DaySpring ~ Perfectly Loved {Review & Giveaway}

** Giveaway Closed. **  Congrats to the winner ~ Sarah A.!!

I just love DaySpring products - I've purchased and used many of them.  It's so nice to have a combination of good quality, inspiring messages, and pretty colors.

I was blessed to receive some DaySpring items to review!  They were part of this month's (in)spired deals at (in)courage.  So pretty - a set of 2 mugs and a block.

I just love those colors!  But I love the message more.  Just look at what the block says:

It's such a comfort to know that I'm loved just as I am - because I sin every day and can never be "good enough" on my own but through God's grace I am forgiven and loved!

And the cup says: She didn't have to be perfect because she was...Perfectly Loved. {1 John 4:8}  It's a great message for many women who are trying to live up to a standard of perfection that isn't achievable.  I am blessed to have received the gift of a perfect love that can only come through Jesus Christ - even though I am far from perfect!

I was able to get this set at the perfect time - I knew the colors and the message were just what one of my friends could use on her birthday!  It was lovely to be able to share the set and I still have a matching mug of my own to use.  :) These pretty items were released to go with Holly Gerth's new book: You're Already Amazing. 

Of course, there are lots of wonderful DaySpring products to choose from and one of you will get to choose some for free!  That's right - I'm blessed to be able to offer a DaySpring giveaway!!

One fabulous reader of mine will win a $35 coupon code* to spend on what they love the most at DaySpring!!  Giveaway will be open until 9pm PST on Wednesday 3/21.


** Giveaway Closed. **

How to enter?

• Just leave a comment on this post!

Extra entries?

• Leave a comment telling me one of your favorite DaySpring products.
• Share about the review/giveaway using your favorite social media and leave a comment telling me about it.

* Coupon is good for minimum $35 purchase and shipping charges will apply.

Disclosure:  I received this set of 2 mugs and block from DaySpring for free to review on my blog.  All opinions are my own of course!

By the way, I think YOU are all amazing and thanks for sticking with me even through times when I'm not blogging as much!  Virtual hugs to all!

Have a blessed day friends!

Tea For Two-sday ~ DaySpring Green

I am loving shades of green lately and these green DaySpring tea things really fit my mood. Aren't they pretty?

The Everything Beautiful teapot and tea cup and saucer are really nice with a green pattern, gold trim and Scripture. You can get them individually so you could even get a tea cup for you and a matching tea cup for a friend!

The tray behind the teapot would be lovely for serving tea, but also makes a really nice decorative piece. It's a fairly heavy tray with a beautiful dark wood. Now I happen to love the picture that's behind the glass right now, but the bottom comes off (like a picture frame) and you can change what you have inside! I didn't get a chance to play with it yet, but I was thinking that some old-fashioned black & white pictures on top of lace would look really nice. What would you put inside?

DaySpring's pretty tea things give tea time the elegant feel that it deserves. I have really enjoyed sharing these lovely DaySpring items with you over the last few weeks. No, I do not work for DaySpring. I wish! They were kind enough to notice my tea posts and blessed me with these lovely items to review.

Now go find a pretty tea cup and sit back and relax for a few moments with a cup of hot tea. Or are you drinking iced tea now that the weather is warmer?

I'm linking this up to Time for Tea Tuesday at Tea and Thee. Go and see some other tea posts or link up your own!

Cake Week Day 2 ~ Tea For Two-sday

Welcome back! Here we are at Day 2 of Cake Week and it's Tea For Two-sday, so I made sure that today's cake would be nice to serve with tea.

Are you enjoying Cake Week so far? Have you commented on Monday's post to enter the giveaways? Have you watched my Preview Video? Well, if you watched the video, you would already know that today's cake is only one round layer and easy to make!

First thing I have to take care of today is announcing a winner from last week's Tea For Two-sday post. The winner of the lovely DaySpring tea notecards is...

#7 Lori Ann
Congratulations Lori Ann!!

Speaking of DaySpring, they have some very cute dessert plates which will work very nicely for our cake today! These are Anita Renfroe dessert plates, so they have style, humor, and Scripture. And I keep discovering how smart DaySpring is - these plates are pretty, but functional too. They're thick and microwave and dishwasher safe. Shop DaySpring for all kinds of pretty gifts!

OK, grab your plate and let's get some cake!

