Friday, November 02, 2007

Happy Fall and Candy! Finally!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween with their kiddos! My kids made out like bandits! Before they dumped all of their candy though we did the yearly 'clean out the bowl' ritual. Dumped candy out from last Halloween and most of this years Easter. This candy will last them until next Halloween when we will do the ritual once again!



Before we get to the 'good stuff' AKA blog candy, I want to share a card that I am super proud of! This is a wintery type bear but I wanted to step outside the box cause he is just too cute in his sweater! And yes, I know people (or bears) don't drag a sled when it's not snowing, but come on, if a bear is pulling a sled then anything is possible. Right? The pumpkin is from a different set but both are still smARTworks. Speaking of which, Susan just released the new supplement on November 1st and it has some AWESOME sets in it! Some adorable birdie sets!!! Here is a link to my favorite page and here is a link to the supplement. It starts on the bottom right but make sure you click 'next' because there are some more pages to check out!


  • ABC-Sweater Teddy, Autumn #1 stamp sets (smARTworks)
  • BasicGrey Mellow DP
  • Pumpkin Pie CS
  • Stazon jet black, Chocolate Chip ink
  • Prismacolors, crayons, and OMS
  • corner rounder
  • velvet ribbon
  • pop dots

So, here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for! Blog candy! I decided to go with a wintery/Christmas feel this time around. Christmas is my favorite time of the year. I get my snowmen out, spray my holiday scents, and wrap presents! I love wrapping presents! I also love shopping for them! I'm sure there are a lot of you out there like me who enjoy shopping for others more than yourself! So, what I want you to post for a chance to win this candy is what is the best gift you have ever GIVEN? I have asked before what the best present you have recieved was but I am twisting it this time. Other than giving my hubby the gift of delivering his beautiful children, it would have to be the time I found an autographed picture of Judy Garland by chance in a tiny shop. My sister collects Wizard of Oz anything and although in the picture she wasn't dressed up like Dorothy, I knew it would be a great piece for her collection! It's those once in a lifetime little finds that excite me the most!!! So, what is yours? Leave me a comment and I will draw a random # to see who wins! Open to US and Canada residents only. Sorry guys! You have until Tuesday the 6th at noon! Good luck!

Blog candy includes:

  • Real candy! Russell Stover Vanilla Bean Brulee chocolate!
  • Daisy D's Winter Fun pad. 24 8x8 sheets plus 4 die cut sheets
  • Various 6x6 Christmas paper (some more Daisy D's to coordinate)
  • 8 1/2 x 11 Christmas paper from The Paper Studio
  • American Crafts felt flowers in Christmas colors
  • Pot of untrafine green glitter
  • Lots of stamped Christmas images (not shown) from my collection

43 comments:

~Lana B.~ said...

Hey, maybe the bear WAS walking in snow and just hit a patch of grass when he had his *picture* taken! LOL Anything is possible likeyou said!
My Fav gift I gave was to an old boss when I was in college. He was a morning coffee drinker who insisted he would just inject his caffeine if he could. Well, I found the best brick of coffee I could find (i dont think they vaccuum pack them in bricks anymore?) and took one of my Aunt's insulin syringes(SANS the needle of course)and taped it to the top of his coffee. He was laughing for DAYS! I will never forget that. Of course I gave him a real gift as well that year.
Thanks for sharing and have a great day!!!
~Lana B.~
lanastamps on SCS

Anonymous said...

First of all, your kids are ADORABLE! The big candy bowl thing would never work at my house, tho, the candy would be long gone by next Halloween!
The best gift I've ever given is a scrapbook I made my grandparents for Christmas one year. It was all about my sisters and my memories of them during our childhood.
Thanks for the blog candy drawing, it looks yummy!

Heather Grow said...

The best gift I've received was my laptop. Without it, I wouldn't have a blog addiction. I best gift I've given, hmmm. A couple of years ago I was on a tight budget. We all were. I found my niece a purple plastic slide at a garage sale for $10. Somehow Santa got the credit for the slide and it was my niece's favorite gift that year.

Lynn Mercurio said...

