Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

A HUGE Groovy Give-Away!

I am SO excited about this Give-Away today because today is a SPECIAL day!

This Give-Away is in honor my son, Zach. It's his 9th birthday today! And this Give-Away is also in honor of Autism Awareness.

You all know that raising awareness for autism is a passion of mine. During the duration of this give-away, I'll be sharing links and information about autism, while showing you how I've interspersed my passion for autism awareness into my art.

For starters, the guys over at MockUTV.com have created a page dedicated to my son and his story, along with some fantastic links to learn more about autism and different organizations than can help you find services for yourself or to pass on to someone you know that might need them. Knowledge is definitely power and one of the ways that we can help children and adults that deal with autism on a daily basis is to become aware of what this disorder is. You can CLICK HERE to explore these sites.

I'm so blessed to be working with some wonderful people that have hearts of gold and have pitched in to help with spreading the word and giving me some awesome prizes to give away.

I have 5 wonderful prizes to give away and that means 5 WINNERS!

The first prize is:

The Love you to Pieces set from GinaK Designs.

This set was created to benefit autism awareness and $8.00 from each set sold goes directly to Autism Speaks, an organization that funds research into the causes, prevention, treatments and cure for autism.

Gina created this set in honor of my son and this is a set that is truly dear to my heart.

Because autism itself and its causes are so puzzling, the international symbol for autism is a puzzle piece. In order to begin to solve the autism puzzle, public awareness of the disorder is crucial.

The second prize is:

The Love & Luck set from Kitchen Sink Stamps.

This set is perfect for making cards and gifts for those you hold closest to your heart.

And it's also great for the upcoming St. Patrick's Day holiday next month.

These two sets above tie into my next prize.......

The third prize is:

20 handmade gift cards.

10 cards are made with the Love you to Pieces set and 10 cards are made with the Love & Luck set. These little cards are 3 x 3 inches square and come with matching envelopes. They're perfect for putting on gifts, tucking into your child's or partner's lunch box, adding to a bouquet of flowers and so much more.

The fourth prize is:

The amazingly hilarious "mockumentary" DVD: "Inside Scrapbooking" from MockUTV

The guys from MockUTV (Russ and Kevin) have been so generous with helping raise funds for Autism Support Daily through the sales of this DVD.

Originally, this fund raiser ran through November and December, but Russ and Kevin believe in the cause of autism so much that they've decided to make this an ongoing fund raiser. Every time a DVD is purchased, $1.00 will be donated to Autism Support Daily. If you haven't yet gotten a chance to watch the preview for this movie, you can check it out ---> HERE. And to purchase your own copy of the DVD for yourself or a friend, you can click ---> HERE.

The fifth prize is:

The Stampin' Mama Artwork Inspiration CD

This CD has over 300 pictures of papercrafts that I've designed over the past 18 months.

It's an instant picture library right at the click of your mouse.

It's full of amazing samples for you to glean fresh inspiration from when you're looking for innovative ideas for your paper crafts.

*** This Give-Away is NOT limited to where you live.....so even if you are outside of the US or Canada, you can still participate.***

So......what do you need to do to enter this Groovy Give-Away?

Simply leave a comment on this blog to be entered. And if you want to go the extra mile, help spread the word and send people over. You never know who might need to be exposed to autism and learn more about it. If it weren't for someone sharing in a "Good Housekeeping Magazine," who knows how much time we would have lost in getting Zach the intervention that has helped him so much over the last 7 1/2 years.

I'll pick 5 winners with the random number generator on Thursday (2/21) at 11 am Eastern Time and announce the winners here!

And make sure to check back each day to learn more about this disorder that affects 1 in every 150 children.....and to see how it touches my life of art.

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Birthday to my Zachy Boy!

-Erika

The winners of the Give-Away and huge THANKS!

We have some winners!!!

This has been a truly amazing Give-Away!

Not just because of all the awesome prizes.....but

* because I've met some amazing people along the way

* because so many of you have helped to spread the word

* because people are taking a closer look at Autism and educating themselves

* because we've raised funds for a GREAT cause

* because this give-away has prompted me to put some new projects into the works to continue with a cause that is very dear to my heart....and to help other causes that are making a difference in the lives of children

Thank you to everyone for making this so much fun and truly amazing!

I want to thank the sponsors that made this give-away possible!

