Happy Thursday

I had much to be happy about today.

• The winds slowed from their former 60 mph speed to 20 mph.
• I won a paste paper giveaway and am excited beyond words. (Read about Lark Crafts (inspiring ideas. giveaway here. And visit Maurer's site. It's fascinating.)
• The sun stayed out for a few consecutive hours, enough for my solar lights to fire up this evening.
• We carved pumpkins after dinner, which is my entry for Simple Lives Thursday. Some wood carving tools, thumb tacks, a bowl of pumpkin goo. A little radio, replaced by a read aloud book about Catholic Mexico in the 1930's, followed by plain old conversation. Some photo breaks interspersed. Saved some seeds at "I" of GAIN's request. Loved it.

In the words of my older son, my kids are "Gourd Smiths." He's always had a certain way with words :-)

I like the simple activities. No television, very low technology. Kids using their brains to be creative with fine and gross motor skills, listening to rich language on an interesting topic (My Heart Lies South, by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino). No fighting, respectful opinions are asked and given, everyone loves each other. Based on this experience, I am considering having the kids all carve squash for future celebrations.

Beverly/Bibay wins the bag giveaway!

I was touched by all the entrants for my organic sateen bag giveaway. It's got lovely floral handles and a fresh pastel color to make it distinguishable from everyone else's bag.

Random.org chose comment 88 which was

"I always use my cloth bag whenever i am shopping =D"


Beverly/bibay will have an email to confirm. I just visited her weblog, which you may also want to do -- it is full of giveaways (and The GoGo's!).

Bag Giveaway

I've spent a good amount of time with the Green Bag Lady bag that I was gifted. Here is my Green Bag Lady bag to giveaway. I've signed this one, just like the Green Bag Lady does. Read on if you'd like me to give this bag to you.

The bag is light blue with blue floral handles. Fabric by Harmony Art (organic design). It is roughly 18 x 18 x 3 inches plus handles.

I will give this bag away by choosing a random comment. The writer of the comment wins. Easy!

For a chance at this bag, you will leave a comment here. You must include your email address or have a blogger account so I can tell you that you are a winner.

You can leave up to four comments -- which increases your chance of winning the bag. Comments will close on Jan. 16; I'll choose a winner by random on Jan. 17, 2010.

1. Read my article on reusable cloth bags. [Leave a comment at the examiner.com article site if there are other stores that offer monetary credit for bringing your own bags.] Leave a comment here telling me if you use cloth bags.

2. Subscribe to my Examiner column or follow this blog -- your choice -- for a second chance. If you currently or newly subscribe or follow, tell me in a comment here.

3. If you are willing to pay it forward, leave another comment. If you win, I will supply you with pre-cut fabric to make and then give away _another_ bag . It is truly the easiest bag I've made. [I'll post instructions soon for anyone who cannot wait to make their own. It takes very little fabric.]

4. Tweet about this giveaway for another chance, then comment here about it: RT @threesisjulia Win a handmade shopping bag! visit http://wanderingknits.blogspot.com/2010/01/bag-giveaway.html

Giveaway

I'm holding a giveaway for each of these items -- three pocket tissue covers and a bag dispenser. They are leftover Christmas gifts, all lonely and looking for a home. Do you need a gift for yourself? Here's how you can get one.

1. Read my article about crafting gifts vs. buying gifts here. Then comment at the examiner site or here on this blog, telling the amount (percent) of gift crafting you do and which of the four items you would like to win.

2. Subscribe to my examiner articles, then leave me a comment about it here for another chance to win. If you already subscribe, tell me in the comment area below.

3. Tweet or Facebook about my giveaway for a third chance on a gift. Leave a comment so I  know you did this. Copy and paste: RT @threesisjulia Julia is having a handmade giveaway. Visit http://wanderingknits.blogspot.com/2009/12/giveaway.html

I will choose a winner using random.org in one week. NO DOUBLE DIPPING -- I will not accept duplicate comments made on my examiner site. I will ship only to the lower 48 states. Winners will be notified by email and contacted privately to discuss mailing addresses.

