Category: SWAPS, CONTESTS & GIVEAWAYS

My Favorite Things Swap

Breanna was my partner for the My Favorite Things Swap. She is about to make a big move like I recently did so I tried to keep her package a littler smaller in physical size for an easy move, but found some of my favorite “big” things to go in the smaller box.

I love to cook as most already know and my brother had sent me this awesome cook book, Sharing the Table, Garlands Lodge and I found a copy for Breanna. I added some of those new silicone cup cake baking cups so she can bake for her guys! Willow tree is one of my favorite inspirational knick knacks and I found this cute little Angel of Friendship hiding in my closet. It needs a new home and I thought the best place for her would be a ‘new’ home with Breanna and her family as they move. I love chips and dips for holidays, summers BBQ’s and well for anytime so I’m sending her some awesome country spinach dip. Here in the North Woods we have some local favorites and one of mine is Door Country Hand made caramels and Angeli’s Apple Pie Spice. With those you have to have some awesome coffee, so I’m sending her a package of Toasted Praline and a package of Chocolate Caramel Brownie. I mix these 2 with a package of my favorite ‘plain’ coffee and what a great combo flavor! One of my most favorite things is a candle burning. She’ll need a manicure when this move is over so I included a french manicure set. I’m including a partylite crystal heart tealight candle holder and to finish it off a pocket coin for my prayers for God to watch over them through their move and relocation. This box will be winging itself to her later today!

Tamy

Pink Lemonade, Parasols & Polka Dots

THEME: Parasols, Pink Lemonade & Polka Dots

Please send your partner a package full of summery goodness incorporating the theme of parasols, pink lemonade and polka dots. Please include at least one handmade item, one thrifted/second hand/vintage item and one sweet treat. You may include other items as you see fit but please try to stay in the price range of under $20 not including shipping. Get to know your partner and exchange a little summer cheer.

Ceekay is my partner and this is what I put together for her. I found this cute little back pack style bag and painted it with pink polka dots. Then I filled it with Bath & Body Works Raspberry & Key Lime Lemonades, Lipton Pink Lemonade, Pink Flamingo glass, Parasol straws, Cherry M&M’s, Pink Polka dotted votive holder, Cherry Lemonade & Fruit Smoothie votives, Cherry Lemonade & Fruit Smoothie wax melts, Cherry Lemonade & Fruit Smoothie tealights in an adorable pink floral drawstring bag, pink polka dot soap papers, Willow tree Angel with puppy (my thrifted item), Pink butterfly sun catcher, Pink Polka Dot beach ball, Sweet Pea pink hand cream, Tin of green tea, Pocket Prayer coin, Pink Breast cancer awareness bracelets, Rubber stamps for scrapbooking (her craft of choice) – bon jour & merci and 2 pink pens.

Tamy

Who doesn't need a chance at $500?

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting $500 Libby’s contest. All you have to do is share one of your family’s tips – or simply hang out with the rest of us trying to scrape by (misery loves company right?) – in their comments, and they will draw one lucky winner who will receive $500 courtesy of Libby’s to help ease their family’s budget pains.

This was my tip(s):

One of the best tips I have is that I sit down and take the time to plan out a menu for the month based on the calendar of events (you know taking into account meetings, events, etc…).

With the cost of produce and groceries in general I plan these meals so that if I need half of an onion for Monday night’s meal, I plan a meal on Tuesday night that uses the other half, etc… We have virtually NO waste!

I also keep a ziploc bag in the freezer for meat scraps, you know not enough to feed the family with, but after a couple times enough to make soup out of.

I also take and clean out the vegetable drawer and puree anything wilted to throw in the freezer as a soup base.

Every good cook has a vintage apron or 2 or 3 or 4…

Head on over to Confessions of an Apron Queen to participate.

This is the post from her site:

In 1928, Herbert Hoover promised “a chicken in every pot & a car in every garage”… Today, I’m promising a vintage apron around every waist!

Rick Rack Attack is moving on up! A year ago, if you Googled “vintage aprons”, Rick Rack Attack was literally on the 200th page. I bet ya’ll didn’t even know there was 200 page results for “vintage aprons”. Today, Rick Rack Attack has climbed to the 4th page on Google. I am absolutely tickled with our growth & success. But, I don’t want to stop until we’re on the 1st page!

Unfortunately, I am sorely lacking in an important area in search engine placement- other websites & blogs with links to Rick Rack Attack. So, this is where ya’ll come in. I need your help! And I’m not ashamed to ask for it! And I’ll even bribe ya’ll with vintage aprons to help me shamelessly promote my website.

Here’s the deal… If you place the above button on your blog or your website & link to Rick Rack Attack, I’ll mail you a free vintage apron! How easy is that?!

Head on over to Confessions of an Apron Queen to participate.

Summer Swaps ~ Favorite Things, Parasols, Pink Lemonade & Polka Dots

Though I have only been doing them a couple of years, I love doing swaps. It is such a great opportunity to meet others and see a glimpse into their world in hopes of learning something new to brighten my own world with while also sharing a piece of mine with them. This summer I signed up for two, My Favorite Things and Sweet Goodness Parasols, Pink Lemonade & Polka Dots. I’m having a lot of fun with both of these and can’t wait to unveil the finished projects. I’ve been paired with two great partners Breanna and CeeKay. The deadline is approaching fast so look for a sneak peek soon.

Pink parasols and polka dots

Parasol Mosiac for Sweet Goodness Swap
Let’s Get to Know Each Other And Play 20 Questions
as we work towards our JUNE 30 th swap.


