And the blogiversary Winner is

Ok the winner has been drawn by my children.  Thank you all who have played.
 We had to draw this twice as the first winner had not left a way for me to contact her.


Yarn Princess said... I wold LOVE to win a copy of your new book. I have been in awe of the yo-yos but afraid to try. Maybe this would help! 

I will probably do another giveaway when i get a copy of the September magazine of crochet

Last two days to sign up for giveaway

To enter the giveaway look for the link on the side bar.  For those who are new to my blog this is where the pattern is for the crochet piece featured in my blog banner.

Crochet Yo-yo giveaway...Blogiversary

I am celebrating my book and my blogs anniversary together.

I received a few copies of my book in the mail yesterday and want to share with my readers.  Please leave your comment at the end of this post to be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of this book.  The books winner will be drawn and announced on July 5th.

Make sure you leave a way for me to get a hold of you or I will have to draw a different winner.  thanks and good luck

Update: to answer a question in the comments yes I am willing to ship the prize any where in the world if the post goes there.

For those who are new to my blog this is where the pattern is for the crochet piece featured in my blog banner.

The Winners Are......

The first winner of the picture holder is
comment number 5

Kimberly said...

What an interesting device. Looking forward to seeing you pictures with it being used. Count me in your drawing...would love to have something like this!

~Kimberly

I have sent you an email stating that the company will be contacting you for your mailing address


The second winner is of the picture holder and book

Annie of Blue Gables said...

How wonderful! Thanks for this opportunity.

I have sent you an email asking you to send me your mailing address thanks everyone for playin.

 Here are some added photo of this item holding strength 12 index cards and it still holds it.  These are thick so it will hold a lot of pages.  Although this is the topping point of its strength.  And a leaflet book that has 10 pages.  Sorry I blurred out the instructions as it isn't my pattern and I don't want to mess with someones copy-write here but I left the page number visible so you could see that.

I will have another give away soon that will be for signed copy of my book. That post will be in the next few days and the drawing of the name will happen on July 5th on my blogiversary.

CSN Giveaway (2 winners will be awarded)

A few weeks ago I talked about another giveaway that was going to happen with CSNstore.com .  Well the test piece arrived and I have tested it.

There will be two giveaways on this one.
My children will draw the winners on  June 2nd.

1.  CSN will mail one out to the first winner in winners choice of color.  Black or natural pear wood.  This will be the first name drawn out!

2.  One from me  same item but only in black (the one I tested)and it will also have with it a book "Japanese Kimekomi".  Since you did not have the chance to pick your color.  This will be the second name drawn out!

RULES

You need to leave a comment in this post and you have to leave a way for me to get a hold of you.  This is so I can get the information I need for you to be able to get the item.  If you follow this in bloglines or on Facebook or some other place you do need to leave the comment on the original post in my blog not those other places to be eligible to win.

Just so you know I have not been paid to do this I was asked to do a giveaway.  I was offered to be able to keep one but I am giving it away as prize number two as I want to be honest with the test. 


Review notes:
Item description

1. Photo Holder by Bortolani Becchelli 
2. cost 23.00 not counting shipping
3. Pear wood 
4. size 6 cm - 3 cm - 5 cm
5. base containing rare earth magnet 
6. steel ball bearing
7. made in Italia(Italy)

The reasons I picked this item I wanted to see if it would work well as a pattern holder.  Patterns which have multiple pages and if it would be a nice travel size to get tossed in a project bag.  I know it is meant to hold pictures on a desk but that is only one thickness of paper so here we go.

Pros

1. Small  fits in the palm of your hand (nice travel size)
2. Strong magnet (rare earth) can hold several papers at once. I recommend folding the papers in half so they stand up straight.  I folded 7 pages  (8 1/2 x 11) in half and it held it well (that 14 pieces of paper it was holding most patterns are not that long so it worked great for this purpose)  It could hold more but that was good enough for me.
3. If traveling you can just copy the pages you want so you don't loose your pattern book and drop them and this in you bag.  When you get to the hotel or where ever, it sets up easy on a table or night stand so you have both hands free to work and can glance at the pattern easily. 
4. can hold leaflet books without folding them in half because of the rigidity of their covers
5. If you loose the bearing it is easy to replace at any hardware store
6. perfect for original purpose as a photo holder

Cons

1. It is a 2 piece item one the base and two the metal ball   (can easily loose one part making it not work, the bearing)
2. Chocking hazard for small children
3. not able to use in car as the surfaces would not be flat and two bouncy
4. Because of it has a small size you do have to fold over loose leaf pages to hold them up right.  Making you only be able to read a part of the page.  Not to big of a deal as you only look at one section at a time any way.
5. The price doesn't seem to fit the item seems to high even for an import with pear wood.

