Winner Woo Hoo!

A little late, but I did select a winner for my CSN stores giveaway! 

Congratulations to Liz! 

She said she'd pick up some new muffin pans with her winnings - here is a cute one!  Great for some fun holiday baking. 

Thank you again to all of my lovely readers for entering and promoting my contest, and to CSN for hooking us up! 

CSN $45 Giveaway! Come one, Come All!

Hello Friendly Friends!  I'm off gallivanting with one of my nearest and dearest pals in San Francisco for a few days.  But to thank you for stopping by anyway, I wanted to do another giveaway. Luckily, CSN pulled through once more!

If you're not aware of CSN stores, check them out! Basically, its an online retailer that has over 200 stores and pretty much anything you could want, from bed sets to bassinets, dumbbells to drills, and everything in between! One stop shopping all the way!

Furniture, housewares, shoes, home decor - makes me want to have a bigger place! Prices are really reasonable for quality items with an choice selection. They have free shipping on gobs of items too - a major bonus. I hate wasting my hard earned money on shipping!

So, the big news - CSN is offering a $45 gift certificate to one of my readers, good towards ANY product on ANY one of their 200+ sites!

YOU could win it, for real! How you ask? Simple!

GIVEAWAY:

To enter:

1) Follow me through Google Friend Connect or Blogger. Leave a comment letting me know! If you already follow, just say so. If you're new, welcome! (Leave your email address so I know how to get a hold of you!)

This first one is mandatory for entry - if you want some extra chances, I've got those too:

2) Check out Bedroomfurniture.com or any of the CSN sites and leave a comment with what you would use the gift certificate for (or towards)!

3) Tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment with the link and your twitter name!

4) Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link!

Make sure you leave a comment with your email address for EACH entry. This giveaway will run through next Monday, October 25th, and I'll be selecting a winner via random.org on Tuesday, October 26th.

I am so excited and hope you are too! Thank you to my pals at CSN for making this possible.

GOOD LUCK!

(Just so you know, I was not given any compensation for this post - I wanted to give back to my readers and CSN made it happen! Gift Certificate doesn't cover shipping, where applicable.)

**Giveaway is open to those in the US and Canada only.  Sorry international friends!

CSN Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered my very first giveaway!  I am thrilled to have so many people interested in it, and I now have over 100 followers!  Woo Hoo!

Without further ado, the winner of the $40 gift certificate to CSN stores is....thatlittlehouse! 

She said "I would use it on a Rowenta Auto-Steam Iron."

Congratulations!  I'll be emailing you directly with the gift certificate information.

My First Giveaway! CSN stores Gift Certificate Fun!

I am super excited today to annouce my very first giveaway!  I've been wanting to do something special for my devoted readers for a long time and what do you know, I came across an amazing opportunity!

I've heard a lot about CSN stores of late across the blogosphere and decided to check them out myself to see what all of the fuss is about.  Its pretty awesome - basically, its an online retailer that has over 200 stores and pretty much anything you could want, from kitchen tables to car seats, dumbells to drills, and everything in between!  One stop shopping to the max!

Furniture, housewares, shoes, home decor - makes me want to have a bigger apartment!  Prices are totally reasonable for high quality items with an insanely huge selection - you should check it out.  AND to make that easier, CSN is offering a $40 gift certificate to one of my readers! 

YOU could win it, for real!  How you ask?  Simple!

GIVEAWAY:

To enter:

1) Follow me through Google Friend Connect or Blogger. Leave a comment letting me know!  If you already follow, just say so.  If you're new, welcome!

This first one is mandetory for entry - if you want some extra chances, I've got those too:

2) Check out Dining Rooms Direct or any of the CSN sites and leave a comment with what you would use the gift certificate for (or towards)! 

3) Tweet about this giveaway and leave me a comment with the link and your twitter name!

4) Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with a link!

Make sure you leave a comment with your email address for EACH entry.  This giveaway will run through next Wenesday, August 18th, and I'll be selecting a winner via random.org on Thursday, August 19th. 

I am so excited and hope you are too!  Thank you to my pals at CSN for making this possible. 

