Last Chance For Early Entry

A few months ago I wrote about my father-in-law, Duane Hiatt.  Since my #3 giveaway in A Blotgtastic Extravaganza is his fabulous folk music, today's early entry is easy.  Go back to that post (Meet My...) and leave a comment about anything you read there.

See you Wednesday when all the giveaway fun begins!

Back In the Day-Big Sister, Little Sister

I was struggling with the right way to introduce you to Kimberly of AalbersCreations (offering my #2 prize package during next week's A Blogtastic Extravaganza).   And then it came to me...

With 8 years between us, Kimberly and I bookend the family of six girls we grew up in.  Sometime after I grew up and she became a teenager we hit a spell of absolute goofiness and practical joking.  For our lives we can't figure out what triggered it, but to this day our bellies still ache from laughing.

Our interpretation of Julie Roberts' (Runaway Bride) duck-billed platypus 

Our shenanigans almost got out of hand.  I hid a mannequin head in bed; she filled my car with a week's worth of trash. The out and out kicker?  One muddy spring day while she was studiously attending her middle school classes, I moved her bedroom out of the basement and into the backyard.  I disassembled, reassembled, and made up the bed.  Then I waited for the school bus to come down the road and watched for Kimberly's completely confused reaction.  Then, because I was always a nice girl, I stood in the dining room window snapping photos while Kimberly reversed my day of hard work.  Yes, you read that right.  I didn't lift a finger to help her "re-decorate" her room.  In hindsight that might have been taking the joke a little too far...

Eventually I left home and started my grown-up life.  While I was getting established, Kimberly started reaching towards her own dreams.  She started thinking she'd like to get into fashion design and made her first foray with an incredible duct tape dress.  Both of her prom dresses (and suits for her dates) were duct tape and led her into years of designing her own fashion sense and clothing.  It would be a complete understatement to say that she and I had different styles, but she has always been more than willing to take my measurements over the phone and create fashionably original conservative clothes for me.

Life has changed a little bit for both of since those simple joking days.  1000 miles separates us and she has two beautiful little girls keeping her busy.  A little over a year ago her 18-month old daughter was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.  And the last months have brought her sweet family other difficulties, but she keeps on smiling and her creativity has thrived through it all.

That's what makes me proud to include Kimberly in my upcoming giveaway.  With AalbersCreations she travels around the Midwest crafting hand-painted ethereal masks and fairy wings on the Renaissance Fair circuit.  Online she has branched out into baby shower gifts and other little girl accessories with new out-of-the-box ideas spilling out of her brain everyday.

Now that I've taken a trip down memory lane, I'm thinking a little long-distance practical joking needs to get underway.  For an extra entry in the #2 Prize Package in next week's giveaway, leave a comment here with an over-the-top idea to get Kimberly and I laughing like we did in the good ol' days.  

In My Heart On Thursday

-as seen this week on Blackpurl's Knitpickings

A Little Spoon Love

Barely a week until A Blogtastic Extravaganza...time to whet your appetite with a deeper look at my giveaway sponsors...

Petticoat Cachet and The Forking Queen

My sister Brooke has been designing and creating modern silverware jewelry for nearly 10 years. She will tell you that she got her start one night after bitterly losing a game of Scrabble to our mother (who has no problem gloating over that sort of thing).  In a moment of revenge, Brooke grabbed the family meat fork, bent it around her wrist, and wore it defiantly for everyone to see.  Innumerable compliments later an artistic business was born.

Over the years Brooke has developed a unique ability to look at a piece of flatware and mold it into exactly what it wants to be.  She never starts with a pattern and is pretty sure she's never created two pieces the same.  It's easy to believe that when you learn that she bends, twirls, curves, and rounds almost all of her pieces with just the strength of her hands and a common set of household pliers.  To add icing to an already impressive feat, there are very few pieces she's found the need to heat before using.  She loves to see the old men's faces when she finally convinces them she cold-bends everything.

Aside from simply being proud of my sister who has supported her family on an odd hobby, I LOVE working shows with her!  From small high school craft shows, to double-booths at the Iowa State Fair, Brooke travels around the central part of the country and every once in awhile takes me with her.  We eat terribly delicious food, laugh way too loud, and listen as new and repeat customer's rave about how excited they are to find jewelry that is so uniquely bold and wearable.

I hope you love Brooke's jewelry!  She gets bored quickly and is ALWAYS working on completely new designs.  Check out her Etsy Page to see what she's working on lately...

Petticoat Cachet/The Forking Queen

And, for an extra early entry to next week's giveaway from Petticoat Cachet, come back here to leave a comment on your favorite item she currently has listed!

In My Heart On Thursday

"You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough.  You must want it with an inner exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world."

-Sheilah Graham