Giveaway time...

Last year I designed a project for the book 'Countdown Calendars'

It's a 'How long till school starts?' calendar with felt patches with pictures appliqued on them,

which flip over to count down the days either to starting school for the very first time or a brand new term.

The pattern and instructions to make one are included in the book, or...

you could leave a comment on this post to win mine!

I'll leave it open until next monday, ie Halloween to draw a winner.

Mooooooooooooo,

There have been a few of these giveaways popping up on the internet lately, and I'm really pleased to be part of the fun now as Moo have very kindly asked if my blog readers would be interested in some of their new sticker range.  Would you?

I've been a Moo user since I began blogging, in particular the mini cards which I use as business cards but also as swing tags for my Softies (punch a hole in one end and attach with string).

So what is the deal?  Moo are providing 50 of their new round stickers and also 50 of the rectangular stickers to 5 blog readers.

If you're a winner, you can upload your own images, or choose from a vast range of ready made artwork and templates and personalise them with your own details. Moo's unique printing technology, 'printfinity' allows you to place a different image or design on every sticker and there's a range of options to create custom sticky products including uploading company logos and photos to embellish your own products branding.

I'd be very surprised if you hadn't come across Moo before given they produce just about the best sticker books, business cards, postcards and greetings cards out there.

For a chance to win one of the 5 sets of 100 stickers (that's 50 of each new shape), just post a comment on this post saying what you would use them for.  The giveaway will close next Wednesday, 6th July at midnight (GMT).

I'm kind of hoping no-one enters, that way I can have all the freebies!

edited to add - there have been a few problems with leaving comments, so I've changed my comment settings whilst the giveaway is running, just please make sure you leave an email address so we can contact you if you win, thanks.

On my desk today,

Hello, long time no post..., it's been a mixture of a missing camera (now found, don't tell the husband I mislaid it!), being a bit on the poorly side (on antibiotics) and a flood in the kitchen resulting in the book giveaway being left open for a bit longer than originally planned (leaking washing machine hose, fixed now but damage has been done).

Have all you Blogger bloggers noticed the new template designer feature?, it's fab, been a long time coming, but very welcome now it's here.  Also, static pages, look, see the tabs up at the top ⇡⇡⇡.  The pages are still blank, and I'm not done fiddling around with the layout yet, too much to play with!

Like this, which is in progress on my desk.  It's my new pattern for a Mole.  This is the second body as the first was not quite right (too big, although they could end up as Mr & Mrs Mole) and now I'm having trouble deciding on how to create the claws so in the meantime am tackling an easier part and adding the tummy.

Right, book giveaway winner.  After weeding out all the spam comments (is anyone else getting loads or is it just me?!), the winner is...,

number 53, which is Alibobbles.

Now, back to sewing Mole claws!

Book giveaway...,

My copies have arrived!, it is a lovely experience holding a book with your work featured in it for the first time.  The publisher has sent 3 copies, and as my shelves are a little crammed already, I have decided to give 1 away..., to you lot!

You know the drill.  Leave a comment, that has some way I can contact you, and I'll pick a winner.

Closing date for comments will be midnight on Saturday 5th June GMT.

What's that?, it's uncanny how much I look like Michelle Pfeiffer in my author photo, yeah, a lot of people say that to me...!

EDITED TO ADD - THE GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED, THANK YOU

Winner & sneak peaks,

Can't believe it's heading towards Easter already,

...and while I'm eating the chocolate, the Easter Bunny gnaws on a carrot!

The random number generator has been doing it's thing again, and the giveaway winner is...,

number 9 - Kazzells 

Looks like the Peacock was almost the unanimous choice!

Just a quick mention about something else, I had an email a couple of weeks ago about a new online platform available for viewing Etsy.  It's by PicClick, works for searches of items, for example Owl Softies, the same way Etsy does, and is handy because it brings all the images together on the same page, makes it so much easier for quick viewing rather than trawling through page after page.  Handy for keeping tabs on any design copies out there!

Big news, big giveaway!

I have been holding off posting for a number of reasons..., firstly as the 9th March it will be my 3rd Blogiversary, I wanted to wait till closer to the date, secondly because this is my 200th post, so it makes sense to tie the two events together, and thirdly I have been waiting on the go ahead to announce this!

Say Hello to 'Little Birds'...,

I am very pleased to say that I am part of the C&T Publishing Design Collective which is evolving and will be known by the name of 'Stash', 'Little Birds' is one of the first publications under this Imprint.  As you may have guessed, it is full of projects involving birds as the common theme, and includes a talented bunch of designers including Melly & me, Abigail Brown, MummySam, Bari J  and Resurrection Fern.  The book is a real selection box full of delights to quilt, embroider and sew, all complied by C&T's Susanne Woods, and now available for pre-order.

My contributions, for there are indeed two, are...,

 

 the pattern for a Peacock softie, 

 

and a Stork mobile.

The Stork's heart even has a space to embroider a name and birthday!

