A photo journal comprised of my thoughts on motherhood and other life happenings, as well as some of professional work as a photographer. Southern California is home.
A giveaway of my own product on my own blog? This feels weird, I won’t lie. Can’t say it’ll be a regular thing, but I do love the idea of giving y’all a chance to win something that I obviously care about and value and hope you will enjoy as much as I do.
I did a photoshoot for The Bee & The Fox the other day (also weird to be shooting your own product) and wanted to share some of the images here. I’m working on adding a separate page for these images (and others) to live on permanently. Styling for the shoot was by my dear friend and child stylist extraordinaire Heather Rome, with vintage clothing provided by my other friends over at Sweet Threads. If you’ve been a long time reader of this blog, you know that Sweet Threads and I have worked together several times in the past and it’s with much excited that we get to work together in this capacity today.
The winner can select whichever design they prefer. There are four:
Happy Camper
Boys Will Be Boys Until the End
Homegrown in the USA
Free As a Bird
The shirts are screen printed on American Apparel tee’s in sizes 2, 4, and 6 and they are super, super soft.
This giveaway is open to US residents only (sorry) and there are numerous ways to enter. Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chances of winning.
-Comment on this post and tell me which t-shirt you’d pick
-Share this post on FB and share the link in the comments below
-Repost a picture from this post on IG and tag @shopsweetthreads, @thestorkandthebeanstalk, #thebeeandthefox, and then leave a comment saying you did so
-Visit Sweet Threads online shop and tell me which item(s) you would pair with the tee (there are so many good ones to chose from…)
This giveaway ends on Halloween night, right at the stroke of midnight. The winner will be picked at random and announced on November 1st, which is the day Sweet Threads and I will be joining forces live and in full effect at their shop in Long Beach. Live in or around the area? I’d love for you to stop by. Like seriously, don’t leave me stranded. The first twenty people to purchase a shirt will have their children’s photo taken in it by me and will be featured here on my blog. What’s more is that your child will also be styled in Sweet Threads one-of-a-kind vintage pieces for the photo and if you’re also interested in purchasing any additional items from Sweet Threads, you will receive a discount. I’ll also be emailing you the high resolution image (s) of your child. Here’s the details:
Today we have a wonderful giveaway from the kind mamas over at Urban Baby Bonnets, aka UB2. At UB2 you get an honest product – mom designed, kid tested – that is handmade right here in the good ol’ U S of A.
The bonnets are reversible, offering the best bang for your buck. They also snap under your child’s chin so wish your I-don’t-want-to-wear-a-hat little tykes good luck. This also means that you can conveniently breastfeed with the bonnet on, not to mention that your child can sit comfortably against the back of the car seat without the cap causing any discomfort. And perhaps the cherry on top is that they come in loads of different prints and sizes, all made from organic fabrics.
The bonnet pictured is size 2-3T and fits both of my boys (age 2 and 3) perfectly. A hat they can both wear? Two thumbs up.
You can read more about the company and the product here.
In addition to bonnets, UB2 offers dresses and accessories. I love this dress, which is on sale, paired with some Saltwater sandals.
UB2 is offering one lucky winner a $36 credit to their store. This giveaway is open internationally and there are numerous ways to enter. Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chances of winning. The winner will be chosen via random.org and announced here in two weeks.
-Visit Urban Baby Bonnets and tell me what you would purchase with the $36 credit.
Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. Best of luck and thank you for supporting my sponsors. Remember to check back here in two weeks to see if you won. Winner will also be contacted via email, so make sure your email address is valid.
Interested in making a purchase? Use promo code thestork for 15% off your purchase (code expires in one month).
You can enter my other giveaway for a t-shirt from Sugarboo Designs by clicking here.
Today we have a special giveaway from Little Flourishes. Little Flourishes is run by Olivia Merideth who has been around the design world for years and it shows in her beautifully designed high-quality wraps and blankets. Based in Australia, Little Flourishes designs are all of native flora or birds and designed to not be gender specific so that that they would be suitable for boys or girls. I was so pleased when Olivia sent me the Black Neck Stork blanket. It’s so well made; thick enough to throw on the ground at the park, soft enough to cuddle with on the sofa.