The bag dispenser has honeybee fabric. My oldest always drew on everything until she was 8 years old, so if you want this bag dispenser, you'll see toddler doodles on the bee fabric.

giveaway and kitchen

I mailed out my travel purse to redzshadow a couple days ago. I reused a mailer from a book I recently mooched via BookMooch. Love through giveaways makes my world go round. :-)

I used my new bag again tonight. Knowing the story behind it really makes me want to use it more. I took a picture with my camera phone, but it will need to wait for a future post.

I also have a new stove. I lurve it. The convection bake feature is wildly cool. The heat control is fantastic. We now have half our kitchen in cream and half in black.

The winner is...

Our first winner has not responded after our three attempts over the past week. Let's try...

redzshadow!

Congratulations and I'll be sending a private message to you shortly!

Travel purse on hold

Ginny has until Saturday, Dec. 12 to contact me. If there has been no contact, a new winner will be chosen on Sun., Dec. 13,  from the comments left on the travel purse giveaway.

The winner is....

GINNY !!!

An email should be coming your way soon.

This was a truly hard decision. My older daughter and I went through the comments and narrowed down the selections after checking people's blogs and profiles. Happy Holidays everyone! JULIA

Travel Purse Giveaway

Thank you for visiting. It's 11 p.m. Comments are now CLOSED. 
I'll pick and notify the winner on Sunday.


I'm having a GIVEAWAY!!! I've always wanted to say that. :-)

After you are finished reading here, feel free to check out my other blog posts.

Sew, Mama, Sew visitors, welcome to my crafty place! I'm a stay at home mom to my four kids and I've been married to Mr. TellBlast for sixteen years. I homeschool three of my four kids. After eight years at home, my oldest is currently enrolled full time in high school. I craft in my spare time.

I am giving away a Travel Purse a la Michelle at the vintage sheet, which I was made aware of through daily visits to the Sew, Mama, Sew blog.

My travel purse is 5 7/16" high and 4 1/2" wide. The handle is 23 1/2" long. Worn across the body or over the shoulder on one side puts the purse right at my hip. It is made of quilting cotton. Brand new, never used!

I swayed a little from the tutorial while making the pocket. I turned the edges under and used a straight stitch to create a cleaner look than a zigzag. The pocket is perfectly handy for a credit card. If your card is always lost and you take forever to fish it out, this pocket will be great for you.

The lining fabric was taken from my 9yo daughter. She thought she'd like to handsew a 9-patch quilt around April, but she just isn't ready for the amount of precision needed to make a good-looking block. And then she was given a brand new sewing machine in September. So hand stitching a quilt isn't her cup of tea any more. (But she does like red hibiscus flower tea thanks to Ms. Kristie.) The button is vintage from my slowly shrinking collection. The outside fabric was bought special, just for this purse. Aw, how nice.

To be awarded with this travel purse, you need to comment here no later than 11 p.m. CST on Dec. 5. The gift will be awarded  on Dec. 6 to the person who answers this question best: Where will you take your travel purse? Please leave your email address if you are not a blogspot blogger so I can let you know if you are the winner.

I will ship within the continental U.S. by Dec. 12 Sorry, international readers :-( After I won something that required international postage, I felt pretty bad about claiming my prize. I LOVE the charms I got, but don't feel good about the monetary and non-monetary costs associated. Thanks for understanding

Crafting in 2009

Not a lot of changes here. Prayer shawl ministry has supplied some yarn so I can do some mindless knitting when I need it. My remnant scarf is still a WIP (work in progress). It requires more thinking than most scarves, and I like that. Of course, my state of alertness tells me when to work on it. My crazy quilt stash is finally getting smaller! YAY -- I have no idea what the block count is. Funny thing is, even with all those scraps gone, my scrap drawer is still full. I think fabric fluffs out and compresses as the situation dictates. "I" of GAIN is still working away at her valentines. Biggest challenge is the envelopes. If they need to be mailed, we have to get a sturdy envelope. Future 2009 valentines will be made to fit a conventional envelope if they have to be mailed.

Lastly, check out the Crafty Crow. She has a giveaway!

This picture is the girls working on Chinese calligraphy, their idea. Happy Chinese New Year a bit early.