And We Have A Winner...

I'm getting over myself and the troubles bombarding the castle - and moving on to something way fun! I'm going to announce the winner of February Woot Loot... (I'll wait for the gasps, oohs and aahs to quiet down before announcing the winning comment - I want to be sure no one misses the announcement.)
The winner of the handmade polymer clay flowers and leaves - originals made by the Queen herself...

Ok stop. Don't you hate it when people refer to themselves in the third person? It always reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where one of Elaine's boyfriends, Jimmy, always refers to himself as "The Jimmy". Back to the regularly scheduled blathering...
The awesome person who wins the aforementioned polymer clay flowers and leaves - handmade by the Queen herself (lol) - is...COMMENT #23. YAY!!

sweetsue(Who am I?) said... 23

I am now following you! smchester (email left out of this post)

In comment 22 she mentioned she is making a bird feeder with her grandson and will use these to "pretty it up". WOOT! I have already sent the notification email - and I hope to hear back within 48 hours or I will have to choose another winner. I hope these are a great addition to your bird feeder - and I hope you enjoy them!

If you didn't win February's Woot Loot, no worries - tomorrow is March 1 and we all know what that means...the announcement of March's Woot Loot giveaway. Hmmm I wonder what it could possibly be??
Leave me a comment letting me know what you would like to see offered as a Woot Loot prize and maybe you'll get something special. Or maybe you'll get my son's dirty socks. You never know. Only comments made by March 7th will count for the extra little giveaway. If you're reading this after March 7th, sorry - you don't qualify to receive the little something extra. But don't let that stop you from leaving a comment...you never know - I could wind up offering what you suggest! WOOT!

And Life Goes...

Hello, my name is Murphy. I specialize in law...as in MURPHY'S LAW. Yep, that pretty much dictates my life. No matter how hard I try to plan things - or how well I think I have things organized - the universe plays a hil-LAIR-ious practical joke on me. Proof? Oh, you want PROOF, do ya? Altho I think the childebeasts should be proof enough, I'll give you a very short summation regarding where I've been. Still confused? Oh boy. You see, most people - in a civilized society - have electricity. All the time. Without interruption. Then there's me.

Apparently I missed the bus to civilized society. Altho I live in a bustling metropolis, my electricity has not been...bustling. Not even sputtering. No choking. Not even a final gasp. Just no electricity.

We've lived with no water during most weekdays for the last few months while the city is redoing the main water lines to the royal complex. When they finally reconnected our water "for real" (like the last time it wasn't real??), the sediment - mud, pebbles, GRASS - blew out our new water meter. The water guy came in and replaced it. Then he had to unscrew the faucets to remove the screens, because the water couldn't pass with all the sediment clogging the faucets. Ok fine. So we have water. On a pretty consistent basis even. I was excited to have life pretty much back to normal...sans the worker guys all over the place still. Until...

I was online, trying to write a post about the winner for the February Woot Loot, when...(excuse me but...) WTF?? What happened to the lights? The computer? The TV? The HEAT?

To make a very long story short, many trips to the electric company, a lot of frustration, one freezing house, and tons of waiting later, and we once again have power. YAY! Never mind that Ithink service to a castle - even if it's only a castle in my own reality - should be much better. Nope. Much like the 'beasts, no one asked me. BUT...we did muddle through, and I have several posts awaiting. Isn't that exciting? HEY NOW...I can hear the groans. This will be fun, do you hear me??

It's great to be back...I've missed you guys!

Water Doesn't Help Your Blog Grow

The only way to grow a successful, meaningful blog with consisten visitors (good traffic) is to devote a lot of love and time to the blog.

I have been spending a lot of time learning about these things lately. I've wanted to increase the traffic to my blog - but I want those visitors to be interested in the things I write about. I don't want traffic just to have traffic.
I would like to share a great list I came across on another site. BeJeweled by Candi is a site I'm thrilled to have found. She creates beautiful jewelry pieces (like the one above) and sells them in her Etsy shop, she showcases other artists, provides great blogging and marketing tips, and even sits as the guest editor for "Everything Else" category on the Etsy Profiles blog. I think she needs to do a few more things, don't you??

It was great visiting her site. I had the opportunity to feast my eyes on gobs of delicious art by several artists - and I learned some outstanding new tips. The list below comes directly from her site. It appears to be pretty inclusive and definitely a fantastic place to start. If you are trying to gain readership, follow these tips.