I forgot to take photos of the test so I will do it again and add those later. Thanks
Wendy and good luck

update this was originally had a post date of May 22 I brought it up to May 29th so it could still be visible on the first page of my blog  Please feel free to enter this giveaway

The winner is....

The winner of the my friendship bracelet maker is comment 11as picked by my Middle daughter.

"mym ; on Ravelry said...
brilliant ! thanks for showing me that .
marie in florida"

thank you for letting me know you are on Ravelry took me  a second to find you but I did.   I have sent you an email through Ravelry saying what I needed from you such as

• our name 
• address 
• email 

so the company can send you the item and contact you if they need more info

thanks wendy
congratulations

Give away: "My Friendship Bracelet Maker"

I and my daughters where asked if we would test out the new "My friendship bracelet maker"

http://www.myfbm.com/

All three of my daughters and myself have made bracelets on it.  Here are the results from youngest to oldest.

Just so you know the company is giving one of these away to one lucky reader of this blog.  Just leave your comment at the end of this post.  Leave me a way to get a hold of you so I can contact you at the end of the give away.  If I can't get a hold of the winner the prize will be given to another person in the list of comments.

You will not win the one we tested the girls get to keep that one.  You will get a new one sent straight from the manufacture to you.

For those who read this in other feeds such as facebook and bloglines and such you have to leave the comment on my blog for it to be eligible to win.  My oldest daughter will draw the name at the end of this so I will have no say in who the winner is.  The winner will be drawn on Wednesday of next week May 26, 2010.

Here are some basic statistics on this item
cost : $19.99
size :14 x 8 x 3
sliding drawer to store threads, instructions
comes with: instructions
comes with: 56 threads that are 60 inches long

My 8 year old 

who made her first bracelet on this

Pro's

1. You don't have to hold all the strings in your hands.
2. You don't have to pin it to your clothes and make holes in your clothes.
3. It helps to keep things straight.

Con's

1. Did not like that it (the thread) could pop out of the butterfly clip (10 times).

Youngest daughter has never made a friendship bracelets before.  She tends to pull harder than she has to thus her con probably isn't a con with a little practice as she won't pull so hard once she gets better at it.  She pulled real hard to hard in fact and broke a few of her threads.  So I don't think it was the tools fault.  I watched her to see how she would do as it was her first time.

My 10 year old 

who has made a few bracelets before

Pro's

1. Kept all the threads nice and neat on top.
2. I also liked that you could pull on it as hard as you wanted and the threads would not pop out of the butterfly clip.
3. These are the fastest bracelets I have ever made because I didn't have to stop and untangle.
4. I also like how it stores the threads nice and neat and the finished bracelet too inside in the drawer.

Con's
She said there was nothing she didn't like about it.

My 12 year old daughter 

who has made tons of bracelets before

Pro's

1.  It kept everything nice and neat.
2. I could tell which thread I had to pick up next with out having to try and find it.
3. The backs of my bracelets are now much neater.
4. It kept everything nice and flat and it didn't curl up on it self.

Con's

1.  It could use rubber pads on the bottom so it doesn't slid around as easy

Me 

I have made bracelets or about 25 years 

in lots of different styles

Pro's.

1. It makes a nice travel item for in the car as the supplies are all ready to go
2.  Comes with 56 already cut threads so depending on how many threads you use from 2 to 6 you can make from a minimum 10 to a maximum of 28 bracelets with out having to cut new thread. 
3. It can do up to 1-6 strands folded over so 2-12 threads in the bracelet area that is a nice range to work from( there is a mistake in the instructions that leads you to believe that it can only do up to 10 threads because there are 10 slots but once you get past the first row of knots you can have a thread hang off of each side and not get tangles because all the rest are kept secure.
4. It has an adjustment to move the butterfly away from you as the bracelet gets longer (which is nice as I use to pin theses to jeans and wear holes in my jeans or safety pin them to an ankle friendship bracelet which meant sitting funny to get it farther away from me)
5. Can store unfinished bracelet inside in the compartments
6. Has nice clear instruction on how to form the number 4 knot (forward knot as it is known to most people that make bracelets) that even little children can understand
7. Explains how to make your first bracelet (great beginner instructions)
8. Nice to be able to sit at a table instead of on the floor which is what you sort of have to do if it is tied to your ankle bracelet
9. Fits easily in a backpack to do during recess at school
10. Cutter than using a clip board I have seen some people use especially for  little girls
11. Don't have to carry scissors when you first get it as the threads are all ready cut.  But you will have to cut the thread when done.  So there is a compartment in the box big enough for a small pair of scissors.
12. You can go to their website for more patterns by joining their email list
13. Explains one other type of knot on their website

