Cutting Edge Stencil Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered my One Year Blogging Anniversary Giveaway to Cutting Edge Stencils.

And the winner is . . . .

Susan's name was chosen using Random.Org.  Susan, I will be emailing you to get all of your contact information so that I can pass it along to

Cutting Edge Stencils.

Susan recently started her blog "Lighten My Life" in December 2010, so if you get a chance, head on over and say hi and show her some love.

Thanks again to everyone who entered my giveaway!

I hope you're all having a great weekend!

One Year Giveaway and Nursery Progress

February marks one year of blogging for me.  I'll admit, there were some rough spots where I went months without one post due to exhaustion from the pregnancy, and I'd like to thank all of you for sticking with me even though I wasn't the most consistent.

It's been a wonderful journey so far and I love all that this blog has given me.  Not only has it allowed me to meet some amazing people, see some incredibly talented projects and kicked me in the butt to get projects done around the house . . . but it has also allowed me the opportunity to write (and publish) again -- something I've certainly missed over the years.

In celebration of one year of blogging, I'm hosting a great giveaway!

You might have noticed stencils popping up all over home decorating magazines and home decorating websites lately.  So we decided to give it a try in the nursery.

 We used the "Spring Songbirds Wall Stencil" from Cutting Edge Stencils and we're really happy with how it turned out.

The directions from Cutting Edge Stencils were pretty clear. First, we taped the stencil to the wall.

Jason got some paint on the roller and dabbed most of it off with a paper towel to prevent drips.

Next, he began rolling it on the wall using the stencil.  We used a lighter color first because we wanted to layer the branches.

He went through with a small paint brush and touched up some of the edges and here is what we had for the first two branches. 

We followed the same process for the next branches, making them darker.   After Jason painted the remaining branches on, we felt that the first two were too dark, so he went back over them with lighter paint with a small brush.



And here is the finished product.

But maybe you're not into trees and branches and would like a design on your walls instead.  Here are a few of the many patterned stencils available from Cutting Edge Stencils.

Or maybe you're looking for something a little more whimsical.

Or perhaps you don't want to stencil your walls at all, but you're really into fossils (like my daughter Imani).  Well how cool is this stencil, where you can replicate a real fossil?

I personally am loving the all-over damask patterns and would love to use one for the inside of a closet.    Isn't this one gorgeous?

And if you ARE into trees, there are a variety to choose from.  I love the cherry blossoms and would have probably used this one in the nursery if we were having a girl.

So here's the deal. One lucky winner will be selected to choose a stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils
of up to a $50 value.


I'm going to give you lots of opportunities to win. Here's what you have to do:

1. Head on over to Cutting Edge Stencils and select which stencil you would choose if you won. Then, come back here and leave a comment telling me which stencil you'd choose. (Please make sure to leave an email address if you don't have an account set up that automatically links your email to your comments).

For additional entries (leave a separate comment for each one that you do, letting me know):

1.  Follow Cutting Edge Stencils on Facebook.
2.  Follow my blog.

3.  Post about this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter (be sure to @decoratingaddic in your tweet).

4.  Post about this giveaway on your own blog (in the side bar or an actual post).

5.  "Like" Decorating Addiction on Facebook.

6. Follow me on Twitter.



**This giveaway is for US residents only and will close on Friday, February 25 at midnight.  I will select a winner on Saturday, February 26.


Good luck!

New Toys

I never did tell you how great my birthday was.

Not only did I get to go out to dinner with two of my favorite people in the whole world, but they got me an awesome gift too.  You can imagine my excitement when I opened one of my presents and it was this box!

This is a huge step up for me.  I've been working with a little Nikon CoolPix point and shoot camera for the past year.  Half of my time was spent deleting photos and retaking them because the camera I had was
so awful!

This amazing camera is not only a great gift for blogging, but it's going to be great for capturing memories of our baby and Imani too.  I remember when we got married and our pastor gave us a few pieces of advice.  His first piece of advice was to invest in a good camera to capture memories.  We finally listened.

