Samster Mommy Graduation Party!!!

I'm having a party & you're invited but first I have to tell you something...

There comes a time in every blogger's life where she must ask herself a question...

"If I close my laptop now how many hours of sleep can I still get?"
True, but I was actually thinking of "Is it time to go to my own .com?"

I've been asking myself this for awhile but have always come up with enough reasons to stay within the safe, secure bubble of blogger. But then came an opportunity, to be in an e-book. How exciting right? The only problem is if my projects are going to be permanently written in a book & marketed by some people with some great exposure am I calling myself what I'm happy with sticking with? My answer? "Nooo, not really." So time to take the plunge. And with a lot of sadness, time to say goodbye to 'Samster Mommy' as well.

It's bittersweet, I started Samster Mommy at such a special time in my life. Sam was a little baby, I had just quit my job & was entering this exciting/terrifying new phase in my life. I started my blog as a way to try & connect with this new world of moms that I knew nothing about but desperately wanted to be a part of. I always loved to craft so a crafting mommy community seemed like the perfect niche! Little did I know my baby blog would soon grow into something I really love. And maybe even a new future for me one day.

BUT some businessman in Florida is squatting on the url samstermommy.com (we will just refer to him as 'le douche') & not to mention it's not just Samster anymore. I can just see Sophie as a rebellious teenager whose unrequited angst is because her mommy only named her blog after one of her kids. These are the things I think about late at night people. 'Samster & Sophie Mommy" is just too stinking long, not to mention you have to think about things like "What do I want to do with this blog?" If your dream is to one day start a little girl's clothing line than you'd darn well better pick a name that fits on a label. Know what I mean?

So. P & I spent a few days stewing about names. He had the great idea to look up 70's album names for inspiration. Talk about funny random names! Some of my favorites were...
"Hot Buttered Soul" (wouldn't that be a great food blog?!)
"Hot Rats"
"Smitten Kitten"
"Kitten Bar"

We have a weird sense of humor, I know. But it worked! It made a lightbulb go off in my head with the perfect new name. At least in my opinion

But I want a dramatic big reveal so I'm not going to tell you.

You'll have to come back on Wednesday & when you go to www.samstermommy.blogspot.com you'll be redirected to a new site. Is the anticipation killing you?! Oh. Well can you fake it??

So enough of my blabbering. On to the party! I wanted to do something fun to mark the occasion but didn't want to say goodbye to Samster Mommy because she's not leaving. She's just growing. So let's have a graduation party!! And the best part of a party?? Party favors!

Some of my blogging bff's were sweet enough to donate some goodies...

Sascha from Piccoli Piselli is giving away a Handy Harness!
I just luvvvvvv this! I can guarantee you Soph is going to need one of these, that kid is nuts.
You can use this little gimmick as a more reliable safety belt in a shopping cart, or when there isn't a high chair around you can strap the kid to a grown-up chair (GENIUS) & my favorite part, you can use it as a leash for the little one who's always trying to make a run for it. (I fully support kid leashes, I'm sorry but if you have a kid that likes to dart in traffic it should be a no-brainer)

The utterly awesome Susan & Adrianna from Crafterhours are being really generous & giving away a free advertising space on their site! This is HUGE people. If you have an Etsy shop or blog you want to promote this would be AWESOME.

Do you remember when I did a giveaway with the adorable Katie of Bibity Bobity Boo? Well I'm so happy she's back with her obscenely cute booties & lovely headbands! You can take your pick of a spring flower headband or pair of booties. I mean, seriously, "cute" just isn't enough.

I just love Jessica from Happy Together, her dress up skirt post is still one of the most popular pages on my site. And I'm not surprised, her blog is adorable, I'm addicted to her maternity re-fashions lately...that girl can sew. And even though she's quite the expert her sewing patterns are really easy to understand & perfect for any level of sewing. For this giveaway TWO winners will get to take their pick of any e-pattern from her shop!

When I knew I wanted to go to my own site there's only one web designer I wanted to use. Emily from "The Blog Fairy" is absolutely incredible at what she does. She created the original Samster Mommy blog design & I just adore her. Not only is she an expert at what she does but she's patient, creative, & just 'gets it'. I can't recommend her services enough! And one of you will get to experience it first hand, Emily is giving away a Custom Header for your blog! ($65 value!)Our final 'party favor' is another fabulous sewing pattern! One of the first blogs I started reading was Lil Blue Boo. I've used Ashley's Sienna Pattern more times than I can count, I also own her Hoodie Pattern & Women's Pieced Tunic Pattern. They're just SO STINKING EASY to follow. I hate patterns but somehow Ashley writes & designs hers in a way that's just plain easy. Easy to follow, easy to assemble, easy to sew. Not to mention the great knit-wear you create is positively fabulous. One winner will receive Ashley's newest pattern, The Malibu Romper Pattern

So that's it! To enter for any of the above prizes please leave a comment with which prize you'd like. Please mention only 1 prize per comment. The contest will last all week with winners being drawn at 8pm (EST) this Friday, June 17th. It's all so great & yet I still feel kind of sad. Silly, I know. I just can't believe this is the last time I'm blogging as "Samster Mommy"

I guess that's why they call them 'growing pains'