Weekly Sewing and Craft Tip

This tip is in in honor of the upcoming holiday. Some of the Christmas cards that I receive in the mail are just so beautiful, I hate to throw them out! Well, I have found a way to get another use out of them.

I cut the pictures and sayings from the front and re use them for gift tags for the following year. My family and friends love seeing the beautiful handmade tags each year, and I get to enjoy some of the beautiful cards for one more year!

Winner of the Coffee Cozy Giveaway!

The winner of the Coffee Cozy Giveaway is Nicole Bergman of Langham, SK, Canada! CJ's Fine Designs would like to congratulate all of the winners for the Month of Giving contests!

Thanks to everyone who entered to win. Keep your eyes out for more contests in the near future!

Month of Giving - Coffee Cozy Giveaway

For our third “Month of Giving” contest, CJ’s Fine Designs is featuring an Etsy shop called TheGreenHaven. Here is a little information about the shop owner for TheGreenHaven.

My name is Megan Anderson. I currently live in Frostburg, MD, which is a pretty small town. I’m going to college at Frostburg State University which is way up in the mountains, making it ridiculously cold.

My mother actually found Etsy for me. One of her co-workers told her about it and she passed it on to me. My craft is sewing, which I’ve been doing it most of my life. My grandmother started teaching me when i was around 5 or 6. (I’m only 18 now... so I’ve been sewing for about 12 yrs.) I can get inspiration from anything, from a new fabric I buy, to a bag I saw in a store. I often find that my best projects come when I just start sewing with no intention in mind.

I work out of my apartment in a small room, so i have to keep my material and inventory in tubs in my closet. I use an end table with a towel for an ironing board, and my desk has to get cleared off whenever I want to sew so that I have room for my sewing machine.

I will be going home for the holidays. I am very excited about that. My favorite holiday tradition is our family visits. Every Christmas Eve we go to my mother’s parents and have Christmas dinner and presents. Then Christmas day we open presents at my house and then go to my Dad's parents for Christmas dinner and presents. We all live within 5 miles of each other it’s so nice to have everyone close.

You can find me on:
Blog~ www.thegreenhaven.blogspot.com
Facebook~ http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=feed&story_fbid=188066719607&id=1461616913#/pages/TheGreenHaven/215015841258?ref=ts
my other shop~ www.megsbags.etsy.com
other blog~ www.megsbags.blogspot.com

Megan has been nice enough to donate a Winter Penguin Coffee Huggy for this contest. This coffee huggy will make a great gift or you can keep it for yourself!

To enter, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite item from TheGreenHaven shop on Etsy.

Additional ways to enter:

Visit my Etsy shop at CJ's Fine Designs and leave a comment with your favorite item.

Become a fan of my Facebook page.

Become a follower of CJ’s Fine Designs on Twitter

Become a follower of my blog.

The winner will be chosen on December 17th!

Snowman Pin Giveaway Winner Announced!

CJ's Fine Designs would like to announce that Holly Casey from Tulsa, Oklahoma is our lucky winner of our Snowman Pin Giveaway.

Thank you to Brown's Country Originals for donating the Snowman Pin for our giveaway!

Month of Giving Contest - Snowman Pin Giveaway

For our second “Month of Giving” contest, CJ’s Fine Designs is featuring Brown’s Country Originals. The owners of Brown’s Country Originals can be found on Etsy at brownsco. I wanted to get to know the owners a little so I asked a few questions.

What are your names?
Mike and Donna Brown

Where do you live, and what is it like?
We live in Pennsylvania lots of mountains, hills and lakes.

How did you find Etsy?
A friend told me about ETSY

What is your craft, and when did you start doing it?
We are a husband and wife artist team. I work with wood, chalkware, clay and papier mache. My wife works with dried, fresh and artificial flowers and hypertufa. These creative passions led us in 2008 to start Brown’s Country Originals. The name came from living in the country and our last name.

Hypertufa is a lite weight concrete. Besides the paper mache and chalkware we have a line of garden items my wife makes country/primitive hypertufa birdbaths, flower planters and flower pots. I make country/primitive wooden potting benches, planter and garden stakes.

What gives you inspiration?
Life, friends, family and my job.

Where do you work from (home, office, boutique, a tiny corner of the house... lol)?
Our studio is in our home.

What will you be doing for the holidays?
Spending time with friends and family

What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Searching for a real Christmas tree.

Where else can we find you? Blog, twitter, facebook, etsy shops, website, etc...
www.brownscountryoriginals.com
www.artsaflutter.com

The owner’s at Brown’s Country Originals has agreed to give away this beautifully handcrafted snowman pin. This pin is crafted of chalkware.



The winner will be picked on December 12th.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post with your favorite item from Brown’s Country Originals shop on Etsy.

Additional ways to enter:
Visit my Etsy shop and leave a comment with your favorite item.
Become a fan of my Facebook page.
Become a follower of CJ’s Fine Designs on Twitter
Become a follower of my blog.

Winner of the Holiday Gift Tag Set is Announced!

I am pleased to announce the winner of the Holiday Gift Tag Set is Gloria McKellar from Sebewaing, MI. She is very excited about her set of gift tags.

It was a very successful contest, with over 36 entries. Thank you to all that entered.