OWOH Winners, a Surprise, and More Good News!

I have OWOH Winners! But first, let me say, what a great final year for OWOH - I loved exploring some new blogs (though I did not make it to all 800+ of them, did anyone?) and finding ones that I want to follow all year long, and as ever, I love the kind comments left by all my visitors - thank you! And welcome to all of my new followers - I look forward to making new connections with all of you this year too, and hope 2011 is a beautiful, colorful, creative year for all of us.

OK, on to the Winners!

The first prize, Poppy the Bird Bead, goes to: Sylvia, at Baxter's Mom








The second prize, the peace bead, goes to Grace at Grace Beading.






The third prize, goes to Diane at Turn Left at the Pigs




And the fourth prize, Claire the Bird Bead, goes to: Marie at Art from My Heart




and.... now for The Surprise:

A fifth winner! This is a mystery prize, which, let me tell you, is a heart pendant that I made out of this bead:



This fifth prize goes to Itaya at Itaya Art.

Congrats to all my winners! I will email you next. And for the rest of you, as my son said to me just now, "The only thing I hate about your give-away? Is the 200 hundred people who don't win." I agree. I hope the other 230 of you win things at the other blogs, and that you made some new friends - I know I did!

And , now, for the Good News:

Lisa Swifka, the originator of OWHO, is going to be hosting a similar, but different event next year called OWOA - Our World Our Art - and it's going to be great! So head to her site and read about it and sign up for her newsletter. Exciting!

Another Bird for OWOH

Since Poppy the Bird Bead has been such a hit in my OWOH thread (I love all the comments!!), I've decided to add another bird to my OWOH offering. Meet Claire:



BE SURE to leave your comment in the right post - this one is NOT it! GO HERE -->> to comment for a chance to win it.

Random Thursday Thoughts

Did you know... that if you have been hitting that "follow" button on all your friend's blogs... that you also have to update the widget in the sidebar to get them to show up? I did not. But now I do... so I'm happy again and will be better about "following" blog. I was so lost!

Also, do you know? Of a shopping cart solution for websites (like mine, BlueBetween.com) that will allow me to list items and also will mark them as sold when they are? That is my problem, I need them to be marked sold so they don't sell twice. Ideas?

Guess what! I'm so excited about the viking knit stuff. But... I'm waiting and waiting and waiting... for my end caps and findings so I can actually do something with them.

And guess what else! I'm so excited to start working on my Bead Soup Blog Party project... Ernie the fish is getting bored sitting around... but still, I'm waiting and waiting for my special supplies to show up. Since I never work with gold, I had to order some gold-filled things to go with my "soup". And it's still not here yet. Do you think the snowstorms all across the country are possibly holding up my mail? Probably, huh?



Oh, and don't you think?! That this One World One Heart thing is amazing? I have found several new blogs to follow and am loving all the comments I'm receiving. Fun! But there are far fewer people participating this year... it's not too late to join in, you know.

Oh, and guess what we did yesterday? Well, not we. Luke. Luke gets to do all the fun stuff these days. Anyway, HE started a metals class and is making a ring. He's learning to manipulate metal and use a torch to solder! How cool is that? We (and I do mean WE) need to learn how to make some fused glass cabs so he can learn to make bezels around them and make his own glass and metal works. Way too cool for a 10-year-old to be working on, don't you think?

And hey, speaking of 10-year-olds... we discovered this set of books that we L.O.V.E - and yes, it's about history and we both L.O.V.E them. Seriously. Your kid would too - so much better than those boring history books the schools are buying with your tax dollars. It's an 11 book set called "History Of Us" and it's interesting and engaging and we can't wait to read the next chapter. Really!



Well, that's it, my mind is blank again... isn't that a relief?!

2011 5th and Final One World One Heart (OWOH) Event

One World One Heart. It's that time of year again, one of those fun things that really brightens up these dark dreary days. I'm excited to play again - but sad that it's the last year for it.



Do you remember the rules? According to Lisa Swifka, the creator of OWOH:

One World One Heart is a worldwide event for bloggers only. It gives all those who blog a chance to meet and mingle and form connections with those they may not have otherwise met from all over the world. In the past 4 years this event has grown to over 1,000 participants with lasting friendships (and even one love connection) formed along the way. Think of it as a GIGANTIC open house allowing you to travel without ever leaving your home........going from blog to blog(in various countries) seeing the wonder each one has created and meeting all the fabulous people behind those blogs. As a bonus each blogger participant will offer up a "door prize or prizes"....just for dropping by, saying hello and seeing their world. It's really that easy.

So basically,

1.) Look around! Get to know people a little. See if it's a blog you'd like to follow all year... or maybe connect with them on Facebook? Whatever!

