Tag Archives: Giveaway

The Merry Month of May

Merry Month of May May is my favourite month, full of promise and optimism. Here in Norfolk the hedgerows are bursting with new leaves and blossom and it won’t be long before the verges are frothy with Queen Anne’s Lace.

Here, in the corner of a field where Planet Penny orbits, there’s a lot going on. Next month the builders move in to build an extension, which will be wonderful when it is done, and a complete nightmare while it’s underway! I’m having a little practice today; as I type I have a man in my garden building a greenhouse. So far I have only had to make one coffee, one tea and one trip to the builders merchants. I can’t tell you how excited I am about it though. We live in such a windy spot and so far we’ve had three mini greenhouses and two rotary washing lines mangled by the wind, and the second hand greenhouse I was given was folded flat by Storm Doris before we even got the glass in.

This time my darling OH said we’re getting a really strong one and so what’s going up is one of these… Rhino Greenhouse …which as it has been very rudely pointed out to me, I can sit on during the next storm to keep it in place!

So watch out for me putting on my Alys Fowler hat and getting excited about growing things, whilst also doing all sorts of styling with bunting and fairy lights (which is the bit the dear OH is most worried about)

So, talking about flowers, I’ve currently had a bit of an obsession with making paper ones. What started me off was Mollie Makes’ The Big Comic Relief Crafternoon and Lia Griffiths tutorial on making paper peonies. Frankly, it’s not the best obsession for me…all that scissor work really annoys my cranky thumb joint…but I just can’t help it. An evening spent catching up on TV whilst cutting out the petals, off to bed after rubbing ibuprofen gel on said joint and then a joyful hour the next day with the glue gun and wire making a gorgeous bloom.I’m now eagerly awaiting a delivery of nicer crepe paper, finer and more subtle in colour so watch this space. crepe paper flower The magazine has sold out now, but I have a spare copy which I would love to pass on to one of you lovelies out there… big comic relief crafternoon …so just leave a comment and next week I will put all the names into a ~~virtual hat~~ Random Number Generator to find a winner. An opportunity to have a sore thumb just like me, and fill your home with paper flowers. Or to be more sensible and chill out in a pompom beard!

I’ll be back before then though, I have another project to share.

See you soon…x

A Little Extra – Happy Crocheting Bag

As promised, another prize! Would you like a Crocheting Bag? Part of my Planet Penny campaign is for regular newsletters, so I’m launching this latest one with a chance to win a fabulous bag to carry your stash.

Would you like to see?

There’s loads of room for your yarn stash, hooks and patterns and a handy shoulder strap for travelling. You can find the bag to buy at Happy Crocheting but I have one to give away exclusively to Newsletter subscribers. All you have to do is to click the yellow button to subscribe and reply to the newsletter with ‘Yes, please!’ to enter the draw, it’s that simple.

And, in the meantime don’t forget there is still time to enter the draw for the Crochet Therapy book as seen in the bag above. Just comment on the post here

So just a little post, but full of goodies. Make sure you are in with a chance to win either the crocheting bag or the book, I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

See you soon…x

All lit up – with a Daylight Lamp and a giveaway!

If you’ve been visiting Planet Penny for a while, you’ll know my main gripe about the autumn/winter period is the lack of daylight. I don’t think I actually suffer from full blown Seasonal Affective Disorder, but I do get rather grumpy, and those gloomy days when you think the sun hasn’t actually risen at all make creating and photography jolly tricky.

So I was very happy to be sent a couple of lamps from the Daylight Company to try out and review, and I know for all you knitters, crocheters and stitchers out there a good daylight lamp is a really necessary bit of crafting kit.

The first one is the Smart Lamp D20 and I love it! It’s light and portable, but the base is heavy enough for it to be really stable so you can adjust it over your work area without worrying about it toppling over.

I’ve found it particularly useful in the evenings by my chair when I’m multi tasking with some crochet, the television and a cup of tea because the light can be angled. In fact it does all this!

It changes colors for improved contrast when reading and colour matching
It is dimmable, allowing you to set the light at the brightness level you require
It is portable, light weight and foldable so you can take it anywhere
It is USB compatible allowing you to plug into the AC Adapter (included) your computer or phone charger.

And then there is the baby brother, the Yoyo light. It arrives looking just like the yoyo it is named after… Yoyo magnifying light - Daylight company …but opens up into a handy little magnifying light, perfect for keeping in your workbox when you need to get up close and personal with your work.

And this is what it does:

Compact foldable pocket LED magnifier
3 bright LEDs
5,5cm (2.17″) lens – Magnification 8D (3,0X)
Ideal to use when out and about
Comes with a wrist strap
Requires 3 x AAA batteries (not included)

Daylught Company Yoyo light (This one gave my camera a funny turn trying to focus!)

I really enjoy finding things which I know will make things just that little bit easier for us creative peeps, and it’s even better when I can offer you the chance to win one of your very own – for FREE!

I have a Smart Lamp D20 worth £65.00 and a Yoyo Magnifyer Lamp worth £15.00 as a giveaway on my latest newsletter. All you have to do is sign up via the PINK BUTTON below and let me know what you love best about Winter VIA THE NEWSLETTER. The Smart Lamp is only available in the UK I’m afraid, but I’m happy to send the Yoyo lamp to any part of the world where you can buy AAA batteries!

