Winners!

I hope you all had an enjoyable week this last week. Thanks to everyone who visited and left a comment on the giveaway.  It was fun to hear from everyone.  

After a fun (but somewhat busy) night trick-or-treating with the kids, I appreciated being able to sit down in the quiet with my iPad and draw winners for the giveaway.  The winners are...

Renee Anne!!  Renee, you have won a set of sheep stitch markers, in the color of your choice!  I hope you enjoy your little flock! :)

and Kepanie!!  Stefanie, you have won the set of pink cherry blossom stitch markers seen below!

Hooray for our winners!!  I will be contacting you on Ravelry for your address and then I can send out your stitch markers! :) 

Thanks again to everyone for checking out my shop and giving me their support.  I so appreciate it! :)  

Hitting 100 Giveaway!

Hi Friends!

It's me - Rae Lynne. I've been gone a long while again.  I won't pretend that I'm going to get back into regularly blogging, but for occasions like this, I'm glad I have an outlet to share with you.

If you're here, reading this post, it's likely it's not because you regularly check to see for new posts (if that is why you're here - you're awesome and I appreciate you checking in!) - rather it's likely you're here for the giveaway.  And I'll get to that in a minute.  First a little background.

Some of you know that I have an Etsy shop.  It started with me selling some needle cases.  I loved making them, but just didn't have the time to keep making them - especially with two kids.  I eventually switched to stitch markers.  Sheepie ones to be specific.

Sheep Stitch Markers - Set of 5 - Clear

Sheep Stitch Markers - Set of 5 - Assorted Colors

These have gone over really well - knitters really seem to enjoy these fibery friends.

While preparing for a current swap on the Itty Bitty Knits forums, I was inspired to try the "sharpied mug" thing you see all over Pinterest.  I did a mug and a notions dish (I'm purposely not sharing pictures since my swap partner hasn't received her package yet). I loved how these turned out.

The Hubby took a look at them and told me I should sell them in my shop.  I love his enthusiasm and support but also know he's a bit bias.  I asked a few friends, and they concurred (thanks ladies!!).

The question then became what a better method would be for decorating these mugs and dishes.  As I've come to find out, permanent marker doesn't always stay permanent, especially glazed ceramic.  I worried that I'd go to the trouble of decorating these things, sell them, and then have everything get washed away a short time later.  (Not good for business!)  I eventually settled on (non-toxic) enamel paint.  This is much better.

White Sheep Coffee Mug/Ceramic Black Cup

Pink Sheep Notions/Trinkets Dish

All this to say - there are new items in my Etsy shop!

 Black Swirls Design 2 Stitch Markers

Turquoise Cherry Blossom Clay Stitch Markers

I shared the news on Instagram and Ravelry and had a great response. :)  Which is really why you all are here now!  Because of how well these new items have done, and the increased traffic to my shop, I have hit and passed 100 sales!!  Woohoo!!

So to celebrate, I'm hosting a giveaway.  I'll be giving away 2 sets of stitch markers.  One set will be a set of my sheep stitch markers.  I will contact the winner to ask what colors they'd like their flock to be.

The second winner, will get a set of my new clay stitch markers (seen below).  They're about the same size as the sheep stitch markers.  Light, simple and fun, they're a great way to dress up your knitting.

Pink Cherry Blossom Stitch Markers

So check out my shop, then come back and leave a comment -  say hi, tell me what you like in the shop, or just tell me you'd love to win some stitch markers! :)  Please be sure to leave your Ravelry name or email address so I can contact you if you win.  I will keep the giveaway open until 10pm CST on Thursday, October 31, 2013.  I will then post the winners on November 1, 2013. :)

Good luck!

p.s. If you're interested in ordering something, but you don't see it in the shop, convo me and we'll work something out!

Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered my Fall Giveaway!  It was so much fun to read everyone's comments about their favorite part of fall.  The changing of the leaves is in full swing here and this weekend we did our first round of raking.  We will have several more before winter arrives.  We only have two small trees in our front yard, but each of our neighbors have at least one large Maple tree nearby and each tree releases it's leaves at different times during the season.

Okay, so enough about that stuff right?  On to the winner?

Drumroll......
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And the winner is Lyndsey!

This is what Lyndsey had to say,

"Lots of pretties and gorgeous yarn. I think that is my favorite color this season. As for what I live about fall, I'll quote my favorite little character, "It's autumn? Ah, it is. It's the first day of autumn! A time for hot chocolatety mornings, and toasting marshmallow evenings, and best of all, leaping into *leaves*!"

