A Little Bit of Everything + The Winner Announced!

I just can't resist adding a few more of my favorite things, since I had so much fun reading all of your favorite things! Of course, I snagged the first bunch of tulips that I could find. Shocked, aren't you?

I have two new favorite bands that I just can't get enough of; The Decemberists and Mumford & Sons. Love love love new (to me!) bands.

February, at our house, is known as Love Month. The first 14 days of the month have special designations such as, We Love Breuklyn Day or We Love Our Teachers Day. Sprinkled into the mix is a day to make Valentine's Day cards and a day to make Valentine's Day Rainbow Cupcakes.

Of course this means two things. 1. I get to buy exorbitant amounts of sprinkles and not feel guilty about it. 2. Everyone wants to know who gets to be honored on February 1st. Oh, the things we worry about over here.

This year, Paiz gets the honor. She has decided to acquiesce to my ranting and raving about potty training therefore she has been awarded the February 1st honor. You can read all about my adventures over at Scrapbook.com where I am also giving away a $20.00 Scrapbook.com gift certificate.

All you need to do is leave a comment over at Scrapbook.com about something hilarious that has happened to you this month. Day Two of potty training and Paiz is losing interest fast. I need the entertainment. Desperately. Trust me.

Even though I told my kids that we might get started on Valentine's cards, I have decided that I lied. I am happily working on my own projects and they will just have to wait. I am so up for the Mean Mother of the Year award. And it's only January.

Thank you thank you thank you for all of the fun comments on my 400th post!! I am working my way through and having a blast checking out your blogs. My little troublemaker was more than happy to choose our winner.

Sara Zenger said...

WOW! Thats a wonderful pile of Scappy Goodness! =) Congrats on the 400 posts - I enjoy them so keep up coming!

Right now I am enjoying my new book "House Rules" by Jodi Picoult, Pandora on my iPhone, a new recipe for Oatmeal cookies I make tonight and a day filled with scrapbook friends this weekend!

Glad you back Estee! Thanks for the give away and I posted it on my blog www.sarazenger.blogspot.com

January 28, 2011 7:25 PM

Sara, send me an email at EsteeLynn(at)gmail(dot)com with your address and I will get your package in the mail tomorrow.

I have got lots and lots of fun Valentine's Day posts planned. There is enough sugar to get you through until September, so be sure to check back. Happy almost February!

A Few of My Favorite Things - A Giveaway!

Blogger has informed me that this is my 400th post. Holy.cow. What in the world have I been posting about? Oh yeah, cookies. And lots and lot of paper and glue. Oh, and there were those posts about the monsters. Brad probably made it in there somewhere as well. I am sure he would be thrilled.
In honor of my 400th post, I have a giveaway just for you! I dug through my stash of stuff and pulled out some of my favorites. All of my favorite brands are in here; Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, Pink Paislee and Jenni Bowlin to name a few. I also included some Wilton Valentine's Day sprinkles because, let's face it, you can never have too many sprinkles, some Valentine's Day M&Ms, because everything is cuter when packaged for a holiday and of course, a few Bath & Body Works lip glosses. Oh, and since Venti Chai Lattes are not exactly mailable (spell check says that is a word, but it doesn't look like one) I included a $5.00 Starbucks gift card so you can pick out your very own poison.

So... you want a shot at winning a box of my favorite things? All you have to do is tell me what your favorite things are right now. Are you reading something amazing? A new band that you are obsessed with? Let's hear it! What are your favorite things right now? You have until Monday, January 31st, 2011 at 9:00am CST to enter. If you want an extra chance at winning, just send your friends this direction and have them include your name when they post. I will post the winner Monday afternoon!

Guess What Today Is! (+ a Giveaway!)

It's National Scrapbooking Day! I am hosting the All Day Challenge and Hourly Challenges today over at Scrapbook.com

I love to scrapbook and it truly makes me happy. I love being able to have a creative outlet. And yet, I hardly ever, if at all, mention it to people in my everyday life. I have a secret internet life! Who knew?

The theme for this year's All Day Challenge is "Why do you scrapbook." I always think of my dear, sweet Nan. I just want to keep my memories alive.

