Two Chances to Win

ATTENTION:

Not ONE but TWO chances to win from my Etsy shop and I'm going to let you all know where to go to enter :)

1st Chance:

Head over to Yes, Teacher! to enter to win $25 to spend on whatever you like in my shop! Maybe you'd spend it on this...

You can also find a special discount code at Yes, Teacher!

So either way- you're a winner!



2nd Chance:

If you make your way over to {Hiya Luv} you could win this one of a kind wine canvas...

There you have it! Not ONE but TWO chances to win. I hope you take advantage of these two giveaways and have a great day :) 

Winey Wednesday #6

Happy Winey Wednesday everyone! Today I'm taking a "time out" with Mama Pea from Growing Sweet Pea and of the beautiful Etsy shop of the same name, Growing Sweet Pea- The Shop where she draws fantastic personal cartoons. Now here is Mama Pea to explain to you all why we are taking a "time out" today...

Hi, I'm Mama Pea from Growing Sweet Pea, a blog where I post my cartoon drawings inspired by life as a mom. Thanks to Lauren for letting me guest post.

For this edition of Winey Wednesday, a toast to all the mothers out there,

(funkymonkeythreads)

(Simple and Sassy)

with a special wine created just for moms:

Mommy's Time Out. Yes, that's really the name of the wine (cue chuckles). Here's the label:

(via)

Mommy's Time Out meets my top two criteria for choosing a bottle of wine at my local wine & spirits shop: (1) it's inexpensive (less than $10!), and (2) I like the label.

Considering the affordable price tag, I think the MTO Pinot Grigio has a nice taste. I'm no wine connoisseur, so rather than attempting to describe the flavor, I will just share what's posted on the website:

"We all know that being a mommy is a difficult job. A Mommy's Time Out is a well-deserved break. These wines are delicate and fruity. They come from some of the finest vineyards in Italy where the best grapes are vinified, resulting in a long lasting finish. They are a great complement to food, or may be served as an aperitif."

Even if you're not a mother, a bottle of Mommy's Time Out, especially if it were embellished with one of Lauren's wine blooms, would make a fun gift for a mom in your life. (Mother's Day is just around the corner.)

(Elephant's Trunk)

Now please excuse me while I go enjoy a Time Out...

(KeepCalmShop)

Cheers!


Share the Winey Wednesday Love: 

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Tickle Me Tuesdays

Sarah over at the blog, Yes, Teacher! does a fun post every Tuesday called Tickle me Tuesdays where you post 1-5 items that have tickled your fancy lately. This is my first week linking up but today my post is about pillows! I've been crazy about pillows lately for some reason and here are a few of my favorites...

Drawing Room Patchwork Pillow from: Nestables

Light Grey Rose Pillow from: Bedbuggs

Sunbrella Pillow with Gnome from: Bag Full of Posies

Cozy Letter Pillows from: Shop Dirt Sa

Birds of the Sea from: Madison Reece Designs

Go see what everyone else is linking up for Tickle Me Tuesdays

New Shop Item

I am asking tonight for a little advice and feedback from all of you. A few backs I painted this love canvas and I received a lot of positive feedback and wonderful comments from all of you. I got to thinking how could I incorporate canvases like the love canvas. So I decided to paint some canvases with different types of wine on them. I want to know what you all think. I'd love to hear any feedback you may have for me. Right now I have two pieces and I haven't decided yet if I should list them in my shop or not. So here they are and I'd love to hear what you think...

T-Shirt Printing

Recently I received a sample t-shirt from the company T-Shirt Printing and I want you all to know if you're looking for a t-shirt printing company for a great value and quality product you should check out T-Shirt Printing. They don't just print on t-shirts they also have hoodies, sweatshirts, hats, and more. Its a great way to market your handmade business by having apparel with your logo printed. The sample t-shirt I received was great quality and the screen printing was of high quality. 

Want to know a little more about T-Shirt Printing? Check out what they have to saw about themselves on their website...

Here at TshirtPrinting.net we have over twenty years experience in the screen printing industry and take pride in offering an honest, easy to understand way of doing business. We believe that you, our customer, are searching for someone to fulfil your printing needs without stress and with your satisfaction being our main aim.

We have tried to make this site as straightforward as possible and realise that most of our existing customers welcome speaking to a real person who is eager to help and listen to your requirements so that we can use our experience to the full.  Please call to see if we are the kind of people you would like to do your work for you. Our free phone line is 0800 046 7633.

To all our customers past and present we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your custom and continued support. Cheers.

Saturday Snapshop- Junior Prom

I'm participating this week in Yellow Songbird's Snaphshot Linky Party and I happened to find this old photo this week of me at my junior prom. 

Yes, I was lucky enough to wear a boot to prom. I had fractured my shin playing soccer so I had to pick a long dress and wear one flip flop-ha ha. Happy Saturday everyone! 

