Jolly Mom's WONDERFUL Giveaway:)

Jolly Mom is having so many giveaways!!!

The Rakkido Giveaway

http://www.jollymom.com/2008/12/rakkido-giveaway.html

also check out

Http://www.rakkudesigns.com


and

http://www.jollymom.com/2008/12/plan-toys-review-and-huge-giveaway.html

and

http://www.plantoysusa.com

and another

http://www.jollymom.com/2008/12/color-me-house-review-giveaway-2.html

and this one

http://www.colormehouse.com

Christmas Shopping

Yeppers, I just went shopping yesterday, all day and all night until after 12am. I had to wait for hubby's bomus check to come, we went to Toys'r'Us first...OMG, it was madness, people everywhere, crammed like sardines in that store. Walmart was a little better but not much, I actually went to two different Walmarts, looking for the Fisher Price Seahorse for my 4 month old. Not that he will have a clue, but it is mommy guit that he have just as much as everyone else, I want them all to have the same amount, so no one can fight over the 2 more toys that he got or she got this...blah. blah. blah....they fight enough already, I want christmas to be peaceful and lovely. But who am I kidding? My family is loud. The kids are obnoxious. And we are late, just to throw soemthing random in... We cannot seem to be on time for anything. It is hard with four kids, under four....Someone is always doing something to hold us up. Maybe that should be one of my goals for 2009?

Lovely Giveaways.

This playset is soo cute! My kids would love it. WOuld yours? You can win it. Check it out.


She is also giveing away a diaper caddy. CUTE!


http://www.imagiplay.com

as well as

http://www.gograhamgo.com

Got Babies???

This diaper bag is wicked cool, check out this site for the chance to win one. And don't forget to visit the retailer too, you can get a discount on it, just read the post first :)

http://www.korbie.com/

http://www.gograhamgo.com/

Bitsy Bows

BITSY BOWS
My daughters hair is ALWAYS in their faces, I am constantly having to buy hair pretties, so I was happy to stumble upon this giveaway to win a $20 worth of product and free shipping from Bitsy Bows, they have the cutest stuff!

http://savingschatter.blogspot.com/2008/12/win-20-free-shipping-from-bitsy-bows.html

Where is the time going??????

I have had a horrible sinus infection this past week and a half, and had a sinus headache everyday. I get migraines and they are horrible, but the pressure of a sinus headache is unbearable. I am on antibiotics, but i can still feel the pressure in my forehead. OWWW

today was my oldest last day of preschool before Christmas break, they had a breakfast for the two classes, with families. There were 9 of us, including my daughter, there. She made like 10 things, 3 ornaments and multiple wall hangings, and I got a homemade calendar for Christmas from her, it is really beautiful. The teachers had it binded and all that. She is so artistic and creative. She loves anything to do with arts and crafts, she even has her own desk and area in my studio. WHich I still need to relocate, but myabe after the holidays...

So that has been my day so far. OH, it snowed, or iced is more accurate, the ground is all ice, our back deck and porch is a solid sheet of ice, it is really hard to walk down to get to the van. dangerous!

More later.

Weekly Blessing Journal Project for 2009

I have decided to keep a "weekly blessing journal" in 2009. I am going to do this in Microsoft word, this will be new for me, because I have never kept an online journal of any sorts. I don't really count my blog, I am not sure why, I guess to me it isn't so much a journal, but a peek into my world for the public, a place to market myself and my art, to show who I am without delving too deeply into my psyche…

