MFT Fundraising Sale.....Please Read

Kim, (The MFT Lady) is having a sale at MFT, as a fundraiser for a family that has had a terrible tragedy occur in their lives. SO, if you've been thinking about placing an order, now would be a good time to do it. You'll not only get the things you want on sale, but you'll also be helping raise funds for this family during this difficult time. It's a win-win situation, and a wonderful way to help support this family during this time and in the future. Let's show this family how wonderfully supportive our stamping community is.

Kim posted the following information on her blog:

A few months ago, I posted about a friend, Tish, who’d been diagnosed with a very rare form of ovarian cancer. Tish battled through 6 rounds of chemo only to discover two additional tumors, one on her spine and one in her stomach. My heart fell when I read her CaringBridge post which broke the news. Since her diagnosis last August, the family has held the motto of DRIVE ON! in dealing with this aggressive cancer and fought a valiant fight. Tish lost her battle early Tuesday morning, and I found out about it late last night. Tish leaves behind two beautiful, young sons and a hubby, Todd, who I worked with for several years in my past life. I know Todd much better than I knew Tish, and know just how difficult this has been and will continue to be for the immediate future. Prior to Tish passing, a benefit was planned to help the family recover from the mounting medical bills and ensure a bright future for the boys, Tucker and Tanner. The benefit is still underway, but with a more solemn feel. My husband and I are donating some items to a silent auction, and the picture above is the gift card holder for that auction. The content of the gift card is about $200 in MFT merchandise, and I know every little bit helps. But I want to do more. Todd was the most compassionate, tender-hearted *boss* I’ve ever had, and I want more than anything to really help this family. So what I’ve decided to do is two-fold: 1) Starting tomorrow, I am offering a 10% discount on ALL stamps on the site. Use the coupon code Tish at checkout to receive 10% off all all the stamps in your shopping cart. (It won’t discount your other merchandise, just stamps.) The coupon code will run from Tuesday, April 15th-Friday, April 18th. 2) I will donate 10% of ALL proceeds (including money spent on other items on the site) to the family at their April 26th benefit. FYI - The discount applies only to retail orders… I am making it my goal to personally pay for the FL College Pre-Paid plan for the boys during an entire year which will be about $1200. Please help me reach this goal. And should you feel moved to do so, please email me for the family’s address, as I am quite sure they would love some happy mail. (And given that Tish was an SU demo, those hand-made cards WILL be appreciated!)

Here's the link to My Favorite Things: http://www.mftstamps.com/home/homepage.html

An Awesome MFT Contest!!

Kim (The MFT Lady) is having an awesome contest on her blog. Have you ever wanted a chance to design your own set of stamps? Well.....here's your chance! Head on over to Kim's blog for more details. I can't wait to see the set that the winner creates, and I know they'll have a great time working with Kim!

Here's the link to Kim's blog:
http://www.mftstamps.com/blog/

Ribbon Blossom Tutorial: Answers & An Explanation

I'm currently working on revamping the 'Ribbon Blossom' tutorial. I've been contacted by quite a few people that have tried to make one, using the tutorial, and haven't been happy with the results they've gotten.

I know the link is no longer available. I deleted it, and will explain my reason for doing so.

I want you all to know that I was also flattered-----beyond belief----that SO many people wanted to learn to do something that I do. I did ask people to call it a 'Ribbon Blossom' if they made one using my tutorial, because it felt really nice knowing that people were remembering me because of something they liked to look at. Heck, I think we'd all like to be remembered for something nice. Maybe I'm being too presumptuous here, but I do think that.

That was my first tutorial----EVER----so it was a definite learning experience for me. (I don't know how some of these ladies can put out a tutorial almost every day! Doing that one tutorial took me almost two days total!) I do feel like I may be able to explain each step a little more, and show you more pictures that will take you through the process in a more clearly-demonstrated way. It will be offered to you in a different format, also....but that information will be coming shortly. (I'm not trying to 'tease'....it's just that I don't have everything finished with it yet.)

Since I try very hard to be honest with those of you that do stop by my blog, I'll share with you the second reason that it has been deleted from my blog.

I received several very nasty emails and posts regarding the Ribbon Blossom Tutorial. One message, in particular, stated that I had 'no business whatsoever laying claim to the creation or invention of the pom-pom', stating that I had 'NO right to expect people throughout the world to give me personal credit for the 'pom-pom', or anything remotely resembling a 'pom-pom'. (These posts have now been deleted.)

First, let me clear up one thing: I never, ever laid claim to the 'pom-pom'. Ever. In a later entry, in which I tried to answer questions people had regarding the tutorial, I did explain that it looked somewhat LIKE a pom-pom.....for lack of a better way to describe it. I'm not a walking thesaurus---that is simply the first word that came to mind at the time.

