Tuesday Cup of Cheer: Journals

Don't forget to go enter my giveaway!

During my freshman year of college, I had a college professor telling me to start a journal.  It could have been because if given the chance, I talked her ear off.  She thought it would do me good to get some things off my chest and onto paper.  (and out of her ears apparently!)

Regardless of the reason, I headed off to Target soon after that conversation.  I picked up a 5x7 spiral notebook with a gray faux suede cover and off-white lined pages.  It went with me everywhere I went.  It took me through good times, thoughtful days, and heartaches.

Fast forward ten years.  

There have been many a journal in my life.  My name is Caren and I'm a journalholic.  I don't write in one as much as I used to, but I still gravitate toward them in a book store.  I usually have one in my purse.  I haven't thrown a single one away.  Ever. :)

Today's Cup of Cheer features journals because they are close to my heart (like coffee from last week). 

1.  This journal is from Simply Simon by Dez.  I discovered her randomly on Etsy right after Christmas-time.  I must have been trying to get my yearly journal fix when I happened upon her shop.  I laid my eyes on her "Lucille" journal, and now it is MY Lucille journal.  :)

She has since relocated her shop to 1000 Markets, and still has these journals she makes from reclaimed books.  This one is called the Clare journal and is made from the C.S. Lewis book, Prince Caspian.  I adore what she does with these old books.  My Lucille journal is truly a treasure of mine.

2. My Green Bicycle journal comes from My Book of Lists on Etsy.  It is for those of us that love to make lists.  It comes with pages already designated for certain topics like "quotes to quote", "music to buy", "places to travel", and many more.  There are many designs to chose from, and they even offer customizable lists!

3.  The Eye Candy Journal is from Crab Apple Designs on Etsy.  This journal takes me WAY back.  Not only am I a teacher, but I hail from a family full of teachers.  I can remember sitting with my grandmother practicing cursive that looked just like this  that she would make me correct until it was the best I could make it.  

4.  Pretty babushkas all in a row comes from the brand new Etsy shop of Time for Tea Me.  These journals are eco friendly as well as stunning!  She has several different fabrics available for the covers (and I love them all!).  They are also refillable, so you can keep writing and writing and...  You get the idea.

Happy Tuesday!

A cup of cheer...for you!! A giveaway from LennyMud.

It's Monday folks!  How about a giveaway to ease the pain?

 

Lorrie of LennyMud was featured last week in my first installment of Tuesday Cup of Cheer.  She was so gracious to allow me to post her mugs on my baby-of-a-blog.  We have emailed back and forth and she has continued to show generosity by helping me figure out this whole blog world.  (Thank you again Lorrie!)

Lorrie even offered to sponsor a giveaway, and I humbly accepted!

Actually, I grinned really big and did a little happy dance, all while trying to be the cool chick Lorrie must have perceived me to be in order to offer a giveaway!  
 

On the the good stuff...

Up for grabs is the mug I featured last 

week on Tuesday Cup of Cheer.  (Pictured above)  

The fine print:

1. You must be a follower of this blog to enter and a US resident.

2. Visit Lennymud's Etsy shop.

3. Come back to this blog and let us know what your favorite item is in the comments section. (Just so you know, these original paintings on the left are my favorite--especially "Choose to Bee Happy"!  It is currently set as my desktop background) One comment per person please.

4.  You can get up to THREE EXTRA ENTRIES if you twitter about this giveaway,  share it on Facebook, or blog about it (post the link if possible!).  Just leave a separate comment for each entry.


The extra-fine print:
This giveaway closes Friday, May 7th.  
Winner will be chosen randomly by Random.org.
I will be uber jealous of whoever wins. :)

Tuesday Cup of Cheer...in its most literal sense.

Humor me and my long-windedness  for just a moment...  There are some fantastic pictures at the bottom of this post.

(yes Mr. Spellcheck, I realize long-windedness isn't a word)

The morning I had my last Tuesday Cup of Cheer entry scheduled to post (I can't believe I didn't know about scheduled posts before), I went into work to find another Ale-8 waiting for me in the fridge at work.  Attached was a post-it note telling me that I was appreciated and to have a good day.  I truly have the best coworker!

That evening I tried to imagine what a cup of cheer might look like.

hmm...

I realized that besides a can of diet coke (which has its own wonderful little package), the best cup of cheer I could ever ask for is coffee, with 2% milk, and Splenda.  I'm a simple gal.

That led me to think about the drab, sad, pitiful coffee cups I've been drinking out of since we got married.  BORING!  I won't even post a picture.  They are truly that sad.

Which led me to think how nice it would be to have a fabulous little coffee cup.  We coffee-lovers LOVE our coffee.  Why not love our coffee cups with the same passion?

So...I went in search of some coffee cups to love.  Here are my favorites from Etsy:

LennyMud

 This mug is called Indy Hippy Happy Flowers Mug.   What could be more cheerful than that?  Beyond all of my mommy/wife/daughter/teacher duties, there is a little hippie that lives deep down inside me.  When I was in school, my notebooks were covered in flower doodles something like this (although messier and less refined!).  Lorrie of LennyMud has a myriad of cups and other functional pottery pieces in her Etsy shop.  The humor in her pieces struck me immediately, and I dare you to take a look through her shop without having a good laugh!

 

craftyFOLK

This mug reminds me that typewriters, in all their glorious vintage-ness, are almost extinct.  I love the nod that Sarah has given to days gone by with this print!  I was one of the last classes in my high school that learned to type on a typewriter (remember those little whiteout papers?).  Sarah has a great blog over at craftyFOLK and I'm excited to read that she is in the process of turning this into fabric!!

 

Outiart

I asked Outi if I could post her mug here because I know there are days I need this moral boost in the morning.  If you're a mom, you know exactly what I'm talking about!  She is a super talented artist, and her blog is total eye candy!  You can find her shop on Etsy here.  She has all kinds of beautiful pottery and original paintings.

UrbanAntix

  This last one gave me a good giggle.  I can imagine giving this to my mom, who has a great sense of humor.  She would have a good time with this!  UrbanAntix's shop is filled with this mustache theme on different types of mugs and glasses.

Check out these great shops and stayed tuned for a great giveaway (my first!) coming soon!