(Just so you know, I was not given any compensation for this post - I wanted to give back to my super duper cool readers and CSN made it happen!)

**Giveaway is open to those in the US and Canada only. 

Today's Pick ME Up - Your Time!

This totally made my day! 

Recently I won an amazing giveaway on Mary Janes and Galoshes (an amazingly inspirational and creative blog, btw).  I was lucky enough to receive a gift certificate to Your Time on Etsy - let me tell you I was beyond thrilled when I received my package in the mail today! 

I selected the lovely earrings and necklace above.  Of course, the nice picture of the earrings is Lata's, from her Your Time page on etsy (since there is another set available!), and the cheesy cell phone pics of me modeling my necklace don't do it justice.  It is gorgeous!  It is a little silver ring that has the word "focus" inscribed on it, with a delicate chain.  I love love love both of these items!  PLUS I have an event after work today and am so happy to wear these with my ensemble. 

You should definitely check out Your Time - she makes such lovely handmade jewelry, and all of the prices are incredibly reasonable.  Amazing stuff for gifts for friends, family...or yourself :) 

Thanks Lata, for the beautiful pieces, and thank you to Taylor for hosting the giveaway!  You made my day, ladies. 

Homestyle Crafty Books

Have you ever visited  One2Try? Its a fun blog with oodles of great giveaways.  I've entered several, and finally won!  

On my doorstep this weekend I received my prize - a copy of the book

Coming Home: A Seasonal Guide to Creating Family Traditions by Rosanna Bowles.  Its a really cool book!  Lots of recipes, decorating ideas, crafty stuff all focused on creating and sustaining family traditions.  

I think my favorite aspect of it is that everything in it seems doable, and homey, not too picture perfect.  Its more about the family and togetherness aspect, not being too "Martha-y."  You can check out Rita of One2Try's review here - I think its a neat book too. 

But that's not all!  I got a SECOND book in the package, Crafting A Meaningful Home by Meg Mateo Ilasco.  I LOVE this one!  It has some great craft projects that really resonated with me - all are inspired by personal memories, cultures, and people in the lives of the artists who created them, but could be transferred to your own families and friends to make some truly breathtaking gifts. 

I think I'll be making some decoupage plates for Christmas gifts this year, and I loved the family teepee idea too!  This comes out in September - check it out!

Thank you so much to Rita of One to Try, and also to Abrams books - what a delightful surprise! 

Cool Giveaway at Felicity Lingle!

Head over here to my bloggy friend Felicity's site for a sweet giveaway - a pair of pretty earrings of your choice!  I think these are my favs, simple but would go with a lot and great to wear everyday!  Many more to check out - enter away!

Lucky Girl!

I won yet another blog contest! I feel so lucky. Thanks to Kate and Oli (a really great blog that I check out often), I learned of the awesome purse making talents of Hayden J . Thanks to her generous giveaway, I won this amazing bag!

Yay look how happy I am! Lame pictures, I know - I received the package at work and was so excited I couldn't wait to post about it right away! (Or, after blogger resolved its weird picture posting issues this afternoon. Did anyone else have problems with that today?).

Thank you so so much to Aimee of Hayden J (check out her shop!) and Kate and Oli for putting this together. Woo hoo!

Thank you!

Lots of craft blogs have givaways - and why not?  Its a great way to get more followers and traffic, and showcase your skills.  I enter a lot of these little contests and I just received my very first prize! 

I was so excited to get a lovely package of notecards in the mail yesterday from Teresa at Its's A Good Day.  They are perfect for everyday cards - everyone loves getting cards on their birthday, why not send one for no special reason and brighten someone's day? 

You can check out her other fun items at her etsy shop here - very affordable, and very cute. 

Thanks Teresa!!!

I'm A Winner!

Tons of craft blogs have giveaways, right? It's a great way to get people to check out your site, comment, and share your handiwork. I've entered a bunch of these contests but haven't won anything yet. UNTIL NOW!

Check out Blue Cricket Design!

This awesome blog has great tutorials and ideas, like this cool Tulle Corsage Embellished Tee.



