Happy Customers...Happy New Year!!!

Here are some of my happy customers in the past few years!  I would love to see any pictures you might have of your lil ones with my designs.  Feel free to share!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CUTTING BOARD GIVEAWAY WINNER!!!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!!!
Thank you to all of you who supported my blog, but most of all my friend Gary's work.  Please spread the word!!!  A great way to use your Christmas money, if you didn't win this time!!!  I bought three of these for Christmas gifts and myself!!  I can tell you they are prettier even in person.  I am keeping mine on my counter as a kitchen decoration as well.  Next, I am going to buy one of those adorable American Girl Doll type bunk beds he just posted with bedding!!!  So cute!

Anyhow...I digress....here is the winner after 130 entries!!!!
ALLYCE SMITH!!!!!

Allyce, I will email you and Gary will too.  Contact one of us soon so we can get this off in the mail to you!  Thanks to all who participated...stay tuned for more giveaways in the new year!

Here is how the choosing went down:

True Random Number Service

List Randomizer

There were 130 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Allyce Smith
2. Jessica P.
3. Allyce Smith
4. Chloe Blane
5. Chelsea Wilkinson
6. Christy Ann
7. Mamma Cass
8. Chelsea Wilkinson
9. Christy Ann
10. Robin
11. Alexandra
12. Maegan Morin
13. holly Radway
14. momentary lapse
15. bcbeaveratheart
16. Aneesa bint Lewis
17. Hi, Im Kelly!
18. Alexandra
19. Chelsea Wilkinson
20. momentary lapse
21. katythecountryblossom
22. Cindy
23. Allyce Smith
24. Jessica P.
25. logansmommy0611
26. Mamma Cass
27. Christy Ann
28. Alexandra
29. bcbeaveratheart
30. katythecountryblossom
31. Marija
32. Chloe Blane
33. Diana
34. Chloe Blane
35. Cait Long
36. katythecountryblossom
37. Cindy
38. Lindsey
39. Mamma Cass
40. Cindy
41. Robin
42. Robin
43. Jackeline Davila
44. Mamma Cass
45. shootingstarmag
46. Allyce Smith
47. Krystal Lynn
48. Alexandra
49. Lindsey
50. Cait Long
51. tinkywinkytoessr
52. jennafish
53. Cait Long
54. bcbeaveratheart
55. Bee W Bedard
56. tinkywinkytoessr
57. Aneesa bint Lewis
58. Christy Ann
59. John Supica
60. logansmommy0611
61. Cindy
62. Bee W Bedard
63. Jackeline Davila
64. Chelsea Wilkinson
65. Aneesa bint Lewis
66. Cait Long
67. Bee W Bedard
68. Valerie
69. bcbeaveratheart
70. holly Radway
71. Diana
72. Chelsea Wilkinson
73. Christy Ann
74. Bee W Bedard
75. Alexandra
76. Marija
77. Valerie
78. Mamma Cass
79. holly Radway
80. logansmommy0611
81. Kaytee
82. Valerie
83. tinkywinkytoessr
84. Roman M
85. holly Radway
86. Yvie
87. logansmommy0611
88. holly Radway
89. tinkywinkytoessr
90. logansmommy0611
91. Chloe Blane
92. Aneesa bint Lewis
93. tinkywinkytoessr
94. holly Radway
95. momentary lapse
96. katythecountryblossom
97. Allyce Smith
98. katythecountryblossom
99. jennafish
100. Allyce Smith
101. Cait Long
102. Krystal Lynn
103. Aneesa bint Lewis
104. Valerie
105. jennafish
106. momentary lapse
107. Jessica P.
108. jennafish
109. Diana
110. Maegan Morin
111. Chloe Blane
112. Krystal Lynn
113. Yvie
114. Maegan Morin
115. katythecountryblossom
116. Chelsea Wilkinson
117. Valerie
118. Cindy
119. Hi, Im Kelly!
120. bcbeaveratheart
121. Alexandra
122. Bee W Bedard
123. Chloe Blane
124. Yvie
125. Valerie
126. Jackeline Davila
127. Bee W Bedard
128. Aneesa bint Lewis
129. Cait Long
130. debbie

Timestamp: 2012-12-21 01:39:47 UTC

Giveaway winner...check back in a few

Excuse my delay in this giveaway...I have been dealing with finals in addition to the Christmas rush and all the things there are to do with your family.  :)  I am uploading the entries to Random.org now...and I should have a winner in a few minutes. Check back in a few!

Merry Christmas giveaway worth $90!!! - yours for free - if you win.

How would you like to win this??? A beautiful and professional END-GRAIN Cutting Board 12" x 16" x 1" thick crafted from Cherry, Hard Rock Maple and Red Oak valued at 90.00!! 

Cutting boards are a kitchen "must-have" for all the cooks on your holiday shopping list.  And with all the holiday cooking just around the corner, make sure your own kitchen gets this gift as well. Read on to find out how you can win...

Meet Gary Lindsey...a family friend and a new shop owner on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaryLWoodCreations  Gary lives in Savannah Georgia, a place known for it's history, beauty, and the arts.  He is a father of 5 (#6 bun in the oven), a musician, a photographer, and an active member in his church's praise team . Gary has two special needs children and is very active in his local Autism community. Gary was in the "corporate America"  for 20+ years.  The recent poor economy has led him into another business venture...his own. Gary creates BEAUTIFUL, top of the line, professional grade cutting boards made by hand.  Get to know this artist better; here is my interview with him:

How been have you been working with wood? I can't remember not doing it.  My dad "got me hooked" building with wood at 15 years old.  I have been building a variety of wood creations 35 years now.