I have always kept a journal, actually I cannot remember a time when I did not. Ever since I was a little girl I have loved writing and did it often. Writing of any kind, lists, stories, poems, plans, ect… just the act of putting the pen to the paper and producing words was and is very cathartic to me. It feeds my soul. As a matter of fact, writing and publishing a novel is on my bucket list, that is actually something I need to write out. As of now, it is only in my head. I am getting off track though, so I love to write, including writing in a journal. I probably have 10 journals that are not quite filled, about 20 that are, and 10 that are blank, just waiting to be written in. I also have a few different types of journals, of course I have my personal journal. I also have a "house and home" journal, a "creativity" journal, a "food" journal, a "Christmas" journal, "Gratitude" journal (that was one of the unfinished ones) and a few more that I cannot think of right now… so this will just be an addition to my countless journals, I suppose this is similar to the gratitude journal that I started and never finished. But it will be different too, the main thing, is that this will all be done on the laptop, which like I already stated. Is a first for me. I guess we will see how it goes. Do any of you keep online journals? This is the Question of the Day, I mean, besides your blog…Let me know. Does anyone keep a Blessings journal? We will see how I do with it, I should do fairly well, I only have to write in it once a week and after a few weeks I should be in the habit. Maybe I should write it on my calendar for the same day each week so I don't forget, because that will be the reason why it doesn't get finished is that I forget about it. But I hope that doesn't happen, because I would really like to take all of the entires and make a really beautiful mini book out of them….this seems like a good idea to me. I have a lot of blessings in my life. Four of them are upstairs taking their naps right now.

Happy Holidays!

Susan Tuttle's New Fab Book

Have you seen any of Susan Tuttle's work? It is amazing, really...She is a mixed media artist, and she is one of my personal favorites. Anyways she just wrote this brand new book...



You can go and buy it on amazon, and if you are on the fence about it, you really should get it, it's amazing!!!(I have not read it yet, but I am going to and I have read reviews, plus with the artists that are in it, it has to be good)

http://tinyurl.com/64h9tm <--Amazon- click to buy and read reviews

Or if you are cheap or broke, Susan is giving one lucky, lucky lady (or man) a copy...but I am counting on this being me since I am in the second catagory mentioned above at the moment...:)

Go to her blog, Ilka's Attic, and enter to win...simple huh??? YOu really need this, you know you do!

http://ilkasattic.blogspot.com/2008/12/book-give-away-contest.html#links

QOTDo

I asked a "? of the day" a few days ago...now I know I just started this blog and only a few people visit, believe me, I only get like 10 to 20 max hits a day, I read my traffic report I get, but I hope to one day have a following, at this spoint in my life I just don't have time to write about all the stuff that is going on in my life, and I am having camera issues so I can't post my photos of my art often enough, but when I do I hope to get more followers and visitor, but in the meantime, I am going to post a question of the day, I may not do it everyday, but I hope to, I also have plans on posting some challenges, scrapbooking, cards, stamping, I need to work out the details in my mind. I have to have a plan and write it down before I can do something...even typing something out and posting it on here....
SO on to the question of the day, if you visit, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with your answer, comments make me SO HAPPy!!!


QUestion of the Day 12/5

What is your Christmas wish this year?

Daily Blog Candies

I really like to win stuff, so far, I have been a LOSER, well I did win this one blog candy but I still haven't gotten it so I don't think I will. Oh well, anyways, I am confident that I will win some blog candy some time, So I will continue to enter them... most of them ask that you link their candy post to your blog, so I do that, no problem, when I post a giveaway I will do the same thing. Speaking of MY candy, I will be doing that VERY SOON, I am still trying to figure out what would be the best thing for it...any ideas...

Well here are some bloggity blog candy giveaways for the day...be sure to go and see what they are and enter to win, and if you do win, remeber, I'm here, the big Loser, pass on the LOVE:)

Merry (almost) Christmas

1. http://bootifulstampz.blogspot.com/

*They give away a new stamp weekly and they are super cute, so check back with them weekly:)

2.http://www.theartisticstamper.blogspot.com/
This one is going to be DAILY until Christmas!


and another

3. http://carlzcardz.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-blog-candy.html

More Giveaways, perfect for Christmas!

http://sfmommynomics.blogspot.com/

5 days of giveaways!

You only have until tomorrow so hurry over and check it out!

amd here you can win a flip camera

http://www.commonsensewithmoney.com/2008/12/share-your-favorite-holiday-memory-and.html

Here are some more things to win!!!

Just in time for Christmas, here are a few mor giveaways-

Shauna Rogers is giving away some beautiful things, go there to see what they are, perfect for your little girls :) She also has a fab. etsy shop so you can shop there for your holiday gifts.

