Giveaway on the PhatFiber blog!

Head on over to the PhatFiber blog right n0w! They're running a giveaway for one of my celtic heart rubber stamps.

All you need to do to enter is to visit my shop and then post a comment about your favorite item(s). If you blog, twitter, etc about it, you're entered twice!

Good luck... and keep your eyes on the PhatFiber blog, there's always lots of great giveaways.

You may have already won....

I got notice yesterday from the Singer Sewing Machine Company that my bulletin board won their "Sewing With Nature" contest.

I made the bulletin board earlier this month so it was fun to have almost immediate gratification. The "Sewing With Nature" contest, run jointly by Singer and CRAFT Magazine, asked for a single submission per person through their Flickr group. The rules were easy but written loosely for individual interpretation. The project needed to include machine sewing and "integrate organic elements."

I'd been wanting to make some bulletin boards for a long time. They're a great way to use beautiful little bits of fabric. This particular bulletin board (my first), entitled "Promise of Spring," was made with a patchwork of linen and some cotton fabrics stretched over a magnetized corkboard. I sewed several dried salal leaves on as decoration. And then made two magnets by sewing more leaves between layers of Tyvek and then gluing to a magnet.

I love the combination of fabrics. Several were from SpicedCoffee for a recent swap. They give a sense of winter with a hint of spring to come. And, of course, I'm always a fan of natural linen paired with other beautiful fabrics.

What do I get for winning, you ask? A Singer Confidence 7467 sewing machine and a set of Singer sewing books. Quite fun, eh?

Giveaway at Funky Finds

So Jess @ Funky Finds and I have been conspiring... and this is the result!

We are offering a $25 gift certificate to my shop for the winner of the current giveaway on the Funky Finds site. Visit the Funky Finds site for details. All you have to do to qualify is to visit my Etsy shop and return to Funky Finds where you leave a comment about your favorite item in my shop.

The giveaway runs from now through January 8 (midnight CST). At the end of that time, Jessica will draw a winner.

Good luck!

Time for a Winner!

I'm a day late in selecting and publishing a winner for my EtsyGreetings Blog Carnival Giveaway, but I know you're aware that there have been other things on my mind.

Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who commented -- I had the best time reading your comments! They were very interesting.... and educational. I had thought there might be more of a "favorite" item in the shop, but your interests and choices were pretty varied.

I often wonder if my shop is too disjointed -- that I have too many different sorts of things for sale. And I really love it when a shop has a cohesive look to it. But, unfortunately, that's just not how I work. I need to make lots of different things -- it's what makes me happy. And, in the long run, that's one of the main reasons I have the shop. It funds my art/craft addiction, but even more than that, it gives me an outlet for the artwork that something inside of me compels me to produce. And makes me happy.

I've been thinking about opening a new shop, probably to house the hand carved rubber stamps that I make. And that would help a bit. But it wouldn't solve the problem. I can't open 4 or 6 or 8 different shops!

I have hopes that Etsy will someday (soon?) offer more options on how to organize a shop. At this point you can put items in "Sections," but the initial view of the shop shows everything in basically a hodge-podge fashion. You have the option of sorting by price or when the item was posted, but no other way. I'd love to be able to move the items around to make the shop make sense organizationally and to be more pleasing to the eye.

Anyway.... back to the giveaway! I let random.org make the decision.......

..... and the winner is..... #11! (Lana) Congratulations, Lana! I'll be contacting you to get your address. And thanks to everyone who took the time to enter!

Here is your sequence:

• 11
• 2
• 18
• 13
• 25
• 6
• 3
• 21
• 26
• 28
• 4
• 9
• 16
• 29
• 19
• 24
• 17
• 12
• 14
• 7
• 5
• 10
• 23
• 15
• 22
• 1
• 20
• 8
• 27

Timestamp: 2008-11-26 00:49:38 UTC

It's Carnival Time!

The EtsyGreetings street team is holding a Blog Carnival this week. Visit their blog to find out about 15 (or more) giveaways. Sign up to win!

Winemakerssister Giveaway

To participate in my giveaway, just take a look at my Etsy shop. Pick an item that you'd like to add to your own gift list, or one that would be perfect for someone on your list. Comment on it below.

Simple as that. I'll run this through Monday, November 24. At that time, I'll put all the names in a hat and draw out the winner.

The winner gets a 4-pack of my Gnome notecards.

One entry per person. Spread the word!

Visit My Business Buddy & Enter to Win!

During the month of July, the EtsyGreetings street team is working together with the JET (Etsy Jewelry) street team in a joint promotion. To celebrate, I'm running a contest!

To enter, you must visit The Vintage Jewelry Box, my creative and talented Business Buddy. Pick one of her gorgeous creations as your favorite and post about it here.

I will run the contest through July 31. On August 1, I will draw a winner from all the folks who commented and the winner will receive a selection of 4 of my notecards.

Tempted to purchase a pair of earrings or that fabulous "Green" Stamp bracelet? Well, now's the time to do it! We are running a Business Buddy special -- purchase an item from one of us and receive a 20% discount on an item from the other. Just message "Great things can happen" when you make your purchase!

