Tag Archives: prize draw

Seeing the Light….

After the unrelenting gloom of the Winter which went on and on and depressed everyone’s spirits, I’m still finding the light, bright days we are enjoying a novelty, aren’t you? I don’t think it’s been quite as hot here in Norfolk as some other places but the warmth and sunshine is glorious, and I refuse to complain about being too hot! With my fair English skin I’m not one to sit or lie in the sun but give me a umbrella or a shady tree where I can sit and look out at the bright sun light and I’m very happy. Throw in a good book and a long cold drink and I’m in heaven!

Over last Winter in particular I struggled with a) having good enough light to work by and b) and this was even more frustrating, having light which was good enough to take photographs. I kept coming across other bloggers complaining about the same thing and it’s so essential to have great pictures on your blog.

In view of all this I was really pleased to be asked to try out and review a Lamp from the Daylight Company. They have a great choice of different lamps but the one which suited me best was the Swan Table lamp. It’s portable enough to move to various locations, the studio, the sofa, the dining table etc. but has a sturdy weighted base making it really stable and secure.

Swan Table Lamp

Until I sat it alongside the standard lamp that I usually stitch by I hadn’t realised how yellow the light it gave was, and how it distorted the colours I was using. This probably explains why I very often go to bed with gritty eyes and a niggling headache, because I am very bad at sitting without making, in common with all my creative friends out there, I’m sure!

standard electric light

But what I hadn’t even though of was the fact that I could actually use the light from the Daylight Lamp to take reasonable photographs which don’t require tweaking in Photoshop with levels and filters to make them halfway acceptable to post online, a huge benefit.

Daylight lamp light

So it’s great to not only have the chance to thoroughly recommend the Daylight Lamps but, also…be able to offer one lucky person the chance to win their own lamp! As the end of the summer approaches and the days get shorter they will be all set up for crafting into the winter.

I’m really excited about being able to offer this fantastic prize, the most valuable ever on Planet Penny!

All you have to do is to leave a comment to be in with a chance. How would a Daylight Lamp make life easier for you? If you want more chances then signing up to follow the blog or follow Planet Penny on Facebook or Pinterest and letting me know in that comment will put your name in the draw more times but it’s really up to you. I don’t want to make it complicated, I just want one of you to be lucky!

The draw will remain open until 31st August and then I’ll use the Random Number Generator to pick the winner. I can’t wait to hear from you!

See you soon …x

Ed. to add 31st July 2013 : DRAW NOW CLOSED

The Knitted Home – Ruth Cross … The Winner!

Two weeks ago I reviewed this great new book by Ruth Cross, The Knitted Home and offered a copy as the prize in a draw. There was a fantastic response: sixty comments in all, with some great knitting stories. It’s amazing how long some people have been knitting, so many people being taught by mums, and grannies. One person taught herself from a Ladybird book, and another learnt over the phone!

The one that made me laugh out loud was this… “My Grandpa taught me to knit, with his method that no child forgets! ”stab it, strangle it and pull its head off” not for the weak and feeble…” Thanks to Penelope Brown for that one, I shall use it myself!

I’m glad I made it a draw rather than saying it would be the best story which won because I wouldn’t have been able to decide. I allocated numbers to each entrant and use the online Random Number Generator which is a quick and fair way to select a winner (although it immediately makes me feel bad about everyone who didn’t win!)

Anyway, enough rambling on, the lucky winner is…number 16….Natalie, of Free Spirit Designs. Congratulations!

Now Natalie doesn’t actually knit yet, so I really hope this is the start of her knitting career. The Free Spirit Designs blog is here, and the Facebook Page is here so we’ll have to call in regularly to check up on Natalie’s progress!

(Don’t forget you can still buy the book at a special price, see the original post for details)

I will be back very soon with another fantastic and generous giveaway from the lovely chaps at MOO! I’m sure you need some business cards, postcards or similar…?

Prize Draw Reminder

Hellooo….! It feels like ages since I’ve been here…did you have a lovely Christmas? I’m not running away, but things will be a little quieter for a short while on Planet Penny. After the mad run up to the big day I need to take stock, make plans for the New Year and be ready for lots more jollity for us all!

I just wanted to give you one more reminder about the Prize Draw, as I shall be drawing out the name of the lucky winner tomorrow afternoon. I know I have some lovely new followers, and I wanted to make sure you all had a chance (or even two!) of winning. Everything you need to know about the draw is here in THIS POST, and it’s here you need to leave a comment to make sure you are in the draw when I allocate the numbers to give to the random number generator. Here’s a quick reminder of the prizes. There is a set of little cotton balls with knitting needles in the Planet Penny Rainbow Cotton…

Too pretty to only have out at Christmas time, they would look great decorating your craft corner!

There is also Mr Mouse… needlefelted in soft Merino wool.

And finally you have the choice of one of three books… The sock book…

the sewing book…

or the Young Adult fiction book…

…signed for you or the person of your choice by the author, Thomas Taylor.

ed to add…

Congratulations to Heather Melton of My Granny Squares who won the draw and has chosen the book Zakka Style to go along with the needlefelt Mousie and the yarn ball decorations. Why don’t you call over to say hello?

