Diamonds and Pearls GIVEAWAY WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Thank you to everyone who entered, to all of the wonderful businesses who donated prizes and those that took part in the Showcase, both as buyers and sellers.

The winners are listed below. If you see your name, please contact the business directly :)

Thanks!

Sam xxx

• Mystery Prize pack from Monkey Hugs - Sara Jackson
• Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs Snuggling - Emma Slatter
• $20 Monkey Hugs hand-made store voucher - Kristy Millikin
• Size 5 Applique Tshirt from Monkey Hugs - Katie Stavinrou
• Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs Size 0 Nappy Cover and Singlet set - Bec Munro
• Size 000 Monkey Hugs girl's applique Tshirt - Anna Rohde
• Personalised Canvas Letter + postage from Letter It (Name Decorative Art) - Kahlia Cruse
• Vintage Rose headband to fit 6-18months from Savvybebe designs - Karen Criggall
• BEAD CHOKER NECKLACE from Feathered - Sharon Brooker
• Pink Marshmallow headband size 3 yrs to adult and Butterfly clip from It's a Girl Thing - Carolyn Fitton
• $25 gift voucher from Sweet Delilah Designs - Jen Martin
• 20cm x 20cm "I Believe in Pink" canvas from Smudge Designs - Tracy Keans
• Headband from Arabella and Rose in your choice of size - Renee Olsen
• soft vintage doll with handmade rosette and rattle from Arabella's Wardrobe - Sarah Hawkins
• Headband from Little Bella Designs - Shanna Uptergrove

Diamonds and Pearls Showcase Giveaway

As a thank you to all of my wonderful likers and in celebration of one year on facebook, I'm having a giveaway to coincide with my Diamonds and Pearls Showcase! Entry is simple, just follow the instructions down below. There are a number of prizes on offer donated from some of my favourite businesses. I hope that you find the time to visit all of the businesses that are taking part in the showcase (not just those that have donated a prize), take a look around and show them some love.

The giveaway opens on the 17th of September and closes at 9pm on the 24th of September (AEST). The winners will be announced here on the blog the following day. It will be the winners responsibility to contact the donating business (either by email or through their page messages tab). The contact will be directly with the donating business and Monkey Hugs is not responsible for chasing up winners and/or donating businesses, although I will assist if I can. Most important of all, I hope that you find something that you love in the showcase, have fun entering the giveaway and GOOD LUCK! 




Sam xxx

Mystery Prize pack from Monkey Hugs

Snuggling from Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs

$20 voucher for the Monkey Hugs hand-made.com.au store

Size 5 Applique Tshirt from Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs

Size 000 Applique Tshirt from Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs

Size 0 nappy cover and singlet set from Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs

Personalised Canvas Letter + postage from Letter It (Name Decorative Art)

Vintage Rose headband to fit 6-18months from Savvybebe designs

I believe in pink canvas from Smudge Designs

BEAD CHOKER NECKLACE from Feathered

Soft Vintage cloth doll with rosette and rattle from Arabella's Wardrobe 

Pink Marshmallow headband  size 3 yrs to adult and Butterfly clip from It's a Girl Thing

Headband from Little Bella Designs

Headband from Arabella and Rose in your choice of size

$25 gift voucher from Sweet Delilah Designs

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Ballot for Rapunzel

UPDATE: The ballot gods (aka Random.org) has chosen comment #3 - Kellie Thomas. Congratulations Kellie!

...................................................................................................................................................................

I was going to list Rapunzel as a simple first to comment sold, but I have been told that there may be more than one lovely liker out there who may want to add her to their collection, so instead, here she is up for ballot.

There is so much going on in the world of dolls at the moment, so I will make this short and sweet. I will leave the ballot open until 10am tomorrow morning (AEST), so if you would like to purchase Rapunzel for $125 plus postage, please comment below with your name and email address. I will announce who she will be going home to on my facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/MonkeyHugsandsnugglebugs) tomorrow morning :)

xxx

Welcome to Wonderland ballot

As Alice is a one of a kind, I thought that the best and fairest way to offer her up for sale is via ballot. To keep it simple, I will be doing the same for her friends, the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat. If you would like to adopt either Alice, the White Rabbit or the Cheshire Cat, please leave a comment below (with your name/email address or some way of contacting you) specifying which one you would like to purchase (or more than one if you would like to purchase more than one). I will leave the ballot open until 9am Tuesday 10 July (AEST). I will then be drawing three separate ballots to determine who the new owners will be based on your comment, so make sure you specify which ballot(s) you would like to be placed in. 


