May Giveaway Day with SewMamaSew...

***COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED FOR THIS GIVEAWAY. THANK YOU FOR ENTERING AND FOR ALL YOUR GREAT COMMENTS.***

JUST A REMINDER: I AM AWAY UNTIL JUNE 7 AND WILL CHOOSE A WINNER AFTER THAT DATE. I MAY NEED A DAY OR SO TO PULL MYSELF TOGETHER, BUT I CANNOT WAIT TO CHOOSE THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER AS WELL AS THE SECOND AND THIRD PLACE WINNERS !

Here is another fun giveaway - don't you just love giveaways! This one is organized by the Sew,Mama,Sew! Blog.

My giveaway will be a selection of crafty items: buttons, ribbons, lace, fabrics, beads and who knows what else! I will be searching all my storage areas for those very special items. It will definitely be a nice package - one that I would like to receive myself.

To win, just comment on this post and leave an email address in order for me to contact you. The giveaway opens tuesday 5/27 and runs until 5/31. There are many other participants in this giveaway so be sure to comment here and then head on over to sewmamasew and enter other giveaways. If you don't win anything it will not be because you didn't try. :-)

Be sure to read the following: I will be leaving for vacation on May 31 and will return June 7. Depending on how accessible the internet will be to me, I may not be able to choose a winner until I return. I hope you understand. Only comments left on or before midnight on 5/31 will be considered for the drawing.

Thanks and have fun. I will post some pics tomorrow.

UPDATE 5/29/2009: I am in awe of all the comments. Thank you all so much. I am having so much fun looking at everyone else's blog and have entered many giveaways myself. Anyway, with over 300 comments, how can there possibly be only one prize. There will be three winners drawn. The grand prize will be the biggest, but the other 2 will not be shabby. I promise.

Sew-Along...

Alot of firsts for me lately. This is my first sew-along sponsored by Dana at Old Red Barn Co. I decided on my fabrics but I reserve the right to change my mind ! :-)

Take a look at the fabric choices of all the other participants at the Old Red Barn Co flickr group . There will be lots of chances to win some very nice prizes and we all love those ! You may want to join in all the fun.

New Orange Creamsicle Garden...

I've been thinking about this one spot in my yard and debating whether to add a new garden. So, I set it up with a wire sculpture chicken and a large box of flowers and lived with it for a few weeks just to get a feel for the position and how it would look.

Saturday was a beautiful day - warm, beautiful breeze, sunny with occasional clouds. I liked the spot and decided to go ahead and add a new garden. I also decided on a theme - Orange Creamsicle. As a child, I loved the color combination of this ice cream and sherbet more than the taste !

So I pulled out my pitch fork, spade and claw rake and began to dig !

It seemed like such a small spot, only about 6.5 ft long by 3 ft wide, but it took 7 hours to complete. When I began, my husband was working in the front yard, but he pitched in to get this done. Otherwise, I would probably still be there - digging away. Grass is sure alot of work to remove once it is established.

Here is how it looks now. I have orange pansy flowers in my wire chicken. The little butterfly bush on the end will grow to between 4 - 6 ft (depending on conditions) and about 2 ft around. It has gorgeous white blooms so it is right in line with my theme. At the beginning of June I will also seed the area with Orange King and Polar Bear zinnias.

If you are interested, I will be adding additonal pictures to my Orange Creamsicle Garden flickr page.

Now I hope to get back into the sewing room for some crafting fun. :-)

SEWN Launch Party Blog Giveaway...

Hi everyone. It is now June 8 - 12:05 EST and this giveaway is closed. I will choose a winner tomorrow. Thanks to everyone for all your great comments and for entering my giveaway.

**UPdate - Fabrics Added**

In celebration of the launch of the new Australian website SEWN, I have decided to participate in the Sewn Launch Party Blog Giveaway - my first ever !

Take a look and see what all the fuss is about. The Creative Director is Sarah Fielke and she promises some great things. Here is a small piece of her announcement:

'The website will have just about everything you can think of that you would want online as a sewer. There are forums, online advice from industry experts, conversion charts, colour wheels, free patterns and class listings.'

Be sure to check it out as there are many other bloggers participating in the giveaway so you have lots of chances to win.

In the meantime, please enter my giveaway. My prize will be six fat quarters and the winner will be drawn at random from the comments left on this post. Comments entered up to midnight on June 7 will be considered and the drawing is June 8

Here is my decision on the fabrics - I am going to let you decide which six fat quarters you would like. The pictures are posted here on my flickr site. I will be adding new fabrics right up until June 7, so you are sure to find something you like !

So go check out the SEWN information and enter to win !

Where have I been...

Hi - It has been a while since my last post. Spring is normally very busy for me. In addition to the usual gardening work, my late mother's home is under agreement and should close at the end of May. I grew up in this house and my mother lived there for 54 years. As anyone in this position knows it is a difficult and emotional job. Much of what she owned is packed away but there are several pieces of furniture that ended up in my sewing/craft room. Here is a lovely cabinet that was always in our living room. It has plenty of room for storage and lots of memories too.

Thanks mom.