Saturday, September 13, 2008

Blog Candy

Wow, my counter just passed 35,000! Thanks, everyone, for checking out my little corner of blogland! In honor of that, I am giving away a brand-new Stampin'Up! Hodgepodge Hardware kit in Antique Brass:

Hodgepodge Hardware Blog Candy

To enter the blog candy contest, just leave a comment here and let me know what your favorite fall memory or activity is! There is a certain smell in the air that hits right around the beginning of September; I don't know whether it is the grass, or leaves beginning to change, the goldenrod, or what. But it reminds me of:

  • the first days of school, and we only wore dresses to school, NO PANTS!! And little plaid sneakers with white rubber toe things--what are those called?
  • going out to recess with our little button-down sweaters on
  • bringing fall leaves to class so we could iron them between pieces of wax paper to make place mats (anyone else remember that?)
  • the crunch the leaves would make as my saddle shoes (I HATE saddle shoes) crunched through them as I walked down our lane to the school bus
  • carving jack-o-lanterns
  • hearing the big corn-picking machine going through our cornfields

That's just a FEW memories of mine growing up on a Pennsylvania farm in the early 60's. How about you? I'll keep this open until Wednesday, Sept 17 at 8 pm eastern time, at which time I'll pick a winner! One entry per person, please!

Edited to add: Please make sure to have an email address available through your post or blog so I can get in touch with you if you're the winner! L.

46 comments:

Sandy Knecht said...

My favorite thing is long drives in the country to see all the colors of the trees. God's Beauty!

Lyndsay said...

This giveaway is great! Thanks for the opportunity to win. My favorite fall activity is watching our pumpkin patch grow and hoping the pumbkins last until Halloween! Lyndsay

Anonymous said...

I love fall the best. One of my favorite memories is just decorating with pumpkins and all the leaves changes as you drive. Amy B. fun4x4@verizon.net

Anonymous said...

When our kids were little, they loved jumping in a big pile of leaves as we raked. A little one's joyful expression is one of life's greatest blessings!
linday@epix.net

Denise Marzec said...

Great blog candy, LeAnne! Congrats on all the hits.

My favorite fall memory when I was a kid were the Saturday football games. Fun!...even though I froze my patootie off for the band performances, LOL! My favorite now is to take pictures of our youngest DD in a pumpkin patch. They make the best scrapbook pages. :)

Anonymous said...

Leanne - Thanks for the opportunity to win a great prize. I live up in Canada, eh! and fall is always a great time. We use to live in Owen Sound, Ontario when I was a kid (about 8 or 9 yrs old) and my brother and I would rake the leaves from a huge maple tree in the front yard and jump and play in them until we were just covered head to toe. My mom has a great photo of the two of us with just our faces showing (it is now a puzzle). It is a nice memory to have as my brother now lives in very Northern Ontario. Happy Fall!!

Michele Burnard
mburnard@sympatico.ca

Ms. Crafty If You're Nasty said...

my favourite fall activity is going to the farmer's market and sipping hot chocolate as i walk around the stalls...

thanks for the opportunity to win a great blog candy... and congrats!

Elaine M said...

My favorite memories are hay rides and roasting marshmallows - and watching the big kids steal a kiss while us little kids giggled.

PatsyB said...

This giveaway is great! Congrats on your milestone with your blog!! My favorite fall memory is (I know this is crazy!!) the smell of the first time the furnace was cut on! That meant time to pull out sweaters and winter clothes!! I love sweaters and jackets! It also meant hay rides!!

Stacy said...

I have always loved fall. My mom always did lots of canning towards fall. The smells and heat in the kitchen were not the best, but then the taste of those preserved items in the winter were such a treat. My brother and I took turns going to the basement to choose the vegetable and the fruit for each dinner.

Thanks for the great blog candy.

Sharon said...

Hi Leanne,
What a great topic and give-away! I still love pressing leaves in wax paper! We also did leaf etchings, you know, rubbing an old crayon over the leaf to get the shape and all the veins. My favorite activity now is getting together with a big group of family and friends and going to the pumpkin farm, sipping hot cider, eating carmel apples, going on a hayride and walking through the haunted corn maze!

Alison said...

