Happy National Lottery Day

Who knew there even was a National Lottery Day? Not me! Did you know lotteries in the U.S. date back to the 1700s? According to this website, "colonies held nearly 400 lotteries in the mid-18th century. A Philadelphia newspaper ad promised a 'new brick house' for one lucky lottery winner. Tickets sold for 20 shillings each." I looked it up and it would be $200 today...that's a pretty good deal for a house!

It is convenient to celebrate National Lottery Day today though, because I'm currently doing a giveaway...not for lottery tickets but for crafty stuff. If you leave a comment on my IG page and follow me, you'll be entered to win this stamp and die set from Catherine Pooler which is perfect for friends and family cards. The giveaway closes on Saturday, July 18 at 11:59 pm EST, so enter ASAP!

I have to admit, I've played a lottery here and there and gotten scratch-offs occasionally but I think the highest amount I've won is $5—I'm guessing I wouldn't have won that brick house back in Philadelphia if I'd have entered it lolol.

Thought I'd share a birthday card I made with all die-cuts and no stamping...I used Distress Oxides to smoosh onto cardstock and then used a Hero Arts Branch Wreath die, an Echo Park floral wreath die and a sentiment die from Memory Box to cut out different portions of the paper. 

The adhesive lace is from a hundred years ago...or it's been in my stash at least 5 years. I've been digging through some of my older papers and supplies and trying to use them before they're completely out-of-date. Just ordered the rolling cart so many people have for scrapping and cardmaking and I think it'll be great for storing current projects. I tend to have at least three things going at once, so this might corral them.

Happy Friday!

Chark

It's a Crafty Giveaway

Edited: WINNER OF THIS CRAFTY GIVEAWAY: @creativecarmen61 from Instagram

Happy August, friends! Can you even believe it's August? I swear time is flying the older I get. But I'm still planning to squeeze some more summer fun in.

I haven't done a giveaway in awhile and I just won a ridiculous amount of beautiful sequins from Kat Scrappiness, so I'm sharing the wealth. There are tons of gorgeous and fun sequins, a few stamp sets, some adhesive and flowers in the package. You can leave a comment here and/or over on Instagram to enter.

I made this galaxy background, then wrote on silver Chrome Molotow marker. I love that shiny marker! Here are some close-ups of the goodies you could win!

See those little pawprints? So cute and great for a pet shaker card. The giveaway runs through August 8 and a winner will be announced here and on IG. The package is US only, but if you win without a US mailing address, I'll send you a $10 gift certificate to Kat Scrappiness.

Happy Friday!

Chark

Fourth Freebie Friday

Okay, friends, this is the last of four giveaways this month...this one is open internationally and features some specialty papers, stencils, sequins and more. All you have to do is leave a comment here and/or on Instagram (click on the sidebar) and you're entered, it's that simple. There are more chances to be entered on IG if you tag friends or repost as well.

This is a pic of just some of the goodies you'll receive if you win this week's prize.

And I also have to share some cutey gingerbread boys that I got from Craftin Desert Divas. Their stamps are just so great and they had a sale and I totally got a couple digis I've been eyeing. They also carry real stamps, but I like the immediacy of digis sometimes. 

I had to get a lot of cards ready quickly, so I printed the already colored versions (there are line drawings included too). However, after the fourth page, my printer began to run out of color, so they were looking a little anemic. I used some Prismacolor pencils to shade and bring back their toasty colors. And added some highlights with white gel pen. I'm totally a fan of gingerbread boys/girls. They make me happy and these are super cute!

Good luck with the four giveaways! The deadline to enter is extended to December 6, 11:59 pm and the 4 winners will be announced the following day here and on IG.

Happy Weekend!

Chark

Freebie Friday #3

If it's a Friday in November, it must be time for another giveaway just to say thanks to my crafty friends! This week's giveaway is full of Christmasy goodies, including a few lovely items from Pretty Little Studio like these die cuts and some red, green and gold trims and glittery sequins.

So, if you like free stuff, and Christmas, just leave me a comment here or head over to Instagram (clickable link on the right), and follow the instructions there. Deadline to enter is December 6, 11:59 pm Eastern time, 4 winners announced December 7 here and on IG.

