A Very Tiptoes Giveaway

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The winners are Amanda and Jessica.

My girls adore Tiptoes Lightly! If you're not familiar with these wonderful chapter books just take a swing by the author's website. He offers many stories for you to sample, for free! But let me just go ahead and tell you, you're going to want the whole book and every one of them. Honestly, I just can't imagine any child (or adult for that matter) not being thoroughly enchanted with the stories.

The slim book are broken down into easy chapters 1-3 pages long. We read at least 2 or 3 chapters every time we sit down with them. And the girls always want more! They center around a fairy by the name of Tiptoes Lightly who lives in an acorn in the Great Oak Tree. She has many fun adventures with her friends, Pine Cone and Pepper Pot, Jeremy Mouse, Ompliant the Elephant and also the children who live on the Farm, June Berry and Tom Nutcracker.
The stories are very gentle and are perfectly in tune with a Waldorf inspired life style. It brings me such pleasure when my children are able to relate to the seasonal festivals and goings on in the Tiptoes books in a way they don't get from any other series.

Our books are carried around and brought to bed and poured over daily, even though my little ones aren't reading yet. But I hear them making up their own stories as they follow the sweet and simple illustrations and in their play.
This weekend I am very happy to bring you a giveaway of not one, but two books from Reg Down! I will split these up to two winners (please leave me a note in your comments if you already have either book so that I can send the one don't have).
His latest, the Easter tale 'Eggs For the Hunting';

And the color illustrated 'The Bee Who Lost His Buzz'.

We would like these to get to the winner in time for Easter so the giveaway will only run over this weekend and I'll contact a winner on Monday (4/2). Unfortunately, this also means that the giveaway is only open to US residents.

OK, so to enter leave me a comment. Let me know what you're doing this weekend or what you're crafting for Easter/Spring.

For additional entries;
(leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don't, they count as one)
Tweet this (include @thiscosylife in your tweet)
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Blog this giveaway
Follow this blog
Like This Cosy Life on Facebook
Like Tiptoes Lightly on Facebook

I will randomly pick a winner on Monday April 2nd and announce here, on my blog. (Please, make sure I have a way to contact you!)

Reg Down also wanted me to let everyone know about his brand new website Pied Piper Press. He is selling his own books there along with a few other that might be of interest to schools and homeschoolers. And he is very generously offering a 20% off discount to homeschoolers through the month of April. This is a great opportunity to get the whole Tiptoes collection! And, if you head on over to the Natural Kids blog you will have the opportunity to win one more of his books and some wool eggs from German Dolls this weekend! It's officially a magical, Tiptoe weekend.

PS The Enchanted Cupboard giveaway is still on till Sunday, so don't forget to enter!

Easter Crafting

My fingers have been busy, busy lately, getting little things ready for the girls' Easter baskets. I have made a bunch of these felt eggs. I got the inspiration from Rachel's tutorial over on the Clean blog. Originally I had intended to use felt pieces to decorate them like she had done but here's what happened to that; I took them with me one evening while I waited solo ( I usually have dinner with my mom) during Kaiya's ballet class. I had all the pieces cut out, pinned together and placed them, along with my needles and scissors, in my embroidery floss box. All ready! Then I got there and realized I totally forgot to bring the extra felt. Bummer! Thought about cutting up a couple to use til I got home (gotta do something for an hour) but then I (brilliantly (smug, smug)) thought I would just use my crazy awesome embroidery skills to decorate them. Seriously, I am so good I can not only do the running stitch (yes, it's a stitch, mama!) I can do an extremely pained french knot (that is really just wadded up and tied down thread).

But what I lack in embroidery skills I make up in ingenuity! When my mama did see my 'french knots' she laughed and laughed and decided to show me how to make them proper. And then I went a little nuts and am using them like crazy on another Easter work in progress. They're kinda fun once you get the hang of it!

Blowing out eggs for decorating... these were a little fun, too, as I challenged myself to get the yolk out with making the smallest possible holes.

Are you Easter/Spring crafting? I'd love to hear what you're doing. By the way, here are lots of Easter songs, just because I've got the Easter spirit!

PS
Have you entered this week's giveaway? Meet me back here tomorrow for an extra giveaway!