• Russ and Kevin from MockUTV and also the creator of the mockumentary - "Inside Scrapbooking." Russ and Kevin have generously been donating a portion of the sales from each DVD sold to Autism Support Daily. While I don't know Kevin, I have had the pleasure of getting to know Russ through emails and on the phone and he's a very witty, charming and generous man with a heart for this cause that just blows my mind. I'm still shocked every day that he chose us! Thank you, Russ. I'm so thankful for the friendship that has just begun through this, but one that I can see lasting a lifetime. Thank you, Kevin, for being such a great part of this!
• Gina from GinaK Designs. Gina is one of the most giving, genuine and generous people I know in the paper crafting industry. When Gina plucked me out of the online stamping world, I was stunned. Gina has helped to push my creative side and has given me opportunities that I never knew existed. She has been 100% behind my cause right from the start.....and has done whatever she could to help us promote Autism Awareness. She created the "Love you to Pieces" set in honor of my son, Zach, and I still have a hard time believing that we've raised over $5000 to date towards research in the field of autism. Gina has given us banner space on SCS to help promote the DVD, has generously given a coupon to go inside every DVD and has plugged us all along. Gina, you are an amazing woman and I am blessed beyond words to work with someone with such integrity and that has a heart so full of compassion!
• Maria from Kitchen Sink Stamps. I haven't known Maria too long, but what I have seen of Maria and gotten to know along the way of our short, but growing, friendship is that she has a heart of gold. Maria was right there, gladly willing to help, as soon as she found out about our give-away a few weeks ago. Her generosity to take part in something I truly believe in, even though we've only "known" each other since October, astounds me! There was no hesitation.....she was there as soon as the opportunity to give was there. Maria, thank you for believing in me.....in Zach and I...and thank you for being such a wonderful part of this cause!
• Ying Lai. Ying jumped right on the wagon with us as soon as she saw our give-away and offered up the Autism Cap, knowing that it would be a great addition to our prize package. What a great way to show your support for such a worthy cause when you're wearing a hat like that! Thank you, Ying, for being so giving!

I believe that everything happens for a reason and I can see that I was paired up with some amazing people over the course of having my blog.....so that it could all come together for something like this. To help make a difference in the lives of people that deal daily with their world of autism.

And I also have to say that I was surprisingly blessed to get all the comments about how great you think Zach's artwork is! I have to admit that I was just a teensy bit hesitant to put Zach's artwork up for the give-away. I thought that some might find it cheesy or too kid-like. That it might not be anything spectacular. Of course, I'm his mom so I'm incredibly biased, but I thought that's as far as it would go and that others might see it as some cutesy type of thing that an 8 year old created.

WOW! The comments I got were so incredible and encouraging and I was TOTALLY JAZZED that Zach's painting was the thing people were so excited about! You have no idea how happy, smiley and PROUD your comments have made me! I don't think Zach understands the scope of what you all think of him.....but he was just STOKED to see a picture of his painting on the computer. That's what made HIS day! He had to hold his actual painting up to the computer screen to make sure it was the same one!

And so.........on to the winners. This morning, Zach dug down deep into a BIG paper bag (I'm SHOCKED that we got 326 comments on the Give-Away Post......CRAZY!!!) and pulled out three winners!

And before I get to those (I will right after this announcement, I promise!), this isn't the last you've seen of Zach's artwork. He's working on more and you'll see those soon online....helping to get the word about autism out. It makes my mommy-heart beam with pride that a child like Zach can help out other kids, just like himself....so be on the lookout! He's going to be breaking into the art world soon!

 

If you're looking to still help out with this cause and are looking for someone to bless during the holiday season, there's a little donation banner on the side bar of my blog (just scroll down a tad) to donate directly to Autism Support Daily.

So......The GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the biggest prize package you've seen online is....

Wow--what an artist! Zach definitely has talent and I'd be honored to hang his artwork in my office. You've done a great job of letting people know all about this cause and how worthy it is. Thanks for sharing.

Posted by: Janet B | December 17, 2007 at 08:30 AM

(This just goes to show that even if you're the first to comment on a give-away post, that doesn't mean that you'll never win!)

The two RUNNER-UP winners are:

What a great cause and some wonderful prizes. My mum used to work with autistic children (she is retired now)she loved it. I hope you make bundles for the cause and raise even more awareness.

Lisa

Posted by: Lisa Wyatt | December 17, 2007 at 01:02 PM

And.......

What a great prize to receive! Zach is a true artist - he takes after his mom. And I'm heading to buy my DVD now!

Posted by: Theresa | December 18, 2007 at 11:10 AM

Girls.....get your snail mail addresses to me so that I can get your prize packages out in the mail!

