Bee's Buzzings

More mini note cards and gift tag designs . . .

Finally found some time today to get a few more designs done and ready for the mini notes and gift tag lines - have enough now to do a second set of "Favorites" :) 

Tomorrow I'll get the new listings in the shop.  They'll be a dozen to a boxed set for $6.50 (previously 10 to a box for $5.50).  The mini notes come with cute little mini envelopes.  And the first set of Favorites will also have an additional two designs added.

LOVE these little sweeties - perfect for lunch boxes,  gift enclosures or as a tiny thank you with shop orders!

p.s. don't forget that all comments count as entries into the next Free Pendant contest!  The next winner will be selected at the end of the week :)

More Winter Wonderland Pictures . . .

I just couldn't resist popping outside to get more shots when the sun came out later.

It's just cold enough that the frost hasn't melted yet, but . . .

Another hour or so, and these gorgeous sights will be gone from our backyard!
After all the sub-zero weather we'd been having, it felt actually felt warm outside - without a jacket - at 13 degrees!

Frosty Minnesota Morning

Isn't this amazing??  It's a very frosty morning here in Minneapolis - quite majestic looking in fact. And despite the fact that this type of weather also makes driving difficult, something I experienced first hand since we left the house at 6:20 a.m. this morning (to take my youngest and a classmate to their chamber orchestra session), I think these weather conditions provide the prettiest pictures ever of the trees in our yard.

And can you see the little bunny tracks??  Our little visitor is just adorable.  He hops by my studio window several times a day - something that never fails to make me smile. 

p.s. of course I might not find him quite as cute once he starts eating my flowers this spring :) 

Contest Winners!

 Congrats to our latest contest winners!  Jennifer at GypsyMareStudios was the winner of the free pendant.  She commented on January 8 that the Dragonfly pendant was her fave.  And RC was the winner of the 3 packs of note cards!  She communicated on January 13 that her favorite item in SassyGlassDesigns Etsy shop was the red zipper pull.  I love it too, and hope you will check out SassyGlass's shops if you haven't already.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day!!

Just how much do you really want to know?? LOL

I was recently tagged by Sarah at MyCharmedLife - she also has a wonderful Etsy shop JustAddCharm where you will find a wonderful selection of fabric covered button items, jewelry and other gift ideas.
 

Here are the tag rules, as given to me by Sarah:
* Link to the person who tagged you
* Post the rules on your blog
* Write six random things about yourself
* Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them
* Let each person know they've been tagged

Let's see, six random things about me...

1. I've lived in 5 different states - Massachusetts, Virginia, Texas, New Jersey and Minnesota.  My ideal is Minnesota in the late spring, summer and early fall, and would eventually love to "snowbird" to the Carolinas in the winter. 

2. Although I'm a 'girlie girl' - love to cook, garden, decorate, etc. one of my passions is NFL Football.  Guess I'm a sports nerd!  Jim and I have Vikings season tickets - going on our fourth year now.

3. I've traveled all over the US and Caribbean, but have never been to Europe (yet!).  With each year that passes, I keep wondering when I'll finally get there.  First stop: The Louvre (for a week!) :)

4. My tastes in music are really, really eclectic.  I like top 40 pop (Matchbox 20, Daughtry, Augustana, Colbie Calliat,  Nickelback, Leona Lewis, etc.) but also 80's alternative, Motown, R&B, some jazz and most classical (especially Mozart and Vivaldi). 

5. I'm insanely scared of heights and am more than a little claustrophobic.  I take Bendadryl to fly, and avoid elevators whenever possible.  The last time I took an elevator more than 15 stories??  The World Trade Center, back in 1998.

6. I took up violin 3 years ago.  Don't practice as much as I should but am determined to keep trying new things and to stay young . . . at heart!!  :)

Now...who to tag? Here we go!

AliceInParis
BizzieLizzie
Happiknits
Merkaba's Musings
ThePamperedPrincess
Woolies

Minnesota schools are closed due to cold . . . finally!!

Wow!  We've lived here for almost 10 years, and this is only the second time the kids have had a school closing.   Needless to say, the girls are thrilled! I think this screen shot explains everything!! (note the "feels like temperature" which is actually supposed to be even colder around 10 a.m. today).

The silver lining in this *cloud* is that when it finally gets back up above 39 degrees, it actually feels warm to everyone here in Minnesota!

Stay warm!
Bee

An unexpected surprise to cheer up my day!

When I don't blog for a few days, it's usually because I'm not in my usual up-beat mood.  The last few days were no exception.  I'd been feeling ill with what's 'going around' (sore throat, ear ache, low grade fever) since Saturday and just couldn't shake my less than enthusiastic outlook, especially since we woke up to -18 degree temps and wind-chills nearing 30 degrees BELOW zero.  Brrrrr.