Many, many thanks to everyone who entered, and for following me in so many different ways. I don’t always have time to respond to all the comments, but I read and appreciate every one, and Planet Penny wouldn’t be the same without you!

Here’s to more fun in 2013!….x

Day Two of the ‘Virtual’ Advent Calendar!

I’ve had lots of encouraging comments about my Christmas blogging marathon, a post a day for the virtual Advent Calendar until Christmas Eve, thank you all very much! (And if you’ve just discovered what I’m up to, scroll down to end of this post and find Day One’s crafty wrapping ideas…)

Today is all about my celebratory Giveaway for my 5 years living on Planet Penny, and I’ve deliberated long and hard to think of something everyone can enjoy, whether you are a maker, or someone who just appreciates what is made. So the prize is ready made, and part of it is the Advent Calendar make for today.

Having spent so much time with my Rainbow collection of yarn I thought it would be good to celebrate that with colourful tree decorations, so I have made some mini balls of yarn complete with tiny knitting needles.

These look lovely on the Christmas tree…

…but are far too pretty and colourful to hide away for the rest of the year. Can you imagine them strung on a line adorning someone’s crafting corner, or hanging round the edge of a lampshade perhaps?

They are simple to make if you want to do your own. I used a small polystyrene ball as a base and glued the yarn on to start with. Then you just wind round carefully until the base is hidden and the ball is the size you want. Glue the tail back on itself to form the hanger. The needles are made from cocktail sticks with beads on the end and pushed through the ball…simples!

But you can win your own if you enter the Give-away Prize Draw!

The next part of the prize has to be needlefelt don’t you think? It’s been so much of what I do. So this too could be yours…

..a little Christmas Mousie…

And finally, I’d like to include a book, and this time there’s a choice. It could be a copy of ‘Knitting on the Road’…

…if you are a knitter. There are some beautiful and unusual patterns from around the world…

Or if sewing’s more your thing, there’s ‘Zakka Style’…

This has some stylish and unusual designs which are very appealing…

…or if you or someone in your family would prefer to snuggle up with a good read you could choose this…

…which will be signed by the author, Thomas Taylor, just for you. I know him quite well! (You can find out more about Thomas, the book and how we know each other from this post)

So to recap, the prize is –

14 hanging ornaments – mini rainbow balls of yarn with knitting needles
a Christmas needlefelt mouse with hat and bell
And a choice of one of three books

And what do you have to do to have a chance of winning? I didn’t want to make things complicated so all you have to do is follow me in some way. You can subscribe by Email in the little box at the top of the left hand column. If you do that already there’s also the choice of Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter. And then just leave a comment on this post or any other of the Advent posts to let me know so I can add you to the list. You only have to do one thing, but if you sign up for more than that you get more chances!

If you sign up to follow me on any of the other sites, please let me know via a blog comment so I don’t miss you off the list!

This will run until after Christmas to give every one as much of a chance as possible to take part and I will make the draw via a Random Number Generator in the week between Christmas and New Year. In the meantime, do call back and find out what happens next on the Crafty Christmas Countdown Calendar!

See you soon…!

P.S. Don’t forget to call over to Handmade Monday to see what else is going on in the crafty world!

Name the Cow – The Results

Well first I’ve got to say I’ve been really let down. I know it’s a bit of a gloomy day, but honestly, I just can’t get my staff to get up these days…

So the draw with the hat just didn’t happen, I’ve had to resort to the Random Number Generator.

Still, I only had to do counting for the name vote, and ended up with a short list of seven, which were, in no particular order, Flora, Ermintrude, Petunia, Pamela, Miss Marple, Lucy and Gertrude. After an early lead, Ermintrude finally lost out to Petunia, which I think suits her very well.

Petunia the Cow

Thanks so much for your help, I now have a selection of names for the rest of the herd, and Petunia will be heading off to Folksy very soon to find a new home.

And now for the draw. Having given everyone a number, I set the RNG going and the winner was No. 14, who is….drumroll…..pregnant pause…. Tilly Mint Boutique!!! So congratulations, I shall put the Julie Arkell book and tiny sheep in the post very soon.

Thanks so much to everyone who took part, I shall look out for another occasion to celebrate in the near future.
See you soon x

Sssssh….

We’ve got to do the prize draw. Higgins was really looking forward to it. We were going to have fun with the hat, and interesting pieces of paper and possibly running round the garden trying to read the piece of paper before it got too soggy.

But Higgins is a poorly little pup…

We had to spend some time at the vet’s today because he couldn’t eat his breakfast biscuits and spat out his cornflake at Granny’s. And when he barked at the post lady, he squeaked. It seems to be a sore throat. I have been poaching chicken to serve with rice and he can manage that. No walkies, and no playing with friends…and Higgins can’t do that either!

So while Higgins sleeps off the injection and the antibiotic tablets, I am quietly enlisting the assistance of the online Random Number Generator (which isn’t quite so much interactive fun)

I gave everyone a number, pressed go..and…

…it’s…

Sarah Hickman!

Congratulations Sarah! Your Pompom Bunting will be in the post next week, I hope you enjoy it. Meanwhile, I shall put my nurse’s hat on again and go and check out the sick room…sssssh….