(If you missed our DIY wedding, you can read about it here.)

I have no idea what I'm doing with photography so I am excited and nervous to learn. 
Any suggestions from those of you who own DSLR cameras is certainly welcome! 

I'd also love website suggestions, blog article links, book titles or anything else that would help me to learn this foreign language of photography!

As if this gift wasn't enough to keep me busy, tonight this arrived in the mail:

I haven't even taken it out of the box yet. 
I'm a little overwhelmed by these two pieces of technology to be honest!

If you follow me on Twitter, you know I won this from a giveaway at Beneath My Heart a few weeks ago.

(If you don't follow me on Twitter, get with the program! All the cool people are doing it :-)  Just click the link in the top right of my blog).

I am so excited to learn how to use this fancy schmancy little Silhouette machine that I can hardly stand it.  If I wasn't pregnant and didn't need all my time off for my baby, I'd be taking a vacation day (or two) just to play with my two new toys!



Honored

I hope you don't mind if I take a moment to pat myself on the back . . .


I'm so honored because I just found out that:

What a special privilege and a great way to start a Monday!  There were so many beautiful projects submitted last week, so I was tickled to see my upcycled winter wreath made the cut.

If you missed the tutorial on how to make it, click here.

And if that wasn't an honor enough, I read on to discover that my winter mantel was:

Thank you to all of the talented bloggers over at the CSI project for continuing to inspire and challenge us with your weekly link ups! 


This week's party is an "Organization Challenge" so head on over to
CSI to link up.



Lucky Me!

I've always been fairly lucky, although you wouldn't think so considering my recent finger injury.

It's true though.  I remember entering each of my family member's names in a giveaway for an enormous stuffed Easter Bunny when I was a kid and I think they pulled my sister's name.  She had no idea her name was even entered until she got the phone call.

I also won $50 on McDonald's monopoly game when I was in elementary school.  We were on a vacation at Virginia Beach and each of my family members pulled off their playing pieces from their sodas. 

"What does 50 mean?" I asked.   My dad, who played the lottery faithfully each night but never won, was probably more excited than I was that I won.

And then there was a basket raffle at a school where all of my colleagues bought $25 to $50 worth of tickets to win a basket filled with gift certificates to fancy restaurants.  I bought one $1 ticket and, lucky me . . . I won.

Oh, and probably the biggest win of all was a honeymoon to any Sandal's resort of my choice!  I was at a bridal show and entered my name.  I was shocked when they pulled my name.  I thought it was a scam but it was actually legit!

When I married Jason, he warned me that my luck was soon to change.  He always had bad luck, he claimed.  To which I responded, "Out of your mouth comes blesses and curses!" (This is one of my favorite mottos of one of my dearest friends).

After a few incidents that I'd rather not get into . . . I began thinking maybe Jason was right.  Could my luck have changed from marrying him?

And then I joined the blog world.

Lucky me!  At Easter, I won a gift card to Pottery Barn from Deborah at The Fairfield House, which I still haven't spent!

And then, I won a necklace from RJ Charms sponsored by Allison at House of the Hepworth's.  Imani chose an adorable baseball necklace.

And then, most recently, I was fortunate enough to win two beautiful plates and a gorgeous Anthropologie vase from Grace at Sense and Simplicity.

Imani and her friend enjoyed the fruit I told Grace I would serve on these beautiful plates.

And the little vase looks beautiful filled with freshly picked daisies.

Grace was even kind enough to throw in a few fossils for Imani, since Imani has a rock collection and LOVES searching for fossils.  Wasn't that so sweet?

So to be completely honest, I'm not really sure if I believe in luck or not  . . .  but I do know that since I've begun blogging, my life is richer.  I've met so many great people, seen so many inspiring projects, and fulfilled my desire to write again (even if I do have lapses), not to mention that my house looks lovelier than ever!

Oh, and the prizes are great too!

Cottage Charm Giveaway Winner

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in my Cottage Charm Giveaway!  I especially appreciated all of the wonderful blogs that people suggested.  I still haven't finished visiting all of them yet, but I am enjoying each and every one.

