Paper is the first anniversary gift

 Congrats to our winner #60

And our 60th comment was:

Congrats to Amanda T and thanks to all for entering!!

 Update: Giveaway extended until Saturday, June 4th at 11pm!!

Monday, May 23rd marks my first wedding anniversary with D.  I cannot believe a year ago we got married.  I cannot believe it has already been a year.  Amazing.  [D and I are going away for a few days but when I get back I'll write all about our anniversary gifts and our trip.]

In honor of my anniversary, I wanted to have a month full of love-inspired giveaways and was so blessed to have so many wonderful sponsors.

And just in time for my actual anniversary, one more.  For those who don't know ... paper is the first anniversary present.  And as we all know ... paper comes from wood (ok this might be a stretch but work with me!).

You all have read about my love for Etsy and I found one more amazing shop, PrinceWhitaker.  Allie, the designer of PrinceWhitaker makes some amazing pieces.

Like these garden sticks. I wrote about how D loves to garden and is doing a great job with our mini-balcony garden. He'd love these when we have a real garden! 

 Or this really cute photo frame for a graduation gift!

Or how about these wonderful napkin holders, perfect for a shower, rehearsal dinner or wedding!

I think Allie's designs are wonderful and unique.  As you know, I like to pry and find out lots of information from the designers.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST START DESIGNING?

Funny story. I was grounded for a whole weekend when I was a teenager. Before the days of social media and cell phones, when my friends went out they were unreachable and I truly had nothing to do. A light bulb when off and I climbed on top of my bedroom dresser and started to sketch out a mural of the Jetsons family in their spaceship/car (Astro too). From there, family and friends asked me to paint murals for them and eventually a business grew. As time went on (and I aged) murals became too labor-intensive. I've always designed and painted on every surface you can think of: paper, walls, ceramics, wood and then I discovered wood-burning and Prince Whitaker was born!

WHAT MATERIALS DO YOU USE?

Currently, I use different types of wood. I also use embellishments such as tulle and ribbons for certain products. The colors add flair and a personal touch to match the color scheme of the wedding.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ITEM TO CREATE?

Recently I've been having a good time making the guest / advice books. They can be personalized with the happy couple's names, a personal message on the front and back, and ribbon to match their bridal party colors. I add a piece of vellum to the front and back with gorgeous deckled edges for an extra special touch. I just received requests to make this for baby showers too! It's special to me because I know that it will be such a treasured keepsake for the recipients.

I am sure you are thinking of all the unique gifts/favors you could get from her shop.  Well good news, one lucky reader is going to win a beautiful I Do photo frame.

The winner gets to personalize it with their initials or you could give it as a gift and use the initials of the happy couple!

HERE'S HOW TO WIN:

This contest is open to people in the US or Canada only.  If your email is not visible in your profile, you must leave it in one of your entries!

MANDATORY ENTRY (1 entry)

•  Visit PrinceWhitaker's Etsy Shop and leave a comment with your favorite item!

EARN MORE ENTRIES! (You may do any or all of these in any order.  

Leave a separate comment for each entry completed.)

• 1 Entry: Follow IDoTheeWedSara publicly on Google Friend Connect
• 1 Entry: Follow PrinceWhitaker publicly on Google Friend Connect
• 1 Entry: Make PrinceWhitaker a favorite on Etsy
• 1 Entry: Like IDoTheeWedSara on Facebook
• 1 Entry: Like PrinceWhitaker on Facebook
• 1 Entry: Follow IDoTheeWedSara on Twitter
• 1 Entry: Follow PrinceWhitaker on Twitter
• 2 Entries: Tweet about this giveaway and include #PrinceWhitakergiveaway (maximum 3x/day and leave a comment each time!)
• 5 Entries: Blog about this giveaway (one time). In the comment include a link to your post.

Giveaway ends Saturday May 28, 2011 at 4pm EST. Winner will be chosen via Random.org and will have 24 hours to respond to my email or another winner will be selected.