Kitty Goes to Sweden!

I want to take a moment to thank Brooke for hosting my giveaway, and for letting me do the guest post on her blog last week.  It is so nice to connect with people, even if you've never met them in person.  Brooke is not only a mama, but she has been running her shop (Silly Mama Quilts) for some time now, and she's been a source of great encouragement to me.  I need more friends like her - don't we all?

Kitty Peanut (with full set of Kitty Pocket Peanuts)

Speaking of people I've never met in person, boy was I surprised to find out the winner of the giveaway - Wivi-Anne!  She chose this lovely Kitty Peanut (I tucked orange & yellow kitty finger puppets in her pocket as a fun little surprise).  The real surprise for me was that this kitty got to travel all the way from here in Ohio (USA) to Stockholm (Sweden)!  How cool is that?!!

Hope you all have a great week.  May you be surrounded by friends who bring encouragement!
:) Caren

p.s. - If you're looking for great handmade soft toys, 

please check out my Etsy shop.  :) C

Giveaway Day!

[Update: this giveaway is now closed.  Congratulations to Thriftaholic, the winner!]

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

It's Giveaway Day here at cadamsCREATIONS!  For those of you just visiting for the first time, welcome!

My little blog is where I share my fun creations: soft toys, bags, photo props, embroidery, applique, kids clothes, and other things that I dream up along the way.  I'd love for you to follow along and comment if you are inspired.

On to the giveaway!  One lucky commenter is going to win a unique, handmade, felted wool hedgehog!  But which one???

Will it be Snoot, with his adorable expression...

...and heart tattoo?

Will it be Sniffles, with sprigs of hedgie spikes sticking out through her buttons?

(All of my hedgies are about 90% hand-sewn)

Or will it be Stella, with her quiet, reserved manner and monochromatic color scheme?

(she's got a quirky little heart tattoo, as well!)

Tell you what.  I'm going to let the winner decide!  And just in case you'd rather make your own felted wool hedgie than win one, visit this post for a free tutorial and pattern!

HOW TO WIN:
Up for grabs: One unique handmade hedgehog (cadamsCREATIONS original).
How to enter:  Tell me, in the comment section below, where you're from and if you have any faith-based or cultural traditions in your family (I love hearing about other cultures and no, your comment does not have to be about Christmas).
Who can enter:  Anyone - anywhere in the world!
Giveaway Details (per Sew Mama Sew rules):  Comments will close on Friday December 16, 2011 at 5pm PST and winner will be announced by Sunday December 18th via email (and this post will be updated as well), so make sure to leave me your email address.
(Special thanks to Sew Mama Sew for hosting this Giveaway Day!)

Please note: You do not have to follow my blog to win this giveaway.  I encourage you, however, to look around and if you like what you see, do follow.  I love to give inspiration where I can.

Thanks all, and let the commenting begin!
  :) Caren

What to give?

On December 12, Sew Mama Sew is having a "Giveaway Day" that links hundreds (really - HUNDREDS!) of giveaways that are going on consecutively.  So now that I've got my blog up and running I'm considering linking up and giving something away.  

The question is, what do I give?   A peacock?

A hedgehog, perhaps?

A sweet little dolly?

Custom hand embroidery?

A kangaroo?  

Or how about a sock friend?

Have any of you ever participated in the Giveaway Day before?  I'm just trying to get ideas here.  As I have mentioned before, I am thinking of opening an online shop (way in the future!).  So the "business" part of that is to gain more followers for my blog for wider exposure.  But more than that, I'd really just like to participate because I like creating, I like giving, and I like being part of the global community of creative people.  I like swapping ideas, finding cool tutorials, and sharing what I know.  I'll be honest, Giveaway Day is how I found many of my favorite blogs!

So don't be shy, let me know what you think.  Should I make something new for Giveaway Day?  Is there a soft toy that you would love to see me make?  I'm up for comments, and I know I don't say it enough, but yes, I really do appreciate all of you who follow my blog!!!  

Blessings, 

Caren

We Have a Winner!!!

