Lucina Jewelry

Remember when Katie and I won 2nd place in the BlogHer Scavenger Hunt? And the prize was $150 to spend at Lucina Jewelry? My beautiful jewelry arrived yesterday.


And not only is Shauna's jewelry lovely, but by purchasing it, you are supporting other women. From her website:


"Lucina works with fair trade importers to open up new markets for developing-world artisans and connect them with our kindred-spirit American designers.

Founded in 2005, Lucina brings together the craftsmanship of artisans in developing countries and the talents of American designers to create indulgent jewelry. Lucina designers use these handcrafted materials, sourced through fair trade importers, to create beautiful accessories that carry beautiful stories of resiliency, hope, and opportunity from around the world:

Afghanistan Exquisite fluorite gemstones are hand-carved by graduates of Women for Women International’s programs, which help women who were once victims of war become active participants in rebuilding their communities.

Colombia Brilliant red choclo and coffee-brown algarrobo seeds come from a fair trade jewelry workshop which trains at-risk youth and single mothers and provides a critical alternative to gangs, drugs and prostitution.

Ecuador Lustrous tagua beads and loops are hand-carved at family-run, fair trade workshops by artisans living in rural communities where employment opportunities are scarce.

Indonesia Radiant sterling silver and gold-fill beads and chains come from two different fair trade workshops in Bali that provides local silversmiths - including many single moms - a safe working environment and generous wage for their remarkable talents.

Rwanda Luxurious South African kid mohair scarves and wraps are hand-loomed in Rwanda by a group of talented women weavers, most of them genocide survivors and the sole providers for their families."



This jewelry is lovely and timeless. I picked out pieces that I will be proud to hand down to my daughter someday. Think about it. Adorn yourself with exquisite pieces of art, and help give hope and inspiration to women half a world away at the same time. Win-win.

Winners all around

I received an email last night:

"Congrats!

Hi there - You and Katie are our second place winners for the Photo Scavenger Hunt (BlogHer 2007) -- each winning a $150 GC from Lucina. Congrats! And enjoy. We appreciate your awesome efforts :) I'm sure Shauna will email you to get your information.
Best, Kristen Chase
--
Kristen Chase
Co-Founder/Editor
Cool Mom Picks
We find it, you flaunt it"

Yeah! Katie and I won 2nd place in the Great Hunt ! Now we each get to spend $150 at Lucina. Thanks so much to Liz and Kristen and all the fabulous ladies at Cool Mom Picks for sponsoring this contest. Katie and I had a lot of fun doing it.

******

I need to let you all know about your own chance to win, on another website. 5 Minutes for Mom is Giving One of You a 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV!!! This incredible prize is valued at $799.99 and is courtesy of Best Buy. How can you win it? Follow the link to the contest and see the details.

The Great BlogHer Photo Scavenger Hunt

I had not planned on participating in the Great Hunt once I realized I had left my camera in the hotel room for the entire first day of the conference. Then I talked to Liz and upon learning that I did not have to actually be in the pictures I decided, with her and Kristen's encouragement to take on the challenge. When I talked to ab-fab Katie about the pictures I still needed, she graciously agreed to partner up with me and find the rest (we got all but a craft blogger crafting, and bloggers from Maine and Louisiana). Here is our official entry:



FIVE POINTS EACH

1. A blogger from another country: Shauna is from Scotland (via Australia). And she is as delightful as she is pretty.




Bonus shot: GingaJoy (from England) who ASKED to have me take her picture with bacon in her mouth. Really.

2. A blogger from Washington State: The very beautiful Hola, Isabel.

3. A blogger from Oklahoma: Shannon from Rocks in my Dryer. She is a hoot and (hopefully) I've successfully recruited her to be a new Soccer Mom.

Katie's entry for Oklahoma (I'm putting in the bonus shots to spread the linky-love only): Holli

4. A blogger from Wisconsin, also from Katie: Chloe who may have been the youngest blogger there. 16 years old! And making $100 a week I think I heard.

5. A blogger you now love but you have never read/knew before: oh, so many choices. How about Kimberly at Sanity & The Solo Mom. She holds her own in what I remember to be an awesome (drunken) Harry Potter discussion.

6. Your blog idol. Again with the choices. Let's go with Ree since I practically pounced on her to drool incoherently at her feet. She's THAT awesome. And so famous she didn't even need business cards.

