May Giveaway.[closed]

In honor of the month of May and the fact that May is gorgeous and has a special day to give extra love to mothers; I have decided to do a FANTABULOUS giveaway this month that I think you're going to LOVE.

Here's what's happening. This month there are going to be not one, not two, but THREE special items up for grabs if you participate! And the theme is of course: MOMMAS.

Everyone has a mom in some way, shape or emotional form. Your "mother" may not in fact be the lady who gave birth to you but rather your grandmother, your aunt, a teacher, a friend, or some special person you met along the way.

For me I have the most incredible mother a person could ever hope for. She's my HERO. She raised me as a single parent, went to college when I was just a little so that she could give us an AWESOME life, and she always let me know that I had to be a strong and confident woman who took care of herself no matter what. I cannot say enough about my mom because she really is my favorite. But along with her I have met some pretty fantastic women throughout my life's journey and I hope you don't mind but I'd like to take a second to thank them.........

via

Whew! But seriously thanks to everyone who ever taught me anything or lended me a shoulder to cry on.
And now onto some really amazing GIVEAWAY news!

There will be three featured ladies this month who all would love to tell you their story and share with you their craft! They are some very special people so without further ado I will let them share and at the end I'll fill you in on the details of how to enter [it's a little different this time].

{FIRST}

My story as an artist starts back when Chris, my husband, and I first got married. I loved to paint but never had pursued it professionally. I remember the day he told me that he bought a big tent and had signed me up for the Dallas City Arts Festival, it would be my first art show. I was thinking, 

"panic...I am going to embarrass myself and everyone will be thinking why does she have a booth here?!"

I just really had no confidence in my own paintings. 

I am a self taught artist, I didnt have an art degree to show for.....just how God allows me to see the world, images, colors and shapes.

Was that enough to build a career on?

Plus Chris is freelance, could we raise a family on TWO freelance, unpredictable salaries. 


Surely not.

Chris always says, if God calls you to do something you do it and He will provide. Money wont decide if we follow our dreams or not.Fast forward to the show. It was a juried show with various types of art......paintings, jewelery, photography, woodwork.Well I won for the paintings and sold 11 pieces that weekend. I wish I could write out all the details of how things unfolded that weekend but I will tell you that God moved in my soul. 

He allowed me a platform of confidence to pursue a career as an artist, follow my dreams.

Now I am a stay at home mama with paintings in various galleries and a website where you can view my work. It's not always easy struggling financially. It's scary having two freelancers in the home on individual insurance plans and zero savings.

But this I know. 

I am living my dream. And you cant put a price on that. 

Not to mention I get to "work" with my two little loves. Having kids is my dream come true. They are my life. Spending every second possible with them is where my heart is at. Usually I am wearing Ainsleigh and Aiden is painting along side me. A true dream come true.

I would love for you to check out my

blog and website! 

 

ISN'T SHE AMAZING! Casey is going to be giving one lucky reader a $40 shop credit!

{SECOND}

Hi! My name is Jessi Connolly and I blog at Naptime Diaries. I'm an accidental mom, who sort of fell into motherhood. I did natural family planning wrong and never really figured it out, so now I have a sweet 4 year old prince, an infectious 3 year old daughter, and a pampered 2-year old "baby boy"! I love, love, love being a mom - with all of it's intense challenges and immense joys. Every day I'm surprised by how incredibly hard being a mother is, as well as how insanely beautiful it is. Also, I LOVE i-word adjectives. Intense, immense, incredibly, and insane:). 

My husband is a (handsome) church planter and we're committed to raising our kids to be as imitators of Christ, as we pursue that endeavor passionately and messily ourselves. I found that as a mom, I was constantly needing to turn to God's word to make it through the day. I need His wisdom, His promises of peace, His instruction, and His presence in my home - more than I need a vacuum or an oven, or a tv even:). That need combined with my desire to have a beautiful and inexpensively decorated home, led me to start Naptime Diaries prints & gifts. I wanted to be able to bless other women (and men! and children!) with beautiful, inexpensive depictions of scripture that would not only encourage but be pleasing to the eye. 

Thus Naptime Diaries, the shop! 

Some of the amazing prints available at the shop!

My prayer is that my blog, my shop, the prints - would all be a blessing to the people who encounter them. That He'd get the glory, since I know there is nothing amazing or good about me, outside of Him. You can follow on us on the blog or on twitter, where I keep the internet up to date with exciting news about potty training, vegan food, and well - my naptime diaries! 

SHE IS SO INCREDIBLE AND I JUST LOVE READING HER STORIES! If you win you will be getting to choose TWO PRINTS of your very own from the shop!

{THIRD}

Hi everyone! IT'S ME! Surprise! I have just opened my very own ETSY shop and I couldn't think of a better way to announce it then to start with a giveaway!!! So here's the story. I love to crochet (as I've shared here before) and I started learning new techniques that are cute and fun. It didn't take long to realize that a shop was in order and that way I could share these cute things with all of YOU! So in case you don't know the linky you can go SHOP or check out FACEBOOK to Like my page and find out new stuff; and of course feel free to follow me on TWITTER. And here's a little viewing of what I'm offering you lucky readers. 

All handmade by yours truly

I will be offering a $15 shop credit to the lucky winner! Hooray!

Are you excited about this yet? 

Want to know how to win?

How to Enter the GIVEAWAY:

1. You must be a follower of my blog. And for the first entry {before all other entries will count} you need to first tell me about the mother-like person in your life and why she's awesome. 

2. Follow Casey's Blog, Facebook , or Twitter. {one entry for each}

3. Follow Jessi's Blog or Twitter. {one entry for each}

4. Follow MY Facebook or Twitter. {one entry for each}

5. SHARE this! {additional entries for each way you share & tell me how}

That's a lot of choices! There will be 3 WINNERS this month. Giveaway ends May 31st at midnight. Winners will be announced the following day. 

GOOD LUCK and thanks for checking it out!