World Watercolor Month (Check These Giveaways!)

Since I've been so into watercolor lately, I started checking in on Doodlewash again. I found this website back a few years ago when I first started dabbling in painting and they are a fun resource to get great inspiration and prompts if you're stuck on what to paint. Lo and behold, it's actually World Watercolor Month! They really amp things up during July, so it's only fitting that I decide to pick up the medium again now, it seems.

In honor of World Watercolor Month, Doodlewash is hosting some really wonderful giveaways! I just wanted to give you guys the head's up in case you'd like to start playing with watercolors yourself :) These giveaways expire this week, so click the links to enter while you still can - these are lovely prizes!

Enter Here to win this American Journey watercolor set courtesy of Cheap Joe's Art Stuff.

Enter Here to win this Van Gogh 12 pan watercolor set plus 72 color dot card from Royal Talens.


Let me know if you win anything so I can be super jealous! I'll post the new giveaways next week too, so hopefully we can all win some sweet swag!

Craftsy Cooking Class Giveaway Winner!

The Craftsy Cooking Class Giveaway is officially over! Sorry for the delay in announcing the winner, but there was a little confusion on my part (sorry - communication failure, folks). So, without further ado ... out of 28 entries ... the winner, chosen at random by Random.org is ...
Jessica!
Congratulations Jessica! Her comment was:

"I've always wanted to learn how to (and actually make) fresh pasta! Yum!"

I've sent you an email with the instructions on how to redeem your free class. I hope you enjoy your pasta!

Thanks so much to everyone who entered the giveaway :) I hope to have more giveaways in the future, so check back and try your luck!

To those who didn't win, you can still head over here and snag your class of choice at a great price :) Happy cooking!

*Expired* Behold My Beautiful Dumplings :) Plus A Giveaway!

I received a thrilling email a few weeks ago asking if I would like to try one of Craftsy's new Food & Cooking classes and review it. Would I?! I couldn't respond fast enough :) After much deliberation (and much wanting of all the classes), I decided to go with the Favorite Asian Dumplings From Scratch Class.

I decided on this class because it seemed the most out of my usual cooking comfort zone, so I would gain the most knowledge from it. I've never made anything like dumplings before :) I was able to watch the first several lessons of the class the next day, and it really made me want to jump right in and make some dumplings! The class starts off with simple wontons and the teacher - Andrea Nguyen, chef and cookbook writer - shows you how to make them with soup as well as fry them. It all looked so easy and delicious, not to mention I already had most of the ingredients on hand except the wonton wrappers. So, I bought some wrappers and got to work :)

I did have to make a few changes to the basic recipe. The class calls for shrimp in the wontons, but I didn't have any on hand and funds are a bit tight. I did, however, have ground chicken, so I just substituted that for the shrimp. Asian dumplings are all about using what you have, so I felt confident it would work out ok. Once I mixed the filling, I let it sit for 30 minutes. While it sat, I started on the soup. The recipe in the class actually shows you how to use canned chicken stock and "doctor" it to make it better - how great is that? It was so simple. Of course, I had to complicate things a little :) My husband seriously loves tofu and said that I just had to put it in because it just isn't wonton soup without it. Plus I was serving this for dinner, not an appetizer, and the tofu would give it a little more filling substance to make it more of a "rib-stickin' meal" :) So, I chopped up a few slices of extra firm tofu and threw them in. I also added garlic because ... well, I just love garlic. I simmered the soup to get it nice and hot and let all the flavors mingle.

Then came the fun part: assembling the wontons :)

The class shows you how to fold the wontons in 4 different ways - triangle, nurse's cap, flower bud and advanced flower bud. I tried all but the "advanced" flower bud and that's only because I didn't have a chopstick on hand. I liked the nurse's cap and the flower bud best - they just look fancier :)

Then I 'poached' the wontons (poaching is a lighter boil so they don't roll around so much and break). The white color in the water in the photo is from the cornstarch on the wrappers.