So click on the Pink Button for a chance to win one of these fabulous lamps to keep you bright this Autumn!

Looking forward to hearing from you…x

Art Therapy Books – And the Winners Are…

Art Therapy Giveaway…

What a lot of wonderful comments arrived for the Art Therapy Book Giveaway review from last week! Jacqui Small Publishing had kindly offered a copy of each of these books to two lucky winners. I asked you to tell us about favourite places to relax and they all sound lovely!

Gardens and water feature strongly, several people like the beach. Summer houses were mentioned and hammocks (the hammock under the cherry trees is my own particular haven) and craft rooms, crafty corners and sofas. Makes you just want go off and curl up, doesn’t it?

In the end I couldn’t possible choose only two and turned to the Random Number Generator to decide, and the winners are Sarah Ellis, who chose the Mandalas book, and Janice Perkin who plumped for the Stained Glass Designs.

I really hope neither of the ladies actually need Art Therapy as it were, but find the books as relaxing and fun as I have.

I’ll be back soon…x

Art Therapy Colouring Books – Review and Giveaway

When I was approached the other day to review a couple of Art Therapy books I wondered if someone had been peeking in my office, because I have this picture pinned on the wall beside the monitor…

…and I have had a wonderful excuse to do just that with the two books which arrived a week or so back from Jacqui Small Publishing, Art Therapy Stained Glass and Art Therapy Mandalas.

Stained glass colouring book, art therapy

There is something very relaxing about letting someone else worry about the lines and the shapes: when all you’ve got to do is think about what colour crayon to pick up next, or washing your paint brush ready to mix another shade. And now it’s official, we’re not wasting time, we are relaxing, it’s therapy!I’ve been scribbling away happily over the past few days and after all the worries about my mum it’s been lovely to switch off that part of my brain. This was my favourite from the Stained Glass book…

I’d rather like this next design as wallpaper, wouldn’t you?…

With this one I went to town with the paints. I may get round to finishing them but I actually rather like the colours set against the black and white.Having shared my adventures on Facebook and Instagram I was not surprised to have lots of positive comments about the whole idea of colouring in. Such positive comments in fact from both my daughter and daughter-in-law that I shall restrain myself from further scribbling so I can pass the books over to them. As my daughter is soon to embark on Teacher Training and my D-in-L is a new mum I think they need all the relaxation they can get!

And I’m pleased to say if you feel in a need of a little Art Therapy and relaxation there is a Giveaway! I have two more copies of these lovely books lined up to give away to the even lovelier Planet Penny readers!

All you have to do is to leave a comment telling us about your favourite place to relax and get away from it all, and which of the two books you would like to take with you.

The winners will be picked on Friday 8th August, I’m looking forward to hearing from you!

(Thank you to all who took part. The Giveaway now closed, winners to be announced very soon)

Filling the Box of Delights

It’s just a little bit scary how the time gallops away, isn’t it? I’ve got a camera full of photos and so much to say, and yet every day this week I’ve failed to get the necessary time at the keyboard to write a post.

Never mind, I shall tackle one thing at a time and this is very overdue news about the Box of Delights that I have been putting together for the 500 posts giveaway which I wrote about here. I have felt overwhelmed by the lovely comments which have been left, I do thank you so much. And I have been particularly touched by people who say that they haven’t been following for long but have read their way all the way back to the beginning. Whenever I have a blogging lack of confidence I shall go back and read those posts to motivate myself to keep going!

Because I have readers from all over the world I wanted to make the Box of Delights of a size which would make it possible to post it to anywhere with a reliable postal service so I have customised a box especially. It’s been so long since I exercised these particular crafting muscles that I was a little unsure of myself, but I have painted and lined and glued and created a little repository for all manner of small things.

The inside looks like this.

I’ve lined it with may favourite of the Planet Penny Cotton fabrics.

And in it I’ve put a butterfly…

…crocheted with the PP cotton yarn. A mini needlefelt sheep…

…because sheep are a bit special on Planet Penny! There’s a reminder of the Dolly Peg Dolls with this length of vintage lace…

…A fat quarter of the cotton fabric…

… a string of the beads I love to use…

…and some vintage Mother of Pearl buttons…I’ve had a fascination over the last couple of weeks for covering match boxes (more of that in another post) so here’s one with some covered thumb tacks for your pin board…

…and this one which I had a lovely time painting. If you are wondering what’s inside, I’m not saying! It’s a secret…

…and finally there’s a crochet heart, as a reminder of the Hearts and Flowers Mobile…

…and if you would like some flowers there’s a length of Planet Penny Cotton in every one of the rainbow shades so you can crochet your own!

So everything fits in perfectly…..and it just requires a lid…

All it needs is a home. Would you like it? There is still time to enter the Giveaway by leaving a comment on this post, it’s running till next weekend.

I’m off now to do some cooking. I have my chum Kit coming round for supper and I’ve been delving through my cook books to find something delicious and fuss free, Nigella has come up trumps with a roasting tin filled with chicken, chorizo and other yummy things. I’ll let you know if I manage to channel my inner ‘domestic goddess’!

See you soon…x