Making Dandelion Infused Oil

The humble dandelion. They're all over the yard right now, well, because we've yet to mow our first Spring mow. We were waiting to pick the dandelions, you know? Yeah, we'll go with that. Ahem! Anyway, I stepped out the back door to go care for the animals this morning and thought 'We've got to do something with all these dandelions!'. And by something I wasn't thinking of the weed-be-gone type of something. No, something more along the lines of kitchen apothecary and mama herbalist (my dream!).

So after reading up on what they're good for and how to use them I decided we would start with a simple infused oil. The girls and I scoured the yard and plucked every last dandelion we could find. Even little River got in on the action and dumped her basket twice, by the way. But she only picked the dandelions (and rocks).







I'm sure I'll walk back out there in the morning and they'll be taking over again. But that's OK with me!

Zoe helped me to separate the flowers from the stem and we dumped them in our jar.



She poured the oil in.... we used grape seed because I like that it's lighter and less smelly than olive. I was almost out, though, and we didn't have enough to really cover the flowers so I'll pick up another bottle tomorrow and I think while I'm at it I'll break up the flowers a bit more. I looked at a few how-tos and one said pull the flowers out, another said open it up but leave the green on and another said just pull the stem off. Hmmm...



The oil is supposed to;
ease premenstrual soreness,
relieve pain,
soothe arthritic joints, back tension, sinus headaches, stiff necks, and weepy swollen skin sores,
strengthen the immune system,
protect against cancer,
and increase one’s sense of self-worth.
High claims! We shall see.... If you want to learn more about making your own check out links here and here, too. This is a great thing to do with children. They love learning that these things that are so prevalent and we take for granted are actually really useful and they can have a hand in that!

PS; Don't forget to enter this week's giveaway from The Enchanted Cupboard. Also, stay tuned for a special giveaway this weekend (starts Friday) from my girls' favorite author! Can you guess who it might be?

Sitting

We have chicks in the making! And the mama is a duck... I didn't realize it but Muscovy ducks are just crazy about making babies. This explains a lot. I just thought it was this one crazy for babies bird but turns out it's all Muscoys in general. I'm a little concerned about it. Afraid she may break the eggs due to her weight, not raise them due to their being chickens or, worst case scenario, try to teach them to swim! Muscovys don't need much water to keep them happy like most ducks but they have a big water bowl they like to splash around in that I fear is just about the right size to drown chicks in. This doesn't exactly set my mind at ease. But she's determined and... well, she scares me just a bit when she gets broody. Yes, I said it, I'm scared of a duck.

And her sister stands sentinel outside. Obviously you can't tell in this photo, but she's doing this trilling thing and moving her head around. Telling me off in other words. The sitter, on the other hand, pips and flaps around like crazy when I enter the shed where she's taken up temporary residence. I feel so loved.



Papa to be, you can see he's thrilled. Once again I'm saying to myself, 'Gotta get those ducks a man!'. Maybe they'd leave the chicken eggs alone.



The sheep, however, are not amused that she's sitting in their hay. I don't think I'd appreciate a duck in my food either.
Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. She's still building up her clutch and I'm trying to replace all the infertile duck eggs that are under her with chicken eggs so we at least don't have eggs going bad under there. Last summer we pulled out about 2o eggs she was sitting on from under the building. We finished underpinning it so at least she couldn't go under there and hide them. She's making it very difficult, though. I suppose I'd feel the same way if some crazy giant woman came in, trying to steal my babies.
These will be the first eggs hatched here at home. We've gotten day olds from a hatchery in the past, since they didn't have a rooster. If it goes we'll be excited to see some new babies running around and with a mama, of sorts. Should be interesting....

By the way, don't forget to enter this week's giveaway!

Meltdown Monday Giveaway + Product Review

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This week's giveaway is coming from Beccijo... perhaps you've seen her toys around. Her very magical Etsy shop is called The Enchanted Cupboard. Inside of her enchanted toy shop you will her beautifully painted wooden toys. Rainbow stackers, peg dolls, animals, lovely scenery pieces, and alot more.

Beccijo contacted me about reviewing her brand new item, the Take Along Game. Yes, please! She made a custom set of game pieces for each member of our family, looking at pictures of us for inspiration. She sent them, along with her Find the Rainbow game in a draw string bag with instructions. As you can imagine, we set to playing just as soon as it arrived!

You can set the 'board' up in any shape just as long as the rainbow is the start/end. There are a couple of different variations for playing, according to age or I suppose if you wanted a quicker or longer game. This time Kaiya set up the pieces in a heart shape.