Congratulations, Lyndsey!  I'll be mailing out your package by the end of the week!

On top of winning 2 skeins of Shelter, Long Johns and the Wood Hollow Mittens pattern, Lyndsey has also won a fall-inspired project bag (made by brownbettystyle on Etsy) and two sets of stitch markers made by yours truly. 

Thanks, again, to everyone who entered.  As I've mentioned, I've been wanting to host a giveaway for quite some time and you all have made this one very enjoyable!  

Fall Giveaway

I’ve been wanting to host a giveaway of sorts for quite some time.  I’ve had one or two before and I really enjoyed them.

I thought about having one to mark my 100^th post, but I didn’t.  I considered one for reaching 1 year, but that came and went before I really had time to think.

I know I will be adjusting to a new and different schedule when Lovebug arrives, sometime having extra down time, and sometimes wishing there were more hours in a day and having more than two hands.

So, with school back in swing, Fall quickly changing the scenery (my favorite time of year), my 2-year blogiversary and the quickly approaching arrival of our baby girl, I thought now would be a good time for a giveaway.

So are you ready to hear what’s up for grabs?  Maybe I should postpone a bit…

…nah…just kidding.

I am going to be giving away 2 skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in the color Lohn Johns,

along with the pattern Wood Hollow Mittens by Kirstin Kapur.

 (This giveaway is for the mitten pattern only, the hat pattern is not included.)

Photos by Kirsten Kapur

Both of these things remind me of Fall…the changing colors on the Maple trees, the chilling of the air, and the approach of family holidays.  The perfect time of year to knit something warm and beautiful for the cool weather.

There may be a few other small goodies thrown in, but I have yet to make those decisions.  The pattern will be gifted via Ravelry once the winner has been selected.  

A little giveaway to mark a great time of year.

To enter please:

1.     Leave a comment under this post telling me what you enjoy about the Fall.  It doesn’t have to be Fall for you right now, but seeing as how I’m in the US/Midwest, it’s on the brain and I’d love to hear other stories. 

2.     Please include your name and email address or Ravelry ID so I have a way to contact you if you’re the winner!

3.     I will return in 1 week (Tuesday, October 25, 2011) to announce a winner and share the entire goodie basket to be sent to the winner’s doorstep!  (Sign-ups will close at midnight CST on Monday, October 24, 2011.)

So get to it! Leave a comment, have a wonderful week and Good Luck!

ETA: Some people are having trouble with Blogger recognizing their Blogger ID and allowing them to post.  Try posting as "anonymous" and just adding your Ravelry ID or email address in your message.  If you continue to have issues, message me on Ravelry and I'll add an entry for you (raelynne01 on Rav).  Thanks for playing!

Check out the giveaway...

On Susan Anderson's blog today!

You've all read how much I love this book and now you have the opportunity to win your own copy and some Soak, which I hear is wonderful! I just had to share this since I love this book so much myself. :)

You can find the giveaway HERE.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

From Andrea

My turn, my turn! :)  Remember me posting about the Secret Santa package I sent off?  (You must remember, it was only 2-3 days ago!!)  Well, I got mine in the mail right after Thanksgiving! :) And if I must say, it's a great way to round out a long holiday weekend! :)

The wonderful Andrea (andreaadams) put together a fantastic swap package for me.  Although, I should sort of say "us" because she included things that both J & X would appreciate as well. And almost all of it was overflowing a big red stocking! :)  So instead of a lot of talking, I'm just going to do what I do best.  Show you pictures.  I know, you're shocked, I can tell!

(Okay I fibbed a little...just a bit more talking.)  The mailman brought our mail to the door but I had to sign for a package.  Okay, no big deal....except there was no package to be seen.  Turns out, he had to go back to his truck to get it because...well...we're the last stop on his route and it was too big for him to carry all over the neighborhood!

The package included:

Starting with the knitty goodies this time - 3 skeins of Mission Falls 1824 Wool yarn in Mist.  Beautiful colorway, by the way.  I've not tried this yet, but it's a lovely, soft superwash that's made in Canada!  I've heard some great things about it on the boards.  I can't wait to try it!  (That's what I love about swaps...trying new things!)

And then there were these little folded scissors (my mom had a pair like this for her cross-stitching when I was little...) and a set of stitch markers.  Awesome! You can never have too many stitch markers. Ever.