So I started making some banana bread.  That helped a bit.  And then Jim returned home - his ABS light had come on, indicating a malfunction of some sort.   When temps get this low car exhaust freezes on contact with the roads.  It causes something called "black ice" which is hard to see.  The result is spin outs, rollovers and cars in ditches all over the place.  I'm glad that he's fine and we're dealing with the car issue, but my plans and productivity just went down the drain.

Then I got an email.  Sandi, over at sassyglassdesigns positively MADE MY DAY.  Check it out.  And if you comment here which item from her etsy shop is your favorite, I'll draw a random winner for THREE of the 3 packs of note cards from my shop. Winner will be selected on Friday and asked to tell me their 3 favorite designs.

Speaking of drawings - if you haven't already commented on your favorite pendant (next posting) do so NOW.  I'll be selecting one random winner - very soon - to win a free pendant!!

hope your day is going as well as mine is . . . now :)

hugs, Bee

p.s. the banana bread came out PERFECT.  Awesome flavor and very moist on the inside - but crunchy on the outside.  yummmmm!!

Favorite Pendant ??? Maybe you will WIN one :)

I'm re-thinking how to do the monthly give away and wanted to post a question about the pendants currently in my BeeDazzlesPendants shop . . . which pendant design is YOUR favorite?  Below is just a small sampling of pendants which will be available in the next week or so. 

Please leave a comment, and you'll automatically be entered into the next give away!  Who knows, you might even end up with your favorite! 

 

Random Number Generator - Research Randomizer

Recently I'd been asked on several occasions about how Blog Winners were chosen, and thought it was timely to post a link to the site I use to generate the winners
It's super easy to use - for instance, if there were 147 eligible entries (aka comments by people other than myself or spam) and I wanted 3 numbers selected, the query would look exactly like the example, above.  Then with the winning numbers, I start back at the very first post in the new contest period and count out to find whose comment posting won!

This is a MUCH simpler and quicker means of selecting winners than, say, writing over a hundred numbers on little pieces of paper, crumpling them up and then selecting them at random out of a container . . . something I had actually done once or twice before discovering this site LOL :)

Hope you all are having a safe and happy New Year so far! 

Contest Winners!

Congratulations to: 

RC 

Surviving and 

Kimiko

Due to the holidays, we delayed the December drawings and selected THREE winners this round!! 

RC, Surviving and Kimiko have won $20 shop credits to be used any any of my three Etsy shops, with free shipping!  For the winners, it's very simple - browse my Etsy shops and decide what you want.  Then place the order.  If the merchandise total (ignore the shipping) is $20 or less, I will mark the order PAID and ship it to you.  If you want to do a little extra shopping, and your order exceeds $21, I will send you a revised PayPal invoice with your $20 credit and your shipping credit applied.  Easy-peasy!

The Random Number Generator selected numbers fairly close together this time - RC's December 17, Survivings's December 4, and Kimiko's December 4 blog comments were the winning entries for the last contest period. 

Now that the holidays are over - we'll go back to once a month drawings.  And remember - the first Three people to comment on THIS post get an additional 5 entries each! 

My thanks to all of you for reading Bee's Buzzings and your wonderful post comments :)

hugs!
Bee

Due to the holidays, we delayed the December drawings and selected THREE winners this round!! 

RC, Surviving and Kimiko have won $20 shop credits to be used any any of my three Etsy shops, with free shipping!  For the winners, it's very simple - browse my Etsy shops and decide what you want.  Then place the order.  If the merchandise total (ignore the shipping) is $20 or less, I will mark the order PAID and ship it to you.  If you want to do a little extra shopping, and your order exceeds $21, I will send you a revised PayPal invoice with your $20 credit and your shipping credit applied.  Easy-peasy!

The Random Number Generator selected numbers fairly close together this time - RC's December 17, Survivings's December 4, and Kimiko's December 4 blog comments were the winning entries for the last contest period. 

Now that the holidays are over - we'll go back to once a month drawings.  And remember - the first Three people to comment on THIS post get an additional 5 entries each! 

My thanks to all of you for reading Bee's Buzzings and your wonderful post comments :)

hugs!
Bee

Due to the holidays, we delayed the December drawings and selected THREE winners this round!! 

RC, Surviving and Kimiko have won $20 shop credits to be used any any of my three Etsy shops, with free shipping!  For the winners, it's very simple - browse my Etsy shops and decide what you want.  Then place the order.  If the merchandise total (ignore the shipping) is $20 or less, I will mark the order PAID and ship it to you.  If you want to do a little extra shopping, and your order exceeds $21, I will send you a revised PayPal invoice with your $20 credit and your shipping credit applied.  Easy-peasy!

The Random Number Generator selected numbers fairly close together this time - RC's December 17, Survivings's December 4, and Kimiko's December 4 blog comments were the winning entries for the last contest period. 

Now that the holidays are over - we'll go back to once a month drawings.  And remember - the first Three people to comment on THIS post get an additional 5 entries each! 

My thanks to all of you for reading Bee's Buzzings and your wonderful post comments :)

hugs!
Bee