I've got a little baby card I made for my daughter's coworker to share today. I went to my stash of die cuts/pocket scrapbook cards and put this together in no time. There's no stamping on this, but I did draw in a string to make the heart die cut into a balloon.

Happy Friday,

Chark

Freebie Friday Giveaway and All the Buttons

Today is the second Friday of my Four Fridays Giveaway in November. If you click on my Instagram account button on the side bar, you can head to IG to enter to win a $25 gift code to Butterfly Reflections, Ink, a crafty online store. Open internationally, you can also win here on the blog by commenting. Extended until December 6, 11:59pm Eastern time. Winner announced December 7th. 

Also, it's National Button Day! What crafty person doesn't love buttons? My mom had a big tin (okay, still has if I were to dig through her cabinets I'm sure) full of buttons that I loved to shake and look through when I was a kid. And so, guess what? I made a tin of buttons for my own self when I got married. And yep, my kids like to pour through whenever it was out. 

To celebrate Button Day, I've gathered some button craft ideas and a button snack—who knew there was a button snack to be had—Internet, you know everything!

You can try these little button sandwiches or button cookies if you need some themed treats. So cute!

I love this button craft for a kid's room, and they could even choose the buttons and make it with you.

This canvas is too cute and I really want to try it and I've had it pinned for like, ever. And I can't credit it, because it came from the 2 Peas in a Pod site that is no longer up. Whoever made this is so talented and it came out about the time as the movie, Up, came out.

I like this button project too...but I think any excuse to paw through the button tin is a good thing.

And if you're a better jewelry maker than I am, you could follow the instructions on this post to make these lovely button earrings. Cool, huh? Happy Button Day!

Happy Friday,

Chark

Freebie Friday Giveaway

Today for Freebie Friday, I'm doing a giveaway of these Unity Stamp Company Coffee Cup rubber stamps (one with a pumpkin and one with a clover), a set of Your Next Stamp coffee colored enamel dots and a few little embellies. All you gotta do is leave a comment over at my IG and follow me there. (If you don't have an IG account, just tell me here.) Commenting open on all four giveaway posts until December 6, 11:59 pm Eastern time, winners announced here and on IG on December 7, 2018.

Sorry the pic is blurry, I'll do better next Friday when I post the next giveaway...that's right, I'll be doing four different giveaways during November just to share the wealth and make November fun!

I'll also be switching the blog to weekends, posting once a week on Fridays. Seems like blogs are on their way out unless you're a company or someone like Jennifer McGuire, but I like sharing crafty stuff, so though I might do more on Instagram, I'll be here every Friday, with glitter still in my kitchen, my hair, on my face and on the majority of my projects!

Happy Friday!

Chark

It's So Much Friendlier with Two

EDITED: WINNER CHOSEN FROM IG--NANCYSCRAFTSHACK!!!!

If you saw Monday's post, you'll know how much I like Winnie-the-Pooh and the original cartoon, the book and the latest movie, Christopher Robin. I saw someone over in England had a pack of Christopher Robin 6x6 paper they had purchased. I looked high and low here in the states and online and didn't have a lot of luck, so I ordered from a company called Laney's Crafts in England. They have a lot of products for some great prices and this paper pad was inexpensive...and they have two other Christopher Robin 6x6 packs (one with foil) that I should've gotten! The shipping wasn't terrible, even though I ordered paper, and she let me know about what it would cost before she sent it. I'm certain I'll be ordering from Laney's again!

The bad news is that I didn't order extras, the good news is that there are three sheets of 12 styles, so I'm going to break up the pad and give away 12 sheets of 6x6 paper AND a full pack of the letter tile stickers from her shop, as well as some Disney die cuts with the original art from my stash. You could win all this and maybe a little extra just by leaving a comment here and following my blog.

Here are some close-ups of the goodies.

This giveaway is open internationally, so sign up to be a blog follower here AND leave me a comment, telling me who your favorite Pooh character is. I think I love them all, but I love Pooh for his kindness, Piglet for his littleness and Tigger for his brashness the best.

If you want extra chances to win, you can head to my Instagram account (@chark99) and enter there too!

