Giveaway! $75 Gift Certificate From NOVICA

AND THE WINNER IS:

CANDICE!

CONGRATULATIONS CANDICE!

Not too long ago, I received an e-mail offering me a $75 gift certificate to try out the new corporate section at Novica Gifts.  The e-mail stated that I could use the gift certificate for myself or divide it up as giveaways. $75?  Awesome!

 What's Novica gifts you say?  Well, what do you know?   Great minds do think alike!   So when I asked myself that question, I headed on over to their site to check them out.  Novica is a fair trade organization that has teamed up with National Geographic to connect buyers to artisans all over the world. Novica gives artisans in hard to reach countries a platform to sell their arts and thus, better their lives.

I read the following testimonials from Novica's artists:

Made Wirata

wood sculptor, Bali

"It is like a dream come true to be part of Novica, a place where I am appreciated and positioned at the same level as other international artists. Previously, with my father, brother, wife, and a son, we were living very simply, sharing two rooms in such a small house. Financially we had nothing, but we never gave up hope. Now, I employ five artisans to help me carve for Novica. One of my helpers had been working at a gas station before. He is so happy to put his skills as a carver to use. Slowly but surely our economic situations are getting better. I am now building a larger house, more appropriate for my family. Novica is such a blessing from God, for me and my family."

View items by Made Wirata

Nengah Sudarsana

wood sculptor, Bali

"Novica has created a much better life for me. Before, I could hardly afford to live in a single room home. Now I live in a house with three rooms, and have my own car. Most importantly, I now support many other artisans who work with me. My family and I live a much better life, and five other families now benefit directly from my Novica sales. I am also able to help my relatives, especially the younger children, who now have shoes, clothes, and an education that they couldn't have before. Since joining Novica, I have also grown in my realization of how we as Balinese fit into the whole world picture. Before, I was like a lot of fellow Balinese in that my thinking was centered on Bali only, as if Bali was the world! Now I realize more how we are just a piece of the puzzle. When I read customers' comments about my products, I'm filled with a great sense of well being and pride, to be able to create something that others value. After all, in Bali we are a mere spot in a vast ocean, and I realize this now when I see customer responses from all over the world! Often I look on a map or a globe to see where my customers live. It's amazing that my carvings are now in so many various places, and I am here. It is almost as if part of me has traveled to those other places and is now residing there."

View items by Nengah Sudarsana

Nyoman Naranata 

mask carver, Bali

"People may say money is not everything, but in reality, where eating three times a day is a privilege, it is necessary to earn a living. It was heartbreaking to see my family worried to welcome tomorrow. Relying on twice-yearly orders for my living was terrible. At my shop, I would often have no sales for a month at a time. Unexpectedly, Novica came into my life like a bright light, shining over my dark life. Now I earn a steady income, and I'm able to provide a better life for my family. Novica is such a perfect place for a small artist like myself to be appreciated by people around the world. Before, people bought my masks, paid for them, and that was it. It never came into my mind that customers would thank me, and write wonderful testimonials for me, but now they do that too."

And seeing that Novica has served as a way to pull families out of a life of poverty,  I fell in love with the company.  And since I wanted to do everything I could to spread the word about this company, I went over to the website and  purchased these earrings.  Which I, not being a jewerly person at all, completely love and wear all the time and get tons of compliments on.  Go me, looking snazzy and with a purpose!  

Click HERE to read about the artist that made them.  

And in hopes of drawing as much attention as possible to Novica, I am giving the $75 dollars a way in one lump gift certificate!  So first let me say, please spread the word about this company because it's a good thing to do.   And when you're doing your Christmas shopping this year and your torn with whether or not you should get Aunt Sally another sweater that she won't wear, consider purchasing gifts like this from companies like Novica.  You might not only buy Aunt Sally her favorite pair of earrings, you can feel good about bettering someone's life and make Aunt Sally feel good about it too!.  

But, just to spice it up a little and give some incentive to spreading the word, here's how you can enter.  

1.  Visit the Novica's Corporate Gift Section and leave me a comment telling me what your favorite item is.

2. For every avenue that you spread the word about this giveaway: IE: twitter, facebook, your own blog, leave me a comment and get an additional entry for every avenue you use to spread the word.  

We'll meet back here next Wed.  Sept. 15th and I'll announce the winner and if you're the lucky duck, I'll e-mail you a code that will give you a $75 credit with Novica gifts!

Thanks for participating and happy shopping!

Blessings,

Dana

"The Natalie Series" by: Dandi Daley Mackall

Recently, I expressed to our Zondervan blogger review contact, that I would love to find a good beginner reader chapter series for Emma.  It wasn't long before I recieved two of The Nat Series by Dandi Daley Mackall.

Emma has become quite the little first grade reader and can breeze through a storybook in no time.  But though she's reading very well, some of the larger children's novels seemed to be too overwhelming in size for her to get the courage to dive right into.

