What’s going on here? This May marks 10 years of Not Martha. To celebrate I’m holding giveaways from some of my most favorite companies.

Today I’ve got a very exciting gift, a three-month subscription to Hellimae’s Salt Caramels. Each month you’ll get a different flavor, maybe even something special she’s thought up. I’ve had Hellimae’s and they are something to behold, huge chunks of soft, buttery caramel with sparkling jewels of salt on top. They are delicious. Ellen, the proprietress, has only recently started offering a caramel subscription so please allow me to point out how lovely a gift this would make for a loved one with a sweet tooth.

If you’d like to win the 3-month subscription to Hellimae’s Salt Caramels please leave a comment with this post. And if you’d like something to chat about answer this question: Have you ever made homemade caramel? I have, but the first time I attempted it I didn’t own a candy thermometer and they turned out burnt. And not good-burnt either. Ok, you’ve got until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 11th to enter, the fine print applies and due to the perishable nature of the caramels I’m afraid that we can only ship them to addresses inside the US and Canada (sorry). Good luck! Closed! Thank you to, wow, everybody who entered!

This here website started ten years ago this month and to celebrate I’m giving away something each weekday. Because I like you.

Today I’m thrilled to be able to offer three lucky winners (that’s you! and you! and, yes, you!) a copy of The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure. Wendy’s site, Pound, was among the very first I started reading way back-in-the-day and I followed along as she investigated her love for Laura Ingalls Wilder. I somehow missed out on the whole Little House experience and I have to say I’m jealous. (Anne of Green Gables? Frodo? Susan and Lucy? All yes. Little House? I’m feeling like I have to catch up to the rest of you.)

If you have an affinity for Little House this book is for you. To win a copy please leave a comment with this entry, and if you’d like something to talk about answer this question: Have you ever worn a bonnet? I’ll go first: Yes! But not on purpose. I remember my aunt making me wear an acclaimedly homemade bonnet one the moment I visited Oklahoma. Shortly thereafter we went through a drive-through, which I think was Sonic. I feared they had cameras and could see my polite bonnet wearing shame. I knew the adults were getting away with something because my older and younger cousins were not required to wear bonnets. Luckily the pointing and laughing were kept to a minimum. Ok, embarrassing childhood snapshot time is over. You have until Tuesday, May 10th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print applies, good luck! Closed, thanks for entering!

About this: My site started ten years ago this month and to celebrate I’m giving away something each weekday. Because I like you.

Today I’m thrilled to have a copy of Tara Austen Weaver’s book The Butcher and the Vegetarian to give away. I read this book when it first came out and I’m running late as I type this so I hope you don’t mind if I quote myself:

Tara takes us through the time in her life when she, raised a vegetarian, is advised to take up eating meat to help solve some chronic health troubles. The stories of her trying to figure out how to buy and cook meat are both hilarious and filled with a thoughtful exploration of how to balance the personal and environmental ethics of eating meat. She gets very close to the subject, visiting ranches and farms that are gentle to both the land and the animals, going through some of Michael Pollen’s arguments and spending a day at Meathenge. She finds some very good food and people. Tara doesn’t take any more virtuous than thou stances, and approaches each question looking fairly at all sides. That makes it sound boring, I admit, but I assure you it’s not, the book takes a journey that moves along briskly. I love it when I find an author whose words ring very clear in my head, and Tara is one of those.

If you’d like grab this book please leave a comment with this post. And if you’d like answer this question: Have you ever made a big change in how you eat? I’ll go first: In the past few years I’ve been eating what would be considered healthy and I discovered that it’s far more delicious than processed food, something I admit I would not have believed before I made the switch. Ok, you’ve got until 10 a.m. PST Saturday, May 7th to enter, the fine print applies, good luck! Closed! Thank you for entering!

Today I have a wee finger puppet made by the amazing Moxie for one lucky person. Moxie is a fiber artist and needle felting wool by hand is her usual (but not only) medium. She creates breathtakingly amazing sculptures, both large and small, some are lifelike and some hilarious while at the same time a bit heartbreaking. You can see some of her most recent work on her site: icons & totems & pieces of the past, a recent show in NYC, and her sets Hungry and Hungry 2 are hilarious. If you’re interested in learning to needle felt keep an eye on her schedule, she teaches classes.

If you’d like win this sweet bit of the genius please leave a comment with this post. If you don’t mind I’d love to know: Have you ever tried needle felting? I have, but I’m afraid it’ll take a lot more practice for it to become something that could be called presentable. You’ve got until 10 a.m. PST Friday, May 6th to enter, the fine print applies, good luck! Closed, thanks for entering!

