Happy Valentine's Day

I hope everyone is having a lovely Valentine's Day, long weekend for President's Day and start of school break week (if that applies to you!) - I am doing a little blog housekeeping and catching up today.

Blogoversary gifts -

4paws where are you? I haven't heard from you with your postal address so I can send the calendar stamps. The other two gifts were sent out last Tuesday and I did hear from StarlightScrapper that she received hers the very next day.

50th Birthday Gift Challenge -

So far, no one has guessed the correct number of cartridges I used in making this project - I'll let you know when the right answer appears! The post is linked HERE - leave your guess in a comment on that post - not here!

Another award - Thank you Heidi!

Heidi at Heidi's Hobbies gave me this award - check out her blog to see what she has been making. I am supposed to pass this on to my favorite number of blogs - as you know three and seven are my favorite numbers, hmmm, maybe I'll average them and list five!

Here are some blogs I like to visit when I have a chance:

1. Meg's Blog Meg was my secret sister on the Cricut Message Board (I sent to her). She is very talented and has the cutest little boy to scrap about - you'll love her great layouts.

2. Linda's Blog - Just For Sharing Linda does amazing work - she started with Design Studio, then SCAL and now is doing really interesting designs on another machine - check out the embroidery cards she just posted.

3. Roe's Blog - Creative Liberties Roe is one of my fellow ATC swappers on the Cricut Message Board. She just recently started blogging and has been sharing many wonderful things.

4. Mary Fran's Blog - Craft (y) Boutique Mary Fran is a new addition to our ATC swapping group but has she has been chatting with us for a while. Lots of great cards on her blog - be sure to go back to the older posts to see some fabulous wreaths.

5. KER's Blog - PapeRockScissors KER is our ATC group organizer - she does a terrific job each month and always has a new technique to share! Don't miss her metal fish.

How to get in touch with me...

Lately I have been getting questions and requests for help from many different places - comments on my blog, comments on the 4shared site when files are downloaded, PMs on the Cricut Message Board, through the "contact me" button on my Creative Memories site - it gets very tricky for me to be sure that I have seen and answered all of these!

I love it when people leave comments - here on the blog, on the file downloads, on the Cricut Message Board...but, if you have a specific question or request and want to be sure that I get the message in a timely fashion, please send an email to capadiadesigns@gmail.com. I do my best to answer everyone but it can take me time for me to find the questions if they don't come to me directly via email... Thanks!

If you have already sent me a message for help or suggestions for a project you need help with and you haven't heard from me - well..... it is quite possible that I have lost it in the shuffle, so please send me a reminder.

Thanks to all who joined the celebration!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a message - I was very touched by all the kind comments that so many readers left to congratulate me on the first anniversary of my blog. I do enjoy designing and sharing what I do and helping others to get more enjoyment from their Cricuts and the Design Studio software. I am happy to announce the three recipients of my "blogoversary" gifts. To choose the winners, I printed out and numbered the comments randomly and then used a random number generator to choose three numbers.

I will be posting packages to these three people - please send me your mailing address as soon as possible by an email to capadiadesigns@gmail.com



The set of calendar stamps goes to 4paws who said...

Congratulations on your 1st year anniversary!!! And thank you for sharing your time and creativity with us. I look forward to my daily email from you. It gives me something to look forward to and starts my day on a positive note! I'm excited to see what you have in store for the coming up year! CONGRATULATIONS !!! Thank you again for sharing with us!

The Picfolio Minutes album goes to Angela who wrote

Congrats on your Blogoversary!

I really enjoy your blog and projects that you create! I especially like your .cut files and use them often - thanks for sharing!

The Mini Moments set goes to StarlightScrapper who said...

Oh Cap I find it hard to believe it's ONLY been a year! To me it seems that you have been a source of amazing inspiration for so much longer than that!
CONGRATULATIONS!!
And thank you for sharing all that you do! :)

Thanks again for helping me to celebrate and being part of my "blog family" - I have lots of new projects just waiting to be posted but, after a very hectic day, I will say goodnight - there will be a new file in tomorrow's post ....

"Blogoversary" Celebration and Gifts!

I started this blog exactly one year ago today - what a year! I have learned so much (and spent so much!), made new "virtual" friends and had a lot of fun creating and sharing designs and preparing and sharing tutorials. I am amazed by the number of people who view my blog regularly (over 180,000 "hits") and download my designs (over 75,000 downloads) and I love to see all of the locations from around the country and around the world that visitors to my blog call home.

To recognize and celebrate my "blogoversary" I am offering a chance to win a few gifts to those who read my blog. All of the gifts relate to calendars and time...

Gift #1



First, I have a complete group of the Studio G Calendar months mini stamp sets - assembled on multiple craft store visits by digging through those bins!



Also included is a lucky 13th set with the full names of each of the months.



Gift #2



Next, I have a Creative Memories Minutes Picfolio Album in the "Playful" design - these are pretty and useful with a great striped cover in pastel colors. The closed album measure 6 x 7 inches. Here is a LINK to the page on my CM Personal Website where you can see more information about the album.



The album is closed with a magnetic strap which can be used to turn the album into a mini easel as demonstrated in the photos above.



There are twelve pages inside (24 sleeves) sized for a 4 x 6 photo on a 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch mat - you can use these to make a great desk calendar - above is an example of one I did a few years ago (before I owned a Cricut).

Gift #3



This is a Creative Memories "Mini Moments" set. It was a Memory Keepers Club prize and never available for purchase. The set comes in a nice tin which can be used to store all sorts of things.



Inside there are 12 calendar mats which have the grids printed in different sizes on either side. (the calendar mats are currently available to purchase - here is a LINK to the page on my CM website if you want more information)



There are also 12 sheets of 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch paper (above) and an idea sheet (below)



Inside the tin, there are also two small magnetic backed lidded containers and an exclusive hole punch.



Here is another view of the tins and the hole punch - it cuts a rough edged swirl and a zig zag edge sunburst shape.



So, if you want to help me celebrate and perhaps win one of these items, here is what you need to do...

Please leave a comment by clicking on the "comments" at the bottom of this post (an example showing where to click is below) - a box will pop up for you to type in your comment and name.



You can also comment on the post on the Cricut Message Board which is LINKED HERE (this is just in case you have trouble leaving comments on blogger sites - I prefer that you comment here to make it easier for me when it is time to do the drawing). Only comments made in one of these two places will be included, so, if you are a subscriber and receive my posts by email, please do not reply to the email to enter the drawing - it won't work!

If you already own any of these items, or are only interested in one or two of them, please note this in your comment. Please also be sure to identify yourself if you are posting as "anonymous" by leaving your name (real or message board) in the comment.

If you have read my blog for a while you know that my lucky numbers are three and seven - there are three prizes and the time to comment will remain open for seven days - on February 8th I will choose a winner for each prize using a random method - you can only win once but there will be three separate drawings so you have a chance for each prize (unless you ask not to be included in one or two of them).

I will keep a link to this post at the top of my blog for the next seven days to make it easier to comment.

Thank you all for being part of my blogging world - I hope that you are enjoying the work I share and that you are actually using it for your personal projects, cards and albums. I always appreciate seeing how people have used my designs so, if you are willing to share any photos, I'd love to see them (you can email me at capadiadesigns@gmail.com).

Thanks again - I am looking forward to continuing my attempt to meet my goal to post daily this year (my version of "Project 365") and there will be some changes in format and interesting new projects coming soon...

Enjoy the Super Bowl tonight (if you are watching it instead of crafting)!