One of the best gifts I received was my coffee maker...don't laugh...I love fresh ground, coffee and my DH bought me a coffee maker that grinds and brews my coffee (with a timer to boot). On another note...I have a personally autographed picture of the cast of the Wizard of Oz signed by Mickey Carol. He is one of the last surviving munchkins. He lives here in St. Louis and I ran into him in a restaurant on The Hill. I actually got two copies, and I'd love to send one to your sister. E-mail me at lynn.mercurio@gmail.com if you think she might like it.

Hugs,
Lynn

Heather said...

I think the best response to a gift I have given is when I made a scrapbook for my daughter's grandparents (all 5 of them -- which was 4 books) where they received a book with one page complete and a poem stating that they would receive a new page to add to their album (actually a 2 page spread) every month for the next year. Since all grandparents are out of town this was a great gift. Also, tip if you ever want to do this --- the album was 6x6 and I made all the pages before Christmas, had them ready to just add a photo or two every month for the next year (yep --- if you do the math that is 12 months times 2 pages (double page spread) times 4 --- that would be 96 pages! Sounds crzy, but since they were all alike, it was really just mass production and had it completed in a couple of nights. 6x6 was great because I could get 2 double page spreads from one piece of 12x12 cardstock.
:) Heather

Christi Flores said...

You children are adorable and so is that card!! Too cute!
The best Christmas present I've even given anyone had to be a jewelry box that everyone in my family pitched in to give to my grandmother. My grandmother does not like to show emotion very often and I will never forget the look on her face. It IS so much better to give than receive!

Jen said...

Your kids are great, it looks like they had a great time on Halloween. The best gift I feel I have ever given is my whole heart, giving someone your whole heart is a scary thing for a lot of people, but I now know what it feels like to trust someone so completely that you can give them your heart.

Anonymous said...

Great blog candy! My parents lost their wedding album in a fire shortly after they were married. I was able to track down several from friends and family to make a new one. It was a gift that was special for our entire family!

Anonymous said...

My favorite gift was to my mother in law. I took some of her old scrapbooks which were falling apart, and redid them. She was so pleased---which made me feel very good.
Linda Peterson
craftylin1968@aol.com

Elaine said...

Super cute card - yes, that is possible, I suppose... a bear pulling a sled with a pumpkin...at least in the stamp crafting world it's possible! I recently found the same site - SmARTworks....love it! I am trying to decide how to narrow my selections down a bit!!! Thanks for posting that you are happy with them! I will go ahead and place my order soon after hearing that - you're the second one who's given them a great review!

Anonymous said...

That is such an adorable card and stamp!! Love it!! :)

The best gift I have ever given would be the gifts I make my hand... mini albums, altered frames, etc.. they always seem to be the faves, especially of my gma.. but i'm sure she's impartial! LOL!!!

Unknown said...

Adorable photo of the children! Looks like they had fun!! Favorite gift? I'd have to say the year my hubby got me a kayak - total surprise!! I don't get to use it as much as I'd like right now, but someday . . .

Unknown said...

Cute kids and love the blog candy!!! I'd have to say the best gift I have ever given is when I made a memory album of my mom for my grandma the Chrsitmas after my mom passed away. I know she will cherish it always!!!!!

jayne said...

Looks like the kids had a good time! My favorite gift I gave was when we adopted families from the salvation army and had to just give things for the children, they said 1 item but who can give a child who is needy 1 thing? I am just thankful I was able to do it and give some joy to children who really really needed it.

Denise ~ Paper Ponderings said...

My sister collects panda bears...always has. I "made" her a ceramic panda bear bank at a ceramics class and she loved it. However, when walking down the stairs one day, she knocked it over and it broke into a b'zillion pieces (this is when she was in her 30's). Anyway, I just happened to call an hour after the accident happened and she was still crying. So, for Christmas that year, I made her another, almost identical...and when she opened it, she started crying right away and was SO happy. (This is making me cry right now thinking about it!) It's so awesome to know that a gift can be appreciated and loved so much.

jodene said...

We had a great time on Halloween and for once the weather was great! The best gift I ever gave was scrapbooking all my Grandmas photo's for her. It took all my free time for about 2 months and I did 9 albums! But it was worth every minute!

