coffee giveaway, notated

Coffee. Love everything about it*.  A big honking hot mug to start the day, every day.  Iced on a summer afternoon.  Coffee ice cream? Yes. Decaf with a shot of liqueur for dessert.  I like the kick from caffeine, the smell of  beans roasting, the ritual of the coffee break in a group setting.**  And professionally speaking?  We location photographers are notorious, and deeply opinionated, coffee snobs.***

 
3 of my many wips: a sweater re-do, a baby blanket, one of 2  Fussy Cuts in progress

You know what goes great with coffee? Projects underway. I spent a lot of time in crafters' studios last year working on Craft Activism .  Everyone had some kind of mug within reach. You know how it is, you look at what you need to get done, go brew yourself a pot of coffee, take a sip, feel all centered and gathered and refocussed, and dig in. Making stuff and coffee. They just go well together.

Which explains why I'm doing this uncharacteristically commercial****  giveaway (keep reading! details coming!).  In September I taught photography at a crafting event sponsored by Starbucks. There were coffee urns all over the place, full of fresh brewed java, and coffee stations in the hallways, and coffee beans in our goodie bags, coffee fumes in the air, and even a coffee tasting with coffee chefs ***** in the hallway. It smelled divine. It tasted fabulous. I may have overindulged just a bit ******And at some point, possibly just after discovering I really like Italian Roast, I entered a raffle.

 

I completely forgot about it, until the email saying I won. Mmmm. Coffee shipped to my door, with accessories. Since I have good manners, I sent a note of thanks, which led to a conversation about my deep, deep appreciation of coffee, which led to the totally cool folks at Starbucks offering me a giveway for the blog.  Just in time for that need for extra fuel this crafting gifting season, right?

 

GIVEAWAY: 4 bags of Starbucks coffee and a mug, shipped right to your home

HOW TO ENTER: leave me a comment saying what you're making this holiday season. Or maybe you're buying handmade, or commissioning a handcrafted gift, or brewing beer or steeping fruitcakes.....just let me know about you and handmade this season in a comment and include your email address.  I'll do a random number for the winner.

DEADLINE:  12 noon est Dec 4th.The Starbucks folks will ship it to you.

 

Good luck ! 

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and now for the notations

* In truth, I don't like coffee stains. Sadly, I am really really good at collecting them.

**  I met Dave when looking for someone to take a coffee break with while studying in the library at the U of MN.

***  Location photographers are always traveling, and we need to kill time, or get shelter, or use the internet, or a bathroom while on the road. Coffee shops, good for all of the above. The snobbery? Well, when I  was first working with Joan Tapper, we were traveling through Arizona to meet the Navajo Churro sheep ranchers. She  accused all photographers of coffee snobbery. I vigorously denied it, and less than 5 minutes later made us go several blocks out of our way to find a cup of coffee I deemed "good enough". You know what I love about Joan? She doesn't gloat.

****  Can I just say? I like to support local coffee shops when I can but man, when  I can find a Starbucks in the middle of nowhere, or a small place serving their coffee, I am beyond happy. (Also, they always have decent bathrooms, music and good egg salad sandwiches.)

*****  I am not sure they were chefs, but they were dressed like chefs and knew a lot about coffee. I don't think I was hallucinating. But you never know.

****** The top of my head lifted off. Just a little.