Hehe, that looks an awful lot like my hubby! He was even wearing a blue shirt that day!



I love that the game is so open ended. I know my girls will find lots more ways to play. They also really enjoy playing with the 'family members'. I can imagine these would be fun to use with just about any game, our own personalized pieces or just to play with. And since there is no board it's perfect for on the go. Just pack it all back into the draw string bag and you're off!




Tell us a little about yourself so we can know the person behind the work.
I am a wife to my Prince Charming. We often joke that when I was 6 (I am older than he is) I must have made a wish on a star, and he was made perfectly for me. We have 4 very smart and beautiful children that we homeschool. I am also the leader of the NaturalKids Team, an Etsy team that focuses on natural handmade items for kids. I am a dreamer, story weaver, artist, and toymaker who works at living life to the fullest.

What inspires your creations?
I have a very active imagination that comes to life in my toys. Sometimes they are inspired by something I see; other times I dream them. I have always created, and in everything I do the process of creation is like a beautiful dance. They say some people see through rose colored glasses, I truly see through enchanted glasses.

How do you balance 'making' with mothering?
BALANCE is the key. Not having too much of any one thing - keeping it all in balance. One thing that mothers have a hard time with is justifying giving to themselves, to their creative needs, and to the parts of oneself that may need to provide an income. The more your children see you doing this, the better it is for them. It is most important for our daughters to see that we give to ourselves, because one day they will be in the same situation with the same worries. If they have a strong role model of a woman who saw the importance of giving to herself and keeping the balance, then it will be easier for each new generation.
For my business side, I get my kids and the whole family involved. The kids help with the sorting and the packaging and take pride and ownership in what they do. I have set times that I work while they work. We have made it clear to the children that both their school work and my business are equally important to the family. We keep an organized house and we ALL do family work together each day. I believe if children learn to contribute to the family, they will learn the importance of this and grow up to contribute to their community.

This Cosy Life- Tell us about your new game.
These games have been in my heart and soul for a long time. I could not get past the board! The are big, bulky, and not easy to package/ship. Then one day I was retaking photos of my educational toys, and I had laid out the sorting circles in a pattern. There it was a board game with no board. Well, my mind was in a whirlwind after that. I knew any successful game for my kids had to be able to go places: restaurant, doctor’s office, grandma’s house, and it had to function on different age levels. We have so many games that the kids just outgrew, and I wanted my game to be an investment that grew with the child’s learning and one that would be fun for mom and dad.

I have so many ideas, so keep watching the shop to see them come to life!

Now for the giveaway;
Your family made into Family Game Dolls to use with your favorite games!
That's right, Beccijo will make a personalized family game piece set, just like the one in the picture above, for one lucky winner!

OK, so to enter leave me a comment. You can let me know how your Monday is going or, better yet, tell me how you beat the dreadful Meltdown Monday or just say hi. Whatever.

For additional entries;
(leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don't, they count as one)
Tweet this (include @thiscosylife in your tweet)
Share on Facebook
Blog this giveaway
Follow Beccijo's blog
Like The Enchanted Cupboard on Facebook
Follow Beccijo on Twitter
Follow her on Pinterest

I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday April 1st and announce here, on my blog. (Please, make sure I have a way to contact you!)

PS: If anyone is interested in participating in a Monday Meltdown giveaway, here on my blog, contact me here. Whether an item from your Etsy shop or just a little something you would like to give away to brighten someone's Monday, it's all good!

And the Winner Is....

Thank you all for your comments on my last post. ♥♥♥

I am back with a winner for the spring pattern giveaway. This week there will be three.



Claire

OhAngelina

Violet

Congratulations! I've already contacted each of you and the pattern is attached to that email. If you've got any questions at all feel free to ask.

Have a great Sunday, everyone and meet me back here tomorrow morning for a wonderful product review and giveaway!

Heavy

Hmm, well, it's been quite a week here, lots on my mind and I don't know where to begin...
My daddy's health has been sharply declining for the past several years. He had cancer four years ago, had his bladder removed and, though he's been cancer free since, it's been one thing after another health wise. For the past few weeks it seems to be coming to a head once again. They discovered he had a very large kidney stone and were going to have to remove it surgically. His health being so poor this was a major concern. Regardless of the risks, though, it had to be removed and they did so this past Thursday. I waited with my mom... she didn't want to be alone in case it didn't end well. It did, though, thankfully, and now he is home again, recovering. We did learn while he was there that he has emphysema, even though he hasn't smoked in many years. Just another thing to add to the list really. I am relieved that he made it through the surgery and, it seems, that he's avoided some of the consequences that could have came from it. But I still feel as though I'm holding my breath... waiting to see which health issue on 'the list' is going to rear it's ugly head next.

