Our Busy Little Bunch: August 2011

August 31, 2011

Are you a Wantobe Quilter?

Have you heard about the Wantobe Quilters Campaign going on at at www.sewwequilt.com?

They are giving away quilting supplies 5 x a week for the next 9 weeks!

The campaign began Aug 1st and runs till Oct 29th.

Prizes are everything from sewing machines to irons, to die cutters,

to mats, to rotary cutters, sewing baskets, scissors, batting, needles,

rolled sewing machine bags, patterns, books, magazines…everything

you could imagine to assist you in being a NEW Quilter.

A Wantobe Quilter is someone who has no quilting tools, has never quilted.

They can enter on M-W-F to win...they leave a comment on the giveaway post with the name of my blog (Our Busy Little Bunch).

Check their Saturday posts for recaps of the week, the giveaways are FABULOUS.

http://www.sewwequilt.com/2011/08/saturdays-are-our-sponsor-daysrecap-of.html

http://www.sewwequilt.com/2011/08/wantobe-quilter-sponsor-day-recap-of.html

And if you are already part of this community you can win

quilting stuff too…Tuesdays and Thursdays are days for us.

( that is Quilters) we have supplies but we can win better ones..

So, if you're a Wantobe quilter, all you have to do is email ourbusylittlebunch@hotmail.com with your

name and email so I can submit this to the organizer, because if you win anything I can win something too.

So go check it out! There are over 53 sponsors involved and I am pretty excited to be part of this, sew should you. I love being a QUILTER!

P.S. You will not be eligible to win anything if you do not register

with me or another blogger where you see this message.

August 29, 2011

Aurifil thread Giveaway . . .

This lovely package came in the mail, and Aurifil asked me to share it with you!

This thread has a great reputation for being stronger, creating less lint in your sewing machine, and having a silky smooth texture that makes it a dream to work with. FIVE lucky winners will get a five-pack of this thread to try out!

I've had an invitation from Rafflecopter sitting in my email for weeks so I thought I'd give it a try on this one. It seems to be successful over here today.

Winners will be picked on Tues, Sept 6th ~ I figure I should have time to pick them since school is already starting next week! Open worldwide. Good luck!

(if you don't see the Rafflecopter box below, just click on 'Read more') . . .

Riley Blake Quilt Contest ~ voting is open!

The Riley Blake Quilt contest is open for voting until Sept 1st. There is some gorgeous quilts that made it to the finals and some serious talent was involved in the making of them! I've picked my favourite and voted, have you?

And submissions for the Home Decor category open on September 7th. Every entry gets a chance at a free cruise, and there's some great prizes for the winning entries!

August 25, 2011

birthday gifts . . .

One of my nephews had a birthday last week, and this is a scripture tote I made for him. My oldest daughter picked out the fabric and approved of the design.

Then a birthday invitation came home for a little girl and an apron was made. This time my middle daughter picked out the fabric and trim, and specified the need for a flower to embellish it. Maybe it's time to get a kids sewing machine for my helpers . . .

I'm off to tidy the house for the babysitter, so hubby and I can enjoy a night out to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary!

August 23, 2011

Connecting Threads fabric design contest . . .

Lee from Freshly Pieced (a fellow blogger and quilter extraordinaire) entered her design into the Connecting Threads fabric design contest and it's in the top three! I'd love to order this design if it becomes available, so please vote for her if you like it too!

It's called 'Flourish' and it's in the fourth row from the top. You can only vote once. Then go check out all the other designs in the running and in the other categories, and place some more votes. Have fun!

August 20, 2011

Announcing the Re-Launch of Kinder® Surprise® in Canada!

Kinder Surprise is re-launching their beloved chocolate covered egg surprises with bigger, more playful toys and featuring over 70 new toys for our kids to play with! I'm excited to be a part of this as a Kinder-Mom! We love Kinder Surprises at our house ~ they make a special treat, a great reward, and the perfect lunch box surprise or stocking stuffer!

Today the kids and I had a 'Mommy Saturday'. This is a Saturday when Daddy is working, and Mommy gets to do something special with the kids because after a week of parenting, I need a fun day too. So we went to the library to pick out new books, visited with my sister so they could play with their cousins, went to the candy shop where their favourite babysitter works and have some ice cream cones, came home for backyard sprinkler time, watched a Nancy Drew movie while the little guy napped and Mommy escaped to the craft room, finished up the back-to-school shopping and did some groceries, and came home with some Kinder Surprises for their good behaviour in the grocery store. I love these busy fun Summer days where we go out and the house stays clean, and the kids and I make fun memories together. And my kids don't expect a reward for every shopping trip, but on 'Mommy Saturdays' I like to promise them a reward so the shopping goes a little bit easier.

Kinder stands behind their commitment to simple high-quality ingredients, responsible treating, and offering a peanut-free product. Being peanut-free is especially important to me because I have a life-threatening nut allergy. And this also makes this a great treat for the lunch-box or to hand out to classmates on a birthday.