Once the wontons were finished, I used a slotted spoon and transferred them to the soup pot. This lets them absorb a little of the soup's flavor before serving.

And that's it! Crazy easy, huh? To serve them, you scoop the wontons into the bowl first, then pour some of the soup in, then garnish with scallions and sesame oil. Et voilà!

Isn't it pretty?! I just love the colors mixed around in there. Even better - it tasted fantastic! It tasted just like it was supposed to, which I was thrilled about :) My husband loved it too, so this is definitely a successful recipe.

A few days later, Justin and I decided to make more wontons :) This time, I tried frying them. My whole family wanted me to make them some to try, so I actually made a triple batch, lol. I ended up making 63 wontons in all. These also had ground chicken filling (again, I already had it on hand).

These were super simple to make, just a little time consuming because you can really only fry about 10 at a time. And what would fried wontons be without something to dip them in?

The class includes a delicious recipe to make your own sweet & sour sauce - which is incredibly each and so much better than the generic red glop you usually get at take out restaurants. Everyone really enjoyed these. I served them with rice and called it dinner, lol.

So, what did I think of the class?

This class has seriously demystified Asian dumplings for me. I think we are naturally inclined to think of any different types of food as difficult, but that really isn't true. It's not hard at all to make Asian food, just different than I was used to. I never even thought of making my own Asian food before about a month ago and every recipe I have tried has been not only delicious, but also really easy to make. These dumplings are no exception! The class very clearly shows you how to make wontons, siu mai (dim sum), gyoza, wonton wrappers, and more. I've learned quite a bit of useful cooking advice that I've already applied to my non-Asian-cooking as well. Andrea Nguyen really breaks things down so that anyone could make them. She describes different ingredients you can get at an Asian market too, which is a whole different type of welcomed info :)

I'm very into dumpling making now, and it's all because of this class! I've even asked for some of the tools to cook them with for Christmas so I can make more, lol. I love that this Craftsy class made it so easy for me to gain these new skills, and my family is excited about the new foods they get to try :) I give this class an absolute 5 out of 5 stars and I can't wait to make more dumplings!

Want to win a cooking class of your choice from Craftsy?
Enter through the Rafflecopter widget below (give it a few seconds to load if it doesn't show up immediately). This giveaway will run until Sunday, 12/15/2013 at midnught EST. This giveaway is open to international readers, too. The winner will be announced on Monday, 12/16! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* This giveaway is sponsored by Craftsy. I was given a free cooking class to review, but all opinions expressed are 100% my own and not influenced in any way. I just really loved this class!

And The Winner Is...

So, I'm a complete lunatic and forgot to announce the winner of Wendy's Pattern Giveaway! I'm so sorry to those who entered - it's been an INSANE week. Since I am acquainted with you both, I made sure to use Random.org to choose the winner (I wish I could post the photo of the results, but my computer is freaking out for some reason). And the winner is...

Sarah! I'll be contacting you to get your shipping info. Sarah just learned to sew everyone, how great is that? Hopefully these patterns can give you a boost in your new hobby :)

Thank you to everyone that entered and I will be sure to let you know when there is another giveaway!

*Expired* Enter Wendy's Giveaway - Florida Edition!

Folks, I have been so remiss in my blogging duties lately. I have a good excuse and I will definitely blog about it later today, but I had to make sure I share the fantastic surprise I had in the mail this week!

I entered the Wendy's Giveaway over on Dottie Doodle and I won! If you are involved in the sewing blog community, you will have heard of So Zo... along the way. Well, one of her readers was a lady named Wendy from Luxembourg who was trying to de-stash her sewing pattern collection and contacted Zoe to help her make it happen. This giveaway began with 13 patterns; each time anyone wins, they choose the patterns they would like to keep and then host a giveaway for the remainder. The line of winners has been VickiKateMakes, Dottie Doodle and now it has landed across the pond and down south with me in Florida :) Denise was kind enough to send this pattern bundle to me and I was thrilled to pick out my favs. Here are the patterns I am keeping:

