"Pin It To Win It" Contest from Sunshyne Silverwear

One of my friends and fellow RNEST member, Erin of SunshyneSilverwear, is having a "Pin It To Win It" contest!

The prize is a $25 gift certificate good towards any of the beautiful, handmade, recycled spoon pendants in her shop!

To enter the contest, all you have to do is create an imaginative Pinterest board using any product image found on www.sunshynesilverwear.com. Then post a link to your boards either on the SunshyneSilverwear blog, or on the SunshyneSilverwear Facebook Fanpage.*  Be sure to check her blog post for additional details.

*(Please don't post contest entry links on this blog post.  You must post them on SunshyneSilverwear's blog/Facebook page in order for your entry to be valid)

Haven't heard of Pinterest? Really?  I know I must have mentioned it before.  Anyway, it's awesome!  (and, for the record, I  have been sponsored to say that!) Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can "pin" your favorite items, links, and images from the web. It sounds simple enough, but it can be addicting, so you I'll give you fair warning!  But it is a wonderful way to collect all the cool stuff you like from the web into one place.  You can also follow other people's pinboards and other people can follow yours.  People use pin boards for their home decorating, style/fashion, recipes they want to try, products they like, and wedding planning.  I, personally, have created my own Pinterest boards for fun craft projects, kids' crafts for the homeschool art class I teach, and handmade gift ideas, just to name a few.  The possibilities are endless!

 To read a little more about Pinterest's possibilities, read their official 'About' page here.

One last thing...As of right now, creating Pinterest accounts are by invitation only. If you do not currently have a Pinterest account, e-mail Erin at sunshyne_silverwear(at)hotmail(dot)com and she will send you an invite so you can take part in the contest!  Happy Pinning!

Crafty Pinterest Christmas Gifts

My husband and I went to visit his family for Christmas, so we had "Christmas" with my parents on New Year's Eve (they had spent Christmas in Staten Island with my brother and his fiance`).  And thanks to creating a "Wish List" board on Pinterest, I was pleasantly surprised and got just what I wanted!  This doesn't happen often, since I don't like telling people what I want for Christmas, because I hate to make anyone feel like I have an expectation. I am always content and happy with whatever gifts I am given.  I really didn't expect anyone to pay attention to my silly Pinterest wish list, but my mom and sister-in-law-to-be follow my boards and they were both paying attention! 

 My mom is always asking me what I want for Christmas, even though I'm super easy to shop for...so she showed the wish list to my dad and he went to town shopping online!

These are 2 of my favorite gifts...an Alphabet Rolling Stamp (from my parents), and a Button Punch (from Nicole). Everything I wanted was either craft or music oriented.  I also got the "Doctor Who: Series 5" soundtrack from my parents, and the album "Invisible Empires" by Sarah Groves from Nicole.  I was also pleasantly surprised when I opened the box from my brother with these hand-strengtheners inside that look like rubber donuts.  It wasn't something I'd thought of, but I was touched that he had remembered that last time he saw me I was having hand/wrist pain from having marathon sewing sessions to prepare for craft shows.

I had fun punching buttons out from random paper, including the punch's packaging (the turquoise buttons) and a Pottery Barn catalog I've been saving for cutting up for collage work (because I have the crafter's curse of feeling the need to save everything!)

I've been wanting the rolling stamp because I think it will be so much more portable and convenient to use for making price tag signs at craft shows than the alphabet stamps sets I currently have.  I'll probably still use my alphabet stamp sets on occasion, since I like the font, but this stamp is so fast and convenient...you can stamp entire words/phrases instead of painstakingly stamping each letter.  I actually made tags the other day for presents for the families in my church (I gave each family a mason jar filled with homemade Hidden Valley Ranch Oyster Crackers...a Christmas tradition I do that my friends all love!)

One thing is that I do have to remember to "think backwards" when spelling words on the rolling stamp!