Fabrics and Craft Supplies Giveaway!

Oh wow...I'm getting so excited by all these giveaways this week!  I'm hosting a different giveaway every day this week, Monday to Friday, so do pop back for more!

Today, I'm pleased to be teaming up with Abakhan who are offering 3 vouchers, effectively tripling your chances of winning!  Each voucher is for £20 and if you are one of the lucky winners you can spend your voucher on whatever you like from their website.

strawberry fabric from Abakhan

I have plans for this fabric ...
it might be cold right now but I'm thinking summer picnics!

Abakhan have long been one of my favourite fabric shops (I love that I'm close enough for a special trip every so often to their North Wales branch) but they don't just sell fabrics.  There's a whole lot in the way of craft supplies too: if knitting, felting, crochet, beading or jewellery-making just happens to be your thing, you'll probably find something you love!

All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning a £20 voucher is this:

Leave a comment on this post, telling me what you would make if you won.

It's that simple!

What are you waiting for?  Pop over to Abakhan for a browse and some inspiration, and pop back here to leave your comment.

Winners will be drawn Thursday 31st January at noon UK time and announced on this blog soon afterwards.

This particular giveaway is only open to people in the UK.  Check here for yesterday's giveaway if you missed it - and don't forget to pop back tomorrow for another!

Commercial Creatives: Book Giveaway!

Today we have not one but five books to give away (well, five copies of the same book)...

Commercial Creatives on the Kindle Fire

Commercial Creatives is a new book, aimed at anyone who wants to sell their art, craft or design work.  I was sent a copy on Kindle to review - currently, I'm only part way through it.  Up to now, I can tell you it is well worth reading.  You'll learn about different ways to sell, what a difference photography makes (and how to make the most of that difference, whatever your budget or lack thereof!) and why your choice of wording matters.

You'll learn a lot more, of course, but I really need to read the rest of the book to share that with you (I'll do a post all about it once I've finished reading!).

I'm still reading!

It's a book written by people who live and breathe creative selling - and it's clear they know their stuff - but it is also packed with interviews with people who add such a lot to the mix.  There's a really useful section on UK tax laws, but I think the rest of the book will be useful for anyone pretty much anywhere in the world.  Don't take my word for it - read some free chapters to get a feel of the book!

Mike and Anna, the authors, have kindly offered five copies of their book to me to give away.  The free books are in digital format, although you can buy it in paperback on Amazon.  You can also buy it for your Kindle (these links are to the UK Amazon pages).

The US Amazon page is here.

This giveaway is open to anyone, worldwide.  The prize is in digital format, so you'll be sent a link to download.  You can choose to have it in PDF or Kindle format.

Find out more about this book:

Visit the website
Follow on Twitter
Like on Facebook

To be in with a chance of winning a copy, simply leave a message on this post, telling me why you'd like to win.

Pop back tomorrow for another giveaway! There are five giveaways in total this week.

Handmade Monday 100

Yippeee! Welcome to the 100th Handmade Monday post!

I feel I should be letting fireworks off - or at least offering you cake.  Because doing either probably wouldn't work very well online, I'm going to be hosting some very special giveaways.

cake, anyone?

Of course it's a celebration, but it's also very much about saying a very big THANK YOU to each and every person who has taken part in Handmade Monday, as well as all those who take a passing interest - those people who pop by and squeeze in the time to peruse your lovely blogs, a bit like a lucky dip!

Handmade Monday would never have worked without you all, and most especially, the "regulars" (you know who you are!).  It has a real community feel and people have said some lovely things about it ... it's like an online coffee morning, it's the friendliest linky party out there ... that sort of thing.  Community is a big part of making and selling crafts, and the lovely comments just reflect the very lovely people who take part.  Thank you all.

So, what can you expect this coming week from the giveaways?

There will be a different giveaway every day for five days, starting tomorrow, Monday.  I'll be teaming up with a variety of businesses and creative people to give away books, photo-editing/design software, vouchers for fabric/craft supplies and a very special one-to-one assessment of one lucky person's small business's marketing activity - leading to a personalised marketing strategy covering lots of areas for one lucky winner!  This is incredibly generous - do pop back for more information later in the week.

I'll leave you with a photo of the latest Sewing World magazine...

and my owl pincushion/thread catcher...

I made this owl with fabric from Guthrie & Ghani - do pop by for a look at their range.  While you're there, check out their blog for the ongoing story of the amazing renovation of an old building into their shop premises and home - I love reading about how this is progressing! It feels a bit like one of those renovation programmes but in blog format.

Do pop back every day this week to see what you could win! 

Handmade Monday 95

Welcome to another Handmade Monday (click the link to find out what it's all about).

Well, we're in full head-on Christmas shopping mode over on my website, with this week and next expected to be the busiest weeks of the year.  It seems every time I look at the computer there's another order or several waiting for my attention.  I'm sure many of you are the same, and that's probably why Handmade Monday seems a little quieter recently.

the "finishing off" table

You may have noticed we're hurtling towards not just Christmas but another celebration: we're rapidly coming up to the 100th Handmade Monday!  Now, because Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are both Mondays, I decided we'd take a little break over the holidays - I hope that's OK with you.  The last Handmade Monday before Christmas will be 16th to 18th December and the first one in the new year will be 6th to 8th January.

So the 100th Handmade Monday will happen on 21st January ... IF my adding up is right! (always a big IF, that one!)

To celebrate, there will be giveaways!  Freebies are coming from more than one direction, so do make sure you come back in the new year!

Anyway, back to this week: I have managed to negotiate delaying one of my Craftseller magazine projects until after Christmas, which I'm supremely grateful to be able to do. I don't know where the time would have come from otherwise!  I'm already working evenings and weekends.

I will pop round to as many Handmade Monday links as I can this week - forgive me if I don't leave a comment, although I will do my best to comment on as many as I can.