Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Thoughts on being published in Somerset Home, lots of Gratitude, and a giveaway

      As always, for me, (does it for you too?) life goes by at the speed of light. It is already August 10th and I've been trying to get around to telling you about this for days! I have had the absolute honor to write once again for another Stampington and Company publication. I am always so delighted and incredibly humbled to be chosen to write, and have my projects included in one of their wonderful publications. I so enjoy sharing discoveries, techniques and stories with their readers. It just brings me such joy... just like the joy I feel writing right here on this blog of mine.
     To celebrate my articles and projects being published in the current issue of Somerset Home, I am having a few little giveaways! There will be three prizes....the first is a Planner from one of my favorite artists, my sister, Kelly Rae Roberts. She has an amazing, high quality collection of artwork, stationery, and home decor with something special for everyone. My current favorites are the planner~
Kelly Rae Roberts Planner (photo courtesy of Kelly Rae)

Info about the planner: "This datebook features 17 months (Aug 2011 - Dec 2012) in week-at-a-glance views. Click image for more photos. It also features weekly tear-off shopping and to-do lists, stickers for marking important reminders, and a built-in storage pocket. Please note: Unlike previous years' datebooks, this datebook does not feature artwork throughout the planner - only on the front and back covers. Datebook is 6" x 8" and features flexible front and back covers."
Personally folks, I am already using this planner and I really really LOVE it. That is why I want you to have one! Lots of room to write (which we desperately need, don't we?!), and even little stickers to use for remembering important things. Also, the tear off lists and the inside pockets are fantastic. This planner is very well thought out! (and I am not surprised at all. My sister is a class act all the way.)


The second giveaway is the mini photo album~
Kelly Rae Roberts mini photo album, "Gratitude Surrounds"
(photo courtesy of Kelly Rae)




Info about the album:"With a meaningful "gratitude surrounds" on the cover, we hope you'll be inspired to put some of your most treasured memories in this sweet mini photo album. Album (approx 6" x 6") can hold up to 24 4"x6" photographs inside its archival quality photo sleeves and features a padded, full-color, easy-to-clean hard cover. We think these make adorable gifts to highlight special occasions." 
I love this little album. It is well made and a nice size for traveling. I think I'm going to need more than one soon! Did I tell you yet that I'm going to be a first time GRANDMA this fall?!

And lastly, I'm giving away the chippy, white, shabby chic jewelry holder with vintage glass knobs, that I made for the current Somerset Home magazine. I love it for my collection of necklaces. It keeps them tangle free and pretty to look at!
A peek at Somerset Home 2011
and the jewelry holder

So, no need to jump through hoops to win. Just leave a tiny comment or a simple hello! But, I'd just love to hear your ideas or techniques for when life feels like it is going by way too fast...how do you slow it down? What kinds of things do you like to do to keep centered and in the "now"?
*Please remember, if you sign as anonymous, please leave a name so you and I both know it's you who gets chosen! I don't even make you type in crazy letter sequences to leave a comment. How easy is that?  (and lord knows we blog writers LOVE to get comments!)

Winners will be randomly drawn on AUGUST 17th (so I hope everyone has a chance to enter). Please tell a friend!
Thank you all for being here and for your readership and support. It means the world to me.
Blessings and Light,
Jennifer Valentine of Sacred Cake

26 comments:

  1. yah jennifer i get to be first! what a great giveaway. i love reading your blog and looking at your beautiful jewelry. i feel overwhelmed at times as life goes flying by. i breathe deep and think about all the wonderful things in my life at this moment and what i have to look forward to. congratulations on being a grandma! if you get a chance come over and visit my blog. i haven't been doing it very long and mine is a lot of rambling!! xo carlanda http://lolliemagpiedesigns.blogspot.com

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  2. Three Cheers to you my friend!!! So exciting to be published once
    again. :)
    Summer has been a blur and my heart is racing thinking about the year ahead. My baby girl is a senior so we're filling out college apps!
    A day at the park sometimes seems to slow things down a bit. We have a favorite place we go to feed the squirrels. I'd be thrilled to win one of your lovely giveaways, especially the jewelry holder!
    Love to you,
    #8

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  3. i think i said it on your facebook page, but i forgot to say it here...congratulations!! i will look for the magazine next time i am in vegas. xo

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  4. Congratulations, dear one! Success richly deserved.
    As to slowing down, a walk always does it for me.
    x

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  5. ((❤ Jennifer ❤))

    Congratulations! What a delightful surprise. So happy for you. Love the graceful assemblage feature in the Somerset Home. Love your spirit. Love the shabby chic jewelry holder with vintage glass knobs.

    Keep creating. Keep writing.

    xoxo,
    Mia

    P.S. When life is going by too fast, I take a few deep breaths. I read a poem.

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  6. I'm going to have to run out to get that issue of Somerset Home - congrats on the article and to your soon-to-be grandchild! And what an awesome, generous giveaway!!! I wish I had an answer to how to slow life down. I've been feeling monumentally overwhelmed lately. If I want to slow down, I have to prioritize everything out of my life and just focus on my family. Hard to do sometimes, but when I do, I feel so much better! :-)

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  7. Congratulations! I need to go find a copy... I think a Barnes & Noble trip may be in order. Darn. :) The jewelry holder is lovely!! My necklaces hang on the rungs of an old shabby ladder... I love being able to enjoy it all everyday. As for life slowing down... I'm not good at it! I think it slows the most when I take time to do "serious" writing, when I really stop to think and carefully consider the best ways to express. Not something I practice often enough!