Super cute! I'm so excited to use these babies. After I made my choices, here are the ones that are still up for grabs:

I must confess, I hemmed and hawed over that McCall's shirt dress pattern, but I have a hand full of similar patterns already so I wanted to share the wealth. And I love New Look 6104, but already own it. So, all the more fun for the next winner! (P.S. See those polka dots under the patterns? Denise packaged these in the cutest polka dotted bubble mailer! And she also included a lovely post card. Thanks so much Denise!) So, just to give a full rundown, the patterns that will go to the next winner are:

• New Look 6104, sizes 10-22 (16/18 is cut)
• McCalls 4769, uncut
• Burda 8361, size 6-18 (size 18 cut)
• New Look 6937, sizes 10-22 (view E cut to 16/18)

To enter this giveaway all you have to do is leave a comment on this post - couldn't be easier than that! If you would like, you can share which pattern you would be most excited to win, but it's not mandatory. To continue the kindness of the other winners, I will be happy to post these anywhere in the world. I will leave the giveaway open until April 30th at Midnight EST.

So spread the word! Sewists out there - come and enter to win super cute patterns!

*Expired* Enter To Win Free Prescription Glasses from Firmoo!

I am so happy about my post today :) I was contacted by Firmoo to see if I wanted to host a giveaway on my blog for a Free pair of prescription glasses! Of course, I jumped at the chance, especially since I have been so happy with my pair from them.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you may remember the pair of prescription sunglasses I received from them back in September.

This photo was just after I got them, but I still use these no joke everyday and I don't know how I ever functioned without them. Especially in the Florida sun! And it's not even summer yet! Anyway, Firmoo is a wonderful company that provides designer quality glasses for a fraction of the cost. They offer prescription and regular glasses, sunglasses or clear, all forms of lens coatings ... you name it and they have it and all for so much cheaper than you can find in a store. Like I said, I wear my sunglasses EVERYDAY and they have still held up and look just as good as when I got them :)

I also love their designs. I'll admit that I was hesitant at first when I learned about Firmoo since their glasses are their own brand (not usual brand names you find in a store), but now that I have held them in my hot little hands, I am a believer. Their styles are so cute :)

Check out the temples on these!

And these are so sophisticated looking :)

They have many more styles too - don't let my affinity for plastic frames make you think that's all they carry :)  They have men's, women's and unisex designs. You really just have to go here to see their selection for yourself to take it all in :)

Also, if you've never ordered glasses online before, I have a few tips for you to make sure you will love what you get.

1. You will need not only your prescription, but also your pupilary distance (PD) to make an order. Your print out from the eye doctor will not include the PD, so you will need to ask for that in particular. Any place that sells glasses can tell you what it is - it's why they have you look into that little machine.
2. To know the size of the glasses I was looking at (to make sure they weren't too small for my face, etc), I used a millimeter gauge to measure all the main areas. Firmoo's item description will list the mm lengths for the glasses you are looking at buying so it's nice to have a visual comparison you can hold and try on just to make sure you will like them.

Those are just my own little processes to make things easier :)

So, how would you like to win your own pair of glasses from Firmoo?
I have 1 voucher for a Free pair of their standard glasses (to be selected from here). Designer glasses and sunglasses do not apply. And I also have a few vouchers for $30 off their new Designer Eyeglasses to some other winners!

To enter:
*Mandatory* - Leave a comment on this post saying which pair of their glasses you would love to have! Please make sure I can reach you through your comment to let you know if you won. If you are not a normal blogger user, just leave your email in the comment.

*Optional* Additional Entries:

• 'Like' Firmoo on Facebook and leave an additional comment to say that you did.
• Free entry for Firmoo site users - just comment with your email associated with your account.
• Share, Re-Blog, or Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the link to your post.