Just yesterday I found a stack of letters that Nan has written to me when I was a child. One of the letters, dated August, 14th, 1989, read, "Everytime I look at the front porch I can see you sitting in that rocking chair reading. So many nice things for me to remember. I love you so much, you're my special bitty and will always be." Where do the memories go, when they are lost?

If you would like, you can read the rest of my article over at Estee's Take.

And since it is a day to celebrate everything about scrapbooking, I would love to give away some of my very favorite embellishments: buttons! Shocked, I know you are. I have 4 button packs from my very favorite Etsy Shop, LittleRedCottage that I would love to share with you. Just leave me a comment letting me know what you are up to today! You have until 11:59PM on Monday, May 3rd to leave me a comment. I will randomly choose 4 people to receive a package of buttons.

Have an amazing weekend!

Birthday Winners!

Thank you for all of the sweet birthday wishes!! I really and truly had the best birthday ever. Maybe 30 won't be so bad after all. Maybe.

The three randomly selected winners of the Birthday Giveaway are:

Comment #58 ... Shopgirlaudi

shopgirlaudi said... Hope you had a super awesome birthday!!! Left you birthday wishes on FB that day;) LOVE the pics especially the one with the kids behind the cake:) My favorite song right now is Everything Falls by a group called Fee. My favorite birthday memory is the one year my dh threw me a birthday party and bought me my FAVE cake; black forest:)

March 10, 2010 10:25 AM

Comment #53... Nikki Love

Nikki Love said... Happy B'Day to you!!!! I recently turned 40 and 30 was so much better ;) My favorite things right now are Prima yummies, blog hops and crops, a clean closet (finally), red tullips that caught my eye in the Home Depot the other day, Easter shoes, bonnets, and dresses in all the windows of the stores, feeling better (I've had the flu all weeek), and random kisses for no reason from my kiddos and from dh ;)

March 9, 2010 8:11 PM

And Comment #6... Brianna

Brianna said... Happy Birthday! I am loving that spring is on it's way! Bring on the flowers and the sun!

March 8, 2010 8:11 PM

Congratulations to our winners! Please email me at EsteeLynn(at)Gmail(dot)com with your address.

One final glimpse into my wonderful birthday: birthday donuts that Brad sneakily disappeared to buy. The man knows me well. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

A Special Birthday Giveaway!

I am now thirty. Thirty. Wow. I have to say, I am having a hard time letting go of my twenties. I absolutely loved, loved, loved my twenties. In my twenties I studied abroad, graduated from college, got engaged, got married and had three kids. It was good. It seems a little scary to look at the next 10 years and not know the adventures that are waiting for me. Just a little scary.

So, I say goodbye to my twenties. And I enjoy today. I am appreciating all of the small things in my life that make me happy.

Sprinkles make me happy. They foretell of afternoons filled up with cupcake baking with the monsters.
My glass bottle collection makes me happy. My little collection is just waiting for a few daffodils from the backyard.
It makes me happy to have a whole new collection. I am going to buy all of my African violets tomorrow and will be planting my planters with a little sunshine.

Sidewalk chalk makes me happy along with Maddux's stick figures. Warm weather brings happy afternoons playing hopscotch, drawing pictures of our family and playing tic-tac-toe.

New springy sandals definitely make me happy. I have been stalking these online forever and finally bought them. Breuklyn wants to know when she can borrow them.

Technology makes me happy. Where would I be without the ability to listen to the theme song from my Prom (I Will Remember You, by Sarah McLachlan) or the latest Dave Matthews Band song at any given moment? Also, the Sanford & Son Theme song that plays whenever Brad calls my cellphone makes me laugh so hard that I often miss his call. The fact that he doesn't know that it's his ring tone makes it even more entertaining.

And I love putting together little prize packs and giving them away! Would you like win a set of socks, nail file, lip gloss and scrapbook embellishments? I have three prize packs to give away. You have until 11:59 CST, Thursday, March 11th to leave me a comment. I will announce the winners on Friday. I would love to hear about your favorite thing right now. A favorite song? A favorite moment? A new recipe? I want to hear about it!

