giveaway

Giveaway: $25 gift card.

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I had the second COVID-19 shot on April Fool’s Day, two days after my most recent post. Felt okay for a while, meh by the end of the day, and uncomfortable enough to spend  the next two days mostly lying down, either napping or reading.

Was better on Sunday, took care of business Monday through Wednesday (even started writing a post), and on Thursday felt myself sliding back into mehville: fatigue, slightly sore throat, mild headache. Got one of those nice arm rashes, too. 

Now, one day later, I’m feeling a bit better. Well enough to put up a post, anyway. But when I sat down to finish the post I started writing on Wednesday, the crummy feeling returned. This could be my body telling me to stop staring at the screen for a while. Or it could be just plain old work avoidance.

Thus I decided on a giveaway, even though I’d done one fairly recently. Completely playing the COVID card: I just don’t feel like writing. Besides, most people are pretty cheerful about the chance to win some retail scrip.

What kind? That’s up to the winner. Any retailer that will let me send an e-gift card is fair game.

 

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Giveaway: Alaska handmade soap.

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This is another in my “support the local economy” giveaways. In past weeks I’ve given away things like a “Tundra“ calendar, a couple of batches of Alaska-made jewelry and an Aliy Zirkle “dog fan“ membership. This time around, I’ve chosen Denali Dreams, a company known for its handmade soap, salve and balm, is the source this time around. 

Denali Dreams’ soaps (which smell  divine) has been included in at least one previous batch-of-things giveaway. But this time around, I’m focusing only on Denali Dreams products.

And despite what the headline says, it’s not just handmade soap. The winner gets to choose up to $35 worth of Denali Dreams goodies. (Edited to add: Denali Dreams has decided to add a lip balm to the order, free of charge, which further extends the fun.)

For example, there’s the “Alaska Manly Man” section, which features some goofy, spoofy products such as Elbow Grease (“softens rough edges”), Lip Lube (to keep lips “soft, supple and in great working order”) and Beard Balm that will “keep your look sharp, just like your chainsaw blades.”

There’s Skeeter Away Natural Bug Repellent, which promises an environmentally friendly answer to pesky bugs. Anyone who’s visited the Kobuk Coffee Co. in downtown Anchorage will love the Samovar Soap & Tea pack, which combines a box of that gift company’s popular Samovar Tea with a soap that apparently smells the way the tea tastes (essential oils of cinnamon, clove, orange, and lemon).

Having a rough time? Try the Baby Bear Butt Balm (with calendula-infused olive oil “to help chase away even the most stubborn of chapped rumps”), the Fireweed Honey Lip Balm (“keep your lips protected from the harsh, dry Alaskan climate”) or the Dog Paw Salve (with beeswax and unscented oils) can help.

But about that handmade soap. 

 

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Giveaway: Aliy Zirkle “dog fan.”

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For years – long before I had the chance to interview her – I’d hoped that Aliy Zirkle and her team would win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. She always struck me as a strong-willed, big-hearted woman who was passionate about dogs and the Alaska wilderness.

Zirkle lives in Two Rivers, Alaska, where sled dogs outnumber human beings four to one. She’s done either the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race (1,000 miles) or the Iditarod (1,049 miles) every year since 1998. She’s never had to scratch, and won the Yukon Quest in 2000. Since then Zirkle, now 50, has focused on the Iditarod, and has come in second place three years in a row.

And after I got the chance to chat for a freelance piece*, I liked her even more. That’s because Zirkle is…frugal!

She and her husband, Allen Moore, are both savers, not spenders. Their bed is 20 years old and the couch is 12 years old. They don’t have high-tech electronics. If they earn less than expected in a given year, they put off nonessential purchases or upgrades rather than take on debt.

It’s all about their mushing buddies, whose care runs the couple $700 to $1,000 per year per dog on average. (They’ve got 40 of them, and they never sell dogs, even after they’ve stopped. Instead, they become retirees – and pets.)

The musher recently shocked Alaska sled-dog racing fans by announcing her impending retirement. The 2021 Iditarod – her 21st running – will be not just her last, but her swan song to mushing altogether.

Shucks.

One of my holiday gifts to my friend Linda B. this year was making her a “dog fan” – making a donation to Zirkle’s SP Kennel in Linda’s name. It’s one of those “what to get for the person who has everything?” questions, and “make her a dog fan**” was an obvious answer. Linda has loved both sprint and distance mushing since she moved to Alaska way back in the pipeline era.