The Fine Print:

This giveaway will remain open until Sunday, March 10th at Midnight EST. Only one entry per method per person - this will be verified. The grand prize winner will be emailed a voucher for a free pair of glasses from Firmoo. If the giveaway reaches over 60 entries, this will also include the shipping; if there are less than 60 entries, the winner will be responsible for the shipping costs. 3 second prize winners will receive a voucher for $30 off any pair of Firmoo's Designer Glasses. The vouchers will be good for 2 months from the launch of this giveaway. This giveaway is valid worldwide as long as Firmoo ships to your country. Go here to make sure that your country is included.

So, leave a comment here by Sunday, March 10th at Midnight EST to enter!

Good Luck, Everyone!

Fantastic Giveaway on Tilly And The Buttons!

Oh my gosh, you guys! One of my favorite sewing bloggers, Tilly and the Buttons, is having a truly epic Christmas Giveaway. Seriously, you should head over here right now just to see the haul you would get if you win. Patterns, Fabric, Tea Towels and so much more! The giveaway is open to anyone in the world and you just need to leave a comment saying somethings you would be excited to win from the sites listed. The giveaway is open until Saturday, December 8th at midnight GMT.

Hurry over here and enter to win!

Pattern Pyramid Giveaway Winner!

I used random.org to pick our winner for the Pattern Pyramid Giveaway.

Congratulations to Felicity from Down Under of tingledfangers! I'm emailing you now to get all your shipping info :) I hope you enjoy that McCalls 2546!

Everyone who did not win, be sure to watch Felicity's blog to have another chance at winning one of these babies for yourself!

*Expired* Giveaway: The Pattern Pyramid Is Here!

*The winner has been announced! Go here to see the post and congrats to Felicity from Down Under!*

I have to confess, I have been a big delinquent. I won the leg of the pattern Pyramid Giveaway on Smith & Daphne 2 weeks ago and I am only just now posting it. Sorry to deny the world all this patterny goodness for so long! First off, just look at how cute my package was!

Kristen added a nice pink zipper, wrapped the patterns up in a cute fat quarter of fabric and tied it all off with a lovely piece of pink yarn. Thanks Kristen for such a fun treat!

Now, down to business :) For those of you who aren't familiar with the Pattern Pyramid, this was an idea thought up by the very lovely and very generous Karen of Did You Make That? several months ago. She received a large amount of patterns and wanted to pass them along and began this perpetual giveaway. Each winner of the giveaway is given a stack of patterns and gets to choose just one to keep for themselves while hosting their own giveaway to pass them along and continue the cycle. How great is that? Since the inception of this idea, it has grown and grown because several participants add in more patterns to keep the fun going. 

I had a hard decision between the one I picked and the 60s dress (let's just say you all are lucky I'm an honest person!) but in the end neither of them were my size and I figured this blouse would be much easier to size up to fit me:

Ah, lovely Butterick 6965, you are all mine! Apparently this pattern was added in by Roobeedoo hoping it would go to someone who lived in a warmer climate than her native Scotland. Well, how much warmer can you get than sunny Florida? Not much! Thanks so much for adding this lovely top into the mix. I can't wait to make it up!

So, what patterns are in the running for this leg of the giveaway? Scroll down to see them all!

Simplicity 3385 - How Mad Men is this baby? I was so torn over this one!

Simplicity 7672 - 1976. This includes the jacket, gaucho pants and pants. Check out that back pleating on the jacket!

Simplicity 4076 - Easily the oldest pattern of the lot. I'd say it's from the early 1950s. It includes the tap dance trunks, blouse and skating outfit.

McCall's 7990 - 1982. I remember being a little girl in ballet class wishing I had a costume like these...

Burda 7694 - This is a modern pattern for a 3/4 sleeve jacket

Polynesian Pattern 181 - That short dress actually  would be in style now!

Vogue 1046 - Anna Sui dress. Can be made with cap style sleeves or 3/4 sleeves and has 2 neckline options.

Now, I couldn't let the giveaway go by without adding something to it. Originally I had planned to go through my ridiculous pattern collection, but it's all packed up in boxes I can't get to (literally - I scraped my leg trying to access them). So, I headed out to my favorite local thrift store and grabbed a few gems of the 1980s. Sorry they aren't more exciting, but my area doesn't have much in the way of patterns that are older than these guys. I could see the potential though with these 3.

