Happy 2nd Blogversary to me!

Cupcake Nirvana! Cupcake Island in Omaha is where I decided to go to pick up a treat to celebrate my second blogversary!! I can't believe it's been two years since I first started posting on my blog. I know there are periods of time when it's been hard to post something new. Life gets in the way. But what is nice to know is that I have something I can always go back to to share what I've created with folks who appreciate the same things I do.


You can't go to Cupcake Island and just pick out one cupcake. If it were up to me, I would've bought sixteen cupcakes. We decided to pick out these six. Two for each of us. YUM! It's a mix of marble cake, devil's food cake, red velvet cake, white cake...and just tons of chocolate. I love their cupcakes because they're so flavorful and moist; and the frosting isn't too dense. Just delicious!!

Look at this delicious chocolate covered strawberry on top of this Devil's Food cupcake. It's ALL for me! LOL!

And now, it's time to announce the winners of my Blogversary "Twist and Shout" giveaway. A HUGE thank you to everyone who left me a kind and happy comment:

#9

Kim H. said...
Happy Blog anniversary! Your blog has been a true inspiration to me- thank you!

Ok these bags are gorgeous! I am screaming and shouting- PICK ME! LOL!

#2

Sue McGettigan said...
Oh my goodness Ethel, these bags are so gorgeous!! I'd be thrilled to win either one, and if I don't win, I hope you'll share the pattern?

I keep reusable bags in my car all year long so I try not to use disposable grocery bags. It works, except when I forget to take my bags in with me ... duh :)

Ladies, I will send you your bags asap! Thank you, again, for joining in the fun!

Twist and Shout!!! Blogversary Giveaway!

In less than ten days, I will be celebrating my second Blog-versary! Woo-hoo! As some of my friends know, I love to do a wide variety of crafts, not just papercrafts. To celebrate, I made these cute "Twist bags" perfect for taking to the store, or for throwing your beach towel into, when the weather gets warmer. Quick and easy patchwork sewing went into creating these bags. I made one that is in fun, spring/summer colors, lined with pink gingham; and the other is in orange and green tones, but with a funky, retro look lined with a beautiful leaf print. They are both very large, very spacious bags. If you have it hanging on your shoulder, the bottom of the bag will hit well past your hip. How cool will you look strolling around town with one of these funky fresh bags? The straps are handmade, with lines of stitching to give them a "quilted look." I got the idea from my local quilt shop who created the pattern for these bags. If you make a "twist bag" with their pattern, and bring it in when you shop at the quilt shop, they will place your name in a monthly drawing for fun prizes at the shop. They are encouraging their customers to "go green" rather then using the store plastic bags.
If you would like a chance to win one of these "environmentally friendly" bags, please leave me a comment on this thread; and you will be entered for two drawings. Yes! I am giving away BOTH bags!! Deadline to enter is Monday, February 16th, 11:59 PM (US Central Standard Time). I will use the Random Integer Generator to give us our winner. You do not need a blog to enter. I *do* however will need your name (no "anonymous posts") and email address if you win one of these. I would LOVE to send your bag to you so you can start using it long before "Earth Day." Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to announcing our two winners on February 17th, on my blogversary!!

Winner of the Snowflakes stamp set and I have a BIG announcement!!!

After placing one through 27 into the random.org integer generator, the number that came up first was 19. That post belongs to Lauren, who created this fun card. Lauren, please email me with your mailing address, please, and I will get this cute stamp set to you this week!

My big announcement (drum roll.......)

I have been a HUGE fan of Sugar Nellies for quite some time, now; and so last week, I answered their call for a Guest Design Team member. Today, I found out that I had been chosen to be one of their Guest DT's!!!! I am now a SUGAR BABE!! Woo-hoo! I am so excited because it so much more fun to design cards when you're IN LOVE with a stamp line. So, I am now eagerly awaiting to see which stamps they'll assign to me, and I'm excited to promote such a fun stamp line.

Happy World Cardmaking Day!!!

Hello cardmakers around the world! Happy World Cardmaking Day! To honor this day, I would like to offer up blog candy. I know many of you are just so excited about this day, that your creative juices are probably overflowing. Many of you (myself, included) are probably pondering your handmade Christmas cards. What stamps will I use? How many cards should I make? Well, to help you in your decision, I would like to offer you this beautiful Snowflakes clear stamp set by Inkadinkado. All you have to do is post a card (this has to be verifiable) that you've made this week, starting today. So, it has to be a card you've made between October 4 - October 10th. Deadline to enter will be 11:59 PM Central Time, Friday, October 10th, 2008. The card can be of any theme and can be of any size or dimension. This is open to everyone around the world. Please link the image of your card on the comments section of this post. Again, it has to be verifiable. If you post your design on a webpage that I need to sign up and be a member of, I cannot verify your card. One great source of posting images for free is 2 peas in a bucket.com Of course, if you have a blog, just give me the link to be able to verify it. I will use random.org to pick the winner from all of the qualifying entries. Again, Happy World Cardmaking Day! Have fun! I cannot wait to see all of your lovely creations!

Winner of my Happy Birthday blog candy giveaway

Drum roll.........

