BIG ANNOUNCEMENT==Gift Giveaway!!

Well helllooooooooooo and Happy Friday to you all!  And yes I did call yesterday Tuesday and like some of you pointed out, I perhaps had NOT had enough caffeine in me when I typed the blog, LMBO! (I did go & fix it)  But I do know that today is FRIDAY and I'm having a HUGE GIFT GIVEAWAY today that I've been planning for awhile!  It's my way to give back to all of you for supporting me in my new ventures, my crafting, my life and everything else this past year!  I so appreciate everyone that takes even a minute out of their day to stop by my blog or leave a comment or send me a sweet email.  I appreciate those of you who signed up right away in March for the opening of my online classroom Color Me Creative Classroom not even knowing what to expect but trusting in me.  I appreciate all of you that drove 10 mins to 9 hours one way to come to my Copic classes on the road this past fall!  I'm still NOT SURE why anyone wants to visit me, see me or email me to tell you the truth--I find it unbelievable that anyone does, LOL but I SO APPRECIATE your kindness, friendship, loyalty, sweetness and generosity that you send my way every day--I love you all for that and couldn't ask for much more!!  Who knew when I started this lil' ole blog where it would lead, places I would go and most of all the friends I have made along the way--it has been a FABULOUS RIDE I tell ya :) and I'm so very thankful and blessed!

If you've followed me for the past 3 years you know that I like to give back as often as I can, in any way that I can!  In my traveling copic classes I do raffles for bags full of goodies and then I match the donations personally and donate to different charities I believe in!!  I grew up in a household where that was important of course, but I've always felt that I needed to do this deep down inside and I always wish I could give MORE!  I feel very blessed in my life and the only way I can think of to share that feeling is to give back!  If you needed my coat badly enough, I would peel it off and give it to you even if it was my last coat!  I don't think I'm special in any way or any more generous than anyone else but I just feel that in our world and in our lives we should have a more "giving" spirit!  Nothing makes me HAPPIER than giving back or knowing I've helped someone in some way, even if its just a small way---it just makes your heart SING and their is nothing better that's for sure!

**WARNING!  This is a long post, so please take the time to read it in it's entirety and I have a project at the bottom of the post as well to see :)!!! Thanks much!

GIFT GIVEAWAY INFO--please read all below carefully okay!!

Soooooooooooooooo, one of my favorite things to do in my "spare time" (lol--what's that right!?) is to read!  I love to read, I read every night before bed, and I read just about everything!  I have always loved to read since I can remember of the age 4 and I can devour 2-3 books a week if I get the chance--nothing thrills me more than reading and having what I like to call "a movie in my head" KWIM!  I love that my daughter loves to read almost as much as me--I think reading opens doors to new adventures, travel and wonderful knowledge of all things that you can't get without reading!  And my fave gift of ALL TIME last Christmas was my Kindle from my hubby--I just love that darn thing.  For those that don't know you can see it HERE, but its an E-reader meaning you can download books from Amazon.com and read them anywhere!  Yep, I thought I'd miss the feel of a real book but TRUST me you get over that fast--it's made me read more and get more different kinds of books--I ADORE IT!  I downloaded the Kindle app on my Ipad so I can read all my books and magazines on there too, hee hee :)

Prize #1:  Sooooo............. I'm GIVING AWAY a BRAND NEW KINDLE (this one here) and a $25 Kindle Gift Certificate to use and buy some downloadable books from Amazon.com to one (1) lucky person!! Now you can read, and read, and read to your heart's desire!  **(if you win and you have a Kindle already I will give you a $100 Kindle gift certificate instead to buy more Kindle books)**

but WAIT there is a SECOND PRIZE PACKAGE that I'm giving away to a 2nd person too!!

Prize #2:  Second Prize are the below gifts donated to me by some fabulous company owners that I am lucky enough to call my friends!  They happily donated these for me to give away and they will make someone a VERY HAPPY CRAFTER!  Prize given to (1) person & is worth over $100 and includes:

** $50 Gift Certificate to SCACD (donated by my pal Susana--yep the store owner of SCACD)

** A NEW Improved Scor-Pal and $25 Gift Certificate to Magnolia-licious from the lovely Diana & Roy Crick

**$25 Gift Certificate to 7 Kids College Fund from my pal Tab

**2 Bildmalarna Stamps from StampingScrapping.com from my good friend Cindy Echtinaw

So the QUESTION is...............HOW DO YOU ENTER?  Well I don't want to ask you a question this time or take a poll, this time I would love monetary donations for a WONDERFUL CHARITY called the FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION (read about them here)!  They build, operate and supply homes around the US for military families to stay in while their loved ones are in the hospital or in rehabilitation.  We are so lucky to have the military support that we do in this country and they SACRIFICE the most precious gift of their LIFE everyday to defend and protect us. It's easy to go about our daily lives and forget what our troops are doing, but in some small way I'd like us crafters to join together to give back to them this month!!  I think it's so important to give back to them and support them in any way we can especially during the holiday season and this charity does so much fabulous work with military families and taking care of them in their time of need, you can't put a value on the gift of love and support!