Little Flourishes is offering one lucky winner a small feather blanket and feather wrap (pictured below). There’s more than one way to enter. Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chances of winning. The winner will be announced here in two weeks and will be contacted via email, so make sure the email you’re using is valid. This giveaway is open worldwide (wahoo!).
Here’s how to enter:
1. Visit Little Flourishes and tell me what your favorite design is.
2. Share this giveaway on facebook and leave a link in your comment entry.
3. Share this giveaway on twitter and leave a link in your comment entry.
Today, we have a special giveaway from etsy shop Little Sweet Pea, Inc. Little Sweet Pea is a trendy boutique offering unique and adorable baby items ~ infant car seat canopies, diaper covers/bloomers, nursing covers, diaper and wipe clutches and fabric flower rosette headbands, pins and hair clips. Enter today to win a $25 gift card and help support the handmade community… and what a beautiful community it is. I mean, seriously, there are so many talented mamas out there. Becca, the Mama behind Little Sweet Pea, is no exception.
You can enter any of the following ways. Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chance of winning. As usual, the winner will be chosen in two weeks (on 7/25/13) using Random.com and will be announced here on Friday, July 26th. An email will also be sent, so make sure you email address is valid. This giveaway is open to US + Canada residents only.
-Visit Little Sweet Pea‘s etsy shop and an item to your favorites. Tell me what item you chose.
Interested in making a purchase? Becca has been kind enough to offer free shipping with coupon code StorkFreeShip, valid until July 31st. Happy shopping and thank you for supporting my sponsors.
This Friday is the first official day of summer and there’s no better way to kick off the start of a new season, perhaps the best of all seasons, than with a giveaway to Sweet Threads. If you’re a long time reader of this blog, you know Sweet Threads has been around for some time. I met Shella long ago at the Rose Bowl Flea market and we’ve become better and better friends ever since. You can read a previous interview with Shella here.
Today she is offering a $50 gift card to one lucky winner. You can use the gift card either online or at her new shop, which opens 4th of July weekend:
Live near Long Beach? Sling your littlest one over your shoulder and put the others in the wagon. It’s time for the grand opening launch of Sweet Threads: The Brick +Mortar local edition. Join us July 4th weekend.
Featuring a candy bar & desserts, discounts & swag packs, and – oh yeah – the latest in kiddo fashion.
The details: Saturday, July 6th // 11am to 5pm // 3301 E. 4th St. Long Beach, CA 90814 // Get 15% off your purchase (sale items not included) // Swag packs available to the first 50 customers // Don’t worry about the sugar, they’ve got your sweet tooth covered.
Don’t live local? Don’t fret my pet. You can still enter to win. The $50 gift card can be used online as well. Here’s some of my favorites from their online shop. In case you can’t tell, I’m totally swooning over the swimsuits for the little ladies… I mean… come. on.
Are you like me and can’t decide between vintage and modern or like to mix and match? Again, don’t fret, they got all the bases covered. Sweet Threads carries the latest brands like Mini Rodini and Mini & Maximus as well as the sweetest vintage finds you could imagine. My kiddos have long been outfitted in Sweet Threads…
Onto the giveaway details:
This giveaway is open internationally (international shipping costs additional, however).
You can enter any of the following ways. Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chance of winning. As usual, the winner will be chosen in two weeks using Random.com and will be announced here on Friday, July 5th. An email will also be sent, so make sure you email address is valid.
Interested in making a purchase? Shella is kindly offering all Stork readers a 20% discount with coupon code STORK20. This coupon code is good for one month (expires 7/20/13).
Today we have an awesome giveaway from the lovely ladies over at Urban Baby Bonnets, aka UB2. I love working with other mamas, and the ladies behind UB2 are as sweet as they come. I love that they are passionate about their product and I love that their products are all handmade.
I wish my boys would wear hats. We live in Southern California and you better believe we spend much of our summers at the beach. I’m that mom that’s combing sunscreen through her kids’ hair to keep their little noggins from getting burnt. We own one ridiculous tiger sun visor that Hooper agrees to keeping on his head. Well, some of the time at least.
