Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Friday, December 11, 2020

Some Christmas Gift Ideas from Cynthia's Ark

 It's Christmas time and we all need a little help with our Christmas shopping. Here are some of the great gift ideas we have at Cynthia's Ark.

1. Our Fabric Lucky Dips are one of our most popular options this Christmas. They come wrapped in two ways, so you can get them for people who don't celebrate Christmas or for other occasions. At $4 each you can't go wrong. Don't forget to treat yourself. You are worth it.   There is a minimum of 25cm  fabric in each gift. It may be precuts or width of fabric. Lots of different combinations.


2, The Quilters Companion Diary 2021. 


3. Percy Purses Kits. Four different colour kits available. Kits have everything in them to complete the project.  These cute purses are great presents as is or make them up and gift them.




4. Petite Project Bag Kits  These kit have  everything you need to make the project. Thread colour may vary from samples. It has a bit of stitchery for you to complete. Available in three colour ways.



5. Wool Pressing Mats. These pressing mats are 20"x 20" in size and anre Australian made, They are great to use next to your sewing machine to keep you sewing, prefrect for retreats or sewing in a class if you have the space.


All these items are available in store or on line at Cynthia's Ark

Until Next Time 

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Monday, October 26, 2020

From the Heart Blog Hop -Day 1



A big thank you to Carol for putting this blog hop together.  It is day one of this blog hop. Below is the full schedule, so make sure you tune in each day for some great gift ideas.

October 26

Creatin' in the Sticks

Ms P Designs USA

Becky’s Adventures in Quilting and Travel

Websterquilt

Selina Quilts

Cynthia's Creating Ark  (you are here)

Quilting Gail

Scrapdash

Ridge Top Quilt

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

That Fabric Feeling

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

 October 27

MooseStashQuilting

Just Because Quilts

Day Brook Designs

Karen's Korner

Quilt Schmilt

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Karrin’s Crazy World

Words & Stitches

Vroomans Quilts

Sew Many Yarns

Songbird Designs

Samelia's Mum

 October 28

Just Let Me Quilt

Quiltscapes

Beaquilter

Seams To Be Sew

Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life

Bumbleberry Stitches

Days Filled With Joy

Quilted Delights

Den Syende Himmel

Life in the Scrapatch

Storied Quilts

Kathleen McMusing

Food for Thought

For my idea, it involves you checking out what containers you are throwing out or recyling from your home, There is so many different containers you can use.  I have been eating a new brand of yoghurt which gives me a great container to decorate as it has a cardboard sleeve on it that is easily removed to leave you a plain container.

 This leaves you a blank canvas to work with and the plastic lid is clear, so you can use that as well. I made a wrap to go around the container with a bit of velcro  to secure it to the container, 

This is how I made it.

Make a quilt sandwich slightly larger than the width of your container  plus 2 "  for the overlap. You can use the fabrics you like or if it's for Christmas - Christmas fabrics.  This is a good way of using up some of your wadding scraps too.  This is where you can have some fun with rulerwork quilt, freemotion quilting or some straight line quilting.  Quilt your strip or strips.

 Once you are happy double check your size and trim if you need too.

 Next bind your wrap using your preferred method. 


Wrap it around your container  and mark where your velcro needs to go.  
Sew on your velcro.
Wrap it around the container and you are ready to fill it or use it.

You can fill it with all sorts of treats, It mays a great sewing caddy. You will even find some in my shop holding stock together.



I hope you have fun with this idea and enjoy everyone else ideas.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia



Monday, December 4, 2017

Virtual Cookie Exchange

Today is my day on the Virtual Cookie Exchange. Thanks to Carol from Just Let Me Quilt for being the brain's behind this and being the hostess.

We are all going to share with you our favourite cookie recipes and traditions. I hope you enjoy the recipes we are sharing and are tempted to try some of them. Make sure you visit the other's blogger's to collect their recipes. I know I will be.
December 5 


I always do some sort of cookie baking at Christmas. To share with others at parties, for visitors and for gift giving. Nothing beats freshly baked treats as gifts. It is something I never tire of receiving. Most of the time I wish more of the presents I received were handmade treats. I know they are made with love and the person giving them thinks a lot about me if they take the time to make me something rather than buy something. Not that there is anything wrong with buying presents but the handmade one are just that little more special in my eyes.

My recipe is Macadamia Shortbread.
 Make 30 to 40 approx. depending how you cut them.
Ingredients

500g unsalted butter                                                                                                                  1 cup castor sugar (or powdered sugar)                                                                                        4 cups plain flour                                                                                                                      1 tsp mixed spice                                                                                                                      ½ cup rice  flour                                                                                                                        ¾  cup diced macadamias ( can use other nuts eg almond, pecans etc)                                             2 tbsp sugar mixed with cinnamon/ mixed spice ( for top)

With that said you can use your favourite nuts or the nuts you have on hand. I have used pecans and almonds at different times as that was what I had  in the pantry.

Pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit). Line 2 baking trays with oven paper and dusted with a little flour. 
Beat butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and creamy.

Stir in sifted flours and mixed spice.
The macadamia nuts I blitz them in a food processor  or you could chop with a knife.
Finally add your macadamia nuts. Mix to form a firm dough. 
Split the dough in half between the two baking trays and flatten the dough over the tray using your hands, rolling pin or the side of a glass.  You can roll the dough out with a rolling pin and use cookie cutters if you want a dressy finish.