Ok, now all the formalities are done, lets go back to the fact that it is almost 3 years since I began blogging, and 200 warblings posts.  There have been good times (designs published, kits made, softie's sold), and bad times (broken teeth and falling asleep while sewing and headbutting my sewing machine to name just two).  I pride myself on being human, there's no perfect house or perfect life here.  I am the Calamity Jane of sewing.

So, to say thank you for stopping by, thank you for leaving a comment, and thank you to anyone who has ever linked to me and/or written about me, I'm going to offer a giveaway.  

A commission, from me to you.  In celebration of 'Little Birds' inaugural outing from the C&T nest, I will make one of the patterns for you.  You choose, Peacock or Stork mobile.

Leave a comment, making sure I have some way of reaching you, between now and midnight (GMT) on Tuesday 9th March, and after then, the trusty random number generator will do it's magic and pick a winner.

Winners...,

I should have done this on Monday, but here in the UK, it was a bank holiday so we've been making the most of the final few days of the school holidays.  

Anyway, better late than never, here are the winners of the giveaway,

1st, and winner of the calendar, is comment 61, which is ::

Hannah

2nd is comment 59, which is :: Julia and 3rd is comment 118 :: Lyndyloo!

So, Julia and Lyndyloo, I will email you and find out whether you would like the pattern and fabrics for the kitten or the hedgehog (although, Lyndyloo, I can't access your blogger profile so have no way of contacting you, so if you could email me instead please)

(Kitten)

(Hedgehog)

Well, Lucy was back in school today, and tomorrow, my youngest is starting, his first day at big school.  Will I be a sobbing mum or a running round the playground cheering mum, I wonder!

The Great Giveaway!

My copies of the sewing calendar have arrived, and it's looking pretty good, Megan has done a fantastic job in pulling it all together.  There are 2 projects per week from a huge variety of designers including :  The Long Thread, Elsie Marley, Sew Christine, Rachael Rabbit, Bella Dia,

 Pink Chalk Studio and there are 3 projects in there by me.  

(The calendar is available to purchase here or here)

So, now for the good part!  The great giveaway part!!

There are 3 prizes in total, top prize being a calendar, and for the other 2 winners, they will receive a little pack of materials (fabric, felt, buttons etc), and a copy of either the kitten or the hedgehog pattern as was featured in Sew Hip magazine (you can see them in the blog sidebar), so there are 3 chances to win.

Just leave a comment on this post before midnight (GMT) on Sunday 30th August, and I will get the random number generator to do it's magic.

Hello, this is Lucykate Crafts, and here is today's (giveaway) news...,

Mr LK has returned from Chicago, once through the front door he was brutally pushed aside and his bag ransacked by two small children who had heard a rumour he was in possession of new pairs of crocs.  Unfortunately for them, their mother beat them to it, the call of Orla goodies being stronger...!

YUM!

He was promptly given a hug as the good man had also picked up the latest copy of 'Mothering' magazine, which contains a rather lovely and beautifully written article called 'Crafty Mama's'.

There are interviews with 5 crafty bloggers including Amy Karol and Stephanie Congdon Barnes.

I am doubly pleased to have a copy of this as it also led me to the blog of the writer, The Artful Parent, which is well worth a visit.

In other news, the mobile for the mobile swap is complete and on its way across the pond to it's recipient.

I am embarrassed it is so late, but better late than never.  

And finally, after Trashalou's raffle to raise money for the Bushfire Appeal, the winner of Marmalade requested that she be sent off to the Toy Society, who are collecting donations to be passed on to children who lost everything in the fires.

That means Rusty is all alone and in need of a home.  So begins the 'find Rusty a home' appeal.  By way of apologising for completely forgetting it was my two year blogiversary last week (oops!), who would like to offer this poor, lonely pup a home?

Just leave a comment on this post, you can take part in a little market research for me, and let me know your favorite craft book, and why.  Comments will be closed as of midnight on Wednesday 25th March, so you have almost a week.

In the meantime, if you are in the UK and a mum, Happy Mother's Day for Sunday!

An ode to the colour red...,

I love the colour red, our couch is red (well, deep red, but that's close enough),

(red leather..., swoon!)

my wedding flowers were red, a lot of our ornaments are red,

we have a lot of red things in the (messy!) kitchen too.

(there really are worktops under all that, honest)

So, how pleased do you think I was to receive this in the post the other day?!.  It's my swap mobile from Sara of Kindred Crafters.  It's red, and it's toadstools, can't get more perfect than that.  I love it.

(eek, how hard is it to photograph a mobile?!, STOP SPINNING!)

It's hung in my sewing room at the moment, but I really want to put it above the table in the kitchen once I've got a hook in place to hang it from.

My own mobile is almost sorted and ready to go.  Something else almost ready to go is this flower, well rose to be more precise.  It's been sat on my desk for ages so am going to put it in Etsy, see if I can earn some money to go Etsy shopping myself, or...,

Mr LK is currently on an airplane (again!), en route to Chicago (nope, not jealous in the slightest).  How much Orla Keily kitchenware from Target can he realistically bring back?

I'm going to be hiting that 'find it at a Target store' button a lot over the next few days!