This morning we picked a winner for our Silly Mama Quilts giveaway!  I'm going to give you a run down of how we chose our winner, but if you just want to know the bottom line, go to the bottom line (of this post :)
Meet our judges:

 On the left we have my very own Sunshine, and on the right a special celebrity guest judge:

That's right, folks, it's the old lady who swallowed a fly!  (If you're wondering why Sunshine has bed-head and pj's on, or why the old lady is only wearing her leggings and shoes - we're a pretty casual bunch around here!)

The judges confer about how we'll be choosing the winner.  Our plan involves little slips of paper with numbers on them (1-48, but not including my comment or duplicates).

 Oh no!  She lost her head!

Sunshine fixed her - all better!

 Ballots were put inside the old lady (she does not seem to mind swallowing things, right?!).  Sunshine shook them up....

Then stirred them all around....

And picked our winner!

...drumroll, please.....

And the winner is #38, Hilachas, who said that her favorite item from Silly Mama Quilts (online shop) was the Little Apples Pillow (which, by the way, was the top favorite of all our comments)!  

Little Apples Pillow Cover from Silly Mama Quilts

So congratulations, Hilachas, I'll let Brooke know you're our winner and you can go over and shop (in your pj's if you want to)!

Now, if you are not a winner, please do not be too upset. Our little judge really was trying to be fair:

And how could anyone be mad at this little face?

So thanks, everyone, for entering the giveaway.  Hope you all enjoy my little blog.  Feel free to comment any time - I love to know I'm not talking to myself :)

[Here's something I learned today from Hilachas blog: Hilachas is the Spanish word for those little loose threads that fall all over the floor and sewing area as you finish sewing and snip the tail end of the thread off the sewn area.  - Fun, huh?]

So again, congratulations, Hilachas, for winning the $20 credit to Silly Mama Quilts shop!  

Until next time - be blessed, 
:) Caren

Mug Rug Review & Giveaway!

[Giveaway is now closed.  Winner announcement here. ]

I love fall weather.  Here in Ohio we get wonderful cooler temperatures and the tree leaves turn all kinds of beautiful colors.  Yesterday it was 90 degrees.  Today it is "sweater weather" (my favorite!).  And tomorrow it will be different, but that is ok.  I was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, where the weather rarely stays the same for more than 3 days in a row.

During the cooler temperatures, my favorite treat to myself is a pot of tea in the morning.  So when Brooke, from Silly Mama Quilts sent me a mug rug to review it was perfect timing!  I brewed up my first pot of the season, got myself a cookie and had a very pleasurable 13.5 minutes, which is about how long my two littlest kiddos actually slept.

Look at this mug rug - isn't it amazing?!!

Sunshine was eyeing the cookie.  And why not?  It is a Cheryl's cookie, sent to me by my sister for my birthday last week.

I love this mug rug.  It is just big enough to fit my tea cup and a treat.  AND - it's washable!  (If you don't know what a mug rug is, check out this post: http://www.twomoreseconds.com/2011/09/so-what-is-mug-rug-anyways.html )

Here's my Sunshine inspecting the mug rug.  She liked it.  She even determined that it makes a good hat (for a toddler, that is)!

Look at this amazing patchwork/quilting!  And Brooke has a sweet shop on Etsy (her button is on my sidebar to the right ==>) with mug rugs, table runners, quilts... all kinds of fun stuff!

So, on to the giveaway (which happens to be my very first!):  How would you like to have a mug rug of your very own?  Well, my friends, Brooke has generously offered a $20 credit to her shop, which would get you way more than that (think: Christmas gifts!)

To enter this giveaway, just hop over to Silly Mama Quilts (Etsy shop) then come back and leave a comment telling me your very favorite item from her shop.  Thats it!  You don't have to follow my blog (though I'd love it if you did - I could use more friends!),  just make sure to leave your email address in your comment so I can get back to you.  I'll pick a winner next Friday morning (Sept. 23).

Thanks all!
:) Caren

ps I did let Sunshine finally have some of the cookie - after she sneaked some for herself!