Guess How Many Beads!

For my first blog contest, I wanted to do something fun that I hadn't seen before. I decided I would have a "Guess How Many Beads in the Jar" contest. I made these beads out of scrapbooking paper, and they looked so pretty in the jar that I left them there as a decoration instead of making any jewelry out of them.

By doing this contest, I'm not being a very good marketer--I'm not sending you to my jewelry store, Aimee Dars Designs, to look at my pieces. So I would appreciate it if you would head over to the store and take a look at the offerings.

Rules:
1) Guess how many handmade paper beads are in the jar and send your guess to me at aimeedarsdesigns@gmail.com. You can leave your guess in the comments, too, but that might give entrants after you an unfair advantage. (Think of the Price is Right.)
2) Send your entry by August 5, 2008 for consideration. Only one entry per person.
3) The person who guesses the closest without going over wins. If no one fits that bill, the person who is closest and has gone over wins. If the winning number is selected by two or more people, a drawing will determine the winner.

PRIZE:
Any single item in my jewelry shop up to $25.00. Alternatively, you may take $25.00 off a single item that is priced over $25.00.

Good luck!

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Today, we went out to the Cornell Lab or Ornithology/Sapsucker Woods Bird Sanctuary. While we didn't see a lot of birds, we could hear them, and the area is beautiful. Walking with George is fun because he has such a good eye for small insects, mushroom, etc. Check our our pictures on flickr. Usually, George is vexed that I take pictures of everything, but he enjoyed taking photographs on our walk.

Peace is Attitude

As I was driving home today, an old woman standing on the corner of State and Green, near the Commons, was holding a sign proclaiming "Peace is Attitude." She looked to be in her late 70s or early 80s, certainly older looking that my grandpa. I though her poster had a nice sentiment, so I waved at her. I would have taken her photo had I not been driving. At the same time, I am curious about her motivations--just trying to make the world more peaceful in general or protesting something specific? I guess it doesn't matter in the end. This is Ithaca, after all.

Postcrossing

I've always loved postcards, and even, in the late 1990s/early 2000s tried to find folks living outside the United States who might be willing to trade postcards. While browsing groups on flickr (my latest obsession), I found a reference to Postcrossing. Curious, I went to their homepage and learned that Postcrossing is a site that facilitates postcard exchanges. Newcomers can send up to five postcards and in return, they receive five (if their assigned partner reciprocates). Each exchange is given a code so that the recipient can log the postcard once it is received. As members gain more experience, they can exchange more postcards at a time. I immediately signed up and requested five addresses. They are going to Florida, Moscow, China, Finland, and Germany!

Postcrossing Site
Postcrossing Blog

Visit Me on Flickr!

Dar Williams' After All

The Green World remains my favorite Dar Williams' album, and this song always wrenches my heart.

Deaths Per Minute

Check out Gerry Choo's blog entry, "Staggering." He documents the number of animals slaughtered each minute for food consumption.

Link

Brave survivors of the Midwest floods

Brave survivors of the Midwest floods.
Originally uploaded by Farm Sanctuary

The Farm Sanctuary has posted another round of amazing pictures of the pigs rescued from the Midwest floods. These pigs are so lucky. If they had not been relinquished by the factory farms owning them, they would have undoubtedly perished.

Now, they are safe from becoming ham, pork, bacon, or any kind of meat product.

Thanks Farm Sanctuary for all you do!

"EFA and AWBAR BBF" Treasury

Thanks to Sharon of Sharon Foster Art for putting my double spiral chain maille bracelet with pig charm in her recent "EFA and AWBAR BBF" treasury on Etsy!



The treasury will be available through tomorrow, so please click here to visit and please do leave a comment!