Six Weeks To Christmas Giveaway #1

Can you believe there are only six weeks until Christmas? Aah!! I'm sure I'm not the only one freaking about Christmas shopping....I haven't even begun! Nevermind...it will all get done eventually, right? :)

Well to relieve some of the holiday stress and countdown to the holidays, I'm excited to start a Six Weeks To Christmas Weekly Giveaway. I'll be giving away at least one item per week and there will be multiple ways to enter. Sound like fun?? If so, let the fun begin!

Six Weeks To Christmas Giveaway #1

2010 StyleMark Designs Christmas Ornament

I love these ornaments! They come in multiple initials and even year numbers as well. The 2010 ornament has been a big hit so far! These ornaments look great in stockings, on your Christmas tree and even add the special wrapping touch to a gift. I know I'll be giving some as hostess gifts this holiday season.

How to Enter

To win this fabulous Christmas ornament, all you have to do is follow the StyleMark Designs Blog and comment on this post!

Extra Entry Opportunities

- Follow the StyleMark Designs Fan Page and leave a comment on the wall for entry 2
- Blog about this giveaway with a link back to my blog for entry 3
- Tweet about this giveaway with a link back to my blog for entry 4

For the additional entry opportunities, be sure to come back and comment again to make sure you get credit for the additional opportunities.

I'll announce the winner at random via random.org on Tuesday, November 16 at 9:00 p.m./CST.

In the meantime, all StyleMark Designs blog readers and Facebook fans can receive 10% off the Christmas ornaments today and tomorrow. If you're interested, visit our store or e-mail me at nicky@stylemarkdesigns.com.

Good luck, everyone!

-N

Things To Look Forward to in November

I'm so excited that it's November. I've been counting down the days for a few weeks now...Is that sad? Hopefully I'm not the only one :). It's funny because I've never really been a person to love November because of the weather, but this year it's different. Here's what I'm looking forward to this month:

Junior League Holiday Market



I'm excited about participating in this show again. Andrew, Kim and I will be out at the Central Park Hall at Expo Square this Saturday (9 a.m. - 6 p.m.) and Sunday ( 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.). If you're in area, be sure to stop by and say hi.

New Car



My lease is up in January, so we're ordering an SUV to replace my car. The plan is to have it in time for our holiday traveling in December. I can't wait!

An Affair of the Heart


Source: An Affair of the Heart

This will be my second craft show of the holiday season. I've heard that this show is a lot better than the July show, so I'm looking forward to seeing all of the different vendors...especially the holiday vendors. Bring on the Christmas decorations :).

Denver, CO



We're heading to Colorado for Thanksgiving this year. Andrew's grandma just moved out to Denver, so we're having a small family reunion. We spent one night in Denver last July before driving up to Breckenridge, so we can't wait to explore the city some more.

Christmas Decorations



I love Christmas and decorating! I wasn't able to decorate for Christmas last year because I was so busy with orders and traveling for the holidays. This made me sad, but you can only do so much. You know? This year, I have extra PTO, so I'm taking at least one day to deck the halls. Plus, we'll be having Christmas at our house with Andrew's family, so it gives me a reason to not skip the decorating this year. Hopefully, I'll be able to find some great buys at the upcoming craft shows. I'll be sure to share pictures as soon as everything is up.

So, here's a question for you...what are you looking forward to this month?

-N

Congratulations, Brian and Megan

The Thornton Family has a new member. Brian and Megan are officially married. Here are some pictures from the wedding weekend.

It was so nice to see all of Andrew's family. We hadn't seen many of them for a while, so it was nice to catch up with them.







The rehearsal dinner was at Andrew's parents house. We ate some delicious BBQ and had fun with bubbles....



and balloons.



Once the big day arrived, it was off to look pretty.







The wedding was really nice and we all had fun.









Welcome to the family, Meg!

My New Favorite Blog - The Pleated Poppy

I love blogs! I might not be the best with keeping up with the StyleMark Designs blog (I'm trying to improve...promise!), but I'm a diligent blog reader at night. I don't start to relax at the end of the day until I've read my daily websites like People and Us Weekly and all of my blogs.

There is one blog that I'm just loving right now! It's the...

Image Credit: The Pleated Poppy

I just love Lindsey's story, product, blog...you name it! Plus, I'm in love with her blog design (hint of what's to come!). So, jump over to Lindsey's blog and check it out. I bet you'll become an avid reader like me!

What blog do you look forward to reading each day?

A Thank You From Texas

Last week, I received a thank you e-mail from one of my new customers, Amanda, that really touched my heart. Here is what she said:

We love our sign! My husband and I are both Active Duty Military (me - Air Force and my husband - Army) and we are stationed 13 hours apart. He will deploy soon to Iraq and I'll deploy shortly later to Afghanistan. This is such a nice way to bond us. Even though we don't live together and won't for another year and a half, we're still a family. Thank you so much. It's beautiful.

Along with the sweet message, she sent me these photographs.



I love receiving e-mails like this! To know that my customers love their items makes my heart smile :).

Thanks again for sending me this e-mail and for protecting our country, Amanda!

-N

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet!

Are you looking for a cute trick or treat basket to pass out candy or am adorable sign to greet kiddos? Check out the fun designs I've just added to the StyleMark Designs shop.

Welcome - Leave All Brooms at the Door Wooden Sign

Don't make me get out my flying monkeys wooden sign

Trick or Treat Basket

Trick or Treat Basket

-N

Race Week

It's race week. I can't believe it's already here. With four days to the Chicago Marathon, I have a mix of emotions.

I'm nervous...worried...


and excited.

I just hope I can finish within six and a half hours and that my knees stay strong. ::Fingers Crossed::

If you're interested in tracking me during the race, you can receive text messages when I've finished certain sections of the route. All you have to do is...

- Visit http://www.textinterface.com/pls/text/TF_BACM_DT
- Search for me: Nicky Thornton, Bib #: 45026
- Press "track"
- Enter your mobile number and press "submit."

It's that easy! I'll be sure to give an update once I've finished the race. Until then, here's a few pictures from our trip so far in Chi-Town.




The wall of marathon runners at NikeTown:



-N