Friday, January 24, 2014

grow your blog and a little giveaway....


After meeting such amazing bloggers last year from Vicki's Grow Your Blog Party at 2 Bags Full, I knew that I wanted to join in again!  A big thank you to Vicki for setting up this event to connect bloggers from all over the globe!


For those of you popping over from the party my name is Nicole and this is where I like to share the little bits of life that make me happy.  I feel honored to be a part of such a beautiful community of bloggers who share what is good in the world through their own passions and creative ventures!
I truly believe that Pinterest would not be what it is today without the ingenuity of bloggers.  That behind all of those great ideas are bloggers who are creating, growing, crafting, baking, cooking, designing....you name it, you're doing it! And to that I say bravo!   
  

here at My Garden Diaries I like to...

visit other gardens 


create art and thrift {vintage is always good!}


share my adventures with these 3 little beans





work on my garden {the hope is to create a sanctuary on a basic suburban lot}



make things 
{garden trellis made from wire coat hangers}


create interior spaces


cook and bake


 continue to learn


So in the spirit of things, let's get on to the giveaway!

The Giveaway

In our town there is a not-for-profit shop called War Chest Boutique with so many beautiful handmade treasures made by at-risk women from all over the world.  The money goes back to these women and children to help them create a better life. 

An example of this being the "Dominican Jewelry Makers" Paid $5 per piece, and additional $2 is set aside for their education.  One necklace a day pays about the local minimum wage of $6 per day, three necklaces a day is equal to a college graduate teacher's salary of $17 per day.

Uganda, baskets of hope

via~warinternational.org

I will be giving away this glass beaded bracelet from the War Chest Boutique.  My hope is to spread the word about this amazing organization and support women who need our help.


How to Enter...

If you would like to enter this giveaway just leave a comment below!  It's open to all friends, old and new!  I will be announcing the winner on February 15th, so stay tuned!

If you are new here make sure to leave the name of your blog in your comment so I can pop over and follow along with you!!!

As always friends...happy making, baking, and growing!!!  



82 comments:

  1. Some of these photos are so green! I just want to be in those photos. Blergh :(

    ReplyDelete
  2. Count me in! Count me in!
    You have a great blog, sweetie!
    Your beans are getting bigger!
    xoxoxoxoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow, that is a great idea, I think I'll participate too!

    Beautiful pictures! Your blog is a joy to visit. ;)

    The giveaway prize is stunning! I'll make sure to link back here in my next post.

    Have an amazing weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey you! Great things you pointed out today and you are so right....blogging friends are the best and I am so grateful that we stumbled across each other! Add my name to your list in the giveaway....count me in!!
    Hugs, Shari

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fabulous, Nicole! That is a beautiful bracelet and a wonderful cause to support! Thank you for sharing this! Your blog is amazing, just like you are, friend! Sign me up for this bracelet, please!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Nicole-I already follow your blog and think it is lovely. Your story of the bracelet is lovely and for such a good cause. I admire that!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, Nicole. You GOT me. lol I rarely ever sign up for giveaways because I feel that I have been so very blessed...but....these are MY colors so the Devil made me put my name here!
    AND you KNOW I love your blog and your sweet little ones AND your gardens that you are creating. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. We are below zero here and it is SNOWING AGAIN!!!!! xo Diana

    ReplyDelete
  8. Beautiful bracelet Nicole - and such a worthy cause! Hope you're keeping warm in all the cold weather x

    ReplyDelete
  9. A beautiful bracelet. I love the photo of your art wall. Wish I had space and courage to do something like that.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am so happy that I found your wonderful blog a few months ago and became a follower. The beans are so cute. Looking forward to all the posts you will be making this year.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a great idea for a giveaway. Your blog has been brightening my days since I found you at last year's party. Have a wonderful day and hugs to the beans.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi, Nicole - back from my Christmas trip - recovered from a hellacious head cold (almost) - raring to go with the blogs! Beautiful photos here, as usual. The Beans are especially cute today - will be leaving here to go check out the War Chest Boutique...thank you for the link. What a great idea. XOXOXOXO Tanya

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Nicole, great intro to your blog! As you know I follow your blog for quite a while now and always enjoy your posts and see what you are up to. The photo of your three "Beans" is so cute! They must be the joy of your life. The bracelet is very beautiful, please put me in the drawing pool, and I would love to support this War Chest Boutique organization. I have to find out if they have a store in San Diego, too. Take care,
    Christina