Con's

1. Only explains a "(number 4 knot) forward knot" and doesn't call it a forward knot there are also "backwards knot"s and "forward backwards knot" and a"backwards forward knot" which are needed for advanced  bracelets
2. Only explains how to do one type of bracelet with the inclosed instructions
3. It could use some rubber pads on the bottom so it doesn't slide so easy on a table  they are easy to find and buy and fix that any hardware store 
4. Should come in a boy version as I have seen boys make these too.  Very girlie. ( I have been told it will come in a boy version in the future so this con will go away soon)

In all, all four of us liked it very much and would buy it to give to friends as birthday gifts and things of that sort.


Don't forget to leave a comment , and a way for me to get back with you if you are the winner, for a chance to win one.

CSN stores and a give away

CSN Stores is a lather large chain on the internet if you haven't heard of them by now check out their site.   They have a wide array of items from entertainment centers, kitchen stuff and sewing machines and to much to list here! I was surprised with how much they offer and the variety of items. I like that I could look from home in my PJ's. CSN Stores has over 200 different stores! They sell a lot well known brands.

I will be having a give away in the near future on my blog here and CSN will be hosting the prize.  I got to pick the item I wanted to review  that took a little bit of time to get all the logistics worked out but should be fun to see if it will do what I think it can.  I will then test the item then give one away in the color of your choice.  Watch for it in the next few weeks.  It maybe as far out as 6 weeks depends when the item arrives hopefully sooner.

Just so you know I have not been paid to do this I was asked to do a giveaway.  I was offered to be able to keep one but I want it to be an honest with the test.  So here is what  we will do

• CSN will mail one out to the first winner in winners choice of color.  
• I will give away the one I get to test to a second place winner that one will not have a color choice it will be the one I was sent for me to keep.  But I am not going to keep it.  I will also enclose a  special gift from me since you did not get to pick your color.

Like I said I want my opinion to be honest so I will not keep the item. But I didn't want to do a giveaway unless the item I picked would do what I thought so this is the outcome.  The people at CSN have been very nice and friendly with me.

And the winner Is......

This is the winning entry my butterfly girl picked the winner. I think I want the recipe on this apron if it is that good. I will email you today to get your mailing address.Happy Labor day.

Elizabeth said...

My apron story....
Way back in the mid-90's, my aunt sent an apron she'd decorated for my baby sister. She used a pre-printed panel of some sort, and did the fusible web with "paint pen" outlines. (I don't know what else to call them.... they were hugely popular for a while.) The neat thing is that one of the fabric pieces includes a recipe for sugar cookies - the best sugar cookie recipe I've ever tasted! Every year when we did the Christmas baking, Becca had to stand still for a few minutes so we could read the recipe off her apron! Now the apron is owned by my daughter, age almost-7. For the last couple of Christmases, she's helped me with some baking.... and just like her aunt so long ago, she has to stand still long enough for me to read the recipe off her apron!

Elizabeth
Oklahoma City, OK
emlieser at cox dot net

Update

She added the recipe to the comments section if anyone wants it.

Apron drawing....Sew Mama Sew

I have an apron tutorial posted on Sew, Mama, Sew for their month of hand sewing. They have also posted an introduction in the contributors section. The apron is meant to be for children over seven years of age as it has real long ties that can tie in front on little children and they can carry lots of stuff in the four large pockets it has. It also works nicely as a big persons apron for clothes pins or any thing else you can think to put in large pockets.

If you want to make the above apron get yourself over to Sew Mama Sew and get all the directions .

