Sassy & Sweet Notes

Thank YOU!!

THANK YOU for all of the kind comments! Wow!! It is so exciting that so many of you say that you enjoy the blog, and even say you enjoy the farm animal updates! Every now and then I question whether or not the farm stuff is well received, and if I ever question it again I'll just come back to your comments and remind myself that they are enjoyed. Thank you, thank you!!

I randomly selected one name from all comments to receive the Whipper Snapper BoPeep's Sheep cling mount rubber stamp set. Big CONGRATULATIONS to Lori M! Get in touch with me, Lori, and I'll get this set out to you right away.

And because I laughed and LAUGHED...
And because today's her birthday...
And because I CAN...
I'm sending a copy of Spring has Sprung to Dotty! Here's what Dotty had to say:

Happy Blogversary!!!! I cannot go a single day without popping in at least once! I love all the elements you share with us, your talents are many and I so enjoy your stamping, farm life, and your fabulous photography. I look forward to the year ahead! I'd love to win the BoPeep set, it would be a great bday present, I was born on June 11th! Though I won't share my age, let's just say I'm no longer younger than my bra size!! Thanks for sharing all you do!

Dotty, thank YOU for the laughs!! Drop me a note... I've got something to send you!

There will be more goodies later! Ciao for now!

PS: Since I called out some of my most memorable posts from the past 365 days, I thought I'd also share two of my absolute most memorable blog posts since I started keeping my blog. Sometimes being memorable isn't necessarily a GOOD thing...

August 24, 2006: Not for the Squeamish!
May 11, 2007: I was brave! (sort of)

Sassy & Sweet Blogversary!

Hard for me to believe, but I've been keeping this little blog o' mine since June 10th 2006! That makes today my 2 year Blogversary! I think we should celebrate with some Blogversary GOODIES! There will be LOTS of goodies given away this week, so stay tuned!!

Here are some of the blog entries that stand out as highlights in the past 365 days:
June 26, 2007: Attention Walmart Shoppers
July 23, 2007: Fall/Winter Whipper Snapper Designs Launch
August 6, 2007: Imagine my Surprise!
August 20, 2007: I'm HOME!
September 9, 2007: Annie's Got Hair!
September 9, 2007: Little Lollie
October 2, 2007: Donkey Jogging
October 7, 2007: What a fun day! (my BIRTHDAY!)
October 17, 2007: Chicken Peeps
October 29, 2007: A Cute Birdie
December 6, 2007: Just for Fun
December 15, 2007: Love is in the Air
January 2, 2008: Whipper Snapper January 2008 Spring Release
January 8, 2008: The Open Gate: Thomas Kinkade
January 23, 2008: Introducing Posies for You (my first stamp SET releases!)
January 25, 2008: Love is the Air x2
February 28, 2008: A day at the Beauty Parlor
March 31, 2008: Photo Assignment: Fine Art
April 27, 2008: Udder Madness
April 20, 2008: I'm too Sexy... or am I?
May 9, 2008: Today: Queenie. A Mother.
May 10, 2008: The Delivery
May 19, 2008: New Babies!
May 29, 2008: Chicken Update
June 9, 2008: Congratulations, Pixie!

A HUGE big thank you to everyone who visits my blog. I truly enjoy every comment you leave, every bit of humor you share with me, and for the friendships I've made. Think you can stand another year of Sassy & Sweet Notes?! I'm up for it if you are!! 

Now, how about some goodies to celebrate! By now you know the routine... leave a comment on this post if you'd like to be entered into the drawing for a new BoPeep's Sheep unmounted Whipper Snapper Designs stamp set (illustrated by me!). I'll randomly select one winner Wednesday night, June 11th at 8:00pm Central Time. You don't even have to tell me anything specific.... but, be sure to leave your name on your post!

Be sure to stay tuned this week for more goodies!

Fishing Buds ... and a winner!

Wow, what a day! A full days work, a trip to the farm supply store (for chick food!), the grocery store (for human food!), and I came home to babies... babies, babies, BABIES!

Brown Manetta has hatched 9 babies so far. One little white guy didn't make it, and it's looking iffy for another. It kind of looks like Brown Manetta may have had a visitor in her dog house while I was gone, which may have caused the casualty. But, the rest are doing remarkably well.

