Ema-gination Celebration!

Last time I posted, I shared my desire to have a celebration of some sorts for my 6th blog anniversary. I requested assistance in finding just the right name with a little oomph for this. You can read all about it on my "Save the Date" post, if you haven't yet. Thank you to all who participated! I loved that y'all jumped in there with me! :) I reviewed the few submissions and I liked "EMA-gination Celebration" because Patti at Scrap Close 2 the Heart got me! lol Her suggestion hit it right on the nail. This IS what I am all about! Celebrating life, me and my "Ema-gination"! ;) lol Thanks Patti! :) I promised a $10 gift card to whomever helped me find an appropriate name and well... by golly... she did! :)  

Now, to officially announce my EMA-gination Celebration kickoff. I've given this a lot of thought over the past few days. This is how I plan to celebrate! Woohoo! lol ;)

The original purpose of setting up the blog was to showcase the many cards I make... but also... to tell you about my life. This was meant specifically for my children.. but for whoever else decided they absolutely HAD to read about what all was going on in my life. *giggle* Trust me when I say... there aren't many of those readers! :-\ I don't get that! lol ;) Nonetheless it has not deterred me in any way. I have written about what has gone in my life... as frankly as I could at times. I've had lots and lots of things happen over the past six years... not all good... not all bad... I've shared when I could. To know me... is to read my blog. :) I've fallen way short of my original intentions of maintaining a blog. I'm here today to rectify all of that! 

My EMA-gination Celebration will consist of a "loyalty reward program". lol It seems to be all the rage of late. Everywhere I shop, I am presented with a "rewards" program. I fall for these hook, line and sinker! lol I'm a faithful shopper at CVS, Kohl's and Dustee's because of these cards! First thing I ask when I check out, "Do you offer a rewards card?" Sadly, there are some places that don't. I still shop there... but only if I cannot get it at any other place that offers rewards points. lol What can I say? I like free! lol One of the things I am gonna start doing... starting with my anniversary celebration... I am gonna keep track of the comments. Every quarter, I will gift my most faithful follower (have to be a follower of my blog) who leaves the most comments a $25 gift card to Scrapbook Stamp Society (until further notice) and a $25 gift certificate of their choice from one of these online stores:

Raisin Boat

Oozak.com

Paper Wishes 

Then once a quarter, I will also offer a gift card from all others who leave comments. I'm just gonna add all these into a pile and draw a name. Whomever gets picked will receive a gift card of their choice from one of these digital stores [in no particular order (prize value TBD)]:

Mo's Digital Pencil

Meljen's Designs

Saturated Canary

The Paper Shelter

Simply Betty Stamps

Some Odd Girl

Whimsie Doodles

Now... for my EMA-gination Celebration, I plan to enter all the names of followers (you have to be a follower) who comment into a random drawing. This prize package is the most I can afford to give as a single person who just loves crafting. :) I've no sponsors of any sort so this is just little ol' me sharing what little I have. :) This is the prize package I am comfortable gifting:

$25 Gift Certificate to Scrapbook Stamp Society

$25 Gift Certificate to Raisin Boat

$25 Gift Certificate to Oozak.com 

$25 Gift Certificate to Paper Wishes 

Winner's choice of a Gift Certificate to one of these digital stores:
Mo's Digital Pencil, Meljen's Designs, Saturated Canary, The Paper Shelter, Simply Betty Stamps, Some Odd Girl or Whimsie Doodles (prize value TBD).

I surely wish I could tell you the dollar amount of each item; however, I've sent emails requesting information for gift certificates and have not received a response as of this writing. I'll come back on here and update the info as soon as I have the correct information. :) Also, if there's ever a tie for the most comments from any one person, these names will be placed in a random drawing separately. :) It's the fairest way I could think of! :)

Now the whole point of doing all this... is so you can see what I've made! So here is today's showcase! ;) lol

I am submitting this card into five challenges:

The Paper Shelter... one of my all time favs! :-D ... I doubt I will EVER win one of these challenges because they always have oodles and oodles of participants but what can I tell you... I'm just ever so optimistic! This is for Challenge 110 - Music Maestro. I've used the image Rock Star.

Fab 'n' Funky Challenges is having Challenge #169 ~ Lots of Pink.

Crafting for all Seasons Challenges is having a Challenge 51 - Monochromatic. What can I tell you? I love using monochromatic color schemes on my cards! They just FALL into place with this super easy challenge. I love these! :)

I needed a card sketch! I went with Sweet Sketch Wednesday #204 Challenge QKR Stampede! They asked for a QKR image if I had one but well... I don't. :( It's all good anyway! They are a generous bunch! :) 

Finally, a freakish coincidence! Really! I have an older niece... who is turning 29... again! I haven't seen 29 in a few years... and this niece is... did I point this out earlier... OLDER than I am. Yes! I'm the youngest of ten so I've got plenty of nieces and nephews older than myself. She's one who would not appreciate me telling folks this but... hey... it's OK! She doesn't come on here and you're not going to tell on me right? lol ;) So Divas by Design Add a Number challenge also fell right into my lap! Awesome! 

Man! I think I am getting pretty good at this! Use to be I could only do one challenge at a time cause I was overwhelmed by them. Even then... I'd miss deadlines or requirements! I kid you NOT! If you only knew! Once... I boohooed something fierce too... but at the time... I had been to the lab on that particular day and was having a fantastic pity party! I should have sent out invites it was just so awesome. So I cried to no end because I missed the deadline but it's all good. I learn my from my mistakes and here I is! ;) lol

So, here is my card:

I still feel ever so silly about the whole watermark thing but I keep having one person or another remind me about the importance of one. I can't help but think, who in their right mind? If I were to see one of my cards somewhere I did not mean for it to be at... I'm afraid my first thought would be I'm flattered! lol So anyway... all paper and card stock is from my stash. I used a rubber stamp set from The Angel Company (TAC) and from what I could gather  was bought out by Red Rubber Designs. I know I saw some of their images there and they have a department called TAC Swag so what do you suppose that means? I have no clue... I'm baffled by it all but there you have the info anyway. :) I made the flower myself! I dabbed Stickles in Star Dust to make the flower prettier! :) lol It needed help! I also placed a pearl bead in the center of the flower. I purchased these beads at Hobby Lobby from their $1 bins. The tri-colored twine is from Whisker Graphics. It's that marvelous Divine Twine. I colored the image with Copic markers. 

So... as always... thanks for stopping by! Please, leave a comment so I'll know you were here but most importantly... so you can be in my random drawings for prizes! :)