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Friday, May 7, 2010

CHANGE YOUR FEED ADDRESS!

Hello all. Still having issues with the redirecting of my feed. So I have 300+ subscribers in Google Reader that it says I will lose unless you change the feed you are following for me. I'm sorry for this frustration. (I'm not even sure you'll see this message...) 


What you need to do is open your Google Reader and "Add a new feed" http://www.creativemadnessmama.com/feed/ 


When checking the old feed 
Google Reader shows 326 subscribers. 
When I check the new feed 
Google Reader shows only 40 subscribers. 

I don't know how to combine these. I thought that I did everything right through Feedburner, but now it just sent out an email stating that the feed is dead. So it seems if people don't manually move over I'm out of luck. And about to lose everyone. :( 

~ Margaret (MJ) Chind of Georgia, now to be in Tennessee 
Enginerd's wife and Mama to AppleBlossom (July 2009 8 lbs 2.3oz) 
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 
"You can never get a cup of tea large enough, or a book long enough to suit me." -C.S. Lewis
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Creative Madness - Quilts & Reviews





Saturday, May 1, 2010

New B&H Release for May 2010

Blaze of Glory (Sequel to Certain Jeopardy)

Release date May 1, 2010 from B&H
Sequel to Certain Jeopardy

Revell Books New Releases May 2010

It Had to Be You: A Novel (Weddings by Bella) 
It Had to Be You by Janice Thompson (Wedding by Bella, #3)
This Fine Life: A Novel 
This Fine Life by Eva Marie Everson

Easily both of these are on my Wishlist!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Come on over to my new wordpress home!!

I'm still working on trying to redirect feeds and such, but come on over and see me at my new online home and follow me! www.creativemadnessmama.com

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Still having issues

So in attempt to move over to wordpress I'm having tons of issues. Almost wishing I had not started it. Can anyone help me? I have not been able to find a way to move my current layout into a wp theme. I have tried to contact so many people now for help and I am so sick of people not returning emails. Ugh.

KIDS EVERYWHERE CELEBRATE LAUNCH OF MACHINE WASHABLE FOOTWEAR FROM PEDIPED!


 
 
 
Kids celebrate launch of machine washable footwear from pediped®
 
low rez.jpgHenderson, NV (April 2010) - Kids nationwide are celebrating the launch of pediped® footwear's Spring/Summer 2010 line of
machine washable footwear.  Thanks to this welcomed innovation, they now have the freedom to jump in any puddle that catches their attention, practice their running long jump until it's medal-worthy and slip-slide through the mud on the way home from school.   These machine washable shoes for kids 2-5 years of age will remain looking new as they are super-easy to clean.
 
Moms and kids (as well as their siblings and classmates) will be relieved to know that this pediped® Flex line extension features DRYZ® technology which resists odor development and helps prevent stinky feet!  DRYZ® insoles wick away moisture to help keep sweaty, little feet dry and comfortable. 
 
Designed with the active child in mind, this new machine washable collection features a lightweight, sporty construction.  The durable footwear, built to take a beating, includes toe caps, heel caps, breathable webbing and reinforcements throughout.  It also features pediped® footwear's unique Flex Fit System which enables the fit to be customized and/or the duration of wear to be extended up to two months as the child's feet grow.  All in all, this new machine washable line from pediped® footwear is a slam dunk!   Featured styles include Joelle/Joel and Adrian.  This machine washable pediped® line is available now at select retailers and atwww.pediped.com in EU sizes 20-29 (US sizes 5-12.5). At a recommended retail price of $48 USD/pair (MSRP), the shoes are an excellent value.
 

Kids should also be on the lookout for new Fall/Winter 2010 machine washable shoes from pediped® including Adrian in new color ways as well as new girls' styles.  All pediped® footwear containing DRYZ® technology will be machine washable as of Fall/Winter 2010.  The new Fall/Winter 2010 pediped® collection will be available at retail beginning July 2010.

  
DRYZ.jpg
MachineWashable.jpg         
 
 
 
 
About pediped®
pediped® footwear was launched in 2004 by Angela and Brian Edgeworth in their quest for the perfect soft-soled shoe for their first daughter. Exceptional quality, unsurpassed comfort and distinctive styling have made the award winning company one of the fastest-growing children's footwear brands in the United States. pediped® footwear is sold in over 3000 stores in the United States and 40 countries worldwide with an offering of more than 120 designs for boys and girls between their two lines, Originals and Flex. Originals (soft-soled shoes for newborns to age 2+) and Flex (rubber-soled shoes for children 1-5 years) are available in EU sizes ranging from 17 to 29. In addition the company's award winning footwear collections pediped® offers a range of accessories including tights and socks and coordinating hair clips.  For more information, visit www.pediped.com or call 1-702-567-0311.
 