Hi LeAnne! Congrats on your AWESOME blog. I love getting my Feedblitz. My favorite fall memory is going with my brother and cousins on a hunt with my Gram for "God's Little Treasures." She had a big glass jar in her house and we would find leaves, rocks, an occasional snake skin, etc. to put in it. My Gram has Alzheimer's now and probably doesn't remember,but we do! Alexander and I love to go on these Fall adventures and think of his Great-Gram!

Unknown said...

i love the different colors the fields are this time of year.. such gems for sure. the smell in the air even smells different.

Joan Fricker said...

I grew up in a very, very small town with about 80 people. Of course during the early 50's we had to entertain ourselves so we made leaf houses. Some were quite large and we would play for days in them. We all had such good imaginations and there was no limit to what we could think of to make our "houses" into homes. "Those were the good old days" but I am glad I live in the age of computer technology!

Anonymous said...

wow fall is just that. Wow. color, smells, nip in the air, pumpkins, candy corn, apples I live in VT so I enjoy small towns and the white mountains are in my front yard.

Anonymous said...

My favorite memory of fall was when I was little driving though the country when all the leafs started falling. The smells, colors, and the tempature always brings back those memories.

Tammy Hershberger said...

GREAT candy, LeAnne! Love reading your fall memories! I think my favorite thing is decorating for fall, although I usually run out of time in recent years and don't get it done. And going apple picking! Nothing is better than a Golden Delicious fresh from the tree!

Stephanie Hargis said...

The leaves! Everything about them! The colors, the smell, and most importantly...JUMPING IN THEM! :D Oh...my birthday is in the fall too so of course there are some great memories there as well! Thanks so much for the chance to win and congrats on all your hits!

((hugs))

P.S. Are the shoes you are talking about called "Chucks"? If so...I have a pair! Haha!

cpullum said...

I love the weather change! Summer it's so hot and fall it's just right!
Carla
cpullum(at)yahoo(dot)com

Jetstudio Designs said...

Congratulations LeAnne, I really enjoy your blog.

Fall is my favorite time of year, seeing the beautiful leaves and also celebrating my birthday and also our anniversary. My favorite fall memories would be going to the church fall fest, apple picking, and pumpkin painting with my nephew!

Anonymous said...

Hi Leanne
thanks for offering up such great blog candy!
my favorite thing about fall is PUMPKIN - i like pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pie, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin soup...anything pumpkin--the smell is just so wonderful!
have an enjoyable fall season
becky
scs belledancr
belledancr@juno.com

Juanita said...

My kids helping rake up leaves and then jumping in the pile. Also makes for a great photo op

Anonymous said...

Hey girl!! Congrats on all those blog hits!! Way to go!!

My favorite fall memory is going to Ocean City MD. to Sunfest every September for the Arts & Craft Festival. It is still warm enough for the beach but that feeling of fall is in the air too! I loved doing this with my kids and the memories we've made with always be cherished.

Happy Fall, LeAnne!

Anonymous said...

LeAnne,
Congrats on all the visitors to your blog!! Thanks for a chance at a great giveaway. My favorite memory of fall back then and now would be the changing of the color of the leaves! How beautiful. Also carving pumpkins with my son, nephews and now with my grandbabies! How lucky am I it's also my Birthday in October so many great memories!

GabrielaD said...

My favorite season of all is Fall... and I just LOVE Halloween... so my favorite thing about fall is decorating the house for Halloween. We go all out in the front yard, ghosts and scary witches.... It is a great time of year!!!

Thanks for the opportunity!!!

Bunny B said...

Congrats on your hits, LeAnne :))

When you mentioned you didn't wear pants, I remember going shopping for pants with my mom for school. I loved buying these bold colored pants with cute patterns on them, but when school started, I was just too embarrassed to wear them! LOL

Thanks for the chance!

bunnybx at gmail . com

Anonymous said...

I just love watching my children play in the leaves after they've raked them into piles and listening to all the giggling that goes on.
Thanks for the chance to win the candy! I've never used the hardware, but would love to try it.

Anonymous said...

LOVE fall.....my favorite thing is wearing sweatshirts and shorts.

Vanessa said...

My favorite fall memory is the trees' leaves turning colors. I didn't seem to appreciate it until I was pregnant and took lots of strolls with my DH. Here is Austin, TX, fall doesn't happen until November, and the change of colors aren't as striking, but beautiful nonetheless.

