Saying Goodbye to Summer with a Giveaway

Am I the only one who is hanging onto summer with a death grip? Can you tell that I'm not quite ready to embrace Fall? It isn't like my last post was about using sea shells to make a matching game or something beach themed! 

 
Dark sky and light ocean at Topsail Island.

This past weekend we made one more trip to the coast. We stayed with my stepmom (aka the famous author) Diane Chamberlain and her significant other, the very talented photographer, John Pagliuca. They own a great condo at Topsail Island. The view is stunning since the ocean is right off their deck.

Diane and Jet (one of her two shelties)

One of John's many beautiful photos, for sale HERE.

We had a fabulous time, but my favorite part of the weekend was sleeping on the deck at the foot of the ocean with Pretty Handsome Guy. Nothing can compare to being lulled to sleep by the ocean!

That's me asleep on the condo deck.

Some of you noticed that I have a new profile picture. I am forever indebted to John for taking several pictures of me specifically for my blog. (Being the photographer in our house means that I have very few photos of myself.)

So, since I still have summer on the brain, I wanted to go ahead and introduce you to these beauties that hold bottled up beachy goodness in them.

Bottles filled with shells and sand.

Teeny tiny shells circle the nautilus and starfish stoppers.

If you have been one of my readers for a month, you may recognize these from the tour I gave of the Painted Cottage in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. Leigh is the owner, and she was so sweet to offer something to give away to my readers. That's right, these two beautiful glass bottles could be yours. And, because I REALLY want to thank my followers, I'm giving you five chances to enter the giveaway.

It is pretty simple. Here are the ways that you can win these two adorable beach in a bottle accessories:

1. Become a follower of Pretty Handy Girl (Subscribe via email on the sidebar or follow with Google friend connect which can also be found on the sidebar). Then leave me one comment letting me know that you are (or already were) a follower.
2. Become a follower of The Painted Cottage blog HERE. Then leave me a comment on this post letting me know that you are now following The Painted Cottage.
3. Become a fan of The Painted Cottage on Facebook HERE. Then leave me a comment letting me know you are now a fan. (Not sure how you become a fan of a facebook page? It is easy, simply click the thumbs up "Like"icon at the top of the page.)
4. Do you tweet? Did you know that Pretty Handy Girl tweets? Become a Twitter follower of PrettyHandyGirl and comment back here to let me know you are now following on Twitter.
5. Finally, if you like this giveaway, share it with your friends. Tweet (using #PrettyHandyGirl), let your friends know on Facebook or blog about this giveaway and leave me a comment letting me know where you shared the giveaway love.

Be sure that if your comment profile is "anonymous" that you leave me your name and email address in your comment, so I can contact you if you win ;-).

Wow, you have up to five chances to win! On October 1st, I will pick a winner using Random.org. I'm looking forward to sending some summer beach love to one of my readers. Good luck!

Okay, now I need to try to get in synch with the autumn spirit. How about if I just stare at John's beautiful "Fall Colors" photograph!

Fall Colors by John Pagliuca