This is what's been peppering my week and leaving me with a very heavy feeling in my chest and stomach. Grief and worry sitting like a stone right in my core. I'm eager for a time when we can move past this, however we may get there.

Ahhhhh

Can we all inhale deeply now and breathe a nice big sigh of, ahhhh. Spring, you've finally come! My girls are presently ringing in the Equinox with rooster crows since the window is open and Mr. Rooster is deafening. 'Who's louder, Mama? Me or him?' The ladies are laying like crazy, the mint and oregano have popped up the first of their green offerings and yesterday I pulled out all of the warm weather clothes and packed away our winter wear. Once again, inhale deeply and, ahhhhhhhhh!

Meltdown Monday Giveaway

Comments on this giveaway are now closed.

So, how's your Monday going? We're feeling a bit melty here, to tell the truth. So I'm about to go and throw myself into my Monday cleaning frenzy. Hey, it's therapeutic! But not before a giveaway...

This week I am offering my new '3 Spring Dolls' pattern to 3 winners. The winner will be drawn on the 25th so you'll have a week and a half to knit up a bunch of these cuties for everyone's Easter basket.

OK, so to enter leave me a comment. You can let me know how your Monday is going or, better yet, tell me how you beat the dreadful Meltdown Monday or just say hi. Whatever.

For additional entries;
(leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don't, they count as one)
Tweet this (include @thiscosylife in your tweet)
Share on Facebook
Blog this giveaway
Follow this blog (let me know if you already do)
Like me on Facebook (let me know if you already do)

I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday March 25th and announce here, on my blog. (Please, make sure I have a way to contact you!)

PS: If anyone is interested in participating in a Monday Meltdown giveaway, here on my blog, contact me here. Whether an item from your Etsy shop or just a little something you would like to give away to brighten someone's Monday, it's all good!

Clovers

The girls have spent this gorgeous weekend outside, in the mud, searching for four-leaf-clovers. They've found a few. Do you know that I have never found one? Kaiya says the trick is not to look for them.

I have a winner for the Hugger Mugger giveaway....

Melissa B.

Congratulations! I've already contacted you and you have through 3/19 to get back with me. stay tuned for a new giveaway tomorrow.

Meltdown Monday Giveaway

This giveaway is now closed.

Well, here I am at the end of my Monday and just now getting the chance to sit down and post this giveaway. Oy! Monday is cleaning day in our house and boy, am I ever tired? It went pretty smoothly, though, and meltdown free. I hope yours did, too.
This week our giveaway is coming from Rachel of Hugger Mugger for the second time. It's been July since we caught up with her so let's find out what's hoppin' with my sweet friend!

What have you been up to since I interviewed you last July?

Too much, lol! We moved into a new house in August, I had our third child in December... it's been incredibly busy around here. Which is why, at the beginning of 2012, I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and totally changed the focus of my Etsy shop, Huggermugger.

Back in 2008 when I started the shop, I chose the name 'Huggermugger' because it means (among other things) "jumble," and I wanted to sell a veritable jumble of different things. I sold crocheted hats, journals, water bottle carriers... I've always loved making all kinds of different things, and I sort of wanted to do everything in my shop.

By the time my daughter was born at the end of last year, I realized that all the packaging and shipping just was going to be way too much hassle with three small people around. Over the past year, my original crochet patterns started selling more and more often. I realized that selling those would still be feasible, as sending a PDF file to someone's email address doesn't require any packaging or shipping. And I had plenty of ideas for new patterns that I had never gotten around to trying because I was busy making other kinds of things for my shop.

So I pulled everything but my patterns out of my shop. And an amazing thing happened: once my shop was focused on just patterns, my sales went up! And as I've worked on creating more crochet patterns, I've started getting more and more ideas for them. I've added 5 new patterns in 2 1/2 months, and have ideas for 6 or 7 more, which I'm gradually working up as I have time.

I now sell my patterns on Ravelry and Craftsy as well, also under the name Huggermugger, but Etsy remains my biggest venue so far.