When I pulled the Natalie books out of the box from Zondervan, Emma quickly grabbed, Natalie and the One of a Kind Wonderful Day!

 and took off to her room..  It wasn't long before she was reporting to me about the omelet that Natalie was trying to make and how she spilled sugar all over the floor (we'll leave that one for them to straighten out at cooking camp this summer).  The books have adorable illustrations every few pages of a fun loving little girl named Natalie.  And with the short chapters and illustrations every so often, they work as perfect introductions to chapter books.

 I knew Emma had become a fan of the books but I became a fan when Emma brought me a little report that she wrote about the second book she read: "Natalie Really Very Much Wants to Be a Star". 

You can read the report that Emma wrote over on her blog, "Hope for The People"!  I think Emma's report is the most convincing proof we have of the newfound treasure we've found in "The Nat Series" And if I do so say myself, I found her report quite adorable..

We look forward to finishing off our Nat Collection this summer! You can browse one of the Natalie books here: 

Z

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Blessings,

Dana

The Jesus Storybook Bible-- Deluxe Edition By: Sally Lloyd-Jones- REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

I was so excited to find out that I was going to be receiving, from Zondervan Publishing, The Deluxe Edition, "The Jesus Storybook Bible- Every story whispers his name". .

The Deluxe Edition is a complete package of the reading on CDs and a read-along book. And, since we've put the girls to bed and down for naps with books on CDs since they were old enough to hold the book, I knew this set would be right up their alley. I must admit that when I received the book, just before Christmas, I set Emma up with the book and CD's and saved my reading with her for something that she couldn't do on her own.  However, when I picked the book up to review, I decided that it was something that we needed to read together. 

It is a nice bonus that the reader is David Suchet, one of Great Britain’s most distinguished actors, best known for playing Agatha Christie’s super-sleuth, Hercule Poirot.  Since Emma finds a British accent as one of the upmost pleasurable things in life (apparently all princesses have British accents), she was hooked upon hearing the first lines of the introduction.. 

Illustrated by award winning, Jago, the illustrations are whimsical interpretations that serve to help bring the stories alive.  While I know that illustrations are an important part of wrapping children into a book, personally, I am typically drawn to the words without paying much attention to the illustrations.  However, Jago's illustrations are so truly captivating and compliment the story so well,  that I found myself reading the story through the pictures before I even began reading the words. I also found myself flipping back through to admire his artwork (something I do very rarely).

Those elements alone are worth the cost of the book.  But, most surprisingly, I found the most beautiful description of the way that I want my children to view the Bible, right within the first pages of the book.

It's taken all of my will power not to write the whole introduction right here and now. But, please allow me to share just a couple of pieces in which Sally Lloyd-Jones seemed to have looked straight into my heart and somehow put the passion that I have for my children to know God as a loving and compassionate father into words that I had not yet found. 

Sally Lloyd-Jones writes:
"The Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing. It's about God and what he has done."

"Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn’t do. The Bible certainly does have some rules in it. They show you how life works best. But the Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing. It’s about God and what he has done.

Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy. The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you’ll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren’t heroes at all. They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose), they get afraid and run away. At times, they’re downright mean.

No, the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes. The Bible is most of all a Story. It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne–everything–to rescues the ones he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life".

Click the link to read a full text of the INTRODUCTION- I highly recommend that you do.  

I completely agree with Dr. Tim Keller's endorsement of the book below:

"I would urge not just families with young children to get this book, but every Christian--from pew warmers, to ministry leaders, seminarians and even theologians! Sally Lloyd-Jones has captured the heart of what it means to find Christ in all the scriptures, and has made clear even to little children that all God's revelation has been about Jesus from the beginning--a truth not all that commonly recognized even among the very learned." — Dr. Tim Keller, Redeemer, NY, NY

And best of all, Zondervan has given me a copy to give away to one lucky reader. So how to enter: Simply comment and recieve an entry. Post about the giveaway on your blog or facebook page or twitter about the giveaway and recieve five additional entries for each. The giveaway is open to residents within the US. Winner will be chosen by a random drawing made possible by www.random.com. And will be announced on Monday, March 15th.

Good Luck!

Blessings,
Dana

Crayola Giveaway!

You might imagine that when I opened an e-mail from Myblogspark and they were offering to send me these three crayola products review that I didn't have to think twice.






We are always looking for ways to explore our artistic creativity that doesn't involve my walls at the Ellis household. So I jumped on the deal just as fast as I could.

I was so excited to receive the box with our goodies inside complete with batteries taped to the boxes! These people know the way to a mom's heart! They couldn't have come at a better time as we were plotting through the stormy days we experienced when hurricane Ivan was coming through. It was just perfect that I was able to pull out the Crayola Color Explosion Glow Dome on a yucky day when Emma came in from school. We were definitely impressed. Though it comes with templates, my little artist decided to march to the beat of her own drum and draw hearts and stars.. It has a piece in the middle that she colored and then she colored the outside dome . Once the dome was put in place, we flipped this little switch and the light show was just what we needed to brighten up our gloomy afternoon.






