Giveaway 200

June 28, 2015

The Beautiful Matters now has more than 200 Google+ followers. And I've written almost 200 posts. What better way to celebrate than by having a giveaway?

First, a beautiful vintage teacup by Phoenix Bone China, made in England.


To be perfectly correct, the shape of this cup indicates that it is actually for coffee. I learned the difference between coffee and teacups here at Mariette's blog.




Next, a couple large cotton dishtowels, lovely for drying hand-washed vintage china.


And finally, one of my favorite hand creams, by Caudalie.



When I began this blog, a little more than a year and a half ago, I announced to my husband my goal to have several thousand followers by the end of the first year. I was going to monetize my blog, and Go Big.

Well, BlogHer denied my application to become part of their network of bloggers and get advertising on my blog (too many bloggers in my genre), and I'm so glad they did. After several other early attempts to go with advertising (Amazon, etc.), I decided that wasn't the way I wanted to go. I'm very happy with my modest blog of some 200 followers and the wonderful friendships I've been able to make. Thank you all for making this small corner of blogland such a special place for me.

To win, please leave a comment and become a follower, if you are not already. I'll pick a winner, by random, and announce the name next Monday, July 6.

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In other exciting news, I have a car! After 10 months of being without transportation, I now am free as a bird . . .  I likely will not change my homebody ways much, but still it is nice to be able to get to an appointment or the grocery store or to have tea with a friend. Or, to mail out the giveaway win!

I haven't been visiting blog friends much this past week, and chalk that up to happily spending long hours reading. I finally finished my Solzhenitsyn book, hurriedly read the next book club selection (Lila by Marilynne Robinson), and then, with two and a half weeks to read what I want before our next book club meeting, turned to a tall stack of books that have been patiently awaiting my attention.

Pure summer bliss.

(Linking with Sandi's weekly tea party.)

32 comments

  1. Good evening, sweet friend! Congratulations on 200+ Google Followers and for writing almost 200 posts! What a beautiful accomplishment, Deborah :) Your blog is always a delight to visit and I appreciate the time and effort you put into writing your lovely posts....I always leave with a smile on my face :)

    Your giveaway is simply wonderful! You know I love tea cups and would be honored to have my name entered into the drawing. How interesting that this tea cup is for coffee and that there is a way to tell the difference. I will have to go read your friend's blog about that :)

    Thank you for your giveaway and for making the blogging community a more beautiful place. Hugs to you!

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  2. WOW! First, a huge congrats on your posts, your car, your big-time reading and your awesome attitude.

    And another huge WOW at this amazing and super generous giveaway!!!! You are so incredible, lady.

    I love every single thing you are giving away - but as you well know - you have been much too generous to ME of late, so I am just commenting, but don't add me to the giveaways - share the love.

    Now you have a car you need to come to CBUS and visit! : - ) Surely that's what you meant by tea with a friend, right? LOL. Anyway, my door stands wide open for you for real. ♥

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  3. Hi, I haven't visited in a long time so decided it was time to spend some lazy afternoons catching up. I am so glad I did. I so love your coffee cup. I didn't really know the difference only that coffee cups always were those little tiny ones,I thought and tea cups were usually narrower at the top. I will come back again soon. :) jeanette

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  4. Hi Deborah,
    Congrats to 200 google + followers and 200 posts! You have such a lovely blog and I love visiting you and everything thing you share is so helpful. You are such an inspiration to me. Thanks for being my blog friend.

    So glad that you have a car now to get around in and have fun with that.

    Thanks so much for the lovely giveaway and I love the china, towels, and hand cream!

    Have a lovely start to the new week and thanks again for the giveaway and friendship.
    Julie xo

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  5. Congratulations on your numerous followers and post, a great achievement. It must be nice to have your transport once again, makes life so much easier for getting your errands done.