Scott Franson Photography said...

You have a great blog, I'll be back often. The best gift I ever got was my life! Thanks to the loving people who donated blood I was saved twice from death. Thank you to all of you.
Claudia
scfranson@charter.net

nettystamps said...

Cute trick or treaters... :)
Any yummy blog candy, and I don't mean the chocolate either, although I am sure it's great! :) Best xmas gift given? The year DH and I forgoed xmas gifts for a surprise trip home to Ohio to surprise my parents. Dad caught on prior to our arriving but MOM was completely surprised. She was down on her knees putting away some pans when I burst through the back door, she just about fell over...
The look on her face was so worth it all!

Yosha said...

Best gift I've given is a ship in a bottle kit. At the time I couldn't quite afford it but since I knew my friend wold love it, I scrimped on food and such for about a month to afford it!! The look on her face was totally worth it!!!

Yosha

Linda SS said...

What beautiful children! I got my first job at age 15 and remember having so much fun buying nice gifts for my family with my very own money:) That was the year that the very first video game came out that you play on your TV. This was over 40 years ago and it was a B&W simple game called Pong. It was $99.00 which was a lot of money in those days. I bought Pong for my dad and it was such a hit with everyone else as well. Neighbors & family were over all the time just to play Pong on our TV set. It's pretty funny now because electronic games have come so far, but that silly game that started the whole craze was extremely fascinating for that era:)

Angel said...

Hmmm... I can't think of a great deal or gift that I ahve found, but my hubby does good. He brought me a mink blanket when he was deployed overseas. Since then, whenever he goes, someone asks him to bring them one. They are the softest bestest blankets!!

Anonymous said...

I love your card, very well done, and your kiddies are too cute!

I also love to surprise people and giving more than receiving. Since about age 18, I decided to surprise my parents by hanging stockings with their names on, on mantle of the fireplace and filled them full (wrapping everything tight too) with the traditional and fun kinds of things we always received as kids from Santa. I've done this ever since. Thanks for the chance. bluemoonbynite@yahoo.com

Cathy M said...

Your kids are just to cute! Count me in on this sweet candy! The best gifts I have given would have to be the ones I made..like scrapbooks, altered items, and my cards. Thanks for a chance.
cmeyers@hughes.net

Momsnack said...

Several years ago I made Christmas stockings for everyone in the family, kids, inlaws, gkids, & ggkids and put them on the inside of the front door with superstrength magnets - its fun filling them with stocking stuffers, gift cards, candy, oranges - everyone enjoys them & that's the first thing they check out. It's fun to make your own traditions!
NancyS (momsnack)

Reality Show Reject said...

The best gift I've ever given was a scrapbook for my mother for mother's day. I had fun making it and it was a good combined effort of my sister and me to work on something together as we've never been close or worked together on ANYTHING! Thanks for the chance to win!

Kerry Johnson said...

Your kids are adorable and I love your sweet card! The best gift I've given is the calendars I scrap for my mom and my mother in law every year for Christmas. They love them and gush every year. Awesome candy - thanks for everything!

Jan Scholl said...

I have a book for the auction of the dresses that Princess Diana gave to charity. its autographed by her too.

but my fav-two left field seats and a world series program from Tiger Stadium. the real stadium. book was free too!

Lisa Silver said...

How generous of you! What neat blog candy!

I love giving gifts... and collect them all year for people I love. I'd have to say the best gift I've given was a vintage pinball machine to my husband. He loves it!!!

Thanks,
lisa

Anonymous said...

I love Christmas and shop all year round. I come from a large family 10 of us and now there are 18 neices and nephews plus their spouces plus their kids. My latest addition is my grandson and this will be his first Christmas. I plan on giving him his dad's first Christmas gift. A red and yellow car that you sit in and make go with your feet. So this will be my best Christmas gift.

Anonymous said...

Hi Heidi,
I love your Fall Bear card. And Old St. Nick is lovely.

