Stain monsters & Penny Scallan giveaway!!!!!!!!

This is a story, a story of a mum who does a LOT of washing, scrubbing and cleaning (sound familiar?). This mum has two creative children, who love to paint and make things. The mum isn't a fan of stains on clothes, but she knows that with two creative children, there is no escaping the stains, or is there? 

Read on and discover how this mum has tamed the "stain monsters" that taunt her - OK I've just given away the ending, damn. But do read on, there is a fabulous giveaway at the end - have I just given away the surprise ending too? Oh dear never mind. The story begins .......

There were many stain monsters that lived in this house, most ended up tucked away in drawers. They were very mean to the kind mum who lived there, they taunted her and laughed as she tried to scrub them away with all manner of cleaning products. "Scrub, scrub, that's all I do" Said the mum. The mean stain monsters even said mean things about her home made washing powder which were really hurtful!

Meanwhile, the door bell rang. It was a parcel that contained the heroes of this story. Two Penny Scallan art smocks. Apples for the girl and cars and trucks for the boy. Long sleeves and a front that would only require wiping! The mum did a little dance of joy "wipe only!" she cried.

The creative children got to work, creating masterpieces all the while the heroes (Art smocks) keeping those stain monsters away. 

It suddenly dawned on the daughter that the stain monsters would never been seen in the house again. "But mum what about the stain monsters?" She said in a worried voice. The mum just smiled. "We won't be seeing them here again" She said.

Once the masterpieces were completed and the children had grown wary and tired of creating. Mum said "Tidy up time" . "Scrub, scrub?" Asked the two children. "No wipe, wipe, wipe" The mum said, with a smile she could not remove from her face.

The heroes knew that they had done a great job, they also knew that they would come in handy next baking time too, much better than the cloth aprons that mum had. "Wipe, wipe, wipe" Mum thought to herself. "Yes wipe, wipe, wipe".

So did you like that story? Good eh? Did you relate to that lovely kind mum, tired of scrubbing? Well if you did and would like a hero aka a Penny Scallan Art smock in your house read on!

Penny Scallan is giving one lucky reader their choice of Art Smock, I know! cool huh? All you have to do is leave a comment on this post, letting me know your choice of size and style (there are more than the two that feature in this story) you can find all the choices on the Penny Scallan Art smock page. While you are there, check out all the other products that they have on offer, you can find their home page here, some seriously cool stuff.

I'll draw a winner via the random number generator on Monday the 8th of April. Good luck! (This giveaway is open to lurkers and non bloggers too - I know you are out there! Go on enter, you know you want to!)

A HUGE thanks to the team at Penny Scallan for supplying these  super cool stain busting heroes - Art Smocks!

unplugged

We headed to Northland over Easter. It's our first family getaway in well over a year, so it was long overdue. We were blessed with sunny days and quite possibly the best beach in New Zealand, Maitai bay. The perfect combination of clear water, (up to our chests and we could still see our toes! - not something you find here in Auckland) white sand with few shells, lots of rock pools to explore at low tide and not too many people to share it with (again not something that Auckland has!). We can't wait to go back. 

Once home I discovered that time had not stood still, a mountain of emails and lots of blog posts to read. Five days of no computers takes it's toll! 

crossed

For the last four years I've made a big batch of hot cross bun dough to take along to our playgroup for the children to make into buns. This year I really didn't feel that enthused about the prospect and was secretly hoping I might get away with not doing it! If no one asked I decided I wasn't going to volunteer. What a grinch huh? But I was asked and I got a up a wee bit earlier to make the dough this morning. I must admit that when I saw what fun some of the kids were having I couldn't believe I'd been such a grinch! So much so I'm going to volunteer next year to do it even though Mr A won't be there anymore (a big school boy!).  The buns turned out amazing considering they didn't get too much time to rise.

I've made a batch of Easter bark - no peppermint and a sprinkling of candy coated chocolate eggs, I've also made a few Easter bouquets for preschool and school teachers too. They look so nice as a center piece on my table it's a shame to gift them away!

I've got a bunch of stuff to share with you dear readers, including a very exciting product review and giveaway! Yes! I've been working on quite a few other things but I'll have to wait a wee bit longer till they can be shared.

I wish you a safe and happy Easter!

rainbow

I have a boy here that LOVES colour. It often amazes me the differences between my children and the way they play and the things that interest them. I was lucky if I got one painting from Miss E at preschool a week, Mr A it's several a day! He loves anything to do with colour, he is always commenting on different colours of things he sees and LOVES to paint. He's wanted a "rainbow" blanket for a long time. By "rainbow" he means a knitted or crocheted blanket with lots of colour. He often sees them at the local opshops and wants me to buy him one. Until now I've said no, as they have been out of my budget (they are quite the collectible and the opshops seemed to have wised up to this) and as I can crochet I kinda think I should make one myself! But yesterday I found this great knitted blanket for $8.  I picked it up, would I? Wouldn't I? While I was deciding the ladies at the counter were talking about it, saying how lovely it was and how much all the wool would have cost and how great it would look on a bed. They sold it to me! It has also been backed with super soft and cuddly polar fleece. It looks like it's been made and never been used too!