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  6. Good Morning! Congratulations on your 200 followers AND your 200th post. How wonderful! I was just trying to think of how long I have been reading your posts...I think about 6 months now. I wish I could remember which blog hop I found you on, sorry. I am glad that it all worked out the way it did. You are a bright spot in my day and I enjoy visiting you, even if I do not comment much. Must change that. :-)

    I would love to win any of the items from the giveaway, you chose lovely things. Thanks for the giveaway! Best regards, Darlene

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  7. Congratulation for both your blog and the car!!!!! Lovely tea cup ..... Hope I'm the one to enjoy it. Carry on just as you have been, your blog is wonderful.

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  8. What a lovely giveaway, Deborah! I would love a chance to win, and I must go and find out how to tell the difference between a tea and coffee cup.
    Enjoy your reading time. I've been reading Rosamunde Pilcher...I love her!

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  9. You are doing quite well to have 200+ followers in such a short period of time.

    You have a lovely, inspiring blog, on that I enjoy visiting.

    Reading is such a relaxing thing to do. I need to visit my nearby library again to return and check out new books.

    This is a lovely win for whoever will be the winner. If I'm the winner, I'll probably drink coffee from this. I have two pretty coffee mugs, and too have this one would be a delight. It's nice to switch cups, depending on my wake up mood. :-)

    Have a great week ~ FlowerLady

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  10. Great job on the blog. Love the giveaway. :)

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  11. Hi Deborah,
    How fascinating about the difference in the two cups, I had no idea! Now I need to look at what I have and see which is which! You learn something new everyday right?
    The give away cup is adorable, love the floral pattern on it. Please include me in your drawing! :)
    Congrats on your 200+ followers!
    Have a glorious July 4th week!
    Gina

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  12. Congratulations, Deborah! You do have lots to celebrate.
    I decided to not go the way of advertising on my blog because I am a neat freak and I think advertising clutters up the appearance of the blog too much. Also, I have difficulty visiting those blogs that advertise. They are sooo slow and take forever to upload. Oftentimes I don't have the patience to wait and I move on. I know I'm impatient but a blog shouldn't be that difficult to visit, should it?
    What a darling giveaway! Love the shape of the cup. Thanks for joining me for tea this week and have a wonderful 4th of July upcoming weekend!

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  13. Hi, Deborah! That was fascinating -- I clicked over to that blog to find out the difference between coffee and tea cups. Now I'm really scratching my head, looking at the cups I have and wondering which type they are :) haha! I'm glad you did not monetize your blog. I have some blogs I read that are heavily advertised, but they don't feel like somebody's personal space -- like I'm coming into someone's living room or parlor for a personal visit. So although bloggers like you and I are not making money ... we are having lovely relationships, and they are more valuable :)

    Thanks for the giveaway -- such pretty things! That's a lovely cup pattern. I'm not sure whether I'm already a follower. I have your blog in my feedly, which is my feed reader for the blogs I read all the posts of. I'm not in your "member" box, I don't think because I don't like to get email notifications each time someone has a post. I like my feed reader. Does that count?

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  14. Congratulations on reaching 200. I'm amazed, and a bit envious. :) Now, about books....you'll really like 'Lila'. It's wonderful, as all of her books.

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  15. Hi Deborah, Congrats on reaching 200 posts. Best wishes on many more fun blogging features. You always bless us with your writing and topics.
    Thank you for a generous giveaway too. You are offering such pretty treasures. I would love to enter and a long tine follower too.
    Thank you also for stopping by and your kind comment on my guys retirement.
    Blessings and hugs, cm

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  16. Congrats to you! Glad that you didn't Go big with your blog. It cheapens it, don't you think? I love the floursack towels above!
    madelinebrubaker {at} gmail [dot] com
    I follow your blog via GFC as shala_darkstone.

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  17. Congratulations Deborah on your achieved number of 200, doesn't seem that long ago when you just started your blog.
    That was an interesting read about the difference between coffee and tea cups, I'll be studying my collection to try and determine if I actually have teacups.
    I never wanted any advertising on my blog and it bothers me to continually receive requests for guest posts and business links.
    Your giveaway is lovely and I would love a chance to win and help you celebrate your milestones.

