A Thank You Giveaway

I recently noticed that my Google Friend Connect widget (see “stay in touch” over in the left sidebar) has reached 50. Yes this isn’t a lot, but I still remember the days when that number read “0,” when I was still in the early days of grief and reaching out to find someone–anyone–who knew what I was going through or who could empathize. This space became a safe place to mourn, to honor my babies (yes, there are places that are not “safe” to do this), to connect with others, and to start to reclaim myself. I am grateful to have 50 someones who are listening and bearing witness to this journey.

So I want to say thank you for being here.

I want to give the following items, pictured above, as my way of showing my appreciation to one of my readers:

• Your choice of a mini canvas bag: Louie and I went to Hawaii in May (as an anniversary trip and a late honeymoon and a getaway after we said goodbye to our third baby). On our 12 year anniversary of being “official”–because that’s how it works in high school right?–we went to mass at the oldest Catholic church on Kauai, St. Raphael’s. I stopped by the gift shop and found these two bags. The winner can choose either the “Rejoice” butterfly bag or the Lord’s Prayer bag, which has a boy and a girl angel praying on either side.
• 15% Promo Discount Card forBeyond Words Designs: Beyond Words Designs is owned by Stephanie Dyer and is the legacy of her daughter Amelia Rose, who was stillborn last March. Stephanie creates beautiful custom paintings; if aren’t familiar with her work, I suggest you visit her site and check it out.
• Angel keychain: The n is hidden behind the a in the photo, but this keychain has the letters “A-N-G-E-L.”
• Recycled crayons: I had a bunch of crayons leftover from our wedding (we had coloring pages for the kids) and finally decided that I wanted to “consolidate” them. I melted them down into metal cookie cutters. I didn’t take a picture on the other side of the crayons, but they are different. Quick tip: the best way to do it is to use a double-boiler method then poor the crayons into the mold/cookie cutters on wax paper laid out on a cookie sheet.

Here are the ways to enter:

If you are one of my Google Friend Connect friends (you can join using the widget on the left if you’re currently a reader incognito), please leave a comment below sharing how you found my blog and/or a question you’d like to ask me, as well as your preference for the canvas bag.

To gain additional entries, you can:

• follow my blog on Facebook,
• visit Calvin’s Cupcakes and join the site using Google Friend Connect,
• Like the Calvin’s Cupcakes Facebook Page, and
• follow me on Twitter: @crystal_theresa.

For each additional entry, please leave another comment; this is the best way for me to make sure all your entries count. I will randomly choose the winner on July 31st.

Thank you again for being here to share in our story.