I am going to enjoy the last few moments of my special day, I hope that your day was just as special.

Winners of the Blog Crawl Giveaways! (+ a fun little hint)

First of all, wow! Thank you to all of you wonderful blog crawlers out there! What a fun weekend! I am so very thankful for each and every comment that was made. Truly. Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to leave a little note for me. You guys are awesome. Now, are you ready for the winners???

Comment #65 was left by: KateB - Congratulations! You win the Sunny Skies Giveaway!!

KateB said... One favorite thing is the fact that even though I have allergies, I can FINALLY open the windows for fresh air.

March 5, 2010 9:48 AM

Comment #15 was left by: Melissa Kaye - Congratulations! The Happy Day Giveaway is all yours!

Melissa Kaye said... I really love all the flowers of spring. Especially when the trees bloom...SO PRETTY! Very cute cards for your giveaway! I really like the kite card, but any one would be great!
March 5, 2010 6:41 AM

And last, but not least! Comment #177 was left by: Shawna - Congratulations! You win the Hello, Spring Giveaway!

Shawna said... FUN FUN FUN!
March 5, 2010 11:09 PM

Please send me an email at EsteeLynn (at) gmail (dot) com. I will get your prizes out to you!

Are you disappointed that you didn't win? Well, let me tell you a little secret - I will be back later today with a whole new giveaway. Oh wait, three whole new giveaways! Yes, that's right. There are more lip glosses to be had, ladies. Also some of these, these, some of this, a little bit of this and a few of these. There will be three fun gift sets that I put together. Why, you ask? Well, let me tell you yet another little secret. Today is my birthday. My 30th birthday. I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite things with a few of my amazing blog readers.

So... I am going to be spending the day with my best friend doing some super secret birthday stuff. It's all a surprise to me! How cool is that? A whole day planned (with no kids!) with my friend! But I shall return, I think. I am 96.7% certain that returning is part of the super secret plan. See you soon!

Welcome to the Blog Crawl! Do You Like Giveaways?

Welcome to the Blog Crawl! Oh, do I have a giveaway for you guys today! Actually, I have three giveaways! Three is always better than one when it comes to giveaways, don't you think? In fact, between Bella Blvd, Jillibean Soup and Nikki Sivils, there will be more than 50 handmade giveaways! Um, wow.

I created these three cards using Bella Blvd's Flirty and Plastino Collections, just for you. Are you as desperate for spring as I am? Every time we think that we are headed towards warmer temperatures, it snows! So I am just throwing it out into the universe: I am ready for spring! If a sudden blizzard buries the state of Tennessee, you'll know who is to blame, ahem.

Giveaway #1 consists of this "Happy Day" card (with envelope), Blue Colada Liplicious Lip Gloss, a fun springy nail file and Vanilla Mints all packaged in a cute blue gift bag.
I hand sewed the details onto the kites using Bakers Twine. I love the little ties on the strings.

Giveaway #2 consists of this "Sunny Skies" card (plus envelope), Saltwater Taffy Liplicious Lip Gloss , tin of Blue Raspberry Mints and purple striped nail file all packaged in a floral gift bag.

Giveaway #3 is this sweet "Hello Spring" card (with envelope), tin of Cherry Lemonade Mints, striped nail file and Orange Kiss Liplicious Lip Gloss, all packaged in a cute gift bag.

Tulips are my ultimate favorite flower. They remind me that warmer days are soon approaching. Ultimate happiness.

Would you like to win one of these three giveaways? All you have to do is leave a comment here telling me your favorite thing about spring and which giveaway you would love the most. The three randomly chosen winners will be announced on Monday, March 8. That gives you the whole weekend to hop around and check out all of the giveaways and blogs!

Have a wonderful weekend and I will meet you back here on Monday!

(Head back to Bella Blvd to find more blogs!)

Did You Know?

That Bella Blvd is having a huge big Blog Crawl with Jillibean Soup and Nikki Sivils?? Isn't that cool? I think that it awesome that they are all coming together! Here is what Stephanie has to say:

Consider yourself formally invited....and please be sure to pass the invite on to all your friends too!

