Blog Award Thanks and a GIVEAWAY!!

Happy Wednesday!! I hope you are having a great week so far!! I am so late in thanking some people for blog awards and I sincerely apologize.

First, I would like to thank my sweet friend Alessia from A Casa di Ale for gifting me with the Premio Dardos!! This award was invented by the Spanish writer Alberto Zambade in 2008. "This is recognition for every blogger for his commitment to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal." I am so honored!! Thank you again, Alessia!!

Next, I would like to thank several dear friends for giving me the Sunshine Blogger Award (in the order the award was received):

Shirl - Creations by Shirl
Lee-Ann – Snappy Scraps

Kathy – 3 Spoiled Dogs and a Cricut

Karon – Karon's Krafty Korner

Moni – Crafty Moni

Naomi – Creative Bug on the Loose

Kristan – Babycakes

Thank you so much!! I appreciate it and am so honored that you thought of me!!

Now for the rules:

1. Include award logo in blog post and thank the blogger who gave it to you & include a link back.
2. Answer 10 questions about yourself that you have made up.

So here are the ten questions about me...

1) How did I get started crafting?
I used to watch all the crafting shows DIY and HGTV used to air...I first saw Tim Holtz on the Carol Duvall Show.

2) Favorite craft products?
I have so many, but to narrow it down, I am completely hooked on Spellbinders. My goal is to own every single set :) I also love all Tim Holtz products, especially his stamps, dies and inks.

3) Crafting tool I use on a daily basis?
My Tim Holtz retractable craft pick. It can be used for so many things. My craft area might be a mess, and I can never find anything I need, but I always know where my craft pick is :)

4) Hobbies outside of crafting #1?
I am a voracious reader. I average about three books a week. It would be a toss-up which I love more...craft stores or book stores. I could spend hours in both.

5) Hobbies outside of crafting #2?
I love exercise. I try to get in two 45 minute workouts a day, once in the morning and once at night. I treated myself to a NordicTrack treadmill for Christmas on Black Friday and have already put it to good use.

6) Hobbies outside of crafting #3?
I love to travel. Three more states and I'll have my bucket list item crossed off of visiting all 50. Another bucket item is all seven continents, and I still have four to go.

7) Strangest thing that's ever happened to me?
I once found a leg in the middle of the road.

8) Oh wait, you want to know more about the leg??!! Okay, a friend and I were driving, we rounded a curve and there was something lying in the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid it and then we looked at each other and asked, "was that a leg??" at the same time. We drive a few feet and off to the side of the road was a man standing beside his motorcycle with, you guessed it, one leg. So we turned around as soon as we could, drove back to the leg and I got out and picked it up. We drove up to him and he was so thankful. Both of his legs were prosthetic and he couldn't balance the bike and pick up his other leg, so he didn't know what to do. He had just received a new set of legs the day before and they didn't fit properly.

8) Second strangest thing that's happened to me?
A few years ago, I took my mom to a doctor's appointment. I waited for her in the car and I happened to look up and out the doors of the hospital, a girl in a white gown came running out barefoot, her long black hair flying behind her like a cape. She was trying to hold the gown together and run as fast as she could. She crossed four lanes of traffic without looking back. A few seconds later, a cop came running out, looking all around for her. He saw me, came and asked me if I had seen the girl, and I told him which direction she ran. It turns out, she was wanted for several crimes, including a police chase in which she crashed, and she fled while being treated. They eventually found her hours later but I have no idea what happened with the charges against her.

9) Biggest pet peeve?
Inconsiderate people.

10) Life goal?
I want to live on the ocean. I don't care which ocean, but I feel at peace when I can hear the waves crashing and smell the salt in the air. Must be the mermaid in me :)

Thank you again Alessia, Shirl, Lee-Ann, Kathy, Karon, Moni, Naomi and Kristan!! I hope you will visit all of their blogs to see their amazing projects!! They are all fabulously talented but more important, wonderful people and I'm thankful to call them friends!!

