The UBlue Cyber Club and a WINNER!!! (or two...)

WOW - you guys are GOOD. Stay tuned for the answer to the blue vestments riddle, the winner, and why you are the best blog readers in the universe.

But first - an exciting announcement!!!

Many of you have asked me how to join my hostess club from distant lands, so in response, I have created the UBlue Cyber Club!

Here are the deets:

• Beginning in January, I will no longer post my hostess club projects on my website. This will make my hostesses even more special than they already are, and it's a way to reward them and say thanks for participating.
• Every participant of the club and virtual club will receive a PDF via email with color photos and detailed instructions for each project, as well as the cardstock and mailable accessories (brads, ribbon, etc.) needed to make the cards/gifts. Obviously, stamp sets, punches, etc. will not be included.
• Remote participants will have three options to participate:

1. Club Light - PDF + Instructions - $5 per PDF, no ongoing commitment, no strings, but no hostess benefits. Back issues available.
2. Just the Facts - PDF + instructions + supplies - $10 per club, no ongoing commitment, no strings, but no hostess benefits.
3. Lay it on Me - PDF, + instructions + supplies + hostess benefits - no fee, but a $25 minimum product order required monthly, prior to the start of club, with a commitment for 6 months.
4. I'm so Mysterious - PDF + instructions + supplies + a chance at mystery hostess - no fee, but anyone who places a $50 order will go into a drawing for one month's hostess bennies - no ongoing commitment.

To enroll in any of the three clubs - all you have to do is email me.

The January club is January 3rd, so any Lay it On Me people will need to lay it on me by January 2nd! I will be posting sneak peeks of the projects between now and then.

So email me - can't wait to get you in the CyberClub!

So now on to today's mystery.

Wow - you guys are good.

A little background. I was raised Lutheran, and am a closet Catholic. The only thing that prevents me from becoming a full fledged Catholic is the fact that they have abbreviated the Lord's Prayer, and so I embarass myself regularly at Catholic weddings, by bellowing out that last bit after everyone else has stopped talking. Shocking for all involved. :) Well, and maybe this....

Blue vestments are not only not allowed in the Roman Catholic Church, they are forbidden contraband!! There are numerous quite passionate essays on the subject all over the internet. The Catholic Church uses violet twice - at Lent and during Advent - one of only five accepted vestment colors. Lutherans typically use blue, the color of hope, at Advent and stick to violet at Lent. For Catholics, the color violet is the color of a bit of gloom and mortification, and the only break, as in the Lutheran church, is a bit of pink - for Lutherans, the Rose of Sharon color, during the darker violet seasons.

However, in the Russian Orthodox church tradition as well as some Catholic traditions in South America feasts of the Virgin, the fifth Friday of Lent and other celebrations call for both light and dark blue, and in some traditions, not Roman Catholic, Indigo is seen as a variation of violet and is acceptable during Advent or Lent.

So, as tricky as my question was, the answer is steeped in a Lutheran tradition, where Advent is marked by the color of hope. You guys outdid yourselves!!

Anyone who commented and sends me an address will receive something - because I am impressed!!

Finally, I simply give to you, in a gorgeous blue & yellow number, our Pope, and congratulate Snappy Stamper and Kathie T who tied for the first correct answer! And Kathie, since you are Catholic, if you haven't read Peggy Noonan's book John Paul the Great - you will LOVE it!
Have a great evening!