Monday, May 26, 2008

Happy Birthday Winners!

I had a wonderful birthday! I went to breakfast with my dear hubby, spent a little time with my kids, then was off to a scrapbooking retreat for 2 days with some of my dearest friends. We went to the Beaumont Ranch in Grandview, Texas. We had a blast and enjoyed a great birthday cake (thanks Amanda), did some shopping (thanks Cindy) and I even rode the mechanical bull - hehe!! That was really a site to see - NOT! It was sooooo funny - I had to have help just to get on the thing (thanks Kristy) and I wasn't on it long. Thank goodness for the padded floors!! I'm sure you can tell we were all just silly and had a wonderful time!

Now for the announcement - I have 2 winners of my contest!! Kayre and Rachel!!!! Yea ladies! They will both be receiving my full kit Summer Stroll! The mini version has been here on my blog as a freebie, but the full version is packed with many new things that I think everyone will love it. Thanks for participating!

One other bit of exciting news I have to share! I had outgrown my wedding rings and had been wearing a costume jewelry set for a while. My hubby and I had talked for a while about having it resized and upgrading it a little, but after looking into it - that was going to be VERY expensive, so we decided to trade it in for a whole new set. I was kind of struggling with giving up my first set, but Robby encouraged me to use it to get what I really wanted instead of just having it sit in a drawer. I think I did the right thing and it allowed me to get my dream wedding set and I'm so happy and excited!! I just love my new set and it was so sweet having my husband go with me to do everything! It brought back a lot of nice memories of when he would have me look at sets before we got engaged. Now I just can't stop looking at it - hehe!

That's about all the news I have for now. I hope you all had a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend and . . .

~til next time,
Paula

Friday, May 23, 2008

Happy Birthday To Me Contest - You win!!!

Hey everyone! It's my birthday today and I'm having a great day! I want to share the celebration with everyone for the whole weekend, so I'm having a contest and someone who enters will win a wonderful new kit from me!!! It's very simple - just check out my blog, find your favorite kit preview or layout or even favorite post - and comment here as to what your favorite thing is and you'll be entered to win. I will enter all names from comments left here on my blog into a drawing the winner will receive one of my new kits (and it will be an awesome one not released in any of my stores yet!!!) The deadline for posting is Sunday, May 25th, Midnight Central Standard Time in the US. I will announce the winner Monday here on my blog and then the winner can e-mail me to get their free kit. Happy hunting and be sure to check out the contest that will be posted in my PPF store later today. They are separate contests, so you have 2 chances to win!!! My store is at http://www.purplepaperflowers.com/ . I can't wait to see your favs!!! I hope you enjoy my birthday as much as I am!

Paula

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Thanks for the support!

Hello everyone! I want to take a quick moment to tell you all thank you so much for your support and kind words after my disappointment last week. It was so nice to hear that I have people who love my designs and after I got through the emotions of it, I realized that designs are very subjective to what people's styles and tastes are, as well as what they are scrapbooking at the time. So maybe what I designed didn't fit with what the ScrapOrchard was looking for, but that's ok and I'm going to keep doing my best for the people that enjoy and like my style of kits. It's always hard to handle rejection, but I know I need to grow a thicker skin and realize that in order to succeed, you have to fail some along the way, and that it just helps make you better and stronger. I will always try to vary my designs to encompass as many people's sytles as possible, and hope that I will continue to do well. I just wanted to say thank you because the encouragement was very much needed and appreciated!!!

I am very much looking forward to my retreat this weekend and my birthday on Friday. Oh - and I'll let a little secret out of the bag - I'm going to be having a contest for my birthday where you get the present. I am going to post more about it on Friday am, so be sure to check back - but basically - it will have something to do with finding something on my blog and posting it to win a kit from me - hehe!! I think it will be fun - so the count down til Friday begins - yippee!!!

Oh and 1 other thing - a little birdie told me that I might be getting a new blog for my b-day - and I'm so excited - so if you want the freebies on my blog here, be sure to download them because after I set up my new blog, they won't be available anymore. I will be putting up new ones on my new blog soon and will try to continue to do that as much as I can. I just wanted to give you all the heads up so you can go grab them if you would like to. :) The ones on here have now been made into larger kits that are available for sale at my stores except for the Summer Stroll one, but that is the one I'm working on now and it should be up at my stores next week. Happy downloading!! ;)

I'm off now to make cards and hopefully finish this book before I leave on my retreat - that will be a great gift in itself to have the relief of having finished a project! I love doing them, but it's always nice to have that feeling of accomplishment when you are finished - kwim? Well - I hope you all have a great Wednesday and Thursday and I'll be back on Friday for my b-day post! :)

~til Friday,
Paula

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Disappointed

Well, I didn't make it to the 3rd round of the contest at ScrapOrchard, but that's ok. I think it exposed a lot of people to my designs that might not have otherwise ever seen my name, so that's a good thing, right? I can't help but feeling down about it though. Oh well. I am designing at two fabulous sites and I am loving that! My new site is going well. Everyone there is very friendly and they have some great sales and things going on. I have really been trying to advertise and get my name out there and I have seen an increase in my sales, so hopefully I can keep the momentum going.

On a bright note, I am going on a retreat next weekend and I can't wait. Be sure to check out my stores after the 25th because I bet I'll have several new kits up - hehe. I really need to get away and relax, so I am sooooo looking forward to this!

I am also working on finishing some projects for the book I've been working on for Design Originals, and am hoping to be able to turn that in before I leave for my retreat! That will give me extra reason to celebrate and relax!

My kids are doing great! Kaylee did an awesome job at her field day on Friday - I was so proud. Zachary's last week of school is this week, so that makes me sad! I am going to miss having my 2 days a week to myself to get stuff done - kwim?

Well, that about catches you up on what's going on with me. I hope you all are well!

~til next time,
Paula

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

New Store and Contest!!

Hey all! I have been very busy in the last week or so. I have been working on projects for Design Originals, but I have also been putting up my store at the new site that I will be selling at- ColorLineDesign.com . I am so excited! It is a fun site with a warm, friendly atmosphere and I'm very excited to be accepted on as a part of that team! Be sure to check it out. I am also in a contest at ScrapOrchard.com and have advanced past the 1st week, and am now hoping to make it through the 2nd week. This time they are narrowing from 30 to 20, so 10 will be cut. If you get a chance, go over and look at my entry and leave me a comment - oh and I almost forgot to tell you - you can download the kit for free while you're there - hehe!!! I'm putting my entry from week one up here so you can download it if you would like. I'm going to be making full kits with these in the near future and putting them in my stores. I hope you like them. Well, I have to get back to work. I am off to work on some things for the next collab kit at the new site. I hope you all are well and have a wonderful rest of the week!




Paula