Giveaway #1 - A Mary Engelbreit Palooza

I am just so grateful for all of you who come and visit and have helped my little old blog grow to over 600 followers and over 400 posts that I want to share some of my favorite things with you!

My first giveaway for 2013 is all about Mary Engelbreit!

Giveaway now closed.

Winner is Carolynn from Chenille Cottage!  

I have loved Mary for many years, at least as long as I've been a teacher and that's been 18 years.  Her illustrations and quotes invariably make me smile or give me that warm fuzzy feeling.

In this giveaway I've included some new ME items and some classic ME items....

•a pack of Home Sweet Home tissues

•a Mary Engelbreit's Fan Fare cookbook

•a ME cherry rubber stamp

•a ME rhinestone cherry accent

•a ME paper doll set

•a ME pen

•a ME notebook

•••and•••

•Mary Engelbreit's Time for Tea book

Here are the rules:

1.  For one entry leave a comment telling me your favorite ME illustration or your favorite ME item in the giveaway.

2.  For a second entry, put my giveaway button on your blog and come back and leave me another comment.

3.  Entries are open from now until Saturday, January 26, 2013, at midnight PST.

4.  Open only to US and Canada due to mailing costs.  (Sorry world!)

5.  Oh yes, you do not have to be a follower to enter, but please feel free to follow along if you want.

And thank you again for your visits and comments!

I hope you know how much they mean to me and how they brighten my day!

P.S.  More giveaways to come soon including a vintage giveaway AND an entertainer's giveaway!  Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!!

Sadie Mae's Visit to Sweet Bee Cottage

Have you met Sadie Mae? 

Sadie has been out traveling the country and she came to visit me too in the Great Central Valley.

But poor, poor, Sadie!  Did she get to see some of the beautiful sites so close by?  Like Yosemite

 or 

Kings Canyon National Park?  Or visit one of the fabulous fruit stands 

studded all over our farming country? Of course not, because poor Sadie Mae arrived the week I was setting up my classroom and my mom was moving into her little cottage from the home she lived in for over 25 years.  Yikes!  Poor Sadie went from my classroom to my mom's house to sleep to my classroom to my mom's house and to sleep.  (But did I get any pictures of us packing my mom's house?  Of course not.  Did I get pictures of Sadie Mae resting at Sweet Bee Cottage?  Of course not.)

But this is what Miss Sadie Mae got to enjoy with me.

Here she is taking a break on my reading chair.  See all those cords?  I just got a Smart Board for my classroom.  It is wicked awesome!  Although I do miss some things from my old Promethean board.  Oh and do you see how I used my lime green duct tape to put that yellow Mary Engelbreit fabric on the computer desk?  I keep planning to paint that desk in a cute Mary E. way, but I always run out of time before school starts.  So, I just had to finally do something that made it look a wee bit cuter.  Don't you think the lime goes well with the yellow?  (Don't worry, you won't hurt my feelings if you think it looks just awful.)  Maybe I can get it done over Thanksgiving or Winter Break.

And there she is just trying to help me get my desk organized.  Notice the Mary E. fried egg flowers on the desk?  I made those about 7-8 years ago with construction paper.  I laminated them and put magnets on the back and - voila - a Mary Engelbreit desk!  Sadly, my desk still kind of looks like this.  Gotta' work on that.  Maybe tomorrow I'll get it straightened up.

Doesn't Sadie Mae look like she should just stay here in my class?  She'd fit right in! Mary E. key ring, Mary E. fan, Mary E. tins, Mary E. boxes, Mary E. books, Mary E. pictures.....
But then again, Sadie Mae would just blend into the background if she stayed with me - she is so special she should stand on her own.

  

Want to know more about Miss Sadie Mae?  

Then, please, go visit my friend Cindy at Rick-Rack and Gingham!  She has a wonderful blog full of positive inspiration and she is such a friendly soul.  She is a bloggy treasure! 

And thank you for buzzing in.  It's a treat to see you!

And guess what?  My birthday is coming up so I feel another giveaway coming on.  

With honey,

Did You Know It's Time for ME Monday?

I used to wear watches every day.  

I don't anymore, 

do you?  

I'm not sure why I quit wearing watches.  Maybe it was my cellphone, maybe my computers, maybe it was the abundance of clocks in my car, my school, and my home......

I should really put a battery in this one - it's so pretty!