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wonderful post! What a lovely bracelet!!! I found you earlier and am a follower and am looking forward to the GYB party too!
    ~Tanya

    ReplyDelete
  15. You know where to find me already Nicole! I do love your coathanger trellis, I had forgotten about this, I meant to look out for wire hangers, but I forgot. I will have to do the rounds of the charity shops and see if I can get some - if I remember!! I hope that lots of lovely new people find and follow your blog - Nicole is a great person all new persons to this blog!! xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your little beans are so sweet. They look like little angels. Enjoy every moment with them - the years fly by so fast.
    Stay warm up there.
    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  17. What a great cause, lovely three munchkins Nicole I love all the photos, have a Happy weekend :) Cuddles Emma

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a fabulous necklace! I try very hard to be a conscientious shopper and to support businesses that giveback, such as Toms, 4 All Humanity, etc. It makes shopping so much more pleasurable. I had forgotten about the coat hanger trellis, too, but it is just so clever.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Nicole. What a lovely way to highlight such a great organisation. Count me in, please. And thank you for all your lovely comments on my blog this past year. Much appreciated :-)

    ReplyDelete
  20. You rock girl. What an awesome organization. Love it.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lovely post Nicole, and what a beautiful giveaway-thanks for the chance So good to see ya at the party
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  22. Sounds a bit like the 10,000 Villages stores. Ever been there?

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'm so glad to have connected with you, Nicole. You are lovely and I enjoy your blog very much. I'd love to be entered in your giveaway, this is a beautiful bracelet for such a worthy cause. Thanks for the chance to win!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hey Nicole, great post ... and another great photo of "the beans" ;) The bracelet looks beautiful, and what a great way to share this message. Have fun tomorrow with the blog hopping. Wendy x

    ReplyDelete
  25. Lovely post and lovely green bracelet.

    I just noticed your new profile picture. It is heartwarming. :)

    ReplyDelete
  26. Glad to join you at the GYBP again. Love the beans pic and the hopscotch. I always loved to play hopscotch as a kid. Nice post and terrfic op for spreading your word. And I would wear the bracelet with great pride!!! PARTY ON! Aloha

    ReplyDelete
  27. Love the picture of the beans - the girls look so much like their lovely mama.

    I really want to learn more about the Uganda project.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The War Chest Boutique is fantastic. Thank you for sharing! I look forward to browsing their site a bit more. Your garden trellis made with coat hangers also caught my eye. I look forward to revisiting your blog in the future! ~Renee from monkeyandmutt.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  29. lovely post thank you for sharing - your little beans look adorable x

    ReplyDelete
  30. You had me with the coat hanger trellis and have been a follower since. Women supporting women - what a great cause. I'd love to win the bracelet!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Love the beans and love the store! Fair trade rocks!

    ReplyDelete
  32. This is a great post, Nicole! I hope you are enjoying the GYB party and that you are having a lovely weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Hey Nicole so happy to meet you! I love gardening, thrifting and cooking too. I love your efforts to support women in need...you have a super wonderful blog.. I am following along.. Stop on over and visit with me... Have a great day! Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
  34. A beautiful bracelet, and a very deserving cause. I love shops like this. I do hope you meet lots of new people via the GYB party. And thank you for the lovely giveaway. CJ xx

    ReplyDelete
  35. Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog Nicole! You are so blessed to have such a lovely family, lovely art and lovely gardens! Cindy from TheCranesNest.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. what a beautiful garden to dairy about ... gorgeous blooms. ( :
    hi there. i'm Beth from E. Lizard Breath Speaks - so nice to meet you through the Grow Your Blog get together/party.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Your garden is stunning, your 3 little beans are sooooo adorable. I more than happy to be a follower.

    ReplyDelete
  38. you have a beautiful blog. I am one of your new followers. Count me in for the beautiful bead bracelet.

    http://novicedecorator.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi nicole. Thank you for your lovely comment on my blog. Your children are beautiful and I'm definitely going to use your idea for garden trellis. The War Chest sounds like a fantastic project. Look forward to seeing how your garden grows.
    Gillx

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hey Nicole, I hope you've enjoyed the GYB party, it looks like such fun, I read about it just a day too late this year, but hopefully i can join in next. Love that picture of your beans, they are such cuties, i hope they enjoy the mocha cookies! What a thoughtful giveaway for such a good cause, so kind of you to use this as a chance to spread the word. Have a beautiful week! x

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hi, Nicole! The bracelet is beautiful and this is a great idea to promote a very worthy cause! I always love reading your blog. Your photos are so pretty and I love to hear about all the things you and your family do! It reminds me of when my 'beans' were young. Have a warm and wonderful week!!

