One Year, (thoughts and yes a giveaway)

I started this blog a year ago with the idea that it would be a place for my friends and relatives to see pictures of Alder and hear about what was going on in our lives. It started with Snow, and it did a lot of that last year in Denver. It would snow and I would bake, it would clear for a few days and we would go walking around the city, until the next snow, when more baking would happen. Then in the evening I would blog.

Of course this is how most blog stories start and like the rest of them I also started to look and see what other sorts of people were out there blogging. That's when I stumbled upon an entire world of people who, for what ever reason want to share pieces of their lives with others. Some days I wonder how my children will look on this practice of blogging, is it a form of journal with staying power or is it a fad?

Mainly I am amazed by all the people I have met who's lives have some moments of intersection enough that I like reading about their days and ideas. I've learned from people who have children older than Alder as well as other artists and writers. And I've made friends, all from sharing a little bit about our days with each other. Especially with moving across the country it has been nice to have a community that has stayed constant.

Since the trend has been to have a little give away on the anniversary I thought I would create one, this is a little different than the ones I've seen before. Basically I have two different prizes I have to offer and who ever is chosen can decide which one they want. The other one will wait until I'm inspired to do another one of these. To note all of the parts to these are things that I have around the house nothing is being bought for this, other than stamps.

Giveaway #1 The stuff for making things, this is a tote I've made with all the pieces for making your own Japanese stab bound book, including the paper, waxed linen thread, a few different pieces of cover paper and some decorative paper, and directions. There is also some paper ephemera from old books.

Giveaway 2# This is about seeing things differently. This includes a copy of Keeping a Nature Journal (for some reason I have multiples), a set of colored pencils and a handmade journal (by me) to start journaling with.

Leave a comment to have your name in the drawing, I will draw a name on Monday night and post the winner here on Tuesday morning.

Thank you for making this year have some consistency in the midst of chaos.