A Thousand Thanks Celebration and Giveaway!

This Giveaway is NOW CLOSED. Thank you to all who entered!

Happy Monday!

I'm so glad you could make it! Today I'm celebrating a truly nifty milestone: this blog's amassing of 1000 Google Friend Connect followers. Happy happy joy joy!!! It seems impossible, but there it is in black and white down there in the foot of the blog. See? I'm not even making this stuff up. I'm so chuffed about it I can't even say...

And speaking of following, I also want to acknowledge my lovely email and RSS subscribers. I want you to know that I haven't forgotten you. One day you'll get your very own celebration, never fear. You too are important to me! And needless to say, you are most welcome to stay and play today, as is everyone.

So what are we doing? We're sharing. Sweet eh? I'm going to tell you a little bit about me. And, eventually, you'll do the same. But I'll get it started. Here are some things I've never told you before.

Ready? Okay... here goes nothing:

• I'm very shy. People don't believe me when I tell them this, but it's true. I'm afraid of you. You scare me.
• I don't do the dishes every day. Sometimes I skip a day and just let the pile grow for another day. And oddly, I really hate doing 2 days worth of dishes but sometimes I really hate doing ONE day of dishes. It's a circle.
• I'm ambidextrous. I use my left hand for eating, writing, and cutting. My right hand I use for handling a computer mouse, playing sports like hockey and baseball, and weeding. And despite cutting with my left hand, I cannot abide left-handed scissors. They're just awful.
• I'm not colour blind, but sometimes red is green and green is red. Unexplainable.

• I'm modest to the extreme. Sometimes I wish it was winter all year round. That way I wouldn't ever have to wear small clothes. I've literally gone years without swimming to avoid wearing my bathing suit. Canada with its long winters is the place for me.
• I have a temper; I've been known to get angry much much.
• I used to do a lot of acting. I co-starred in a local children's television series in the 1990's. We recorded only one season.
• Frequently my brain itches, and I can't reach in to scratch because it's inside my brain.
• Warm scarves are crucial, essential, necessitous to my existence. My first few inches are permafrost so I'm cold, always cold... I'm cold right now.

Hey, that went pretty smoothly...

Okeedoke. Now it's your turn. Wanna know what you're playing for? Alrighty then!

The giveaway prize includes:

1. A small spiral bound notebook for sketching or recording your precious ideas.
2. A set of 8 fine-point sharpies including a twin-tip black.
3. 10 squares of felt (4-1/2" x 4-1/2" each)
4. 3 (10 g) spools of DMC cotton perle
5. All of the above neatly packaged in a pretty Michele-designed reversible fabric gift box. (Note: See my tutorial and template HERE to make your own, if you just can't wait.)

The rules of giveaway-play are:

• Anyone, anywhere can enter.
• Have a solid email address.
• Leave a comment on this post telling me one little-known fact about yourself, anything you like.
• If you are a follower, you get a second entry!

The winner will be chosen ever so randomly on Friday June 17th, 6 am EST, and divulged in Friday's post.

Finally I'd like to say that the blogosphere is a big overwhelming place sometimes. Yet you, my friend, have allowed me to stake my claim on a tiny piece of it, call it my own, and share in it with you. I am so tickled by the lovely comments you leave, your thoughtful remarks, and your genuine support of the work I do. I thank you for being part of this with me.

So now it's your turn. Is there anything you're just itching to get off your chest? Come on, don't be shy now...

This Giveaway is NOW CLOSED. Thank you to all who entered!