Callaloo Soup

Some Pretty Spring Blooms (and giveaway winner)

I took my camera along with me on my errand run today and got some shots of springtime blooms around town.

I am so glad that I threw the camera in my bag at the last minute. I hesitated, because it is heavy and I was in a rush, but it was definitely worth it. I don't think the cherry blossoms will last much longer around here. Aren't those tulips lovely? I would love to have that many in my garden!

...........................................................................................................................................................

We have a winner for the giveaway of my spiral peek book! Random.org chose number 32 which is Laura L! Congratulations! I already sent you an e-mail, but if you don;t receive it please drop me a line with your mailing address. You can find my e-mail link towards the top of the sidebar.

Thanks to everyone for your comments! I enjoyed reading each and every one!

 

 

 

 

I Am Giving Away a Spiral Minibook!

Hello friends! I have been planning this little giveaway for a while and I am glad to finally get it up! A while back I posted about a mini that I made for write.click.scrapbook using the January kit from Cocoa Daisy.

I used it for a little book of things that I love:

(You can see more of it over on write.click.scrapbook)

When I was tidying up I realised that I could make another very similar one, and decided to give it away to one of you! It's a blank version of the one I made, with 12 double sided patterned paper pages, the spiral binding and wrap around cover as shown.

The ribbon is included but is not attached to the book, so you can opt to use it, or another method for closing your mini. Here are some more shots.

I made the book using the method outlined in this tutorial that I posted last year

So you can take a stab at making one of your very own!

But if you want to win this one, all you need to do to enter is leave me a comment below. You have until next week Thursday April 5th at midnight PST. Anyone anywhere in the world can enter! Wooohooo!

 

Finish it Up December | Family Photos Mini Album

I started this little book earlier this year (at least I think it was this year) as a place to put family photos. I made it from papers left back from one of my Little Black Dress kit. It's a simple construction, the cover of corrugated cardboard and the inner pages are stitched together.

In reality it is still not finished, as it is meant to hold photos over time. However this week I finally got the first set of photos, which had been printed out and tucked into the book, in there permamently. I also did the cover.

What about you? Are you finishing anything up this month? Share a link below!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the 31 Thank You Cards e-book from Ella Publishing!

Holiday Cards Blog Hop with Ella Friends

Hello hello! As our term comes to an end the current team of Ella friends thought it would be fun to have one final blog hop. We're each showcasing a card that was inspired by one of the cards from the new Ella e-book :31 Thank You Cards: Try 138 card-making tips, tricks, and tutorials . This book by Kimber McGray, Heather Nichols and Krsitina Werner, is full of fabulous thank you card ideas. What's even better is that these ideas are all transferable to any occassion! Here's the card I made

Not only is it lifted from a Thank You card, but I used non-seasonal products! (from the December Little Black Dress kit).

In the spirit of the Holiday Season, Ella is letting us give a copy of the book away! Just leave me a comment telling me if you make your own holiday cards and if you've sent them out yet! I'll pick a winner on Friday (the 9th).

If you can't wait to see this book I have even more good news! Use the code CARDHOP to save $2 off 31 Thank You Cards. Fine print: Cannot be combined with any other coupon code or gift certificate. One coupon per customer. Expires 12/10/11.

Here's a list of all the blogs in the hop. Make sure to pop in to visit them all as there will be other giveaways!

Brenda Johnston
Donna Jannuzzi
Jenni Hufford
Monika Wright
Jennifer Larson
Valerie Mangan
Lee Currie
Francine Clouden
Diana Chen
May Flaum
Keshet Starr
Mary Jo Johnston

P.S. I know I owe you a Finish it Up post as promised last week. It is definitely coming tomorrow. Really!

Tons and Tons of Great Prizes to be Won

Hello friends, just popping on with some exciting news from True Scrap II! Everyone who registeres by Friday September 30th will be entered to win one of these fabulous prizes

• Simple Scrapper download - 1 year Simple Pages / Simple Projects subscription to 1 winner
• - 1 free class (choice of Keep Calm & Stay Organized, Light Your Fire, or any class in the next year) to 1 winner (courtesy of Jennifer Wilson and Erin Bassett)
• Hero Arts digi goodies (courtesy of Jennifer McGuire) 
• Paperclipping membership (courtesy of Noell Hyman)
• Digital Scrapbooking Basics (courtesy of Paula Gilarde)
• "Exposure" online photography class (courtesy of Katrina Kennedy)
• Jenni Bowlin October kit, plus vintage holiday release (courtesy of Lisa Dickinson and Jenni Bowlin)
• Scraphappy membership (courtesy of Lain Ehmann)
• 4 classes in each of Online Card Class and Inspiration Showcase (courtesy of Jennifer McGuire)
• Pass for two to Shimelle.com class of your choice (courtesy of Shimelle Laine)
• a spot in the Get Organized for the Holidays workshop at simplify 101 (courtesy of Aby Garvey)
• a spot in the Back to Basics online class at Renee Pearson.com

Just make sure to get registered by this Friday for a chance to win!

I'll be back as soon as we have internet acces at the new house. Cross your fingers that it will be very soon!