I ended up taking 6 of the babies from Brown Manetta tonight (3 white ones and 3 black ones). We tend to have a higher survival rate when the babies aren't raised out with mama and wild predators, stray cats, etc. So, until I can get them set up out in the barn in their chick digs, they're in our bathroom in a tub under a heat lamp enjoying a bit of faux sunshine.

Tomorrow, I'll probably take the other two chicks from her, depending on how they're doing, and if she's hatched any more babies. She's still sitting on 7 more eggs. I left two babies with her so she would still have little ones with her while she continues to sit on her nest. And, the peeping from the babies that have already hatched are kind of like alarm clocks for the babies still in their eggs. Phwew! This is a LOTTA babies for a mama to hatch at one time (even with 1 casualty!)

Tonight is also the night I drew the winner for the Crafty Secrets Blog Candy that I posted about on Tuesday. I asked about your favorite technique, and it was fun to hear all of the things you're doing lately! There are lots of you watercoloring, using Copic markers, sewing, using a brayer, and even distressing! It all sounds absolutely FUN!

I used the random number generator and selected one winner to receive the loot. Congrats to Beth B (tired mommy to a busy 4.5 yr old)! Beth, get in touch with me and I'll get your goodies out to you right away!

Thank you to everyone who played along! Now, I must tend to the critters...

PS: The card I posted was made using one of the images from the new Crafty Secrets booklet called Childhood. What a cutie, eh?

Crafty Secrets Vintage Journal Notes (Blog Candy!)

I haven't had any blog candy recently, so it was perfect timing when Sandy at Crafty Secrets offered to send the Crafty Secrets designers a handful of the new Vintage Images & Journal Notes booklets to share. Sounds like a great blog candy offering to me!

Sandy recently released four different booklets of journal notes. I'm always impressed at the fun images Sandy finds to include in her vintage booklets, and these are no exception! There's one booklet specific to Summertime with great floral images and seasonal images like vacations, the fair, the beach, etc. Another booklet is dedicated to Childhood images with sweet kids, animals, and lots of images that remind me of books my Mom read to me when I was a kid. Another booklet is all about things Homemade. Wonderful fruits and veggies, sassy ladies in the kitchen, and clever expressions. The fourth book is all about Birds and Botanicals. It is a wonderful collection of images.

I was really excited to see the finished books! I find that using a combination of stamping and vintage images is a really great, and quick, way to put together projects.

On the Simple Life card, I used the adorable image of the Kewpie kids playing in the haystack. I was THRILLED to find this image in the Summertime Journal Notes booklet! It's one of my favorites of all four booklets! And the sentiment is so very fitting for my life on the farm.

Lately, I'm really drawn to adding real stitches to even the smallest of projects, like gift tags, cards, and altered journals (add the stitches to layers before you adhere them to your journal!). On the Simple Life card, I used a combination of straight and zig zag stitches for a real "homespun" look. The textures of the twine, texture and colors of the papers in combination with the sewing and feel-good image, make this a truly handmade from the heart card. The tree branch stamped in the background is one of the images from the recently released Bird Lovers Clear Art Stamp set.

Now...about the blog candy! If you would like to enter your name into the drawing for a set of the new vintage Images & Journal Notes booklets, leave a comment on this post. I would like to know what technique you're drawn to lately on your crafting projects. Also, be sure to leave your name on your post! I will choose 1 lucky name from all comments (randomly of course) on May 1st at 8pm Central. The person chosen will receive one of each of the four new booklets, courtesy of Crafty Secrets.

Also, be sure to check out the Crafty Secrets blog, Heartwarming Vintage, for more ideas using the new vintage booklets!

Happy Wednesday!

Posies for You Blog Candy Winners!

Thanks to all of you for your response to my Posies for You blog candy! Woweee!! 477 responses! So many of you are coffee and tea drinkers, but I think Diet Coke and Diet Coke with Lime were the next most popular. Reading all of your favorite drinks made me thirsty, and wishing I'd asked for recipes too! Again, thanks for playing along.

I used the ever-faithful random number generator to choose two winners who will each receive a free stamp set. Congratulations to #349 Lynda Benden and #83 HB! Get in touch with me, ladies, and I'll send your stamps out right away.

It's a dreary, drizzly day here today. I *love* it!

Posies for You Blog Candy!

Hey ladies!! I've got TWO brand spankin' new copies of Posies for You sitting here on my desk in need of good homes. Interested?

Leave me a comment! I'll randomly choose two names from all who comment and pop these posies in the mail to you!