TO ENTER:  So this is how it works---if you'd like to enter for this GIFT GIVEAWAY then you can visit the FirstGiving Page I set up HERE and make a donation to Fisher House.  Its a safe and totally secure site and the monies will be sent directly to Fisher House by FirstGiving--I have nothing to do with the money other than helping raise it!  I will post the receipt for the total donation on this blog at the end of the giving term!

Minimum donation is $3 for 1 entry 

Donations over $15 will get you 2 entries

Give Donations at the FirstGiving Page HERE! (secure)
**if you want to send a check or money order make it out to Fisher House Foundation but send it to me so I can forward the donation to them (email me for mailing address) & leave a comment on this post only telling me you've done so!

After you have donated come back here to my blog and leave a comment telling me you donated!  I don't need to know the amount as FirstGiving keeps a log for me but MAKE SURE to put your name on the donation form so I can confirm your donation okay--I don't see personal info of anyone at all but I will get to see your name and amount of donation.  I don't care if you give $3 or $100, all donations are appreciated no matter how big or how small, and I am only concerned with giving everyone the correct amount of entries.  I'm keeping an excel file with everyone's names and number of entries, then me and my kids will cut them into strips and pick the 2 winners on the 18th!

This contest will run for 2 weeks until Dec 17th

-that means that on December 18th I will announce the 2 winners!!  

My goal is to raise at least $600 but I'd love to do more if I can!  So I don't have any requirements for entry other than the donation and leaving a comment back on this post ONLY so I know you donated!  BUT--I would love it if you spread the word so we can get as many donations as possible--that would make me super happy!  But it is not required--I don't like to make people jump thru hoops to win my blog candies but this time I am asking for donations and I thank each and every one of you that do and spread the word about it!!

Thank you all so very much!!  And May you all be blessed this holiday season and in the New Year!!

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*Check out my Holiday Special going on for all my online Copic Classes at the Color Me Creative Classroom---see the details on the main page HERE!  Great gift ideas and a great deal!

* Great Gift Ideas:  Check out the Cool New items in at SCACD too--the new We R Memory Keepers "Sew Easy" tool, fabulous and cannot wait to try it out!  Also, want to make cool paper beads? Then check out the NEW Paper Bead Girl System here! Fun Stuff I tell ya! (I cannot wait to get mine, lol)

* Don't forget my other mini-Blog Candy going on thru this Saturday as well on this POST!!

Hummel Wishes!

So today I have this cutie Bildmalarna project to share with you using a wonderful holiday Bildmalarna called "Mimosa Lights the Way" from Stampingscrapping.com !  She so reminds me of a German Hummel figurine dontcha' think?  Growing up we had lots of antique Hummels in the house since my dad's side of the family is German.  I always loved looking at their sweet faces!  I love the non-traditional colors as well, very vintage looking I think!

Those yummy papers are from We R Memory Keepers "Merry January" Collection--so yummy! I love, love the colors and patterns in this set!  Check out that fabulous stamp design I used inside my circle nestability cut out--what is it you ask?  New stamps designed by Cindy Echtinaw (my good friend and owner of stampingscrapping.com) that fit inside the circle, oval, tag, square/rectangle & other label Nestability shapes!  I LOVE THEM!  The one I used is called "Lacey Circles"! They are clear acrylic so they are easy to line up with your cut-outs and the designs are both classic and beautiful---perfect for so many of your projects!  You can see the whole collection HERE and they are on SALE (put some on your holiday list or just in your cart, hee hee)!!

The scrolls are my fave Marianne Designs Dies--a must have in my opinion, lol!  The sentiment is from a newer PTI holiday set--I like that the card can be used for the holiday or as just a special wintry card!  The black pearls were done with my Viva Decor Paper Pen in "graphite"!  I gave her some white polka-dots on her skirt, diamond glaze on her boots and lantern and stickled mittens!!  So very cute me thinks!

 

She's colored with Copics of course too (BG13,BG11,BG10/YG97,YG95, blender pen/C7,C5,C3)!  Polka dots were done with my white Sharpie Poster Paint Pen (extra fine tip)--my fave white pen for highlites!


Hope you enjoyed the post today and I hope you enter in the Prize Giveaway by generously giving a small donation!  Thanks so much and have a beautiful and fun-filled weekend!  I'll see you back here on Monday!!  We're going Xmas tree hunting tomorrow---brrrr---cold but fun!!