Grow Your Blog Party 2015 and a Giveaway Contest!

Hello and welcome to Cynthia Crane's Art and Gardening Goodness! If you've landed here today you may well be visiting in response to the yearly Grow Your Blog party hosted by the fun and fabulous Vicki Boster of 2 Bags Full. I want to send a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Vicki for this generous effort - last year my blog went from under 10 followers to nearly 100 in just a few short weeks!

Thank you for visiting me and I hope you enjoy your stay! I promise to try and keep this post short and sweet because I know you have LOTS of other blogs to visit today. And because your visit means so much to me, I am having a GIVEAWAY CONTEST! But first a teeny weeny bit about me and the "skinny" on what you'll find on my blog.

My first outdoor show with my porcelain ceramics!

I have been a working artist for nearly 30 years and have recently begun working with porcelain ceramic clay. This is a photo of me at a show this past fall in nearby Berryville, VA.

Cacapon River in Morgan County, WV

I recently returned to my home state of West Virginia (east coast USA) after living in Virginia for over 30 years. It is good to be back - it is so wild and beautiful here! 

Harpers Ferry, WV

My home is very near the historically rich town of Harper's Ferry, WV.

The Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers at Harpers Ferry, WV

It is understood that this was the part of West Virginia that inspired John Denver to pen his famous song "Take Me Home Country Roads."

My new cutting garden.

When I'm not traveling the hills and valleys of this beautiful area, I can be found working on my gardens. I have lots of gardening ideas I'll be sharing here on my blog. I do a series I call "I'd Rather Be Gardening" because, well, I would probably rather be gardening than just about anything else!

Coming soon: new post on how I made this kitchen island.

I also enjoy decorating my home, which includes making over furniture. This island was made from pieces/parts I put together from here and there. I'll be blogging the details on that soon.

I collect tole painted trays.

We did a large kitchen reno right after we moved into our home. You can see and read more about that here. We "finished" about 6 mos ago and I've already made some changes to my decor. Like replacing a painting over the range with this lovely vintage tole painted tray. I found this tray at a shop on Etsy - VintageKeepsake - and I know I'll be shopping from her again. (I see she has added some new things recently, but the Vintage Shabby Chic Floral Picture is MINE so hands off ya hear?!!!) Just kidding! Actually I can't buy anything else until I get my buns back to work on my own Etsy shop and start making more pottery!

I love crafting!

I've been playing in my studio lately making everything BUT ceramics actually. I made some fabric covered balls today, something I've always wanted to do. 

Fabric covered balls.

And I had the perfect basket to display them in! Get the how-to here: The Feathered Nest. I love sharing how-to's, whether of my own creation or someone else's.

Well, I better get on with that GIVEAWAY CONTEST now! Because I adore making little sewing projects that involve buttons (and I hope you do, too!) I'm giving away this set of sweet little birdie buttons from my Etsy shop. They are hand sculpted from porcelain clay and have been hand painted and fired to stoneware temp so they are quite sturdy. I do suggest hand washing only, however!

Little birdie buttons from Cynthia Crane's Pottery

The buttons you receive are not this EXACT set, but are very similar. Here is a really sweet idea for a way to use one of these little buttons:

Fabric Wrap Bracelet by Etsy Shop AndreaCreates

I had Andrea of Etsy Shop AndreaCreates make this lovely bracelet for me, but they would be quite easy to make if you like to sew. I have a lovely pin board just for button craft ideas on my Pinterest. Take a look - lots of really pretty button projects on there!

My button GIVEAWAY CONTEST is open to anyone and everyone both near and far. All you have to do is comment on this post and be sure to leave me an email address to contact you if you win. The Contest closes on February 15 and the winner will be announced soon thereafter. 

Good luck everyone and thanks so much for visiting!

UPDATE: All entries were placed in his big old popcorn bowl and Papa Crane picked the winner - Congratulations to Andrea for winning my Buttons Giveaway! Many thanks to everyone for all of your lovely comments!