300th post! And a giveaway!

Hey everyone!

It's my 300th post!!!

As I was looking back over my blog stats, I saw that my most popular post was my paper cut tutorial!

So, as a thank you to all of you lovely blog readers, I would like to host a giveaway for my 300th post celebration. The rules are simple, just leave me a comment about why you follow my blog and a link to another blog you love -- I'll draw a name at random in a few days and the winner will receive a paper cut of their choice and a few secret goodies!

It's been a crazy 6 years of blogging and I cannot thank you all so much for all your support, advice, laughs, criticisms and feedback. The last few years have been challenging for me both with Riley and in my personal life, and knowing that I always had this place to go to (even if I wasn't blogging) to read about your adventures, live vicariously and get inspired was so important to me. The blogosphere can be a weird and wonderful place and I feel so very lucky to have a group of followers who make me feel like I have a team of people cheering me on at all times.

A big thank you to Pia's Parade for helping inspire this giveaway. Prairie's Mom was so elegantly patient with me while I worked on a few commissioned pieces that got sidelined when my life got a bit disrupted. I put the finishing touches on them and got them in the mail today!

Prairie in all her glory

Prairie's Mom had a cellphone photo of her on the cross ties that she really loved and I was able to make it work!

It's hard to tell by the photos but the paper behind the images is a cream-colored hand made paper with little tiny silver, shiny stars. I feel like it suits Prairie really well:)

2016 is looking very bright -- thanks for following us so far!

SPRING SALE!!!! My biggest and best sale EVER!!!!

Waking up to chirping birds and my dogwood tree blooming in front of my bedroom window has put me in a terrific mood. It feels like my winter blues are over and I finally finished another paper cut that I had trouble completing (it's hard for me to work when I'm not feeling inspired).

Here's the most recently finished piece:

PALOMINOS ARE REALLY TOUGH!

If you remember a few months ago I participated in a giveaway... this piece if for Amanda and Simba over at Chasing The Sun.

Last year, around this time I offered an incredible sale on my Etsy shop, but this year I've taken it up a notch!

Boo-yah!

Now's your chance to get a one-of-a-kind piece of artwork of your four-legged friend! Just enter coupon code SPRINGSALE50 at check out for 50% your entire order! This offer is only good Through May 31st, so don't wait!

You can find my shop here!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TraceALine

EDIT: I added a ton of new listings (I forgot they expire and people went to my shop only to see that everything was sold out!)

A Very Special Christmas Themed Contest (re-post)

Aoife (another awesome Irish horse girl with an impossible name to spell or pronounce) is running a very fun Christmas themed contest on her blog. She wanted to have a giveaway for some of my paper cut work, so she's graciously commissioned me to make the prizes!

While she has asked people to promote my Etsy shop as a caveat of the contest, I did not ask her for promotion (but I will gladly take it). 

So if you like Christmas, and dressing up your pony, head on over to her blog to read more details about the giveaway. If you've ever wanted one of my paper cuts but didn't have the funds, this is a perfect way to win one!

**Not Riley**, but basically what I think he'd do if I put a Santa hat on him. This is probably one of the only times I will ever use a stock photos, apologies!

Winners!

Thank you to everyone that entered our humble contest. I feel honored to have so many great followers here and the sense of community I feel is immeasurable. I've laughed and cried along with all of you throughout the last 6 years. Thank you for helping us to get to 200 posts and here's to 200 more!

For what it's worth, everyone that entered sent the most thoughtful photos accompanied by fantastic bios that made it nearly impossible to pick a winner! I chose the two top prizes by a random number drawing (btw, if you gave me a shout out on you blog you got an extra number) and my assistant (not a horse person but an animal lover) chose the 5 runners up.

Without further ado...

Winner in the OTTB Category:

Kate + Lucy of The Adventures of Lucy, congrats! You are the lucky winner of an OTTB saddle pad and matching ear net, which I am sure Lucy with look incredibly smart in!

Winner in the non-OTTB group:

Kalin + Red of Cash's Steppin' Up, congrats! You are the lucky winner of your very own custom paper cut!

Finally, the runners up! Each runner up wins an Absorbine Try-Pak:

Stephanie and Pyxar (I don't think she has a blog)

Kari Kay and Piney at Good Time to Review

Lauren + Simon at She Moved to Texas

Tori + Penny at Filly's Best Friend

Sarah + Hemie at Eventing in Color

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that entered and to all of my blog followers. You can't imagine how much it means to me to have your support (I literally have 2 real life horses friends) -- looking forward to sharing all of our futures ups and downs together.

*I'll be emailing the winners to claim their prizes:)

200th Post! It's giveaway time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can hardly believe that I have written 200 posts! Let's take a little look back since I started this blog wayyy, wayyy back in May 2007 (really????)
While I haven't always been consistent with my posting (I mean, I didn't even own a horse until 4 months ago) it seems as though I've always had plenty to say. I've had almost 25,000 page views to date (though is suspect many of those are from me), averaging about 1200 a month. With a whopping 74 followers, I'd say that's pretty good. I know in the beginning, I was writing for myself as a way to journal my experiences with Kiki. I never imagined owning my own horse, or making such fantastic connections along the way. It seems silly, but blogging reminds me of my youthful pen-paling experiences and the idea of having friends miles and miles away that I communicate with through correspondence is still something I love. Throughout all the ups and downs I've felt supported by all of you and I am so grateful for all of your feedback and help over the years. I can't wait to see what the next 100 posts bring for me and Riley, most of all I just want us to be happy and healthy!

As a way to thank all of you, I've come up with a fun giveaway. It will take a little bit of work on your part, but I think the prizes are worth it!  Best of all? There will be two winners and 5 runner up prizes!

Rules:

*Send me a photo summing up why you love your OTTB
*If you do not own an OTTB, please send me a photo of why your horse is awesome
*These can be as simple or as creative as you want. You can add text, effects, etc.
*One photo entry PER horse -- that means you lucky individuals with more than one pony get multiple chances to win (limit: 2 entries)!
*You do not have to take the photo yourself, you may be in the picture too!
*I hate making rules.

Terms:

*Please send your entries to: xniamhx@gmail.com (put OTTB or non-OTTB in the subject line)
*Leave me a comment on this entry so I know you've entered (sometimes things end up in junk mail)
*Please include a small bio about your horse
*Re-post on your blog for more chances to win
*Winners will be chosen by a small panel of horsey and non-horsey people
*Contest ends 2 weeks from today on September 26th @ midnight! Winners will be chosen Friday, September 27th (that gives you two weekends to get your stuff together!)

The prizes:

1st prize in the OTTB group:

Woot!

1st prize in the non-OTTB group:

Picture your pony here!

5 runner up prizes:

Perfect to stick in your grooming box for shows!

Have fun and best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!