Inspired By . . . Thanking YOU!

I canNOT believe that we are on the final day of . . . 

I have had so much fun sharing my stories with you and have been

so very thankful for the heartfelt comments you've left along the way.

I know that giveaways always 'urge' comments, but most of you have

gone above and beyond sharing a simple answer to a question

that has been asked as part of those giveaways.

When the PRE-party began on Facebook last week, I was hoping for
1000 followers by celebration time.  Now I am ever so close to
1100 and am GOBSMACKED ! ! !

 Let's start off tonight's post with a few giveaways ! ! !

A little over a year ago, I met a fabulous designer online

who was starting her own company of dies & matching stamps.

She contacted me to ask if I would have time in my schedule

to come be a part of her company as their first

design team coordinator.  I was so impressed by the

vision she and her business partner had, that I absolutely

said YES . . . and that was the day I came on board at

It was time for me to move on in my creative journey and

I miss the designers who still create for them.

They offer some of the most unique dies & stamps and

now offer another stamp line as part of their catalog.

Here are a few of my favorite projects designed with

my favorite dies from their line . . .

 Look at what Lil' Inker Designs have offered TWO lucky people . . .

oh . . . but that's not all . . .

 My wonderful friend Michelle Ogdahl started a company

just a couple years ago that really hit the ground running

and I couldn't be more happy for her

The same day I met my friend Angelica over at MSS, I also got

to spend time with Michelle.  We met at CHA the summer before

and used the phone & Facebook private messaging

for the majority of our conversations prior to that,

so it was great to see her again.  Here I am doing a little stamping

while chit-chatting away with her . . .

Avocado Arts offers a stamp-set-of-the-month club & is a very

popular brand in the marketplace today.

How would you like to win . . .

 I've met a lot of people by way of connecting over at Facebook.

One of those people is Martha Pineda.  She has a sweet blog

called 'Creating is Fun'.

It's so fun to get to know so many people and learn about

their creative journeys.

Martha has offered one lucky winner this terrific prize . . .

A HUGE thanks to all of these fabulous folks who have offered

giveaways during the celebration.

There are more . . . but I thought I would share a few 'personal'

fun facts with you.

My favorite color has always been Orange.

When I was a teenager, I asked for my room to be painted orange

and my parents made it happen.  I loved that room !

When I was a pre-teen, I ended up being the proud owner

and caretaker of TEN freshwater aquariums in a variety of

sizes.  The biggest was a 55 gallon.

One summer day, I took what money I had, which approximately

EIGHT DOLLARS and walked down to the local Ben Franklin store.

I came home with a standard fish bowl, orange (of course) gravel,

fish food and a Black Moor goldfish.  Those are the brown, fantails

with big bug-eyes . . . and I was hooked.

My favorite action (?) movie is 'Twister'

My husband the movie-buff laughs at me because I call it

an 'epic'.  I know it's no epic movie.  But I love it.

My favorite comedy is 'Raising Helen'

I watched this movie for the first time on the last return

flight we made from the UK and fell in love.

My favorite movie of all time remains 'The Blues Brothers'

I also love movies that involve travel, especially when people

pick up and move to a new country.

'Under the Tuscan Sun' can be found on my DVD player quite

often when I am creating.

I also love the PBS series 'A Year in Provence' based on the

series of book written by Peter Mayle.

Which brings me to my dream destination . . . 

Provence

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time,

this is NO secret.  I love reading about the region and dream

about a life in an old farmhouse in the countryside.

HERE is a post I did about it just a couple months after

I started my blog.

How about some more giveaways ? !

My friend Jennifer Ingle, DT Coordinator over at

Skipping Stones is a gem !

She has arranged a fabulous prize for one of you . . .

Have you seen the stamps from this fun company ? 

They design a variety of photopolymer stamps that

specialize in humor using 'puns'.

They also share a line stamps which support causes such

as Breast Cancer Awareness.

Make sure you check out their website.

I 'met' Elizabeth Pujalka when I used some of her illustrations

over at EAD Designs.  She is the owner & illustrator of

Softpencil Studios and is generously offering THREE of my readers

Another fabulous company, who just happens to carry the

clear stamps featuring TinyTwinies is Latina Crafter,

owned by Diana Maldonado.

She is celebrating her First Anniversary with a June release

so I hope you will check out their fabby line.

She sent me one of my favorite images and I can't wait to

play with it . . . am hoping for some time this week.

Here is what Diana is offering . . . 

As I type all of these giveaways onto my post, I am just

stunned at the show of support for this celebration.

I feel so blessed to know that not only do I have friends

who want to celebrate with me, but I recognize as well,

that there are companies out there who know that my

blog is capable of bringing new business their way.

As someone who has spent more than half of my life

in retail marketing, it's so gratifying to take what I've

done in my professional life outside of my home and

make it work for me here inside of my home.

When I was 8 years old, I started going door-to-door in

my neighborhood (back in 1968) to sell Christmas cards

that were personalized.  Of course, because it was before

'technology', they had to be ordered nearly two months in

advance.  I managed to sell a couple of boxes, but that was

just enough to fuel a fire that never left me.

I love EVERYthing about retail and always have.

OK . . . the hours aren't always the best.