Winner of the True Scrap II Seat!

Hello! I'm so excited to announce the winner of the True Scrap II giveaway you'd think I am the one who won! I think it's partly because of this:

Number 1!! I've never seen that before! Come on down wendyp!!!

Congratulations! You get to take Nicole Magouirk's class, PLUS the 16 other classes and the 5 Makes and Takes. Looking forward to seeing you in October!

If you don't want to miss out on this exciting event, remember you can register for only $127 which gets you access to all the classes (including mine, hee!), the make and takes, and the feature interview with Cathy Zielske. PLUS you get to review the recordings whenever you like after the event!

Thanks for entering the giveaway, and see you in class if you sign up! Go on, you know you want to!

{Giveaway} One Seat to True Scrap II

I am so excited today! You probably saw my earlier post where I announced that this event was upcoming. Now here are all the details!

True Scrap II: The Spawn is the second issue of an online scrapbooking event, October 20-22, 2011, produced by Lain Ehmann.  With a lineup including Noell Hyman, Jennifer McGuire, Nic Howard, Renee Pearson and 13 more teachers, yours truly included, plus a keynote interview from Cathy Zielske and five make-and-takes (virtual, of course), this event will rock the scrapbooking world!

I was quite honoured when Lain asked me to be one of the teachers this time around! My class will be all about using spray inks. So if you want to learn more about adding an inky touch to your work be sure to check it out! Here is a little sneaky peeky

I promise I won't be getting all wild and messy on you! The class is really targeted at those who want to use inking and misting techniques to enhance their current style, or those who may already have some inks but aren't sure where to start. You can see the class description over on the site - just click over to the "more information" page.

What other classes will you get? Stamping, journaling, embellishments, photography and more, all from the comfort of your home (and in your jammies too!). For the $127 all access fee, you'll get:

-Pre-event virtual crop the week of Oct. 10 (for those enrolled by 10/10)

-Live access to all 17 classes

-Five virtual make-and-takes

-Interview with Cathy Zielske

-Eternal access to class recordings and chat transcripts

-More fun than you can shake a stick at AND extra goodies!

I’m excited to partner with TrueScrap to giveaway one general admission seat - a $127 value!! To enter please go on over to the TrueScrap site, take a look at the line-up, then come back here to tell me which class, or classes you are most interested in.

 

 

 

 

As always you can earn extra entries by tweeting, blogging and posting about this giveaway on Facebook. Please leave a separate comment for each entry. Be sure to enter your e-mail address in the field provided so that I can contact you!

This giveaway will close on Thursday September 15th 2011 at midnight PST. Winner announced Friday September 16th. 

And if you want another chance to win check out my Craft Gossip blog where I am also giving away a seat!

 

Who Are The People In My Neighbourhood?

I've had this song from Sesame Street stuck in my head for a couple weeks now, thanks to one of the gifts I made for Kieran (which I'll post about soon). And then I remembered that just over a year ago I did a Getting To Know You post, and thought I'd do that again, but call it something different! (Can you tell that I had a pretty musical childhood?).

So who are the people in my little blog neighbourhood? Are any of you still reading from a year ago? Leave me a comment saying Hi, and if you're up to it tell me how you found my blog, and the kind of posts that you like the best.

And not that you need added incentive (right?), but this weekend I'll choose a name from all the comments to get the pick of one of my printable PDF posters from my Etsy store.

So what do you say?

Winner of the Ella e-book!

I used Random,org to pick a winner for the e-book

Come on down Karen G!

Look for an e-mail from me with instructions on how to collect your e-book. If you didn't receive an e-mail please contact me at callaloosoupdesigns "at" gmail.com.

Congratulations and I hope the book will help you to get started scrappning your childhood!

Thanks to everyone for entering and sharing your stories.

Check back later today for a new tutorial!

Weekend Giveaway: Ella Publishing e-book

How about a giveaway to round out the week? I'm giving one lucky reader a free copy of the new e-book from Ella Publishing: How To Scrapbook Your Personal Heritage

This e-book is co-authored by Wendy Smedley and Aby Garvey, the authors of the popular The Organized and Inspired Scrapbooker.

Wendy and Aby gathered 12 exciting and fun challenges to help you capture memories from your childhood and beyond- with emphasis on the values, pasttimes, and ideals inherited from your family and that you hope to pass on.

The book includes 34 challenges and fun ideas to help you create layouts and mini albums.

Before I had Kieran I did a lot of pages about my childhood (must do that more!). Here's one

My sister and I even started a blog to share the pages we were making with childhood photos (need to get that restarted too!).

To enter the giveaway leave me a comment letting me know if you enjoy scrapbooking  photos from your childhood or other heritage photos. Why, or why not?

For extra entries you can blog, tweet or post about this giveaway on Facebook. Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

Giveaway closes on Monday February 28th, 2011  at midnight PST. Winner will be announced on Tuesday March 1st, 2011.

And here's a chance to win another book! I am also giving away Creative Ideas for Events & Holidays by Sara Winnick and Margaret Scarborough over here on Craft Gossip! This giveaway also closes on Monday, so be sure to check it out!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!