When the kind ladies over at Urban Baby Bonnets offered to send me a bonnet to review, I kindly declined. Truthfully, I didn’t want the responsibility of making it work for the sake of this post. I knew that bonnet would be thrown off their little hot heads in no time. But I reconsidered when I discovered they have snaps. It’s almost as if these bonnets were designed by moms. Oh wait, they are.
You can read more about the company and the product here.
So the initial response looked like this:
Then he discovered it was snapped on:
And then a few minutes passed and this toddler forgot about that bonnet:
The bonnets come in a wide range of sizes, but I found that the medium (12-24 months) fit both of my boys well despite the nearly two year age gap. That’s always a win in my book.
The bonnets are reversible, have multiple snaps to allow for proper fitting, and have a large brim to shade the whole face from the sun. The bonnets also work well with breastfeeding and car seats/strollers. There’s loads of fabrics to chose from (I love this one, this one, and this one).
In fact, the bloomers are my favorite. I mean, seriously? Too cute.
UB2 is offering one lucky winner a $36 credit to their store. This giveaway is open internationally and there are numerous ways to enter. Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chances of winning. The winner will be chosen via random.org and announced here in two weeks.
-Visit Urban Baby Bonnets and tell me what you would purchase with the $36 credit.
Remember to leave a separate comment for each entry. Best of luck and thank you for supporting my sponsors. Remember to check back here in two weeks to see if you won. Winner will also be contacted via email, so make sure your email address is valid.
Interested in making a purchase? Use code MAYFLOWER to receive free US shipping on all orders over $87 at checkout.
When I was pregnant with Hooper, I planned on using cloth diapers. I was cloth diapered as an infant and it seemed, from that, I had the expectation for myself to do the same. I agree that it’s better for the environment and all that other ish. But I also knew I would not be the only one changing diapers. Willy wasn’t for the idea. Not one bit. Eventually, we compromised on paying a monthly fee to a diaper service. It seemed like a good middle ground in that we would still be cloth diapering, but we would not be responsible for cleaning and folding and all the other clean up that goes along with cloth diapering.
Then Hooper was born and we both looked at each other in confusion; We weren’t sure how to get the big clunky cloth onto our little newborn. And we were exhausted. And trying to figure out how to make it all work was too much for us to take on. So we went the disposable route. And I’ve never felt bad about it. I’ve always said, in regards to parenting, that you have to do what works for you and what maintains your sanity.
When Comfy Rumps contacted me about doing a product review, I was scared. It was like returning to a challenge that I had already thrown the towel in on. But, I read about the company and it’s a great company and I thought I’d be doing an injustice to my readers not to give it a proper chance. And so we’ve entered The Cloth Diapering Experiment, compliments of Comfy Rumps, because – you know – rumps must be comfy.
First thought upon opening the package: Wow, that’s a lot of snaps.
Second thought: Holy sheet, there’s snaps.
When we signed up with the cloth diapering service, we literally received a bag full of folded cloths. No snaps, no ties, no pins. We purchased these weird hook things that attached one side to the other, but they were neither user friendly or attractive. So, after I got over the perplexion of all the snaps, I was quite happy to see that they were user friendly.
Third thought: We’re really doing this, Harry. That’s right, it’s a movie quote from the girl who never quotes movies because my memory has suffered from things I did during the days I was an asshole teenager.
Here’s a little about their original cloth diapers:
-The outer layer is made of polyester with a polyurethane laminate coating, making it 100% waterproof.
-The inner layer is made of a light and soft microfleece.
-The snaps allow for adjustment to both the waist and hip in addition to the rise.
-The soakers/inserts are made of a three-piece microfiber terrycloth material that are able to absorb up to 250ml (that’s a little more than a cup of water) .
What I thought:
Truthfully, I’m a little regretful that I didn’t commit to cloth diapers when Hooper was an infant. I think if I had done more research and familiarized myself with the products beforehand, my good intentions would have come to fruition. I think it’s too late in the game now to make the investment, but after this cloth diaper diaper experiment, I have some regrets. For starters, it wasn’t nearly as hard as I had imagined it to be. In place of throwing a diaper into the pail, I simply threw the terrycloth insert into a wet bag. The only difference is that the pail gets taken to the trash while the wet bag is taken to the laundry room.