Just wait, the crafty fun's not done yet!  Then there were these buttons!!! LOVE (1000000).  A set of 5 sailboat buttons!  I love them!  I must find something to knit for X and use these for him!  The best part? Andrea picked this up earlier this year when shopping, and thought of X & I when she found them!  She must be psychic!  There were also 2 sets of fun, orange buttons.  And a stack of fat quarters.  A bundle of fat quarters are just as necessary as stitch markers, in my opinion.

For X, there were a ton of goodies too.  First and foremost, this yellow taxi car.  He loves this thing and has been carrying it around the house since he pulled it out of the box. (Yes, he saw it and took it out, not me!)  In addition to that was "Merry Sparkling Christmas."  This book is filled with sparkly Christmas goodness on every page.  Perfect for little children...and my sister...lol.  And although we may get crayon or marker all over, there is a fun wooden snowman ornament for us to color together.  We just got X a new set of "smooth stix" Crayola crayons that I'm thinking would be perfect for this!

I almost forgot to get a picture of the next bit.  In every swap, someone from Canada sends their swap partner "Smarties."  Well, this time it was my turn!  (Others may get them too, but I was pretty excited we got to try them.)  They were out of the box and shared with everyone before I took pictures  In fact, they were already stored on the counter by the candy by the time I got around to getting the camera out!  So I almost forgot.  Smarties are much like American M&Ms, but flatter, and with a thicker candy coating.  To J & I, they taste similar to the candy coated chocolate eggs you can find at Easter time.  (Both Smarties and the eggs are made by Nestle.)   I love them and X has been enjoying a Smartie or two every day. :)   I also got a small glass container of maple syrup, in the shape of a maple leaf!  It's time to make some waffles or pancakes!  And a tiny little pine-scented candle to celebrate the Christmas season!

See this lovely blue scarf?  It's for me. :)  It's soft and warm and I've already worn it. :)  Have I said how much I love blue?

And finally, a few Christmas decorations.  An adorable set of Santa ornaments and holiday gift tags.  When the tree goes up this weekend, they will find a home! :)

I feel so spoiled and blessed to have such a great friend who thought to make this swap so special!  Andrea has a daughter, C, who is right around the same age as X.  It's so fun to see all the stuff Andrea makes for her.  If we ever have a girl, I will be checking out her project page for ideas! :)

Thanks so much, Andrea!  I (we) loved it all! :)

(Okay, WAY more talking than I meant to do, but it all required explanation!  And please excuse the photos taken in the photo box.  Trying to get good light for all this swap loot at once is not an easy task at 8 o' clock at night!)

Friday Favorites 11/26: Giveaways & Good Causes

Hello Friends!

I hope you don't mind how I chose to post today's Friday Favorites.  I was hoping to post today about Thanksgiving yesterday and how X loved playing with his aunt and uncle and grandmas and grandpas.  But I'll save that for another post. :) (Also, I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted.)

Today's Friday Favorites is actually something I read about today as I was perusing through my favorite blogs.  My friend, Sarah, over at In Light of the Truth, is hosting a giveaway and I thought I'd share it with you all. :)

Sarah's friend, Katie, and her husband, are planning and saving to be able to adopt a child from Ethiopia.  Katie and her mother have an Etsy shop, Already Love You, where they sell items such as changing pads, burp cloths, cloth bibs and nursing covers.  I've been looking at all their stuff this morning and it's beautiful!  It makes me want one of each at least!  All the proceeds earned from her Etsy sales are going directly to their adoption fund.  I think this is such a great thing.  Not only is Katie able to use her crafty talent and share that with others, but she's also getting closer to adding another member to their family, one step at a time.

So today I'd just like to share a couple of my favorite items from her shop.  (And encourage you to stop by Sarah's blog and enter the giveaway.  She's got a great blog and I read it all the time!)

Hoot Changing Mat & Burp Cloths

These little owls are SO adorable!!  What a fun fabric.  This is one of my very favorites in Katie's shop.

Deluxe Gift Set (Nursing Cover, Bibs, Changing Mat)

I've told you before how much I like paisley.  This set is sweet and sophisticated.  Great for that mom that loves to be stylish!

Nursing Cover & Burp Cloth Set - sweet orange & blue

I love the design of these nursing covers.  Light enough to keep baby cool, boning in the top to allow mamma to see her sweet baby.  They have even included a little piece of terrycloth in the corner on the inside to allow for clean up or storing nursing pads.  LOVE THIS!

I hope you've enjoyed this Friday Favorites.  I know I have!  Giveaways are awesome, not only because you have the chance to win something, but mostly because it allows you the chance to hear about new products, whether it be needles, yarn, a new pattern or mamma/baby items!

Come back soon! :)