I hope you all had a terrific International Women’s Day! Thank you to everyone for entering the Giveaway and for leaving such heartfelt comments about so many wonderful women that inspire you.  Here’s a rundown with some links, and quotes by all of you.

Inspirational Women

Family Inspiration: mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, Nana, aunt, sister and daughter.

dottiedoodle says she was inspired by her husband’s Auntie. “She did an enormous amount for others and raised hundreds of thousands for Cancer Research.”  How wonderful Denise, I hope she inspires more people to raise money for good causes.

Kat Eldridge. wrote about her Nana, “she taught me to be true to myself and loved me for who I am.  She died at 102, after calling me and saying that she thought she had seen everything she was meant to see.” Wow, Kat E, I want to go exactly like that!

Shelley c’s grandma “was a botanist in the 1950s, helped people of all races register to vote, and was a well-known philanthropist in southern California.  She always rejected the rules placed upon her.” Shelly, I am in awe!

everystitchthoughtout gives a big inspirational shout-out to her daughter who suffered burning and scars from a horrible accident and picked her self up and moved on, just two days after her month-long hospital stay!

Style Inspiration: Betsey Johnson and Ulyana Sergeenko about which MaZeLiving said, “she is a Russian designer who combines just the right amount of vintage, modern and feminine.”  I would have to agree MaZe.  You can click on the link to see for yourselves.

Personal Inspiration: your teachers and good friends.

Kat H was inspired by her high school chemistry teacher, “-she was fabulous, didn’t care what other people thought, super intelligent, and clearly loved life.” I sort of want to BE her, KatH!

Jane P said: When I was 7, I entered school for the very 1st time.  I couldn’t speak any English and was very shy.  My form teacher was extremely kind to me.  Although she only taught me for a year, she changed my life forever.”  Sounds like a terrific woman, Jane.

Sewing Inspiration: Nancy Zieman, Steph of Sewing Cake, Indie Designers, Bloggers you follow and sewing groups like The Monthly Stitch and WSBN about which 1107nikki said, “I get to chat and gossip daily.  I consider myself very lucky!”  Me too, nikki, there are some absolutely fantastic bloggers, indie designers and sewing groups out there that inspire me every day.

“People making a living by their handmade goodness also inspire me!” said EmSewCrazy.  It is definitely not an easy job, but we are all pretty happy they do it!

Literary Inspiration: the Bronte Sisters and the character, Kirsty from The Peasant Girl’s Dream, by George MacDonald (1893).

The Bronte Sisters, Emily, Anne and Charlotte wrote Jane Eyre (Charlotte), Wuthering Heights (Emily), and Agnes Grey (Anne) and, since in the 1800s, it was not commonly accepted for women to author, they originally wrote under male pen-names.  The three sisters published a joint volume of poetry before their untimely deaths.

margueritedesigns wrote: “How on earth did so much creativity exist in one family in such an out of the way community?”  I have no idea marguerite, but I’m so glad that it did!

Sociological Inspiration:  Arlie Hochschild.  Meri feels “her book The Second Shift (The Second Shift: Working Parents and the Revolution at Home, 1989) should be required reading for all young women.”

Hochschild imparts the idea that human emotion and feeling—joy, sadness, anger, elation, jealousy, envy, despair—is, in large part, social. Each culture, she argues, provides us with prototypes of feeling.  She has written several books including:

• So How’s the Family: and Other Essays  (2013)
• The Outsourced Self: Intimate Life in Market Times (2012)
• The Commercialization of Intimate Life: Notes From Home And Work (2003)
•  The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work (1997)

Famous Inspiration:  Angelina Jolie “for her work with the UN and her bringing awareness to women and children in unsafe conditions overseas.” (wrote Kristin).  Important work indeed, Kristin!

Scientific Inspiration:  Marie Curie.  Colonel Hazard wrote that “she was so dedicated to her work and was recognized for it at a time when women in science were still dismissed as oddities.”  I love that kind of dedication!

Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 and in chemistry in 1911.  She is the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences.

By far, the winning inspirational woman in your lives was….Your Mom!  (mom is so proud 🙂 )

laurahoj’s mother “was dedicated to her family no matter what came up.  She fought cancer, refusing to take pain meds at the end.  She always stood by what she believed.”  I’m sure her bravery and commitment rubbed off on you, Laura.

“She not only taught me so much, on her last years on earth, she taught me patience compassion and tenderness.  You see, she had Alzheimer’s and it really took its toll on her when my father passed away.” wrote cathynd95, about her mother.  Let’s hope that there is a cure soon, Cathy.

Lisa Eck reminds us that a mother never stops mothering. “Even now that I am older, if I need any advice or just a word of inspiration, I know that I can count on her.”

Kristin took a philosophical approach to the relationship with her mom. “We think very differently, we argue all the time, and we tend to talk only a few times a year, however she’s a very strong person.  She pushed me a lot growing up and while I hated it so much, I also learned to stand on my own and achieve anything I want.  If I had some strange new goal, after my mom told me it was a terrible idea, she would sit down and help me figure out how to get there.”  A wonderful reflection on the fact that not every family is the Waltons or the Bradys and not every mom is June Cleaver, yet we can all still learn something from our situation and accept others for who they are, not for who we wish they were.  Thanks, Kristin!

OH, I almost forgot.  The Giveaway Winner!

The Winner

Kitty decided to combine Game Night with the winning entrant selection.  He often has guests over for some board games and cards, where he’ll kick back, put on a casual tee and pour some Guinness.  Tonight’s featured game is Mini Connect Four!