The cloth diapers were easy to snap, fit nice and snug around Van’s legs, and dried fast after washing. They also maintained their softness wash after wash. The adjustable size, via the snaps, means I would only need one set from birth to toddler. It also means that had I invested when Hooper was an infant that I would have been able to use the same set for Van, thus saving even more money in the not-so-long run.
The cloth diaper lasted for about 3 hours until Van required a changing. I experienced no leaks or blow outs. They were easy to change and what once seemed incredibly daunting and intimidating ended up being incredibly easy.
Why chose Comfy Rumps:
Comfy Rumps is super affordable. From the reviews of their product that I read online, many seemed skeptical because of the price. I did not, however, read a single bad review. Everyone that uses these diapers seems to love them. The original pocket cloth diaper costs a mere $7.75, considerably cheaper than other cloth diapers (BumGenius cloth diapers run $17.95). Comfy Rumps also has affordable Bamboo Diapers. Bamboo is a renewable resource and is grown without fertilizers or pesticides and is said to be more absorbent than cotton. Bamboo diapers, through Comfy Rumps, cost $8.25-$10.25.
Comfy Rumps also has training pants to ease the transition from diapers to underwear. The training pants are designed to feel wet against the skin in an effort to teach your toddler the association of feeling wet with having to go to the potty. Hooper has been doing great with potty training, when home, and is able to use his potty on his own. We have slowly transitioned to putting him in underwear during the day, though he still needs help pulling his underwear down. I use the training pants for naps and, when I decide to take the plunge, will use them at night as well. He did wet his pants the first time I put him down for a nap in the training pants. They were able to hold the urine and did not leak. He has not wet his pants during his nap since, but I still use the training pants as much as possible in case he forgets. I’ve also used the training pants to transition him to wearing underwear in public. For a while, Hooper was potty trained so long as we were home. Now that he has a good grasp on using the potty, we’ve been leaving the house with him in the training pants and reminding him frequently that he needs to tell us when he has to go potty. No accidents.
The training pants are super soft and are made with the bamboo fleece I spoke of before. They’re made with great quality and fit snug around his thighs. The training pants appear shiny on their website, but in actuality they are a soft fuzzy material that feels like velvet. I like nothing more than running my hand over Hooper’s soft little covered butt. Comfy Rumps makes their pocket cloth diaper with this same “fuzzy wuzzy” material and they are to-die-for cute. Here’s some of my favorites:
Comfy Rumps is offering one winner a $25 gift card to their online store. Interested in trying cloth diapering? Have a toddler you’re potty training? You can enter by doing one or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each entry to increase your chance of winning:
1. Visit Comfy Rumps and tell me what you would get with the gift card.
5. Follow The Stork & The Beanstalk on BlogLovin’.
This giveaway is open to US & Canada residents only. Please make sure your email address is valid, as the winner will be contacted via email. I will also announce the winner on Facebook in two weeks (2/13).
It’s crazy―as in cah-ray-zee―to think that my boys will one day be in students in school and players on teams and cubs in scouts. What’s even crazier is that there will come a day when I’ll have to volunteer and participate in these things.
And when that day comes, I’ll be turning to Custom On It.
Custom On It helps people and organizations customize products used for fundraisers, promotions, and more. They work with schools, moms (like lil’ ol’ me!), event planners, fundraising organizations, and companies we all know―Asics, Trader Joes, YMCA, Mozilla Firefox, Dos Equis. Creating your own brand? You can use Custom On It to grow your company.
Other products include: sweatbands, silicone wristbands, slap bands (OMG, remember these?) and even koozies (for the adult fundraisers, of course).
Custom On It is providing one lucky winner with a $50 coupon code to their online store. You can enter any of the ways listed below. Please leave a separate comment for each entry and please make sure your email address is valid, as the winner will be contacted via email. Open to US & Canada only.
1. Visit Custom On It and tell me what product you would chose and what you would do with it.
Interested in making a purchase? Custom on it is giving readers of The Stork & The Beanstalk a 10% discount with coupon code beanstalk. I’ll announce the winner here in two weeks from today. Good luck!
Today we have a lovely guest blogger + a $40 giveaway to her etsy store Moonbeatle (details below):
My full name is Fritha Moonbeatle Tigerlilly Quinn Strickland..but you can call me Fritha. Were my parents hippies you ask?*..
