iCANDY WINNER!

Let me tell ya' what a blast I had reading all your iCANDY comments, and learning more about my readers! I can't WAIT to address some of your questions this week! THANKS to everyone who participated, and an even bigger THANK YOU to those of you who went so far as to link my iCANDY for a second chance at winning!

OK ... 254 comments later, 42 printed pages of comments, and an overloaded inbox, Random.org selected comment #50 ... and the winner is ....

emily said ...Congratulations on the hits Nancy! I've been stamping about 2 years (I think), and I've been a demo a little over a year. And I've definitely have been to your blog before =). It's one of my favorites!
May 8, 2008 3:29 PM

Congratulations, Emily !!!!
Please visit Emily's blog, Stamping Expressions.

CELEBRATE 200,000 HITS iCANDY

Last weekend, my counter passed the 200,000 hit mark! To me, that is just unbelievable, and to celebrate, I'm offering iCANDY ...

* Stampin' Up! Prints Pack Designer Series Paper, 6" x 6", Level One Hostess
* Stampin' Up! Retired Send A Celebration Stamp Set
* Three sheets of Little Reminders Accents & Elements
* Miscellaneous Ribbon from Stampin' Up! FLIRTY Ribbon Originals For a chance to win this iCANDY, please leave a comment on this post. Any comment is fine, but I'd love it if you could answer the following questions! ...

1) How long have you been stamping?
2) Are you a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator?
3) Have you been to my blog before?
4) Feel free to ask me any stamping related question you like! I'd love to do a Q & A post next week with your questions!

Also ... mention my iCANDY on YOUR blog with a link to this post, then link it back to here in an additional comment for a second chance at winning!

On Monday, May 12 at 10:00 a.m., I will use Random.org to select the winner! (U.S. and Canadian shipping addresses only, please.)

Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!

iCANDY WINNER ..................

The winner of the New Year's iCANDY in THIS POST has been chosen! I got such a kick out of reading your comments and guesses as to how many times I wrapped the book of Lifesavers! Many of you underestimated my love of PAPER! (Gift wrapping is a close second to stamping!) Then there are some of you that think I'm Wonder Woman --- I can't imagine wrapping the book over 100 times! Just to clarify, I do not wrap the book in one sitting ... it is progressive, and I'll wrap a few layers every day leading up to Christmas.

Onto our winner .............only ONE person guessed the correct number ...... I wrapped the book of Lifesavers 57 times!

Jenmarie had the correct guess of 57 !!!!!

Jenmarie said ... What a GREAT tradition!!!Hmmm...I'll guess 57 times!

Please contact me with your mailing address via e-mail, Jenmarie! Congratulations, and thank you to everyone who commented!

HAPPY NEW YEAR iCANDY !!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!! I'm kicking off the new year with some blog candy (which I fondly call iCANDY on iSTAMP!) Over the past couple of weeks, I've been watching my counter in the 90,000's, and was really crossing my fingers that it would hit the big 100,000 on New Year's Day ... oh well, it's close enough for me!

I haven't talked much yet about our Christmas, and won't go into a whole lot of detail. My brother and his family (the four on the right of the photo) came to Phoenix from Iowa for five days. Their last visit was seven years ago, so this trip was much anticipated! We had a WONDERFUL Christmas with lots and lots of food, games, food, visiting, and more food! This is my favorite photo from their trip, taken after church service on Christmas Eve (which was my favorite part of the celebration ... the church service was beautiful and inspiring!). We also spent a day driving to Tucson to visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden, all in one place. It was so-o-o cool!

Onto the iCANDY ..... Have you seen all the new Designer Papers in the NEW Spring-Summer '08 Catalog & Idea Book? You know I've got a weakness for Designer Paper, and I need to make room for new. I'm giving away this assortment of 27 full 12 x 12 sheets of Stampin' Up! retired Designer Series Papers from Petal Patch, Spring Showers, Spring Flowers, Au Chocolate, Loves Me, and Notations.
How do you win this iCANDY? See the book of Gummy Lifesavers in the photo below? Five years ago, I started a Christmas Eve tradition with my kids and my foster sister's kids. The first Christmas gift I buy every year is a book of Lifesavers, and start wrapping it over and over and over again until I either run out of wrapping paper or get so sick and tired of wrapping it that I can't possible wrap another layer! The wrapped package in the bottom of the photo is the finished product from this year. On Christmas Eve, the kids gather in a circle and take turns unwrapping one layer at a time, and counting the layers as they go. The person that unwraps the very last layer wins the book of Lifesavers. It is fun to see how many times I wrap it every year, as I don't keep track while I'm doing it, and also fun to see which kiddo wins it each year.
To win the iCANDY Stampin' Up! Designer Paper assortment, leave a comment with your guess as to how many times you think I wrapped the book of Lifesavers this year. The person with the correct or closest guess wins the dp assortment. In the event of a tie or ties, I will use random.org to choose a winner. A winner will be chosen the evening of Thursday, January 3.

