Grow Your Blog!

I am so happy to see you here at my blog! I am excited to be participating in the "Grow Your Blog!!!" party  sponsored by Vicki at 2 Bags Full Blog. Vicki, thank you so much for hosting this party. I am looking forward to meeting and greeting other members of the blogging community. I love hearing from those who come to Betsy's Heartstrings and getting to know you through your comments here and following your blogs as well.

I would like to introduce myself .... I am Betsy, Child number 10 of my Parents, Sister number 9 to one Brother and eight Sisters, the Only Woman in the world to my "Perfect for Me" Hubby, Mother of 4 Girls and 1 Boy, and Gma to 2 Lovely Grandgirls. My Very First Post, which was only 3 months ago, talks about how my nickname, Betsy, came to be and about why I decided to write a blog. I hope you will read about it there.

I am a "creator" of many things. . .and I like to share them with people. I have taught many friends how to create lots of different things, and have loved learning how to do the creative things they know how to do. Some of the things I have learned and taught are playing the guitar, cross stitching, playing the piano, sewing children's clothing, sewing swimsuits, sewing curtains, sewing my own clothing, hanging wallpaper, cooking, baking, singing, silk ribbon embroidery, sewing and hand quilting quilts, making bread, designing floral arrangements, designing wedding party florals, wedding decorations, reception decorations, balloon bouquets, stamping cards, Tye dying, beading jewelry, cooking gluten free, vinyl and wood boards, embroidery with floss, primitive country painting, sewing dolls and doll clothing, bumper pads, sleepers for toddlers, and...the list goes on.....

There ARE some things I'd still like to learn to do, believe it or not! How to decorate cakes and cookies better, hand dip chocolates, Brazilian Embroidery, how to EDIT PICTURES....(it has been a DAY for me trying to get my new header pictures right and they are still not correct...oh, well...I am not perfect at anything I do!) paint vinyl floor mats, tole painting with detail, play the cello, play the mandolin, sing soprano, and improve on the piano....and that list goes on as well...

Here I post pictures things I am making, things that my friends are making, things I am dreaming about, things I am learning about and some things I want to do better at. I hope to have an exercise post where I keep track of my daily exercise, I have been doing better at that. I want to have a place where you can find Gluten Free Recipes that I use that are yummy and good, and give you the information I have gained about GF Cooking during the 12 years I have been eating Gluten Free. I hope to keep in touch with friends and family, lots of times they want to see what I am working on, and I want to show them! And I hope to make new friends and learn what is working for you in your lives and what I can glean from your knowledge. I like friends!

So, thanks for coming by! Please come again, follow my blog, if you'd like and if you post a comment I will come and see your blog, if you have one. AND....Since this is a PARTY, you may as well know that......

I LOVE a party and I love to bring a hostess gift when I go to one...but since I am the hostess, I will give a lucky person who leaves a comment on my page a "party goer" gift!
You don't have to have a blog, you don't have to post anything anywhere else except on the comment section of this post.

   This is what one of you will receive from me, as a "Thank You for Posting on my Blog at the Party" gift...
           
       1  ~ 2 serving bottle of Classic Sweet Flavored
                                  Non-Alcoholic
                      Sheffield Cider Sparkling Cider

If you click on the link above, you can read my post about this yummy stuff my hubby and his brothers and nephews make with the apples grown on our farm....

           
   You will ALSO receive

        1 ~ 2 serving bottle of Cherry/Apple Flavored
                               Non-Alcoholic
                    Sheffield Cider Sparkling Cider


        This stuff is really good over vanilla ice cream...it makes a special occasion "float"..... LOL
    





And I think you will need a. . . um  . . something new to YOU! to drink this fresh appley tasting stuff....don't you?

What do you think of a vintage champagne goblet that is very pretty with a wintery snowflake or star pattern etched in it? It is a very thin glass and I will pack it well so it does not break in shipment to you. I have made a wintery sparkly goblet marker just for your goblet with a heart and a heart key on it. I think a key to my heart is lovely comments on my blog.....and I love hearts....which will come as no surprise, I think! I will also include some bubble bath and some pretty soap and a few surprise bubble bath treats. That way you will be all ready to enjoy your sparkling cider in a beautiful goblet while you also enjoy a bubble bath!

So, it does not matter where you live, I will be happy to ship this gift to someone who leaves a comment on my blog...your comments warm my heart and help me get to know you....I hope that you enjoy your visits to Betsy's Heartstrings, and that you will return often. Please remember to leave me your email address so I can contact you, should you be the party favor winner! I will announce the winner here on February 1, 2013.