Here is the link:
http://lemondropstudio.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-giveaway-time.html


This is another to check out, you can win AVON products, if you dont know, Avon is a wonderful company, I love it, their makeup is all I wear:)


http://www.mommieswithcents.com/2008/12/holiday-gifts-from-avon.html


http://www.mommieswithcents.com/search/label/Giveaway

With the one above, you can win the cutest little plushie!


A chance to win a very cool thing, but you have to go see it to find out what it is, but it is VERY WONDERFUL

http://www.mommieswithcents.com/search/label/Giveaway


REMEMBER- Support artists, SHOP HANDMADE

Win a Walmart Gift Card and a Subway gift card

http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/2008/12/100-walmart-gift-card-give-away.html


This lady is SOOOO awesome, I love her blog she tells you all these ways to save money and get FREE stuff, seriously, she is like my money idol, I wanna be just like her:)

So anyways she is giving away a wallie world giftcard, perfect for your holiday shopping, so go and enter:) NOW

SHe is also giving away a $15 Subway gift card here:::

http://thecentsiblesawyer.blogspot.com/2008/12/subway-give-away.html

An inspiring find

As some of you know, I am an avid surfer, a blog surfer that is, I love to link and link and link from blog to blog to blog. And find cool and inspiring and wonderful things, and sometimes I find really fab blogs and sites, that I would have never seen otherwise, tonite I found one of those that go into my Favorites for Life file, I even posted a link on my sidebar, and only ones that I really like go there, all the others go elsewhere...anyways, this lovley lady is doing 29 days of giving, and no it is not the product or whatnot that makes it special, it is the fact that she is willing and able to do it, the reasoning behind it, the fact that she knows when she does one llittle thing, a million other little things could come of it. You just have to read the post to get it, all I know is that I am really inspired by her and it makes me want to give, so I will be doing a giveaway soon :) I want to post to her and see if she wants me to do a giveaway in relation to hers and if so I will, and if not, I will do it here!

So stick around and check back here and there to find out... and please, give freely, your time, your kindness, whatever you have to give...


http://chrysti.wordpress.com/

Cookie Exchange

Feel free to make these yummy cookies, I made these as a challenge over @

http://2bkrafty.blogspot.com/2008/11/stamp-simply-celebrates.html




She is having a cookie exchange and knowing how I lOVE to bake, I was in, here is the recipe for

CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES





Time from prep to in your mouth about an hour...

Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 large egg whites
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped and melted


Instructions

1. Position rack in the center of the oven; preheat to 350° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

2. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Beat egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer until foamy, about 1 minute. Beat in granulated sugar in a slow, steady stream. Scrape down the sides, then beat in brown sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in vanilla and melted chocolate. Stir in the dry ingredients with a wooden spoon until just incorporated.

3. Drop the batter by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet, 1 1/2 inches apart.

4. Bake the cookies until flat yet springy, with slightly cracked tops, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Let the pan cool for a few minutes before baking another batch; replace parchment paper if torn or scorched.


You can add in nuts, fruit, or dried fruit, or more chocolate chips!!! Whatever you would like to add in!1









Here are two methods to melt chocolate, I had some trouble with this the first few times I made these so you may want to read this and follow the tips!


1. Bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in a double boiler set over medium-high heat, then place chocolate in the top pan. (Alternatively, to improvise a double boiler, place chocolate in a heat-safe mixing bowl that fits snugly over a pan with 1 inch of simmering water.) Stir until half the chocolate has melted. Remove the bowl and continue stirring until the chocolate has fully melted. Cool for 5 minutes at room temperature.

2. Place the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on High for 1 minute. Stir well, then continue microwaving in 30-second increments on High until two-thirds of the chocolate has melted, stirring well after each heating. Remove the bowl and continue stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Cool for 5 minutes at room temperature.