The apron is hand embroidered but there is a little bit of machine sewing (about 5 mins of that) on it at the waist band which is easily done by hand I just was focusing on the chicken scratch more. So I think it passes as hand sewing and then some as that is what most of it is. Because I made this apron for Sew Mama Sews special hand sewing month I decided I would give it away as a reward for their readers and my readers

Rules

Sorry there are rules. It is to hard to do this without rules. Plus some of the rules make it funner for me. I want some funny stories for all my hard work. I got 5 hours of sleep in 3 days working on this

1. Entries must be posted during the month of August 2009 and the first week of September2009 till the 6th drawing is on September 7th
   
2. The comment must be to this post and have either your favorite apron story or a your favorite story about hand sewing that happened to you or people you know nothing made up please funny would be nice (also this is a family blog no bad stories please)
   
3. You do have to leave a way for me to get a hold of you too. Any one who doesn't leave a link to either an email, blog or flickr account or some other way of getting a hold of you will be disqualify as it is to hard for me to track down people otherwise.
   

Good luck and Happy sewing

Annamarie

I can't get a hold of you for some reason; my emails keep getting returned. Please email me your address so I can mail you an apron. I also have a few questions for you. Thanks. I will delete this post after I get an email from you; thanks

The winner is... or should I say the Winners are

So, on July 5th I had my two-year blogiversary. I still can't believe it has been two years since my first post. I had fun reading all the comments.
Thanks, sunshine

There were new people that posted only to win, which is fine, people who post all the time, and one person who posted to, I think, every apron I posted. It was an amazing collection of diverse people and comments. Thank you all for playing this game with me.

So I asked my husband to pick a number, and he asked his computer to. It picked 41 which is

Jenna Z who said...

I have loved seeing all these aprons! They were so diverse! I love a pleated apron so I fell in love with day 26. I love chicken scratch and the pleats are darling! I also loved day 12, the rick rack! And day 11 with it's sculpted waistband was also awesome! Make me want to do my own apron-a-day except I don't have nearly as many.

Friday, July 18, 2008 1:20:00 PM

I also decided to give away a second apron; this person commented on every post during the apron a day, so I thought that was kind of her.

annemarie said...

Your blog is absolutely wonderful. I have spent hours going through all your past projects and ideas. Thanks. The aprons, though, are my favorite. I have enjoyed each and everyone that you have shown. They bring back such wonderful memories of days when life was so much simpler. a.haun(at)bcglobal.net

Friday, July 04, 2008 5:46:00 AM

Thank you all for playing. The two winners can leave a comment here as to which you would like, but I will email you, too.

Made to order.. An apron a day

OK, I promised to post what apron you could win. I decided to sort of let you pick which. Below is a list of the aprons I am willing to reproduce for the lucky winner. These will not be the originals that I posted that belonged to GGH, but ones I make from the patterns that I pulled.

DAY 1, DAY2, DAY3, DAY 4, day 5 not doing because of my hand, DAY 6, day 7 not doing because of my hand, DAY 8, DAY 9, DAY 10, DAY11, DAY12, DAY13, DAY 14, DAY 15, DAY 16, DAY 17, DAY 18, DAY 19, DAY 20, DAY21, DAY22, DAY23, DAY2 4, DAY 25, day 26 not doing because of my hand, DAY 27, DAY 28, DAY 29, DAY 30

If a day reads "not doing because of my hand," that means I am not giving you the choice of that day. Aprons with embroidery I can either draw the pattern on for you and let you embroider or leave blank so you can add whatever pattern of embroidery you want to your apron, or use a patterned fabric so embroidery wouldn't be needed.

None of you have seen this, but my wrist has been in a bandage for almost two weeks; that is why I have only been posting aprons. I can't do much at the moment with my right hand without pain; because I am right handed, this is a problem. So I hope it is OK that I don't embroider or do chicken scratch or smocking. If it has machine embroidery, as one hostess apron did, that will just be ignored completely because I don't own a machine that can do that; wish I did.

Remember when making your choice it is the shape and style of pattern you are picking. I am not making plastic aprons; I will use cotton cloth for those. So find your favorite style. If an apron was the pin-on style and you want apron straps around the neck, I will gladly add them to make it more useful to you. Because these are not exact reproductions ,I may make some modifications to the straps and such to make them fit better. Also, remember some are children's aprons so they won't fit a normal-size adult; if you are supper petite, they may.