My Story

I've attempted to write this post 5-8 times and always stopped so if you are reading this I've muster up enough guts to finally post this. 
Sometimes writing can be so therapeutic and that is why I've decided to do a post titled, "my story". I'm going to be honest with everyone when telling my story and I'm not good at being completely open but since I started blogging I've felt so much love and compassion from all of you I thought this would be a great place to start working on being more open.  


For those of you who don't know my story I recently (last July) moved to Texas with my boyfriend. Yes I know how that sounds. People always look at me and I know they begin to judge as soon as I saw I picked up and moved away from my family for a boy. Here is another kicker to the story I was one year away from graduating at the University of Colorado... let the judging begin.

{via}

When I first announced to my parents that I would be moving with my boyfriend (Brendan) to San Antonio they were very less than thrilled as you can imagine. I continued to hear, "you only have one year left at CU, why not finish?". I've never really been open about my reasoning for leaving until now.

This is my family (yes we brought along our dogs for a family picture). We are all extremely close and enjoy spending time together. This did not make my decision to move easy at all. I was at CU for three years and the whole three years I wasn't happy. 

{via}

That is CU Boulder, how can I not be happy? I constantly asked myself this question for three years. I had amazing friends. I had fantastic job as a nanny and I was 45 minutes away from my family. I had a hard time admitting to everyone about how unhappy I was. When people questioned me about how I was enjoying school and my responses were always something forced about honestly a lie. It was easier than telling people, "I'm miserable". In my sophomore year of college I began seeing Brendan. Brendan and I went to high school together but went to different colleges. We got together over a Thanksgiving break off from school and began doing the long distance thing. 

Brendan quickly become my best friend and I enjoyed every bit of time we were together which wasn't too much when I was in Colorado at CU and Brendan was at Mizzou in Missouri. Brendan is a year ahead of me in school so when Brendan graduated he began looking for jobs and we discussed that we wanted to go where Brendan found the best opportunity for a job. That happened to be in San Antonio. This is where one of the hardest things I've had to experience happened, telling my family I was moving. My Mom is my best friend, my Dad is my mentor and my Sister is my hero. How do I tell three of the most important people in my life that I am headed to San Antonio with my boyfriend. They were disappointed at first, I knew they would be. They still aren't quite over it, especially my Mom. The thing that is helping to bring us all back together is my family realizes how happy I am in a new setting and how happy Brendan makes me.

I don't think my family will ever completely understand my move but they're trying and things are healing. I now work full time at a golf course, I'm finishing up my last year of school online, we have a chocolate lab that I love to death and I love this blogging/handmade community that I have discovered. Thank you all for giving me new found confidence to try new things. I'm over the moon happy now although there will always be a hole in my heart from being away from my family. Maybe the future holds a situation in which we can all live close together again. 

That's my story.

Winey Wednesday #5

Happy Winey Wednesday Everyone! I am super exctied to have Ms. Jana here from the fabulous blog Giggles, Glitz and Glam and she has a fabulous shop you should also check out- Giggles, Glitz, and Glam Shop. Jana is going to turn all of you non-wine drinkers into wine drinkers today! Have you ever heard of Mascato? It is so delicious, but I'm going to stop blabbing and let Jana take it away...

Hello Elephant's Trunk! I am Jana from Giggles, Glitz & Glam!
I am joining you today as a non-wine drinker. So you are probably wondering why in the world would a non-wine drinker be posting on Winey Wednesdays. Well, I have found one wine that I like...I mean that I love!! It's the only wine that I will drink. I have tried a few others, but nothing is ever worth having a second glass.

However, I could drink an entire bottle of Moscato!
Here are the current bottles of moscato hanging out in my fridge.

A cheap version of moscato is the Barefoot & it's still pretty good.

This is by far my favorite bottle of moscato & still not very expensive which is nice. And so delicious!

I actually haven't opened this bottle of moscato yet & it was a gift to me for Christmas. Llano Estacado winery is in Lubbock where I went to college so my aunt brought this to me for Christmas. I can't wait to try it. See, I told you I wasn't a wine drinker because if I was it would have been opened by now. Plus I'm trying to get pregnant so I only drink during a two week span each month.

Here are two bottles I've already finished that are displayed above my counter tops in the kitchen.

Pretty good, but more expensive so I'd prefer a cheaper version! :)

Another cheap one & pretty good. I clearly thought so or there wouldn't be three of these empty bottles above my cabinets .

So there you have it. Moscato is a great wine for you non-wine drinkers. It's actually recommended as a dessert wine so it's sweet. I personally enjoy mine best in the bath tub with a good read.

So grab a bottle of moscato, fill up the tub with bubbles & grab a good book. Then let me know how you liked it.

