Birthday Giveaway!

Once again the weather is glorious here in Scotland and I have spent my 30th birthday buying buttons and eating cake!!
I baked my own chocolate, raspberry and Nutella cake and I can tell you that it is delicious!
To celebrate my birthday, I'm having a bit of a giveaway! I'm offering one lucky reader the chance to win a personalised set of 6 of my Peg It! pegs. You can have names, phrases, buttons or sparklies on them - so long as it will fit on the peg!
All you have to do is comment on this post to be in with your chance to win! If you share this post on Twitter or your Facebook page you can have an extra entry (make sure you tell me in your comment where you have shared so I can put them in!)
I'm also running a second giveaway via my Facebook group so why not join it and enter again?!!
The giveaway will close at 12 noon on Monday 10th June and I will  announce the winner on Monday evening so make sure you pop back and check!
good luck!
Sarah x

And the winner is ....

So we have a winner!  One lucky person has won either a funky teal and black feather hair clip or a gorgeous red journal pouch! 

I put all of the names into a table and allocated you all a number (you will notice Cayte is not in here, as my mum she requested not to be entered!) and then used a random number generator to choose the number of the winner.

Name	Number
Dreamthief6641	1
Tracy Carlton	2
Maudiemaudie	3
Tracy Coxey	4
iMake	5
Ali	6
Kims Colourway	7
Amy Carmichael	8
Raven Jan	9
Tania Hudson	10
Catherine Lawton	11
Jo Taylor	12

And the number the random number generator chose is ....

6

 

Congratulations to Ali!  I wonder what you will choose!

Keep checking back for the next giveaway!

Amigurumi Crazy (and Giveaway update!)

I have gone amigurumi crazy!  My good friend, Jo, has lent me an amigurumi book that is just full of the cutest patterns that are so easy and quick to make.

For those of you new to  amigurumi, it originates from Japan and is the art of knitting and crocheting little small creatures or objects as stuffed toys.  There are hundreds of books out there talking you through how to make mini animals and some more obscure objects (including a hamburger and some crochet tombstones!). 

The book I have been lent (see above) is defintley one of the more sensible ones, with patterns for a ballerina bunny, snail, monkey, aeroplane and a whole host of other gorgeous animals.  The only problem I had was which one to start with!  

So far I have made the ballerina bunny for me, a cupcake bear and a snail for Mr Gingerbread Bunny.  I started with the cupcake bear as it was a very simple pattern and very quick.  It is adorable and I am going to use it as a pin cushion.

 

Ballerina Bunny was my second project from the book and took a little longer as she has more bits to her.  But she is just so cute.  She gave me lots of practise at working in several colours at the same time and joining all the parts together.  

The snail was quick and easy to make.  You make the shell in 2 pieces and my 2 pieces where different sizes (oops!  Well it was about 8pm when I started him!) With some stretching whilst stitching it worked out.  

Finishing off the animals requires a bit of embroidery skill for noses and mouths and I purchased some 6mm safety eyes from eBay for a very reasonable price (if you are planning on giving these to small children then safety eyes are a must).  

The patterns are predominantley worked in the round, which is easy, but you definitley need to use stitch markers at the start of each round, a tip not given in the book, or you just cannot work out where the round begins and ends.

For those of you not lucky enough to have a friend with a book, there are plenty of free patterns available online on Ravelry, Lion Brand Yarns and by searching for amigurumi patterns.

Happy Crocheting!

GIVEAWAY UPDATE!

There is still plenty of time to enter my giveaway from my last post!  All you need to do is leave a comment on my last post, Pretty Presentation and Great Giveaway, or one the link to this blog post on The Gingerbread Bunny Facebook page, before 12pm GMT Wednesday for a chance to win a funky feather clip or a beautiful book pouch! 

As you may have noticed, I am now taking comments on the Facebook page as a few fans of the Bunny weren't able to comment on the blog.  Please feel free to pass on the details of this giveaway to your friends.

Pretty Presentation and a Great Giveaway!

All wrapped up!

I apologise for the alliteration but I like things to sound good!  For that matter, I like things to look good to and that is what today's post is going to be about (as well as a great giveaway at the end! Squeal!!) 

I chose to start my blog as a way to share my crafting with my friends and, well, the World.  And so the Gingerbread Bunny was born.  At first my blog background came from the general templates, which were OK but not what I really wanted.  It didn't look pretty enough.  I bought a book, Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey, which led me to a website called Smitten Blog Designs (check their site out if you have a blog you would like to revamp!) who offer lots of really funky backgrounds for blogs, and that is where my current design came from.  Much prettier I think.

From my blog, my Folksy store grew and I wanted to make sure that when I launched the business side of The Gingerbread Bunny it looked professional.  For me, this is very important and as a consumer, I notice this!  I paid a small price for the lovely Aleximo Croissant on Folksy to design my logo, lettering, business postcards, letterhead and stickers - everything I needed to get going.  I have to say it was well worth it and I feel it just makes the whole business look that little bit more professional.

Finally, my packaging!  I knew that when I posted items out to their new owners, the packaging needed to be a little bit special.  It makes such a difference when your parcel arrives looking pretty!  I wrap all my items in tissue paper, tied with cord or ribbon with a postcard attached as the invoice.  I found an eBay shop that sells purple mailing bags (as this matches my colour scheme) and seal the bags with a sticker. 




My parcel ready to go!

 Presentation, for me is very important!  It is, after all, one of the first parts of your blog or business people see and is well worth giving a little bit of thought to!

GIVEAWAY!

It's time for my giveaway!  Squeal!  I have to say I am very excited about my first ever blog giveaway andI hope many of you will enter. 

The winner will be able to choose between 2 prizes; a black and teal mini feather hairclip or a red fabric A5 journal/diary/book pouch. 
To win one of these amazing prizes, handmade by The Bunny, all you need to do is leave a comment under this post before 12pm (GMT) on Wednesday 11th May!  After this time, I will use a random number generator to select the winner who will be announced in my post on Wednesday evening! 
So, what are you waiting for?  Get commenting!



Gorgeous teal and black mini feather hairclip!



Beautiful red book pouch!



(Please note, entries are limited to one comment per person)