My dream as I got older was to own my own store,

but what 'type' of store that would be would remain to be

seen until my early 30's when Paul & I opened up our first

rubber stamp store.  That was back in the days of ONLY

red rubber on wood-mounts.  After two years, we expanded

into a second store.  I am proud to say our store was the

largest in Illinois & outside of my family, was the love of

my life.  I gave it up several years later because family life

was getting ready to make a shift and I knew it was time.

I would encourage you to HAVE a dream and then do

what you can to ACHIEVE it.

Speaking of which . . . 

If you're not familiar with the name Tanner Bell,

you SO should be !  Tanner is a 13 year old

entrepreneur who started his own stamp company

and has been sharing his love of stamping with the world.

I've loved getting to know him . . . I love his story and his

passion. He reminds me so much of me when I was his age.

He specializes in making videos and sharing all kinds of

fun things from his world.

I am very excited to know a BIG secret that Tanner

will be sharing soon . . . until then . . .

Here is what Mr. Cricut Crazy himself is sharing with you . . .

I love this next company because I love the people

who own it.  Kelly Marie Alvarez & her husband Mike are

two of the sweetest people you'll ever meet.

They are the owners of Lawn Fawn Stamps.

I met them last summer at CHA and I can tell you that 

Kelly Marie's smile lights up a room!

They have graciously offered . . .

StopandScrap.com is a relatively new online store

that features some of top lines in papercrafting !

They have an amazing design team who bring you 

wonderful inspiration using products from the website.

Here's what you can win from StopandScrap.com 

 Another terrific giveaway is being provided by

Her Royal Highness, Theresa Scrapbooking Queen

She offers a beautiful variety of stamping sentiments

and paper crafting accessories in the

Royal Castle Shoppe 

She is generously offering . . .

AND

 We are almost to the end.

Well, I don't know HOW 

that photo got in there ; )

My grandson Finn's first Christmas . . . he will be one in July already!

Speaking of Christmas though . . .

The next to the last giveaway I have for you is a 

very special company

 Owner Korin Sutherland asked if I would be a guest designer

for them last December and it was such a pleasure to get

to know this fabulous company and their team.

They have such beautifully designed images and I am so glad

they are here with us for the celebration.

Here is the beautiful set of stamps being shared by 

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps . . .

 Retail Value $11

Well . . . I know you've been with me for quite some time

on this post, but I saved the most precious story for last.

If you've been with my blog for at least a year, then you

will be familiar with this story.  If you visit every now

and again, you may have missed the update I shared last month.

Most of you probably recognize this photo from my blog

This was taken a little over four years ago while holding

my then, newborn grandson Alex jr.

You may recognize this photo from out and about as well

You also may have noticed that in all the other personal

photos of myself, that the 'smile' was pretty much the same.

This is me today . . .

and here is a BIG reason why . . .

 Rather than share the ENTIRE story here, I will invite you

to read the post about this most amazing benefit HERE

I had 100's of people to thank . . . 100's . . . 

People who donated $5 up to $100

People who donated time to participate in a blog hop

Companies & Designers who donated $2500+ in prizes

and the person & company who helped me to regain my smile

I was blessed to be asked to be a guest designer for this brand new

stamp company & it's very first release. Within a couple of months,

owner Nicole Rixon asked me to be their Design Team Coordinator.

It wasn't long after that I found myself in a terrible state with missing

front teeth and what turned out to be the need of $14K to 

'create' a new smile.  As you'll read, this community came together

to help make it a possibility.

I was finally able to have the dental surgery just two months ago

having 17 teeth removed.  I have said publicly that having my 2 children

and the labor that went with them was 100 times less pain than this

experience.  I am still adapting of course, but I am truly, truly

thankful for my new smile.

I will NEVER be able to thank everyone properly and I will forever

be grateful.  Even now as I try typing the final words of this

celebration post, I am moved to tears for the outpouring of love.

I saved the last giveaway for this story because it's from my

dear friend Nicole over at Sweet Stamp Shop.

She offering one lucky winner . . .

This wonderful collection is a $57 value !

So how can you win one of the 

giveaways from this post?

Simply leave a comment.

Period.  End of story.

Before I go, I just wanted you to know

that the goal of this celebration was to

thank you. thank those who support me.

to make it all about what you have done

in my blogging life.

To inspire you to always . . .

Don't forget . . . you can still have an opportunity 

to win giveaways from

any of the other posts between Friday, June 14th and today.

Just read the posts and follow the instructions that pertain specifically to that day.
Deadline to leave comments to win on any of the posts is
11:59pm EDT, Monday, June 18

Because there are so many prizes up for grabs, please give me the better

part of the week to make the announcements of winners.

All will be chosen randomly and shared in a post here on my blog

and over on Facebook no later than Friday, the 22nd.

All giveaways will be coming directly from the sponsors

but I will be asking you to contact me to claim.
{Because all prizes are coming from the sponsors, there will be
14 days for you to claim your prize}

All that I can say is . . . 

Thank you.

A BIG thank you to:

Lil' Inker Designs

Sweet Stamp Shop

Avocado Arts

Skipping Stones Design

Latina Crafter

Mr. Cricut Crazy

Theresa Scrapbooking Queen

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

Action Wobbles

Softpencil Studios

Lawn Fawn Stamps

StopandScrap.com

Martha Pineda/Creating is Fun