Merry Christmas!

My First Giveaway WINNER!

Congratulations to commenter #14: Christel (onescrappinsista)!

She said:

Congrats!!! Man...your sponsorship is awesome. LOL!!! I would have to say my most favoritest tool is my Cricut. I love being able to cut so many different shapes with it. Thanks for the chance to win. Merry Christmas if I don't get to talk to you before then.

Christel
onescrappinsista.blogspot.com

I'll be contacting you on your blog to get your information and I'll ship sometime next week! :-)

If I don't hear from the winner by Dec 31st, I'll pick another winner!

Thank you all for the comments and to my new followers: WELCOME and I hope you'll stick with me on my crafting adventures!

Merry Christmas EVE! & Last Call for Giveaway Entries

I hope that everyone is having a beautiful and relaxing day before Christmas! Me? Well, it certainly is a beautiful day here in Florida, but no relaxing for me! Hubby just left for work so I have to make a run to a few stores for some last minute gifts and then the rest of my day will be spent BAKING ... and then perhaps making a nice dinner for the two of us to celebrate the Eve!

Just a little reminder that I will be choosing and announcing the winner to my giveaway tonight around 8pm, so there's still a few hours to enter! :-) Pass the word!

Is this really my crafting blog? (And the giveaway is still open!)

Because I'm not sure anymore. LOL! I haven't had ANY time to do ANY crafting since Thanksgiving! I really had every intention of getting in my room this week and going to town, but of course................ that didn't happen.

You see, I am still not done Christmas shopping. That's right. I have 3 gifts for my stepdaughter. I need many more. But... she decided that this was a good week to stay at our house for the whole week (which she never does!), so I can't just leave her here and go, so I have to go tomorrow after she goes with my husband for the day (so he can finish HIS shopping!). So it's been a week of some good bonding time between the two of us, but no holiday productivity or crafting or baking! I have been making notes of all of the projects that have come to mind and have set up several pages on my Gypsy, but that's about it.

I fear, however, that my love of crafting may be taking a back seat for a while longer because.... *drum roll please* I GOT A JOB!! Yes folks, that's right. I have finally been hired! I have been out of work since June of 2009 and got called for an interview back around Thanksgiving and I got hired!! :-) I'll be a "remote typist" (aka, working from home) for a company based out of central Florida. I will be going there for two or three weeks starting Jan 3 for training, so of course, unless I take my Cricut with me and set up shop in my hotel room (which isn't a bad idea actually...), there won't be any finished projects until at least the end of January, BUT... that's the price I have to pay for FINALLY GETTING A JOB!

Can you tell I'm excited? The pay is MUCH lower than what I had been making in my previous job, but the fact that I will finally be off unemployment is enough for me!

But.... the love that I have found for all things paper-crafting will not go away and once I am able to find the balance of family and WORK, I will certainly be going back at it full force! I love how crafting makes me feel and I love sharing my work with others, so it's definately something that I want to stick with... it just may take a little while to find that happy balance.

Question for the masses:

FOR THOSE WHO WORK/HAVE FAMILIES/CRAFT... HOW DO YOU BALANCE IT ALL? I need some suggestions from those who have mastered it. :-)

Even though I will not be participating as much as I'd like, I will still be around, lingering, and reading as much as I can! So thanks for sticking it out with me!

Oh! And don't forget! My giveaway is still open! I'll be choosing a winner on Friday. It's for a pink ATG! Go here to enter!

Christmas Week & Giveaway!

Hello everyone! I hope that you are all having a wonderful week and that if you celebrate Christmas that you are prepared and relaxing until Saturday. Unfortunately, that's not me this week. LOL! Still shopping to do. More wrapping. And I have yet to begin any baking. I'm a procrastinator this year!

I just wanted to pop on a little reminder about my FIRST giveaway that's going on over HERE (click for the link to the post). I'll be drawing a winner on Friday, so you still have time. Please share my giveaway with anyone who you think might want to win an ATG!

:-)

Time for my Giveaway!

I know that I posted a while back that once I hit 50 followers, I'd be doing a little giveaway. The holidays and such have gotten the best of me and I figured, "Well... it's time I follow through, eh?"

So.. my giveaway for hitting 50 followers, sponsored by my HUSBAND is..... *drumroll please*

One of my favorite crafting tools: the Pink Scotch Advanced Tape Glider (ATG)!

Here's some info from their website for those who don't know what this product is:

3M-Scotch Advanced Tape Glider Susan G. Komen For the Cure Pink. The Scotch ATG applies a thin; strong line of adhesive that bonds instantly and goes on easily while removing and rewinding the liner. Perfect for scrapbooking; card-making and other paper projects. It features covered gears to minimize applicator jams; a transparent cover that shows remaining tape; and it holds up to 36yds of adhesive tape. This package contains one ATG with clear cover and pink handle (9-1/2x9x2in); two 36yd rolls of 1/4in wide acid free/photo safe tape; and instructions for use.

To win this giveaway, all you have to do is

1) Be a follower!

2) Leave me a comment on this post telling me what YOUR favorite crafting tool is and leave me a way to contact you in case you win!!

Please feel free to share my giveaway with your friends! It's not necessary, but appreciated!

I will use Random.org to pick a winner on Dec. 24th!

Non Crafting Related Post

I posted on Thursday night, in a fit of HAPPINESS, that my husband and stepdaughter and I got to go to see Trans Siberian Orchestra in concert here in Jacksonville. I have been wanting to see them perform live for 10 years or more and I finally got to!

I cannot tell you how AMAZING this show was! If you like Christmas music, Classical music, and Rock and Roll (and fireworks and fire and lasers and all that good stuff), this is the concert to go to!!!!! It was over 3 hours long and worth EVERY penny of it!

Here is a short 1 minute video of it that JaxEvents posted on their YouTube channel... it'll give you a great snapshot of what this show is.

This made my whole holiday season complete!!

Thank you, Jon, for making this dream of mine FINALLY come true! I love you!

Quick Unedited Video from the Other Day & Some Photos

Before cleaning and organizing:

After cleaning and organizing:

Now I'm ready to get back in there! HOPEFULLY this week. If not, it'll be after the 17th when my Great Grandmother heads back to PA!

Finally getting to see Trans Siberian Orchestra!! I've been waiting almost 10 years for this!!! Thank you, hubby!!! Merry Christmas to me!!!