Sponsor love – and a giveaway!

You may have noticed a few changes lately around here…I’ve been sprucing up the place and have even opened up private ad space!

Now that River is a bit older (and the boys, too), I’ve stepped into some big blog goals and have spent October creating new and fun content here and branching out in other ways too (more surprises coming soon!).

Topics are still the same, just MORE. More of what I really love to be talking about – personal stories, faith and lifestyle topics. I adore tips and ideas that are style related that are plucked from my life, and I also love sharing my heart and I love getting to know you, too!

I’m so grateful to you guys who have been long readers here, I just appreciate you so much, and new readers – WELCOME! Say hello in the comments, I’d love to meet you.

We already have sponsors for this month and what’s fun is that any time you want, you can simply click over to my advertising page and purchase an ad. Easy peasy. No fuss. Slots are open for November!

This month’s sponsors are lovely and amazing and you’ll want to check out each of them for all kinds of epic reasons.

Consider this your “fab finds” list for shops to check out and new blogs to discover!

(psst…be sure to read to the end of this post for a fun giveaway from a couple of the sponsors!)

Chirp Handmade

Chirp Handmade is full of vintage, modern and whimsical handmade jewelry and accessories, such as vintage dictionary and hymn sheet music pendants & rings, felt coffee cuffs, hand embroidered felt accessories and more! Chirp Handmade has a huge heart for orphans, so for each sale a percentage is donated to different non-profits that also have big hearts for orphans and orphan care. Check them out at their shop or on Facebook!

Narrow Paths to Higher Places

Alia Joy is a cynical idealist telling her stories of faith, family, and all things in between. Wife to her displaced land-locked surfer husband and mama to three, she weaves stories out of her moments both beautiful and messy.  She is a grace saved, coffee dependent, maker upper of words,  attempter of all things crafty, lover of mustard yellow, turquoise, Africa, and missions. She dislikes awkward introductions and writing about herself in the third person. She does however, love commas and  hopes you’ll drop by and stay awhile. She’ll put the coffee on. Find her at her Narrow Paths to Higher Places and on Facebook!

Dear Abby Leigh

This Dear Abby may not be certified by the associate press to give advice, but she still gives it. She’s been telling her sister what to wear since 1989 and recently taught her dad not to swallow the edamame shells. She’s been telling herself to write since the third grade, and now tells her story through poetry, prose, and weekly internet awards at dearabbyleigh.com. On Wednesdays, Abby strongly advises you to Dress For The Day you want to have, and not the one that’s trying to have you. Join her if you dare.

The Blah Blah Blahger

Hi there! My name is JJ, but ‘round here on the interwebs you can call me the Blah Blah Blahger.

Did you hear the one about my pet goat as a kid? Or about the roomba/dog diarrhea episode? What about my observations of the 6am gym crowd? I’ve got to tell you about the time I wore Ann Taylor to a rave or the time I broke my cooter on the jungle gym of death.

Believe it or not, there’s more where that came from. Everywhere I look, I see stories. They build up behind the day-to-day routine, get stuck somewhere between the office and the aisle full of fine wines, and sooner or later I just have to BLAH! I love to tell stories, and I’d love to hear yours!

Fried Okra

At FriedOkra, Megan Cobb serves up laughter and inspiration from her home in the Chicago suburbs, sharing her honest, practical thoughts on style, beauty, food, marriage, parenting – and pretty much whatever else comes to mind – in words and pictures. A stubbornly still-hot forty-something wife and Mom to two, Megan writes about what’s warm and cozy, beautiful and real from her kitchen, from her closet, and most of all, from her heart. Megan is also a fashion contributor at Simple Design and a co-host of the increasingly popular weekly synchroblog for all things parenting, The Parent ‘Hood

Hollywood Housewife

 

 

Laura Tremaine is a small town Oklahoma girl who moved to Los Angeles to find herself, only to discover that the best parts were born of those dusty plains.  A decade later, she still refers to both Oklahoma and Hollywood as home, and isn’t quite sure she fits with either.  After seven years working in reality television, Laura married her boss and birthed his babies.  She now writes regularly at Hollywood Housewife on everything from her faith journey to life on the red carpet.  Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.

HopefulLeigh

Leigh Kramer is on a quest; she’s living life on purpose. Her to-do list might look something like this: leave life in the Midwest for Nashville, Tennessee with only fried pickles for comfort, quit steady job as a social worker to chase that dream of writing at last, suck the marrow out of life’s in-between places and revel in the now at every turn. Leigh shares this journey through words of transparency, heart, and just a dash of pluck at HopefulLeighand on Twitter at @hopefulleigh.

Joy in this Journey

Somewhere beneath the kids’ stinky laundry and my own doubt lies a joy worth fighting for. I’m here to dig it out.

I’m Joy, and I grew up in a Christian home, and should know the answers to all the usual faith questions, but I don’t. I have delivered four babies, handed two over to heart surgeons in the hall outside an operating room, and buried one in a cemetery just a few miles from our home. I have no idea how I managed to marry a man who would love me and our kids through all of the upheaval, but I did. I have been writing since the second grade and blogging since 2005. I write naked (not literally!), so stick around if you like someone who takes off their “everything’s peachy-keen” mask and shares real life. This blog shares my search for better answers to those faith questions. I want to be a woman who not only believes but also acts as James described: faith without works is dead. Topics include missions and charity, suffering, doubt and questions about theology, parenting, women’s issues, worship, and the Bible.

LoveFeast Table

A beautiful life is built of many pieces~the people, things and experiences that inspire us to breathe deep and savor each step in our individual and family journeys. Chris Ann & Kristin, friends of 18 years, live in two different cities, Minneapolis and Baltimore.  They wanted to create a way to stay connected as well as to explore their common passion for highlighting the inspiration they saw all around them. LoveFeast Table was founded on that friendship and exists today to curate beauty for all who would gather around this table.

The LoveFeast girls founded LoveFeast Shop, an online boutique of curated beautiful finds for you and your home, as a way to share some of their inspiration with others. Chris Ann & Kristin have gathered unique, high quality, hand-crafted and artistic items to inspire the giver and charm the receiver. Find them on Facebook, too!

SortaCrunchy

For over six years, Megan Tietz’s blog SortaCrunchy has been a meeting place for people at the intersection of faith and a life more natural. Whether she’s dishing on styling thrift store finds, blogging her favorite TV show, or waxing poetic on the use of cloth toilet paper (what? why?!), you’ll always find a discussion that invites you to share your thoughts in an atmosphere of acceptance and grace. Keep up with her pursuit of all things shiny on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Vitafamiliae

“Vitafamiliae” is a life defined by family. With 7 kids in just over 7 years, Lora Lynn writes about her life as a twin mom, adoptive mom, homeschool mom, and just generally tired mom. It’s a good life, it’s a crazy life, it’s her family’s life… and you’re welcome to enjoy it with them!

Win it!

Win a beautiful Custom Oval Vintage Dictionary Pendant necklace from Chirp Handmade (you choose the word you would like made into a one-of-a-kind pendant for you!)

Also win a fashionABLE scarf in Etanesh Strips, Ivory Dusty Rose color, courtesy of Alia Joy! fashionABLE scarves are named after a woman whose life has been changed because of your purchase, handmade in Ethiopia and ridiculously soft 100% cotton.

Two prizes – one winner. Enter in the giveaway widget below! Goodluck to everyone, and thanks so much to our lovely October sponsors!

a Rafflecopter giveaway