2.) Leave a comment in this, OWOH, thread to qualify for a chance to win,

3.) Go visit the rest of the participants and do it all over again!

Make sure you have a link to your own blog so that I can contact you if you win! I'll pick names randomly on February 17th.

Let's see, what would you like to know about me? I'm Pam. This is my third year playing OWOH. I'm a lampwork glass bead maker, sometimes jewelry maker, sometimes painter, sometimes gardener, sometimes home decorator (or fixer-upper)... always a mom, to Luke, my adored son, who is 10 and has taken me in directions I never expected or imagined (for example, we are homeschooling this year!), I'm also mom to Zoe the black dog and Tyger the silver tiger cat. And wife to Frank, of course, I wouldn't be here playing if it weren't for him... he's my biggest fan. Oh, yes, I am head baker of the Leo Bread Making Company, have you seen my loaves? I've only made 3, but they are going to get better and better! (Maybe I should stick to beads?) Well anyway, that's my intro, of sorts. Now it's my turn to get to know you!

OK, then, lets get to the goods. What will I give away this year? It looks like I have three offerings, giving three people chances to win. All three are handmade lampwork glass beads that I made. Big ones... over an inch tall, each of them. One is a sweet whimsical bird that I love, her name is Poppy, one is a graffiti peace bead, and one is a purple heart.








NEW!! ONE MORE BEAD ADDED!
Since Poppy the Bird Bead has been such a hit in my OWOH thread (I love all the comments!!), I've decided to offer up another bird - for a total of four prizes. Meet Claire:




OK, game on! I look forward to meeting some new bloggers, winning something for myself, and making three lucky people happy over here!

One World, One Heart Winners

First of all, I have to say, I think *I'm* the winner here. I got comment after comment (about 269 of them, actually) telling me how wonderful my beads are, how nice my blog is, how generous a giveaway... how great is that?! So many nice people with big hearts and kind words, making my day, again and again, every day for almost a month. Thank you everyone for all of it - I loved it, every last message from each of you! I wish I had been able to get to everyone else's blog to return the favor, but there was just not enough time. But I have a plan - I'm going to continue working my way through OWOH list and do some random commenting all year long - who says OWOH has to end on February 15th? My magic carpet still has some air in it, I've got travel plans!

OK, now on to the winners of my beads. The first winner gets first choice, the second will get to pick from the remaining two, and the third will get the one that is left. Ready?

The first winner is:





And the bead Melanie chose is PEACE:



The second winner is:





Her wish is "Health":



Which leaves "Love" for this winner!







Thanks again to everyone who played, I wish you all some peace, love and heath. xoxo, Pam aka The Blue Between.

The OWOH Prize Beads are Up!

I finally got my OWOH beads made and posted. Stop by this thread to leave a comment to enter your name to win one of them!

One World One Heart Magic Carpet Ride

This is the second year I am participating in OWOH - I love this event! This year the theme is "Magic Carpet Ride" and so I've decided I will give away three wishes. In the form of handmade glass beads of course, since that is what I do. But since I'm not really a magic genie, and I may not really be able to whip up a bead with any old wish on it, I'll tell you what the wishes are and the first winner will get first choice, the second will get to pick from the remaining two, and the third will get the one that is left, but I know it will be the perfect wish for them too!

Also, because I am not a magic genie, I did not get my beads ready in time. You don't want to know, other than the fact that my son has only been in school 9 days this month - that should tell you how behind I am on everything I've wanted to do this fresh new year.

But I will tell you this. One bead will be a PEACE bead, because who doesn't wish for peace? Another will be LOVE. And the third bead will be HEALTH. I will post pictures of them just as soon as humanly possible. Promise.

UPDATE: I have the beads! Let me show you!

First, I introduce to you "Love". I'm so happy with this one, I never get pink to stay pink, but this one did! It also has gold in it - real gold leaf. And the design has a sort of hidden abstract heart - do you see it?



And here is "Health", one side has sort of a healing hand, a reiki hand, and the other side has my tribal sunshine design, which I think is also healing in it's own way. It feels like a shaman bead to me. I hope it speaks to someone else too!





And finally, "Peace". It's a spring-time peace bead, in swirly greens, with a hint of blue, kind of tie-dye. Happy. For inner peace or world peace, whatever you seek.



There! Those are the prizes - I hope you like them.

Now, the details: All you have to do is leave a comment IN THIS THREAD. Really, that's it. Easy peasy. On February 15th, I'll drawn three names using some random number generator or something or other, and I'll contact the winners. So - leave contact information, a link to your blog or some way to reach you. Then go on to http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart.html and find more blogs to visit enter to win more great things - have fun... make some new friends... click to follow some new cool blogs... enjoy the magic carpet ride!