*Thanks to Hilary Abbott Communications for providing this information.*
 

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

FIRST Chapter: A Stranger's Wish by Gayle Roper


It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:

Harvest House Publishers; Original edition (February 1, 2010)
***Special thanks to David P. Bartlett - Print & Internet Publicist - Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Gayle Roper is the award-winning author of more than forty books and has been a Christy finalist three times. Gayle enjoys speaking at women’s events across the nation and loves sharing the powerful truths of Scripture with humor and practicality. She lives with her husband in southeastern Pennsylvania where Gayle enjoys reading, gardening, and her family.


Visit the author's website.



Product Details:

List Price: $10.99
Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers; Original edition (February 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736925864
ISBN-13: 978-0736925860

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:



Monday, April 12, 2010

FIRST Chapter: The Secret Holocaust Diaries


It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:

Tyndale House Publishers (March 4, 2010)
***Special thanks to Vicky Lynch of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Nonna Bannister was a young girl when World War II broke into her happy life. She went from an idyllic early-twentieth-century Russian childhood, full of love and comforts, to the life of a prisoner working in labor camps—though she was not a Jew—eventually bereft of her entire family. But she survived the war armed with the faith in God her grandmother taught her and a readiness to start a new life. She immigrated to America, married, and started a family, keeping her past secret from everyone. Though she had carried from Germany the scraps of a diary and various photographs and other memorabilia, she kept it all hidden and would only take it out, years later, to translate and expand her writings. After decades of marriage, Nonna finally shared her secret with her husband . . . and now he is sharing it with the world. Nonna died on August 15, 2004.

Visit the author's website.



Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (March 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414325479
ISBN-13: 978-1414325477

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:



Saturday, April 10, 2010

She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell



My rating: 5 of 5 stars
In the past, you may have read my opinions of Siri Mitchell and seen that I enjoy the writing, but that the story was imperceptibly depressing. I was shocked and appauled with the lack of soul in Constant Heart, A yet the historical elements were incredible and the writing so true. It was in reading Love's Pursuit that each page was not able to turn fast enough and I was truly stumped until the end but still taken aback and frustrated with the circumstances and sadness of the situation. Yet She Walks in Beauty is a delight, a breath of fresh air, and quite the heart titillating beat within a prose of words met by the ear as poetry.

I loved this novel. Each page was another treasure. Every time I had to leave the novel and come back to the story it was as if I were returning to a friend. In years passed I have always wanted to read a tale about the Golden Age in New York City and this novel was not one to disappoint. Yes it had the historical details and some harsh facts which I have come to know Siri's books for. Yet this one has a heart and a soul with tons of personality that laced through the pages and made the next chapter more than just a little something worth coming back for.

Clara Carter is a debutante, and this is her story. It is a suspense, it is a hard life and facts historical, it is a romance, and it is a tragedy. I highly recommend it.

*Thanks to CFBA and Bethany House for providing a copy for review.*



Winner unaccounted for...

So I gave you an extra week and never heard back from the winner of the BabyEtte BabyBasics ring sling, so I will be picking another winner and let person know through email privately!!

Winners

What a lucky day! The winner of both An Absence So Great and The Little Prayer of Mine is Nancy! Those extra entries really paid off today!! Congrats! Email me your snail mail address and I'll get these books right out to you.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Date Night Movie


The idea of a date night is so far in my future that I cannot even comprehend it, nor the idea of going out to see a movie. But if I could one that is on my list of to be seen movies is Date Night with Steve Carell and Tina Fey. One, I will forever love and enjoy Tina Fey ever since her Palin impersonations. Then two, I love Steve. He cracks me up.
Check out the trailer.

If you could, go see the movie for me and tell me about it? I'll have to wait until it is available for download or Netflix and even then I have to wait until AppleBlossom is in bed at night... that's how we have date night. *grin* Dinner and a movie, in the living room, with the volume just so and her Sleep Sheep on high. ;)
In “Date Night,” which opens Friday, a bored suburban couple played by Steve Carell and Tina Fey go on their weekly dinner date and find themselves thrown into a night of intrigue: there’s breaking and entering, a car chase, a shootout and a showdown with an underworld boss at a strip club. Husband and wife come out of the adventure with some scratches and also with their ardor renewed.

(For the full New York Times article please visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/movies/04date.html?ref=movies)
I am forever grateful for comedy. The movie releases to theaters today April 9th, 2010!!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of 20th Century Fox. All opinions are 100% mine.

