I do apologize for posting these so late—I don’t think I’ve ever gone to the middle of the month before! But I knew you’d understand, because I’ve been gone the last few weeks with the Workshops of a Lifetime, and I don’t have the Internet accessibility that I’m used to. And I don’t have the time availability either!

Ideally, I like to reserve one big chunk of time to review these, so all the projects are fresh in my mind. Of course, some months it’s a faster process than others, when there aren’t as many submissions. But this one was probably the most submissions we’ve ever had, and so it was very hard to find a big enough chunk of time to sit down and review them all.

I sure enjoyed it when I did, however. Thanks for sharing your creativity, and I encourage you to enter this month’s Stencil Surprise challenge. . . .

In the meantime, congratulations to this month’s Spring Thing Challenge winners!

February 13—Diana Ball

http://www.stampingmoon.com/2010/02/baby-on-board.html

February 16—Julia Bettencourt

http://www.juliabettencourt.com/blog/?p=5664

February 24—Mary Jo Albright

http://mjalbright.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/spring-flowers/

February 25—Tanja Westwood

http://tanjawestwood.wordpress.com/2010/02/25/so-shelli-spring-challenge/

February 25—Julie Davison (butterfly embossed card)

http://juliedavison.blogspot.com/2010/02/cas-butterfly-notecard.html

February 28—Lisa Young

http://addinkandstamp.blogspot.com/2010/02/like-spring-day.html

So March is our own little stenciling month, OK? Remember to post by the last day of the month—I’m so excited to see all the different stenciling surprises you create

Judging the submissions every month takes hours, but it’s something I look forward to. I don’t spend much time on blogs and other Internet spots looking at project ideas, but I do treat myself once a month to all the Creative Challenge ideas.

As I looked at the long list of hearts, I wondered how I was going to make the final choices. Then I thought, “Hey, whose blog is this, anyway?” I realized I could pick as many winners as I want; there aren’t any rules out there. So bottom line is we’ve got a lot of winners this month, and I had LOTS of fun choosing!

As always, thank you ALL for sharing—I love it when we have lots of submissions, even if it does take me a little longer to choose the winners. It’s time well spent!

January 5--Michelle Joy Wecksler

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7YyTmXLbGBc/SylSwRqLqAI/AAAAAAAAAqc/-5OXxY0Gm3s/s1600-h/IMG_3398-WM.jpg

January 6--Holly Endress

http://inkadinkadoodle.com/?p=1433

January 13--Gretchen Barron

http://gretchenbarron.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/01/introducing-the-love-express-valentines-train.html

January 16--Connie Collins

http://www.constantlystamping.com/constantly_stamping/2010/01/recycled-container-becomes-hostess-gift.html

January 17--Ana Marie Palmerin

http://web.me.com/anamarie2/anamarie2/anamariepalmerin.com/Entries/2010/1/17_Toads_of_Love.html

January 20--Mary Brown

http://www.stampercamper.com/home/cardpost/tour_de_freaks_-_january/

January 23--Cheryl Wilcox

http://lovetostampandscrap.blogspot.com/2010/01/sparkles-spoiler-alert.html

January 29--Janet Wakeland

http://remarkablycreated.com/2010/01/new-droid-needed-a-felt-cell-phone-case/

January 31--Jenny Petersen

http://jennympeterson.typepad.com/my-blog/2010/01/love-page-layout.html

January 31--Jenn Picard

http://www.anewinkonlife.com/a-new-ink-on-life/2010/01/i-heart-sweet-treats.html

So this month I want to see spring—anything bright and beautiful—whether it’s in cards, gifts, tags, pages. . . whatever. You name it, I want to see it. I can’t wait for spring to actually arrive, but in the meantime, I’ll be content with seeing what you have to share!

What fun projects. I really enjoyed looking through these submissions, and I've got an idea list a mile long! I can't wait to make a few of these myself, and I wouldn't be surprised if I use at least one of these ideas for our holiday neighbor gift next year! If you haven't taken the time to scroll through these projects, you definitely need to!

As always, thanks to everyone who shared--and congratulations to the winners!

December 2--Melissa Riker

http://saucystamper.blogspot.com/2009/11/beautiful-gift-idea.html

December 4--Carmen

http://stampingaddiction.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-giftables-class-project-1.html

December 6--Peggy Sue Stuckky

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1559030?&cat=500&ppuser=142185

December 7--Monika Davis

http://monikastamp.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/dasher-tile-coasters/

December 19--Donna Centamore

http://butternutsagedesigns.blogspot.com/2009/12/hot-chocolate-gift-pack.html

December 31--Kasia

http://stampwithkasia.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-years-resolutions.html

I was thinking of making it really challenging by asking that you use nontraditional color palettes, but that just didn’t seem right. I mean, of all holidays, Valentine’s Day pretty much demands reds, pinks, and whites, doesn’t it? So I just couldn’t make that request. (Although you’re welcome to use nontraditional colors if you’d like!)

So, I didn’t think much more about it. It seemed right to make it fairly straightforward—any Valentine’s Day project.

I’m excited to see what you come up with, because this is one holiday-related challenge that we can actually use the project ideas long after the holiday is over. I’ve always thought that we ought to let our loved ones know we love them year-round, so the things we do on Valentine’s Day are really things we could do all year long—including giving hand-stamped expressions of our love!

So have a wonderful time this month, creating to your heart’s content!

I’m sure you know what I mean by neighbor gifts—the smaller, more affordable gifts that we give to our neighbors, co-workers, and other people whom we want to thank during the holiday season.

Anyway, I could sure use some great ideas. Those of you who already know exactly what you’re creating for your neighbor gifts, please inspire me (and anyone else who is still looking) by sharing your ideas! And if you don’t know what you’re doing yet but get it figured out before the end of the month, it’s not too late. I want to see your ideas too!

And the neat thing about neighbor gifts is that we can use these ideas all year long for fun gift-giving. All it usually takes is changing out a color palette or switching an image or substituting accessories, and you can pretty much use an idea any time of the year.

So, while I know it’s a busy time of year, hopefully you’ll be able to share something you’ve already made (or need to make anyway). I can’t wait to see your ideas—and Merry Christmas!

I did choose a couple of traditional spreads as winners too. I’ll don’t think I’ll ever completely give up traditional scrapbooking—it’s just way too much fun to create a page from scratch using all kinds of different accessories and textures. But I’m grateful that we have the option of My Digital Studio! (I know, I know, our Australia and Europe demonstrators and customers don’t have that option yet. . . . we’ll just have to create traditional pages together!)

Congratulations to these winners!

October 12: Claire Daly

http://clairedaly.typepad.com/sisterhood_of_the_travell/2009/10/the-blueberry-and-the-wishing-star-.html

October 14: Brandi Wiggins

http://www.brandiwiggins.com/2009/10/festivals-des-crocs.html

October 16: Wendy Weixler

(A big note here: I can't seem to find Wendy's e-mail address on her blog to notify her about winning and ask her which free stamp she wants. If anyone can help me find that, I'd appreciate it! Thanks!)

http://wickedlywonderfulcreations.blogspot.com/2009/10/more-fun-with-mds.html

October 26: Liam Pucher

http://inspirestampin.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-attempt-at-mini-album.html

I used to send out Christmas greetings every year, but it always turned out to be such a stressful, last-minute thing that I ended up often sending them out late. Eventually, I just decided to send out my greetings in the spring or summer!

This year, though, I’d love to see your ideas. I imagine some of you had your Christmas cards designed months ago, and some of you may even have them made! I’m jealous! But whether you’ve got them already designed or not, hopefully this month’s challenge will help us all start getting into the holiday spirit!