A GIVEAWAY AND A BLOG PARTY!

Hi, y'all! I am way behind in taking part in 

Vicki's amazing blog party and I apologize. 

Life has been full.

But, I'm here now, with my giveaway and ready to tell you about me and blogging.

Jan Vermillion Thomason of

the Polka Dot Barn

and the blog, polkadotbarn.blogspot.com.

I started blogging several years ago thinking that I would use it as my personal diary. 

And, I have used it that way.

I don't get every event covered

(I've been known to go weeks.......   without hittin' the blog)

but when something funny, fabulous or rusty passes by me

I have to blog about it.

I let you see me at my worst,

I will entertain you with humorous stories,

I will show you amazing junk and antiques

(some I buy, some I simply photograph).

All the while hoping that you accept me,

and that you come to love me as I share my life with you.

I love Jesus Christ.

I adore my husband and three grown boys;

hoping that my sweet boys will always need

their mom.

I adore my brothers and sister.

Nieces, nephews, sister in laws, cousins, 

my dad and Ursula, 

all very important to me.

I try to find joy in every situation,

sometimes after I throw a fit or cry in despair.

I love spending time in my studio, The Crack House.

(I'll be doing a blog post about it in the near future.

If you want to make sure you don't miss it, 

sign up to receive my posts via email at the top of 

the right hand column)

Creating and spending time with 

my friends that create,

reading every single page of my art zines,

and being an mixed media hoarder

make me who I am.

Okay, that's enough, let's talk about THE GIVEAWAY!!

I am parting with two of my favorite vintage hats that I've been saving,

waiting for those perfect projects that will show off those beautiful 

flowers and leaves!

THERE WILL BE TWO WINNERS!

To enter, simply leave a comment.

And if you want to have a second entry,

let me know if you're following me on Pinterest,

Twitter or my blog emails.

I'm supposed to close out my contest and draw for

winners on February 1st, but I'm extending my giveaway

to February 2nd and I'll draw for the winners

that following week.

I'm right in the middle of getting my house in order

and planning supper for fifty

as I get ready for my mom's memorial that will be held here.

After that I'll be able to get back to my blog. *happy feet*

I sincerely thank you for reading this post

and for entering the giveaway.

I hope that you come back often to see what I'm up to.

And, if you do, remember that leaving a comment

makes me do the happy dance!

Warmly,

        Jan

If, for whatever reason, you don't know how to get to the other (over 400) blogs participating

in the Grow Your Blog party, leave me a note in your comment and I'll get you there. :)

WE'RE HAVING A PARTY!!

Yep, my foot's in the air and I think that's what has made me susceptible; allowed me to say, "Yes, I'll play!", when I know in my heart, deep in my heart, that I should be saying, "Not on your life!". . . . .you see, it's a "WHERE BLOGGERS CREATE" party. . . .you know, pictures of my crack-house-resembling-studio posted for all to see. . .
To make this party even more fun, and to put me on a more even playing ground, y'all are invited! Oh, yeah. Each of you simply has to right click on the ad, save it to your computer and then put it on your blog along with a nice post like I'm doing (Just follow my lead:)

Now, you don't have to do the post, it would just be the nice thing to do; you know, to advertise the party and all. We want all of your friends to come, too.

I'm sure some are thinking this will be the perfect opportunity to clean up their work space since the entire world is going to get a glimpse into their world of creativity.

Not me. My foot's in the air, remember?

To borrow the words of another, I have become a blogoholic.

It's so true. . .between blogs and Facebook, I'm doomed to a life, well, with my foot in the air.

I start reading and I can't seem to stop - the blogs are never-ending! The stories and the pictures and the blogs that I hit upon that have me salivating and then thinking, thinking, thinking! I love it all.

The idea, Karen's idea, for this party came from 2 places. One was the fabulous publication, Where Women Create.

I highly recommend it - if you haven't broken down and bought it yet, then do so. And, buy me a copy, too, so I can stop spending 30 minutes a day at Hastings!

The second idea came to Karen from a woman named Denise over at BellaDreams.

She posted some photos of her new Studio space that were just wonderful. (I'm fixin to check them out just as soon as I finish plagiarizing Karen)

So it got Karen to thinking, "I bet there are hundreds of gorgeous studios and work spaces out there. Rooms that are whimsicalor (I'm not going to raise my hand, don't you either, but I'm kinda thinkin that Karen made up that word. . .) elegant, or clever or all of the above!!! (Note that she didn't mention Early Crack House)

So you are invited to join Karen and me and the tens of tens of other bloggers for Karen's first ever blog party!

Share your creative spaces!!

Is your space at the dining room table?

Do you have a room of your own?

Have you converted a closet?

Or are you like me?

You have a studio that is a total embarrassment, but, one that you know where everything is.

And, what do you do in there?

What kind of things do you create?

There is a little bit of voyeur in all of us don’t you think?? So, come on and join in the fun! To participate, just leave Karen a message on this post along with the address of your blog. She will add you to the link list on her sidebar.

On July 24th, post your photos and stories about yourselves and your creative spaces.

Then we will all have a great time coming over and visiting all the wonderful, creative spaces that y'all have made for yourselves!!

To help Karen promote this event - please take the party poster and add it to your sidebar as a photo with a link to Karen's blog

(http://www.mydesertcottage.blogspot.com/).

And, if you're feeling generous, a post on your blog about the party would be awesome!

Thanks so much!! I really hope to see you there!!!

It's going to be soooo much fun!

XOXO to the best readers in blogland,

. . . . . . .Jan