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  8. Fantastic Jennifer!! Congratulations-you deserve it!! Your work is amazing and so worthy of being recognized-and so are you. I feel so fortunate to get up every morning and wear one of my treasures from you-I guess you could say I take you to work with me every day :D So again, congratulations to you my friend and have a beautiful, grace filled day!
    xxoo

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  9. Congrats on being published once again.
    When life is going by too fast and I need to slow down; I take a nice walk, all alone, reflect, daydream, and give thanksgiving for the precious life God has given me.

    Thanks for the give away and I hope things are going well for you and your family

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  10. Congratulations on getting published again! The jewelry holder looks beautiful, will have to go pick up a copy. To slow things down a bit? Lot's of deep breaths and trying not to hyperventilate. :)

    Keep on writing!

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  11. this is the first comment i've left here (though have read your blog for quite a while) so it may be a long one. :) it's all so beautiful - the jewelry you make, the love and gratitude you have for your family and your life ... thanks for sharing. :)

    congratulations on the recognition and being published. i know how good that feels! and congratulations on soon becoming a grandmother. how exciting!


    as to how i slow things (and myself) down - ? i've learned it's best for me to think first, don't just automatically say "yes" to whatever is asked of me. to live each day as i want my whole life to be - having time with my family, doing some work and some play, with time to move and time to rest - and then checking in with myself to see if i am doing that every day (no matter what is going on). also, i write things down - and not on those little sticky notes, but on a bigger piece of paper. somehow seeing things in a list and more organized that i sometimes feel (or, more honestly, am) helps me to slow down, to do one thing at a time knowing that those other things won't be forgotten because i've put them to paper. works for me. so does putting on some happy, upbeat music and dancing away some of those nervous feelings. mostly that's jimmy buffett. :)

    thanks again.

    kathy

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  12. Wow! Congratulations on the feature... that's simply wonderful. So great to read your blog--I love everything you do. :D

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  13. Omigosh! Congratulations! Way to go. I'm so glad I found your blog, I adore it! I didn't know you were Kelly's sister, but it makes sense! So much talent in one family! Anyway, congratulations, you rock!

    Sheila

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  14. Oh, and congratulations on soon becoming a Grandma! It's the most wonderful thing in the world!

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  15. I can create a sanctuary for me amidst the chaos of life - my journal and pen, light a candle, new age music, soft chair and pillow near a window, and a cup of coffee.
    Then I write, breathe, reflect, think, dream, list, stare out the window, relax, slow down.
    Thanks for the giveaway! So happy for your published work!!
    ~Pamela
    pswelter@chaska.net

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  16. Lois Johnson12 August, 2011

    Yay for you, Jennifer! Congratulations on being published....again!
    Talking with my friends and always, always finding something to laugh about just does it for me. Taking the time to walk away from whatever is consuming my life and my time...even for just a little bit, removes the anxiety, puts things in a new perspective, and lets me breathe. Renewed, refreshed....I head back to the project at hand..with a smile on my face

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  17. I really enjoy both your and your sisters blog. Such a creative family!

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  18. Congrats on your newest publication feature! I just finished reading this awesome issue of SH. Here is what keeps me centered and whole: my photography. I took it up just two years ago and it has the power to bring me back to normal. Looking at things through a lens is not hiding behind it..I see every detail and look for any moment that might otherwise be forgotten in the hustle of life. I try to share those moments on my blog. I could not ask for a more enjoyable hobby and passion! :) Mary

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  19. Beautiful blog and gorgeous jewelry. I feel blessed to be alive and able to partake in creating art and for that I am grateful.

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  20. Jennifer, I am not surprised that you are asked to contribute by Stampington for their publications. Your art and your words are poetic and your honest heart and sincerity shine through what you do. Every time I wear my earrings that you created I think of you and how warm hearted you are.

    I've come to the conclusion that trying to stop time or slow it down is next to impossible. So with that in mind I simply live each day to the fullest that I can. By that I don't mean cramming in as much as I can, I simply mean being fully present in activities and conversations and moments. I embrace whatever the day is, even if it isn't one of my "best".

    Such a generous giveaway but not surprising given your generous heart.

    Enjoy what remains of summer my friend! ♥

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  21. Congratulations Jennifer - I get so much inspiration from you as well as other artist. Thank you.

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  22. Such beauty! Thank you for sharing and motivating us!

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  23. hurray for you! hurray for me! hurray for sommerset home! what a thrill to see your beautiful jewelry in all it's glory in this lovely mag. i love your soul. it pours through each wonder that your fingers create, and every word you write. it would be wonderful to win any of these giveaways, but most especially that knobby loveliness. i would like to say that i put on my nightie, light a candle and write in my journal when the need to slow down drops me into a chair, but the truth is i would probably watch reruns of so you think you can dance. again and again. all the while breathing deeply and imagining a fine herbal tea....... oh, and can i just share that my five year old granddaughter just lost her first tooth, and seeing that precious face with the little gap in her gums reduced me to tears. she lives in michigan with her hooligan little brother, and soon i will be avisiting :). love to you, my friend, and wishes for rest and wellness. HUG

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  24. Congrats, Jennifer on being published - How Exciting - I love your blog and enjoying your amazing jewelry ... Thanks for giving us this wonderful opportunity to win these amazing prizes ... I also have a blog @ www.kristinelivinginthemoment.blogspot.com - Please come by and visit!

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  25. Congratulations on your beautiful article! Staying in the "now" and slowing things down is a good trick, not one I am sure I have mastered. No, make that I'm sure I have NOT mastered it. But something I have tried to practice is to really LOOK at my boys (when they don't see, of course) and really enjoy them in the "now." I am reminded every day how quickly they grow, as I send my oldest off for his second year of college. I especially try to LOOK at my youngest, because before I know it he'll be off to college too.

    And, my sincerest sympathies at the passing of your sweet kitty.
    Hugs,
    Nancy

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