Ok, enough depressing stuff, let’s move on. I was just notified that I’ve officially won my 2nd giveaway. Special thanks goes out to Annette at The Fairy Blog Mother and her giveaway of a free 30-day trial of the paid option of Pogo Games. I’m a Pogo addict, with Boggle Bash being my all time favorite game (Word Whomp coming in a close second). As much as I’d love to have a full subscription to the paid portion, I end up spending my money on stupid things like food and bills. So thank you to my Fairy Blog Mother for giving me a full 30 days of avoiding my housework.

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

And this is week #8 of something I’ve found to be a great way of meeting people. Welcome to Friday Follow. I’ve added a couple of my other sites to the Friday Follow blog hop and am just amazed each week at how many people come along and follow my blogs. So, how does it work? Simple! First of all, you need to follow the first three names on the list as these are the wonderful women who started the whole thing.

Then, add your name to the McLinky list and watch the follower come in. Some days you’ll have a ton of followers come in, others you’ll only have a few here and there. But, they do come in and it’s a great feeling knowing that there are others out there who want to be part of your world too. Remember though, you should always follow anyone who comes by and follows you. Sometimes it can take quite awhile to get to all of them, but it’s just a good neighborly thing to do.

Another thing you should keep in mind is that you can only add your site on Friday (each Friday). Your site will be visible throughout the rest of the week so others can come by and still join your site, but come the next Friday, we start all over again. But more than anything else, it’s well worth your time to get in on the party. It’s fun, it’s easy, and it’s a great way to find blogs you didn’t know existed.

First of all, let me tell you a little bit about this cool shop. Valerie, the talented lady behind this store, has to be one of the most creative people I’ve ever seen. Not because she can make something out of odds and ends, but it’s what she makes her jewelry out of. She uses washers and nuts. Not the kind of washer you put your clothes or dishes in, but the kind you might find in the garage.

Seriously, I had never thought of using the hardware in my hubby’s garage as jewelry pieces, but this store proves that it works. Additions Style is filled with earrings, rings, and necklaces that seem to defy logic. When you look at the pieces, the first thing you think is “Oh, how cute”. Then it dawns on you that there’s something different about the material each piece is made out of. The best part is that all of her pieces are very reasonably priced.

I have to be honest in saying that I wasn’t too sure about jewelry made from hardware, but when I got my necklace in the mail I was WAY happy. The funniest part about the whole thing is that when my hubby saw my new necklace, he said he had a whole bucket of jewelry in the garage. LOL I love my necklace.

The best part is that I found out that I’d been selected as one of the winners on Monday and received my prize on Thursday. Now that’s service. But the part that set this lady apart from the crowd is the nice little note she sent along with my necklace. Thank you so much, Valerie. Now if you’ll all excuse me, I have to track down my daughter. I think she just stole my awesome necklace. LOL

Anyway, here’s the details of this giveaway. It’s not just one giveaway, it’s 7 giveaways. Whoo Hoo baby. 7 lucky people are going to get a little something from one of 7 different Etsy stores. And here’s the kicker, the prizes are the mystery. Yes my friends, that means that if you win something from one of these shops, you don’t get to know what you’re winning until you see it. Some people get a little freaked out about this, but I love the idea.

As a kid, I had a thing for mystery grab bags. We had a little store in my hometown that had a huge box full of little brown paper bags with mystery objects inside. For anywhere from 25 cents to a couple bucks, you could get yourself a grab bag. I probably spent a small fortune at that store, or anyway my mom did.

Anyway, back to this cool giveaway. The main entry requirement is to go to each of the stores and find one thing in each that you find most to your liking. Of course, that doesn’t mean that’s what you’ll win, it’s just the mandatory part of entering this giveaway. But I found a couple things I thought were way awesome. One of which is this beautiful Purple Hummingbird pin made from plexiglass.

The other is this awesome rubber stamp. Trust me, I’d use this on everything I own. LOL

So, I invite you to head on over to The Lost Earring and get in on this cool giveaway. With 7 different shops giving away prizes, you’ve got a lot better chance of winning. But, you’d better hurry as this giveaway ends on the 21st and the winner will be chosen on the 22nd.

That’s why giveaways like this one get me all giddy. If you run over to Mint Green With Envy, you can get in on this cool jewelry giveaway. In conjunction with the owner/designer at Sweeter Than Me Designs, you can win not one, but two pieces from her collection. I had to go check out some of the yummies and realized that choosing just 2 might be a little tougher than I thought. There are a lot of options, and they’re all way cool. But, they’re all limited too, so what you see today may not be there come tomorrow. If you find something you just can’t wait to win, you’ll need to jump in and buy it asap, or contact the owner and talk to her about putting the piece on hold.

As I went through, I found this killer pair of earrings. Being of Irish descent, and a lover of ancient myths, the Tree of Life is one of my favorite symbols. Most ancient cultures believed in the Tree of Life, and this is a beautiful rendition. My other favorite product isn’t so much a piece of jewelry, but a bag of loose beads. Seems the owner of the site is in dire need to reduce her bead inventory and I’d be more than happy to help her out.

If you want to get in on this giveaway, get over to Mint Green With Envy and put in your entries. This contest will run through February 25th, and a winner will be chosen on the 26th. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go get my entries in before you do, as I’m gonna fight for this one. LOL

No, I’m not working toward a bunch of retro clothes, this giveaway is for a a jelly roll. Not the kind that you eat, sillies. This is for a fabric jelly roll. Within this jelly roll are 40 2-1/2″x44″ strips of material in vintage colors. I dig vintage stuff, and I think vintage materials make the coolest quilts. I’m not one of those fancy quilters with all the fancy machines. No, I cut out all my pieces by hand, pin them by hand, and sew them all up on an old 1970’s Singer machine.