This pattern was inspired by my new baby getting interested in grabbing stuff and sticking her fingers through her crocheted blankets. You can make either a daisy or a sunflower from the pattern. Today I'm offering one already-made sunflower, made from 100% cotton yarn and stuffed with cotton as well. I'm also offering 1 copy of this pattern, as a PDF file that will be emailed to the winner.

OK, so to enter leave me a comment. You can let me know how your Monday is going or, better yet, tell me how you beat the dreadful Meltdown Monday or just say hi. Whatever.

For additional entries;
(leave a separate comment for each entry, if you don't, they count as one)
Tweet this (include @thiscosylife in your tweet)
Share on Facebook
Blog this giveaway
Follow Rachel's blog
Add her Etsy shop to your Etsy favorites
Like her on Facebook

I will randomly pick a winner on Sunday March 18 and announce here, on my blog. (Please, make sure I have a way to contact you!)

PS: If anyone is interested in participating in a Monday Meltdown giveaway, here on my blog, contact me here. Whether an item from your Etsy shop or just a little something you would like to give away to brighten someone's Monday, it's all good!

A New Spring Pattern and a Giveaway Winner

Happy Sunday, everyone! It's beginning to look a lot like spring around here and I am really loving it. Just yesterday a couple of trees in the yard started blooming and today will find me out in the garden just as soon as River wakes from her nap. Til then, I've come with a giveaway winner for you....

Elisa

Congratulations! I've contacted you already and you have 48 hours to get back with me.




I also wanted to introduce a brand new This Cosy Life Pattern. Just in time for making little things for Easter and spring Equinox baskets, here is one pattern for making 3 simple spring themed peg dolls. Now, please note, this pattern includes instructions to make a carrot, flower and rabbit peg. It does not include instructions for the accessories, such as the soil in the basket and basket of carrots with the rabbit. These will come at a later time in an accessory options pattern.

$6

Spring Things and an Update

Her name is Blossom Mama and she carries her wee Petal baby in a sling pouch on her back while she makes her Spring rounds, adding petals to all the flowers. When her little one is very tired Blossom Mama puts her to bed in her warm and snug leaf cradle.







Another little play set inspired by spring (nearly here!). I got this beautiful hand dyed yarn from Fiona Duthie in a Rhythm of the Home giveaway. I just adore using it and I think it's absolutely perfect for sweet spring things!

I wanted to let everyone know that our Easter egg/Spring swap is now full. I will be emailing all participants in just the next day or so. I'm very much looking forward to our swap!

And I also wanted to remind you all about this week's giveaway from Lucinda of Willodel. I will be drawing a winner on Sunday so enter now if you haven't already.
Enjoy your weekend, friends!

An Easter Swap

Our swap is now full!

I'm pulling out the wool roving to make some springy gnome pods (and a kit for you) and some new Easter eggs for my girls. Have you made these before? They're a lot of fun and a great alternative to plastic eggs. Well, my friend Katrina suggested we do an egg swap and of course I'm on board! I hope you are, too.

What you will be making is one wool egg and one extra little something (Waldorf inspired) about $5-10 in value for the spring nature table or Easter baskets. If you've not welt felted before check out this link for a great tutorial from Nicole. Or if you'd rather you can try your hand at some of these other great techniques; knitted eggs, crocheted eggs, flip top crochet eggs, sewn from felt, felt pocket eggs (or this one) or needle felted. Though, I must say, it's always fun if the egg opens to hold a treasure or two.

We're going to do 11 participants, counting Katrina and myself, leaving 9 places open. You will make 10 packages and receive 10 packages in return. We're pretty pressed for time since Easter is falling on April 8th this year so we're going to let each participant be responsible for mailing all their packages. This also means it's only going to be open in the US. Sorry for that. Next time I will give you more of a heads up so we can include international participants.
All packages must be in the mail by March 24th to allow for one full week for packages to be delivered. This will give us just over 2 weeks to get all of our crafting finished.

If you would like to participate leave me a comment on this post or you can email me directly at thiscosylife(at)yahoo(dot)com. I'll close the entries once we have 11 participants. Be sure to leave me your email address and I'll email you within 48 hours to let you know that you have a spot. It will be up to you to respond to my email within 48 hours with your confirmation and mailing address or you'll loose your spot.

OK, this is my first time hosting a swap so if you have questions or I've forgotten anything just let me know. And get to crafting!