Belle Papier {pretty paper}

I started writing this blog just over two weeks ago. It went live on Sunday February the 18th and my counter is already over the 5000 hit mark. I think this is a cause for celebration and a little thank you to you, my readers.

The inside of my little box is filled with Blog Sweets. Some ribbon, lots of embellishments, lots of fun. If you are interested in this little box….comment on THIS entry. Just go to the comment link at the bottom. You have until Friday midnight EST to post a comment. Just tell me one thing about yourself and what you like to see in a blog. One entry per person please! I will pick a random number…if you are that number, you win. I’m going to be pretty busy on Saturday so check back in on Sunday for the winner!

If you are interested in all the design details of this little box as well as some close-ups, just scroll down two entries…it’s all there!

 Goodie List: mini dominoes, silver microbeads, snowflake brads, Brown velvet ribbon, celery stitched ribbon, Celery dotted ribbon, Prima flowers, Making Memories metal labels, mini safety pins, mini clothes pegs, Asian coins, office clips …all in my Sweet Box.

Many of you know that my mom has been fighting melanoma for almost the past two years. She was diagnosed a week before Joshua was born, May 2005,  and has had three major surgeries, interferon and raditation treatments since. Tomorrow my mom will start Chemo therapy. I have been very upset to have been sick the past week with a bad cold and have not been able to visit her, but am looking forward to seeing her this morning. We would value your prayers that God will give her the strength she needs. Many thanks….Julia

I’m SO excited…I NEVER win anything! But I did this time! I woke up this morning to an e-mail from Linda at Amuse Stamps. I had entered a contest on the Amuse blog after reading about it in Sarah’s Kindred Spirits very cool blog. Thanks so much for the info Sarah! Amuse is releasing the coolest lower case monogram clear stamps for their new spring line. They are SO super cool. If you want to check them out, here is the link to AMUSE NEWS. Linda had posted a challenge to guess which were the most popular and least popular monograms. I thought I’d give it a whirl. The least popular was the easiest to guess. Not too many first or last names starting with that one. I was actually thinking of guessing J for the most popular but someone had already taken that one. hmmmmm…. then it popped inot my mind how many M surnames were on my maternal side. McFal, Milliken, McCurdy, McElrath… lots of M first names out there too. I decided to go with it. Now I just can’t wait to get my new stamps….all 26 of them! Wahoo! You are going to be seeing LOTS of monograms on this blog. Thanks so much Linda! Amuse rocks!

Trying to choose the winners of the WT100 challenge contest was a very difficult job. With so many cards, styles and ideas and great ones at that…the choice was not easy. After much deliberation, Lindsey (Jacksonbelle), Michele (Shel9999) and myself  have finally come up with the winners. We really hated to narrow it down to two…there were so many very wonderful cards to choose from. We were really hoping taht Trudee would be able to help us out but due to a freak lightening storm, her internet connection is still not working. We miss you Trudee! Thanks so much to everyone who played along. I love seeing your work week after week. You can see the winners cards at the following links…

1st place - Cindy Haffner with Carte Postale

2nd place - ctrmom3 with Pottery Barn Friend
Random Draw - fivekids7 with Postale Tag Card

Random Draw - lacyquilter with WT100 Brilliance Resist

Wow! Tuesday already! . I JUST want to remind you all ….tonight at 11 pm EST marks the end of the WT100 challenge. You may enter as many times as you wish before then. For those of you who have already entered…WOW! So many fabulous ideas…thanks so much for playing along. I am SO glad that I have three of my fellow Dirty Dozen Alumni friends to help me out! Trudee Sauer, Michele Boyer & Lindsey Botkin.

 There will be two “best of show” winners and two random winners so the more you enter, the greater your chances! With some darling Bellas and some fabulous gift certificates from Jacksonbelle’s ebay store here you are sure to want to play along!

 For more information, check out my WT100, Way’s to Use it Celebration Challenge here.