I'm announcing . . . a Giveaway!

I've learned from past giveaways that it is necessary to put GIVEAWAY in your blog post title.  If you post it - they will come!  Bearing sweet and sassy comments that will entertain me for hours (I am easily entertained!).  So . . .

. . . as promised, below are a couple of little sumpin, sumpins to celebrate a few of my many recent blessings. 

Blessing Number 1 -- I actually had something worthwhile to say 100 times!  (Well, at least I posted 100 times!) 

Blessing Number 2 ~~ I will have 160 followers!  Yup, I'm uppin the anty on this.  Thank you #150-152!  You sweeties helped me reach my goal for the year but now I am a greedy little cuss and want more! 

Blessing Number 3 ~~ And the biggest blessing of all was the birth of my little granddaughter Lainey Grace!

Edited:  Believe me . . . my Lainey is my first and foremost blessing!  I guess I put my blessings in the wrong order of importance!  Thanks for pointing that out to me!

The prizes . . .

One lucky duck will win the fabulous, the out-of-this-world, the cute-as-a-button, hand-stitched, made with love bag.  Well anyway, it's a new bag I made.  But it really was made with love for one of you!  

It is approximately 8" x 10", has a snap closure, a pocket on the inside and one on the back.

Perfect for quick trips to the antique store!

Another lucky duck will win a small, but oh-so-lovely vase made from vintage silverware.

I found this at Daffadowndilly's.  Cammie is a Junk Bonanza aficionado and is one of Ki's right hand gals!  It is so much fun to talk with her and hear the non-secret behind the show stories!  And she finds the absolute best junk ever!

This is maybe a better picture!

So . . .

this is how we are going to play.  Lynn from Trash to Treasure Art had this great, but very sneaky way, of choosing a winner.  And I am copying duplicating her idea (she said I could). 

I am picking 2 numbers - #17 (for Lainey's June birthday) and #36 (cuz I want lots of comments and I've never got that many before!).  Who wins will be up to you!  Leave a comment on THIS post only.  I won't reveal any comments until Tuesday, August 10th OR until I get 160 followers - whichever comes LAST!  So will you comment today or tomorrow?  Or will you wait until the last minute to put your name in the hat?  You can leave more than one comment but only one per day please!  I think this will work but if not, I reserve the right to chuck the whole thing and draw the winners' names the old fashioned way!  Please leave me a way to contact you or it will be numbers 18 and 37 who will get the goodies!

I'm thinkin I should have had 3 prizes ~ one for each blessing. Maybe I could have a little side drawing for those of you who post about my giveaway. What do you think?  Just tell me you gave me a little shout-out in your daily comment, 'kay?  And if you are so kind as to become one of my followers, just thrill me in your daily comment too!  No need for separate comments!

Good luck!  I hope you'll come to play!

Edited again: I'm sorry, but you must have an active blog to participate.  Meeting new bloggers is why I blog myself and if I can't respond to you, how will I get to know you?  So those that commented anonomously or with private blogs, please comment again so I can find you! 

Getting to the good stuff . . .

This is the last post about my trip to Minnesota.  Yup, no more teasing you with places you might not ever get to, although reading blogs is usually where I find ideas about where to go!  Here are a couple more recommendations if you should ever find yourself stranded in the Minneapolis area and looking for places to spend your money!

The French Flea in Anoka.  An occasional sale.  We just happened to be in the right place at the right time!  Another cute shop just down the street is Nic Nac Paddywac's.  Both stores have very, VERY amazing stuff!  There were lots of antique stores in Hopkins, MN and we got in on their Raspberry Festival.  Never did see a raspberry or anything pertaining to a raspberry!  There also is a very wonderful place in New Ulm that is worth stopping at.

This place is somewhere around Minneapolis.  The Garmin lady was having a difficult time telling us where it was, or even where we were.  I swear we circled the whole city twice before we found it!  Now, my daughter is usually mild mannered EXCEPT when she gets behind the wheel!  For a small town girl, she knows how to drive in the big city and pushes and shoves to get in the right lane just like everyone else.  I still have cramps in my fingers from gripping the seat!  And my ears!  Never heard such words coming from my baby!

Anywho, it was well worth frustrating the Garman lady.  Many artists bring their creations here to sell!  Such talent to be found!  Look how they decorated their walls!  Book covers from alot of destroyed books.  (I still have a hard time ripping apart a book.  I mean, it's a BOOK, meant to be read and cherished!  I LOVE books.  I will probably never get a kindle cuz I love to turn the pages.)

Now, on to the good stuff . . . a few of my treasures!  Peruse at your leisure and be envious, be very, very envious!  Just kidding!

Okay, enough scales for Connie!  This is the last one I will bring home!  (Who am I kidding!)

Okay, that's it! (I'm hearing yeahs! and finallys! from the bloggy crowd!) At least until Minnesota tempts me again in September for Junk Bonanza. 

The next post (whenever that will be but I promise you soon, very soon) will be a little giveaway to celebrate my recent milestones and blessings!  100 posts!  My little Lainey!  150 followers (okay, I don't have that one yet but I set my goals high!)!  So sit by your computers my friends and when the next post shows up on your google reader, RUN to your keyboard to send me a comment!  Well, you really don't have to run (I'm a sloth and hate all forms of anything that even hints of exercise) but I do hope and wish you visit again - even without a giveaway!

Good week-end wishes to you all . . .

Creme de la creme of a junker's paradise . . .

OH.MY.GOSH.  This place is OVER.THE.TOP.  I could have spent all day here instead of the 2 hours we did spend!  I always wondered where multiples of anything could be found and this is the place!  Just savor the pictures and think of the things you could own and what you would do with all this STUFF!

Hunt & Gather is located in Edina.  Go there!  Quickly!  Bring cash!