Tell me your favorite beverage. Coffee? Tea? Margarita!? Milkshake!? Whatever it might be!

Mine's tea. Hot tea, iced tea, spiced tea. Tea.

If you already have a copy of Posies for You, that's OK! Enter anyway! You can always give a copy as a gift!

You've got until Sunday night at midnight central time to post your comment. I'll use a random number generator to choose two names from the comments, and will announce the winners on Monday morning.

Have a great weekend!

Posies for You Blog Candy Winner!

Hi again! Wow! It's been a while since I've been able to post, so I've got a lot to catch up on!

The response to the Posies for You blog candy was the BIGGEST response I've ever had to a drawing, and WOW! What fun! Thanks to all of you who participated.

I put all of your names into an Excel spreadsheet and let the random number generator choose a number. Big congrats to Rachel Hope! Get in touch with me, Rachel, and I'll get your Posies for You set out right away.

CHA, a Sneak Peek, and Blog Candy, too!

WHOA, have I been busy! I think my head's spinning!

First of all, tomorrow morning bright and early I'm off to California to attend CHA with Lisa from Whipper Snapper. We're going to spend three days enjoying the show, meeting all KINDS of fun, friendly people, and SHOP! I'm excited!

It will be my first CHA experience, and I can't wait! I'm excited, and nervous (so many people, so much to see!) but know it will be a fun time. I'll have my computer with me and will blog what I can, when I can. Stay tuned!

Next, I've got Whipper Snapper news, and oooooooo.... this card is a sneak peek at something NEW! You've seen the Posies for You butterfly before, but I do believe you're seeing a new sentiment AND a new bunch of flowers! The next Whipper Snapper unmounted release happens SOON! I can't WAIT! That's all I'm sayin'!

And finally, BLOG CANDY! You knew it was coming! I couldn't miss an opportunity like this to give someone a special treat!

I've got a copy of Posies for You for one lucky person! Will it be you?  If you'd like to be entered into the drawing for this set, leave a comment on this post. Tell me your favorite THEME for stamping. Flowers? Birthday? Baby? Whatever it might be!

What? You already have a copy of Posies for You? Good! But enter anyway! You can always give a copy as a gift!

You've got until Tuesday night at midnight central time to post your comment. I'll use a random number generator to choose one name from the comments, and will announce the winner on Wednesday.

Looking forward to hearing what you have to say!

Have a great weekend!
-Anna.

A Vintage Treat for You

Alan and I went to an auction last year and I ended up buying several photo albums FULL of various vintage post cards, and little greetings like this one.

Tonight I was poking around in the image files on my computer, and I came across some of those vintage post cards and calling cards that I scanned last summer.

Tonight, I thought I'd post this one for YOU!

Click on the image to view the larger image size. Save the file to your computer. If you right-click on the large image, you will get a menu that will have some sort of a "save" option, like "Save Image As..." or "Save Target As..." -- choosing that option will allow you to save the image file to your computer.

Once you have the image saved, you can print the image (I like printing on white cardstock), cut it out and use it on a project! Or, if you're a digital scrapper, you can use the digital image file. Whatever you decide to do with it, have fun! I think it's a sweet little image to say I love you.

Enjoy!

Gift Frog & One LUCKY Blog Candy Winner!

I'm having such a great time using the stamps that I received this week. Gift Frog is one of my new Whipper Snapper images that I *needed* to have. I stamped him in black Stazon, and painted him with a water brush and Stampin' Up reinkers.

I used white acrylic paint on the tip of one of my smallest embossing tools to add the small white dots to the frog. It worked well, and was much easier to clean up than a paint brush.

I'm really liking River Rock colored Stampin' Up cardstock this week. (It's the funny pale green colored paper on this card.) I found that it matches this plaid paper by Chatterbox perfectly! Wouldn't you know it, I only have 1 sheet of the plaid paper, so I'll be on another search through my paper stash for a good match to River Rock before too long.

ANYWAY.... I bet what you are really wanting to know is who the LUCKY winner is of the three Whipper Snapper Blog Candy stamps I posted earlier this week.

WOWEE!! Out of 430 posts congrats to Anette Eakins!! It's YOUR LUCKY DAY! Get in touch with me, and I'll get your Shy Bunny, Hen's Easter Egg, and Love Line stamps out to you right away!

BIG thanks to everyone who participated! YOU are the reason offering Blog Candy is so FUN for me!

Happy Friday!