York, Paris, London, and Rome. There are also a few things on the list that I don't think I want to do or just could never manage, like visiting the Titanic, joining a circus, or taking a screen test. But there are a few that I would love to do before I die and I starred those. And lastly, if I was to redo the list today it would include (the stared ones I have already accomplished)

*Become a mother
*Visit Sicily
*Visit the Vatican
*Travel the Western US in an RV
*Learn something new everyday (or at least every week)
Read more of the "classics" (working on it)
Visit the Pyrenees
Visit all 50 States in the US

I just thought I would share this discovery and a view into my past. I do hope to accomplish a lot more before I die. What about you. What is on your list? Have you set a deadline?

Open Road - Wordless Wed.

AZ open road, originally uploaded by ljdesignphoto

(so ready for some wide open spaces and the road, but nothing planned till spring.)