Day 2 of my December Daily


I made my book on November 30, I finished around 3pm, on December 1st, I brought down all my supplies because my studio was too cold, so the kitchen table looked like a disaster area, not to mention that my children WOULD NOT leave me alone, Lily kept trying to take everything, and whenever I told her "no" which earned me the name "Bad Mommy" yes, that is a title i get whenever I am being "mean" which is usually when she is not listenin or doing something wrong.
Emma also would not leave me alone, she kept trying to touch everything, including my scissors and MM circle cutter that has a very sharp little knife...But I am done now and it is all cleaned up.

What is a December Daily?

Ali Edwards made one last year and is doing it this year as well, basically it is just an album (kind of ) that you use to document the days leading up to Christmas. Some people make their album go all the way to the new year, and others just have 25 days, that is what mine is, just the 25.

So each day you add a photo or some words about what you did, maybe a movie stub or a reciept for something you bought that day, it is just a daily record of your december.

WHy? Decmeber is a magical month, it is the last month of 2008 and it has Christmas. and christmas eve, seeing santa, decorating, caroling, lots and lots of activities and good times and it is just a fun way to document them all.

SO I made mine on 11/30 and I am so excited about it, I think it turned out SO BEAUTIFULLY, one of my best projects, I used a lot of different things for the pages and I made some pages just for decor, for example, on the 24th, I made a beautiful gold glittered page with a 3-d (Jolees) image of the Nativity, it looks amazing, I also decorated envies for each member of my family, for their CHristmas wishes, I even made one for my (almost) 3-mo. old baby!!! that is what I did yesterday. I am thinking about what I am going to do for todays page, I may wait, because we might go to "jolly Days" @ the children's museum, One night a month it is free afmission and since it typically costs over $60 for all of us, that is a real bargain, only problem is I can't remeber if it is the First Thursday or Tuesday of the month, so I wil need to check before I make any plans. More later.

Question of the Day

What is your fondest childhood Christmas memory?

Scrapbook Challenge of the Day

Make a handmade embellishment and use it on a layout or card.

This is so cute

I was on the Martha Stewart website, checking out some ornament ideas, because I have got a new tree, that is way bigger than my old one, so I need some new ornaments and Martha has some way cute ones on there. Anyway, I was looking at these "faux tart ornaments" that look yummy, like little chocolate cakes, I was like " How cute!!!" sO i clicked on the link to the person who makes them and was redirected to this cute blog by this chick named Jenny, she makes these yummy little treats, you can do all sorts of stuff with them, incl. using them as ornaments, I was thinking I would make some and add peppermints and other "christmas'y" types of candy or embelly's. That would be super cute. But before I watched the segment of Jen and Martha making the ornaments, I was looking at the "creations" and was thinking how pretty and yummy they looked, but I did not even realize that they were NOT REAL. they looked so realistic, but then I read on further and watched a clip and O finally got that they were indeed faux tarts! But they still look delicious and I am 99% positive that if I made some that my kids would take a bite out of them.

So, she is giving away three of these babies, that the queen of craft (Martha) actually took home with her. So they have been "blessed" and maybe if you win and touch them the CREATIVITY BLESSING will rub of on you :)

So go here and enter to win, then watch the video and make your own, and then read all her past blog posts, cause this is one super talented chick... Believe me, she got bookmarked in my "Super-Dupe Talented People" Catagory in my Favorites, and that one only has like three people in it, you gotta be real special to win one of those spots, so you should really check it out.

Here is the site
GO...NOW...
http://jenniboriginals.blogspot.com/

Here are some more

Here are a few more candy giveaways to check out and enter

http://craftowo.blogspot.com/2008/11/blog-candy.html


and another one, this one is really good

http://crafts-international.blogspot.com/2008/11/wowblog-candy.html

http://hegeas.blogspot.com/2008/12/min-frste-blog-candy-my-first-blog.html

A new giveaway

http://buffyscrafting.blogspot.com/

Blog Candy

http://clairebsd.blogspot.com/

Here is another,,, this is a really large prize!!

SOme Yummy Candy

http://bevscrafts.blogspot.com/2008/11/whiff-of-joy-blog-candy-from-katharina.html


Hey!

GO and enter to win this prize, it is really great!