Hurrah!

An excellent email arrived this morning to brighten up my my otherwise dreary morning, from the lovely Anna at Polly Pratt, to tell me I am the lucky winner of her dress giveaway!

Have you seen the lovely clothes Anna is making? If not, you really should, her dresses and skirts are so pretty. I'm usually more of a 'pants' kind of girl, but I'm looking forward to a change this summer in my new Polly Pratt original.

Thanks a million Anna, you've made my day.

I *heart* Dandelion

Last week I received a lovely package in the mail from a very special friend. I was lucky enough to win two Lavender Hearts in Beck's giveaway, so imagine my surprise when I open my package to see all this!

Beck's own biodynamic garlic, two blocks of Lindt (my favourite!) and...

As well as the two Lavender Hearts, Beck also made me a chain of hearts (which I adore!) and a beautiful vintage button hairclip. Can you smell the lavender? It's heavenly!

I am one lucky girl! Thanks so much Beck for the beautiful gifts.

A lovely giveaway at Apple and Tangerine

Tanya at Apple and Tangerine is hosting a very lovely giveaway this week, that you should really look at (although you probably shouldn't enter as that will seriously diminish my chances of winning), but you really should pop in and have a look at what Tanya's been up to over at Apple and Tangerine! Thanks for the generous giveaway Tanya!

ps. there are no extra entries in the draw for blogging about this giveaway, I just thought it was very generous and deserved a mention.

Giveaway Winner!

The winner of my first giveaway according to random.org is Jo. Jo, drop me an email thecraftgypsy(at)iprimus(dot)com(dot)au with your postal details and a little parcel of goodies will be heading your way!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave wonderful suggestions to help me on my way to making my first quilt. I'm inspired by all the ideas, and will hopefully be making a decision sometime soon - I'll keep you posted.

Apologies for the tardiness of my giveaway draw, this week has seen me bravely fighting my way out from under the MOUNTAIN of washing created by our camping trip last weekend, my efforts handicapped somewhat by a teething baby (ie NO SLEEP).

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend.

Monday Monday - Blogtober day 26

I was going to play my "Get out of 1 Blogtoberfest Post FREE" card today, but it turns out I have something to say! Two things actually.

First, thank you for the quilt suggestions that have been made so far in my very first giveaway, if you haven't entered yet get your entry in here. Be warned, you have to work for this giveaway, I'm in desperate need of a quilt pattern, please help me find it!
We have reached 10 entries, so I will be adding something else to the giveaway prize. Haven't decided what yet, I'll keep you posted!

Also, I really want to mention another amazing giveaway going on at Kimono Reincarnate. Melanie is giving away a really lovely prize, and there is a link in her giveaway to her etsy store (gorgeous!) and her ebay store where she has some stunning japanese fabrics, including vintage kimono fabrics! I placed a bid. Couldn't help myself :)

Hope you're all having a cheerful Monday.

Giveaway! Blogtober day 24

Due to the long weekend, I will be extending the giveaway until 11pm on 4th November AEDST. I will draw a winner on 5th November. Don't forget to mention the giveaway in your blog for an extra entry 3 extra entries!





I need help. If you are a regular reader then you probably know this already. However, I need your help specifically to solve a problem. And if you can help me, I'll give you a prize!

I want to make a quilt. Queen size. For my bed. I bought fabric. I am only missing one thing: a pattern.(Well, two things if you count actual quilt making experience).

Here is the fabric I bought:

It's Black and White and Red All Over by Windham Fabrics. I'm a huge fan of red stuff, and when I saw this line of fabrics I fell in love with it, ordered it, and swooned over it when it arrived at my door.

However, now I'm really concerned about finding the right pattern to make a modern looking quilt for my bed.

Originally I thought I might try a Bento Box after I saw this quilt by AmandaJean at CrazyMomQuilts.

But I think that pattern lends itself to less busy fabrics.

I'm actually really worried now that I will not be able to find a pattern I like for this fabrc. I stumbled across a quilt made from this fabric that looks way too busy and bitty for my tastes - here's an example of what I don't want .

I want something bold and modern, with big pieces or big strips. I dont want little pieces as I think with this fabric it will just look messy and bitty (see example above!).

Any suggestions?

I'll make it worth your while! To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment with a suggestion for a pattern or a style of quilt, and a link to a picture so I know what you're talking about. Sometime shortly after the end of Blogtober I will randomly draw a winner. The first part of the prize is this brand new copy of waste not want not which is full of 200 ideas for recycling, thrifting, and re-using, and has some great crafty ideas and projects as well. When we reach 10 entries I will add another prize! If the suggestions keep coming, I will add more to the bounty. I am happy to post anywhere.

As a bonus, I will give an extra mystery prize to anyone who comes up with a pattern I actually use for my quilt!

EDITED TO ADD: To get another entry 3 extra entries into the draw, mention my giveaway on your blog :) Leave a comment to let me know if you have.

Added to giveaway prize after 10 comments:

Can't wait to read some suggestions :)

Everything's coming up MilHouse! Blogtober day 23

My lovely stepdad called in yesterday to deliver a little gift for me, "an early birthday present" he said:

Aren't I lucky? My very own iPhone :)  I'm still trying to work out how to operate it properly - thank goodness for my good friend Google or I'd still be trying to work out how (and where!) to insert the sim card. Clearly a challenge set by the cruel people at Apple to weed out those of us not clever enough to own an iPhone. If you don't own an iPhone and haven't the faintest idea what I'm talking about, click here and see where the sim card goes. Then tell me if you would have worked that out on your own.


Also, today my goodies arrived from Vic over at Punky and Me. I was lucky enough to win her very first Best of the Fest Giveaway!

Picture from here

Thanks so muc Vic, I love it all, can't wait to get started on the book tonight.


And, just when I thought my day couldn't get much better, the bloke who lives at my place brought me home one of these...

Hope you enjoyed your Friday as much as I did.