I will then announce the names on my facebook page and (provided I have contact details) will contact the adopters. You will then have 24 hours to get in touch with me to confirm your desire to purchase. If no contact is made in that time, a new name will be drawn. 

Alice is $110 plus postage. To see more photos and details of all of her inclusions, please see the Welcome to Wonderland album on my facebook page.

The White Rabbit is $45 plus postage. To see all of the details on him, please see the album. 

and lastly: 

The Cheshire Cat is $40 plus postage. To see his details, please check out the album on my facebook page. 

Thanks to everyone for their ongoing support and best of luck to anyone who puts their name below :) 

xxx

I love getting goodies in the post!

Anyone who has been following the blog will know that I took part in the SewMamaSew Giveaway day a few weeks ago. Talia was sent over the ocean and has been welcomed into her new home in New Zealand. I received a lovely email from Talia's new owner:


Hi Sam,

Just a quick not to say thank you so so much for Talia. She arrived in the post today and is beautiful! I have not yet given her to my daughter, I'm waiting for the right moment, but I can't wait to see her face when she receives her. 

Dolls like Talia, made with love and care are so much nicer than mass produced plastic dolls and I can promise you that she will be loved and played with as she deserves.

Thanks again,
Juliet x


Thank you so much for your lovely words Juliet! (Juliet's blog is Tartankiwi - go check it out!)

I was also extremely lucky to win not one but two awesome prizes during the giveaway and they have both made their way to my doorstep. First, this fabulous fabric pack from Lisa at modern balabusta. 

Not sure what I am going to make out of them yet, but I'm think maybe a cute clutch purse (something for me for once!)

And my second prize was... these fantastic patterns from Figgy's Patterns, via Rachael from Imagine gnats:

Can't wait to try these out! The Romper is gorgeous and that dress will be so cute for summer!

Aren't I lucky????

xxx

Winners!!!

Thanks to everyone who entered the 1500 liker giveaway (and yay, we reached 1600 now!) I loved reading all of your comments and how you spend time with your little monkeys - a lot of crafting, baking and dancing going on!

Mr Random.org has decided the winners are:-

First prize goes to comment number 16 - Kristie Corr! Congratulations Kristie! 

Second prize goes to comment number 21 - Rebecca Nash! Congratulations Rebecca!

and.... 

Third prize goes to comment number 24 - Jade Pages! Congratulations Jade!

If all winners could please send me a message via the facebok page or by email to monkeyhugssnugglebugs@gmail.com we can sort out your prizes! 

I hope you can all make it back for games night next Monday night! (18 June)

xxx

1500 likers - It's giveaway time time!

Who's ready for a giveaway? I'll make this post short and sweet, since it's my gorgeous little monkey's 3rd birthday today and we're watching Toy Story while waiting for the cake to finish cooking (cupcakes are already out and cooling).

To enter the giveaway you need to go to my facebook page Monkey Hugs and find this picture which is in one of my photo albums.
To make things a little more interesting for me when I am reading your comments, I would love to know something you love doing with your kids (or if you don't have kids - brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, grandkids, etc)

The winners will be drawn by random.org on Monday night (11 June) and will be announced here on the blog and then on facebook.

The prizes: -

1st prize - One of my new Kokeshi softies (I'll put a photo up when I announce the winner - haven't had a chance yet!) - postage included
2nd prize - Your choice of appliqued TShirt from those available in my hand-made.com.au store found HERE (postage included) and...
3rd prize - $10 Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs voucher

So get finding, get commenting and feel free to share with your friends!

Sam xxx

This giveaway is in no way connected with, sponsored or endorsed by facebook 

Is it time to party?

1500 likers on facebook. That's a milestone, right? With all of the new facebook changes, failing to show up in news feeds and now having to promote posts, I'm really not sure any more. I want it to be a milestone because  I've kind of been looking forward to it for a while, but is it? Should I be concentrating more on how many likes individual posts get or should I work out when I have sold my 500th doll or something? There is probably some complex mathematical formula I could use to figure it all out, but unfortunately my job titles have included "lawyer", "mother", "dollmaker" and even "bakery assistant", but not "mathematician", so I'm stuck with those easily quantifiable figures to use as my guide.

I'm generally not a "liker-counter", but 1500 seemed like an important one to me, so lately I have been keeping my eye on that magic number which seems to go up and down like the tides. I hit the 1500 mark sometime during the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, which also coincided with the Tout Mon Amour Auction and giveaway and while it went up and down a few times, it's currently at 1540, so I am somewhat confident that it will stay above 1500, at least for long enough to celebrate!

