WINNER

***** UPDATE *****

The winner below has yet to contact me as of today, Friday, December 10. If I have not heard from them by Sunday evening, I will re-do the drawing Monday afternoon. I still have the big pink hat filled with all of the comments! Kept them just in case! I will keep drawing a new name every Monday until I hear from someone.

Holy comments, Batman! I had not, in any way, shape, or form, expected that kind of response! Thank you, every single one of you, for your comment(s) and visiting my blog. I've read every single one of them more than once. I wish I could send every single one of you a prize. I'm so happy you enjoyed all of my projects from the past. I do hope you will come back and visit from time to time!

Oh, and Erin Glee, Yes, we can be friends!

Shari, Tim has seen "Darbie" and thinks she's hilarious. His favorite part was the Birkenstocks.

So.............

As Mario would say, "Winner Winer Chicken Dinner!!!!"

As I would say... "Well, Pee in my pants, it's time to do the happy dance!"

I wanted to quick say that I didn't want to do a random number generator, as it seems so impersonal. So I printed and cut up every single comment left on the blog; if you linked me to any of your twelve tags or commented on which of my past Tim-spired projects was your favorite, I wrote your name down on another slip (or two extra slips in some cases) of paper and added those into the mix, too. We used our special birthday hat to draw the name from...

AND, you can't blame me if you didn't win. You can blame my special helper, Halle (age 4)... because she was the one that picked the name. Try and get mad at that face!




Alright, Halle.... tell them who the *BIG* winner is!!!!




So, Xanapan email me at plainsarajane@gmail.com your address and I will get your prize out to you with Mario-lightning-speed and Congratulations and thanks again to everyone!

{Give-A-Way}

**********COMMENTS ARE CLOSED*************

Nicole (elociNNNicole) was the last comment I will be counting in the giveaway. Thanks and stay tuned for the winner!


Hello and Welcome! Well, here it is... I hope you all get excited as I am! If you're just coming into the blog this giveaway is in honor of Tim Holtz and the Twelve tags of Christmas going on over at his blog. If you haven't heard about the tags, then go check it out! He makes these super-amazing-creative tags every year for 12 nights in a row. They're to die for! I also have to give a HUGE shout-out to the phenomenal Mario for being so generous in the great big world of twitter. He's supplied some of the fantastic loot you're going to see below!

Well... if you saw my post from yesterday, this is the little somethin' somethin' that I found in the back of my craft closet the other day when cleaning it out. I don't think these are around anymore, because when I bought it it was a limited item already, and that was two years ago. I had attended Creative Escape here in Arizona and we had a class with Tim....


We made this lovely frame with removeable pin. Yup, the heart with wings and idea-ology embellishments can be removed from the frame and worn on your shirt or Tim apron. Now you don't get the one I made in class... because well, I made it already, and I love it. BUT, I happened to get my hands on after class another kit! There were a few kits left from each class at Creative Escape and they went like hotcakes, let me tell you! And you KNOW who's class kit's went first! So, you get the FULL Creative Escape kit from Tim's class...


I will print you full color instructions from the Creative Escape manual and then you get multiple collage papers, the frame, ideaology, full sheet of grungeboard shapes, glossy accents, crackle paint, etc... The only thing you really need on your own is some distress ink... oh, wait a second...



I think there might be some distress inks SOMEWHERE in this stash of goodies!!! Should I spell it all out for you...

-1 package of 12x12 grungepaper
- 1 package of idea-ology word tokens
- 1 Ranger Ink craft scraper (great on your craft mat!)
- 3 Tim Holtz Distress inks; forest moss, chipped saphire and victorian velvet
- 10 Tim Holtz Distress Stickles (TEN!!!!)
- 1 package of idea-ology film strip ribbon
- 1 bottle of Rock Candy Crackle paint
- 1 Fiskars Hand drill (great for your mixed-media projects)
- 1 package of idea-ology hitch fasteners
- 1 alcohol ink/distress ink tool (comes with felt pads, not foam)

And, well.... that's it!!! You have until Monday afternoon to post a comment to win! Also, as an added bonus, if you go through a couple of my previous "Tim" projects from the past (links below) and let me know which one is your favorite, you will get an extra chance in the drawing! AND if you're following Tim's blog and have created ANY of the 12 tags thus far inspired by his, and have posted photos on a FlickR or blog or other online medium, give me a link in your comment so I can check them out and you will get another chance at the prize! I will draw a name and post it around 4pm Monday, December 6, 2010 (Arizona time) and will get the winner their prize out pronto! Happy Holidays and Happy 12 Tags of Tim!!!

