Blends Join Hands Blog Hop WINNER!!

Hi everyone and happy Friday!! Yay, the weekend is here!! I hope you have fun plans :) The last weekend in January already...wow, I can't believe how fast time flies!!

Thank you all for stopping by for the Blends Join Hands Blog Hop!! I have a winner to announce for my blog candy of a package of craft paper and matching flowers:

Random.org selected as the winner............................................................

And #48 is............................................................................

Congratulations, Chriss!! I hope you enjoy the paper and flowers!! I'll shoot you an email or you can reach me at indymermaid(at)gmail(dot)com.

Be sure to stop back on Sunday for a new Getting Cricky Simply Sunday Challenge!! Have a great weekend :)

Miss Ewe and Owly Hoo Stamp Set WINNER!!

TO ENTER MY BLOG CANDY GIVEAWAY, CLICK HERE!

Hi everyone and happy Thursday!! Wow, this week is flying by!! Before I announce the winner of the K Andrew Designs Owly Hoo stamp set, I have a project to enter into a few challenges today :)

I used Tim Holtz Idea-ology Kraft Paper (thanks again, Sabrina!!) for the base of the bag and cut it from Plantin Schoolbook using my Gypsy at 7.50" x 11.77".  The yellow and orange polka dot papers are from the DWCV Mango Frost Stack. I used Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4 and punched a hole on each end with my Crop-a-dile. I threaded jute twine through the holes to tie the label onto the bag.

The adorable ewe is from From My Kitchen, cut at 2" and flipped. I embossed her with the Sizzex swirls embossing folder to give her a fleecy look and attached all the layers together with foam tape for dimension.

The flowers are from Plantin Schoolbook and the button centers are a Sizzex die. I added some crystal gems in the centers.

The tag is also from Plantin Schoolbook and the buttons are from the same Sizzex die. Miss Ewe is from the brand new K Andrew Designs All About Animal stamps!! There are so many awesome sentiments on this stamp set!! I love them and couldn't wait to use them:

Click HERE to purchase your own stamps or to see the entire line of K Andrew Designs stamps!! I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Cooking With Cricut Challenge #70 - Anything but a card, use yellow and polka dots
2. Paper Playtime Challenge #65 - Tag or use a tag on your project and a sentiment
3. Die Cutting Divas Challenge #49 - Buttons, bows and/or bling

I was trying to make this fit several challenges and I kept in mind Diana's Thankful Thursday challenge at DL.Art... I used kraft paper, twine and flowers, as per her requirements, and then I got so caught up using the new stamps and the ewe, that I completely forgot the main requirement was for it to be a thank you card! So I can't enter it there...sorry, Diana!

Now to the winner of the K Andrew Designs Owly Hoo stamp set from the Getting Cricky Promo Week of Projects and U R So Sweet Blog Hop!! I want to sincerely thank all of you who stopped by - some of you every single day!! I truly appreciate each of you and I wish I could send you all a stamp set!! I also want to thank those of you that took the time to earn extra entries into the drawing!! I appreciate it so much!!

After I counted all the comments for the six days, plus all of the extra chances, there were over 600 entries!! That was a lot of cutting!! I took the name of the person plus the day the comment was left and printed them out...

And the winner is..........................................................................................................

Congratulations, Karen!! I will send you an email for your address, or you can reach me at indymermaid(at)gmail(dot)com!!

Thank you all again for following me and for leaving such sweet comments!! They mean so much to me!! Be sure to stop back by tomorrow when I will announce the winner of the paper pack and matching flowers from the Blends Join Hands Blog Hop!! :)

Decorate To Celebrate Challenge #17 - Valentine's Day Party

Hi everyone, and happy Wednesday!! It's time for another super-fun challenge at Decorate to Celebrate!! The theme this week is VALENTINE'S DAY PARTY!! Let's celebrate EVERYTHING WONDERFUL ABOUT VALENTINE'S DAY with your table decorations, party banners, pennants, yard signs, cupcakes, party favors and more!!

For my project, I created a Valentine mobile of 3-D hearts and a birdcage. I had the hardest time taking a picture of this!

All of the paper is from My Mind's Eye. I used Fired Brick and Walnut Distress Inks to ink the edges. I used 6 lb. fishing wire to attach the hearts and birdcage to the top hanger.

The hearts are from Gypsy Wanderings and I added slits so I could fit two together for a 3-D look. "You are loved" is from K Andrew Designs Amazing You stamp set.

The birdcage is a Tim Holtz Die and I cut it first with grungeboard to make it sturdy. I threaded lace through the top, and the lace was white, so I inked it with Tea Dye Distress Ink. I added a strip of crystals and flowers from Flower Shoppe. The pearls and the clear tag are Tim Holtz products. "Sweet" is from K Andrew Designs Winged Things stamp set. Click HERE to purchase your own set!!