And as for what my girls thought about the other two items, I'll just let you see that for yourself:



All of these items would make wonderful gifts for the artist in your life. And here is your chance to win one of them. Crayola and Myblogspark were so kind as to also share with my readers and are allowing me to also give away one of the Crayola Color Explosion Glow Domes.

To enter, simply leave me a comment telling me what little artist you have in mind as recipient of your gift. For five additional entries, share about my giveaway on your blog, or facebook page or twitter. Giveaway will end Wed. Nov. 25th.


You can also visit HERE and register to win all 6 of Crayola's new holiday products and a Caribbean cruise!

Along Came You-- Review and Giveaway

Since it's nearing Christmas, I am receiving a lot of opportunities to review products. I've had some questions as to whether or not I would save the products for Christmas gifts for my girls. While it would be very nice to get my girls Christmas presents in this way, the whole point of the reviews is that companies can hopefully sell these products for Christmas.. So, we've gotten busy trying these things out..

Zondervan Publishing is one of my favorite companies that I've worked with. Adam has been doing reviews for them for a while. He slipped his contact my blog address and I got an e-mail from her saying, "just go to our site and let me know what books you're interested in and when you read them, let me know if you'd like to do a giveaway". Um, AWESOME? I still find myself asking, what's the catch? Am I going to get a charge on my credit card if I don't return it within the 60 day trial period? But, no charge. It still blows my mind that companies give me things just for me to give them my opinions on them. It's like a marketers dream. Anyway, This allows me to pick out, up front, books that had topics that I was interested in and could be pretty sure I could give an enthusiastic review. So I picked out three books and got them just a couple of days later.

"Along Came You, did not disappoint". This truly may have become my favorite children's book of all time.. Except, I'm pretty sure that it's benefits are more for me than my children. It is definitely my favorite parenting book of all time. I don't know about you, but in a world where success is often measured by dollars, I sometimes need reminded of the value of the job I'm doing. While I do think that this book serves the purpose of helping children see the sacrifices a parent makes, more importantly, it was reminder to me of the priceless benefits that come from doing such a sacred job that pays in love. The book's only downfall is that I can't seem to read it with out becoming a big emotional mess.

It's beautifully illustrated pages along with the author's fresh perspective of being a mother left me with a reminder of the amazing joy that being a parent provides and a heart much bigger than, before children, I ever felt capable of having. In "Along Came You", The writing clearly illustrates that often, simple phrases carry such great meaning: "Before you, my home was decorated in style. After you, my home is decorated in love. Before you, the biggest thrill at the amusement park was riding the roller coaster. After you, the biggest thrill is seeing your face when you are finally tall enough to ride. Before you, I slept all night long. After you, I wake to watch you sleeping.

But, you really can't get the full impact that book presents without seeing the words along with the illustrations. So click below to see a sample.

Z

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Now, for your chance to win a copy of your own. To enter, simply comment, leaving a way to contact you in the case that you win. For an additional entry, blog about the giveaway or post it on facebook and come back and leave a link to your post. The giveaway will end on Wed. Nov. 18th. The winner will be chosen at random using www.random.org.

Blessings,
Dana

My Current Project

So I'm finally feeling like a little more than a zombie. I'm not quite sure what sickness that has been lurking about at the Ellis household but I'm telling you, it grabbed a hold of me tight! My in-laws were here this weekend to celebrate Chloe's birthday I think. Though that all might just be part of a dream I had during the time I was unconscious. Thankfully, they seemed willing to forgive me for not being a proper hostess. It seems as if it is Chloe's turn with the sickness as she is the one that is running the fever tonight.

Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to show you what I was working on before the evil virus invaded my body leaving me lacking energy worse than I did after childbirth!



It's hard to tell exactly what it looks like because it is in my hallway and I had to take the picture at an angle. The hardest part for me was trying to make it asymmetrical without making it completely square. I had a handy little tool that made the job just a little easier.



This baby is the latitude level. It came to me in the swag suite that I received from Mom Select. It is a level/stud finder that is created especially for use by a woman. It is more compact making it easier for smaller hands to handle and has softer grips. It has built in holes where you mark straight through the level. And, fully extended, the tabs for nail holes are 16 inches apart making it perfect for finding studs (skip corny joke about how every woman wants to find a stud here). It wasn't necessary for me to find studs for this project but you can be sure I will be using it in the future to fix things like bookshelves to the wall so that my children don't pull them over on themselves.

Upon further investigation, I found that there is a whole line of tools designed by women for women. You can check them out HERE. My own tools! How empowering. Now if I can just figure out how to get the rest of them free.

Well, I guess that's it for now. Hope all is healthy in your world!

Blessings,
Dana