Thank you, again, to everyone for playing, for the wonderful comments and the support!

With much love and affection,
Erika (and Zach)

One of the BIGGEST Give-Aways EVER!

This is one of the BIGGEST Give-Aways you'll EVER see!!!

**NOTE*** This post is stickied to the top of my blog until the give-away is over....please scroll down to see my newest posts.

You all know I have a passion to see strides in the area of autism research and to see families with autistic children get help NOW! This Give-away has EVERYTHING to do with that!

From today through midnight on Wednesday (12/19), a bunch of us have teamed up to help promote one of my favorite Autism charities - Autism Support Daily

If you're looking for a great way to help out the cause of Autism, MockUTV.com has put out a hilarious mockumentary DVD following the crazy and zany antics of Molly McGann, on her way to "Scrapapalooza." My sides are in stitches every time I watch this! Through January 1st, $1.00 from every DVD sold is being donated to Autism Support Daily. It's a great way to help out the cause, laugh at ourselves and also a great gift to other crazy papercrafters! (the DVD is only $9.95 and there's FREE shipping!!) And..........each DVD comes with a coupon for a free bottle of Stickles from GinaK Designs!

If there are those of you that already have the DVD or just want to make a donation to Autism Support Daily, there's a nifty little banner over on my sidebar (scroll down just a tad) with my son's picture on it. You can click through this banner to donate directly to ASD. Autism Support Daily is approved by the IRS as a 501(C)3 charitable organization.

We want to thank everyone for all the support they've shown by spreading the word and purchasing from those of us that have been supporting this cause.....so we've come up with a BIG BANG Give-Away to show our appreciation!

There will be 3 WINNERS from this Give-Away!

One grand prize winner will receive:

* "Inside Scrapbooking" DVD - Molly's adventure to Scrapapalooza! (a $9.95 value)

* "Love you to Pieces" stamp set by GinaK Designs (see picture at left - this set was created in honor of my son, Zach, to promote Autism Awareness and to date, GinaK has donated over $5000 to autism research from the sale of this set) (a $21.95 value)

NOTE: GinaK just announced that from now through Wednesday (12/19), she will be donating $8 from each "Love you to Pieces" stamp set sold directly to Autism Support Daily!

* The "Paper Bag Book Tutorial CD" from the Stampin' Mama Store (a $17.95 value)

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** Another addition to our give-away is this awesome Autism Puzzle Themed Scrub Cap from Ying Lai. You can find these amazing caps over at "Cute Things Only." (a value of $12.95) Ying JUST received her cap and has generously donated it as a prize in our give-away (THANKS, Ying.....it's amazing how caring and compassionate paper crafters are! They're always willing to jump on board to help a great cause!)

The puzzle piece is the symbol for autism, since this disorder is such a puzzle to figure out.

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*  The "Thanks with Style" set from Kitchen Sink Stamps (a $15.00 value)

* The "Playful Alphabet" set from Kitchen Sink Stamps (a $29.95 value)

* One month of the Stampin' Mama Tutorial Program (4 tutorials total - a value of $13.95)

* An original handmade book by me, Erika Martin *wink*. This book measures 4 x 4 and is great to use as a small brag book. (click HERE for pictures of the inside of the book. (a $15.00 value)

And finally, but certainly not least, one of my favorite parts of this Give-Away!

Zach has created an amazing piece of artwork to gift to the lucky winner! He has titled this piece, "Fireflies in the Field at Night."

Zach has a fondness (aka: obsession) with bugs and fireflies are his favorite. Many of our spring, summer and early fall nights are spent in the massive field behind our house, looking for bugs. The firefly season is his favorite.

When Zach sat down to create this work of art, it was only natural for him to draw and paint one of his favorite things.

The night blue sky is done with a metallic acrylic paint, so it shimmers in the light. The stars and fireflies have glitter accents on them, as Zach was insistent that they "sparkle."

This is a 9 x 12 inch work on a canvas wrapped frame. It was done with acrylics and is signed on the back by Zach himself.

Along with this piece of artwork is a picture of Zach creating his art.

The Grand Prize is worth a total of $136.70 and a PRICELESS piece of Zach's artwork!!! 


And because giving away more than one prize is ALWAYS fun....there will be two runner-up winners chosen!

The two Runner-Up winners will each receive:

* One month of the Stampin' Mama Tutorial Program (4 tutorials total - a value of $13.95)

* The "Paper Bag Book Tutorial CD" from the Stampin' Mama Store  (a $17.95 value)

So......what do you need to do to enter this Give-Away?