McCall's 6937 - This is from 1980 and has a nice little collection of western wear. It includes a vest, blouse, skirt and pants.

McCall's 2546 - This is from 1986 and while it looks its age with those shoulder pads, the sleeveless version is cute and if you don't make it so boxy it could look cute :)

McCall's 7530 - From 1981, this pattern has 2 pairs of shorts and 2 pairs of pants. View A is for stretch knits only.

As with all the other Pattern Pyramid giveaways, the winner will also receive one of these awesome tags to put in the item you make using the pattern.

To Enter The Giveaway:

1. Leave a comment on this blog post telling us which pattern you would keep if you win! Make sure I can access your email - if you don't have a blogger account just leave your email at the end of your comment. 
2. The winner must agree to choose 1 pattern for herself and be ok with sending the rest off to any corner of the world. This started off in England and has already made it to almost every continent, so please make this open to people who live anywhere.
3. You must have a blog of your own to host the giveaway of the extra patterns. 
4. If you are a winner, please consider making a donation to The Brooke, a charity dear to the heart of Catherine who generously provided these patterns.
5. When you make your item, be sure to post about it so we can all drool over it :)

This giveaway will close next Saturday (November 17th) at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time. So be sure you enter before then to make sure you're eligible. Please only make 1 comment for 1 entry. All additional entries will be deleted. I will also make sure to add in a surprise or too for the winner :) Please spread this around - tell your friends! We want everyone to get involved in this opportunity :)

It's Wedgie Free Wednesday!

Head over to Hanes' Facebook page and 'like' them to enter their Wedgie Free Wednesday Giveaway! You will be entered to win a 3 pack of undies (hipsters or bikinis). They will choose 500 winners at random, so be sure to enter!

Win Free Items Everyday From Cheer "Dig It Get It"

Cheer Detergent just launched their Dig It Get It Sweepstakes. You can enter to win a new prize everyday and they will be giving out over 19,000 prizes until 8/31!  To Enter, all you have to do is:

1. 'Like' Cheer on Facebook
2. Go to Strange Talk's You Tube Page and watch their new video for 'Climbing Walls.'
3. While the video plays, you will see little box shaped outlines pop up on different objects. Click on the box of an object you want to win (today it's t-shirts). When you click it, you will be redirected to Facebook and it will ask you to allow Cheer to access your info. After you ok this, you will be able to put in your name, address, etc to enter to win! If you are one of the first people to request that item, it will show you a screen saying that you got it :) If you don't get it, you can always try again tomorrow at 1pm.

This is really a cool idea. It's the first ever music video to have active, clickable links to prizes. Today you could click on the dancers' shirts and you will be able to choose between teal or fuchsia and you can pick your shirt size. Remember: This is only while supplies last, so I'm sure that your choices will be more limited throughout the day. It's definitely win-able though. I just won a teal t-shirt! Woo Hoo!

Also, after you receive your prize, you can use it to win additional prizes! Now through 10/17, you can take a picture of yourself wearing something colorful to win tickets to SXSW or be featured in their next ad campaign! You can enter now or wait until you get your colorful stuff from their giveaway :) Just head over here to enter :)

*Expired* Giveaway- I'm Adding More Coupons!

While at Publix tonight, I found more coupons around the store, so I decided to grab them to add to the current giveaway! Now the winner will get all the coupons listed here as well as 2 of each of these:

• 55¢ off Milk wyb Sara Lee 20oz Bread (excludes 45 Calories & Delightful) (ex 9/1/11)
• Free Gallon of Publix Water wyb Any Old Wisconsin Product 6oz or larger (ex 11/30/11)
• Buy 2 Get 1 Free Mars Chocolate Sharing Size (M&Ms, Snickers, Milky Way, Twix, etc) (ex 9/30/11)
• $1 off Any 2 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges (ex 11/30/11)
• $1 off Any 2 Bailey's Non-Alcoholic Coffee Creamers (ex 10/30/11)

Adding these has put the whole lot at over $37 worth of coupons!