You are supposed to pass the Sunshine Award along to 10-12 people, and 15 for the Dardos Award, but I want to pass both along to all of my followers. I am so thankful for each one of you!! Please add these to your blog with my best wishes :)

Now for the reason you are here...a GIVEAWAY!! Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year, so I wanted to give one of my dear followers a little Christmas gift from me :)

I am giving away a set of Spellbinders Cherry Blossoms dies, and a Amy Tangerine 6x6 paper stack. All you have to do to be eligible to win is:

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

That's it!! No hoops to jump through to be eligible to win. You can earn a second entry for posting about this, either on your blog sidebar, a blog post or on Facebook. If you do, please leave an extra comment so I will know...that means 2 chances total to win.

The winner will be announced on twelve, twenty, twenty-twelve (I love saying that!!) 12/20/2012.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and good luck!!

Blog Candy WINNER, Blog Award Thanks and Blog Hop News!!

Happy Wednesday, everyone and happy first day of summer!! Woo-hoo!! I love, love summer!! Yes, I know the day is almost over, but I had major computer issues...my not-even-a-year-old laptop wouldn't recognize my CD/DVD drive and I've been working on it all day. I did get it fixed, but you want to know something depressing?? I was in Hobby Lobby this morning and they had their Christmas decorations out already!! Way to ruin my First Day of Summer happiness!! Not that I don't love Christmas, because I absolutely do...I just don't want to be thinking about cold and snow in June ;)

** BLOG CANDY WINNER **

I want to thank you all so much for following me and entering my giveaway!! I know it's cliche, but I do wish I could give each and every one of you a little token of my appreciation :) But since I'm not independently wealthy and have yet to hit the lottery, I must limit it to one person. Using random.org, the winner of the Spellbinders die and Bo Bunny paper pack is........

Congratulations, Cathy!! I will send you an email or you can email me at indymermaid(at)gmail(dot)com and I will get the prize in the mail to you!!

I'm getting close to 1,000 so I'm gathering goodies for another giveaway, probably within the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned!!

** BLOG AWARD THANKS **

I want to sincerely thank my sweet friend Sonia of Passioni di carta for thinking of me for the Premio Blog Portafortuna Award, an award for luck!! Isn't this little ladybug adorable??!! If you haven't visited, Sonia, you need to stop by her blog and see her amazing, gorgeous work!! I'm inspired every time I visit her!! Thank you again, Sonia!! I appreciate it so much :)

The rules to this award are:

1. Put it on your blog - which I have done
2. Name three favorite foods: Pizza, Salad, Fish
3. Give it to 10 other blogs. This one is just too hard for me. I tried, but I can't select just 10 to give this to...there are too many people who are deserving and I don't want to leave anyone out. So I am giving this to all of my followers!! Add it to your blog from me for luck :)

Thank you again, Sonia for thinking of me!!

** BLOG HOP ** 

Mark your calendar for Friday for the "Well OWL Be" Blog Hop!! Heather Lynn of Random Recipes, Paper Crafts and Photos by HL is our hostess for this awesome hop that is all about owls :)

There is an incredible lineup of talented crafters and lots of fabulous prizes up for grabs!! All the fun will begin at 8:00 am EST so be sure to join us!! You won't want to miss it :)

Dreams Do Come True and Blog Award Thanks!!

Happy Saturday and last day of March, everyone!! I had this post all ready to go yesterday and when I opened the draft this morning, it was completely empty!! The title was fine but no post whatsoever...grrr, how frustrating. I don't have any idea what happened...if it is linked to the new Blogger upgrade, which I'm not fond of yet. I was going to schedule all of my posts for next week when I'm gone, but now I'm afraid to...I don't want to do all that work only to have them disappear again :( Has this happened to anyone else??

I  have a card to enter into Diana's 3 x 3 Thankful Thursday challenge. (Okay, my card possibly measures 3.25 x 3.25 with the scalloped edges...I hope it still counts!!). I want to sincerely thank Beate for instructions on how to make a shaped card using Spellbinders!! I love this method...so much easier than what I was doing!! I used my favorite Pink Paislee paper from the Butterfly Collection. The base is the largest Spellbinders Lacy Square. I cut a Classic Square and sewed it to the Lacy Square.