1. What is your favorite Summer Drink(s)? Plain old iced tea is on the top of the list followed by something fruity
2. What is your favorite Summer Activity? quilting, crafting, gardening
3. If you could spend a lazy afternoon reading, what would be in your hands? A good mystery romance novel
4. What is your favorite type of craft/art medium? quilting or scrapbooking
5. What is one art/craft supply you absolutely have been dying to have or try? candle making
6. What are your favorite colors in our ‘rainbow sherbet’ theme? Pink, lime green, yellow, orange, aqua (or blue) yellow and aqua
7. What is your favorite sweet treat? Cheesecake Factory Banana cream cheesecake with hot fudge and caramel sauce, See’s Bordeaux bars or Cadbury caramel chocolate bars
8. Are there any craft or art supplies you would NOT be interested in receiving?
9. What is your favorite song today? Not sure, but Gretchen Wilson’s “I’m here for the party” is stuck in my head tonight
10. How do you ‘pamper’ yourself during the hot summer days? pamper – what’s that?
11. Do you have any kidlets or pets? 2 dogs, Gunner a black lab and Whiskey a golden retriever and 2 cats, Sady a grey sable and Dickens, a tiger cat
12. What is your best potluck dish for summer get togethers? Broccoli Slaw Salad or Baked Beans
13. If you could take a summer vacation anywhere, where would it be? New England
14. Describe your decorating style. Does that say anything about your personality? Country shabby chic – homey and cozy
15. What are your initials? TB
16. Why do you like to join swaps? To meet new people, learn new things and have fun
17. You have 25 dollars to spend just on you for a little treat. What do you buy? (you can list more than one thing) journals or books
18. What’s one craft supply or art supply you absolutely can not live without? FABRIC
19. Who’s the last person you hugged? Hubby
20. What’s your favorite number and why? 5 or 7 just always have been

Sweet Goodness Spring time in Paris Swap

I’m still trying to play catch up on my vacation and some things that occurred during it. To start with I owe Tiffany a huge thank you. Her great swap was waiting for me when we got home last week. I love it all, but especially love the hand made Paris clips and matching clip board. There were also a matching journal and note cube. I have to make some great cards with the rubber stamps and the magnet has already come in extra handy.


We also both had the same great thought and sent each other French tip manicures.

There were some ‘postal issues’, but Tiffany’s package is on its way back to Texas and I hope she likes it. I found a great French painting book for her to craft with, some of my favorite Merci’ chocolates and Cre’me Brulee’ mix. I found some yummy French Vanilla Creme’ coffee, a journal, massager, paisley notepad and hand painted journal. I tied it all in a great scarf for her. The hand painted butterfly coffee mug was lost in the ‘postal issues’, but I’m trying to find her another one.

There's a New Swap in Town

There’s a new swap in town over at According to Kelly.
What a great way to start the summer season.
Here is an excerpt from Kelly’s post:

“it’s really quite simple: as a participant, you will be asked to choose at least three objects (I don’t think anyone would mind if you decide to send more) that are some of YOUR favorite things to send to your partner… maybe it’s an apron you made, your new favorite book, or that favorite flavor of lip gloss. be creative & most importantly have fun with it! objects can be new or vintage, bought or handmade… just remember, it is best to send something the you’d be pleased & excited to receive yourself.

ready to join the fun? please e-mail your particulars to accordingtokelly@yahoo.com. sign-ups will be open until friday, june 6th… so get your friends involved! upon receiving your “rsvp” I will send out a confirmation email, if you don’t hear from me, email me again, sometime emails can get lost & i don’t want anyone left out in the cold!”
Now I don’t know about you, but always remember a Dear Abby I read that said you should always give gifts that you wouldn’t mind having yourself. So if you agree with that statement, this is the swap for you! Hurry and don’t miss Kelly’s deadline.

kellysswap

Speckled Egg Spring Journal Swap

I received this awesome package from Terri at Primtiques.
She did such an awesome job. I love the pocket full of my favorite flower and the awesome extra papers and charms to create my own!

Hosted by the Speckled Egg
My partner for the speckled Egg’s spring Journal swap is Terri and she said her favorite color was a robin’s egg blue. I started with a VERY colorful perforated page journal that I was luck enough to find and spray painted it what was supposed to be a light blue, but it turned out more seafoam green (good for spring). I had taped off the blue robin so it wouldn’t be covered with paint. Then I found a ribbon with several blue shades in the weaving. I found these 3D robin’s egg blue pansy flowers that I lined the edge of the book with. The journal I found had a satin ribbon page marker which I embellished with the robin’s egg blue pansy type flowers. I embellished with inspirational sayings on the front and on random pages. In honor of spring and new growth I tried to keep it simple not to mention I loved the high school type dymo tape sayings. High school was the last time I used a composition book. I’ll let Terri do the majority of the embellishing with her words, drawings and doodles.

April Winner & The Perfect Summer Pay It Forward – A trio of summer mystery & romance

The randomly picked number is: 4 Notes of Jubilee

Lowest Number
Highest Number

If you found this useful, consider visiting the main Violets Are Blue website.

I have up for grabs what I believe to be the perfect beginning to summer, a trio of mystery and romance reads just for the ‘perfect summer’, pun intended. The three books are:
The Perfect Summer by Luann Rice
Star Light Star Bright by Katherine Stone
Cut and Run by Carla Neggers
You can read more about them at Amazon. These are all brand new and just ‘extras’ (like there’s any such thing as extra reading material. As far as I’m concerned, there’s never enough.

This giveaway will close on May 31st. I will send the books shortly after that in time for the beginning of summer. All I ask in the spirit of this book exchange, is to please pass them along to another reader after you read them whether it be by a blog giveaway, neighbor or library donation.