My Mother's Quilts: Devotions from a Legacy of Needlework Book Review #MyMothersQuilts #FlyBy

I received My Mother's Quilts free to facilitate this review. Affiliate links may be in this posting. Thanks for supporting my blog.

My Mother's Quilts: Devotions from a Legacy of Needlework is a devotional book by Ramona Richards that is about love, legacy, tradition, family and faith. This book features thirty different heirloom quilts, some that are over 100 years old that have been handed down throughout the author's family for generations. These have been made by the author's mother and grandmother, every stitch done with love and care. The short, but sweet devotions are personal stories, memories, and lessons from the author, each one having a full color photo of a quilt, the story title, the quilts name, scripture, and a "prayer starter" that goes with it.

My mother-in-law is a fine quilter. She made my husband and I a gorgeous quilt with dolphins for our wedding present. It is absolutely breathtaking and we will cherish it always. She has also made my kids quilts as well and these will be handed down and kept for generations and generations.

When my daughter Tatiana was sick in the hospital she usually would get a blanket of some sort as a gift from a stranger we had never met. They created a piece of warmth and beauty to comfort the ill. Some of these blankets were quilts. These I will also keep since she treasured them when she was still with us on this earth and as a token of the gift givers kindness.

I love homemade and handmade gifts. They are so special and one of a kind. Each one a symbol of love, devotion, and work for the person gifted them. They really are priceless.

My Mother's Quilts is a book that speaks to the heart and soul. I love reading the stories and looking at the pictures of the gorgeous quilts.

CONTEST OFFER!
Win one of the quilts featured in #MyMothersQuilts by Ramona Richards. Also up for grabs: loads of other prizes including quilting hand warmers, coloring books, and 25 signed copies of Ramona’s book. Winners will be emailed after the contest ends on June 30, 2016. Click the image to get started!

SOCIAL • CORNER
Official Website for the Contest - http://bit.ly/MothersQuilts
Ramona Richard's Website - http://www.ramonarichards.com/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ramona.richards
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ramonarichards @ramonarichards
Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/176771.Ramona_Richards
Hashtags - #MyMothersQuilts #FlyBy

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Or you can also purchase the book at Shop Better Books for $11 currently.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER:  (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC / Flyby Promotions for providing a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission if you click a link and make a purchase. Thank you for supporting my blog!

Shimmer & Splash The Sparkling World of Sealife by Jim Arnosky Book Review and Giveaway

I received this book for free to facilitate this review. This post has affiliate links.

Shimmer & Splash by Jim Arnosky is a great book about sea life. It has wonderful painted illustrations/penciled sketches and information about the creatures within the book. Some of the pages are giant fold-out pages of life-size fish and other underwater creatures. The contents are very helpful because they show which pages are fold-out.

This book has nearly 200 sea creatures, from a tiny Fiddler Crab to an enormous Orca Whale. This book has dolphins, sting rays, coral, sharks, whales, fish, jelly fish, crabs, etc. I love learning more about the ocean depths and its wildlife.

My favorite parts of the book were about the dolphins and whales because cetaceans are some of my favorite sea creatures because of their intelligence and playfulness. I also enjoyed learning about the coral reef. They are really very interesting, colorful, and have a wide range of shapes. My boys loved the parts about the sharks.We didn't know that there are so many different tail shapes from one shark to the next.

My family enjoyed this book immensely. It has been given an honorary spot on our shelf for ocean/sea related books. Yes, we have a whole bookshelf dedicated to those books, mainly dolphin and whale ones. I would highly recommend it for your home book collection or library! It is great for homeschooling or for the child who loves oceanography or marine-biology too because of all the neat educational information jam packed inside.

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You can purchase Shimmer & Splash on Amazon.com for $10.76 at time of posting.

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Prize: 1 winner will win a copy of the Shimmer & Splash Book free from Sterling Publishing.

I am trying out Rafflecopter on my blog. Please click on this post link if you do not see the script for it below. Also, if there is anything that is wrong with it let me know by emailing me: finamoon AT gmail DOT com I will try my best at fixing it. Thanks for being awesome readers!

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DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product for free to facilitate my review and the opportunity to give another away to my readers. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review. This post has affiliate links. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Salvador Kitti The Kiss Cosmetic Bag Review

Salvador Kitti is an Etsy store where you can find neat gifts and accessories for the animal lover in all of us. You can find Key Cases, Change Purses, Wristlets, Cosmetic Bags, Paw Pouch, Kitten Purse, Purfect Tote, Cross Body Handbags, Vegan Leather Handbags, Messenger Bags, Backpacks and Book Bags, Watches, Holiday Ornaments and Apparel. They feature the original artwork of Amy Pugh-Campos on them. She does artwork of pets and animals that are wild, exotic and/or endangered. The store was named after Amy's cat, Salvador, who was born in her art studio and loved to paint as much as she did.