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  18. Oh sweet Deborah, congrats, now you're one of us, an oldy...lol!
    I knew some about the difference in cups because we used to make them in our past ceramic company; but how interesting to find out even more. I always get many requests for advertising, although I feel it's a compliment, some are obnoxious and insist. I do it for the fun and for the friends like you.
    Thank you for the beautiful give away chance once more. Hope I'm lucky again. I keep some teacups in my curio cabinet.
    Thanks for your sweet comment on my new cake plate.
    Have a lovely week.
    FABBY

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  19. You are doing exactly what I would with free time. . .reading! Love that tea (coffee) cup, very pretty. So glad you are not a blog with advertising, since I really do not care to follow those. I'd rather read the words of someone who is sharing their life and experiences without feeling like someone is trying to sell me something (for which they get paid, of course). That, to me seems to take the heart and personality away from a blog. Hope you have a wonderful summer, Deborah!

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  20. Congrats!! I love the teacup. It's super cute. I love the pattern.

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  21. Well, well, well.....a kindred spirit in the "I would rather not monetize my blog so I can be independent about what I post" blog world. I, too, made that decision early on. Mariette is absolutely correct in her teacup vs. coffee cup assessment. Whether you call it a teacup or a coffee cup, it's beautiful. I, too, am a big fan of Caudalie products. Congratulations on your blogging landmark. I'm a big fan.

    Cheers, M-T

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  22. Your certainly a winner with 200 followers! The cup and saucer is very precious with the pretty flowers. I agree about not being commercial for it is more fun and not work. Have lovely week!

    Take care, Pam

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  23. Congratulations, Deborah! Reaching the 200th milestone is definitely a worthy accomplishment in blogland.

    Congrats also on your new set of wheels! Enjoy the open road!

    I would love to be entered into your giveaway. I love teacups plus I'm a lotion junkie (Buffalo Bill's got nothing on me!). Thank you!

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  24. Dearest Deborah,
    Thank you so much for this sweet shout out!
    We both went to Atlanta for a short weekend stay at the Grand Hyatt and we met with another blogger friend!
    Always such a joy to meet in person over tea.
    As for the advertising, I am with you on that subject as well and don't want to clutter up my blog. Friendship and a clutter free blog is more important!
    Always a joy to visit here. Wishing you many more lovely posts for the future.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  25. Dear Deborah, I with you on enjoying our 'wee' corner of blogland. Like you, I've met so many wonderful bloggers I think of as real friends now. I can't imagine wanting to monetize and lose that more intimate connection. For me, blogging is a love project, not a mission or way to gather income.

    Now... what a lovely way to celebrate your 200th follower and 200th post!! Congratulations. I am soooo very happy that our paths crossed.

    I'd love to be included in your giveaway.

    Hugs,
    Brenda
    xox

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  27. I'm with you on the non monetizing [and also on the delish stacks of books to go with the teatimes!]
    I celebrated teatime for Canada Day Welcome...

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  28. Just subscribed. Love the cup and saucer, as well as the kitchen towel and lotion!

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  29. I'm very happy for you too and so glad you've kept your blog fun to visit! I'm a coffee drinker so this cup would be perfect for me. You've chosen some beautiful items to share! Thank you! Happy Fourth my friend! Sweet hugs, Diane

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  30. Congrats on the car! I know you are happy. Congrats on your blog too. My blog is not quite 100 but yet I am so happy with my group of friends. After all, the friendships are what blogging is about!
    This is a wonderful giveaway but I will sit this one out. I just wanted to thank you for your sweet comment on my niece/nephew and to wish you a happy Fourth.

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  31. Such a lovely giveaway! This cup would make my mornings better :)

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  32. Congratulations! I followed the link and read about the difference between coffee and tea cups. Very interesting! I would love that pretty cup.

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