Using Random.org, the winner is number 13, Lisa Macomber!  Congratulations Lisa.  Please email me with  your address and what letter you'd like on your platter.

Thank you Kim, from Twice Remembered for hosting the Cottage Charm Giveaway this year.  It was fun to participate . . . and I actually won Grace's giveaway over at Sense and Simplicity!  I was psyched to win the beautiful plates and glasses.  It gives me something to look forward to and I will be running to get the mail every day until I receive them!


I hope everyone had a relaxing Memorial Day weekend!

Cottage Charm Giveaway

When I started this blog in February of this year, I began thinking of the Cottage Charm Giveaway hosted by Kim at Twice Remembered.  I knew I wanted to participate but I wasn't sure what I'd give away-- besides, May seemed so far off.

May - the month I'd be pulling out flip flops, relaxing with a good book in our hammock under blue skies, going out for soft-serve chocolate ice cream and watching Imani play countless baseball games. 

May, the first course to summer.

It's hard to believe it's half over!  All month I've been thinking about the Cottage Charm Giveaway, watching as talented bloggers put together great giveaways that demonstrate what "cottage" means to them.

I thought of buying something or getting a gift card -- those are always great giveaways.

But I wanted to give something that I created with my own hands.  What represents "cottage" more than something homeade?

Unfortunately, my quilting skills aren't yet up to par. . .

and since I'm moving, I don't have a whole lot of time for crafts.

I could knit, but it's nearly summer and wool doesn't exactly conjure feelings of summer.

So, I decided I'd give away a white monogrammed platter.

I can't say exactly what shape it will be, because that's part of the treasure hunt.

If you win,  you can let me know what letter you'd like on your platter and I will order it and create it for you.

It will look similar to the one I made that is displayed in our living room:

This giveaway will close at 5pm Monday, May 31 and is open to all US residents, regardless of if you have a blog or not.  You can enter up to four times by doing the following:

1. For one entry, leave a comment on this post and tell me one of your favorite blogs (besides Decorating Addiction and besides your own) and why you like it.

2. For a second entery, follow this blog-- leave a separate comment mentioning that you are part of the "support group."

3.  For a third entry, blog about this giveaway and link back to it (leave a comment telling me you did so)

4.  For a fourth entry, post my button on your page.

Remember to include your email address so I can contact you if you win!  Good luck!  I'm looking forward to discovering a bunch of great blogs!

Giveaway Winner!

Watch Imani draw the winner to my first giveaway!

And here's what the winner's comment said: 

"My husband and I just bought our first house and moved out of a tiny apartment into four bedrooms plus bonus room.  EVERYTHING is a decorating challenge, as there isn't anything to decorate with yet.  While the blank slate is fun, it's also extremely intimidating.  Thanks for all the inspiration on your blog and congrats on reaching 100 followers!"

Congratulations! Hopefully, the new magazine will be chock full of great ideas to decorate your new home.  Contact me to let me know which magazine subscription you are selecting and your address.

Thanks to everyone who entered the drawing and Happy Mother's Day!

My First Giveaway!

In celebration of reaching 100 followers, I am hosting my first giveaway!

Don't worry, you don't have to be a follower or have a blog to enter.

I will give a one-year magazine subscription to one of the following magazines.  If you win, you can choose which magazine subscription you'd like.

To enter, leave a comment that explains one of the two choices:

1.  Tell me the home improvement project or craft you are most proud of having done.  If you have a link to your project, feel free to leave it if  you want.

or

2.  Tell of a home improvement/decorating dilemma that you currently have.

***To get a second entry in the contest, simply blog about this giveaway and let me know you did so! You can grab my button that's located on the left sidebar, or just link to this contest.

This giveaway will close Friday, May 7th 2010.   A winner will be selected at random from the comments that have been left.

 Thanks, and good luck!

Magazine choices:

1.  Country Living

2.  Better Homes and Gardens

3.  House Beautiful

4. Coastal Living