And the Winner Is...

I am so pleased to announce the winner of the little hooked stool!  So many people entered and it's always so hard to pick just one.  I had Mr. S&W do the honors and our winner is:

Debbie at No Spring Chicken!

 

I have just recently started to follow Debbie...but she is a girl after my own heart...spinning away on her wheel, making beautiful yarn.  Now, I'll add a little rug hooking to her world!  

Debbie, just send me an email with your snail mail and I'll get that goodie out to you!

Thanks everyone for participating! 

(btw...I tried to post a picture, but kept getting hung...blogger's at it again!)

Blogoversary, A Giveaway, and the Winter Blahs

I figured I'd start with the upbeat part of the post!  Today is my one year blog anniversary.  I still can't believe that I hit the post button way back then, but I am very glad that I did.  What a pleasure it's been to meet so many creative people, share stories, and above all, have many laughs!  

To celebrate, I am having a little giveaway.  Just to let you know, if you want to jump start your project list, post about creating something a couple of weeks in advance of actually knowing what you are going to make.  I know I'm not alone in trying this little technique to get the creative juices flowing...nothing like feeling a bit desperate to get you hooking!  Well, rug hooking, that is...but you know what I mean.

So, I did invent a very simple little stool pad.  And I think it's fitting that I'm having a stool giveaway just after a recent colonoscopy...don't you?  (I'm sorry, I couldn't resist)

My camera doesn't do the colors justice.  The star is a butter mustard surrounded by olde crow.  I have some barn red and more mustard around the edge.  Everything looks blue in this picture.  The stool is kind of a khaki.  It's pretty small, good for a table or shelf, or the floor.

It's easy to enter, just leave a little comment on this post and you're in!

Post on your sidebar, and you're in for two.  Just tell me you're doing that in this comment!

I'll draw on January 31.

I recently found a couple of antique rug hooks out on my antiquing adventures.  It's these little purchases that are keeping me from the big anchor pieces, like a farmhouse table, or a prim cupboard for the dining room.  If I could just get off the penny prim junk food! LOL

But seriously, how could you resist these!  Look at the waxy thread around the one on the right.

I've been spinning up a storm.  I had another yarn sale in the Etsy shop, so I needed to start getting some new stuff ready to list.  The roving I found is just wonderful...springy colors of pinks and blues.  I also spun up some chunky wool in a violet and lime green...sounds weird, but it works.

Other than that, I'm feeling the winter doldrums big time.  I don't know if it's the fact that it is so cold, or that I need to stop eating my weight in cookies, or the recent test (which was fine, btw), or having a stressful career that is now entering into the indoor recess phase, or still being pissed off about my jewelry.  All I know is I'm cranky.  And quiet.  I'm visiting your blogs, really I am!  But, I just find I can't form sentences to actually leave comments.  January doldrums, for sure!

You can't be too cranky, though, when you have a cute corgi!

He's my sweet old guy!

Yippee!! We Have a Winner!

Well, I must confess that I don't stay up until midnight ever!  No, not even on New Year's Eve!  Sad, huh?  So, I got up bright and early this morning and piled up all those little strips of paper  into a mixing bowl.  (Yes, I threw you in, Tolentreasures, despite the fact that you entered at 3 am while you were catching up on blog posts! wink!)  I even threw in the folks who left a comment but said they really wanted the prize to go to someone else!  I'm a renegade that way!  In any event, I was so pleased to have more than 50 slips of paper to draw from!!  It's rather heady to have that many comments on my blog for one post!

I reached my 100 followers goal and then some.  I couldn't be more tickled.  Not only did I gain followers, but already, I can tell that you all will become good friends!!  Ok, ok, I'm getting to the winner.

I'm pleased to announce the winner of my very first giveaway is:

Gayle 

The Middle Sister 

Gayle is one of my earliest followers.  I love her and her fabulous blog.  She is a talented rug hooker and quilter!  Do hop on over to her blog.  You won't be sorry!  Gayle, send me an email with your address and I'll get your goodies shipped out!

Thanks to everyone who participated.  I had so much fun...I might be hooked on giveaways!  My 100th post is coming soon! ;-)

Just Hunkering Down

Poor Halloween...a big snowstorm is taking center stage and pushing all the little ghosts and goblins aside!

Instead, we are having a large snowstorm!  Five to ten inches even!

Poor Mr. Sassafras and Winterberry.  He spent the whole day getting the generator ready to hook up.  The lines at the grocery store were out of control.  But, now we have a fire going, stew bubbling, homemade bread cooling, and the flakes are flying!  

I've had such fun with the giveaway...stay tuned for the drawing on Tuesday!  I can't wait!  I was home yesterday with my usual fall cough and cold thing.  We had seven hours of parent conferences the night before and I didn't think I'd get through it.  I did, with only one asthma attack during the last conference.  So, I'm laying low this weekend.  Just hooking, spinning, grooving with the blog, and eating good food!!

My camera has no batteries...and I didn't stock up before the storm...but I have pictures to share for later!

Stay safe and warm if you're in the storm's path...enjoy the weekend!!!

Cheers!

New Yarns and a Giveaway!

I'm nearing that 100 follower mark and think it's high time I had a giveaway!  I've been busy all day, packaging up yarns for the new Etsy shop.  I just love playing with the colors.  Thanks to everyone who popped over to see my new endeavor...I really appreciate it!

I'm so excited that I finally opened my little shop that I thought I'd include a skein of homespun yarn.  It's a rose colored alpaca and Border Leicester mix and it's so soft.  I also have some quarters of dyed rug hooking wool.  The colors are from Karen Kahle's book Vintage Colors.  I just love this color palette and I used them in my flower basket rug.  In addition, there's a dye book by Maryanne Lincoln.  Her recipes are great for shading.  It's even signed!  I threw in a couple of little fun items as well!

I've been so thrilled to become a part of this community.  You all have seen me through some wild transitions in the short time I've been blogging.  I am so blessed to have you as followers and friends!

The rules are simple.  I'm celebrating followers, so the giveaway is open to all followers only.  I'll keep the giveaway open until November 1 at midnight.  Then, I'll pick a winner.  I'm sure I can get 7 more followers in that amount of time!  If you are a follower, leave a comment on this post and I'll put you in for one ticket.  If you post this on your blog, you get two chances.  If you are new, become a follower and I'll include your name. 

That's it!  Enjoy!