Since I do not feel that I've ever intentionally tried to hurt anyone, in any way, through my blog, or in any of its entries, I was quite shocked to receive such rude messages and posts. To put it simply, many people asked me to show them how to make a 'Ribbon Blossom', and I put some pictures and words together to try to explain the process that I use to create them. I really didn't expect to be attacked for doing so, and I was quite stunned, to say the least. I didn't want to receive any more nasty messages, so I chose to remove the 'problem'. My parents raised me to live by the old quote 'if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all', and I try very hard to do that. Others may not, but I do.

I hope that those of you that are reading this do not feel like you are being punished for the actions of a handful of people. Honestly, I did feel 'punished'----for trying to do something nice---but it is NOT my intention to pass along that hurt or anger.

I apologize, wholeheartedly, to any of you that feel slighted or frustrated by the fact that I deleted my tutorial. Upsetting you is not my intention. Preventing further rude comments and emails is my only goal. That is the reason that I deleted the tutorial from my blog.

To my regular, faithful, wonderful readers.....the tutorial isn't gone, it's just being revamped. It will be offered-----to those that want it-----in the near future, but in a different format, via a different route.

I hope that you can understand my reasons for the decisions I made. Thank you for being so wonderful, and for reading this post.

I really do enjoy having a blog so much, and you all make my day in more ways than I could ever have imagined. The comments, posts and messages that you leave here really do mean a lot to me.

I hope you'll stop back again. (Soon!) :-) Have a wonderful evening, everyone!

New Things to Share.....

Sorry for the long absence, everyone. I know how frustrating it can be to take the time to check a blog for several days in a row without seeing anything new. I promise to try much harder to post more regularly....that's my new resolution (it's OK to make new resolutions in April, isn't it??)
SO many of you have left posts, and sent emails with such wonderful, caring, heartfelt messages, just checking in on me to see if everything is OK. I can't tell you how much all of the messages mean to me--and how special you have all made me feel!! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every one of you!! (Big hugs!!)
I've gotten a few new things created, so you have something new to look at today. I just received some new SU stamps a week ago or so, and had to break them in a little bit! I really like all three of these sets, as they give such unique and different looks. I'll add the card information later, so if there's something you'd like to know more about with one of these cards, you'll be able to find what you need.


MANY, many (many!) of you have left posts here, contacted me on SCS, or personally emailed me regarding the Ribbon Blossom Tutorial. SInce there are so many questions about it, I'm going to add it in a separate post today. Hopefully that post will explain things a little better and answer some of your questions.

Thanks for stopping by today. Again, I want to tell all of you how very much your kind and thoughtful words mean to me. You are ALL very special!! :-)

Feeling better---hugs to all of you!!!

Whew!!! For many, many reasons, I am feeling SO much better today!! The posts that you have left have made me feel fantastic, and really, really special!! I can't thank you all enough, for the kind, wonderful, encouraging (and funny!) words that you've left for me here in your posts. Thanks, guys----from the bottom of my heart----I truly do treasure you all!! My blog readers ROCK!!! :-)
I was creating like a mad woman last night and this afternoon, so I have some new things to post sometime early this evening.
I'll be back in a bit! Hugs again!!!

Feeling Better, Woo-Hoo!!!! Plus, an MFT Release & Other Stuff......

I'm a little late in catching up on my posts for MFT's release party---sorry about that! I swear that I've had THE worst luck around release dates lately for the companies I design for. For the last several months, something has either happened with my family (grandfather& great aunt passing away, and all the details that that entails.....OR I end up getting sick.) I love release-parties, don't get me wrong.....they're a fun and exciting time to share the creations that you've 'secretly' been working on for a while and are anxious to share with everyone.....the cards just haven't been stacked in my favor for the last two or three release dates. But, I do try to do my best!
Well, this time, I ended up getting a wicked-nasty-awful sore throat (fever ---102 degrees!---aches, chills, NO energy, etc. etc. etc.....). (Boy, do I sound like a whiner, or what?!?!?) I swear, it felt like I was swallowing shards of glass----ouchy!! I'm just glad my family didn't catch the same bug----at least not yet, anyway. Luckily, I found some left-over antibiotics from a past prescription, so I started taking those, which helped immensely. (I'm an RN, and, YES, I know that you're not supposed to do that, but at 11PM, I'll do whatever I can to start feeling better.)

OK.....on to the good stuff!
These cards are made from two new sets, now available from My Favorite Things (http://www.mftstamps.com/). The adorable little gardening gal is a set called 'Can Ya' Dig It'. An adorable set with a ton of images that are SO much fun to color! The mini-set for this month is 'Mother's Day'. A must-have set for this time of year! These are two sets you'll find yourself reaching for over and over again!

I really need to say a HUGE 'thank-you' to all of you that left such wonderful, encouraging, sweet, heartfelt comments regarding my run-in with the. *ahem*, 'ladies'.........you turned my whole day around! I went from feeling rotten about myself to walking around with a big ol' grin on my face for several days. Even though I've never met any of you 'in-person'......you all mean so very much to me, and I thank you for being so wonderful!! BIG hugs to ALL of you!!!
I'll be back a bit later today with another peek from another new-release, plus something just for fun! Until then.....have a wonderful Sunday morning! Hugs to you!!!