I was really excited when Ashley contacted me to do this questionnaire swap, I love Ashley’s humour, you should go check out her answers here. Before you read on here is a little about me:
I am a 27 year old mumma to Wilfryd Cadno and freelance artist living in Bristol, UK with my boyfriend Tom and our two fat cats (no seriously they are really fat).
I am a great believer that what you are happiest doing at 5 is probably what you are happiest doing your whole life (there are some exceptions, I’m not sure there is a huge amount of call for worm eaters..maybe restaurant critic?…) for me it was and always will be drawing.
Whilst at Uni I wanted to be children’s book illustrator, after leaving uni I realised it was pretty hard to be a children’s book illustrator, I was too lazy and that was the end of that. If you want to see a great Children’s book illustrator you should check out our mutual friend Sarah (she will feel embarrassed I wrote that)
Any parent will tell you the first year of becoming a parent is intense! That being so my artwork has taken a back seat whilst I have settled into this new and amazing/exhausting role but slowly I am getting back into my creative passions also.
Previous to having a kiddo my work had been featured in nationwide magazines such as The Metro and Company, I also designed Paperchase’s 2012 Valentines range (not boasting or nuffin ;))
I am a lover of wildlife and nature,I’m a life long vegetarian (not eating meat once, ever *) I have a thing for foxes, so much that my son’s middle name Cadno is that Welsh for Fox. We did consider Hemulen also as I love the Moomins..
I also love photography, writing and reading beautiful blogs like this one (creep much??)
I love the blogging community, the snapshots into people’s lives and the friendships that can be made.
I hope you enjoy my answers and thanks Ashley for featuring me! xo
1. What time did you get up this morning? Officially – 6am..its probably more like 5.30 though,my darling son has never been one to lie in…
2. How do you like your steak? Still grazing happily in the field, I’m a vegetarian 😉
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I had to really really think about this one which shows how long it has been. Then I realised I saw a film at ‘baby cinema’ about 6 months ago, the idea is it is a showing where you can take your babies but watch grown up films and not get thrown out if your baby cries. ‘God Bless America’ was showing..if you have seen that film you will know why 5 minutes in you realise its not the best film to show new mums! After a few hysterical laughs and hands over our babies eyes it was fairly enjoyable..in that I liked the clothes.
4. What is your favorite TV show? So here’s the thing, we don’t have TV *gasp* but we do watch boxsets and films via good ol’ Netflix. So whilst I don’t have a favourite ongoing series my latest favourite thing to watch is Firefly, the best sci fi/western you ever did see.
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? Now this answer may just make me a dullard or it may just mean I’m 100% content but honestly? I would still live in Bristol. Bristol is such a alternative and creative city. The area we live in is multicultural and yes a little run down, but our neighbours will drop in for cake and you can get a organic vegan meal in pretty much every cafe you go to.
6. What did you have for breakfast? I gobbled down marmite toast whilst trying to stop my one year old flinging Weetabix on me.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? I am a girl of simple tastes, when I was a child we would be allowed to choose what ever we wanted to eat for our ‘birthday meal’ mine was always always ‘pasta,sauce and cheese’. A second favourite would be peanut butter noodles. I was in heaven as a student, now my boyfriend makes me eat a more varied diet..
8. What foods do you dislike? Apart from meat (although as I have never actually eaten it I guess I cant say I ‘dislike’ but ya) the only thing I cant stand is beetroot, urgh!
9. Favorite Place to Eat? I love Thai food, there is a great place near us that can make all the menu with Tofu instead of what ever meat is that dish. Which is great as usually as a veggie you are limited to about three things on a menu
10. Favorite dressing? I dont’ ever use any..is that more of an American thing or am I an oddity?
11. What kind of vehicle do you drive? Never learnt, I live in a City and can walk to just about anywhere in 45minutes in any direction (its a small City and I walk fast)
12. What are your favorite clothes? I wear dresses as a staple, I do own one pair of jeans but they just don’t suit my shape, so dresses 🙂
13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Cuba without a doubt (I was jealous to read Ashley has been!)