It's going to be *awesome*! I'm so excited to be pairing up with some newly found friends and colleagues, Jill from Jillibean Soup and Nikki of Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker. It's going to be *HUGE*!!!! With nearly *50 handmade giveaways* from all our design team members, and *3 large product packs from each company!*

On Friday, March 5^th be sure to visit Bella Blvd, Jillibean Soup and Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker for all the information on where to go next and how to win!

Mark your calenders!!!! It's a date!!! We can't wait!!!!

I am super excited to announce that I will be part of the *50 handmade giveaways*!! I have been happily creating my giveaway over here. It just feels so good to be creating again.

And just because I couldn't resist all of the Spring-iness that is going on in all of the stores, I picked these up to be part of the giveaway as well. I love love love these lip glosses.

Are you getting excited?

Christmas Cards

It's that time of year again! Time for me to make Christmas cards and then send them to absolutely no one. I am so not a Christmas card kind of gal. My mom, on the other hand, mailed out her cards the day after Thanksgiving. No joke. She rocks out the Christmas cards.

I made these cards using my December Mosh Posh kit. I loved all of the fun October Afternoon patterned papers and the embellishments were just perfect for lots of fun cards!

I just love using up all of my scraps of paper to create pictures on my layouts or cards.

I hand cut circles from the patterned papers and then cut them in half to create the shingles for this little cottage. The sparkly tree is made from sticks that I covered in glitter and sequins.

This is my favorite card. I just love everything and anything about Christmas trees.

I drew a Christmas tree onto a piece of white cardstock and cut it out. I then attached all of the folded pieces of patterned paper. The final step was to trim the paper from around the cardstock. I thought it would be a cleaner shape that way.

The October Afternoon Very Merry Wild Cards were perfect for the sentiment that I wanted to portray on this card.

I hand cut the petals and leaves for the poinsettia. I layered the green rick rack on top of the leaves and stapled it all together. I just love the layering.

And those are my Christmas cards! This will be my very last Mosh Posh kit. It was a very difficult decision, but I decided not to try out for the design team this term. I have been with Mosh Posh for 2 years now and I am grateful to Kristen for giving me the opportunity to be a part of her team. Mosh Posh was my very first design team. I will miss working with Brooke, Jenny and Frances!! You guys are the best!! MUAH!

You know I wouldn't leave you without a giveaway!! Just leave me a comment telling me about what you have been doing to get in the holiday spirit and I will draw one winner who will receive a little package from me!! (There will be lots of red, white and green embellishments + a little chocolate, YUM!)

You have until Monday to leave me a comment! Happy Thursday!

Mosh Posh Blog Hop + a Giveaway

Welcome to another Mosh Posh Blog Hop!!

Every month I look forward to the Mosh Posh kit that Kristen puts together. I have been with Mosh Posh as part of the Design Team for 2 years now and was a subscriber before that. I know that there are lots of kit clubs out there - trust me, I have tried most of them! I love Mosh Posh because of Kristen's awesome customer service and the fun kits that she puts together. I would never be part of a Design Team that I didn't believe in. Kristen was the very first person to put me on a Design Team, so I guess that she must believe in me too!

(November 2007 Mosh Posh layout)

As I was looking through my Mosh Posh layouts, I noticed that I seem to have a slight obsession with using trees for my fall layouts. Just a slight obsession. Oh, and it might not just be in the fall either.

(May 2009 Mosh Posh layout)

(August 2009 Mosh Posh layout)

Alright, are you ready for another giveaway??? I had so much fun decorating my trees for this month's Corn Maze layout that I thought that I should give away some of my favorite embellishments: brads! There are velvet brads, shaped brads, large brads and mini brads. Any kind of brad that you can imagine. Well, except for my Brad.


Hahahahahaha. I crack myself up. Anyway...

For a chance to win these super fun brads, leave me a comment telling me all about your favorite Thanksgiving side dish. I am working on my menu and need some inspiration. You have until Sunday, November 22nd to leave me a comment. I will pick a winner on Monday.

Now, hop along to check out what my fellow Design Team Members are up to! Happy Thursday!!

Brook Magee
Jenny Dziekan
Frances Sylvia