Also realize they only come in the size of the original pattern. GGH was not a large woman, so please keep that in mind when picking an apron. Tie around the waist will work better for a larger person than the over-the-heads.

There is less than a day and a half left to enter the drawing; the link is on the side bar. Have fun!

Blogiversary: win an apron

So, July 5th is my blog's anniversary (blogiversary). I can't believe it has been two years since my first post. I decided I wanted to give away a reproduction copy of one of GGH aprons (which apron reproduction that can be won is still a surprise that will be posted the day before the winner is announced). You haven't even seen all of the aprons yet, so it is a big surprise (over 30 of them); way more to come. All are welcome to enter; just leave a comment on this post about either something you learned from my blog in the last 2 years, or something you just liked that I posted, or something you would like to see more of on my blog (no profanity or anything of that sort), or all of the above is fine, too, and please leave a way for me to contact you. A winner will be drawn on July 19th; that gives you a few weeks to leave a comment. Tell all your friends. This should be fun. I will close entries at 5 p.m. on the 19th, Utah time. Plus I should have all of Great Grandma Harbaugh's aprons posted by then, too, for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks, sunshine

Entries are closed and the Winner is

I have left the comments open on the advent post, but the winner is going to be drawn from what was currently posted when I started this post. There are 213 comments as of right now. My husband picked 131.
The winning entry is on Part 16, the 5th post.

Sharon said...

I would have never thought of something like this but I am liking the candle the best so far.

Friday, December 07, 2007 4:45:00 PM

I wish everyone the merriest of Holidays.

Part 26: The reason for the Season Ornament

Supplies:

• wood peg people (these can be found at places like Michael's, Roberts or other hobby stores as unpainted wood)
  
• paint / brushes
• muslin
• glue dots
  
• needle/ thread
• pearl cotton embroidery thread size 5

Order of events:

1. Paint wood people.
2. Cut muslin ruffly 4 inches by 3; a little bigger or smaller is fine, too (make according to your little wood people).
3. Use glue dots to hold fabric in place. Black dots represent placement of glue dots. Follow pictures for directions in placement of glue dots and folds. There is also a glue dot on the back of Baby Jesus's head and back to hold him to the cloth.
   
   
4. Stitch side up.
5. Wrap with embroidery thread and tie at back of neck and about 2 inches higher on string to form hanger. Done.

This is the very last ornament and the Reason for this season: the birth of baby Jesus. I will do the drawing on Dec 24, Christmas Eve. So you have 'till that day to add a comment to each of the advent calendar posts (all 29, including this one). Every post can have an entry from you on it. Happy Holidays and good luck to all!
DO NOT USE ANY OF THESE PATTERNS TO MAKE THINGS TO SELL FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY!!!!

Part 25: Redwork Ornament

Since I missed a few days at the beginning of the week because my life was so busy, I decided to post another ornament to make up for either Monday or Tuesday where I missed.

Supplies:

• needle for embroidery and for closing up the ornament
• embroidery thread
• sewing thread
• muslin
• pattern for red work: I used a Kris Kringle, but you can use any holiday picture you like -- Mary, baby Jesus, holly, star and so on
• red fine tip permanent marker for drawing pattern on fabric (or pencil)
• I also used a sewing machine at the end, but you can do that step by hand, too

Order of events:

1. Find a pattern you like, not more than 2 1/2 -3 inches tall.
2. Trace onto fabric.
3. Embroider (I used size 5 pearl cotton and doubled up sewing thread for the first one and just a single strand of sewing thread for the second one); both are hand stitched. I was playing with detail and texture. This has caused a debate amongst my children as to which is better, Kris with a fluffy beard to keep him warm, or one that looks sleek and nice and presentable. I was just trying to show the difference a change in thread makes.
   
4. Sew two pieces of fabric together with right sides facing each other; one has embroidery and one is plain. Sew around edge of the embroidered one. I sewed close to one and on the other I gave 1/8 inch of space. You decide which you like better. I left opening next to Kris Kringle's hat
5. Trim off excess fabric close to machine stitching.
6. Turn right side out.
7. Stuff.
8. Hand stitch closed.
9. Add hanger, done.

Two more ornaments to go, then the drawing, so if you want to enter do it soon. Don't forget you can have one entry per advent calendar post. That is a lot of entries possible.
DO NOT USE ANY OF THESE PATTERNS TO MAKE THINGS TO SELL FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY!!!!