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Half full…of despair 😉
15. Where would you want to retire? …this city (I know I know) but in a house we built ourselves
16. Favorite time of day? 11am, its not too early. You can already have had a great morning or if you haven’t its early enough to turn things around and still have a great day
17. Where were you born? In a one bedroom top floor flat, in a bohemian area of this City i call home
18. What is your favorite sport to watch? ack none, I didn’t even watch the Olympics..I did used to be part of a Synchronised swim team though so maybe I would watch that
20. Are you a morning person or a night person? I don’t like mornings when they look like 5am (is that really the morning or is it the night?) but I am basically a granny in 27 year olds body and I cant ever seem to stay awake past 10.30pm.
21. Pets? Two fat cats, Pedigree British Shorthairs that we got from a rescue centre. They came to use so well tamed they wouldn’t even sit on the sofa, we broke their training so they would snuggle up in bed with us..now one of them pisses in the corner of the living room from time to time *sigh*
22. Any new and exciting news that you’d like to share? I’m trying to get back to my art work so hopefully this year will hold lots of new and exciting things for my shop!
23. What did you want to be when you were little? An artist (I think basically what you are happiest doing at 5 is what you will be happiest doing the rest of your life)
24. What is your best childhood memory? This question has been the hardest so far, mainly because I don’t have a great memory (I blame a reckless youth). I remember being a child and my dad grabbing my hand at the top of a hill and hurtling down, our legs going so fast I could never stop myself but knowing it was ok because my dad was holding my hand, the sound of my mum shrieking ‘careful!’ in the background and then reaching the bottom in super quick time out of breath and laughing.
25. Are you a cat or dog person? See question #21 …also a dog once chased me right up a tree once..true story
26. Are you married? Nope..maybe one day, maybe not
27. Always wear your seat belt? Who doesn’t?! Actually once when I was 15 I was in a head on collision when my friends mum was driving me home, after we had stopped and realised we were both alive I said “wow that was lucky, I almost didn’t put my seat belt on” I will never forget the look she gave me!
28. Been in a car accident? See above..I’ve also been in a bus crash and a coach crash where I had to crawl out the sun roof Jack Bauer style..always wear your seat belt guys.
29. Any pet peeves? People letting their dogs poo on the pavement, wee on the toilet seat, dishes left on the side and not straight in the dishwasher, people emailing me asking me to product test their vacuum cleaner (read on)
32. How many times did you fail your driver’s test? Never taken, maybe one day..maybe not
33. From whom did you get your last email? From a company asking if I would like to product test their vacuum cleaner….clearly they picked the wrong person.
34. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Fever London, Anthropologie, Numph and Ruby Belle
35. Do anything spontaneous lately? I have a baby..sometimes we spontaneously decide to go to IKEA for lunch but thats as far as it goes at the minute..
36. Like your job? Mostly, depends if he’s had his naps
37. Broccoli? …?
38. What was your favorite vacation? We went to Corfu as a family (with Tom, my parents, siblings, and my brother’s wife) my mum isn’t well so this was a big effort to spend some quality time together, I (have two brothers and two sisters). Pre baby so we drank Retsina, sunbathed and ate..it was great although I got eaten alive by mosquitoes..I still have the scars.
39. Last person you went out to dinner with? …I tried so hard to remember this! It was with Tom 7 months ago I think..I think we need a date night again!
40. What are you listening to right now? My son listening to Barefoot Books.
41. What is your favorite color? Blue..No! Yell.. (Is thrown over the edge of the pit and eaten by the killer rabbit)
42. Have you ever been robbed? Of sleep yes for well over a year now.
43. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue..No! Yell.. (Is thrown over the edge of the pit and eaten by the killer rabbit)
44. Do you drink? There not called Champagne Thursdays for nothing (or officially, playgroup)
45. Red bull or coffee? Tea but I do drink Coffee now and again..never Red Bull, ack
What do you know?, we’re both robbed of sleep and both dream of Cuba. I suggested we meet up one day in Cuba, who’s in? Anyway, on to the goods…
Fritha’s etsy shop is full of fantastic goodies. Here are some of my favorites:
You can enter to win a $40 store credit to Fritha’s etsy shop Moonbeatle by any of the five following ways (please leave a separate comment for each entry):
2. Visit Moonbeatle and leaving me a comment as to what item (s) you would chose if you were to win.
3. Follow Tigerlilly Quinn on facebook and leave a comment on this post.
4. Follow Tigerlilly Quinn on Twitter and leave a comment on this post.
5. Follow The Stork & The beanstalk on facebook and leave a comment on this post.
That’s five ways to enter and five separate ways to win. Best of luck and many thanks to Fritha for being so effin’ rad.