Post is here, post is here!

I've been working on my mobile for the mobile swap I'm signed up for...,

using the embroidered letter idea again really appealed to me, and this time there are four miniature ones addressed to the seasons.

There are some leaves to be embroidered ready to add into the mix too, the problem I have now is to sort out the actual construction of the mobile, not having made one before!

I'd quite like to just string them all in a row, but need to think about how, and with what, any mobile making tips would be greatly appreciated! 

Can I just begin by saying...,

...a huge thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment on the previous post.  I'm really chuffed that an idea that came to me while drifting off to sleep one night last week has gone down so well!

It was well received on valentines day here too!

Choosing a winner for the giveaway after reading through all the nominations has proved an impossible task.  There were so many deserved people (don't we all have a lot to thank our mums for when it comes to our sewing and crafty skills!), I would have dearly loved to send something to everyone mentioned, but sadly, I'm just not able to make quite that many pin cushions.  In the end, I decided to leave it in the hands of the children, and after putting all the names of the commentators in a bowl, they picked out...,

Karen from Sew Many Ways, who nominated Jodi from Simply This That and the Other.

I'm very pleased that Jodi is the winner as she does an awful lot of blogging on other peoples behalf by featuring them on her blog, she did a lovely write up on Lucykate Crafts.

A few people did mention about putting the pin cushion up for auction to raise money for aid needed after the Australian Bush Fires.  Well, hopefully, this is going one better than a pin cushion.  I have donated Marmalade the Cat...,

The lovely Trashy has organised a raffle, if you visit her blog, you will find the details, and there are lots of prizes to win.  To be included in the raffle, all you need to do is visit the British Red Cross site or the Australian Red Cross and make a donation to the Bushfire Relief Fund, let Trashy know, and you earn tickets for the prize draw, which is being made on Saturday the 21st February.  There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs as well as my little Marmalade, including a purse from Lisa of U-Handbag, and the raffle poster girl herself, gorgeous little Annabelle from Little Cotton Rabbits.

So, what are you waiting for?!, go, go, GO!!

Edit - just a quick note to say I am having a problem with Flickr tonight, my Flickr account plus all my images seem to have disappeared, it just says 'this user is no longer active'!  I did not do anything to my Flickr account, I promise.  Have emailed Flickr, so am just waiting (and hoping) to see if this can be resolved.  

Love letter for a valentine, tutorial and a giveaway all in one!

Are you guys ready for a little Valentines Day crafty tutorial?  Would you like to make a cute little love letter for your loved one?  Right, let's begin, you will need...,

a square of felt or felted wool (mine is from a felted sweater), 16 x 16 cm

a square of fabric in a print of your choice, 18 x 18 cm

a square of bondaweb, 18 x 18 cm

extra bit of fabric for making a stamp and decorating the love letter

one snap fastener

a button

embroidery thread

pins, sewing needle, scissors

steam iron

sewing machine (optional!)

piece of card, 10 x 7 cm

Print out the above template so that it is 11cm across where marked, cut out and pin to the felt and trim to match.  Sew a running stitch along the marked 'fold' lines.  This will be removed later as it is just a guide for the lettering position.

Place a small stamp shaped piece of fabric in the top right hand corner of the envelope front and stitch.  I've done this using my sewing machine, only because I feel guilty I've not used it much since I bought it, but you can easily do this by hand.  I also added an embroidered postmark for extra cuteness!

(edit - you can do free machine embroidery on pretty much any sewing machine, all you need to do is drop the feed-dog and use a darning foot, it's just like drawing with thread!)

Next, embroider a name and address.  It is obvious who mine is for, I couldn't do anything suspicious, he reads my blog!  Once the address is complete, you can pull out the running stitch marker.

The next stage is to add the bondaweb, place your envelope on top of the sticky side of the bondaweb, turn both over, so the paper side is facing up and press with the steam iron.  Trim away the excess bondaweb and then peel off the backing paper.  Turn the envelope over again, face down, place the fabric right side up on top, and again, press with the steam iron to fix the two together.

Trim away the excess fabric, fold the envelope as indicated on the template, and once again, press with the steam iron.

To assemble the envelope, stitch a running stitch around all of the edges making sure to stitch through both layers where it overlaps, adding the button,

and snap fastener as you go.

Now you are ready to make something to go inside.  All I've done is given the card a torn edge, and stuck on a fabric heart.  I'll write the message later, ...it's private!

And voila, it's done!.  Don't forget to pinch it back after Valentines Day, you can use the envelope again next year!

Now it's time for a little Valentine giveaway, but this one is with a difference.

I would like you to nominate someone, be it family, friend, person in need or just because!

Leave a comment saying who you would like a cotton reel pincushion to go to and why.  I will choose a winner on Valentine's day itself.  They won't get this for the 14th, but if they are reachable by email, I will send a message to tell them of their gift and who has won it for them.

(ps, if you do make one of these love letters, please do join the Lucykate Crafts... pattern pieces group on Flickr and post what you've made so I can see, thank you!)

Edited to add - the giveaway is now closed, thank you.