...and a giveaway!

As part of the "Grow Your Blog Party" hosted by Vicki at Two Bags Full, I'm having a very simple little celebratory giveaway.  

My first!  And the blog is only 4 days old!  I feel a little weepy.

Anyone can enter!

Just post a comment saying which of the two prizes you would like to win, and include a way to contact you (email, ravelry id, bloglink).  You don't have to have a blog, and you don't have to "follow" my blog (although of course that would be nice, but really, you don't have to!) One entry per person, please, and anonymous comments will not be entered.  Just email me at the address in my profile if you have any kind of problem posting.

Anyone can win, anywhere in the world!  

If you win, your prize will get an all-expenses-paid luxury trip in a series of mailbags, right to your very door!

~~~

There are two prizes, and I found both at the Snow Leopard Trust.

I love the Snow Leopard Trust.  They approach a complicated conservation problem in a culturally-sensitive, multi-faceted way, and they do it really, really well.  Animals, indigenous peoples, cultures, and habitats all benefit.  Love. Them.

~~~

Now the prizes!

First, this itsy-bitsy embroidered coin purse:

These little purses are made by women living in the Sagsai region of Mongolia.  The designs are traditional.

This one is 4" square, made of chocolate brown cotton and embroidered in turquoise and rich purple.  It is fully lined, and has a zipper across one entire end, and a little grab-loop.  I use mine for knitting notions, like stitch markers and point protectors.

And a tape measure.  And fold-up scissors.  And you get the picture  ;)

The same embroidery colors are reversed on the other side.  Cute, no?

If you would like to win the embroidered coin purse, just shout out "coin purse!" in your comment.

~~~~~

The second prize is one of these felted wool eyeglass cases.  I couldn't choose one, so I got two, and now YOU have to choose.

(So glad that pressure is off!)

Each has a traditional Krygyz design embroidered on the front.  The back is solid felt in the same color as the front, either a nice camel tan or a rich dark grey.  They are about 7" by 3.5", are lined in soft cotton, and are open at one end.

If you would rather win an eyeglass case than a tiny embroidered coin purse, just say, "Tan case!" or "Grey case!" in your comment, and your name will be entered in the eyeglass case drawing.

~~~

Entries are open until midnight Eastern Time, Thursday, 31st January.
I will draw the winners and announce them on this blog

on Friday, the 1st of February.

Depending on the number of entries, the drawing will be done using either slips of paper in a hat (1 to 30 entries per prize) or a random number generator (31 to one billion entries).  It's up to you!

Thank you for visiting, and good luck  :)

~~~~~

altered perception

Snow sometimes alters our perception on a landscape-scale, when a blanket of deep snow conceals familiar landmarks in a way that can be delightfully disorienting.

Unless one is trying to get from Point A to Point B, in which case the disorientation may be slightly less than delightful.

Until a familiar tree or stone appears... 

...and instantly the entire landscape clicks into place again.

~~~

Snow can also transform tiny, familiar things into something

new and strange.

I admired this tall plant with its delicately balanced collection of loose snow for some time before I suddenly recognized it as an old friend;

one of the native asters whose flowers herald the arrival  of Autumn.

From now on, the Autumn asters will also remind me of Winter.

~~~~~