If you’re a fabric addict, know that you are not alone. There’s no cure for our affliction, but with this giveaway being held at Audrey’s Give Aways and offered from Fabric Love, you can ease your fabric symptoms and get in on this giveaway. This giveaway through February 26th, and a winner will be drawn at 11pm Eastern time on the 26th.

Earring Exchange is an awesome little shop within the Etsy online mall. They specialize in earrings, but do have a few earring/necklace sets that are just cute. Nice thing about this site is that they’ve got free shipping on almost all their products, except those designed for the PIF (Pay It Forward) program. The PIF program works on a kindness scale. Basically, you can get some great deals on beautiful jewelry and all you have to do is do something kind for someone else.

I went through the whole site and found a pair of earrings that took my breath away. I love these things. They’re called the Beach Treasure #5 earrings, and they are just gorgeous. Those are the kind of earrings I could wear with a tank top or with my slacks and heels. Best part is that there’s no shipping on this pair.

If you’re interested on getting in on this giveaway, run over to Today’s Giveaways and get your entries in. This giveaway will run through Wednesday, February 17 and one winner will be chosen through Random.com.

However, these little earrings are way cute. I like the way the they’re held in place, and it’s obvious that they are well made. In fact, everything I looked at over at Fantasy Jewelry Box looked like high quality stuff. What’s more, they’re prices are fantastic. They coin themselves as a place to get “affordable jewelry for expensive taste”. Most places that say things like that either offer seriously flawed jewelry for cheap prices, or their idea of affordable is still way out of my budget. From what I can tell, this place lives up to its claims.

One thing I did notice about the website is that they have an entire section for items on sale. Those are two of my favorite words, so I had to check it out. I was impressed to see that they offer reasonable prices for such beautiful jewelry. I found a couple pieces that I might have to get for myself, and I’m not a big jewelry wearing type person.

If you love jewelry, and would like a chance to win this cute pair of Diamond CZ earrings, run over to J. Leigh Designz and get in on the giveaway before it’s too late. This contest runs through Feb. 15th and there are several ways to earn entries into the drawing. But you’d better hurry. From the looks of things, everyone’s looking to get their hands on these little beauties.

When I saw this giveaway, I knew I had to write a post about it. Wife, mother, and pit-bull rescuer JessyKayne has created an entire line of wall signs and wreaths, complete with awesome little sayings. The moment I saw this giveaway posted at Audrey’s Give Aways, I was hooked. In fact, the sign pictured on this page is my ultimate favorite as it fits me too a Tee.  Actually, the sign isn’t being given away, but JessyKayne is giving a $20 gift certificate to be used in her shop.  If you work it right, you could get a couple of her signs, as they’re set at very reasonable prices.

If you’d like to get in on this giveaway, run over to Audrey’s site and get yourself signed up. Make sure to read the rules carefully, as there are several ways to get entries into this giveaway. Also, check out JessyKaynes shop at Etsy.com and help her out. All proceeds from her site right now are going toward a much-needed surgery for the pit-bull puppy she and her hubby rescued.

When I first really got started with blogging, I had a serious blog contest habit. I had a ball until I won a contest and never received my prize. I was pissed, to say the least. And it pretty much turned me off of blogging contests. But, the giveaways and contests I’ve been looking at for the past couple of weeks are a little different. These are put on by a circle of women (and a few men, I’m sure) who all have one major thing in common; they’re all Blogger Mommies!!!!!! Best of all, I are one too. LOLOLOLOL

Anyway, after really going through a few of these blogs, I’ve decided that this little site is the best place for me to start posting about some of the cool giveaways out there. And, because this blog is hooked up to my Facebook account, I’ll be able to pass them along to my minions, er, friends. LOL

I’m fortunate that I have the ability to stay home and do this kind of thing. Of course, I’m able to stay home because of my writing business, oh and that guy that lives here and pays all the bills. (I love you, honey ) But I still understand the meaning of saving money anywhere and everywhere I can, and if I can get in on some freebies in the process, right on. And being a mom, I have no problem passing this information on to my fellow mommies, and daddies.

So, if you happen to notice that this site goes from not having more than 2 posts a month, to having 3 or 4 a day, you’ll know why. If I come across something really cool, I’ll be more than happy to let everyone else know as well. Come on along, let’s see how much stuff we can all get, and how much of it we can get for free.

FREEBIES RULE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

American Pickers is about a couple of guys who travel around the country looking for old, antiques that most of us would see as just junk. They seek out old signs, bicycles, old bottles and cans, and a lot more. They love the rusted stuff, the stuff people around my area usually call crap. Living in Western Nebraska my whole life, I’ve seen this kind of stuff all around me for years.

I’ve always been a picker and just didn’t know it. The difference is that I don’t move on to sell what I get for a profit. I keep it and end up with a house full of crap that my hubby thinks is worthless. I, on the other hand, see a house full of past lives that still have something to give.

To the boys of American Pickers, Frank and Mike. If you’re ever in Western Nebraska, look me up. I’ve got crap that will blow your mind. And, I know a lot of farmers in this part of the country who have tons of rusted items just strewn about their properties. I’ve made up my mind that when I grow up, I wanna be an American Picker.