Now, along with the 1500 likers, there are a couple of special dates coming up this month, so I thought instead of just one day, or even one week, I would have a little 1500 liker celebration extravaganza (try saying that 3 times fast!). There'll be specials, prizes and games throughout the extravaganza and due to the whole facebook not allowing that kind of thing, most of them will be conducted right here, so make sure you stay tuned!

To start with, my hand-made store is in sale mode. 1500 likers = 15% off storewide. The sale commences at 10am today (June 4) and ends at midnight on June 19. Why June 19 I hear you say? Well, because that's one of the "special days" - my birthday! The 15% off counts on all items currently in store and anything I add between now and the end of the sale will go on sale as well, so favourite the shop, subscribe to the blog, like me on facebook, or tie a piece of string around your finger to remind you to keep checking!

https://www.hand-made.com.au/people/MonkeyHugs

In addition to the sale, I'll be having a giveaway which I will let you know more about this Saturday, June 9, which also happens to be my gorgeous little monkey, Maia's 3rd birthday, another "special day". Isn't she cute?

And... a games night with prizes - date to be advised! So.... who's in? :)

xxx

What I've been creating this week!

I've had a bit of a "finishing" week this week. There has been one doll in particular that I have been working on for... well... let's just say, "a long time". I finally finished her this week and I am soooo happy with how she turned out. She's a pattern that I have been working on for months. I have had quite a few trials that haven't been up to scratch, so have not seen completion, but finally I think Miss Georgette is perfect so she has been finished, photographed and now listed in my hand-made.com.au store Monkey Hugs. Anyone who follows me on instagram would have seen a photo of her a couple of days ago, but for those who don't, without further ado, meet the delightful Miss Georgette!

Now, before I finished Miss Georgette, I was working on my little girl's birthday presents - Maia turns 3 on June 9 and I bought her a cute little doll bed (from Ikea) but the bedding that came with it was far from cute (not at all girly and a bit lacking on all counts) so I had to make a new mattress and quilt (still working on the pillow). So here is the before and after: 

And I had to make her a number "3" Tshirt, which I still haven't finished, but I'm getting there: 

And before all of that, I finished the gorgeous Ruthie Bear, made from a retromama pattern. 

This is the first time I have made one of these and the first retro mama pattern I have tried. I have a tendency not to follow the instructions in a pattern, so mine is a little different in terms of how it was put together, but I think she turned out quite cute and the pattern is very easy to use! Ruthie is also available in my hand-made store now :) Ruthie Bear on hand-made.com.au

Oh, and I have also been working on a kokeshi doll softie, but she's not quite done yet, so no photos to show yet! 

What have you all been creating this week? 

Sam xxx

SMS Giveaway Day Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the Monkey Huggers Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day (and a big thanks to Sew Mama Sew for hosting it!)

It was lovely to read all of your comments and I hope that some of you stick around and remain likers on facebook or follow this blog (I just reached 1500 likers on facebook, so will be having another celebration soon!)

We'll keep this post short and sweet. Mr Random.org has decided that the winner of the cute Miss Talia is... tartankiwi! Congratulations and you will receive an email from me in just a few minutes.

For everyone who missed out, you can always try your hand at making one of these little sweeties yourself - Sarah's patterns at Dolls and Daydreams are absolutely wonderful and easy to understand. If you aren't in the mood to make one yourself, feel free to check out my page as I make these and other dolls and softies and do take custom orders :)

Sam xxx

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway!

Welcome to the Monkey Hugs giveaway for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!  This is the first time I am participating in Giveaway Day and I am a little bit late to the party, but better late than never, right? 

Giveaway Day is a biannual event hosted by Sew Mama Sew - businesses and blogs all come together to give away some wonderful handmade goodies or supplies for no other reason than the fact that it's fun! 

So here is what I am giving away here at Monkey Hugs: 

Meet Talia! 

Talia is a little sister doll made from a Dolls And Daydreams pattern. 

She is a real little sweetie and is made from 100% designer cotton with cute felt socks (which are attached) and a removable skirt. 

Talia's hair is also 100% cotton.

Talia's face is handpainted and heat set and she comes with cute ribbons in her hair. 

She is approximately 24cm tall and is the perfect size for little hands and she comes with her own birth/adoption certificate!  

Sooooo.... if you want to win this gorgeous little miss, there are three ways to enter (please leave a separate comment under this post for EACH entry you make):

1. Become a follower of this blog (current followers can also enter)
2. Become a liker of my facebook page Monkey Hugs (feel free to leave a comment on the wall if you wish!)
3. visit my handmade.com.au shop MonkeyHugs and tell me one of the items currently for sale.