Using the colors from Diana's card as inspiration, I used Shabby Shutters Distress Ink to bring out the green in the paper, Tumbled Glass to bring out the blue and Wild Honey for the yellow. The shape in the middle is from Spellbinders Parisian Accents and I cut a Standard Circle in the same size to stamp "Dreams do come true" from K Andrew Designs newest stamp set, Of Mice & Lil Men. I know I say this about all of her stamps but this one is my favorite!! Click HERE to purchase your own set :) I popped it up with foam tape for dimension, and the butterfly as well. Both the butterfly on the front and...

the one on the inside are the smallest of Spellbinders Nested Butterflies.

BLOG AWARD THANKS

I am always so honored when one of my friends thinks of me for a blog award!! It means so much to me :) I hope you will visit each of their blogs...not only are they fabulous friends, but each and every one is incredibly talented and so creative!! You will not be disappointed!!

Versatile Blogger

 Thank you so much to (in the order it was received):

Amy of Redheaded Crafter

Kenzie of Krafty Hugzz 

Georgiana of Carson's Creations

Diana of DL.ART

Sherrie of Sherrie Scraps With Passion

Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles

Green Blend Award

Thank you so much to Colin of Crimson Cricut

Kreativ Blogger Award

Thank you so much to Shirl of Creations by Shirl

The Butterfly Award 

Thank you so much to Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles

All of these awards have instructions to post things about yourself. I had it all typed up, as well as who I was giving these to and it is all gone. It really makes me want to cry. I don't have time to compile the lists again before I go, so I will do that when I get back. I am giving all four awards to the the wonderful friends above, so I will go ahead and do that and then include the others when I return:

Amy of Redheaded Crafter 

Colin of Crimson Cricut

Diana of DL.ART

Georgiana of Carson's Creations 

Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles

Kenzie of Krafty Hugzz 

Sherrie of Sherrie Scraps With Passion

Shirl of Creations by Shirl

Thanks so much for stopping by!! I apologize again for not being able to visit you for a while but I will when I get back :)

The Little Mermaid, Blog Award Thanks and WINNER!!

Happy Sunday, everyone!!  I hope you had a great weekend!! My Getting Cricky design team sister Jessie of Sugarlips Sassy Surprises is headed to Disney World soon and wanted to make an autograph book for her daughter. Fellow design team member Shawn of Crafty Chics decided to turn it into a challenge, the Disney Autograph Book Challenge!! Shawn is asking everyone to create one autograph page (8 1/2" x 5") with a Disney character on it, link it up at Crafty Chics and then mail it to Jessie (visit Shawn's blog for all the details).

Hum, I wonder what Disney character I chose?? Ariel, The Little Mermaid :) (shocking, right??!!) I used Core'dinations Core Couture and cut the Little Mermaid from Disney Dreams Come True.

I had a hard time getting good pics of the pages because the paper is so sparkly. The background paper is from K & Company Happy Trails stack. I love this paper...there are some raised spots for dimension but you can't really tell in the picture. I love the look of the waves :)

Ariel inside the shell was also cut with Core Couture from DDCT.

Ariel was cut from DDCT at 4" using Core Couture paper. I embossed her tail with the Cuttlebug Japanese Scales embossing folder. I had a very hard time not popping her up with foam tape, or adding bling, but I didn't want to make the page too bulky. "Tales of a Mermaid" is from K Andrew Designs Pirate Tales & Fish Scales stamp set:

Click HERE to purchase your own set or to see her entire fabulous line!!

Now it's your turn to help out Jessie and create a Disney autograph page for her daughter!! Then head on over to Crafty Chics and link up your page!! I can't wait to see what you create :)

BLOG AWARD THANKS

I am always so honored when someone thinks of me for a Blog Award!! I sincerely apologize in the delay in thanking several people for this honor.