This giveaway is open worldwide. I will announce the winner in two weeks. Please make sure your email address is valid, as the winner will be contacted via email. Good luck!
I’ve stated many times in the past that I truly believe we all do the best we can as moms. Making ends meet is not always easy and I think we all understand the role of being a mother to be synonymous with sacrifice.
Elin, owner of My Own Art, gave up her career in architecture for full time motherhood. Still driven to create, Elin launched her own online business, My Own Art. Taking oridnary photographs, Elin transforms images into something just down right rad if you ask me.
Truth be told, I’m not usually one to jump on the lets alter the photograph train as I’m a wanna-be photographer at heart. I hesitated in taking on this giveaway. But if I didn’t LOVE the final outcome, this post would have never been written. I was taken back when Elin sent the completed images. I printed them on my own and picked a simple modern frame and voila, here you have it. Complete and utter awesomeness.
Want your own slice of awesome? Elin is giving away one custom digital illustration.
There’s more than one way to enter:
1. Visit Elin’s website and tell me what style you would chose if you win.
2. “Like” Elin’s facebook page and leave me an additional comment, for an additional entry, stating that you are now a fan of My Own Art on Facebook.
3. Are you a facebook whore? “Like” The Stork & The Beanstalk on facebook, leave me a comment stating you became a fan, and voila, you get an additional entry. Isn’t this fun? (side note: My facebook page is brand spankin’ new. Don’t think I’m uncool for not having a lot of fans, aight?!)
4. Follow @thestorkandthebeanstalk on Instagram, leave a comment here with your instagram ID, and you just got yourself another opportunity to win.
That’s four different ways to enter and four different ways to win. I’ll announce the winner here, two weeks from day (Christmas day). Good luck!
Want to make a purchase? Elin is offering The Stork & The Beanstalk readers $30 off during the giveaway and one week after with coupon code THESTORK.
Additional details: This contest is open worldwide. The winner is responsible for emailing Elin (sales@myownart.com.au) with the photo they wish to chose within one week of the closing of the giveaway. The email must also include the winner’s style choice for which they want their photo transformed. Within 3 days, the winner will receive a proof of the illustration and one edit may be made at this time. When the illustration is approved, the winner will receive an email with a high resolution image attached. Winner has the rights to unlimited printing of the image for personal use.
You know what I love about the holidays? Snail mail. When I was a youngin, I used to ask my dad what he wanted for his birthday. His response was always the same: A card. I thought he was so silly. I thought he was trying to give me the easy way out. Now that I’m a mom, I see the beauty in receiving something your child made or wrote with their own little grubby hands. That’s why I’m delighted to be hosting a giveaway today from etsy seller Craft Goblin. Hash tag: Long live snail mail. She makes the most beautiful cards and is kindly offering one winner a set of five cards. The winner can chose between any of the cards pictured in this post. The typewriter cards can be changed to read whatever you’d like. Get creative, people!
If you don’t win but would still like to make a purchase, Craft Goblin has been nice enough to offer 15% off your purchase with coupon code STORKSAVINGS. Best of luck! You can enter by visiting her etsy shop and leaving a comment about what card you would chose! I’ll pick the winner by random two weeks from today. Please make sure your email address is valid.
We have a special giveaway today from our friends over at Cuddle Smart Antimicrobial Baby Products. All of their baby products are engineered from Argent 47™antimicrobial silver yarn, that eliminates odor-causing bacteria and prevents mildew, mold and fungi. As a registered nurse, I’m already familiar with silvers antimicrobial effects and was excited to see that the use has extended to baby care.
I was never a germ-a-phob until I went to nursing school. We did a project where we took a swab from a public area and let it marinate, if you will, in a petri dish to see what would grow. I remember one guy swabbed the bottom of his shoe and what grew out of that petri dish resembled a mossy rainbow. It’s sounds beautiful, but when you attach names like methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus to this mossy rainbow, it ain’t so beautiful. It’s gross.