The winner of my Blog Candy Giveway for this past week is Suzanne of Suzzstampingspot. I chose Suzanne after plugging in the number of folks who entered into Random.org. Thank you, to everyone, for participating. Suzanne, if you could please email me with your mailing address, I'll be sure to get your prize sent out to you, this week.

How would you like to win more than $1,000 worth of prizes?

Just visit: Cammie's Blog and be ready to catch your jaw! As some of you probably already know, Gina K stamps regularly donates proceeds from some of their stamps sets to benefit worthwhile causes which affect millions of people. From Autism to Diabetes awareness, Gina K stamps is one of those companies who truly gives back. Cammie has designed a new set for Gina K called Whimsical Autumn . She received a nice commission from Gina K, and Cammie turned around and donated 100% of it to the Alzheimer's Association. This kind gesture really has me choked up. I invite you to visit Cammie's blog and leave her a kind comment. While you're at it, go ahead and join in and participate in her blog candy giveaway. I promise.....you will not be disappointed. Some of the companies who are contributing to this Blog Candy are Papertrey Ink, Cats Pajamas Stamps and Starving Artistamps. Like I said....be ready to catch your jaw when it drops. You will be AMAZED!

Blog Candy Giveaway: Happy Birthday!

In honor of my husband's and son's birthdays this week, I am giving everybody a chance to win this funny Inkadinkado "Happy Birthday" clear stamp set! All you need to do is post a comment on this thread. That's it! Very simple! This giveaway is open to everyone, anywhere in the world. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for more blog candy giveaways. This is so much fun! Deadline to post a comment will be Saturday, 27th September, 2008 at 11:59 PM (Central Standard Time, USA).

Winner of my EK Success Punch Blog Candy

Thank you to everyone who participated in my EK Success Punch giveaway. Your names went into the basket these number of times:

Mary (twice)
Jennifer (five times)
Kim (five times)
Bunny B (twice)
Sena (twice)
Charity (twice)
Lazy Kay (twice)
Cazzy (twice)

The winner of the drawing is..........Jennifer of Thimbles, Bobbins, Paper and Ink. Congratulations, Jennifer! I will send you your wonderful new paper punch tomorrow!

Thank you, once again, to everybody who took part in this blog candy!

Blog Candy Time: EK Success Punch

Sable, my cat, would like to give you some blog candy. I know I'm not the only papercrafter who has renewed interest in these fabulous corner paper punches. Here is the card I created using this punch; and here is a tutorial by Becca Feeken for how to create an eight-point star with this punch. So, here's your chance to win the EK Success Graceful Heart punch. Deadline to post your comment and/or project is Saturday, 20th September, 2008 at 11;59 PM, Central Standard Time (United States). Here are several ways to get your name into this drawing:
1) Link my blog to yours mentioning this blog candy post. This gets your name in the drawing once. You need to come back to this post and leave me a comment to the link to your blog. If you don't have a blog, don't despair. If you link this post on a message board, come back and inform me of that direct link to the message board post. This will get your name in the drawing once. ** You don't have to INITITATE the message board post. All you have to do is tell me that you replied to a message board post, and that's how you found out about this blog candy. This will get your name in the drawing.
2) If you link this blog candy post on your blog AND on a message board, AND you link your blog and the message board post back to this post's comment section, your name gets into the drawingTWICE.
3) Create a card, tag, moo, inchie, ATC......whatever your heart desires....with a Fall/Autumn theme (if you're in the Northern Hemisphere); a Spring theme if you're in the Southern Hemisphere. Mention this blog candy on your blog post. This gets your name in the drawing three times. Again, you must come back to this post and show me the link to your creation.
When you reply to this post, please make sure that you check the box that will allow me to contact you by email. I can't give your blog candy if I can't contact you, so please make sure you *check* the box.
This contest is open to anywhere in the world. I can't wait to see your creations!

And the winner of the Magnolia blog candy is......

........drum roll.........

Miss Thanh Vo!

Congratulations, Thanh! In a scientific process involving writing down names on paper, placing names in a basket, and drawing one name out (thanks to my son), we have a winner! She got her cards in under the wire, too!

Please check out Miss Thanh's Yummy Creations and add her to your blog-roll. She is so creative and her posts are so thoughtful! Thank you to everybody for participating in this month's blog candy. I have a few more Magnolia stamps which I will place up for grabs on future blog candy posts, so stay tuned!

Spring is the in the air! It's time for some blog candy!

This is the first week of this year that temperatures are going to be above 40-degrees, here, in the Omaha area. Woo-hoo! Spring is definitely right around the corner. To celebrate, I am going to give away this cute Magnolia Stamp. It's of Tilda holding a bouquet of flowers. So appropriate for Spring, don't you think? Here's what I'd like you to do. Create a card with the following elements:

* Your card should scream "Spring! Spring! Spring!" Think flowers, Easter eggs, tulips, birds, babies, garden scenery... you get the picture.
* Must be a new card (it shouldn't be one that you've already posted on your blog, before.) The date on your blog post should not be earlier than 10th March, 2008.

That's it! Pretty easy, huh? Please link your creation to the comments section of this post, and link this thread to your blogpost. The deadline is Sunday, 16th March, 2008 at 8 AM CST (Central Standard Time, USA). All cardmakers are welcome to participate. I am willing ship this cutie overseas, so international artists are also welcome!