You must leave a separate comment for each entry that you make UNDER THIS POST (for example, comment with "follower of this blog - Sam Gibson" or "liker on facebook - Sam Gibson", etc). Make sure you leave your name as part of each comment!  

As Sew Mama Sew is an American Business, the giveaway closes May 25th at 5 p.m. PST, which if my conversion is correct makes it 10am on May 26th here in Australia! (AEST time - I'm located in Queensland). I'll announce the winner chosen by random the next day here on the blog (and will link on facebook).

International entries are most welcome!

Thanks for visiting, GOOD LUCK and be sure to enter more giveaways at Sew Mama Sew!

Sam xxx

The joys of pinning

I can't believe that it has taken me this long to become hooked on Pinterest! Granted I did try and sign up about 4 months ago and had huge issues with the invitation email not working and it telling me that I had already signed up (I hadn't... I was pretty sure I would remember something like that). So of course, I eventually just decided I had better things to do and didn't pursue it further... until now. I signed up a few days ago and have been pinning like a mad woman ever since.

I'm not really sure what the draw is - I think in part it's the joy of seeing a whole bunch of things that I crave, but will (likely) never have all in one spot to come back and look at again and again. Like the furnishings that will never belong in my house (where grubby fingers manage to touch EVERYTHING), or the crafty items that I will never make (but will always think I will make - someday - when I have the time), or the hairstyles that I wish I had (if only my hair was... well... someone else's hair). It's kind of like when I was a teenager and my best friend and I rummaged through catalogues making lists of all of the things we would buy and put in our houses when we were older - and won a million dollars. I know that it's just a dream, but geez it's a fun one to have isn't it? So yep, I'm hooked. And who knows, maybe one day I'll wake up and be the kind of girl who can get away with wearing eight inch heels?

962 is a good number

I can't believe that it was only a few short months ago that I started Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs. In that time I have made over 150 dolls and monkeys (I lost count somewhere along the way) and have enjoyed making every single one. There is nothing like the feeling I get when I start stuffing and seeing my little creations come to life. Sometimes I know exactly what I want them to look like before I start, others seem to talk to me as I am creating and tell me how they would like to look, what they would like to wear and lots of other little things that may make me seem even more crazy if I say them out loud (or "write them out loud" as the case may be!)

I have had the pleasure of corresponding with some very lovely ladies and working on some absolutely delightful custom orders and have been lucky enough to meet the lovely Linda from Two Muddy Sisters and one of my wonderful customers, Cath, whose gorgeous children have quite a substantial Monkey Hugs collection. I have been a part of some fantastic charity auctions and witnessed the amazing generosity of donators and bidders alike... And all this while being lucky enough to stay at home with my two little monkeys, Maia and Cillian. For that, I am ever so grateful to you all and want to say a big thank you for the support you have shown me and my page. Thank you to everyone who has shared my page with family, friends, acquaintances, complete strangers and anyone else in between. Thank you for helping me to reach 962 likers :)

So, now down to the fun stuff. As a thank you, I have decided to giveaway one of my micro mixed up monkeys. (Picture to come - it's too overcast at the moment!) To be in the running to win, you have to be on facebook and "around" for my 900 liker celebration at 8:30pm on Tuesday 24/01/2012. After I announce the new owner of my Auction doll (if you haven't seen her, she is here), we will be having a little treasure hunt (similar to the one I had before Christmas). I am going to put up 5 questions that you will need to find answers to and will give everyone 10 minutes to find the answers. The answers will need to be posted under the question post (so those on phones can play too). To make it a little easier for those people with slow connections, the first 5 people to have all answers correct will then be put in random.org and a winner will be chosen that way. The prize includes regular post within Australia :) The winner will have 15 minutes to claim their prize or it will be redrawn.

I will also be giving away another VIP Monkey Hugs spot (for those that don't know, this gives you a permanent 5% discount on any future purchase). The VIP spot is a special thank you to all of the ladies who have purchased from Monkey Hugs and Snugglebugs and as such, is only open to people who have bought (or ordered) from me. This can include purchases from past charity auctions and includes those ladies on my current orders list. As a special thank you, I will also include anyone who has bid on my 900 liker auction doll, even if you are not ultimately the purchaser.

To be in the running, you need to comment under the 900 liker VIP spot picture here with your favourite item you have purchased/ordered (if you've only purchased one it will be easy!) I will then place all of the names in a hat and have my hubby or daughter pick a winner. The picture is open now for comments and will be drawn after the treasure hunt on Tuesday night. (You don't need to be present for the VIP drawing)

As usual, facebook is in no way affiliated with these giveaways :)

Thanks heaps... I have a feeling 2012 is going to be a great year!

Sam :)