Today I have the first two albums by nerd rock band Kirby Krackle to give away! My husband Scott plays bass for the band so I can tell you they are currently hard at work on their third album, which they are writing and recording at a lightning fast speed. If you are not familiar with Kirby Krackle them you can listen to some of their music right here on their site. I am not a music reviewer so instead please allow me to point you towards this review of E is for Everybody (the second album) over at Wired’s Geek Dad: Kirby Krackle’s E For Everyone is Geek Rock Perfection where he says “there is truly not a bad song among its 11 offerings. Each is a perfect nugget of guitar pop glory adorned with the kind of semi-obscure references you’d expect from self professed geek rockers.”

I you want any nerd cred you must have these albums! To enter please leave a comment with this post, you have until Thursday, May 5th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print applies. If you’d like please answer this question: When you were a kid who was your favorite superhero? I’ll go first: I wanted to be Wonder Woman. I was just the right age to both watch the show and wear the Underoos and I remember running around the yard with friends pretending to lasso bad guys and fly in the invisible jet. (While running around in the yard I was wearing regular clothes not the Underoos, just to be clear there.) OK, good luck everybody! Closed, thanks for entering!

Welcome to Day #2 of my website’s birthday month of giveaways! There is a bit more information here.

I’m very pleased to have a One Day pass to the School House Craft conference happening here in Seattle Sept. 23rd to the 25th to give to a lucky somebody. School House Craft grew from the Conference for Creative Entrepreneurs that happened here last summer, and which was amazing and packed full of hard learned helpful information from small business owners. It’s happening in the Phinney Neighborhood Center here, a charming community space in an old school which happens to be a favorite spot for a lot of the locals. More about the conference:

School House Craft is a dynamic new three day conference for people wanting to gain the skills to run a successful creative small business.

Are you considering staring your own business or do you already own your own business that focuses on craft, art or design? Do you have a shop on etsy, sell to shops and galleries, sell at craft fairs or want to start a new venture turning your passion into a business? If the answer is yes this is the conference for you!

Do you have or want to set up a craft business and can you get yourself to Seattle in September? This is for you! To enter please leave a comment with this post, you have until Wednesday, May 4th at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print applies. If you’d like please answer this question: If you could spend your days doing any craft at all what would it be? I’ll go first: After my recent work on the Papier-Mache Easter Eggs I think I would love to spend all day creating delicate pinatas while surrounded by colorful and cheerful tissue papers. OK, good luck everybody! Closed, thanks so much to all who entered! #48 is our winner and she’s been contacted.

This month Not Martha will be 10 years old. Ten years! To celebrate I’m holding a giveaway each weekday, they’ll be filled with stuff I love made by people I know. Here we go.

I’m super happy to have a copy of Heidi Swanson’s book Super Natural Every Day to offer as our first giveaway. Heidi’s site, 101 Cookbooks is one of those sites I’ve been reading for years and years and our cookbook club chose her first book, Super Natural Cooking, for our first meeting and everything was a delicious success. With Super Natural Every Day Heidi has given us simpler and quicker recipes that I cannot wait to make. The book is broken up into Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner, Drinks and Treats and has a collection of tips that I’ve found myself trusting Heidi to know. (Eggs from really awesome small farms actually are more difficult to peel! It’s not my imagination!) Did I mention this book is vegetarian? It is. I hardly noticed though. I ate dinner just shortly before I am typing this and the photos are making me hungry again.

You want this book. To enter please leave a comment with this entry, you have until Tuesday, May 3rd at 10 a.m. PST to enter, the fine print applies. If you’d like please answer this question: Have you ever cooked with dandelion greens? I’ll go first: I have not, but there is a recipe for Chickpeas & Dandelion Greens in this book that is very simple (seven ingredients!) and I’m gonna try it. Alright, good luck everybody! Closed! Thank you for entering!

Hi, hello, hi there. This May marks the tenth year of Not Martha, ten years! A whole decade! To celebrate I’m holding giveaways each weekday in May filled with stuff I love from people I know. It’s gonna be fun.

Looking back at the archives I see the first post was on May 22nd, 2001 and I only posted six things that month. The very first post to this site was about a kit that helps you put gifts inside of balloons (sadly, a dead link), the second post was about a long time love of mine the Meathead (miraculously it’s still there, it’s a plastic skull covered with red jello then layers of cold cuts to be served at Halloween and the reason I called my meatloaf hand the Meat Hand), my third post was a list of stuff I liked including retro video games, cookbooks and dishes made of sugar. Posts four, five and six are regarding Fluevog shoes that leave hoof prints, gasses that preserve a half empty bottle of wine, and the article in Salon that mentions a magazine that would be published sometime later that year, it was called “Readymade”. Taking just the first six posts into consideration I’m gonna go ahead and say this here site hasn’t changed much in the past decade. It really doesn’t seem like that long.

Each giveaway will take entries for about 24 hours and the first one will be tomorrow morning. Good luck everybody!