I'm happy to report that I have one very happy four year old, nestled in bed, snuggled down and totally in love with his "rainbow" blanket! Perfect timing too, seems that the weather is finally cooling down, after the Summer that never ended.

Linking up again with Max - the op-shop show-off !

drum roll .........

First prize of a $20 Bakers Delight voucher - #7 Sophie!

Second prize of a $10 Bakers Delight voucher is - #3 Miriam!

Winner of the maps - is  Max!

Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter! Seems like all the winners are from Christchurch! Ladies could you get in contact and let me know your delivery details please? Thanks so much!

bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin - You will have heard by now about google reader finishing up soon. Blog Lovin has made it super easy to import all those blogs you have been following with just a click!

pattern postie

If you have ever spent ages pouring over a pattern book at your local fabric store with a toddler and maybe a baby also in tow, only to get to the counter and find they don't have the pattern you are after! You will be able to understand why Bronwyn started her site - Pattern Postie. You can browse patterns (all the latest ones!) in the privacy of your own home! How amazing is that? The postage rate is really reasonable too, meaning that there is really NO reason not to buy them online. The Pattern Postie also stocks all those great sewing magazines too, Burda style and Ottobre too (she can also get the back issues for you too!). Now you maybe wondering how I know all of this? Well I was so lucky to have a stall right next to Bronwyn at Fabric-a-brac over the weekend. We chatted lots about her business and our crafting hoarding collecting!

The best part of me bringing this wonderful site to your attention is that Pattern Postie is currently having a HALF PRICE sale!!!! (the sale ends this Sunday)

fried - giveaway #2

You are probably not like me at all. You probably don't buy things for a "dream house" that you don't own yet, keeping such possessions tucked away in some cupboard waiting for their time to be displayed. I picked up this fry pan at the local Salvation Army op shop this week, it's been painted on the base, so it's "display only" now. I once saw in a design magazine, a beautiful all white kitchen with a mural on one wall very similar to the scene painted on this fry pan. I loved the crisp white (highly practical!) bench top and cupboard doors, but I especially loved the peaceful bush and waterfall mural. I've been dreaming of such a kitchen ever since. For now I'll have to make do with this fry pan "mural", not hiding it away for that dream kitchen.

Now to another giveaway! Remember this stool I made over with maps? Well I've still got lots of maps and I thought there might be someone out there who would like to have some maps to play with! I've got two to giveaway, one is of Hamilton and the other Lake Taupo, they are large topographical maps. This giveaway is open to everybody, world-wide! (As long as you don't mind them being sent folded). Just leave a comment on this post if you would like them and I'll draw a winner on Sunday.

Joining in with Max in her op-shop show-off!

crossed + giveaway

It's no secret around these parts that I like hot cross buns, ahem. So when offered the chance of some free ones to review, I didn't waste anytime to say "yes". The lovely people at Bakers Delight sent me a selection! Some original, traditional buns and also some chocolate ones.  In order to give a fair review, I sucked one up for the team and tried both! Then I wanted to check to see how they well they kept, and if they were in fact nice to eat the next day ( a very important test right?) so again, I might have had one with my morning coffee (they were in fact so fresh the next day I could have sworn they were baked that day).
The rest were gobbled up by my family so fast that I didn't get to take a good pic of them. I saved two chocolate ones for a friend who was insanely jealous when I mentioned I was getting some sent to me. I popped two in a bag for her and surprised her, she was so excited and sent me a "thank you" text to say how she and her daughter had enjoyed them for their supper. That's what it's all about isn't it? Making someone happy with a surprise of something delicious? So pop down to your local Bakers Delight and make someone's day!

Now the lovely people at Bakers Delight have given me some of their vouchers to giveaway to my lovely readers.

I've got a first prize of  two $10 vouchers - A combined value of $20! You'll be able to get lots of yummy goodies with that! A second prize of a $10 voucher! Yummo!

So now to the fine print : Leave a comment at the bottom of this post to enter, you don't need to have a blog to enter, open to NZ residents only. You can also get an extra entry if you are a follower of this blog - please leave an extra comment, and you can get a third entry  if you pop over to the Bakers Delight Facebook page and hit like! - Please leave an extra comment for that too.  I'll draw a winner this Sunday!