First I would like to thank Lori of Reflections From Granny for thinking of me for the Liebster Award!! Thanks, Lori...I will add this to my blog with pride :)

Green Blend Award!!

I am so excited and honored to have received the Green Blend Award from several of my sweet friends!! I've already thanked Jessica of Jessica's Craft Shaque :) So I would like to give a great big thank you to (in the order it was received):

Sherrie of Sherrie Scraps With Passion
Cely of Hawaii Paper Party
Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles
Pam of Craftycards4u2
Shelly of My Paper Love
Rhonda of Scrap Happens
Amy of Redheaded Crafter
Susan of Cricut and Grasshopper
Kristan of Babycakes
Jessie of Sugarlips Sassy Surprises
Cheri of DJ Sundries.

Thank you so much for this award!! It means so much to me :)

Here are the terms under which this “Green Blend Award” are to be given:

1. This award is for any co-blogging friend who has helped you develop your blog in any and all ways.
2. This award is for any co-blogging friend who has cheered you along in your blog building, craft advancing career.
3. This award is for any co-blogging friend who always stops by and is kind to you. You can count on them to always be one of the great comments at the end of your post.
4. This award is to be given to 3 to 5 Blends whom you feel meet the listed requirements.
5. Create a post with the terms of use and publish your Blends of choice.
6. Blend of choice may copy the award from your blog and proudly post it on theirs.
7. Blend of choice may continue the kindness by issuing this award to keep the circle forever growing.

I hate this part because there are so, so many people I want to give this to. It's hard to single out people when everyone is so deserving. I am giving it back to:

Cely of Hawaii Paper Party
Rhonda of Scrap Happens
Amy of Redheaded Crafter
Kristan of Babycakes
Jessie of Sugarlips Sassy Surprises
Cheri of DJ Sundries
Lori of Reflections From Granny

You don't have to repost this since you already have...I just wanted to give it back to you all :)

BLOG CANDY WINNER

And now the winner of my blog candy giveaway of a paper stack and matching flowers from Amy Jo's Birthday Blog Hop!! There were 85 comments and I used Random.org to choose...

And #23 is.............................

Congrats, Amy!! I'll send you an email for your address :)

Thanks for stopping by today!! There is a new challenge at Getting Cricky - a color challenge in honor of St. Patty's Day. Use green, white and one other color. Head on over to Getting Cricky and link up your project :)

Amy Jo's Birthday Bash & Blog Hop!!

Good morning, fabulous friends and welcome to Amy Jo's Birthday Bash & Blog Hop! We are so excited you could join us today to help celebrate Amy's birthday!

This is a very special, unique hop as we were not required to just stick with one particular subject or theme. Amy asked us all to use any of her favorite things to create a card or project with that in mind. Some examples of Amy's favorite things are the colors black, white, and hot pink, along with anything Alice in Wonderland, she listed some of her favorite animals, etc!

If you arrived here from my dear, sweet blend Jessica of Jessica's Craft Shaque, then you are in the right place! If you just happened upon my blog today, please start at the beginning with Amy Jo at Scrapping, Card Making and Living with Fibro because you don't want to miss out on the fabulous prizes that are being sponsored!

This is a two-day hop; however, we are only making one project. That should give you two full days to go through the entire hop and leave comments on each blog and become followers of each blog, if you are not already, to be entered to win some of our sponsored prizes! Some blogs may be offering blog candy as well so this is a hop you're gonna wanna finish!

For my project, I used Amy Jo's favorite colors of black, white and hot pink and one of her favorite themes, fashion, to create a purse!!

Ever since a purse like this was featured on the Spellbinders blog (click HERE to see it) I have wanted to try one. I had to come up with my own dimensions by trial and error because I used different dies than the instructions. The paper is from The Paper Studio Uptown Flair stack. I used the three largest sizes of Spellbinders Grand Nestabilities Labels 23 for the base. Since there are three layers, the purse is nice and sturdy. I used Spellbinders Grand Labels 4 for the top.