Now it's your turn! Head over to Decorate to Celebrate and link up your Valentine Party Decorations! I can't wait to see what you create :)

Cards for Kids Valentines Day Blog Hop!!

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the Cards for Kids Valentines Day Blog Hop! If you have come from Larelyn at Handmade From My Heart, you're in the right place. If you're just joining us, please go to Faith Abigail's blog at http://www.faithabigaildesigns.com/ and start at the beginning.

Valentine's Day is the perfect time to show someone how much you love them. So this year, let's send a little love to those that need it most!

Each of us has created a Valentine's Day card for a sick child and we're asking you to do the same! Simply, create a Valentine's Day card, link it to Faith Abigail's blog (link-up will remain open until February 7 at 12:00am) and mail it to:

Faith Abigail
10621 Fuller Ridge Circle
Charlotte, NC 28270

On February 10th, all of the card's will be collected and donated to a local children's hospital. Please include a small message inside your card. Envelopes are not necessary.

Now, what would a blog hop be without prizes! We have some amazing prizes donated by some very talented and generous women and lots of ways to win!

Krystal Andrew @ http://www.gettingcricky.com/ has donated one of her beautiful Valentine stamp sets!

Nicole @ http://thetwinery.com/ has donated The Ultimate Color Sampler Pack featuring fourteen gorgeous colors of twine!

Monique @ http://monkeydoodlecricut.blogspot.com/ has generously donated FIVE of her fantastic Cricut Kits: The Simple Life, Toy Story, The Stampede, Mom and Me, and Catch a Wave.

All winners will be chosen by random.org. In order to win:

- Be a follower of Faith Abigail Designs @ http://www.faithabigaildesigns.com/ (one entry)
- Like Faith Abigail Designs on Facebook @ http://www.facebook.com/faithabigaildesigns (one entry)
- Leave a comment on Faith Abigail's blog post (one entry)
- Leave a comment on each of the designers blog post (one entry each)
- Post about this blog hop on your blog, website or facebook and link back to Faith Abigail's post (one entry each)
- Create a Valentine's Day card, link it and mail it to the provided address. Please create and link as many projects as you'd like! (TWO entries for each card submitted!)

Now for my Hop project!! I couldn't decide whether to use a dog or a cat for my Valentine card, so I made one of each!

I used paper from The Paper Studio So Sweet stack. I cut the bases from Elegant Edges and used my Gypsy to weld them together, and embossed them with Swiss Dots. In the heart cutout in the bottom right corner, I used the "kisses" stamp from K Andrew Designs Owly Hoo stamp set (click HERE to purchase your own set!) and filled it in with Glossy Accents. The doggie and kitty are from Sweethearts, cut at 2 1/2". I made little boxes for them to sit in because they double as necklaces!

When you open the card, a heart pops up saying "Be My Valentine"! I welded the letters and the heart from Sweethearts on my Gypsy. The large heart is from Gypsy Wanderings, and I embossed them with the Swiss Dots folder as well.

I have blog candy!! I have a exclusive K Andrew Designs Merci Sentiment and Frame stamp set up for grabs!!

All you have to do to be eligible for the drawing is:

1. Be a follower of my blog
2. Leave a comment with a way to contact you

That's it!! I will announce the winner on Sunday, January 29. I also have three other blog candy giveaways going on right now!!

1. To enter to win a Cricut cart, click HERE!! (ends 1/31)
2. To enter to win a K Andrew Designs Owly Hoo stamp set, click HERE!! (ends midnight tonight, 1/24)
3. To enter the Blends Join Hands Blog Hop paper and flower set giveaway, click HERE!! (ends 1/25)

Thank you for checking out my Cards for Kids Valentine's Day card! Please continue along to the next blog, Marlene @ http://www.scrappincookie.blogspot.com/, and check out all of the wonderful projects that our designers have created!

Blog Hop Order:

Faith @ http://www.faithabigaildesigns.com/
Amy @ http://lv2scrapandfibrofacts.blogspot.com/
Beckie @ http://justbcreativecrazy.blogspot.com/
Brandy @ http://craftingwithfaith.blogspot.com/
Cathie @ http://www.creativecutterroom.com/
Charlotte @ http://alittlebitofdetail.blogspot.com/
Jessica @ http://cricutafterdark.blogspot.com/
Kate @ http://www.smallbitsofpaper.blogspot.com/
Larelyn @ http://handmadefromtheheart-designsbylarelyn.blogspot.com/
Lisa @ http://indymermaid.blogspot.com/                      <YOU ARE HERE
Marlene @ http://www.scrappincookie.blogspot.com/   < NEXT STOP
Melissa @ http://cricutkateer.blogspot.com/
Melanie @ http://melaniemakes.blogspot.com/
Michele @ http://chelemom.blogspot.com/
Sabrina @ http://scrappinwithsabrina.blogspot.com/
Suzanne @ http://cricutcraftingrammy.blogspot.com/