Giveaway + How To + Get Well Soon!

First, a little "get-well-soon-shoutout" to my seester, Katie. She had surgery today and is having to take it easy for a few days (hopefully just a few days!)...Katie can share the details! :) I was hoping that I'd have lots of blog content (funny stories from the operating room), but unfortunately it was a pretty uneventful day. She does claim that the male nurses were hitting on her...I'll let her tell that one! :)

Second, I think it's safe to show off my "ornament" for the Freshly Blended ornament swap that I participated in, along with a how-to! I kind of, might of, ok...I didn't make an ornament. I made a paper garland instead, but I felt it was ok! These garlands are super easy and fun to make, and they're fun to use for holiday decor.

What you'll need: a circle punch, paper, and a sewing machine. I love my circle punch from Fiskars...easy on the hands and you can see right where you're punching. Punch out a bunch of circles...I used scrapbook paper, and can get about 110ish 1" circles out of a 12x12 piece of paper. When all your circles are punched, you're ready to sew! Feed your circles through the sewing machine, just like you would with fabric. Make your garland as long or as short as you like! Easy. For directions with pictures, here's a post over on Armelle Jewelry's blog, with some fun pictures of her garlands in use!

Third, because the garlands are so easy-peasy to make and because I had lots of left over paper that needed to be fashioned into a garland, I decided to make another garland for a giveaway! This garland is probably about 15 or so feet in length, so plenty of garland to use as a last minute Christmas decoration somewhere in your home. Cute Christmas colors: red + green + gold...you can't go wrong with that combo! Simply leave a comment, and I'll draw a winner on Thursday evening.

Lastly, I hope you're enjoying the holiday season. I don't know that I'm totally there yet, but I'd better start enjoying the season soon--Christmas is NEXT week! Yikes. So much to do, so little time. I love this time of year; I love the kindness and thoughtfulness of everyone that you run into--friends and strangers alike. I love Christmas!

Coming Soon...

...a giveaway!

I've been busy making my "ornaments"* for the gift exchange that I'm participating in, and have a couple extras. I'm shooting for Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed!

*ornaments is in quotes for a reason...it'll make more sense when you see it/them :)

my o my...a GIVEAWAY!

'Member how I've been so awesome at blogging this summer?? Oh, yeah...

Last month we had a fun creative activity at work...screen printing! All of us creative peeps designed a little something and then over two days, we headed over to one of my co worker's houses and printed the afternoon away! It's always nice to get a little 'creative break' from work :)

I printed this little ditty up on some shirts and some AC textured cardstock:


Want one?? Leave a comment, and I'll select a random commenter on Monday (because Monday's a holiday and that'd be fun to have a winner on a holiday, right?)...and I'll drop a poster in the mail to you (and maybe even with a little something extra :) Just be sure to tell me in your comment if you're sad to see summer end or if you're happy to see fall coming. Deal?

I'll answer first: I drove with a friend up the canyon yesterday afternoon, and the air was slightly crisp and so refreshing. Yes, I'm just a *little* excited for fall to be here!

Pebbles Giveaways!

Like these cutesy felt embellishments?? Want some? Enter the giveaway on the Pebbles blog! (And don't forget to enter the other giveaways on the Pebbles blog!)

It's CHA trade show time of year (again!) and we've been busy at work getting everything ready to go! I designed the new baby line coming out...it's pretty traditional, but super versatile! I'm *slightly* in love with these felt embellishments! :) The papers turned out super cute, too...half of them are embossed, giving them a little extra texture--so super cute! Lots of pictures to come from the show--we leave on Sunday for Chicago, then mom (and hopefully Sarah) will come meet me up there and we'll drive back to St. Louis and spend a little time at home before heading back to Utah! I might even blog before Chicago :)




Dang it...I think almost ever sentence in this post had an explanation mark...oops

Easter Greetings

It's Easter season again! I love Easter and Spring and everything that this season represents; it really is a beautiful time of year! I also love Easter candy...it's kind of one of my weaknesses! I've had a stash of Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs at my desk for the last week...they're just so good!