Simply leave a comment on this post and you'll be entered!

*** This Give-Away is NOT limited to where you live.....so even if you are outside of the US or Canada, you can still participate.***

Help up spread the word!

Help Autism and get a GREAT Deal this weekend!

The great guys over at MockUTV are offering a FANTASTIC special on the "Inside Scrapbooking" mockumentary DVD.....the tribute to all of us die-hard papercrafters!

And don't forget that they're donating $1.00 from every DVD sold to Autism Support Daily!

If you're doing your holiday shopping, you can get some awesome gifts (plus there's a free coupon in each DVD to the GinaK Designs Online Store) and you can help out a great cause!

Plus........there's FREE shipping on the DVD. Talk about a win-win for EVERYONE!

If you haven't checked out the preview yet, CLICK HERE! It's a RIOT!

And the winner is........

The winner is.......Lourin!

Hi Erika.
I Love this DVD. I got it way back when you first posted! HOW Awesome that they are now joining the cause! I will be purchasing a few of these to give away as door prizes for an event I will hold in January at my new Stampin Studio which is opening this weekend! Hooray! This has been MONTHS in the works.... but .. My Favorite part of the preview is when Missy Goldstein (name?) says her mom wore a tshirt when she was pregnant with her that said Futer Scrapbooker ... You can't compete with that!? LOL..Thanks for all the weekly blog candy offers!
Huge hugs, Lourin
Autism speaks, it's time we listened!

Posted by: Lourin

It looks like the majority of you all love the "Scrubby" terms for our "scrapbooker's husbands." My husband is also a "stamper's husband," but I don't think calling him "Stubby" would go over well. haha!

 

Thank you to all of you that have shared this around and posted about the great fundraising effort we're doing for Autism Support Daily over at MockUTV. If you haven't gotten a chance to check out the preview for the hilarious mockumentary, "Inside Scrapbooking." They make great gifts for your scrapbooking and paper crafting friends and you can't beat free shipping AND a coupon inside from GinaK Designs! It's for a great cause, too!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

It's time for Groovy Give-Away Friday!

It's Friday again!

That means it's time for another Groovy Give-Away!

Even being sick this week, it's actually gone by quite quickly for me. My husband mentioned the same thing.....funny how that happens sometimes.

So......for this give-away, I found some really cute holiday embellishments and knew they would be perfect as a give-away. The stickers are all really cute epoxy finished embellishments. They have a nice shine and some have gold or silver finishes to the outlines. There's also a pack of square brads that spell out the words, "Winter" and "Joyful." These would be awesome to add to cards or to scrapbook pages.

I wanted to add some extra laughs into this give-away. Remember that great video clip I shared with you a couple weeks ago? The "Inside Scrapbooking" video over at MockUTV.com ? If you haven't seen it yet, make sure you click on over to watch it! It's absolutely hilarious and pokes good fun at us die-hard paper crafters and scrapbookers.

Many of you know that Autism is close to my heart, as my son, Zach, is autistic. The great guys over at MockUTV.com are donating $1.00 from every DVD sold through January 1st towards Autism Support Daily, which is a FANTASTIC organization! Our numbers are climbing, but we'd love to see them get even HIGHER! Let's help out a great cause! You can use these DVDs as stocking stuffers or gifts for the scrapbookers and paper crafters on your holiday wish list. And make sure to treat yourself to one, as well!

*** This Give-Away is NOT limited to where you live.....so even if you are outside of the US or Canada, you can still participate.***

 

So......what do you need to do to enter this Groovy Give-Away?

Click on over to ---> MockUTV.com and watch the preview video of this awesome mockumentary. Then leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite line from the preview is.

***BONUS ENTRIES***

* If you purchased this DVD already, tell me about it and I'll put an extra entry into the drawing for you!
* Spread the word on your blog or website about this fantastic cause, let us know about it (leave a link to it in your comment) and you'll get a bonus entry in the drawing!

I'll pick a winner on Monday (11/19) at 11 am (EST) and announce it here.

And make sure to stop on over to MockUTV to get your copy of "Inside Scrapbooking!" (There's a coupon inside for a freebie from GinaK Designs, too!) Share the news with your crafting groups, on any forums you're a part of, with your friends, relatives......help spread the word and let's make a difference TOGETHER!

Thanks!!!

-Erika

An AWESOME Give-Away in honor of Autism!