    ReplyDelete
  42. Your garden is gorgeous! Cute little beans you have there too - lol

    ReplyDelete
  43. Hello,

    Nice to meet you.:)
    I would like to participate in your giveaway.
    petitearmoire2@gmail.com

    Greetings.

    Bernadett

    ReplyDelete
  44. Hey Girlfriend! Just popped over to wish you well in this years' GYB party. Can you believe it's one year ago through Vicki's party that we met?! Time does fly! Sorry I haven't been around much lately, trying to get some art done, and then the blog move to wordpress... and so on... Iet's just say I have some serious catching-up to do! :D
    Hope you gets lots of new followers this year my sweet blogging sister!
    Hugs always,
    Beth P

    ReplyDelete
  45. What a delightful stop on the GYB party train. I look forward to following your blog. And a big thumbs up to the War Chest Boutique - what a worthwhile cause to support.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Beautiful work...enjoyed this visit. New follower. I am having fun finding new bloggers to follow...love sewing and quilting. Greetings from Oklahoma, USA. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

    ReplyDelete
  47. Hi Nicole
    Good to meet you!
    I'm visiting from England!!

    ReplyDelete
  48. Great post Nicole! Yep, we are still here for sure, but I'm struggling with getting used to rural internet without freaking out, lol. It's a whole new world, lol! Hope you make lots of new friends in the party!

    ReplyDelete
  49. Hi NIcole... I am a new follower or yours from Grow Your Blog...your interests look so amazing! I love your gardens and am planning something like that for my yard this spring. I am in the high desert area so heat and full sun are a constant so hard to plant alot of things.. but I am going to try! And I LOVE "thrift" decor!
    Cheri, the quilting Nanny
    www.fabricandmemories.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  50. A lovely post for today...hope you have lots of new followers by the end of the hop....thank you for such a lovely giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Nicole you have a beautiful blog with the lovely pictures of your 3 little beans and the garden. I will be following you to see how they all develop! Drop by my blog for a visit if you want.

    ReplyDelete
  52. I am a new follower and a new blogger. We share the same gardening dreams. I also have three children and enjoy being creative with them...especially playing in the dirt. :) check out my blog if you get a chance.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Oh my goodness, your garden is wonderful!!!

    ReplyDelete
  54. Hi Nicole,

    Lovely to get to know you a little more - your little beans are so adorable and your garden is amazing -
    Many thanks for your kind visit to my blog and the kind words you left.
    Wishing you a happy new week
    hugs
    Carolyn

    ReplyDelete
  55. Hello Nicole. What a lovely idea, helping those ladies.

    ReplyDelete
  56. Hi Nicole, love your blog and your garden.. Your kids are such a darlings! Looking forward to see more of your beautiful garden and thanks so much for visiting my blog. Hugs:)

    ReplyDelete
  57. Hey lovely, such a beautiful idea for your giveaway. Your pic of you in your welcome section with your beans is just stunning. Happy week to you! xo

    ReplyDelete
  58. Love the picture of you and the little ones in the sidebar! Love your blog and will be trying to drop in more regularly this year :)

    ReplyDelete
  59. Hi Nicole, I've just popped in to visit your garden, from Grow your blog party. I loved your idea for helping those ladies. As you like gardening come & visit me you might enjoy my garden in rural France..

    ReplyDelete
  60. Amazing post!! I love all those pictures!

    XOXO!

    ReplyDelete
  61. Looking at the portrait of the kids I thought that t is amazing how quickly they are growing up Nicole! It seems like yesterday the youngest was a baby. Lovely giveaway and a great cause.

    ReplyDelete
  62. Oh my goodness, Nicole . . . your little beans are absolutely adorable! Look at those cheeks ~ just precious!

    Love your blog. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  63. What a fabulous giveaway! My gosh.. what superb idea! I just love this idea of connections... Count me in my girl! Hazel x

    P.S. Beautiful picture of you and your girls up there xxx And the beans are so big... growing like weeds.. oh dear you need to slow them down!!

