The "Joy" of Giveaways!

I've been a bit busy that last couple of days. Lots of odds and ends to catch up on and I wish I could say that I am "all caught up". Not!! Actually, on Wednesday, I was gone most of the day volunteering at the women's correctional facility. My friend Barb and I spent the afternoon helping the women make valentines to send to their kids and family members. I just bring in cardstock, lots of that 90% off fancy red and gold ribbon I bought last week, some lace and trims, lots of fun fabrics to cut and decorate with, some valentine books with quotes and thoughts to add to the cards and then the creative work begins. Some of the valentines the women made were really lovely and very creative. It was a busy and good afternoon!!! When we were finished we headed over to Panera (sandwich and coffee place) for some really delicious panini sandwiches and a good visit. Great food, great friend, great evening!

Now, I have to backtrack to Tuesday when I received an e-mail from Joy of Joypatch blog. The stocking she won in my Christmas Joy giveaway had arrived! She was very pleased with everything I sent. :-) When I let her know that the package was on it's way, I told her I could post photos of what was in the stocking or wait until she received it. She wanted to be surprised and asked that I wait til she got the package before I posted about it on my blog...... so in the photo above you will see the 25 fat quarters I stuffed into the stocking that I made. I put the stocking in a long box and packed valentine fat quarters around it, tucked in some bells for a little jingle and added a kit and pattern for my Spring Bunny penny rug.
I enJOYed making this stocking and filling it with goodies from my stash/collection. I still marvel over the fact that the winning name my husband drew was JOY's name. What do you suppose the odds are for that happening? My next giveaway was the "Whirl into Winter" giveaway and it would have been really interesting if someone with the first or last name of winter had won. However, the winner was Mary in California who saw lots of snow growing up as a child in Iowa (the great state where I was born and raised!!). Her winning package will go off on Monday. I had to apologise to her for not getting it mailed right away but I said there would be a kit for my snowflake penny rug in one of the tins and then realized I didn't have enough of the pretty periwinkle woolfelt I needed to make the kit. But, yesterday I stopped at EagleCreekQuiltShop and got just what I needed. I'll get it washed, dryed and pack it up with the rest of the winter goodies and send it on it's way. Now interestingly, Mary was not my first winner. Gramma Trish was my first winner but I had no e-mail so couldn't send her a "You are the winner" message. I left comments on her blog but she hadn't read the comments so it was several days later when she replied. She knew the prize had gone to Mary but I said, not to worry, I will send you a little wintery something, too, if you just send along your address. So with just two days left in January, I am going to put together two wintery packages and as I put them in the mail, I would like to think that I am sending winter out west. Not likely, is it? With Groundhog Day coming up next week, I am quite sure the dear little fellow is going to see his shadow and we'll be in for six more weeks of winter. The way this winter has gone, I wouldn't be surprised if it was sixteen more weeks of winter ahead! And with thoughts of Dear Mr. Groundhog and Valentines day, too, I thought we should celebrate with another little giveaway.........please stop by on Saturday, January 31st to learn all the details. I'm calling it the "Hearts and Roses Giveaway". This is a quick giveaway and will only run from 12:00 a.m. February 1st to midnight February 2nd. Hint: there will be a chance to "repeat" your entry. That's all the clues I'll give now. Be sure to come back and see what's up! Also on Saturday, I will also be posting the February block for my "Seasons of the Heart" BOM. I am going to be really busy all day Friday making sure that I get all my "ducks in a row" for these things.

Now, I have one last photo to share and you may have already noticed it on my sidebar as it is the photo you click to join my Yahoo Wooly Buddies group. I haven't mentioned the group on my blog but there are about 130 members now and we chat about penny rugs, wool applique, rugs, wool pincushions, etc. etc. If you enjoy working with wool, you might enjoy our group (just click on the photo on my sidebar to take you there).

Anyway, these wooly little donkeys are a pair that I made sometime in the late 1970's or early 1980's. They were a gift for my son for Christmas one year. The pattern is from either Family Circle or Woman's Day (I still have the magazine packed away in a box) . They are made of gray wool coating and real bits of mink fur were used for their manes and tails. Devlin played with them a bit when he first got them but then they spent more time on the book shelf and, now almost 30 years later, they still look like new. I usually tuck them under the Christmas tree each year but last year I decided to bring them up to the bookshelves in my sewing room so I can enjoy them all year long. I just think they are so cute. The background fabric in the picture is actually wool that has been dyed/painted with Setacolors (found at Michael's etc.). That's all for now. Time to close but I will be back soon with patterns, giveaway info, and more. :-)

Sandi