I found today's cake recipe in a cookbook - Perfect Recipes For Having People Over by Pam Anderson. It's so simple and so yummy - and lemon and raspberry are such a delightful flavor combination!

Yellow Cake With Raspberry Filling And Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup jarred lemon curd
1 (9-in.) round or square yellow cake layer (use your favorite yellow cake recipe or a yellow box cake mix)
1/2 cup raspberry jam

Beat cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in lemon curd until light and fluffy.

Split cake into 2 layers with a serrated knife. Place bottom layer on a serving plate, and spread with jam. Place top layer over jam and frost top and sides with cream cheese frosting. Cover loosely with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

See? I said it was easy! Now go get the ingredients and give it a try! Then sit down with a cup of tea and a piece of cake on a pretty plate and take a little break.

Don't forget to go enter the giveaways and please do come back tomorrow! Get your favorite cake recipes ready to link up tomorrow!

Happy Cake Week!

I'm linking this up for Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam to share the cake! Go get your yummy posts and link them up.

Tea For Two-sday ~ DaySpring Notecard Giveaway

*This giveaway is now closed.*

Welcome to Tea For Two-sday! Hope your week is starting out well. This is your chance to pour a cup of tea and relax for a bit.

I'm talking about DaySpring again! You've seen the pretty teapot and teacup and the tea-for-one set. Today is about notecards. I love DaySpring cards! I've been buying boxed sets of their cards from the Christian book store for many years. And now they even have tea-themed cards!

I received these really cute cards from the Sassy & Sophisticated line - they are so fun!

And look at this pretty box for tea cards!

Inside the box there are 2 designs of elegant notecards.

Guess what? I am giving away the tea box of cards (you might have to pry them from my hands, but I'm sure you're stronger anyway)to one random winner!!

To enter, stop by DaySpring and look around at the cards. Leave me a comment and tell me which ones you like! I will draw one random winner on Monday 5/18 and announce on Tuesday 5/19.

That's it for today! You can stay right there and finish your tea though.

Do you use DaySpring cards? Do you like tea-themed cards and stationery? And did you know that DaySpring even has wonderful free e-cards?

Have a lovely day and a blessed week!

P.S. My Cake Week will be starting here next Monday! Don't miss out on the fun! Here's the button to grab to spread the word. Thanks!

Tea For Two-sday ~ Winner and Iced Tea

Welcome again to Tea For Two-sday! I'm glad you could join me! Pour your cup of tea (or coffee or something else if you must) and take a little time out of your busy day.

First, we have a winner for the DaySpring tea-for-one set!

It's Deb!
Congratulations Deb!!

Moving on now. I was going to show you another wonderful DaySpring item today, but my memory card was full and I didn't get it taken care of in time. So I will rerun a post for you today.

Since the weather is starting to warm up (at least in some places), I thought I would give you these links for iced tea recipes again. Enjoy!

Have some iced tea - there are many ways to prepare it. Here are a few:

Sweet Tea by Like a Warm Cup of Coffee

Tea at Dawn: Spiced Iced Tea by Tea In My Cup

How to Make Inexpensive Iced Tea That Wows Your Friends by Tea Party Girl

Red Zinger Iced "Tea" by Steph's Cup of Tea

Celestial Seasonings Powerfully Plum....Iced Tea by Marye Audet

And last, a great recipe for sweet tea in the middle of a humorous post - Sweet Tea by We Are THAT Family

Hope you enjoy these. Happy tea drinking!

Stop back next week when I will be showing you more pretty DaySpring items!

So Many Giveaways, So Little Time

Here I am finally!! I had a hard time getting going today, but now that I made myself a chococarmaccino, the brain juices are starting to flow - LOL!

My friend Kim is a busy woman and doesn't have time to read hundreds of blogs, so I am here to help out not only Kim but you too! There are so many great giveaways going on in the blogosphere right now and some coming up. I'll list a few here so you don't have to hunt around for them and can get yourself entered. See the sacrifices I make? Decreasing my odds of winning just to help you out? :)

Giveaways Happening Now:

~ Today is the last day to enter my giveaway of a cute DaySpring tea-for-one set. Winner will be announced on Tuesday!

~ More DaySpring is being given away at The Inspired Room - a $100 gift certificate! Hurry and enter!

