Way overdue thanks

THANKS!

I have been meaning to write about these two wonderful prizes I won for aaaaaages.  I guess I really wanted the time to write a very thoughtful post on each of them and of course, as these things go, time just whizzed by.

Firstly, in March, I was oh so lucky enough to win a place in a Playful Learning Spaces e-course with the wonderful Mariah Bruehl through her blog of the same name - Playful Learning.  I was so excited to win this.  Ridiculously excited actually.  I have been a fan of her beautiful and simple approach to children's play spaces for a long time.  The course ran over 5 weeks and we had access to a recorded lesson by Mariah each week as well as other inspirational resources she had collected for us and we shared as a group through Flickr and Pinterest.  I have to say I was not at all disappointed, even going in with such high expectations.  I LOVED the course and wish it could have gone on and on and on.  The information was stellar and I just enjoyed the whole process.  I enjoyed looking at ways to simplify my children's spaces and provide thoughtful little nooks for them throughout the house.  The process even helped me think about how I live and like to create and I made some little nooks for myself.  Below I will share photos of some of the spaces I was inspired to create during this course.  Mariah has just released a 'Playful Learning' book and I highly recommend it if the course is anything to go by.  I can't wait to get a copy.  Mariah is doing a blog book tour at the moment so if you head over to her blog you can follow along as well.

displaying animal figurines in an attractive, easily accessible way... 

a bird watching nook in the family room (the basket usually contains Audubon birds and binoculars) 

the kids' playroom before (I just kept stuffing more and more in there!)

and after (aaaah, much more serene) 

a basket of books in the family room which has led to lots more reading time cuddles

These are just a very few of the simple but profound changes I was exposed to and have made.  There is so much more information in the course that I can't do justice to here and I am truly thankful to Mariah for the opportunity!

Secondly, on another high note, in May I was fortunate enough to win the e-book 'How to Have Your Cake and Eat It Too' by Mandi Ehman through the wonderful Overcoming Busy blog.  I was thrilled to win this book!  It is covering the topic of how to follow your passions/interests and still care for your children and home etc.  I would have bought it even if I hadn't won it.  I would love to do a review of it here but I haven't finished reading it yet (slow aren't I??) but I will do that just as soon as I get it totally finished.  Mandi is holding a book club discussion over on Life...Your Way starting either today or next Thursday (keep an eye out) and is offering the book at a discount (Kindle version is available as well).  Go check it out and join our discussion!

With all this winning in the air I just might go and buy a lottery ticket!

My first guest post!

How exciting!  I was invited by the lovely Shivani over at My Owl Barn to write an introduction for my owl bookplates and bookmarks which she used for her Friday Freebie.  Thanks so much Shivani!  Be sure to go and check out her site for a thoroughly gorgeous collection of everything owl related.

THANK YOU

A big thank you to the following people for recently linking to some of my posts:

Firstly, thanks to the ever wonderful Rachel with the ever wonderful One Pretty Thing site. She collects so much great stuff from around the internet - it is one of my daily must reads! Thanks for linking to my desk organiser, my flower gift box band and my dotty garland paper recently!

Thanks to Casserole for linking to my flower gift box band over at Craft Gossip! Check them out - they have a lot of great stuff collected there too. Casserole has a great post about becoming her grandmother and she is a fabulous sewer as well.

Last but certainly not least, thanks to Julie from On the Dot Creations for linking to my desk organiser as well. Julie's site is a great collection of projects and small business tips so go check her out!

I am sometimes overwhelmed and amazed by the level of talent out there in blogland (or the blogosphere or whatever you want to call it) and it really warms my heart when people link back to me so, again, a huge thanks everyone!