5 big winners

i finally picked the winners, well the random number generator picked the winners.
sorry it took so long
we have been recovering from the party
and first birthday bliss.
and trying to get over
germs and colds.

so here we go
in no particular order
the winners are
michelle
workinthread
theandersons
athena
alicia

please email me your
info and i will
get your winning in the mail.

thanks for being a reader.

post 500

can you believe that this is post 500?
yes, i said 500.
5 friggin hundred.

i can not believe
that i have had 500 posts
worth of words.
i can not believe
that you still read.
i can not believe
that you still comment.

when i started this blog
i was in a different space.
i needed a place to put
my words, my grief, my love and my anger.
a place to tell my story.

i did not know if people
would read, would care, or comment.
i did this for me.
but along the way it changed.

it turned into friendships,
connections and a community.
and i like to thing that every once in
a while something i wrote helped someone
in some small way.

i often wondered
how long i would blog.
if i would ever call
myself a blogger.

i am happy to say
that i can not imagine
not writing.
and yes i call myself
a blogger.

thank you for sticking with me.
for supporting me.
for caring enough to read.
and being witness to this crazy journey
called life.

as a thank you.
5 readers will win
one of the following
yarn, fabric, or something handmade.

leave a comment by chace's birthday.
monday february 14th, 2011.
and let me know which giveaway
you would most like to have.

i know there are alot of
"lurkers" out there.
now is a perfect time
to come out of hiding.

xoxoxo

1,2,3 winners

sorry it took me so long to draw the winners.
i spent alot of time at the sewing machine
this weekend.

and watching football.

so, the winners
were comments 1, 2 and 6.
this means faith, sunny gayle and kathleen
ALL win something handmade.

remember our deal?
you have to pay it forward
by either making something
or buying handmade for someone.

now, the winners need to email me their addresses
so that i can get their bit of handmade love
in the mail.

 you didnt win
and would like a bit of handmade
head over to lucends.

thanks for playing along.....

pay it forward

i do not facebook.
although, i am thinking about it
for the lucends shop.

since i do not facebook
i missed the handmade pay it forward
that was going around the last week.

thankfully, i have friends
who facebook and blog.
and blog about facebook happenings.

here is the gist.
leave a comment here by midnight
on friday 1/14/2011.
and i will pick 3 winners.
yes, i said 3 winners at random.

if you win you will
receive something handmade by me.
if you win you have to pay it forward.
you have to make or buy handmade
for someone.

it can me random.
it can be planned.
it can be blogged.
and it can even be facebooked.
( is that a word?)

i do hope you will play along.

we will start

i am home. boy does it feel good to be home and with ph.

i thought i would start my re-entry into life without yaya and pappous with a giveaway, just so i can get my bearings, get unpacked, and organized.

remember, the purlbee project calendar that i wanted for xmas? well, i happened to be in possession of a second calendar. the lovely ladies at purlsoho included it in my recent order, so i thought i would share the love.

leave a comment by midnight friday and i will pick a winner.

a sweater and a winner

yesterday i finished the bean's first sweater, i figure i should knit as many as i can before he decides that they are not cool. and yes i know i have some time......i used the spud and chloe sweater yarn, which is great for babies and kids because it is machine washable and it is a blend of wool and cotton. i think it is around a 6-9 month size. i say think because i played with the gauge a bit to make it bigger, eliminating the need to redo the knitting math.

i think it is as cute as can be.

and yes, this was photographed in the bean's room, so you have a little sneak peek of the wall color.

__________________________________________________________

and now for the winner of the pure knits book giveaway.

precious husband picked a random number and the comment that corresponded with that number belonged to bonnie m. yay bonnie! so bonnie, send me your mailing address so i can send you your book.

and if i don't hear from bonnie, by the end of the weekend, i will have precious husband pick another random number.

