I do so appreciate all of you, and your comments. I'm grateful that you choose to spend any part of your day here, and I love reading your comments.
So I have a thank you card today to thank you! It's with some Pinkfresh Studio stamps that I adore, and I tried to recreate something from my childhood with it. You'll have to watch the video below the card to see what I'm talking about. I die cut a circle from the middle of a card front with this die, and then masked that to preserve some space around it before I stamped with this die and masking paper. This was so, so much fun to make! Their stamps are really nice - they aren't overly sticky so once you ink them up, they don't lift the paper in your MISTI. They are also very crisp, sharp images, with no fuzziness at the edges, as you can see. I see some more shopping in my future! I saw someone using these in October, and I bought them back then but haven't had time to use them until today. I actually spent part of my vacation "filing" stamps and labeling them and as I did that, this was got held out to play with before heading back to work. I'm glad I did! This card makes me happy! That stunning blue and red ink really makes it over the top.
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So let's talk about the hop, because you have a chance to win a TON of goodies to start your New Year with.
First - I have a gift for all of you. I spent a little time on vacation pulling together some of my favorite things I discovered this year in a few categories - books I listened to / read & podcasts I loved, life favorites - things I use every day around the house or in my planner, etc. and can't live without, food/drink favorites, websites I like, and of course crafty favorites. The lists are here, and contain links to all the things I love - click on the list title to see each one:
- Crafty Favorites - I tried to group things in here, so all my organizational stuff is together, all my photo/video stuff is together, etc. The two stamps in this list is the one I use for my blog calendar - I have a video on how I made that here - and the stamp I use on the outside of my envelopes. I've also linked to my favorite source of custom stamps and other fun customized goodies. Other than that, I love a billion stamps, so I didn't even try to list any in this list. A note on the mat with the MISTI stuff - I cut these down and use them in my MISTI because they are sticky so they hold your paper really well.You can get two from one mat.
- Books I loved in 2017 - this was the year of the podcast for me - so many addicting ones - but I got a lot of books in this year as well. I grouped the links to the books as follows: Non-fiction, then fiction, then improvement/education.
- Podcasts I loved in 2017 - I love spoken word and had been an Audible maniac for many years, but that's an expensive habit, and Serial threw me into podcast-addict status, and I found some great ones this year. The last one in the list is the only fiction one - it's an interesting full cast production with David Schwimmer. Gripping and strange - thanks for that find, Brian King! I find that listening to audiobooks/podcasts while I do design work makes me very productive and helps me not overthink what I'm doing, because I'm focusing on following the story. I could never watch anything on TV when I craft because I work with my eyes, if that makes sense - so visual content is a distraction. It also makes boring tasks like cleaning or organizing fly by. I have a little hardware apron (included) that I wear with my phone in the pocket when I'm working around the house and listening. I also can't stand those headphones that stick in your ear or cover your ear, so I've included my favorites in this list. I've never had a good experience with bluetooth headsets either.
- Food Favorites - some things I can't live without - I rarely eat out and love to cook, and so these are some staples I always have around to cook with. I also included some sweet treats from Hawaii that some friends brought to my retreat that are amazing. I have two salts in this list - my daily salt which is the best salt in the world, and a flaky sea salt that I use when I make my Brown Butter Fleur de Sel cookies once a year.
- Life Favorites - some notes on this list - the sticky dividers I use in my planner (also in the list) to flip quickly to often used sections. The little wipes in the list are for any of you who are as allergic to bandaid adhesive as I am - these are a lifesaver. All my favorite pens are here and a lot of my favorite cooking stuff. Also, an authentic German honey that's my fave. Most honey - if you read one of the books in my book list, you'll see - is counterfeit food - corn syrup and Chinese chemicals. Germany has the strictest labeling laws around honey and does not produce fake honey. I've eaten this brand since college, when a friend introduced me to the creamy variety. It's delicious and tastes very different from commercial "honey." Also I will not cook in or serve from anything made in China, so I've included some Made in the USA essentials I use to cook and serve with. Every one labeled Made in the USA their entire line is, so search for other products by them if that's important to you. I've also included a line from France that I love.
- Websites I enjoy - This is a list of places I frequent online, followed by some of my favorite Instagram accounts to follow. This is a good summary of my random brain :).
You can also get 20% off sitewide at Arkon (home of my video filming stand for my Iphone) with my coupon code - UNDERSTANDBLUE.
So I hope you enjoy perusing those - I always appreciate it when people share their favorite things with me - and Latisha does that very generously, so I thought I'd return the favor. Now on to the hop!
I will be giving away the following goodies on this hop:
This includes the Love Notes Stamp & Die Bundle, the Simon Says Stamp Plush Puffy Cloud die, Gina K Designs Happy Mail Set, Concord & 9th Christmas Cottage stamp set, 3x3 Whisper White envelopes, Pop of Pink washi tape stack, Mama Elephant Sightseeing Stamp Set, Tiny Treat Boxes, Pattern Party Decorative Masks, Tombow Mono Multi and Honeycomb embellishments. You can see these closer up with the links. Openwork bowl with my Christmas Ornaments not included :). In order to be eligible to win, please leave me a comment with your favorite books or podcasts from 2017. Comments must be left by midnight on January 4th, central time, and the winner will be announced with my blog post on January 5th.
If you're new to my blog, I'd love for you to subscribe to my blog and my YouTube channel, and you can find me on Instagram here.
Enjoy hopping through all these beautiful blogs with amazing thank you giveaways and I wish you the absolute best in the coming year! Remember life is too short not to share - share everything - your favorite recipes, your cards, your time and your gifts. Happy New Year!
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