7. One of the BlogHer Act organizers. How about both? Emily McKhann and Cooper Munroe

8. A registered guy attendee. Here is the poor man I accosted as he went to find some coffee. Poor Jack.

TEN POINTS EACH

1. A blogger wearing black nail polish. Witness the toes of none other than BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone.

2. A blogger using a cell phone that isn't black or silver: Mrs Squirrel of Hollow Squirrel with her white cell phone.

3. A blogger twittering/social networking via mobile device: Tracy Russo from the John Edwards for President campaign.

4. A blogger using pen and paper: Waves Mowatt-Kane from AOL.

5. A blogger wearing braids: Gretchen. Very groovy chick. And pretty!

6. A blogger drinking something non-alcoholic. Here is Frema, pregnant, drinking her o.j. at breakfast. You can also find her here.

7. All three BlogHer founders in one picture.

15 POINTS EACH

1. A blogger with the same first name as you. May I present "twin Katie's" - my partner Katie and her "twin" Katie.

2. A blogger with the same shoe size. That would be me and Molly. How I heart Molly. Genuine, pretty and a hoot to boot. And a size 10 like me!

3. A Food blogger eating. Danielle, who acquiesced to my request to eat a Yahoo! jelly bean. And didn't even look at me cross-eyed.

4. A nursing mommy blogger nursing: I think I may have actually squealed with I met Kristen in person. And laughed out loud when I saw her "business cards."

5. Your blogging look-a-like: This was as close as I could get. Don't punish Susan for my trying to claim we were alike. She is a stunning woman, petite and lovely. In common? Short, red hair.

20 POINTS each

1. The newest blogger. HAS to be Jackie. Only started posting Tuesday, July 24th. And is now one of my BIFFs. Seriously. Check this amazing woman out.

2. The blogger that came the furthest. Katie has our entry for this one. May I present Jin who traveled here from Korea (you need some kind of "language pack" to view her site I think).

3. The blogger who writes for the most blogs. How about Pundit Mom who writes on 1) PunditMom, 2) PunditMom Reviews, 3) The Whinery (me too!), 4) MomsRising, 5) The Soccer Mom Vote (me too!), 6) PunditMom's Spin Cycle/Work It, Mom!, and 7) The Huffington Post. And she's a mom! I wish I had HALF of her energy.

4. The most bloggers in one photo: A shot of the Grand Ballroom while Elizabeth Edwards was speaking. Katie took this picture and said there are 220 women in it. Good luck linking to all those ladies!

Good lord, after all this work, I hope we win something Katie! Seriously, the Hunt was great fun and I met some amazing new ladies (and one man!). Now go check them all out!

Who Wants to Go to BlogHer for Free?

Anyone?

From The Parent Bloggers, May 12th entry. I'm nothing if not prompt in passing on the news, eh?


As parents we know that time is of the essence. Even simple tasks like taking a letter to the post office can take up a good chunk of your day. And so here at Parent Bloggers Network, we’re always happy to find websites and services that try to help us save time and make life easier. Not just because it’s nice to get things done quickly, but because we want time for ourselves.

So that we can go to BLOGHER!

And so, in conjunction with Light Iris, we’re asking you to write about “Where Does My Time Go?”

Perhaps it’s a post outlining your day, an essay on how quickly your children grow, or thoughts about how laundry can literally suck the life out of a perfectly good Thursday afternoon. How do you save time, make time, or use it poorly?

Post anytime on FRIDAY, JUNE 8 (not before or after). Send your posts to parentbloggers@gmail.com and make sure to link both Light Iris and Parent Bloggers Network somewhere in your post.

We’ll round everyone up, give you a snazzy button code, and a lucky winner (picked at random from all the essays) will receive a Fri/Sat ticket for the Blogher Conference. That’s a $200 value — but meeting and partying with your favorite bloggers in person? PRICELESS.
Feel free to spread the word and let people know about this great opportunity.

And check out an awesome new time saver for moms — Light Iris – a site for moms featuring a specialized Google search. No weeding through mattress ads and bedding reviews when all you want to know is how to get your kid to sleep. Search only the most meaningful parenting sites. And blogs, of course.

So mark your calendars!

And if you don’t win — Mommy Blogs Toronto is giving a ticket away too! Check it out.