Lately I’ve tried to make most of my giveaways ones that would #SupportTheAlaskaEconomy. And since the 2021 Iditarod – Zirkle’s last! – starts on Sunday, March 7, I’ve decided to give away a dog-fan membership.

Yes: One lucky winner will have his or her name published on Zirkle’s dog page, with all the honors and awards accorded thereto.

What kinds of honors and awards? So glad you asked.

 

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Gift card giveaway (quick one).

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It’s a gloomy, overcast day here. Maybe it is where you are, too. So I just decided to do a quick-turnaround $20 Valentine’s Day gift card giveaway, to brighten everyone’s mood.

My mood, because I like to give things away.

Your mood, because you might win. (It could happen!)

Maybe you’d use the prize to brighten your day: getting that book you wanted, or picking up some really good lip balm and lotion to deal with winter dryness. Or to brighten someone else’s day – either a “just because” gift or a Valentine’s Day (or Galentine’s Day) present.

Instead of making an executive decision about this gift card giveaway, I’m going to give the winner a handful of options and let them decide. The card will come in part from the Shopkick app, so I’ll be pulling those options from the app’s rewards center.

A quick word about Shopkick: It’s one of my favorites now that I’ve finally gotten a smartphone. Pretty simple to use: You get points for scanning UPCs from certain products in drugstores, department stores, supermarkets, pet emporia and other retailers, and then trade them in for Fabulous Prizes. (Specifically: gift cards, PayPal, or contributions to Feeding America or the American Red Cross.)

If you actually buy any of those products, you get a bunch more points. You can also get points for watching very short videos in the app. (Think: 10 to 30 seconds.) Although I don’t buy all that much, I am having a lot of fun with this app. (If you’d like to join, go to https://www.shopkick.com/ and fill in the referral code WIN358965.)

Now: On to your choices. Although 47 options exist, I’m gonna limit them to the following:

 

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Monday miscellany: Return of the dragonfly.

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Last week’s Alaska jewelry giveaway had a bunch of commenters kvelling about the dragonfly pendant. (See illustration at left.)

Can’t blame them; I love the piece myself. It looks as though Alaska’s official state insect is about to take wing. That suggestion of motion stimulates my senses, especially during such a sluggish time (thanks, pandemic!) and sluggish season (hint: I’m not a skier).

The good news: Those who expressed admiration for the piece still have a shot at getting it, because the winner chose a different pendant. (Jeanne: The necklace and earrings should go into the mail today or tomorrow.)

What else is available? So glad you asked. 

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Giveaway: More Alaska jewelry.

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This is another in my “support local artists/local economy” giveaway series. It’s the second giveaway of jewelry made by my bestest buddy Linda B.

The response was so great the first time that I thought, “These folks like jewelry. Maybe I should give more of it away. How about for Valentine’s Day?”

It’s a bit early to be thinking about gifts of love, but I think about things differently than most people. (Boy, do I ever…) Seriously, though: Since the U.S. mail system has been struggling lately, I want to allow plenty of time to get these delivered so they can be given as gifts.

Not that you have to give them away. If you love jewelry, then keep it all. As another Donna would say: Treat yo’self.

Or keep some of it, and give the rest to your mother, sister(s) or friend(s). There’s enough to share: The winner will get his or her choice from among the six pendants shown below plus four pairs of earrings.

Linda began with beads and has branched out into resin capture and metalwork. The “work” sometimes means texturing the stuff. When I moved back to Alaska I originally lived in Linda’s house. She’s a night owl and would stay up late working on jewelry. Sometimes I would fall asleep to the teenk-teenk-teenk of her using a texturing hammer on the metal, which made me think of a steampunk version of “The Shoemaker and the Elves.”

(Revisit the first giveaway write-up for Linda’s full backstory. She is a kick-ass Alaska woman and I am proud to be her friend. Humbled, even.)

Once again it was hard to choose from among her many works, but here’s what I settled on: 

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Giveaway: Gift card – your pick.

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I mailed some important paperwork to my brother on Dec. 4. It was so important that I used priority mail, both for the three-day delivery function and the fact that it’s easy to track.

Guess what? He still doesn’t have it. 

Typical online holiday orders + the additional online shopping thanks to the pandemic = one heck of a mess. In fact, FedEx and UPS have nixed new deliveries for some retailers, which means that packages ordered after that are being sent via the U.S. Postal Service. The Washington Post reports that this has led to “widespread delays and pushed the nation’s mail agency to the brink.”

