Craft Blog|all things crafty & creative

Spammers ~ ugh grrr evil. I get spam registration on the STNA message board all the time, it’s very annoying. I had to turn on the admin approval for new registrations so I could weed them out and keep spam off the boards. Basically they register, and include the link in the profile where it lets you fill in your website info. It’s a blackhat seo technique (and one that doesn’t even work that well!)

I fell behind on the cleaning out the list, even with the help of of my moderators keeping an eye on things. We’ve sorted through thousands of these things this week and I’m getting a ratio of 2 or 3 actual members for every hundred spam registrations (sometimes I get 100 or more spam registrations in a day!)

My friend Angela is looking up some stuff that might help make the forum spam free, she’s great with PHP stuff. Thank goodness, without her the boards would be total crap and I would have given up and deleted them ages ago. Hopefully our boards stay spam free and keep growing.

Sorry if this has caused anyone a delayed login to the boards recently! And a big welcome to all our newest message board members.

Hear that spammers? We don’t like you and we have blocked from access so stop trying! GO AWAY SPAMMERS!

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Just a quick reminder that May word bingo will be starting soon. Upon last count we had nine players, if we get over ten players the prize gets a little bigger *wink wink* the more people we’ve got playing each month the bigger the prizes are going to get, so join in the fun and you might get a pack of goodies in the mail! Just pick some words from the word bingo list to be your card, send them to Becka for verification and wait for the drawing to begin. It’s easy, fun and free. You know you want to!

technorati tags: word bingo, contest, free stuff, cross stitch

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April’s round has ended, and we have a winner! Signups for May have already begun and I’d love to be able to give a bigger prize next month. The more people we have playing the bigger the prizes will get So get in there, pick some words and have some fun with your fellow stitchers.

I just wanted to show you what will be soaring through the mail as soon as I stop and pick up some more envelopes after baseball practice tonight!

This is the prize from March and on it’s way to Kim (MathemaSTITCHian). She asked me to hold off on mailing while she got ready to move, so that’s why it hasn’t left already. But, she’s ready now and so are her stitchy goodies! Included in her packet are a Stitching the Night Away pen, and a Stitching the Night Away mini button featuring the Brushstroke Butterfly design. The fabric is a mini-cut of Zweigart 28 count Cashel linen in Carnation Pink.

These lovely Ozark Sampler threads are on their way to our April winner, Ruth (Stargazer). The colors are named Sun Fairy and Flower Fairy, and both are hand dyed cotton floss. (4.5 yards each color).

Of course I added a Stitching the Night Away pen and button to each packet! I’ve got a handful of these mini buttons left, and when they’re gone I’m going to change the design on them. However Brushstroke Butterfly will still be on the full size button. I hope everyone enjoys their prizes, and I look forward to a big bingo group for May! good luck and happy stitches

technorati tags: word bingo, message board, contest, cross stitch, free stuff, giveaway, bingo, message board bingo, cross stitch bingo, cross stitch prizes, stitchers, stitching, stitching the night away

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Congrats go out to Kim (MathemaSTITCHian) for the March word bingo win! Your prize is on it’s way out in the mailbox today, you may just find some extra goodies in there too!

Bingo plays every month now, thanks to Becka for keeping us organized and bingo’ing!

technorati tags: word bingo, contest, message board contest

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Iâ??m sure youâ??ve seen the gorgeous pieces on display at the county fair every year. Have you ever thought about entering your finished cross stitch into one of these competitions? Here a few things to look at before you submit your entry.

• First you need to know the name of your design, who designed it, and itâ??s helpful to list the materials you used, such as fabric type including name of the fabric and fabric count, any specialty threads you used such as Kreinik blending filament, any changes you may have made to the design, how you stitched (1 over 1, 2 over 2, 1 over 2 etc)… Read the rest of this entry »

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We only have four stitchers so far for our quilt project, we need to have at least 12 stitched squares to make a decent sized quilt for Love Quilts. The voted upon theme was cartoons, and I know more than four people voted, so come on out of hiding and stitch with us.

Sign up here and let us know how many squares you would like to stitch.

technorati tags: stitching, charity stitching, love quilts, charity

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UPS was just my door. I got a cute this little box. I wonder what ever could be inside it. Let’s open it up and find out together, shall we? First we’ll give the kids this recycled paper to color on. I’m sure that will entertain them while we play with this nice little box…..and it’s ……. Read the rest of this entry »

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The first two bingo words have been posted in the bingo forum. Every day there will be a new word added to the list, first to get all their words marked off wins. Don’t worry if you missed submitting a list for March, we’ll be playing at least once per month all year long, maybe twice a month a few times!I know everyone’s been wondering what the prize for this month is. I wanted to keep the prize a secret until everyone submitted their word choices. So, here’s the deal on the bingo prizes. After the first word or two are drawn each month, I’ll announce the prize. I bet you’re wondering why I’m waiting until after the game starts. Because the more players we get the bigger the prizes are going to be!

Prize for March word bingo is (insert drum roll)…… Zweigart 28 count cashel linen in Carnation Pink (9×12 cut)

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Last call for your word bingo lists! Stop by the bingo section of the message board and submit your list to Becka to get in on the game for March. The prize is announced after bingo has begun. The more people we have the bigger the prizes will be. The game is open to all message board members and will be begin on March 1st. Don’t worry if you miss the deadline for March though, we’ll be playing bingo every month and maybe sometimes twice a month for the rest of the year. Also keep your eye open for some new contests that we’ll be having, and a special blog only promotion this spring. If you would like to sponsor a contest just leave me a comment here on the blog, or send me an email. Prizes do not have to be craft related, we enjoy other nifty things too!

Technorati Tags: message board game, word bingo, cross stitch, craft community

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We promised we’d get back to contests this year and we’re starting with reopening word bingo on the message board.  This is open to all message board members and there is a section of the board to help make keeping track of your progress easier.  Becka (aka mom2lyssa) is our bingo caller, with her lovely little assistant Alyssa.

Wondering how to join in on this crazy word fun?  All you need to do is choose 15 words from the list of 30 that has been posted for the March words and send your selection to Becka.  Your 15 words are your “bingo card” for the month.  Each day a word or words will be posted and you mark off your card.  The first person to get their 30 words marked off wins.  I will announce the prize after bingo has begun.  The more players we get the bigger the prizes will get, so get in there and have some fun.  If the bingo group increases we may increase the size to a larger number of words in the future.   The theme for March might give you a little giggle… Read the rest of this entry »

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