Visit my sponsor: Date Night

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Pediped Shoes

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It was January when I introduced you to one of our favorite AppleBlossom accessories, the No Slippy Hair Clippy. In that post I also mentioned the collection of Pediped NSHC (hair clips that match shoes!!!). Today I get to rave to you about another favorite accessory that we could not live without (okay maybe we could, but we do not want to!) our Pediped Shoes!! 

Pediped makes shoes from birth to age five in different collections, but the ones that I want to tell you about are the Originals (birth to 2 years) with soft leather soles. These are our favorite shoes so far. We have not been much of a shoe family for AppleBlossom, but when we go out and she might be standing I put shoes on her to protect her feet (plus they're cute and match everything). Now that she is walking with help as well as crawling, whenever we're out the door, the shoes are with us. Though I like some of the other soft soled shoes we have, our Pedipeds are our favorite by far (yet I'll tell you soon about some rubber soled shoes we crave). One of the neatest things about Pediped (that you may have heard me toot already) is that they are very active in charities. I think that is so important in a business and they do not disappoint. They sell more than just shoes and hair clips. There are also tights, socks and their website has a shoe finder feature that will help you search the plethora of fabulous shoes for both boys and girls. 

pediped™ was founded in 2004 by Angela and Brian Edgeworth after searching for a perfect soft sole shoe for their daughter Caroline. The first line was launched in February 2005. Three years later, the company now offers over 85 styles in two lines, Originals (soft-soles, ages 0-2 years) and Flex (rubber-soles, ages 1-5). pediped™ footwear focuses on comfortable, high quality, stylish designs that meet the strict requirements of the APMA (American Podiatric Medical Association). The shoes come in a broad range of styles from sandals and athletic fashions to dress and casual shoes, all designed to address the growing needs of children from birth through age 5. Sold in more than 2500 retail and departments store in the United States and 35 countries around the world, pediped™ shoes have a demonstrated global consumer appeal.

Thanks to Hilary Abbott Communications, AppleBlossom was able to obtain a pair of Chocolate Giselle with Polka Dots Leather Mary Janes. Everywhere we go she gets compliments. Seriously because of the different color dots, they match everything and that is awesome to me. I hardly have to worry about having a million different pairs of shoes that she will grow out of so quickly. Yet at the same time, there are so many different designs that if I did want a million pair of shoes, I could happily do so with Pediped. *wink* 

As far as AppleBlossom's feet, she has been able to wear her 0-6 month size Pedipeds since before she was standing, and since she has been standing they are perfect and she still has a little more room for them to last now at eight months old. They really are soft, and early on AppleBlossom informed us that they pass the taste test, however we try to make that cease as a habit. *grin* The leather is gorgeous for one and really soft. I have no doubts of the protection that her feet are getting and am very happy with the lack of forced structure that will allow her feet to grow. 

Pediped footwear is approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association for contributing to healthy foot development for children. 

Soon we will have to start looking to purchase some shoes the next size up (6-12 mo) and I personally have my eyes on some Abigail - Multi Leather Mary Janes and possibly Addison - pediped graffiti Mary Janes. They're just too cute!

Check out all their new Spring styles!






FIRST Chapter: Asking for Trouble by Sandra Byrd


It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:


and the book:

Tyndale House Publishers (March 4, 2010)
***Special thanks to Christy Wong of Tyndale House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Best-selling author Sandra Byrd has published nearly three dozen books in the Christian market, including her latest series, French Twist, which includes the Christy Award finalist Let Them Eat Cake (WaterBrook Press, 2007) and its sequel, Bon Appétit (WaterBrook Press, 2008). Many of her acclaimed fiction and nonfiction books target the tween and young adult markets. She has also published a book for new moms entitled Heartbeats. Several of Sandra’s shorter works have appeared in periodicals such as Relevant, Clubhouse, Pockets, Decision, and Guideposts. For the past seven years, she has shared her secrets with the many students she mentors through the Christian Writers Guild. Before turning to full-time writing, Sandra was an acquisitions editor in the ABA market. She lives in the Seattle, Washington, area with her husband and two children.

Visit the author's website.



Product Details:

List Price: $6.99
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (March 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414325975
ISBN-13: 978-1414325972

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


I hung back at the doorway to the cafeteria of my new supercool British school, Wexburg Academy. Most of the lunch tables were already packed, and the room was buzzing with chatter. The populars, whom I'd secretly nicknamed the Aristocats, commanded an entire table right in the center of the room. Their good looks and posh accents made up the sun around which all other tables orbited. The normal kids were in the second circle, arranged by friends or clubs or activities. The drama table was on the outer edge of the room, and so were the geeks, the nerds, and the punk wannabes--way out there like Neptune, but still planets. Most everyone had a group. I didn't.

