Lucky Streak

A couple weeks ago I entered a lovely giveaway on Rebecca Ersfeld's A Repurposed Life blog to win this gorgeous handmade collage pocket. Truly, the photos don't do it justice because it is much more beautiful in person.

 There are so many exquisite details. . . .

 Like this tattered bird tag and the polka-dotted sheer ribbon tied on the wire hanger. 

However, as if the lacy pocket wasn't enough . . . 

 Rebecca tucked lots of vintage goodies inside the pocket.

 Just look at all of this . . . 

 I was like a kid opening my stocking on Christmas morning!

I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am to Rebecca, for offering such a generous prize. 

Thank you SO much from the bottom of my heart! 

Lucky Me!

I had the luck of the Irish when I found out I was the winner of Dina Wakely's generous giveaway last week. She had a simple giveaway (the kind where all you have to do is leave a comment on her blog) and I won an entire set of all 10 of her cling stamps which she sells through Stampington!!! I have taken a class or two from Dina and she is such a talented mixed media artist, so I was thrilled to win her stamps. I can't wait to play with them. Thanks SO much Dina...I love them!

Prize Winner!

Can you believe it? Valentine's Day is only 9 days away and I don't have any of my decorations put out yet! Except for this one......

This darling Be Mine ornie was made by my sweet friend Natalea and I was lucky enough to win it in her Have A Heart Giveaway!

Thanks for helping to decorate my house for Valentine's Day Nat~I love it!!!!

Giveaway!!!

Today is the 11th day of Fabulous Holiday Giveaways over on the Where Women Create blog and I am excited to be one of the featured artists. (Thank you so much Paige!)
I am giving away this beautiful, sparkly large ornament. You can hang it on your tree, but it is big enough to hang on your door or wall as well. Be sure to leave a comment on the Where Women Create Blog here to be entered in the giveaway.
I love anything with a touch of glitter or a bit of French influence. I hope you do to.

I also have updated my Etsy Shop with a few Christmas items, with more coming each day. Be sure to check it out here.

Twelve Days of Holiday Giveaways

Today is the first day of 12 Days of Holiday Giveaways over on the Where Women Create blog. Each day, from now through December 12th, the site will feature four artists who are giving away four fabulous prizes. I am so honored to be taking part again in this fun event. Be sure to check it out here.

Twelve Days of Christmas Traditions

This month I am taking part in a wonderful event on the Where Women Create Blog called The 12 Days of Christmas. Various artists and I are sharing our favorite holiday traditions as well as offering great giveaway prizes. In fact there are THREE prizes being offered EVERYDAY! Here's how it works:

"Each day between December 1st thru December 12th, the Where Women Create Blog will feature three fabulous artists. They will be sharing their cherished holiday traditions, plus giving away a fantastic prize. All you have to do for a chance to win is to leave a comment on each of the 12 posts. (Limit - one comment on each post please) You can comment on any of the posts at any time during the 12 day event."

On the 3rd Day of Christmas, I am offering the very last of my limited edition Sweet Vintage Wreath Kit to one lucky winner. For a chance to win be sure to leave your comment on the Where Women Create Blog by clicking here.

Good Luck to everyone!

A Couple of Things. . . .

This limited edition collection of Spring Flower Tags is available on Rebecca Sower's Haiti By Hand Etsy shop. There are 15 of these wonderful tags in the set, each one created by a different artist, including me!

You still have a few hours to enter my giveaway over at Joli Paquet for the goodies pictured above. I'll be drawing the winning name at 5:00 pm CST tomorrow (Tuesday, 5/25) so click here and leave a comment for a chance to win.

UPDATE: GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

Congratulations to Carol Mae!

Spring Giveaway!

I'm hosting a little giveaway over on Joli Paquet today. You can click here to enter.

Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments regarding my Art Saves story on Crescendoh. My Guest Curator piece runs all week and the photo links for each artist shown here change each day, so be sure to check back throughout the week for more inspiration.

We're so excited to have Joli Paquet be featured today on the Where Women Create blog as a part of the site's Fabulous Friday feature. Jo did a wonderful write up and we're offering 4 giveaways over there as well. Go check it out right here.

Channeling Martha

After seeing Natalea's post here, I too decided to try out this craft project from Martha Stewart Living Magazine. I have birds. I have nests. I have pine cones. I have evergreen boughs. I have toilet paper roll tubes. I had all the supplies, so it was a $0 craft with nothing to loose. The fun part is that you can hide small gifts or treats inside the log. If you don't have Martha's magazine, you can see how to make it here.
I also made this chocolate pound cake with an orange glaze from a Canterbury Naturals mix I bought at Homegoods. We used to sell this brand at the store I used to manage. Yum!