Even as a nurse, I try to operate under the idea that what doesn’t kill my children will make them stronger. I’m not a freak about what they put in their mouths because I understand that I probably only see 10% of what they put in there anyway. Point being, you can’t protect them from everything all the time. When Hooper was just starting to crawl, I left him on a blanket on the front lawn while I pulled the trash cans out to the curb. When I came back up the driveway, he had maneuvered off the blanket and picked up a piece of dog poop. And I guess he was hungry because I watched from afar as he put it in his mouth. I know, gross.
What I do do (no pun intended), as a nurse and as a mom, is protect them from environmental things that are totally in my control like what they sleep on and what I change them on and what I wrap them in after a bubble bath. The fact that Cuddle Smart uses silver yarn in their products probably means didly swat to most people. In the hospital, however, we use Silversorb gel on many of our gnarly wounds (and trust me, they are gnarly) because of silver’s effectiveness against bacteria and fungi. So when Cuddle Smart contacted me about doing a review, I was more than on board.
It goes without saying that the changing pad area is a dirty area. It brings me great comfort to know that I’m laying my little ones on something clean and proactive toward the bacteria that can be found here. Cuddle Smart also carries a fold-n-go changing pad to use on the run, which I highly recommend carrying the diaper bag at all times.
The fitted crib sheet is thick and plush. Knowing that it is fighting bacteria while simultaneously offering Van a comfy nights sleep (fingers crossed for that 8 hour stretch) makes for one happy mama.
The wash cloth and hooded towel are towelrrific. Seriously, made with the same great quality and softness as all their other products. The towel is the perfect size for Hooper and makes for some great post bath cuddle time. I also use their washcloth as a sponge during bathtime as it’s soft and absorbant.
All of their products are incredibly soft and made with great quality. They have been so kind as to offer one of their fitted crib sheets (upon my request, as it’s my favorite) to a lucky reader. You can enter by clicking on the “enter to win” icon below. If you do not win, Cuddle Smart has been kind enough to offer my readers a 25% discount with coupon code STORK25. They have a baby registry too, so for all you preggers out there, get busy clickin’ away!Disclosure: Cuddle Smart provided me with their products, free of change, in order for me to use the product and write a review. The opinions in this review are my own.
I’m all kinds of excited today. We have a lovely giveaway and my first gif. I was showing off my gif capabilities to Willy who since has repeatedly made fun of me for pronouncing it like “gift” without the “t”, which according to him (and probably everyone else) is wrong. Schwhatever. I taught myself to gif (yes, it’s like a dance) and to that I say kiss my arse you phonetically gifted fools. I digress, we have a lovely giveaway from these two lovely people over at Truly Sanctuary. Say Hi to Ron & Beth, otherwise known as R & B but not to be confused with those that don’t see nothing wrong with a little bump and grind. Seriously, please give a little wave at your computer screens right now.
Truly Sanctuary has an array of designs to chose from. I’m talking everything from Ol’ Dirty Bastard to Gandhi (my apologies, Gandhi) and everything in between like Mr. T, Bob Dylan, and Woody Allen. Not to mention phrases like “My Beard Hurts”, “No Hablo”, and “I have tattoos”. And I can’t leave out Edward Scissor Hands, whom my dad refers to as Roger scissor fingers (seriously, that’s what he thinks his name is).
Truly Sanctuary has been kind enough to offer one of my readers any item of their choice. Choose wisely (wink wink). You can enter by visiting their store and leaving a comment below with the item you prefer. The winner will be announced next Monday. Please make sure your email address is valid so I can notify the winner via email. Good luck! And special thanks to Ron & Beth. You two are adorable and have one awesome store.
Should you not win the giveaway, Ron & Beth have been so kind as to offer a 15% discount off your entire order using the code STORKANDTHEBEANSTALK. So, if you don’t win, you still win. It’s a win-win people! Get to shoppin’, the holidays are coming!
A giveaway of my own product on my own blog? This feels weird, I won’t lie. Can’t say it’ll be a regular thing, but I do love the idea of giving y’all a chance to win something that I obviously care about and value and hope you will enjoy as much as I do.