Awesome blog candy!

thimbles bobbins paper and ink said...

One of my favorite things that I loved to do in the fall as I crunched through the leaves on the ground was to run and try to catch a falling leaf midair before it touched the ground. My friends said if you caught one before it touched ground you should save it and it would bring you good luck.

LeAnne! I had the very same plaid shoes with the rubber toe thing too! I LOVED those shoes. Saddle shoes...they were ok but they were kind of thrust upon me.

Jennifer said...

Awesome blog candy! Congrats on all the hits. I've really enjoyed seeing all of your creations since I found your blog several months ago.

I'd have to say that my favorite memories of fall are the hay rides and wienie roasts growing up.

Pat said...

I love the smell of a carved pumpkin and the crispness of the air in fall.

Heather said...

My favorite fall memory is raking up the biggest pile of leaves ever and jumping and hiding in them. We did this every year when we were kids. Our house now is located in a neighborhood that doesn't have many mature trees but we still try and rake up as many as possible for our kids to play in.

Sue D said...

My favorite fall memory was taking Sunday drives to look at all the beautiful leaves. Can't do that with today's gas prices!

slrdowney at hotmail dot com

Stacey Schafer said...

My favorite thing about fall is carving pumpkins with my kids:)

Anonymous said...

Every year we throw a scarecrow party! Everyone stuffs a scarecrow and then we end the evening by the fire making SMORES!!! Always great memories!

mudmaven said...

I grew up in PA in the 50s and my most cherished memories are the smell of burning leaves (we were allowed to do that back then) and the fun my siblings and I had burying each other in huge (at least to me then) piles of leaves. Thanks so much for resurrecting that memory for me. ~chris

Anonymous said...

This is the FIRST (and maybe ONLY) blog I have posted to since returning to the land of electricity after IKE hit us. Come visit my blog PLEASE and read about our situation, including the outhouse getting blown over.

My ONLY "fond" memory of fall, and school, is of the third grade where the hot-stuff kids dared me (the fat kid) to jump off the roof at school. I did. I passed out. The teacher shook me awake and made me finish the school day with two sprained ankles the size of concrete blocks.

TODAY, that school and the teacher would face lawsuits for not notifying the parents. THEN, I survived INCLUDING the chewing out I got from the teacher and my parents.

First day of electricity = vacuuming and laundry and throwing out spoiled food.

Denise said...

Congrats LeAnne on you fab blog! Let's see, fall, beautiful colors, apple cider, picking pumpkins, the smell of burning leaves, sweat shirt weather, my kids birthdays, and opening my windows to let the fresh crisp air in!! Sorry could'nt pick just one!! :)

Anonymous said...

Fresh crisp apples from the trees! Grapes that tingle on your tongue! Woodsmoke on the air! These are just a few of my favorite Autumn thrills!

Deb Neerman said...

WowZa, that's some seriously yum blog candy; thanks for the chance to win!

My favorite fall thing is decorating my window boxes. Lots of bittersweet, gourds, leaves, tiny pumpkins, etc. Then I'd move to the inside of the house.

My unfavorite fall thing is raking leaves ...

Annelies said...

I remember a walk with my father. When we arrived there it started raining, and it didn't stop. So we walked 8 kms under an umbrella between the falling leaves and the rain. When we came home afterwards my mom had made pancakes with hot choco. A perfect day in the Fall!
Thanks for a chance to win!
Greetings from Belgium, Annelies

Anonymous said...

I love hardware! You give away your age just by all the things you mention. And I could see every one of them in my mind's eye as I read.
Thanks for sharing your memories.

Swedie

JenMarie said...

Wow, what a giveaway!!!
Fall...I LOVE Fall...my favorite part is the cool crisp air!

Beth Norman-Roberts said...

Looks like I'm last minute Nelly. I just found your blog by clicking your name on a comment you left on another blog. I like your work and will be back for sure. My favourite fall memory and now tradition with my new man, is to leave our house in Ontario and visit his sister and her family in Ohio for the Cdn Thanksgiving. We celebrate our Thanksgiving together. This used to be a lonely holiday for me, but not any more.

Alison said...

I love the fall (even though winter follows so quickly)! My favorite fall activities are shopping for school supplies (I just love looking at all those new notebooks and pencils) and apple picking. Nothing tastes like an apple freshly picked from the tree.