    ReplyDelete
  64. Am visiting you from the GYB party... what a fun party it is! Have really enjoyed your blog post and am going now to follow you! Your three little "beans" are just adorable, and it looks as if you are doing a wonderful job of gardening in your yard. I also enjoyed your most current post and looks as if you have had alot of fun organizing your baking area....; and that the kids were also having alot of fun. great for good memories! Will look forward to seeing more of your blog, and hope that you might stop by and visit me at BUTTERFLY TALES. BYE FOR NOW.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Oh and your giveaway is lovely. I think that those projects are wonderful and have been to an international womens conference where many people sold projects from their villages. it was awesome. Definitely put me in on your giveaway list.

    ReplyDelete
  66. I'm dropping in from the GYB party. Love your little 'beans' who are great helpers in the garden, I'm sure. The coat hanger trellis you fashioned is pretty cool, and the source of your giveaway is admiral.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Hi Nicole, I'm visiting from Vicki's GYB party. The three beans, they are adorable! What happy faces. I love your gardens and your photos and that you create. I really love that you are supporting such a wonderful cause. I am going to go and check out their site when I am done here. Thank you for sharing because I didn't know about the organization at all. Never heard of them before. I hope you have a beautiful week and it was very nice to meet you. Bright blessings, Bird http://birdsearthyspirit.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  68. HI Nicole. I am visiting from the GYB party. You have a beautiful family. I loved following your blog and looking at all of your photos and art. Thank you for sharing the women's group. i have done medical trips to third world countries and know what abject poverty is. Anything we can do to help others is so important. I would be honored to be included in such a special give away. http://catieanscorner.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  69. Hey Nicole, Your garden photographs are lovely it must be fun to go around to all those different gardens. You have a very sweet looking family. And wow that bread looks amazing I am going to have to go eat now. It has been lovely getting to know you.

    Hugs
    Caroline

    ReplyDelete
  70. I'm so glad I came by! What luscious eye candy you posted in all your beautiful photos. The beans are precious - so precious. Thanks for letting me know about War International. A very worthy cause. Do visit http://www.tootsietime.com/ - you two have a lot in common - mainly gorgeous gardens.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Such a great idea for your giveaway... A great cause AND it's beautiful! Your wire hanger trellis is genious!

    ReplyDelete
  72. As a basket maker I love your blog and giveaway. I use the profits from my basket sales for China missions. Will be following so I can see what your garden grows! So nice to meet you! ~Terri

    ReplyDelete
  73. Hello , my name is Dawn your my one stop on the blog party, Hope that I soon will be friends with all of you cyber neighbors. Can’t wait to see more of your great projects in the making. My site http://overboardcreations.blogspot.com/ and contact info is ovr_brd@yahoo.com
    I don’t have a lot of blog time in for I just started blogging when I joined the blog party it was my New Year resolution. Got side track with Reading my 372 blog and more to go. but I like all things creative n thrifty. Enjoy the most is your wire trellis. love wire art.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Wow - such a beautiful blog - your designs are beautiful. I have subscribed to your RSS feed. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  75. Hi Nickie--thanks for visiting me via the GYBP :) I've enjoyed your blog--what beautiful gardens you have! what beautiful children you have! So glad to meet you. Blessings, Diana

    ReplyDelete
  76. Hello,

    We're visiting from the GYB party and you have a wonderful blog. Your children are adorable and your garden and home are lovely--what a lot of hard work! We'll be following you just to see what springs up!

    Deb and Kathy
    thesecondhandroses@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  77. Nicole, your little beans are so sweet. This is such a beautiful time in your life. So nice to meet your. Love the bracelet and it is so neat that you are sharing the information on it.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Hi Nicole, I am visiting late with the GYB party, from Germany. I think it will take me months to go through that list, life always comes "in the way" ;-) While browsing through your newer posts to get down here, I immediately knew I would be a new follower of yours. Love your topics, your pictures... the picture of your boy sowing is just so special.
    Have a great dey,
    Tina

    ReplyDelete
  79. Hi Nicole - thank you for participating in my GYB party again this year! I can see that you have already made more new friends -- that is wonderful! Your blog is lovely -- and that photo of your babes is just precious!

    You are the winner of my cookie giveaway -- can you please send me a private email with your mailing address? My friends who bake the cookies will send them right out to you!

    Congrats!

    Vicki

    ReplyDelete
  80. popping in via the GYBP - you have a beautiful blog and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit - so much I am now a follower!! - Kerrie http://channelbankcreations.blogspot.com.au

    ReplyDelete
  81. Nicole..what is a grow your blog event and tell me more about how blogger giveaways work? Newbie Nessie

    ReplyDelete

Your comments brighten my day! Thanks for stopping by!