25 Ways To Promote Your Blog For Free

1.Use a lot of pictures
2.Leave comments on other blogs. Make sure they are relevant and useful.
3.Have an RSS Feed
4.Submit to blog directories
5.Add a bookmark link to every post
6.Start a 2nd blog and link to yourself
7.Join BlogCatalog and join communities
8.Join MyBlogLog and join communities
9.Use social bookmarking sites like Digg and StumbleUpon
10.Create follow-up posts to give the original post some added attention. Write a second post to extend the thoughts of the first post
11.Submit your blog to web directories
12.Make sure your blog is indexed on the main search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN
13.Exchange links with blogs of similar interests
14.Create an account with Technorati and submit your blog url
15.Create a Google sitemap on your blog to help get it fully indexed
16.Link out to other blogs in your posts and have a blogroll of your favorite blogs
17.Submit articles to Ezines
18.Create a lens at Squidoo
19.Make sure your blog address is on your business cards
20.Offer an email newsletter by adding a Feedburner subscription box
21.If your blog hosting site offers a place to tag your posts - use them
22.Make sure that your content is good. Be sure to use the spellcheck feature and try to use proper grammar
23.Write your blog posts as if you are talking to a friend. Tap into your readers emotions
24.Use Twitterfeed to tweet new blog posts via a RSS feed
25.Sign up with Entrecard

I think she did a really good job on this - so I wanted to pass it along to you guys. I hope it proves helpful to you. xo

Brriinng! It's Hallmark on the Phone

Awhile ago, Hallmark cards held a contest requesting people send in a picture and a funny phrase to go along with the picture. The card had to be pertinent to "Happy Birthday" - but that was pretty much the only rule. So I sent in this:
I totally forget what I ended up writing on the inside - I changed it several times before finally submitting it. I went on doing what I needed to do, pushing the contest out of my mind.

I was shocked - stunned, I tell ya - when the phone rang and it was Hallmark. Seems my card made it...it won! Can you believe that?! I think the two women who called to notify me thought I had lost my mind. I was more than a little convinced I was being "Punk'd".

I have signed the releases and sent off the legal forms. What does this mean? Well, I won a cash prize of $250...and the card will be printed and placed in Hallmark stores across the country. It should even be available online! I'm so excited!

Right now they are calling the winners of this round "finalists". I feel like I've already won - but there is more. If my card is the best seller this summer, I will win $2,500 and it will become a permanent card in their humor collection. Now, I ask you...how cool is that?!

So, my dear and loyal readers, I have an official assignment for you in the coming months. I need for you all to buy this card - whether you do it online or in a Hallmark store. Stock up on them. Have your friends and family buy them. Hold contests for them. Just get your hands on them any way you can! Since I haven't had a car for awhile now - and it is more than a serious hindrance for a single mom to be on foot! - $2,500 could go far...no, very, very, very far...in purchasing a royal carriage. Besides, it would be awesome to have this card as part of Hallmark's permanent humor collection!

I will update when Hallmark gets a little further into this - right now I think the cards will be available online in March and arriving in stores June 22. I'm still shocked and waiting for Ashton to jump out from behind a stack of craft supplies! If he doesn't, and this is for real, keep an eye out for these. I will definitely run a HUGE giveaway to coincide with this event. I don't know what it will be yet - but I promise it will be big. xo

$50 Gift Certificate Photofiddle.com Winner

I love announcing winners of contests - and I'm especially excited about announcing the winner of this contest. If you recall, Photofiddle.com was kind enough to give one of my rockin' readers a FIFTY dollar gift certificate. How cool and generous is that??

The winner is... #13

Staci(Who am I?) said... 13

I'm now following you too!

January 30, 2009 9:12 PM

Staci, I sent you an email notifying you of winning. Hurry and get back to me so we can get you the gift certificate. I have no doubt whatsoever you will be thrilled with whatever you pick out - they do incredible work. Absolutely the best! And for everyone else, Photofiddle.com continues to offer my readers a 15% discount, just type in the code queen15 to take advantage of the savings. This was a fun contest, although I wish more of you guys would have entered. You don't know what you're missing out on - but Staci will soon be able to tell you! Enjoy, Staci - and congratulations! xo