A long time coming: Giveaway from ChristieCreations

EDITED FEB 8th: I'm extending this contest due to the weather and power outages across the area.  I know a LOT of folks didn't have web access this weekend and some who continue to not have access.  I'm going to extend this until Thursday night at midnight to give more time for entries. I will announce a winner on Friday!

Ok, so it's Sunday night, just after midnight, I just finished answering some study guide questions for class and I've been preparing for my trip to BlissDom in Nashville for a few days by creating lists...  I've only completed a few items on said lists... as it stands now, the rest of those items will be completed Tuesday and Wednesday before I leave bright and early Thursday morning!  Tomorrow, I have to get my drivers license photo taken (sorta behind the gun on that one... it expired in Dec... and I KINDA need a valid license to fly right? LOL)  Then I've got two classes including a test...  Don't worry, everything is under control...  :)

So before I leave for my big trip, I thought I would do something fun! A few months back I mentioned that I had a few giveaways in store, the first one was a lot of fun so now I'm ready for the 2nd one!

This one features ChristieCreations: Making Gifts That Bloom!  Christie is so creative, she takes baby items from our favorite stores and creates amazing artwork for new mamas to enjoy!  The presentation is what Christie is all about!  She creates blooming baskets of baby essentials like bibs, burp cloths, onsies, washcloths and the list goes on.  Now, my words really don't do what she does justice....  Take a few minutes and check out her Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/christiecreations  Don't forget to come right back....  I'll wait!

Great gifts huh?  Well, do you have a friend or a family member (OR YOU?!) who is having a baby? Here's your chance to win her one of Christies NEWEST items!  Announcing the arrival of Baby Cupcakes!  Now, who DOESN'T love cupcakes right? Christie just added these to her line and I'm so happy to feature them here!

One winner will receive the following:

Gender Neutral Baby Layette Cupcakes 15 items
1 Carter's Bodysuit
1 Carter's Cap
2 Pairs of Carter's Pants
11 baby washcloths

retail value: $ 34.00

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How to ENTER:
Visit Christie's shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/christiecreations and leave a comment here about one of her items OR tell me who you would like to give this gift to (it can be for yourself!). DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS SO THAT I CAN CONTACT YOU WHEN YOU WIN!

EXTRA ENTRIES:

• Follow me on Twitter @cararolinson and leave a comment below.
• Follow Christie on Twitter @bloomingbouquet and/or Facebook http://bit.ly/c2NLsL and leave a comment below (one for each). 
• Follow me with Google Friend Connect and leave a comment below.
• Tweet about this giveaway, leave a link to your Tweet in a comment below. RT: @cararolinson Giveaway! ChristieCreations Baby Cupcakes Layette http://bit.ly/ChristieCreations

Entries must be received by Midnight EST THURSDAY, Feb 11th.  The winner will be announced FRIDAY, Feb 12th. Winner will be chosen via random.org.  Good Luck everyone!

A New Job for an Old Wool Sweater

Sometime during the early to mid 1990's my brother purchased a kelly green wool sweater for me for my birthday.  It was from the Gap, and was a basic crew neck sweater.  I wore it a LOT... and LOVED the color.  Soon it became quite sloppy and just not very stylish due to it's large size.  It followed me all the way through college, to my apartments, our first home and now here.  Along the way, it made friends with a few moths and they loved it so much that they did a little munching damage... mostly just a few little holes large enough to squeeze my pinky finger through it if I felt the need... I saved it knowing that someday I would find a use for it again. 

Enter: Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials by Betz White.

This book is fantastically inspirational, the photos are bright and vibrant and really help to kick-start your creative juices.  I've made a few other items from this book, the Easy, Breezy Skirt was my first project. 

My most recent crafting project involved the above mentioned kelly green sweater and was also my first attempt at machine felting.  HOW FUN!  I cut up the sweater as per the instructions in the book, and tossed it into my washer.  Two cycles later, and a spin in the dry and I had the softest wool felt to work with.  I followed the instructions completely and even used the optional extra sole and the gripping material for the bottoms.  I did stitch the extra sole directly with the outer sole for stability and I used left over micro suede from a head board that I made a few years ago for the grippers.  The micro suede doesn't act like real suede or leather would but it does cut down on the slippage. 

