something in common + giveaway #3 - the printed palette (11:30 am)

I've never really been overly friendly (shocker) or outgoing. I'm sort of (ha) opinionated and stubborn. I own it. I can list all of the people that I introduced myself to first on one hand and it takes me a while to warm up to new people. It's been a strange experience for me to go from a mom of one to a mom of two in the sense that my second child didn't make it. Instead of adapting to a new normal with new routines, less sleep and more chaos, I had to adapt to learning how to function again for the one child who still needed me. I had to learn how to leave the house again, see people again and somehow walk down the hallway in my house again past Wylie's closed nursery door. Introducing myself became even more awkward. The first question anyone asks a mother is "so how many kids do you have?" I had to learn how to answer that. Actually, I'm still learning how.

Yet, once I began existing in the outside world as a mom of two, with a second child who is deceased, the strangest thing started happening. People began opening up. "I had this happen to me." "I lost my child to SIDS." "I had a miscarriage." "I had a stillbirth." "My mother had a stillbirth." "My sister lost her ten year old." People began talking. And whether or not we had anything else in common, whether or not our musical tastes or sense of humor were the same or worlds apart, we had a connection. Friendship ensued. Whereas meeting someone new would cause me to shy up and tense up, someone could tell me "I lost my child, too" and suddenly the words would flow. Suddenly, the time would pass in conversation. Suddenly, a stranger on the internet would become a source of support that I don't know how I would get through a day without.

And, somehow, when you're faced with an isolating type of loss, this sense of community helps. We are all the same, no matter the type of loss. We are all parents who have survived the unimaginable. And we are all using our own losses and experience to raise up others.

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On that note, I'm happy to introduce the 3rd giveaway from The Printed Palette!

From their website: We are a soon to be married couple from Carlsbad who have been business partners for most of our relationship. Together our imaginations run wild and create a "two heads are better than one" dynamic. With passion for art and design, we hope to create wow-filled experiences with designs to inspire. Our design approach is taking simple shapes and blending them with vintage twists or thought-provoking words. Most of our designs are stemmed from being inspired in our everyday lives. We use only water based inks free from harmful chemicals. These inks are embedded into the fabric to create a high quality product in both look and feel. Our Colors are brilliantly printed and will last the life of the garment. We design and print all of our goods ourselves. We have set forth core values based off the acronym THRIVE to be instilled in ourselves & our team. These values are practiced and applied daily within our team as well as with customer interaction:

Think outside the box
Have dedication
Re-invent the wheel
Inspire opportunity
Value and respect your team
Exude passion & knowledge

We are passionate about what we do and with passion comes dedication. We are dedicated to our customers and it shows through in our work. We strive to be the difference between then and now, old and new, and what people settle for versus what people should strive for.

The Printed Palette offer goods for the home as well as clothing for men, women, children and babies. They also offer beautiful paper goods and accessories, too!

I'm excited to be raffling off this beautiful handpainted wood sign by The Printed Palette:

And the winner is...

#210, Rhian Lockard