So, to enter, just leave a comment on this post for your chance to win! You can get 2 additional entries too, so go here for all the info and your chance to win!

Massive Giveaway Tomorrow

All day long tomorrow, August 10th, there will be thousands of dollars worth of giveaways going on between 5 other blogs.

Apparently this is a sampling of what will be given out. Many of the coupons pictures here are for Free products! So, if you want to get in on some of these items and coupons, here are the blogs to look at:

Couponing To Disney

Cuckoo For Coupon Deals

Swag Grabber

Consumer Queen

The Sassy Saver

Like I said, these giveaways will be going on all day, so keep on checking to get in on as many as you can!

Good Luck!

$40 of Free Product from Paper Coterie

I love this promo and I'm so glad they are doing it again! Paper Coterie is currently offering a promo code for $40 off on their website :) There is no minimum order or maximum, just make whatever products you want and then input the code H2SBEGINANYWHERE at checkout and $40 will be deducted from your total :) You will have to pay the shipping, which ranges anywhere from $6 to $12 depending on what products you make, but this is an absolute steal for their stuff! The have anything from photo books to journals to recipe books to growth charts - certainly something for everyone.
I took advantage of a similar offer a few months ago, and I was really very impressed with the quality of their products! You should definitely head over here to snag this one while you can!
*This code is valid until August 31, so make sure to make yours within the next few weeks :)

Enter To Win Free Chips from Frito Lay

Head over to Frito Lay's Facebook page and 'like' them. Then enter your info to possibly win one of 500 Free bags of chips!

Massive Summer Giveaway on Our Best Bites!

IF you have read my blog for any amount of time, you will know how much I love Our Best Bites. They have absolutely delicious recipes, seriously. I have yet to try anything from their site that was not as good as it looked online. Well, they are having a big giveaway of their favorite things in honor of hitting 30,000 Facebook fans. You have to go here and 'like' them first to be eligible to win. Then you can just go here and click on the photos of the item you want to enter to win and follow their instructions. You can enter to win 1 or all 10, but you have to enter each drawing separately. The items they are giving away are:

• Lime Ricki Swimsuit
• High Key Camera Strap
• Roul'Pat Pastry Mat
• Bodum Handheld Immersion Stick Blender
• 1 Complete Season of one of their 10 Favorite TV Shows
• Whirly-Pop Stovetop Popcorn Popper
• Frieling Slim Digital Scale
• $100 Target Gift Card
• Cuisinart 2qt Ice Cream and Sorbet Machine
• KitchenAid 6-qt Professional Series Stand Mixer
• Our Best Bites Cookbook

These are really fantastic prizes! I entered them all :) You have until Sunday, July 24th at 11:30 Central Time to enter - Good Luck!

Free Fekkai Glossing Cream Sample

Head over to P&G Everday SolutionsFacebook page and 'like' them to request a free sample of Fekkai Glossing Cream. Hurry, they only have so many and these tend to go fast!

Downy Giveaway Today!

Downy is having a giveaway on their Facebook page today at 4pm.They will giveaway 2579 samples :)

Secret Freebie from P&G Today

P&G will be having a giveaway today on their Facebook page:

Another FREE sample giveaway?? YES!!! Spread the word & check back on our exclusive P&G Everyday Solutions Facebook page 2day between 12- 1PM EST for our next FREE sample giveaway! What is it? Hint: We're keeping it a “Secret”! (open to U.S. residents only) http://www.facebook.com/PGEverydaySolutions

So, head over there and 'like' them now so you are ready at noon :)

Free Mentos UP2U Gum

Mentos UP2U Gum will be giving away 1,000 FREE packs of gum every dayat NOON for the next 7 days! Be one of the first 1,000 fans to fill out the form on their Facebook page at Noon EST, and you will get a pack of UP2U gum in the mail :) If you miss it today, just try again tomorrow! The last day is June 22nd.