Do you remember the first thing you ever made? A Dachshund dog shaped tie rack for my father. I made it in high school wood shop.

What is your favorite wood to work with and why? Walnut, it is beautiful and rich.  Walnut is even more luxurious looking when finished.  It smells good when you are cutting it, too.   This high - end wood always turns out beautiful when properly crafted.

What do you like about woodworking? I love the creativity of taking a raw piece of wood and then molding,  shaping, and crafting it into a beautiful finished product. I enjoy the smell of it and the feel of wood. I enjoy repurposing things and the connection to nature.  Taking a tree and  transforming it into a cutting board, a doll bunk bed, etc is a great creative challenge and fulfillment.   I must admit, the alone time of escaping into my little garage wood shop to do my work is also a nice break when you are raising a village of children.  (We parent crafters can relate to that!)

What made you decide to open an etsy shop?

After years of creating a huge variety of wooden creations that have included large farmhouse-style tables, monster-sized wooden porch swings, cutting boards, picture frames, etc...people would see them and say, "You need to sell these!"

After much encouragement through the years, I decided to open a shop. An Etsy shop had much less overhead and allows me to exercise more creative control than a traditional store
 The Etsy Community is great to! The community has opened up so many possibilites like networking with other crafters and being encouraged by the success stories on the blog.  It provided an opportunity to offer my creations all over the world.  In addition, the opportunity to create an income stream on Etsy to support my growing family is unlimited in this very challenging economy.  My wife and I have made the decision to homeschool our children, so every little bit helps.  And because two of our kids are special-needs,  the "make your own schedule" flexibility allows me to help my wife raise our children even more.  Also, I'm able to be an active member of the music ministry at my church.

Is it hard to balance your Etsy shop and your kids, your church commitments and life in general? How do you balance it?  Yes it is.

The fact that my wife is the combination homeschooling /

stay-at-home mom, allows me the opportunity to spend a few hours "working my Etsy shop" during the day. We generally put the kids to bed earlier than most and then I'll be able to work into the night as needed.

Side note: his wife, Erin, also has a budding shop on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/myellidesigns .  She makes adorable kids clothes.  I have seen some of her recent creations that she needs to post...A D O R A B L E!!!

What is your long term vision? 

To create items that "wow" the recipient. I see that more and more folks are going "back-to-basics" by opening Etsy shops.  The country is looking for quality versus quantity nowadays  and there is something to be said about the appeal of handmade, meticulously crafted one-of-kind products.  In this difficult economy, I believe your own business is your best bet at stability, since it is all on you and you're not subject to the whims of executives at some distant corporate office.  An additional goal is to produce enough income to work in the home, allowing me to be a maximum part of helping to raise our children. Raising kids is a difficult job, and raising special-needs children...even more so. 

I know you are a christian...how do your morals tie into how you run your Etsy shop? I treat every customer with integrity and will always endeavor to go "above and beyond".  Any opportunity I can, I will exceed my customer's expectations.  My reputation and long-term success is dependent on it.  These values are not only good values, but Godly values.  Christ calls us to bless our employer, bless our customers,  bless those around us, and bless those that are less fortunate.

What advice do you have for my readers when purchasing wood products? Make sure to select the right wood for your purpose. For example a table  that will take much abuse (the kids or a family table), needs to be made out of a harder wood to last.  It is worth the investment.  Harder woods include: Maple, Oak, Cherry.  On the other hand, some softer woods would be a great choice for a table that you want to look rustic, like the farm table I made for my family.  Pine will show up every nick, but if rustic is what you are going for, stick with the pine because the nicks will give it more character. Soft woods include, Pine, Cedar, Cypress, Spruce.  Keep in mind that the softer woods are cheaper for a reason.  Harder woods are more expensive because they will out last all of us!

What can we expect new from your shop? 

I am about to roll out a few pieces of "American Girl" type furniture.

American Girl is the wildly popular 18" doll that seems to need every accessory under the sun :)  These items I roll out will be 100% applicable to any 18" sized doll.  Yay!  I am putting my order in for my girls.

Being that you are a bass player, Who is your favorite rock star and why? Sir Paul McCartney of the Beatles.  Why? Because he is a great bass player, composer, and he always delivers.  The man is 70 years old and he is as good now as he was in the Beatles.


I want to thank Gary for his time in this interview and most of all his GENEROUS giveaway.  I myself bought a few of these for myself and family.  They are beautiful and his completion of them was done in a great timely manner.  You almost hate to cut on them.  They are so beautiful, that mine stays out on the counter as a decorative piece in my kitchen as well.

So here is the scoop on the giveaway:
Giveaway will be active from Dec. 12  - 17 
in hopes that you will get it by Christmas!  
Entries will be drawn on Dec. 17 at 10pm East Coast time via Random.org.


HOW TO ENTER FOR THE GIVEAWAY:
Do one of the things below...get one entry do all four...get four entries into the giveaway.  Do the two extras also...you will have six entries!  The more entries, the higher your shot at winning!

1. Like Gary's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gary-Lindsey-Wood-Creations/286373721462960
2. Favorite his Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaryLWoodCreations
3.  Favorite one item in his shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaryLWoodCreations
4. Share a link to his etsy shop or facebook page on your facebook and get 2 extra entries!
5. Don't forget to come back to this post and comment your name and email and what you did for the entry.  How else will we be able to contact you if you won?

extra entries (these only count if you did the ones above):
1. like my facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/lillollipopsdesigns
2. like my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/lillollipopsdesigns