Remember ---- THIS POST? I shared this last week.....about the super guys over at MockUTV giving $1 from each DVD sold of "Inside Scrapbooking" towards Autism Support Daily.

Well......here's some MORE awesome news!

GinaK has teamed up with us to help promote this special cause and she's even kicked in a special coupon in EACH DVD purchase to use on a fantastic freebie in her online store: GinaK Designs

How AWESOME is that???

To make things even BETTER......Gina is doing an unbelievable GIVE-AWAY on her blog! You have to check it out to believe it! It's almost too good to be true!

Click here ---> A Big laugh and some blog candy!

And the winner is.............of the Scrapbooking Totebag!

Thank you all SO much for the great comments and the support for autism awareness and MockUTV.com's great scrapbooking mockumentary, "Inside Scrapbooking."

And thank you to all of you that have spread the word on your blogs and that have bought DVDs. Every purchase brings the total higher to help this awesome cause!

The winner of the scrapbooking tote is:

Lisa Courter

Erika, That is great! I hope you raise huge amounts of money!!!! I have posted this on my website also and will spread the news to my friends and family. Now, my favorite tool! That's a tough one but I would have to say my ink pads. I use them for everything stamping and scraping! Good Luck!
www.crazy4stampin.com

Posted by: Lisa Courter

Lisa, make sure to email me with your mailing address so we can get your prize sent off to you!

Please keep passing the word on and be on the lookout for more great news, more great giveaways and fun stuff!

If you missed the first post with all the information about this great cause, you can go here: How can YOU make a difference?

How can YOU make a difference? How can YOU win a scrapbooking totebag?

***This post has been made STICKY and will stay at the top of my blog until the winner of the give-away is chosen on Thursday (11/8). Make sure to scroll down to see my newest posts....you don't want to miss anything! :) ***

I've had some big news brewing that I've been ITCHING to share with you all! Today is the day! It's finally here and I can FINALLY share it with you! Everything is up and running and ready to go! A while back, I shared a really funny clip that I found on YouTube that showed a hilarious peek at the die-hard world of scrapbooking. From that YouTube clip, I found out that an entire mockumentary had been made and put on DVD called, "Inside Scrapbooking" (put out by the twisted and genius minds at MockUTV). I was hooked and when I got my copy, I couldn't stop watching it and couldn't stop laughing at it!

Well......just recently, I was contacted by Russ Jones, the producer of the mockumentary. What he proposed to do amazed and shocked me and showed me, once again, that there are wonderful people out there that truly want to make a difference in this world.

Here's the clip, in case you missed it the first time.....and after you're done watching the clip, make sure to keep reading because I've got LOTS more to share.....AND give-away!

Starting NOW through January 1st, 2008, MockUTV is donating $1 from each copy of this awesome DVD sold towards a charity that is near and dear to my heart: Autism Support Daily

Did you know that one in every 150 children are diagnosed with some form of autism? That's ONE TOO MANY! And did you know that's only the number of children that are actually diagnosed? And did you know that many of these children "fall the through the cracks"? There ARE things that can be done about this and YOU can help!

And get this......you even get FREE shipping on the DVD! Talk about a win-win for everyone! This is the perfect gift for any papercrafter and scrapbooker on your Holiday wish list or even as a treat for yourself....and the best thing is, you're supporting a VERY worthwhile cause!

You can check out a bunch of great links on the MockUTV site:

• Inside Scrapbooking's home site
• Zach's Page - Zach's bio and lots of great links to sites on autism
• Purchase a DVD and help support Autism Support Daily
• Preview "Inside Scrapbooking"
• Learn about MockUTV
• More fun free videos

Molly, the crazy and zany star of "Inside Scrapbooking," has graciously offered up a fantastic give-away in honor of the announcement of this great cause! She's giving away an awesome scrapbooking tote bag! How generous of her!

So, what can you do to enter in this give-away?

Just leave a comment here telling me what your favorite scrapbooking tool is!

BONUS: Spread the word on your blog or website, let us know about it (leave a link to it in your comment) and you'll get a bonus entry in the drawing! Spread the word!

We'll pick a winner on Thursday at 11 am (EST) and announce it here.

And this isn't the only give-away......we'll be celebrating and creating awareness all the way through, so make sure to keep checking back!

And make sure to stop on over to MockUTV to get your copy of "Inside Scrapbooking!" Share the news with your crafting groups, on any forums you're a part of, with your friends, relatives......help spread the word and let's make a difference TOGETHER!

Thanks!!!

-Erika