Fob Winners and Updates

Here are the three people who were chosen by the random number generator to each receive one of my wool felt scissors fobs:

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:20

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:6

True Random Number GeneratorMin:Max:Result:8

(After generating each number, I copied and pasted the results here; there were 56 comments, and I entered the number 56 as the "Max", but when I copied it here it reverted to the default setting of 100.  Weird!  Anyway, it generated the random numbers just fine.)

Comment #20 is from "Carla".  She will receive the bird fob.

Comment #6 is from "bethwalker07".  She chose the watermelon fob.

Comment #8 is from:  "linny".  I will send her a ladybug fob.

Congratulations!  I will be contacting each of you shortly.



And now, a few updates on past posts:

1.  My Blog is a Book:  I told you that I used Blog 2 Print to have all my blog entries from 2011 turned into a soft-cover book, which I was going to give to my mother.  You may have been wondering how she reacted to it, and the answer is, she LOVED it!!  She was very impressed with it and she read it from cover to cover, and commented on many of the things I had written.  It may be the best gift I've ever given her!  So now I can highly recommend this, especially if you have a relative who (like my mom) doesn't have a computer to read your blog.

2.  Octo-Bear:  After showing you this "interesting" creature I made for a partner in the March Birthday swap on Craftster, some readers wanted to know how I attached the legs.  Since I had received a special order for an Octo-Bear as a result of the post, I announced that I would be making another one and posting in-progress pictures.  Well, that order was cancelled (the young woman's car broke down so she didn't have the money for an Octo-Bear), so the leg-attaching tutorial will have to wait until some future date.

3. Amazing Amaryllis:  In January I showed you my pot of amaryllis bulbs as they grew into huge and gorgeous flowers.  Well, they continue to be amazing, because they are blooming again!  In July!  After having just bloomed in January!!!  The pot is on my front porch now, and in addition to the four-blossom stalk in the picture below, there is a second stalk starting to emerge.  These are some serious over-achievers, and I feel like I've been given an unexpected gift with this second round of blooms.

My Blog is a Book!

If you have a blog, you are probably aware that there is at least one place you can go online to have your blog content turned into a book.  I decided to give it a try, and I had all my blog posts from 2011 printed and bound so I could give the book to my mom, who doesn't use a computer.

I used Blog 2 Print after seeing one of their ads online.  The process was easy but pricey--it costs around $50 for one copy!  The price goes up if you choose a hard cover, or if you have a lot of pages.  I chose the soft cover and my number of pages was included in the basic price.  I searched online for a coupon, so I ended up paying only $45.  I wouldn't have done it for myself, but I want to be able to share my blog with my mother, and this seemed like a great way to do that.

The front cover (above) doesn't please me as much as the back cover (below).  The small image I saw on the website as I chose the background for the covers didn't help me that much!  I would have used a picture with a dark background for the front cover if I had known better.  They offer a lot of different cover colors and designs, so if I ever decide to do this again I will choose my cover photos to coordinate better with the cover.

Here's a glimpse at the inside pages.  I chose the space-saving option of having the text run along the side of the pictures.  Although it is different than the actual layout of my blog, I think it looks fine, and it kept me below the number of pages that would have cost more!

Everything in all of my posts is included, but the reader comments are not.  That's too bad, because the comments add a lot!

If I do this again, I think I will pay the extra $10 for the hard cover.  After paying $45, I want my book to last!

I'm on my way to Little Rock, Arkansas this weekend for the Craft Gossip Fork and Talk event; conveniently enough, that's where my mother lives, so I will be visiting her and giving her this book!  (Of course, my mom is the real reason I travel to Arkansas regularly; it is a great bonus that I can schedule my trip to coincide with this blogger's meet-up.)   I will post again on Tuesday; see you then!