(p.s. Leave all of your comments on THIS post! I will try and wrangle in any stragglers, but please leave your favorite project and links in the comments of THIS post! THANK YOU!!!!)

YourStory heat-binded Grungebook

Grungeboard Book and Altered Box

"Darbie," the Distressed Barbie

Altered Curio Cabinet

All Things Tim Pennant Swap

Grungeboard Meets YourStory & Give-Away

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while and again, I'm sorry. We've had a couple crazy months that I will go further into detail down the road, but I really just want to get to the fun stuff! Is that OK?

Alright...About a month ago Jenny over at Craft Test Dummies asked me to do a review of the ProvoCraft YourStory. I was more than ecstatic, to say the least! I had bought the machine when it first came out and needless to say we've had a love/hate relationship since. I also know this machine has been on the market for quite some time, but if you really take the time to get to know it and get the learning curve, you can make some wonderful projects and gifts. You can read the first half of the review Here. I bombarded Jenny with so much information (and to be honest I could have done twice as much) she had to split the review into two parts and even cut out some parts, so don't miss the second half either!

During the process of creating some projects for the review I binded a book made out of Tim Holtz Grungepaper and Grungeboard using the YourStory. Ummm... in case you're brand new to the blog, you know of my love for all things Tim Holtz. Serious. Love. For. The. Man. If you use Tim's products, you know what I'm talking about; if you follow his blog, you "understand"; and if you've ever taken a class or met Tim, you TOTALLY agree and share the love. And if you've met Tim's Business Manager, Mario, just shut the place down... he's the best of the best of the best. Back to reality, grungeboard and grungepaper have to be in the top three of my favorite Tim products (I really love my distress and alcohol inks). I wanted to see if I could actually bind my own book with this leather-like material. And guess what? You TOTALLY can! You can get the basics of the process from the review at Craft Test Dummies. Jenny had suggested I do a tutorial from start to finish, but let me know what you think! OK, enough with the jabbering... here are some photos from the project...








Isn't it awesome that you can use your Tim and Ranger Ink products with the YourStory to bind your own book? I would suggest if you do heat-bind your book that you do your 3-D embellishing after you bind. I didn't decorate my cover until after the fact; it would have been impossible if I did otherwise. My book is probably about 1/2" width and that was about the max that the YourStory could fit into the binding mechanism. Also, do TWO full heat cycles to ensure that the glue melts between each page.

Now, for some more, and if I say so, SUPER fun stuff... if you're a fan of Tim Holtz, you probably know that today marks the first day of the Twelve Tags of Christmas. If you don't know, basically, Tim makes a Christmas themed tag every night for 12 days using his awesome products and utilizing his beyond amazing techniques. Mario is also doing major behind the scenes work and massive giveaways on twitter, so be SURE to follow him, too! Speaking of giveaways.... let's do a Tim-A-Way!!! (Uh, No, I can't actually auction off the man, as much as I'm sure you'd all like that) I'm going to do a BIG giveaway, in honor of Tim's talent and Mario's massive generosity, and the Twelve Tags! You're all going to have to wait until tomorrow evening (I have a busy day with a kiddo's school function and then two ballet classes) to see just what's up for grabs. But to wet your whistles, there's going to be grunge, inks, tools, and one more super-duper surprise you'd probably never see again... because I found it in the back of my closet and forgot about it from a long time ago. :) We'll see what you think. Photos of goodies will be posted tomorrow (Thursday, December 2, 2010) and the random drawing for the winner will be on Monday (December 6, 2010). It will definitely be up tomorrow night by the time Tim posts his third tag. **Thankfully, I'm in the same time-zone and a night owl so it's easy for me to follow him**

Enjoy and see you all soon!!!