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April Sponsors

Do you have an Etsy store, blog, small business or other handmade business? Are you looking for inexpensive advertising? Look no further than becoming a sponsor of The Elephant's Trunk. If you are interested send me an e-mail at: elephantstrunk42@gmail.com and I will be glad to provide you with stats for the Elephant's Trunk, pricing and what all is included with your sponsorship :) 

Take Your Blogger to Work Day

Happy Monday everyone! Today I am participating in Take Your Blogger to Work Day hosted by {Hiya Luv} 

I work at SilverHorn Golf Course. At the golf course I am an accountant and also order ladies' merchandise for the golf shop.

1. When you were growing up, what did you hope to become? What was your dream career?

When I was growing up it was always my dream to be an event planner. I wanted to plan big fun parties and weddings. I thought that would be the best job in the whole world. 

2. Through the years in elementary school, high school, college, etc. did your dream career evolve? What influenced you?

I joined my school's student council in elementary school and continued into my high school's student government. My favorite part about being involved in these groups was the event planning. I loved the whole process that was involved in planning events, dances, charity events, and more. I was so influenced by magazines and the internet. I would sit online and browse events and would be in awe of how talented people were. This is where I started discovering blogs and specifically those centered around events and party planning.

3. What is your career today? Is it your dream job? How did you get there? What do you hope for your career in the future?

My parents are golfers and so I've grown up around the golf industry my entire life. My Mom has been a merchandiser for two golf courses for 15 years. I've always loved going with her to look at new golf clothes lines and going to golf merchandiser shows. When I was 18 I decided to work a summer job at a golf course driving the beverage cart. I loved working outside and not to mention making lots of tips! It was this first summer that I fell in love with the golf industry. It was such a fun environment I knew I wanted to be around it for awhile. I've worked in the golf industry ever since.

4. What is your day like? What are your typical tasks? 

The golf course opens very early in the morning so I am usually at the course between 6am and 7am. As an accountant I am in charge of the deposits for the golf course, payroll, invoices and managing the courses petty checking accounts. So my day is mainly filled with numbers. The ladies' merchandise section isn't very large at the course so ordering ladies' clothes isn't something I handle on a daily basis- more so on a monthly basis. my day ends around 4pm.

5. What do you love about your job? What is challenging?

I love the laid back atmosphere of the golf industry and therefore my work environment is very laid back. The challenging part about my job is not overwhelming my self. There are a lot of little detail oriented tasks that I have to deal with on a daily basis and the challenging part of this is to make sure I don't overwhelm myself and manage my time wisely.  

6. Do you hope to stay in this job forever? Where do you see your career self in the future?

I love the golf industry and if I decided to continue to stay in this field I would like to move into a position of event and tournament sales. This would bring me closer to that dream of event planning but would still allow me to be in the laid back atmosphere of the golf industry.

7. How does your blog/shop/creativity contribute from your career? Or does it distract? 

The biggest help that my blog/shop has provided to my career is by allowing me to be in charge of the socially networking for the golf course. I've learned so much by blogging and owning a handmade online shop and this in turn has allowed me to take this knowledge to the course and use social media as a marketing tool.

One of my favorite parts of the golf course is the view! It is pretty nice to look at everyday. I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about where I work and I wish you all a happy Monday! Thanks Gina for hosting such a fun event :) 

New Accessory

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting my family out in Arizona. My Mom and I love to go shopping together and she had to introduce me to a fantastic home store in Arizona called Razmataz and it was awesome. The best part about this store is it has multiple locations and we went to the outlet and I couldn't believe the prices. I picked up a few pieces and my Mom offered to ship some of my purchases back to me. I did manage to carry on the above glass piece on the plane. This puppy was $10- yup you read that right, $10! If you live in Arizona you need to find the outlet Razmataz and check out all the accessories and they even have fantastic prices on furniture. I had our wine corks in a glass vase from Good Will which worked just fine but didn't have the wow factor that this vase had. I added some color to the vase by adding some split peas. As you can tell we have lots of wine to drink to fill this puppy up. For now this piece sits on our little bookshelf in our apartment but I can't wait to find a new place for it once we move into our new house! Have a great rest of your weekend everyone. 

Handmade Goodies

Hi, my name is Lauren and I have an addiction to handmade. 

Here are some of my recent handmade purchases. 

I purchased this key chain as a gift for my friend from Hoot Designs  

I bought this adorable pouch from {Hiya Luv} to hold my business cards.

I love personal items and I am so glad to have discovered Growing Sweet Pea where Shannon creates beautiful cartoons based on photographs you send her. Here is one she did of my boyfriend and I.

I also had a smaller cartoon drawn of our dog :) 

Last is a hair clip that I may have an obsession with from Two Lilies Boutique. I think I wear it everyday.