Late breaking news: In addition to the 4 notecards, the winner will also receive a 50% off coupon from Jen @ The Vintage Jewelry Box/The Automat! It's good for either of her Etsy shops. Good luck!

My Favorite Summertime Memories

A current contest for the Summer of Yarn Love swap....

My favorite summertime memory spanned ages 8 or 9 through about 14. Girl Scout camp.

Each summer I'd spend two weeks at Girl Scout camp. Camp Metamora, near Metamora, Michigan.

I was one of those kids who lived year to year with camp as the highlight of my year. I completely understand all the camp movies where the kids were obsessed with summer camp.

But Girl Scout camp doesn't last all summer like the ones in the movies. It lasts just two weeks. But for 5 or 6 years, they were the best two weeks of my year.

I was the only girl from my troop to go to camp. No one else seemed interested. But I've always been pretty independent, and I never remember it bothering me to be there and not know anyone else. When I was littler I'd attach myself to one of the counselors. I think that was my way of handling being on my own.

Each summer we'd do basically the same things: swimming, boating, hiking, arts & crafts. As I got older, the "units" tended to concentrate on a big trip of some sort. One year we backpacked along the AuSable. Another year we canoed the Pere Marquette River.

Looking back, I'm not sure if I can pinpoint exactly why I loved summer camp so much. Maybe part of it was being on my own. And I just loved Girl Scouts -- learning the skills, earning badges, cooking over the open fire, making new "best" friends. Lovely memories of summers long ago.

If Money, Time, and Skill Were No Object...

Cross-posted on winemakerssister and Scavenger Hunt blogs.

A current contest on the Scavenger Hunt swap blog asks the following questions:

#1 - If your knitting skill and the money to purchase the necessary yarn were no issue, what one pattern would you knit?

I'm going to add unlimited time to the mix.... why not ask for it all?

I think I'd make Annie Modesitt's cardigan from Vogue Magazine Fall 2005. It's quite amazing. Perfect for a star-of-the-party sweater... occasions when you want something fabulous. It's made with Lorna's Laces, which is fabulous yarn, but I'd maybe prefer it in cashmere or some sort of silk/cashmere/alpaca blend. Soft and yummy, but in really gorgeous colors.

#2 - What is your favorite blog ?(doesn't need to be knitting related)

I don't really have a favorite blog -- I like to visit lots and find new ones. Orangette is a fabulous blog about food. Polka Dot Creations is mostly about polymer clay (but lots of other things as well). I love her post on how she develops her colorways. And I like the Purl Bee very much.

And the winner is....

Thanks to everyone who responded to my posting on Universal Letter Writing Week. We've drawn the winner and it's......

drum roll......

.......


.......


.......


............................



.......Wabbit (Marilyn)

Congratulations, Wabbit/Marilyn! The "Art of Writing Letters" ATCs will go out in the mail on Tuesday.

And congratulations to everyone who took a few minutes and wrote a letter (or more) to celebrate. One of the posters has committed to writing at least one letter per month during 2008. A terrific goal, I'd say. And very do-able. How about it, everyone?

Universal Letter Writing Week (& Contest!)

When is the last time you wrote a letter to a friend? Not an email, not a note tucked into a package, but a real letter. How many people have never seen your handwriting?

I have to admit, my answers to these questions are pretty sad. Like most people, my life moves quickly and letter writing is one of those things that gets left behind. How about you?

But now it's January. The holiday rush is behind you. Slow your life down a bit and take time to write a few letters. Grab a cup of coffee or tea or cocoa and sit down with a pen and some nice stationery or a card or two. Make it special. Take a few minutes to find your favorite pen. For me, using the right pen makes all the difference. Now, who would really appreciate a letter from you? An old friend? A family member? Maybe someone who has never even seen your handwriting? If you can't do it now, in the bleak days of January, when will you be able to do it? Sip your tea, think about the recipient, and take a few minutes to write to them. Fight the electronic age and multi-tasking for 30 minutes.

My dear friend Mary was a strong advocate for letter writing. She used to take a box of her homemade cards to work. She'd park the box in the employee lounge with a note that said "FREE CARDS." All she asked was that they use the card to write to someone. Help me honor Mary's memory by writing a letter to someone you care about this week.

Ok, and beyond helping you slow your life down for a few minutes this week, I have another motive. I do happen to sell some very nice cards in my Etsy shop :) If you're looking for inspiration, perhaps purchasing a few pretty cards will help!

And now for the contest....
To celebrate Universal Letter Writing Week I will be giving away a set of my "The Art of Writing Letters" artist trading cards. The set of four cards feature artistamps from my issuing authority, Craneland, a fictional island in Lake Erie. The four cards would be great framed separately (in tiny frames) or as a set. As you may know, artist trading cards (ATCs) are little works of art that are meant to be traded, never sold. You can't purchase them, but you can win them!

To enter, just add a comment to this post. ULW week runs from January 8 through January 15. You have until midnight (EST) on January 15 to enter. Shortly after that, I will hold a drawing for the winner. I will contact the winner for their address. Good luck!

Visit katydiddy's blog for more info on ULW week and links to other blogs that are celebrating!