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR to each and every one of you that stops in to read my blog! Good luck !!!

Edit to Add: Due to cost of shipping, U.S. and Canadian shipping addresses only.

BLOG CANDY WINNER

I am in complete shock and awe over the number of comments left for the Blog Candy posted on Monday, 10/15! Not only am I overwhelmed by the numbers, but also the creative Halloween costume ideas ... WOW!!!! I didn't know there were so many things one could do with a cardboard box, balloons, rubber gloves, clotheslines, laundry hamper, burlap sack, longjohns, sheets, tablecloths, and more! If you're looking for Halloween costume ideas, the comment section of THIS POST is the place to go!

THANK YOU for an unexpected, wonderful response to the blog candy! Your costume ideas, AND nice comments about my blog and artwork are GREATLY APPRECIATED!!! Unfortuantely, there can only be one winner, and that winner is ............

Melissa .... who said ....
Congrats Nancy! Your blog is awesome! It's easy to see why you have so many hits! : )One of the costumes I had done was pretty simple - odd, but it worked.I wore some clothes backwards. I had cut out Cindy Crawford's face & neck, posted it to cardboard, cut it to fit the shape of me. Put it on the back of my head. Used barbie pins to keep my hair out of her face(LOL). Tucked the neck in my turtleneck to hide it. I would turn backwards, even for pictures. When people would look at the pictures - they'd say 'who was Cindy again?' So the disguise worked. Not to mention, my other half was real purdy! hehe.Thanks for all you do on your blog!~Melissa

Melissa, please contact me via e-mail with your mailing address. Thank you!

LONG OVERDUE BLOG CANDY

It was less than 60 days ago when I offered my last blog candy celebrating 10,000 hits (Aug. 20 to be exact!). Today, I'm seeing my counter approach 42,000!!!! It just blows me away that you all are so interested in what I'm doing in my little 'ol craft room! What a hoot this is for me! I thank you very much for checking in every day, and leaving such encouraging comments! I'm overwhelmed!

Here's what's in today's blog candy: an alterable lunchbox tin, 3 sheets of SU Little Reminders Accents & Elements, two packages of self-adhesive rhinestone accents from Michael's, two jumbo paper clips from Walmart, an assortment of miscellaneous clips, eyelets, and brads.

How do you win? Humor me, and leave me a comment telling me about a unique, creative, and/or humorous Halloween costume you've worn or seen someone else wear. Give me all the details! I'll be needing ideas for the kids! If you don't celebrate Halloween, you can leave any kind of comment you like .... just say "hello" if you like! U.S. and CANADIAN Shipping Addresses Only, Please.

I will use Random.org to choose the winner on Thursday evening, Oct. 18. GOOD LUCK!!!

...and the WINNER of the Cutie Pie Altered Lunchbox IS...

On Monday, I offered blog candy for a chance to win a lunchbox tin, altered with Cutie Pie DP, specially made to organize handmade greeting cards (see post HERE) in celebration of 10,000 hits. I asked readers to guess the number of buttons in a glass jar and let me know how they came across my blog. After reading 86 comments, I am completely overwhelmed with joy! Us stamping people are nice folk, aren't we?! Oh my, I felt like it was my birthday on steroids! Your kind comments are so encouraging and inspiring!!! THANK YOU !!!!

Let me tell you, buttons in a jar are deceiving! I didn't even know how many buttons there were until I counted them this afternoon. While reading your guesses, I was thinking that most of you were guessing too high .... NOT! There were 601 buttons in that small little jar!

Melissa had the winning guess of 613. Here is Melissa's comment:

Congratulations on 10,000 hits, I LOVE your blog! I have my husband to thank for finding you! We are re-modeling our home and while trying to find an office/craft room design he sent me your blog and told me he would like to see me with an office like yours! :) Thanks for the great photos and ideas! My guess for the buttons is 613. Melissa

Melissa, please contact me at nrileycm@cox.net. Please include your U.S. mailing address so I can mail your tin right away!