Pure Knits Book Giveaway

remember this post? and this one?

well, when my mom was here in october, we were at the bookstore and bought a copy of pure knits.

this evening, the ups truck delivered another copy of said book to my doorstep, compliments of the publisher. and well, since i don't need two copies of this book ( despite my belief that one can never have too many books), i decided to do a little give away.

if you would like your own copy of pure knits, leave a comment by midnight on friday. precious husband will pick a number on saturday. who knows it could be you.....

this is really a great book with projects for all levels of knitters.

happy commenting.....

{jig} onesie winner

we have a winner for the {jig} onsesie gift set. i love giving stuff away. thanks to random.org, which random generates a number to ensure fairness. seriously i would give a the prize to everyone if i could. wouldn't that be fun?

anywhoo.... the winner is lucky number 8, who happens to be alicia. this is what alicia said "This quilt is so special, and you, Rachel, and Louis created such an amazing piece of art! You can come play on my mom's "vintage" 1960s sewing machine anytime you want - we can learn how to use it together! Love, Alicia"

Yay alicia. be a dear and send me your info, so that i can put you in touch with that creative mind behind the {jig} brand.

now i must think of another giveaway.

have a great saturday!

cooper's quilt

when i was pregnant with cooper i was obsessed with finding original, cute and hip onesies. i scoured the internet like a woman on a mission. it was during this time that i discovered {jig}. i immediately fell in love with her onesies and soon became one of her very best customers. because i was ordering so many onesies for cooper, i got to know the creative mind behind the onesies, alyssa. we made an instant internet connection and i am quite certain if we lived in the same city we would hang out. she shares my love of french fries, jcrew and method cleaning supplies. but alas, for now we are internet friends.


shortly after cooper died, i knew i wanted to make something out of the darling {jig} onesies he had accumulated, but there was one problem, i dont know how to sew, knit yes, sew not a clue. so i contacted rachel. rachel sews and i knew that she could help me with this project. after several discussions about what the blanket/quilt should look like, we decided we needed the help of lois, rachel's mom. lois knows how to quilt and she was just the woman to bring our vision to life.

so we set a date for a friday in april. i was given the task of ironing interfacing on all the pieces of the onesies that we had cut into strips. rachel and lois arrived at my house with sewing machines in hand and we got to work. after much discussion, alot of laughter, a break for lunch and lots of sewing we finished the top of the quilt. it was perfect. lois took the top home and handstitched the backing and binding on and topstitched over the top of the quilt. she brought it to me last saturday at coopers service. it turned out amazing, words cant even describe how much i love this quilt. and it never would have been possible without rachel and lois. it even made me want to learn how to sew, but that is a post for a different day.

after the quilt was finished i contacted alyssa to let her know what i made out of her most adorable product. and because i want everyone to know about {jig} we are doing another giveaway. that's right, you too can have your very own {jig} onesies. leave a comment by midnight on wednesday may 13th and you could win a 3 onesie gift box set of your design choice. you get to pick what boy or girl designs you want on the front.

and if you want to see more pictures of the quilt, you can see them here.

we have a winner

winner winner chicken dinner........hannah is the winner of the first ever lucends giveaway....

here is what our winner had to say "big hugs to all (doggies too) and be gentle with yourself. vase is beautiful-your momma, like you, is very talented."

so hannah, please be a dear and email me your mailing info and i will get the vase in the mail to you, straight away.

oh how i hope it will become one of your favorite things too.

decompressing

hello dear readers. i just wanted to let you know that i made it through the weekend in one piece. i felt the love and support of those both near and far and of old friends and new. i will be posting soon about the weekend, it was amazing and the perfect way to honor cooper, but i still need a little time to decompress and recover. i am emotionally spent.

in the meantime, i am going to have my first ever giveaways here on lucends and it is one of my very favorite things, my dear mom's wall vases, seen below. leave a comment by midnight 5/8 to be eligible and my precious husband will pick the winner.

wishing you a great monday. until then......