Last year was the first Easter Candy Giveaway and I have to keep it going this year! SO, be sure to leave a comment on this post with your most *favorite* Easter Candy and you'll be entered in the drawing! Comments close Friday morning and 3 winners will be chosen Friday afternoon. 

Oh...and that freaky picture of the dancing bunnies in eggs?? Don't let them keep you from leaving a comment! If you have an extra minute, google "vintage easter cards" and you'll find some pretty crazy old school art...everything from little (human) babies being hatched from eggs to baby chicks writing on chalk boards and baby ducks painting easter eggs.

Busy Week, Busy Weekend

First, some claireification...I've had several people ask in the last few weeks if this little bug is my baby. I wish I could claim her as mine, but she's definitely not! She belongs to these fine folks, making Claire my niece. Just wanted to set the record straight on that one! :)
Last week ended up being a busy week, but being busy is good. Friday (the 13th!) Brittany and I met up with Brian, who was in town for the weekend, at the Gateway in Salt Lake! It turned out to be quite an eventful night. We were evacuated from the IMAX theater because the fire alarm went off and waited across the street in the cold while they figured out why the alarm had gone off. (Image 1 and 2, below) While we were outside waiting to go back in, the police came out with a guy in handcuffs...turns out he was being arrested for counterfeiting money! We ended up getting a refund on our tickets because it just wasn't worth waiting for waiting around for another show to start. Brian and I saw another man get arrested as we made our way back to Provo..kind of a random night!

Met up with Brian for breakfast at Magleby's Fresh on Saturday morning...unlimited French Toast or Pancakes for $5! Fantastic deal and so good. It was such a beautiful day, so we drove the Alpine Loop, ran some errands, test drove Brian's dream car (way fun, Image 3, below) and fixed my bike...I'm excited to start riding it now that the weather is *finally* starting to cooperate! It was so good to see Brian for the weekend--BYU Idaho friends are the best!And finally--time for the crafty goods winners! The first five commenters: Stacey, Britt, Rachel, Audrey and Danielle! I'm not going to put a timeline on when the goods will be done (because life can be unpredictable!), but they will be done soon...I promise! And for the wild card, Shellie's name was drawn! Yay!! Congrats to everyone! Don't worry, there will be another drawing soon, so be excited!

I feel like I've had a lot of things on my mind the last couple weeks. Like a lot. I'm thinking that I need to change up my daily routine and maybe that'll get me out of the rut that I feel that I'm in right now. (Don't worry Britt...I'm still wearing my seat belt. It's the first thing I do when I get in the car!)

Maybe I'm just ready for spring...yeah, maybe that's it.

Two things...

One: last night was such a good night for a few reasons...one reason being that American Idol was surprisingly good! I was starting to think I wasn't going to watch this season because I was bored with the first half of the season, but it seemed like there were more good performances last night than bad ones, which is hopeful, right? Here's my prediction for the top two:
I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one!

Two: I had applied to participate in the Beehive Bazaar and was pretty sure that my friend Amy and I were totally in...turns out we got rejected! Lame. I had my game plan all figured out for making my goods over the next month and a half, but then the reject email came and put a halt on those plans. Oh well. But there's good news! I'm still in the crafty mood and have lots of ideas for handmade goods. SO, the first five people to leave comments on this post will win a handmade gift by...me! I'm not sure what I'll be making, but it'll be good!**

Oh...and one more thing. They don't call it "Happy Valley" for nothing. Utah made the front page of Yahoo this afternoon...it's something to be happy about!


**update: there's going to be a wild card drawing (inspired by last week's American Idol) for those who comment after the first five!

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes

It was New Balance day today at work! Can you guess who's shoes belong to who? You can choose from Josh, Amy or me. You might win a prize if you guess right!
Update: Marissa was the first to guess all of the shoes correctly! (Sorry Brenda!) Your prize will be in the mail shortly!