Thanks to all of you who visit and/or subscribe! This has been, and will continue to be, a very fun adventure for me!

10,000 HITS BLOG CANDY - ALTERED LUNCHBOX TIN

It looks as though my counter will be reaching the 10,000 mark today ... woohoo! That calls for some BLOG CANDY, don't ya' think?! When starting this blog on June 18, I had no idea what to expect. I have found this adventure to be incredibly rewarding, inspiring, and another element of excitement to my craft! Thanks to all of you who read my blog, subscribe, and leave me nice comments that just MAKE MY DAY! You are truly motivating!

If you've been reading my blog lately, you know I've been on an Altered Lunchbox Tin kick. (See other tins HERE and HERE). I've been saving this one just for this occasion! Yep, you can WIN this CUTIE PIE Altered Lunchbox Tin and Dividers ... specially made for organizing your handmade greeting cards!

The dividers are labeled: Birthday, Thank You, Holidays, Get Well/Sympathy, Friendship, Congrats, and Misc.

So how do you WIN? See this jar of buttons? It's a jar I have on a shelf in my craft room .... all my miscellaneous buttons get put in that jar -- buttons from new clothing, buttons found in the laundry -- you name it, it goes in there! It's used more for decorative purposes than anything else.

Leave me a comment on THIS POST .... include your guess as to how many buttons are in the jar. I'd also love to hear how you found my blog! Was it through Splitcoast Stampers? another stamper's blog? (if so, who?), are you a local customer of mine? Whatever it is, I'd love to hear how you found me!

The button jar measures approximately 4" x 4" square and 3" tall without the lid.

I will end the blog candy on Wednesday 8/22 evening. Only U.S. shipping addresses please. In the event of a tie(s), each correct number will be assigned a number in order of post and a number will be selected by random.org. GOOD LUCK !!!

RECIPE FOR CUTIE PIE ALTERED LUNCHBOX TIN:

Stamps: None
Paper: Cutie Pie DP, So Saffron Prints DP (for smaller chipboard flower), Certainly Celery and So Saffron CS (for dividers)

Ink: White CRAFT Ink for Chipboard Pieces
Embellishments: Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue Grosgrain Ribbon, On Board Blossoms & Basics, On Board Accents, Bashful Blue Brads, So Saffron Brad, Bashful Blue Button, Embroidery Floss
Tools: 1 1/4" Circle Punch (for cut-out around latch), Word Window Punch (for cut-out around handle), Round Tab Punch (for dividers), Sanding Block for Chipboard
Supplies: Lots and lots and lots of Sticky Strip, Stampin' Dimensionals or Foam Tape.
Notes: The word "CARDS" under the Label Holder and the words on the dividers are printed from the computer. The DP for the lid is TWO pieces to fit around the handle.

BLOG CANDY WINNER

THANK YOU to everyone who left a comment for a chance to win the blog candy offered on my July 20 post! You are all so kind and encouraging! I'm overwhelmed! I can't tell you how fun it was to read your comments ... so keep leavin' 'em!

I used random.org to chose our winner .... the winner is .... comment #26 .... by kathy w !!!! WOOHOO!!!!

kathy w said ...
Nancy, I am a July birthday too! Happy Birthday! I bookmarked your quilt card tutorial; it was very well done with detailed instructions and pictures. I also appreciate the cards you post on your blog. They are great inspiration. Thanks for the chance at blog candy; I would love this stamp!

KATHY W, please e-mail me with your snail mail address so I can get your Big Blossom stamp and altered jumbo paper clip mailed off to you!

BLOG CANDY * BLOG CANDY * BLOG CANDY

I have reasons to celebrate, and I'm celebrating with a BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY!!! My blog counter just hit 3000 today, and tomorrow (7/21) is my 43rd birthday! It has been a hoot writing this blog ... I am very much enjoying it!

This blog candy prize consists of an unmounted, brand new Stampin' Up! Big Blossom Stamp from the Sell-A-Bration 2007 mini catalog. This large stamp (the size of a background stamp) is retired and no longer available for purchase. You'll also receive this altered jumbo paper clip.

So how do you enter to win? Simply leave a comment on this post telling me what you would like to see included on my blog ... more tutorials, stamp supply organization, ideas? I'd love to hear any suggestions or comments! Anybody with a US shipping address is eligible to win!

I will draw a winner on Tuesday, July 24 at 10:00 p.m. Each comment will be given a number, and a number will be chosen randomly. So .... leave me your comments and suggestions! I'd love to hear from you!