~ Yet more DaySpring is being given away at We Are THAT Family - an $85 value package of pretty stuff - hurry though, this one is ending very soon!

~ And more DaySpring being given away by Kimba at A Soft Place to Land - $50 to spend on DaySpring! You have a week to enter!

~ But wait, there's more DaySpring (and I do LOVE their stuff!) at Heart to Heart with Holley! She's giving away 2 place settings of daySpring's new Life collection - enter by saturday!

~ Not a giveaway, but just something free - The Nester is giving a free ebook (it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful)! You should check it out, sounds great!

~ In honor of Mother's Day and women in the kitchen, good Life eats is giving away a few big $ prize packages! Really great stuff - just a few more days to enter!

~ There are several fabulous giveaways happening right now at 5 Minutes For Mom! See the button on my sidebar. Wow - things like mini computers and digital frames to name a couple! You have a few more days to get entered in all the giveaways you like over there!

~ Sarah at Real Life is having a Newsboys CD giveaway right now! Go look - it's open until May 17!


Upcoming Giveaways:

~ Ginger at Here's My Cup Lord will be celebrating a 1-year Blogaversary on May 9 and is having a giveaway! Check out the button on my sidebar and stop by to tell her congratulations! (And my biscotti are part of the giveaway!)

~ Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee will be celebrating her 1-year Blogaversary starting May 13! She has already lined up a few prize giveaways that you won't want to miss! Tell her congratulations too!

~ Don't forget to keep coming by here on Tea-for-Two-sdays as there just may be a couple more DaySpring tea giveaways coming up!

I know that doesn't cover all giveaways out there, but at least it gets you started! Feel free to list other giveaways you know about in the comments!

Have a blessed day!

Tea For Two-sday ~ DaySpring Giveaway

**This giveaway is now closed.**

Happy Tea for Two-sday everybody!! Take a little break and have some tea with me. Well, actually I should be flying back home, so you'll have to have that cup on your own right now! :)

I'm so excited to have another pretty DaySpring tea item to show you! And this time, I thought I should share it with somebody, so I'll be giving it away to one of you - more details below.

This is a pretty tea-for-one set. I love these sets because they are the size of a small teapot and can be stored this way, but then open up into an even smaller teapot and a teacup. This one has scripture on it and some lovely flowers, just right for Spring. When you take it apart, the teapot has such a pretty color on the bottom and the cup is wide and shallow. DaySpring is smart to have made this tea set look delicate and feminine while being strong enough to be functional and practical. Wouldn't it be a pretty Mother's day gift?

Take a look at it..

Isn't it pretty? One of you wonderful readers will win this tea-for-one set! You're already winners actually, because DaySpring has given my readers a special discount of 20% off your entire order! Just use the code "SPRING09", but hurry - it's only good until Friday, May 1!

So, you want to know how you can make this tea set yours?? Just leave a comment and tell me whether or not you knew that DaySpring carried tea items. That's it! No extra entries for things like following me on Twitter, subscribing to my blog, or checking out DaySpring - though they are much appreciated!

I will draw a random winner on Monday, May 4 and announce it on the next Tea for Two-sday post on May 5!

Have a beautiful Two-sday! :)

P.S. I'm linking this up to Time for Tea Tuesday at Tea and Thee. Go there to check out some more tea posts or link up your own!

Tea For Two-sday ~ DaySpring Does Tea Prettily

Happy Tea For Two-sday to all of you! Hope you are having a wonderful week so far.

Recently, DaySpring was kind enough to send me some tea things to review. They are so pretty! I will be talking about them over the next few Tuesdays.

The first is this very pretty teapot and teacup. The white color and the delicate writing give them a fresh and feminine look. What an inspiring way to start your day - tea in a pot and cup with scripture.

The best part is that they are not only pretty, but functional too. They are sturdy and the cup is even microwave and dishwasher safe. Sounds like they know what moms need! Also, they are available for purchase separately.

You can enjoy some pretty tea things from DaySpring too and get 20% off your entire purchase by using the code "SPRING09" (Good through May 1)!

Be sure to come back next Tea For Twosday - I'll have something pretty from DaySpring AND I'll be giving it away!!

I'm linking this up at Time For Tea hosted by Tea and Thee - go enjoy some more tea posts!

P.S. Stop by and see me over at Keeping The Kingdom First! My guest post is about chocolate, of course! :)