How about a raffle?

My kids say looks like a clown ran into it... makes me giggle every time I think about it.

Normally on Mondays I make a mood board to motivate me and help inspire or lead my projects along but this Monday, I've decided to motivate everyone else... to lend a hand by donating to charity.

Do y'all remember when I said that I would donate 100% of all my slipper pattern sales for the year to the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary school tragedy?  So far, I've raised $20 and that is an amazing effort from everyone that I so appreciate, especially in this tough economic climate we live in... and I'm just a tiny little blog in a great big world so I know better than to dream of sending tens of thousands of dollars... but I do have a goal.  It's rather lofty for my little blog but it's a goal all the same.  I'd like to raise $500 for them.

In my head this money would buy a family a very nice Christmas this year... a year when Christmas will be flooded with memories and sorrow.  It would help ease some of the financial burden that happens during the holidays - hopefully taking the pressure off from at least one area of their lives.  It's not a lot in the big scheme of things but when you break it down, it's a small miracle for someone.

So, to help things along, I have decided to have a raffle... are you ready?  I've been on the hunt recently for a spinning wheel - new, used, rentable... I want to learn to spin on something other than my drop spindle that simply lives up to it's name and inflames the pain in my shoulder and hands.  In order to get ready for this wheel, which I know I will find one day, I have been entering contests to win roving - and I won one.  I'm not getting into the details of the event because it was actually less than pleasant but the gist was to post colorway inspiring artwork and these people would design roving around it based off of the votes it received.  My original graphic artwork, posted above, received almost three times as many votes as any other photo posted and here is what arrived...

It arrived yesterday in the post.  The photo shows the true color, no enhancements or processing.

I can't bring myself to muck it up on my drop spindle while I wait for the wheel of my dreams (and budget) to find me so I thought that I would raffle it off here.  What do y'all think - it's a 4 oz. braid of BFL according to the tag on it.

Here's how you can enter to win this one of a kind bit of roving ~

1. Purchase a slipper pattern between now and 11:59 p.m. EDT on March 23rd and your name will entered into the drawing.
2. If you've already purchased the pattern, simply donate through the button link on the upper right of this page.  Any dollar amount is welcome - each $5 increment earns an additional entry.  So if you donate $10, you will have a total of 3 entries - 1 entry for simply donating and then 2 additional entries for each $5 donated.

I will be doing the drawing on March 24th - my eldest daughter's 20th birthday!  I think celebrating the love of my child through fundraising for those who lost theirs is a good way to honor both them and my baby girl, in my very humble opinion.