Hugs to your heart and happiness today and always,




If you would like to know more about our sparkling cider you can read my post about it Here!

Happy February 1st!!!  The day has come to announce the winner of my Grow Your Blog Party Favor!
This morning and early afternoon I have been relaxing and recovering a bit from a twisted ankle and subsequent fall yesterday.....it hurt...my shoulder, my arm, my elbow, my hip, my knee my ankle, my hand....and my pride....just a bit....I was walking along Las Vegas Boulevard with my hubby, heading to the Mon Ami Gabi Restaurant at the Paris Hotel for lunch. A friend of mine (who has a vintage antiques and gifts boutique in her home the first weekend of a each month, which is another post in and of itself!) has a son who is a chef there and we were taking him a bottle of our Vintage Dry Sparkling Cider. I had carried the large bottle in my purse all day, the day before, because he had not been at work the first time we went. So, my upper arms were sore from that, and are STILL sore from that, BEFORE the fall....hmmm....I am SUCH a clutz, I do that kind of thing so often... So, this morning, I couldn't walk well...my foot is swollen and I pretty much hurt from head to toe...on one side of my body...
Okay, Mrs. ADD, get back on track....I used a random number generator to come up with winning number, and then counted the posts and the person who posted 10th became my winner...and

The Winner Is....

Joey Lea of Lady Locust

at The Locust Blossom Blog

Congratulations, Joey Lea! It looks like you will be enjoying a bubble bath with sparkling cider soon! I hope to get it into the mail to you the beginning of the week at the latest! 

Thank you all for visiting my blog, and I hope you that became followers will enjoy what I post. It has been such fun to get to know you and I look forward to getting to know you better! I wish I could send all of you something....I give a gift to everyone that comes to my home on Christmas Eve, so this is feeling foreign for me to give just one gift....I hope I give you the gift of beauty, or laughter or comfort when you visit my blog...I'll do more giveaways, I promise! 

Hugs from my heart to yours,

Betsy

My First Post!

Memories tug at my heartstrings, Memories of sisters and brother,
But the fondest of all, that I can recall, are the memories 
of Father and Mother.

As the youngest in a family of 12, I observed our mother sewing most of our clothes, making dresses for weddings and quilts for babies, cooking yummy food, giving generously and making do with what she had. I loved everything old in our home and in the homes of my grandparents. I recall sitting next to my mother, attempting to embroider...I did not have her patience, but I longed to be able to sew beautiful things like she did. I would spend hours in her bedroom arranging the jewelry in her jewelry box, some of which was her mother's, imagining how lovely I would look when I was old enough to wear her jewelry and dresses. She was so pretty, and I wanted to be pretty just like her! At a young age, I began making gifts for my family and friends as my sisters had learned to do, birthday cards, stuffed animals, candles in pretty old Avon creme containers, necklaces, pictures, dolls... I loved looking through mother's sewing room, digging into boxes containing fabrics, tins with buttons, seam bindings and rick rack, ribbons and laces. I looked through her stacks of fabrics, dreaming of what I could make with them. She encouraged me to create and it has become a part of who I am.

***Sometimes, MANY TIMES A DAY!!, it gets in my way....I have so many ideas going through my head I can't keep up with me.

I struggle to choose and prioritize....I seem to want to do it all...NOW!!  They always told me I could....but no one knew how much "all" was going through MY head! SO, at 50 + years old, I am reevaluating my situation in life and determining what I will keep, and what I will let go...it is going to be hard for me....I love too may things....but I know the Lord will guide me through it and love me through it so I can become the me that He wants me to be...

This wonderful family of mine gave me the nickname "Betsy".  I was the new baby sister, and most of them were calling me "Netsy", short for "Lanette", my first name. Jody, the sister on the top left, had really been hoping for a baby brother, but she was rather put out when she got ME instead! Jody had a preference for "Betsy", and as an offering of peace to Jody, the nickname became mine. These kindred spirits have lifted, tickled, encouraged, spanked, sang with me, celebrated, cried, rejoiced, held and hugged me throughout my life. We adore and miss our dear  parents, but we continue to live and love as siblings. And though we may irritate each other at times, we work through it and forgive each other, just as Family ought to do...Thank You, Daddy, Mama and Sibling Friends...you are tightly wrapped in my Heartstrings....never to be released....