And for you doll head geeks (me?  I'm still just a little freaked out over them)  . . .

Oh yea!  This is one place that I will be re-visiting when I go to Junk Bonanza!  I'll have a plan!  I'll take the whole day!  I'll be filling the car with words, flashcards, game balls, wheels and lots and lots of bits and baubles!  My main man will definately roll his eyes here!

What would you spell out with little letters?

Shellagh from Ticking and Toile just did a post featuring pictures of Kristi's (owner of Hunt & Gather) home and it is so cute, cute, cute!  Looks like she chose the creme de la creme from her own shop for herself!

Hope you are all busy making beautiful things . . .

We interrupt the boring travel log . . .

. . . to show you my little Lainey!  One month old already!  And still has all her hair, although it is lightening up quite nicely.  We are all blondes, so we don't want any questions about the milkman sneaking in!  lol

It seemed like she was always sleeping when I saw her.  I was worried that she wouldn't recognize her Grandma when she finally saw me. 

Those little arms and legs are always in motion. 

"Okay Grandma, that's enough pictures for now.  I'm tired of being cute!"

Go hug your kidlets, they are little for so short a time . . .

All barns should be round . . .

. . . and all round barns should be full of beautiful, fun, Frenchy-type, unusual things!

The Round Barn Potting Company in Andover is a lovely refurbished old barn.  The only building left standing from a former farm, now in the middle of a residential area.  Still has the old brick flooring.  Makes me wonder what the farm looked like many years ago if the barn was this fabulous.  Why oh why can't our farm have a barn like this?   Anyway, this barn is full of fantastic offerings to those of us who love all things beautiful.

I'll just let the pictures do the talking . . .

See anything in these pictures that I should have bought?  Yeah, me too (many, many things) but I wanted to eat the rest of the trip and couldn't spend ALL my cash now could I?  Then again, there is always plastic!

Don't feel sorry for me just yet.  I did manage to pry my billfold out of my purse for a few (2 trips to the car!) things.  I need to loose a few pounds anyway!

The vignettes were over the top and I got some great ideas.  Makes me wish I had a room just for displays!  We talked to the owner, Lori, and of course she was as nice as could be.  I'll be looking for her at the Junk Bonanza!

This just happens to be my 100th post.  The joy!  The rapture!  The hours of computer time!  I plan on showing you the rest of my trip before getting to the celebration but I might not be able to wait that long.  You'll just have to keep VISITING and COMMENTING to see what I'll do!

Gonna be hot, hot, hot here today so guess I'll stay in and (yuk! yuk! yuk!) clean the house.  Or maybe sew ~ that's way more fun!

Have a fun weekend and create something wonderful . . .

Oh, the places you'll go . . .

. . . er, I mean the places WE WENT!  My daughter and I left a little earlier and stayed a little later on our mini junk jaunt to Minneapolis.  So many cute little shops, so little time (and money).  We took our time, driving into each little town to see if there was something to see.  We stopped at antique shops, decorating stores, (and even a couple of hometown bars!), searching for handmade goodness!  Minnestota ~ you have a wonderful state!

My daughter and I travel well together.  No major meltdowns (except for in Minneapolis traffic) and we both like to stop the car alot for a drink or a snack.  She says I snore, I say I don't!  And I only embarrassed her a few times (unfortunately only 1 time was on purpose!).

I think I'll start to show you a couple of places we went and then move on to what we came home with in later posts (gotta get to that 100th post, ya know!).

The Red Sled in Morton is a tiny shop I have stopped at often!  The owner Becky refinishes furniture that is to die for.  Always wish I had a truck when I'm there.  The store is plum full of creative vignettes and the unusual can always be found.

Her specialty is Halloween with areas chock full of scary but oh-so-cute goblins.  My daughter has many, many pieces for her collection from here and this trip was no exception. 

I have a big wire basket on a light fixture and thought this was a good idea to add to it.  There's a bucket of old insulators somewhere on this farm and I aim to find it!

The next post - The Round Barn Company!  Oh my stars, what a place!

Still unpacking my goodies . . .

PS ~~  come on gals!  only 3 more until 150 followers!  we'll celebrate then!

Speeding toward the goal . . .

. . . the goal of getting to 100 posts! 

So I'm slipping this one in before we leave for the land of 10,000 lakes.  I don't think I've shown some things I've found lately.  Most everything I found in Walnut, Iowa over Father's Day weekend.  If you've never been to this big antique show, it is worth the time to go.  But beware!  It is advertised as an ANTIQUE show and the prices reflect it.  Even the flea market crap stuff is considered an antique and most is WAY over-priced (in my humble, cheapskate, looking for a bargain opinion).

There was one store that was packed to the rafters and had every-day prices.  Everything was covered in dust and there was no rhyme or reason as to displays.  When stuff came in, it was dropped where there was a space and left there until someone (me!) was willing to move other things to see what was behind them.  My Kind Of Store!

See the price signs behind the jar?  I was still grubbing around while my daughter was waiting for me by the door.  A gal had a whole box full of these (darn!  she got to them first!) and was telling her husband how she was taking them to the Junk Bonanza!  I bet they will be triple what she paid for them!  At least I got a cheap one!

Really into scales this summer for some reason (and NO! not the ones you stand on and faint after seeing the reason last year's pants don't fit) and have found some BIG ones and some small ones.

And since it is my summer birthday (it has already been WAY better than any January birthday ever was), this is so appropriate as to what we have planned for this weekend.  I plan on embarassing my daughter where ever we go by NOT acting like the sane, mature, calm, rational lady that I truly am!  (lol!) 

I'm going shopping!

Talk to you all next week (in between looking for a job cuz I spent so much and advertising for a new daughter cuz her mother went bonkers at IKEA!) . . .