1. Follow the blog and/or follow on Instagram @chark99 (see the sidebar to do so)

2. Leave me a comment here and/or on IG

3. Head to Instagram and tag some buddies to get more chances to enter

Giveaway closes IN ONE WEEK, WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 24, 2018 AT 11:59 PM EST

WINNER ANNOUNCED FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2018 ON IG AND HERE ON THE BLOG

I will attempt to contact the winner, but will choose another winner if I can't touch base within a week (NOVEMBER 2, 2018), so leave your preferred email in your comment or check back on October 26!

Many Happy Returns of the Day!
Chark

National Sticker Day

So tomorrow is National Sticker Day and since I love a good sticker for cardmaking or scrapbooking (Thickers rock!), I thought we should celebrate it here on the blog. Here's a little history of stickers for ya!

"European merchants in the 1880’s were some of the first to stick labels to their products, in an effort to promote their goods and wares to passers by. Using gum paste to get the labels to adhere and stick: hence “stickers.” By the 1900’s a sticker-specific paste had been developed and was widely used, most notably on stamps, which dried and then would re-apply when moistened."
from Days of the Year.com

At one Stamping Convention, I found Dazzles line stickers that you can use on your projects to highlight them. This card from 2015 shows gold lines, gold corners and the gold sentiment sticker on one card. I'd never seen them before, but I had to get some. 

To celebrate National Sticker Day, let's do a sticker giveaway! 

If you want these Prima Julia Nutting word stickers and a sheet of Zella Teal stickers that come from Prima and a sheet of Milk and Cookies stickers from Doodlebug Design, just follow me on social media! You can click on any of the top three icons in the sidebar to follow my blog in Google +, follow my Instagram chark99 or follow me @charkpins on Pinterest. Let me know in the comments below which one you chose and if you do all three, you get three chances to win! 

Open to both U.S. and international friends! Follow and comment by January 19th (next Friday) at 11:59 pm Eastern time. And I'll announce on Monday, January 22 on the blog. Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

Happy Friday!
Chark

Coffee Hopping and Giveaway

Hi my caffeinated friends! I have a project up for a2z Scrapbooking today and another project using a digi stamp from Hero Arts (Caffeine Fix). 

I printed it on kraft paper and used Prismacolor pencils to color. Then I added a tree die cut from the Santa Snacks from Hero Arts. I used a white gel pen and black fine tip to add details and gold washi for fun shine!

Leave a comment on my blog on any posts during the Winter Coffee Hop (Dec. 8-Dec. 15, 2017) to be eligible to win this adorable mini stamp set from The Sweet Stamp Shop. Hope you'll stop by after the hop too, just to say hi once in a while!

If you leave a comment on each post, you'll be entered multiple times. You have until December 16th at 11:59 EST to comment and a winner will be announced on Sunday, December 17th.

Happy Friday!
Chark

Drink Up

It's time once again for the Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop and I'm right here again. I love this hop...it's always so fun, there are tons of prizes and new companies to peek at and a million different ideas for crafting and cardmaking. Plus, everyone is so supportive and cool! Thanks to Amy and her coffee crew for keeping this hop alive, season after season.

This mini-coffee cup (4 oz) craft came from my lss, The Paper Cottage, and I loved the idea, the papers and the mini cup, so I purchased a kit just for this hop! You can fit in a little treat or single-cup drink for the Keurig machine. I can take no credit, other than putting it together and adding Stickles to the sentiment...oh, and creating a yellow "a" in the Make A Wish die cut that somehow got lost :)

                                      

Happy Hopping! 

Chark

One Bunny or Two?

I love these Bunny Teatime stamps from Memory Box. When I saw them in the local scrap store, I didn't buy them immediately, mostly because I didn't need them. But then I got them the next visit, anyway. After all, there's always another Coffee Lovers Blog Hop around the corner! 

I made them into a birthday card with a Memory Box birthday sentiment die and a frame die from Lawn Fawn.

Giveaway: Leave a comment on any or all of my Coffee Hop posts this week here on my blog (you can leave one comment per post for more chances to win) and you'll be entered to win either two Hero Arts stencils (for overseas friends) or this Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle die set (for U.S. buds). 

Commenting closes July 1 at 11:59 pm EST.

Happy Hopping!

Chark

Sometimes You Need The Big Cup

Happy Coffee Lovers Hop! Don't forget to link up your coffee/tea/cocoa project to try to win some awesome prizes!