I chose the cosmetic bag in The Kiss, where two dolphins are kissing, to review for free because I love dolphins! I love how intelligent they are and how they glide through the water with ease. My husband and I met in a dolphin discussion forum online and we had dolphin alter egos on there (mine Finamoon and his Afalina)...so dolphins kissing is a great metaphor for him and I. Brian even made me a snow sculpture out of snow in Ohio to symbolize our love.

This cosmetic bag is great for makeup or a pencil case for kids. You can also put a few toiletries in it for travel. It is made of water resistant microfiber to keep your things inside protected. The image of the dolphin on this bag is taken from an oil painting and is vibrant, deep blues. It is complete with a heart zipper pull and two pockets to hold things on the inside.

BUY IT
You can buy Salvador Kitti products on Etsy. I love their holiday ornaments too! These are so perfect for this time of year to hang on the Christmas tree! The smaller gifts and accessories are great for stocking stuffers and larger ones for wrapping to put under your tree. Take a look at their great selection of animals, you'll be sure to find one for your animal lover or you can get them a gift certificate so they can choose.

DISCLOSURE/DISCLAIMER: I received product for free to review. My thoughts are mine and my family's own opinion and have not been altered by anyone else. I did not receive any other compensation for doing this review.

bTrendie Review

bTrendie is an exclusive shopping network where moms and moms-to-be can shop for fabulous products (most are name brands, designer brands, brands that aren't in stores yet, and brands you don't see often or at all in the USA) at amazing prices (up to 60% off!). There is stuff for mom, home, and baby on bTrendie. Sometimes they even hold great giveaways!

In August I purchased a Cloud B Dozy Dolphin On The Go for my daughter, Teela, from bTrendie at a wonderful 40% off the retail! I thought it was a sweet deal then, but I had to pay shipping...now they are having a Cloud B event that gets you the same 40% off as I did, but with FREE SHIPPING! I guess for me it just goes to show that the saying early bird gets the worm isn't always true, but the saying will be true for you!

Right now they have other Cloud B products listed other than the dolphin too...all at 40% off with free shipping. They also have a trendy designer handbags event going on now. Both events close September 13th at 12pm EST. After that they will have other events starting up with other fabulous deals!

Don't miss out! Go get some trendy mom and mom-to-be products at the exclusive shopping club bTrendie!

There's absolutely no catch -- membership is free. But, since membership is by invitation-only, consider yourself invited! Use the invitation link to get into the site.

Hurry and check it out for yourself!

Having a Whale of a Time

My favorite animals are whales, dolphins, and porpoises (cetaceans). Ever since I was a little girl I was fascinated with them. My first time at Sea World was in California when I was 4 years old and I remember how great I felt just watching them at the viewing window glide back and forth in the water so gracefully. In sixth grade my teacher used the Voyage of the Mimi series to teach us and it was filled with great scenes with them spotting whales. I started a newspaper and magazine clipping notebook on them and it was filled quickly since I lived in Alaska at the time. I started reading books on them and writing notes. Every time there was a school paper to write I would try to incorporate them in it if I could. I wanted to be a cetacean biologist (cetologist) or marine biologist. As a child my home teachers from church took me to a museum in Alaska that was featuring mechanical whales and dolphins in an exhibit.

As a teen I wanted one of those Shamu Cruisers to drive around :) I was into science fiction books like Animorphs and Deep Wizardry because of the whales and dolphins in them. I was introduced to a dolphin discussion forum called POD (Place of Dolphins) by one of my Animorphs role playing buddies and that is where I met my husband. He was in Ohio at the time and I was in Utah. We also chatted by messenger and a web camera with video chat. He came to visit me in person the day before my birthday in May of 1999 and in a whirlwind wedding we were married in June of that same year in his parents' backyard. Some say we were crazy, but we were in love and still are! He is the love of my life and I am so glad to have been introduced to POD because I don't know where I would be without him and my 4 wonderful children!

Before I moved to Oregon I went to Newport and went whale watching with my husband with Marine Discovery Tours. We also went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and I wished we were there when Keiko was so that I could have seen him before they let him back in the wild. We also took a trip to Las Vegas, Nevada and went to the Mirage Hotel where Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat is. Generally that, shopping, a few shows, and my sister's family would be my only reason to visit there because my sister lives and works in Las Vegas now that she is married.

After three of our children were born we lived in Orlando, Florida for a while and spent a lot of time together at Sea World there. I envy the dolphin and whale trainers there because they get to spend their whole day with them and get paid for it. I miss Orlando a lot. We go back and visit every now and then. Oregon is fun too, but I miss living as close to the coast as I used to. Now the Sea World in Orlando has a great new water park called Aquatica and it looks like so much fun!! They have a water slide called the Dolphin Plunge that goes beneath the water and their Commerson's Dolphins swim right beside you while you are shooting through a see through tube. Maybe I will get to go when my children are a little older and I don't have a baby in tow although she probably would love the lazy river.

I saw this awesome dolphin submersible watercraft not to long ago. It is made by Innespace and they just came out with a new model that is a two seater called the Seabreacher! It is really something to go and check out. Boy if I had the money to get one I would in a heartbeat. It is able to perform sustained dives, huge jumps, barrel rolls, and many other amazing acrobatic tricks.