Monday, June 14, 2010

A Very Special Giveaway: rubber stamps and glitter pens

Update: congratulations to Sirpa, winner of this giveaway!

Giveaway: rubber stamps and glitter pens

Next in the June blog giveaway extravaganza is a variety of letter embellishment tools: rubber stamps and glitter pens.

Now, before I even go into detail about these items, let me first say why this is a very special, and a very unorthodox, giveaway: this one is just for my blog reader letter writers. I know I'm going to get some flak for this (and if you'd like to share your flak, please comment on this post and not here), but I always think, when drawing a giveaway, "ooh, I wish this could go to X," and X is inevitably one of my pen pals who's entered the giveaway. So the rule for who's eligible for this one is pretty simple: you must have written me at least one letter or postcard in the past, and I must remember you. It's my blog, I make the rules, and I want these special items to go to someone who I know is a letter writer, and this is the best way I know. No good if you send me something this week - I have to have received it before this post has been published. I don't think that's a super big deal, because the majority of my readers and regular commenters (and participants in giveaways) fall into this category anyway, but there's my reasoning and I'm gonna stand by it.

Okay, on to the goodies!

Glitter pens

I confess that I opened the glitter pens package, but only to test the pens and make sure they all work. They do. They're pretty sparkly. They're nothing fancy, I can't guarantee they'll work for ages, but you'll get a variety of glittery gel colors out of 'em.

New leaf stamps, still in box with cellophane

These are 4 brand-new leaf stamps, still in the package with cellophane. (I didn't open these to see if they work.) I won them in an eBay lot with other stamps. I would probably enjoy using these, but I am out of storage space for my stamps, and I've got to get rid of some of them, so the ones I use the least are going - the ones in this giveaway. They should go to someone who would use them, rather than sitting at the bottom of my stamp drawer.

VERY large frame stamp

This is a huuuuuuuge frame stamp, great for bordering envelopes. It's actually bigger than many of my envelopes, but works great for a standard-size greeting card. Yes, the top is stained from other stamps being on top of it, but it still prints a fine impression.

Victorian flower frame stamp

This is a smaller frame stamp, and I admit that when I bought it, I hadn't made out the design, and thought it was to be used horizontally, like for a return address. But then I got it home and figured out that the dark patch on the left is actually a person, looking down. It's clearer on the stamp impressions than on the artwork here.

Victorian flower frame stamp, rubber side up

Here's the back of that frame stamp, where you can see the etching of the person a little more clearly (I hope).

Art nouveau corner stamp

And here's a little Art Nouveau corner stamp. It bugs me because it's not a perfect 90-degree corner, and the rubber stamp isn't quite mounted perfectly to line up with the artwork on top. If you're a good stamper, that probably won't be an issue for you, and if you're not so anal about lines as I am, you won't mind that it's not a perfect 90-degree angle within the stamp.

So there are the goodies! And now, on to...

THE INEVITABLE RULES!

1. HOW: To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on this post. One comment/entry per person, please.

2. WHO: As stated above, this one's funky: you must have written me at least one letter or postcard before. I will approve anonymous comments as long as it's clear to me who you are. If you have a blogger profile name and I might not associate that with your letter-writing name, please make that clear, too. One presumes if I've had a letter from you in the past, I'll know how to contact you, but I have been known to lose addresses... if you are in doubt, leave an email address or link a blog where I can comment. I will NOT approve comments from anyone I don't recognize, so if you keep trying to comment and it's not showing up (remember that I have to approve comments anyway, so wait a day to see if it shows up), that means I must not recognize you, and either you're ineligible, or I need some clarification.

3. WHERE: Anywhere on earth, as long as you meet the requirements in #2!

4. WHEN: The deadline for comments/entries is 11:59pm (Eastern Standard/NYC time) on Monday, June 21. I will choose and announce the random winner on Tuesday, June 22.

Good luck!