I'm quite happy with how these turned out. They were easy to sew together, are very warm, and they breathe with my feet.  I also love that they are made from a favorite old sweater. Tricky parts were maneuvering three layers of felt under the presser foot.  But we managed and I think they look pretty alright!  I also opted to do the "finishing touches" blanket stitch detail on the outside seams.  I felt that without this, they looked unfinished. I used a little bit of left over yarn from these.  More photos of my new slipper friends can be found here.


* I received no compensation for mentioning the author or the book.

New Look for a new year!

Happy "20-10" Readers! I've rolled out a new look for my blog over the weekend, I hope you all like it! It's a work in progress so I'm sure you'll see little changes here and there, but the over all look is going to stay the same for a while. Is there anything that you think is missing? Any static content that you would like to see? What about the right column is everything in an easily accessible location?

I would love your feedback good and bad :)

You will be happy to know that one of my new years resolutions is to blog more, even if they are somewhat short and sweet, look for more content on a more regular basis.

Happy New Year friends!

Contest Opportunity - BlissDom 2010

Wow, lots of blog posts this week huh? I guess that's what happens when we are both home from work and school for longer than a weekend. Lots of the FUN stuff is done and not put off for another day just to be pushed further and further down the list....

Anyways, today I'm blogging about a very cool opportunity. Since starting my new adventure with Steaz as their social media coordinator, I've learned about many new opportunities in the social networking world. It's been and continues to be quite a learning experience and a fun one at that!

One opportunity that came across my desk was the BlissDom 2010 Conference in Nashville TN February 4-6. A little excerpt from their site to explain what BlissDom is:

"Blissdom is the premiere conference for women who find and express their bliss by publishing online. Blissdom ‘10, our third conference, is a welcoming oasis in the ever-changing blogging world. Speakers and panels featuring the best blogging, public relations and social media pros will be gathering to mentor new and old friends alike."

As it turns out, my client, Steaz, is sending me! They are also willing to send YOU too!

We have launched a contest to send one lucky blogger to BlissDom, if you are interested in entering for your chance to win you will need to blog about what you value as a blogger, after you've blogged, make sure to complete the entry form which you can find by following this link to our notes on our Facebook Fan Page, complete contest details are there too. The contest ends January 7th and we will announce the winner on the 8th. Once you have entered, let me know via the Steaz Facebook Fan Page or by sending us a Tweet! Make sure you include a link to your blog post!

New Space

One of our err Chris's big projects to accomplish over Christmas break was to rearrange the 3rd floor office space. It's been over three years since we've last organized it, probably closer to four actually. Since that last organization, a LOT has changed with our companies and our family. Read: our needs have changed. He spent two days cleaning and moving and reorganizing this space.

It was quite cramped with too much furniture and our desks were facing each other in the middle of the room. There wasn't much room to spread out and work or play. It was very unfriendly to the kids too with lots of accessible cords and plugs.

This floor is quite functional, it's where our photo editing happens and is also used for equipment storage. I also have my craft area up there.

To help us gain more usable space, we moved things to the outer walls and ditched a huge couch. We now have the creative side and the storage side. This leaves the majority of the room open. There is enough room to have two little boys run in two separate circles at the same time and not have them collide. I've seen it with my own two eyes! Another permanent fixture is the kids' easel with crayons. Also, a small square ikea end table which doubles as a perfect kid-sized table.

Tonight we decided to move 'after dinner family time' to the 3rd floor. Each kid brought up a few toys. They played, we all played, Chris had some photos processing while he built a tent, the kids played together, he blogged, I chatted with a friend, I played. And just like that, it was kiddo bedtime! It was beautiful.

We are happy to have a new space to play and live in.

Here's a view of my new ginormous working/crafting area. In this photo, I am sewing the capes I last blogged about.