Be sure to check out their new Facebook page for 5000 free Kinder Surprise coupons being handed out by the end of this month!

Disclosure: I’m part of the Kinder® Mom program and I receive compensation as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.

August 19, 2011

small projects and a big fabric purchase . . .

This Summer has been fun, but busy. We've spent time camping, swimming, playing, and learning. And my kids and I have never been this tanned before. I've caught an hour here and there in my craft room, and in some ways I'm looking forward to getting more time in there with the school year starting, but for now I'm going to keep enjoying these kids being home.

This little tote was made using this pattern, but I adjusted the measurements to make it a bit bigger, added some interior pockets, and a snap closure. I'm not sure who it's for, I just wanted to try out the pattern.

And our minivan needed a new engine this Summer, and a generous family in our church let us borrow theirs until it was fixed. She had a box of cards and notes in her van, and the box was broken so I made a fabric box to replace it. My oldest daughter helped pick out the fabrics for this one.

And here's my big fabric purchase for the year. These are all half yard cuts (had to take advantage of how many yards can fit in a flat rate envelope, right?) and I'm hoping to stockpile some purses and totes for birthday gifts. The top row is all from the Feeling Groovy line by Riley Blake, the second row is an assortment of designers, and the bug print on the bottom is for a backpack for my little guy. I took advantage of the buy three, get one free sale from the Sproutz Store for these.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

August 16, 2011

Picnic quilt top complete . . .

I managed to spend some time in the craft room during nap time this week and finished piecing together my picnic quilt. I used the drunkard's path die with my Baby GO!, some Kona solid in ash for the borders, and a big mix of fat quarters for the blocks. It measures 65" square.

Now I'm going to put this one aside for awhile while I decide on a backing ~ maybe something heavier-weight than a cotton since it's going to be used outside? I'll have to browse some fabric shops before I decide :)

Linking up to Show & Tell, Fabric Tuesday and WIP Wednesday.

August 15, 2011

My Memories Scrapbook Software Giveaway!

CONGRATS to the winner ~ PAM ~ I'll send you an email!

I used to be a scrapbooker, I have the expensive kits and stamp sets to prove it. But finding the time and space to keep my scrapbooking up to date just hasn't been happening in the past couple years. And the idea of digital scrapbooking has become more and more appealing. So when I was contacted by My Memories to demo their digital scrapbooking software, I was more than happy to oblige.

There are so many great digital kits in their store, priced below their competitors (and there's a bunch of free ones too!), and they are adding new ones all the time. Now I can create my scrapbooks in no time at all, even using 'quick pages' that are all pre-done for me ~ I just have to drop in the pictures. And I won't have to pay for the development of all my pictures in addition to all the scrapbooking supplies anymore!

And it's not just scrapbooking that this software is great for, you can create greeting cards, new blog banners, desktop calendars, invitations, and so much more. Above is a desktop calendar I created, and below are the covers and insides of some greeting cards. It took no time at all to make these.

And I said that there's a giveaway, right? One person is going to win their own My Memories Suite Scrapbook Software! Just leave a separate comment for each entry:

Visit www.MyMemories.com and take a look at their digital paper packs and layouts. Tell me which one is your favorite!
Follow the My Memories blog.
Follow My Memories on Facebook.
Follow My Memories on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway.
Share this giveaway on your blog or facebook, and leave the link.
Follow Our Busy Little Bunch blog.

Good luck! Winner will be picked by random.org on Wednesday, Aug 24th. Open to everyone!

August 10, 2011

and the winner of the Sproutz Store giveaway is . . .

Thanks so much to everyone for checking out the Sproutz Store and entering their generous quilt kit giveaway! I just took advantage of their buy three, get one free sale and can't wait for my big squishy envelope to arrive!

Without further ado, the winner is . . .

Congrats! I'll send you an email right away.

August 09, 2011

One day left to enter the Central Park Quilt Kit giveaway . . .

I have nothing crafty to show this week because we're enjoying some camping with the kiddos! So I'll just remind those of you that were on holidays last week about the sponsored giveaway on my blog from the Sproutz Store for a quilt kit with Kate Spain's Central Park fabric ~ enter here!

August 05, 2011

Messenger bag tutorial featured on Sew Mama Sew today!

Last month, I spent some time working on a messenger bag tutorial and submitted it to the Sew Mama Sew Back-to-School feature. And it was posted over there today! I hope it inspires some other crafters to make some. I have plans to make a second one for my oldest daughter in some laminate fabric.

I also modified the dimensions to make a matching lunch bag. I lined it with some PUL so it's also waterproof.

This messenger bag has barely left my little girls side and it even came camping with us last week. I love it when my girls use (and sometimes abuse) things I've made for them, it keeps me wanting to make more!