And the Winners Are....

I apologise for the length of time it has taken me to blog about the names that got pulled out of our fateful hat...  the winners were chosen in that very simple way.  Names written on pieces of paper, folded into four and then one pulled out by each of my children.

As you may know, here I posted about my Giveaway (in homage to the anniversary of my first ever blog post) and my Carry it Forward (due to being fantastically fortunate to win goodies from Hen back in February).

And the Winners are:

 

Jann from a Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson

 

Giveaway Goodies were won by Jann

AND 

Jennifer from Thistlebear

 

The Carry it Forward Goodies were won by Jennifer!

Well done to both of you!! 

A big thank you to the other two of you that entered.  If I'm completely honest, I was a little disappointed by the number of entries - but it was good for those of you who did enter to have fewer numbers to compete with!!  My little blog is only read by a select and highly valued few (yes... YOU!).  I think I'll finally be sharing it with my friends and family later this year - it's funny how I started blogging to strangers before making my wider family aware.  Although I would say I feel like some of you have become friends over this year - one of the best things about my blogging journey.

I really would like to thank you ALL for entering - and indeed for being my regular 'bloggy friends' here at Simple Things.

Happy Monday Friends,
J9 x

Blogiversary and Carry It Forward

My first blog post was a little over a year ago.  It somehow feels like I've been blogging for much longer - strange but I guess that this is because I've followed so many blogs for a good few years, so my own little bit of cyber space feels like a natural extension of this.

By way of celebration I'm offering an Owl themed giveaway.  There are two sets of goodies on offer.  One to celebrate the anniversary of my blog...

 

Blog Anniversary Giveaway Goodies

...and the other...to do my bit in the Carry It Forward (CIF) - I apologise immensely for it taking 5 months for me to get around to doing this!  My goodness, time just flies.  If you don't remember my excitement at winning handmade goodies made by the very talented Hen of Henhouse you can see her original post showing the fabulous things she crafted here.

I've crocheted the owls myself using Bunny Mummy's fantastic tutorial and there are a couple of crochet flower brooches I've made too using Lucy's May Roses pattern which can be found here.  Plus I've added these cute wooden owls to the parcel, two white cotton scented tea lights and some pretty little pegs! 

Craft it Forward Goodies to be won!

All you have to do to enter is to leave me a comment below saying what your favourite Simple Thing is.  You can get a second entry if you mention the CIF on your blog and link it back to this post (just drop me another comment letting me know that you've done this!).

If you like my blog I'd love it if you'd consider following along for the journey - it'd be great to meet more of the lovely people that are reading Simple Things.

Finally, I'd like to thank you for taking the time to read my bit of cyber space and to those of you who leave such lovely comments - a sincere THANK YOU for your support and encouragement over the past few months.  I've met some lovely people due to those comments and visited a variety of 'new to me' blogs as a result - meeting some likeminded people is an unexpected pleasure of blogging.

This giveaway is open internationally and the closing date is 19th July.  Anyone can enter the anniversary giveaway but you will need a blog and be willing to craft something to do your bit in the "Carry it Forward" concept.  I will announce the winners shortly after the closing date and request further details at that point from the lucky winners so I can get posting off your goodies!!

Good luck!
J9 x

Today I'm sharing in these fab parties!

Share your Cup Thursday

Show and Tell Friday

Simple & Sweet Friday
From the Farm Blog Hop

Exciting News: A Wonderful Win & Half Term!

The main reason I chose to start my blog, after a year or two of thinking about it, was to use this space as a form of journalling family times, to share my crafting makes and my joy in simple things.  I didn't expect to meet some lovely people who would take the time to comment on my posts and I certainly didn't expect to win anything.

A Cornish Rainbow ;0)

Well, I was wrong on both counts wasn't I?! Yes, I've been lucky enough to win the Craft It Forward (CIF) giveaway hosted by the fabulous and talented Hen of HenHouse. So many reasons to be happy!

I shall share the CIF when I receive it and of course, in time will host a CIF myself (another first).

Aside from this excitement, we've started our half term holidays here in the West Country.  We've already made a trip down to my Mum's in Cornwall for 4 fun filled days.  The weather wasn't on our side so lots of table games, crafting and visiting relatives was in order!

Crafting projects are yet to be finished so watch this space.  A 300 piece jigsaw made a happy picture!

Whilst R had a playdate my boys had some fantastic 'mens time' at the Pier.  They also watched the demolition of this building - big diggers knocking stuff down - what more can a boy ask for?!

 

Today we went toboganning here. - or rather the kids did, and we watched!

 

It was great fun - I wish I took count of how many times they slid down in 1 hour!  Rosy cheeks all round!

Hmmm... if we push eash other we go even faster!

Oooh, what a happy chappy.

Then, we made lots of pancakes for Shrove Tuesday... yum.  Please forgive the photography - our kitchen is very small and not the most photogenic ;o)

It's hard work making this batter!

 
 Here's a rather blurry action shot of flipping that pancake:



 
I hope all is well in your part of the world and you enjoy some simple, happy things this week.

Thanks for reading,
J9 x

This week I'm participating in these fab parties!

Monday Funday

GFC Blog Hop

Sunny Simple Sunday