I put together these table favors/placecards for our Christmas Eve dinner using children's mittens found at Target's Dollar Spot. We always have a snowman theme, because our Christmas plates have snowmen on them. I filled the mittens with candies, a snowflake cupcake topper and attached a wee glass snowman ornament with a name tag.

Cindy shows you how to make quick and easy Christmas decorations for your home today over on the Joli Paquet blog.

Photo by Cindy Gilstrap

And don't forget to sign up for the chance to win 1 of 5 giveaway prizes by leaving a comment here by midnight today.

Beautiful Angels and a Giveaway!

A while ago, I participated in The Vintage Dragonfly's Angels We Have Heard on High Paper Doll Swap. You might remember this post where I shared my angel with you. Anyway, Danielle just posted a slide show of all the Angels from the swap and you can see it here.

Guess what? We've having a Giveaway on the Joli Paquet blog!!! Hurry on over to sign up! There's 5 prizes (one is pictured above) and the winners will be announced on Friday, 12/18.

Good Luck!

Special Deliveries

I thought I would share with you some of the fun things that arrived in my mailbox this past week. I participated in an art exchange that was circulating throughout blogland recently. It was similar to a chain letter, but in this particular one you send a piece of artwork to the top person on the list and then pass the letter on to 6 other people. I decided to give it a try and see what happens. My letter came from Natalea instructing me to send an art piece to Vivian. Here's what I sent her:

One of the people I passed the letter on to is Cami and she sent it to Leann who sent me this wonderful bingo card Christmas collage hanging. I just love it, don't you?

So far this is the only little art piece that I have received . . . . guess not too many people are into chain letters, even if they involve art.

Then I entered (and won) two giveaways during Natasha's It's All About Me Swap Event last month. This is the fun box of goodies that I won from Paula (aka Pearl) . . .

I hung the little witch toy on my front door to greet all the Halloween goblins. And I just love all the vintage ephemera included in the package.

And below is the beautiful print I won from talented Natasha herself - sent all the wayfrom Australia!

I have always admired Natasha's glorious paintings of her pretty pink vintage prom dresses, so you can imagine how winning this prize made me squeal with glee! I want to find just the right frame for it and then hang it in my studio where it will look amazing and offer tons of inspiration. Big hugs go out to Leann, Paula and Natasha for all your generosity!

They're On Their Way

Everyone is headed off to Omaha to Silver Bella today. I have never been to this event, but from all reports it sure looks like a lot of fun. I can't wait to see the pics from everyone when they get back home. Have fun all you bellas! I made this little collage as a raffle prize for Jessi Nagy's Bella Bus Tour she is hosting. I hope whoever wins it will let me know who they are, just so I know who my little Bella ends up living with.

In other news, we will be starting up our Christmas Joli Paquet Event on Tuesday, November 17th. I'm first on the schedule this time - yikes! I guess I'd better get a move on it because that's only 5 short days from now!!!

GIveaway!

Hey guess what? We have a fun GIVEAWAY going on over at the Joli Paquet blog, so be sure to check it out.  Kit previews and sales will take place next week.

Drum Roll Please

Here are the winners of my birthday celebration giveaway:

Dawn won the handmade journal

and

Amy Elise won the book, A Note To Self

CONGRATULATIONS GIRLS!

And a great big hug to everyone for all the lovely birthday wishes and comments!

Last Chance!

Here's a fun new swap that I recently signed up for. Natasha Burns has designed this one with a little twist. Check out the details on her blog here.

This is your last chance to sign up for my Birthday Giveaway. One winner will receive a handmade Follow Your Dreams Journal and a second winner will receive the book, Note to Self.  To read all the details and sign up click here. Sign-ups end at midnight tonight!

Are you a Design Star fan? Did you watch the finale last night? I was very disappointed that Dan didn't win. I thought his house was much better designed than Antonio's. Just as I thought Lonnie's room was a hundred times better than Antonio's the week before. Dan's house was gorgeous and the mother/daughter homeowners truly loved everything he did for them. He really listened to everything they said and executed it all beautifully.  Don't get me wrong - I like Antonio and his rough-tough-teddy-bear personality. I think because of that he will be a refreshing addition to the HGTV line-up. I think HGTV thought that also and feel "the fix" was in weeks ago that he would win, regardless of his design skills. What do you think?