We have a (lucky!!) winner!

So.... I didn't have use a random number generator or anything to determine the winner of my first blog giveaway. Apparently this blog is not nearly as popular as ThriftyDecorChick or FunkyJunkInteriors... :)  But I do appreciate each of you five who skipped over here to read my post, browse CraftGossip.com and tell us what your favorite project was! It really is a neat site, don't you think?? The Hubster drew a number from a jar, and he even closed his eyes first. It was completely fair, I promise.

First, I'll share the loot list:

(Everything is from ek success brands... but they have several brands under that umbrella)

• set of K&Company Brenda Walton gauze flowers
• set of K&Company Brenda Walton floral tags with metal edges
• set of K&Company Life's Little Occasions' fall themed stickers 
• a sweet Jolee's Boutique 3-D "mon amour" sticker set
• neon-colored hippie-style Sticko gel stickers
• Vol. 1 of Martha Stewart Crafts' Party Essentials craft guide
• Blingy set of Martha Stewart Crafts' wine-bottle labels for personalizing gifts  
• an ek success edge puncher with a lovely scroll/wave design..

WOW!!!

And the winner is......

Julie of "bright little buttons"!

Congrats, Julie!! I'll be in touch!

I also want to just tell you a little about the workshop... those few of you who are reading. hehe...

It's never a bad day when a road trip with my sister is involved, so I'll just put that out there. We got to Little Rock a little early, and didn't want to be goobs and arrive before the registration table was even set up, so we decided it was a must to follow a few yard sale signs... I picked up a couple of cute little milkglass jars for my collection that only cost me $.25 cents each. I use them next to my bathroom sink to hold cuticle doo-dads and jewelry and such. Erin picked up some glass candle sticks that will soon become beautiful dessert  stands.

After another not-so-great yard sale stop, we spotted an estate sale sign and, obviously, we had to go. I have been to some estate sales. And I've seen some collections. But this house was absolutely A.MAY.ZING. The woman running the show told us that the lady who owned the home had been an antique dealer, and that explained everything. Every single room in her home housed a collection of some kind. The overwhelming theme was primitives and colonial antiques. There were even stencils of pineapples around the tops of the walls. She collected so many different things - everything from period furniture, to dollhouse furniture to framed silhouette art to antique needlepoint and cross-stitch samplers. Basically, anything that was published in Country Living Magazine between 1980-1985 was in this house. While that style is not MY style, the sheer mass, and the obvious love that this woman had for her collections was humbling and impressive. We didn't buy much, because everything was priced appropriately (read = not in my budget). I did pick up a couple of vintage black and white snapshots and a book called Arkansas Folkways that I think will be fun to do something with.

We finally tore ourselves away and got to the workshop just as the organizers were introducing themselves. We ate some tasty lunch and went around the room and introduced ourselves, and then the fun began...

We all got split up to sit with bloggers we haven't met and each table was tasked with creating a fancy top hat using some crafty items spread out on a table. Our table selected a Mardi Gras theme based on the colors of some plastic beads that were available, and we won! The judge said it was the little mask that we added that put it over the top, and I'm kind of proud to say that it was my idea. That's right, I'm tooting my own horn - what of it?

Next we each got a little kit to play with and went to work creating fabric flowers. We used a Laliberi kit that contains enough supplies to make at least 6 flowers. You can make them into pins or hair pins, or rig them to be both. I made one teal flower and it was super-easy and quick to make. The directions have illustrations included, which made it a snap to figure out.

After we all completed our flowers we were free to pick up the swag bags and start going through them. Listen, when they said we got some great stuff, they were NOT exaggerating!!! HOLY COW! They crammed a string bag full of stuff, and had to put the overflow in a grocery bag. There were 20 bloggers there, and those bags contained at least $200 worth of supplies and goodies. I was beyond impressed with CraftGossip's support of their bloggers and editors!

Some of the items in the bags will be used right away - like the eyelet paper balls from Martha Stewart Crafts that will be hanging in my grand-daughter's room within the week, and some stickers and permanent pens that will be used to create a piece of art on canvas that I am making this week as well. I am more of a sewer and repurposer than a traditional "crafter", so I will be putting my thinking cap on to figure out ways to use some of the items in the bag. For example, there were lots of lovely scrapbooking bits like 3-D stickers and paper punches that I am going to figure out how to incorporate in some mixed-media art and/or on some repurposed picture frames. But I actually think that's more fun - anyone can just slap some stickers on a scrap book page - but what ELSE can you do with it?? :)

Before we headed home we stopped by a vintage mall one of our friends in Little Rock recommended, and we found some fun things. My favorite was this table-top card catalog. It had just come in that morning, so it was meant to be mine! Unfortunately, someone had refinished it - probably to make it more "sophisticated" with the dark stain and all - but I'm planning to paint it and use it in my sewing room to hold ribbons, notions and such.

Isn't it sweet!?

Dinner at Star of India was as good as always, and the drive home flew by. I'm looking forward to sharing some of the projects I come up with here in the next couple of months. Hope you enjoy the pics - and come back to visit!