For my second coffee card, I paired a little elf from Hero Arts (a kit stamp from last year) with a cup stamp from Your Next Stamp. And what I got was an elf who needs to be extremely caffeinated during this busy season—sometimes you need the big cup!

The cover plate is from Reverse Confetti and the Christmas lights paper and Christmas tree papers are from two different paper stacks from Michael's. And, yep, I stickled the cup and hat and shoes.

GIVEAWAY: Just comment on this or any of my Coffee Lovers posts Friday, Monday, Wednesday or Friday to be entered to win this pair of stamps and dies from Lawn Fawn (I originally wanted to give a LF stitched rectangle die set, but I literally cannot find it, and I'm running out of places to look. But I know where these guys are!) 

If you comment on multiple days, your name goes in the draw multiple times (one per post, comments closing at noon EST Saturday, December 17).

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Monday!
Chark

Winter Coffee Lovers Bloghop

Hi, my coffee/tea/cocoa loving friends, I decided to make a wreath from the leaves of the Altenew Beautiful Day set and coffee cups form the Hero Arts City Adventure stamp set. I used Hero Arts Pine ink and a Tombow marker in a darker green for the leaves and then Tombows for the cups. I used my Wink of Stella to add the shine you can see in the close-up.

GIVEAWAY: If you leave a comment on this post or any of mine during the coffee hop week, you will be entered to win the Lawn Fawn Fairy stamp and dies. If you comment on multiple days, your name goes in the draw multiple times. I post Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, so you should have 4 chances to win if you comment each time (one per post, comments closing at noon EST Saturday, December 17).

Also, have to take a minute and add a little happy news--I'm published in the Winter Issue of Craft Ideas magazine and I made the cover, first time ever! Okay the finished project isn't on the cover, but parts of it are, so I'm counting it :) You can get a digital subscription or paper subscription here if you're looking for tons of winter craft ideas. Sometimes Kroger carries it and you might be able to find it at Jo Ann's or Michael's.

If you want to link up with the Coffee Lovers, click here and if you want to stop by the a2z Scrapbooking Supplies store (we're a Sponsor) you can do that here.

Happy Friday!

Chark

Teatime with Pooh and Piglet

A friend just gave me a set of rubber stamps from a yard sale she got for less than 50 cents...she loves Pooh and friends too and knew I like to stamp, so it was the best gift ever! I literally sat down that night and started stamping. 

It's an old Christmas set and Pooh is actually holding a present, but I cut them apart and gave him a little tea cup instead. Piglet looks excited to get it.

I adhered them to a piece of canvas that I watercolored and made it into a "tea bag" tag. I put the pen in the pic so you could see how little it is.

I did the no-line watercoloring with Tombow markers and paintbrush. I'm entering this on the last day into the Coffee Loving Blog Hop.

You can leave a comment below or on my first post for the hop for a drawing for blog candy. I'll draw a winner on Sunday.

And if you want a free digi tea cup, you can go to this post. 

Thanks for the fun hop yet again, Amy!! 

Cheers!
Chark

Can I Get You a Cuppa?

I'm a big tea lover and today is National Tea Day! Celebrating with the folks at The Coffee Loving Blog Hop today with these projects. 

The first project uses Prima's Coffee Break paper and a little tea cup from Lawn Fawn's breakfast set, along with a brown paper bag and doily.

This one uses the digi Coffee Stamps from Hero Arts and a2z Scrapbooking. The tea bag is a little sentiment cut from the Coffee Break Prima 6x6 pad.

And this one uses a little robot stamp from Hero Arts and Kelly Purkey and the same digi Coffee stamps I got my big cup from. I love that you can size these any way you want. This little bag is just big enough for a gift card.
 

If you comment here or on my flickr stream on any of these three, I'll enter you in a drawing to win these outline coffee stickers and some fun bling, I'll announce the winner after the hop closes.

And if you want some great deals, hop over to a2z Scrapbooking Supplies and check out all the new things in the sale section AND you can use the code Chark15 to get 15% off your cart of $25 or more! That's double the savings!! or something, I'm not a math teacher, people. I know a good deal when I see one, though! :)

Happy Tea Day!
Chark