Okay, so there was one table with lots of room. The leftovers table. It might as well have been the dark side of the moon.

No way.

I skipped lunch--again--and headed to the library. One of the computers was available and I logged on, desperately hoping for an e-mail from Seattle.

There was an e-mail from my grandmother reminding me to floss because British dentists only cleaned adult teeth.

Spam from Teen Vogue.

An invitation to join the Prince Harry fan club--​I opened it and gave it a quick scan. I'd consider it more later.

And . . . one from Jen!

I clicked open the e-mail from my best friend at home--well, it had been my home till a couple of months ago--hoping for a lunch full of juicy news served alongside tasty comments about how she missed me and was planning stuff for my next visit home. I craved something that would take me the whole lunch period to read and respond to and remind me that I did have a place somewhere in this universe.

From: Jen
To: Savannah


Hey, Fortune Cookie, so how's it going? Met the Queen yet? LOL. Sorry I haven't written too much. It's been so busy. Samantha took the position you'd been promised on the newspaper staff. She's brand new, but then again you would have been too. It seemed strange without you at first, but I think she'll do okay--maybe even better than okay. And hey, life has changed for everyone, right? Things are crazy busy at school, home, and church. We hang out a lot more now that a bunch of us are driving. Will write again in a few weeks.

Miss you!
Jen



A few weeks! My lungs filled with air, and I let it out slowly, deflating like a balloon with a slow leak. I poised my hands over the keyboard to write a response but just . . . couldn't. What would I say? It had already been weeks since we'd last e-mailed. Most of my friends texted instead of e-mailing anyway, but texting across the Atlantic Ocean cost way too much. And the truth was . . .

I'd moved, and they'd moved on.

I logged off the computer and sat there for a minute, blinking back tears. Jen hadn't meant to forget me. I was simply out of her orbit now.

I pretended to read Sugar magazine online, but mostly I was staring at the clock, passing the time till I could respectably head to my next class.

Five minutes before class I swung my book bag onto my shoulder and headed down the hall. Someone was stapling flyers to the wall. “Hi, Hazelle.”

“Hullo, Savannah.” She breezed by me, stapling another pink flyer farther down the wall. We had math class together--oh yeah, maths, as the Brits called it--first period. I'd tried to make friends with her; I'd even asked her if she'd like to sit together in lunch, but she'd crisply informed me that she sat at the table with the other members of the newspaper staff.

She didn't bother with small talk now either, but went on stapling down the hall. I glanced at one of the flyers, and one sentence caught my eye right away: Looking for one experienced journalist to join the newspaper staff.

I yanked the flyer off the wall and jammed it into my bag. I was experienced. Wasn't I?

A nub of doubt rose inside me--the kind that popped up, unwelcome, anytime I tried to rationalize something that wasn't exactly true or right.

This time I swallowed it back. I thought back to Jen's e-mail that kind of felt like a polite dismissal. I lived in London now.

It was time to take matters into my own hands.



Tuesday, April 6, 2010

CFBA: She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell



This week, the



Christian Fiction Blog Alliance



is introducing



She Walks in Beauty
Bethany House (April 2010)
by



Siri Mitchell






ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Siri Mitchell graduated from the University of Washington with a business degree and worked in various levels of government. As a military spouse, she has lived all over the world, including in Paris and Tokyo. Siri enjoys observing and learning from different cultures. She is fluent in French and loves sushi.



But she is also a member of a strange breed of people called novelists. When they’re listening to a sermon and taking notes, chances are, they’ve just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If they nod in response to a really profound statement, they’re probably thinking, “Yes. Right. That’s exactly what my character needs to hear.” When they edit their manuscripts, they laugh at the funny parts. And cry at the sad parts. Sometimes they even talk to their characters.



Siri wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before signing with a publisher. In the process, she saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry’s than she cares to admit. At various times she has vowed never to write another word again. Ever. She has gone on writing strikes and even stooped to threatening her manuscripts with the shredder.







ABOUT THE BOOK



For a young society woman seeking a favorable marriage, so much depends on her social season debut. Clara Carter has been given one goal: secure the affections of the city's most eligible bachelor.



Debuting means plenty of work--there are corsets to be fitted, dances to master, manners to perfect. Her training soon pays off, however, as celebrity's spotlight turns Clara into a society-page darling.



Yet Clara soon wonders if this is the life she really wants. Especially when she learns her best friend has also set her sights on Franklin De Vries.



When a man appears who seems to love her simply for who she is and gossip backlash turns ugly, Clara realizes it's not just her marriage at stake--the future of her family depends on how she plays the game.



If you would like to read the first chapter of She Walks in Beauty, go HERE.