This was a gift from a student - I never could figure out how to wear this one.

Ahhh.....wearing my dream cottage on my wrist.  (I might have worn this one too much - it has some interesting things going on with it.)

I think I just thought of how to use this one - hang it on the outside of my briefcase.    What do you think?

But what better excuse for pulling out a few Mary E. treasures than M.E. Monday over at Vicki's Cherry Chick!

Do you wear a watch?  

Or do you use something else to tell time?

Thanks for buzzin' by!

 

Happy Valentine's Day! Show ME the Love!

I recently took part in a sweet valentine swap with Elizabeth from Bluebird Papercrafts and Sandy from 521 Lake Street and let me tell you - these ladies are uber talented.  But you probably already knew that if you've spent any time over at their blogs.  

So I was a bit intimidated to participate, but I wanted to give a little love to these two sweethearts who provide so much inspiration.

 Elizabeth made this valentine.  Isn't she amazing?  I love how she layers all the different elements.

I just happened to have this box in my Valentine's Day decorations and I think her valentine looks so sweet just sitting on top of it.

 Now Sandy made this one.  I feel like I won the Grand Bingo prize.  Isn't it adorable?

I didn't get any pictures of mine before I sent it off, but Elizabeth took a lovely one that she has on her blog.

Now, I'm killing two linky parties with one post........

so 

Show ME the love!

I keep meaning to put a picture in that frame and I then I forget!  Maybe I should put this picture of the frame in the frame!  Wouldn't that be surreal?

I just have to share some of Mary Engelbreit love tokens!

Thank you Vicki for having our weekly ME party!

And while we're on Valentine's Day, would you like to see some of my other decorations?

Well, you know I'm going to show you whether you want to or not, so c'mon.  Take a look!

Do you have a favorite?

I hope your Valentine's Day is filled with love from the heart.

Worker Bee and I have the day off today so we're off to the big city to do a little shopping and have a Valentine's Day lunch.

Thank you for buzzin' in today!

Hugs,

Let ME Out! Let ME Out!

Let who out???

Let all of you out?

 Promise not to run away?

 There are an awful lot of you!

 Do you remember the last time I let you out? 

You weren't very well-behaved and one of you broke your handle.

Well, okay, since you asked so nicely.......

 What's that?  You want to model for our visitors?

Well, just a few of you, okay?

We don't want to tire our guests.

 Ahhh - there's the twins!

 Aren't you the cutest?

 Be careful this time.  Don't break your spout!  You know what happened the last time.  Don't worry, I won't embarrass you by bringing it up in front of our guests.

Hope you enjoyed this little ME teapot round-up!

I was able to corral them all back in their jar and no one got hurt this time.

Thanks for buzzin' in!

I've got a real ME teapot that we'll have to share a cup out of one day - soon, I promise.

Hope you can stop by my friend Vicki's to see some other fun Mary Engelbreit treasures!

Coffee? Tea? or ME?

I just love these trays!  I always picture a steaming hot latte being delivered to me in bed on one of these trays.  Yeah, like that's ever happening at my house, but a girl can dream, can't she?

I think I bought this one at Hallmark.  Mary and Hallmark used to be tight.  I don't think they are anymore.

This one always makes me think of Baby Bee.  Her hair was just like this when she was a toddler - well it wasn't dark, but the style was the same and she had those rosy cheeks too.

Don't you think someone should be bringing me a pot of tea and some iced sugar cookies on this tray?  Are you listening Baby Bee or Worker Bee?  I'll need that lacy napkin too. 

One of the reasons I love Mary E. is her attention to detail.

This is the edge of a fourth ME tray I have.  Look at the pinked edge and the scallops.  Sweet little fried egg flowers plus the candy cane stripes add such darling details.

Thank you for buzzin' by today.  

I hope you know that I would bring you cookies and tea or coffee or milk on one of these trays if you came to visit me.  

Hope you head on over to Cherry Chick for Mary Engelbreit Mondays!  I have no doubt you will love the ME treasures you'll find there.

Sweet Bee Cottage is still going through its annual metamorphosis to Candy Cane Cottage for the holidays.  (Oh let me be honest here - I just have boxes of stuff out and not one thing decorated yet.  Going away on Thanksgiving weekend was probably not the best thing for my Christmas decorating, but I sure am glad we made the trip!)

Happy Holidays!