I added a magnetic snap to open and close the purse, and attached this gorgeous flower from Flower Shoppe over the top of the snap to disguise it. Pink crystals decorate the flower.

I used a Marvy Uchida super-large circle punch for the opening of the purse.

I used sturdy 20 gauge wire and added pink, white and black beads from my stash for the handle.

Here's a side view...there's lots of room inside to hold all kinds of goodies :)

The label is made from three sizes of Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 4. I hand cut around the flower and added ribbon and pink crystals. "You've got purse-onality" is from K Andrew Designs Fashionable Friends stamp set!! Isn't it just perfect for this??

Click HERE to purchase your own set or to see the entire fabulous line of stamps!!

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. DL.ART Thankful Thursday - Anything Goes
2. Creative Cutter Room - Shape Cards

I have blog candy!! All you have to do to be eligible to win a package of 8 x 8 paper and matching flowers is:

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

That's it!! I will choose a winner on Monday, March 5th. Also, I have a set of Fiskars Home Sweet Home stamps up for grabs as well!! Click HERE to visit the Wonderful Wilderness Blog Hop!!

Thank you so much for joining us and helping us celebrate along with Amy! Your next stop is the super-talented Liz at ScrapiliciousLife!!

Green Blend Award!!

I am so excited and honored to have received the Green Blend Award from my sweet friend Jessica of Jessica's Craft Shaque!!

This is from Beckie of Just B Creative Crazy, who created the award:

"There are several blog awards that bounce around in blog land. To each award is a purpose and pride. I wanted to create an award for those who are co-bloggers and friends. I wanted to create an award that I could give to those who have helped me develop as a blogger, a crafter, and friend.
When I first began in the vast world of blogging, I had zero knowledge of what to do. What the heck is a gadget…and isn’t adding it supposed to help, not drive me nuts!?!

There were a few people along the way that took me under their wing and helped me even after 5 emails of “I have no idea what you are talking about!!” haha

So to honor those whom I have befriended, I have created an award. My stupendous friend, Jessica, of Jessica’s Craft Shaque coined the term “Blend”. She says this is a friend and a co-blogger. I just love that word.

I contacted Mrs Jessica and politely asked her to be co-creator of the award and for copyrights to use the term “Blend”. She graciously accepted to both requests.

The “Green” portion represents how we should be kind to one another and help one another…such as being “Green” and helping our environment. Reissue the kindness that someone once gave to you as an infant blogger. Recycle the ideas you have learned or invented to pass along to up and coming crafters. Reduce the frustrations of wanting to a blogger with magnitude."

Here are the terms under which this “Green Blend Award” are to be given:

1. This award is for any co-blogging friend who has helped you develop your blog in any and all ways.

2. This award is for any co-blogging friend who has cheered you along in your blog building, craft advancing career.

3. This award is for any co-blogging friend who always stops by and is kind to you. You can count on them to always be one of the great comments at the end of your post.

4. This award is to be given to 3 to 5 Blends whom you feel meet the listed requirements.

5. Create a post with the terms of use and publish your Blends of choice.

6. Blend of choice may copy the award from your blog and proudly post it on theirs.

7. Blend of choice may continue the kindness by issuing this award to keep the circle forever growing.

In my almost one year of blogging, I have met so many amazing blog friend...blends :) This was hard for me to narrow it down...there are so many people who have been instrumental in my journey and continue to inspire me daily. But in keeping with the rules, (okay, I stretched it just a teeny bit because I wanted to give it back to my dear blend, Jessica of Jessica's Craft Shaque! Thanks again, Jessica!!) the blends I have selected, are (in alphabetical order):

Amy of Love To Crop
Amy of Amy's Crafting Space
Karen of Kaleidoscopic Sparkles
Pam of Craftycards4u2
Shelly of My Paper Love
Sherrie of Sherrie Scraps With Passion
Susan of Cricut and Grasshopper

Each of these amazing bloggers have been with me through this journey, they visit me often, if not daily, and leave such sweet, encouraging comments!! I am so very thankful for them and for all of my blog friends...blends!!