Plus, Becca at Blue Cricket showcases other cool blogs to keep things fresh! For example:
Dot and Line!

This is a really cool shop that sells handmade lampshades (my fav is the green one on the left) - one of which I get to pick out, thanks to the $50 gift certificate I won! Woo hoo! Thanks so much to Blue Cricket and Dot and Line for their generosity. I am thrilled.

I hope you kids check out these sites, and maybe you will be the lucky one on the next go-round. I've been inspired to do a giveaway of my own - stay tuned!

So pretty!

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

How pretty is this? (You can win it if you click the link above). I hope I can make something like this sometime! Maybe by the time its warm enough to wear it...

Free Carvel today!

So, this goes under the banner of thrift related - I love to get good deals and free stuff! Like, LOVE. Even if it is something I wouldn't normally want, if it is free, I must have it.

Today is Carvel Customer Appreciation Day, which means that from 3-7pm you can get a free Oreo Lil Rounder - basically, a giant oreo with soft serve in between the cookies instead of cream. Check out the link to see if there is a carvel near you! Now, I don't like ice cream sandwiches or Oreos - but I may still go.

I know it is probably unamerican to not like Oreos and ice cream sandwiches, but I don't. I could spend another blog post or 10 on my weird food aversions, but that will be another day. For now, enjoy your free ice cream!

sending some love, as in days of yore

One of my favorite crafty things to do is make my own greeting cards, for birthdays, get well wishes, weddings, or just to say hello. Some of my efforts are better than others, as I do tend to go overboard with the glue gun from time to time, but I thought I'd share some fun sites that have some ideas you can incorporate yourself, even if you don't have a lot a craft paraphernalia lying around!

This free template is perfect for fall - its apple-iscious! You can print it out on heavy paper or card stock and be on your way to the lost art of letter writing, in style! Creature Comforts is a great design blog to check out in general too!

Another amazing resource to check out is Feed Your Soul. Every week they post two new free down loadable pieces of artwork that you can print out yourself to decorate your house or any crafty projects that need something more - tack some on gift bags or wrapping paper, attach one to a blank journal, or whatever else you fancy! For greeting cards, just resize them when you print them out - although if you wanted to make them larger in order to frame them and put them up in your home you could do that too! Its so cool to see what these artists come up with, and I'm thrilled that they are willing to share their lovely work!

To wrap it all up I like to make my own envelopes - this is so easy, and basically free, especially if you use magazine pages (bonus recycling, too!). I usually just fold the paper to fit my card and use rubber cement to glue the edges together, but here is a video to show you how to do it with just paper and tape. You can select a page that suits the occasion or recipient, or even make a little collage! (I'm definitely not the first to say that Angry Chicken is one of the best craft blogs out there, but I will gladly add myself to the pack.)

Next time you have a special occasion, or just want to say hi there friend!, think about making your own card. You can use stuff you have (magazines, pretty paper, fabric scraps, buttons, nail polish, ribbon, etc) and glue it to any stiff paper you might have, or use an old manila folder, or even a cut down cereal box to make your own personal design.

So fun, SO simple, and you can recycle stuff you have AND save some cash at Hallmark. Seriously, for the tiny amount of effort that goes into this, people will be amazed at your creativity and thoughtfulness! Try it out! DO IT! Or, don't, and I'll look so much better when I do :)

CocoaDreams Aprons Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

CocoaDreams Aprons Gift Card GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!


I'm just starting out my little blog but I continue to find inspiration and ideas from all of the really cool crafty blogs out there! Soon I'll put together a list of my favorites to check out, because that's how I continue to find new cool ones - by visiting the ones I already like, and seeing which ones they do that I haven't been to yet!
I like Grosgrain because it has so many giveaways of lovely handmade items - I hope to make some giveaways of my own soon but for now I'll just try entering theirs. They have fun tutorials to try - their 20 minute skirt is such a great project for a beginner. I made one to wear to my friend Matt's birthday dinner two weeks ago and it was a hit! I hope this doesn't feel too much like an ad - I would only recommend something I actually dig!