“Postal employees are reporting mail and package backlogs across the country, and working vast amounts of overtime hours that have depleted morale during another surge of coronavirus infections nationwide,” according to the Post.

Which is why I hope that the winner of this giveaway opts for an e-gift card. That person still won’t get the card in time to do any holiday shopping, but they can:

  • Print out the gift card and give it as a present, or
  • Shop the hell outta the post-holiday clearance.

 

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Giveaway: More stocking stuffers.

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I’m really enjoying these giveaways. That’s because I love giving things away almost as much as I love winning things myself. Okay, not 100 percent accurate right now: I’m hoping against hope to win a PlayStation 5 in time for Christmas. My great-nephew, like many other gamers, is obsessed over this new system. Some people … Read more

Giveaway: “Tundra” calendars.

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Every time I give away something from the Tundra family, there’s always a lot of response. So why not keep that energy going?

Besides, it plays into my “support the local economy” series of giveaways quite nicely. I ran into Tundra creator Chad Carpenter recently and bought two of his 2021 calendars. The idea is to give one and keep one for yourself.

Or maybe you’ll give them both away. However you handle things, that’s at least one holiday gift checked off your list – for free!

Bonus: I might even be able to get Chad to personalize the calendars for you. He generally throws in a cute li’l sketch of one of his critters, too. Some day those signed calendars could be worth…Well, I have no idea.

What I do know is that Chad’s work is known literally around the world. It’s syndicated in nearly 650 newspapers in the United States, Europe, Jamaica and Trinidad. I guess that moose, bear and bug humor is universal.

Not that Chad is limited to static images. He and his twin brother, Darin, have also been responsible for two films shot entirely in Alaska. The first was “Moose: The Movie,” about an ancient curse that awakens a killer ungulate. Mayhem ensues. Funny stuff also ensues. When I gave away a copy of that movie I described it as having been made with “a tight budget and a loose grip on reality.” Pretty much.

The second is “Sudsy Slim Rides Again,” which centers on an Alaska lawman who heads to a tiny off-the-grid town to investigate a missing person. That “person” is the mummified remains of a notorious criminal – and since he’s a big tourist draw, the town fathers and mothers want him back. However, he’s been corpse-napped by a couple of escaped convicts who want to leverage the stiff for safe passage out of town.

Just FYI: You can buy those films at the Tundra website, or rent them on Amazon. I won’t get any kind of remuneration if you do. It’s just another stab at supporting the local economy.

But back to the giveaway.

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Giveaway: Alaska-made jewelry.

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You’ve heard me mention my friend Linda B. a lot on this site. I do this because she’s the best friend ever. And since she’s also a jewelry artist, I decided to make the next Alaska-themed giveaway all about her work.

Jewelry is a great holiday gift because those who wear it never seem to have quite enough. A new color, texture or pattern, or a change in metals, can stimulate the eyes during this dark time of year, and turn a plain outfit into a canvas for wearable art.

Jewelry is easy to wrap, if you’re giving your presents locally, and easy to mail if you’re shipping your gifts. It can be given to folks of all ages. This particular batch of pendants and earrings is probably not right for toddlers with newly pierced ears or elementary-aged kids who’d likely be happier with pop-culture themes or shiny shiny rhinestones.

Linda came to jewelry art relatively late in life, beginning with freeform bead-weaving in her 50s and later developing a fondness for hammered metal embellished with beads and metal shapes. For a time she dabbled in what I think of as “resin captures” – putting shells, dried plants, charms and other oddments into forms and sealing them in clear resin. (Think of the mosquito in Amber from “Jurassic Park,” although nowhere near as deadly.)

But she made her living as a journalist and editor here in Anchorage, and since retiring she’s also become a playwright who’s regularly featured at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, the 8 By 10 Theater Festival in Fairbanks (she’s the only person to have been selected – in blind judging – all 15 years), and even in an off-Broadway new plays festival. 

The winner of this giveaway will get his or her choice of one pendant from the six pictured below, and also half a dozen pairs of earrings (only one of which is pictured – I’m not one of those bloggers who likes to make people scroll and scroll and scroll).

It was hard to choose even half a dozen from the many pendants Linda has on hand. Normally at this time of year she’d be selling them right and left at local crafts shows, but the pandemic put paid to that custom in 2020. Her work is available at several gift and art stores around the state, too.

But finally I bit the bullet and chose these:

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