The best gift I ever gave seems so simple. One year (many years ago) a local Dept. store offered a glamour photo shot for a cosmetics promo and I had a shot of myself taken. I found a dual collage frame that had a 5x7 space on one side, and several smaller spaces on the other side. I put my glamour shot on one side and older family photos on the side and it was my husband's favorite gift. He literally would show it off to friends and co-workers!

Thank you for sharing such sweet candy! You're getting me in the mood for Christmas!

Cheryl KVD said...

The best gift I've ever given was a few years ago to my MIL. She was just starting out stamping and scrapbooking, so I went all out and got her a ton of tools, paper, templates, cutters, scissors, stickers, etc. She loved it and I felt good getting her into this fun hobby. Thanks!
Cheryl KVD

Pegg S said...

Your kids are too cute in their Halloween outfits! I try to be very specific in my gifts -- thinking about what a person maybe wouldn't spend on him/herself. One is for my guy-- he plays the saxophone (or he did when he was younger) and I got his old instrument cleaned up and refurbished and got him a few lessons.

Anonymous said...

Great Blog Candy.....Guess my best gift I gave was a very large Crewel Embroidery picture of all different kinds of animals I had done for my In-Laws - it took me a couple years to get it done and framed but it was worth it in the end!!! TFS :0)

Cindy Coffman

Lilian said...

the best i have ever given was for our pastor. he had this beat up computer bag with handles falling off, broken zippers, and faded leather. so we replaced his bag for a top of the line swiss army computer bag, and a gift basket for the rest of the family... all individually relevant as special to each family member. :)

Gina Wrona said...

the best gifts I have ever given have been to my children, my son loves nascar so when i've found unique items in his favorite driver out at birch run i can't resist, and my daughter just loves hannah montana, so when i give her the new cd, she'll just scream with joy.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm...the best gift would have to be the Bearded Dragon we gave my son. What a cool lizard! My son was really hoping for one, so he really freaked out when the Dragon was under the tree.

Great blog---keep up the good job!

Anonymous said...

The best gift I have ever given would have to be when I gave my mom a completed scrapbook for christmas and she ALMOST cried!

Great Blog love your work!
mandyslack@eastlink.ca

Cindy Vernon said...

Your card is so cute and your candy is fabulous. The best gift I gave was a scrapbook I had made of a family trip we had all made to Hawaii for a cousin's wedding. My dad somehow deleted all of the pictures and my mom was so upset! Luckily we had enough pictures to recreate our trip. She absolutely loved it.

Nancy said...

Finally getting caught up with my Google Reader.... enjoy visiting your blog when I have the chance!

The best gift I ever gave was last Christmas... my sister and I went in together to send my Mom from Regina SK Canada to Arizona for a week to visit her brother. This was our first Christmas without our Dad and Mom was having a rough time dealing with the day to day. She was so happy with the gift and had an awesome time away!

Amy said...

Hi Heidi,
I'd have to say the best gift I ever gave someone was when my sister and I held a 30th wedding anniversary party for my folks. I made them a scrapbook with all their wedding photos...they both loved it.

Thanks for the chance to win some awesome blog candy!!

Amy S.

Mrs. Nancy G said...

Hey there,

It's so hard what to say about the best gift that I've given someone. I know it's mush and I had a lot of God's help with this one but I'd have to say our daughter is the best gift I've had a part to give to my husband. She has really added a whole new aspect to my husband's life that has changed him completely. He's not a bad guy it's just that she's helped grow him (& me). She came to us last Christmas and we look forward to celebrating her first birthday this year. What a blessing.

Smiles,
Nancy Grant

Unknown said...

What a cute card! I just love Halloween and your kiddos are adorable! The best gift I have ever given is the album I gave my mother of her wedding photos. I asked her if I could take them and do something with them since they were just in a box. I made her a simple but nice album, she's totally not into scrapbooking and I was really nervous to give it to her but she loved it! She had forgotten that I took the pictures and she even cried, which she does alot but never over scrapbooking.

Jenny said...

Hi Heidi,

I love the paper so I had to comment. The best gift I have given would be to my Mom and Dad. My brother and husband and I went to my parents house while they were away and did everything on my dads honey do list that he could never get too. They were so surprised when they returned home.

Jenny