 Score the dough into the squares or rectangles it is up to you. Prick the dough with a fork and sprinkle your spiced sugar mix over the top. 
Baking for approximately 25 minutes until just lightly browned. I used my score lines and cut the shortbread up while it is still hot. Then leave to cool in the pans before turning out.
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does.

Don't forget we have two more days of the Virtual Cookie Exchange with the following




Until Next Time
Keep Stitching
Cynthia

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Jingle Bells- Christmas Caroling Row Along.


Christmas Caroling Row Along
 It is my day in the Christmas Caroling Row Along. Marion from Seams to be Sew has done a great job put this event together.  Plus all the sponsors need a big thank you too. Without their support these event would not happen. A special thank you to Northcott Fabrics for sponsoring this event and supplying us with some fabric from this year's Christmas ranges. See the ranges just above the Northcott Fabric Giveaway. I do have a few bolt from 'Tis the Season in my shop already if are tempted.

Today is my day to reveal my row, along with these other designers who are up today.
So make sure you visit their post once you have finish here and collect their beautiful rows and enter the giveaways they have as they are different to the giveaways feature here.
My row measures 12 1/2 x 30 1/2"
Jingle Bells was my choice.

When Marian suggested this year's theme I jumped at the chance of participating again after last year's Row Home Row Along for the first time. Jingle Bells was the first Christmas carol that popped into my head. That was it, the decision made right there on the spot. Make sure you download both files below. The first one is all your instructions and the second one has the applique shapes in it. 

 Download the pattern here
Download the Applique shapes here
I have a fantastic giveaway for you. You can win 
 A Fat Quartershop $25.00 Gift Certificate




Shipping Is Anywhere
Value $25.00
The prize page
Starts September 14, 2017 / Ends September 21, 2017
Fat Quarter Shop
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Your Giveaway Is: Calibre Art Mats

Shipping Via Amazon USA Only
The Prize Page
a Rafflecopter giveaway


Northcott Fabrics Giveaway
Northcott 1 FQ Bundles 2yds total

Shipping Is Everywhere
Value $20.00
The Prize Page
Assortments From Random Collections:



















a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rules and Guidelines For Giveaways
Please take the time to read it.
  1. Giveaways offered by sponsors are assigned to the various bloggers for their featured day.
  2. There are no prior announcements on who is doing which sponsor except to the sponsor themselves.
  3. You’ll have to visit the blog or the featured blog to enter the giveaways. Not all giveaways can be entered at Seams To Be Sew.
  4. I will start announcing winners on September 12, 2017, and finish announcing winners on October 12, 2017 with the exception of the Calibre Art giveaway, those will be available after each featured day, starting September 06, 2017.
  5. In most cases, the blog where you won at also will announce their winners.
  6. You must give a valid email address when you enter the giveaways, any email returned to me, loses the ability to win automatically.
  7. With the exception of Show and Tell Day, all giveaways run for approximately one week.
  8. You are given 3 days to answer the email, if you do not answer within 3 days a new winner will be drawn. Check those spam/junk mail folders, you may miss that winning email if you don’t do so because there are no exceptions to this rule.
  9. If you are notified that you are a winner, in most cases, you will need to provide your name, address, city, state, zip code, country, telephone number, and email address.
  10. In some cases, you will be asked to comment on the blog to enter the giveaway… do the right thing and thank them for the time it took to create the pattern, thank them for the pattern and…
  11. Thank the sponsor by buying their products for the giveaways. This helps them continue to offer great prizes for these types of events. You can also comment on their social media pages. Even if you don’t win, letting them know you love their products is a huge incentive and they really do love hearing from you.
  12. No purchase whatsoever is necessary.
  13. You must be 18+ in order to win a gift.
  14. You are responsible for claiming and paying any tax owed on the value of any gift that you win. Prizes valued at $500.00 should be claimed.
  15. All winners are chosen at random.
  16. All winners will be announced on the blogs via the Rafflecopter entry form and/or post by the blogger at the site where they won and here at [Seams To Be Sew](http://www.seamstobesew.com). All winners must allow for their first name and first initial of their last name to be announced on this blog.
  17. Odds of Winning a prize are based on a total number of rafflecopter entries during each week and in total for all giveaways.
  18. This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
  19. Participating bloggers may enter any of the giveaways.
  20. The word giveaways in the rules and guidelines are also known as sweepstakes.
Most of the giveaways are international shipping this year
in some cases, you will be asked to pay for shipping your giveaways.
I am not rich and I do not ask sponsors for money, they provide prizes only.
If they shipped the prize to me, you will be asked to pay for shipping.
All giveaways will be shipped that are in my home within 48 hours of my having heard from you.                                                                                                                                      

An invoice will be sent to you via Paypal, and shipping will take place via Paypal, so your Paypal email will be needed to send the invoice. You will receive a tracking number except for overseas shipments. All shipping will either be first class which averages out at 2.77 to 4.00 up to 13 ounces. Paypal fees are added to that amount to cover that fee. All fabric bundles from Michael Miller, Hoffman, and Moda will be shipped via Priority Mail to protect the fabric itself.
Please note, every effort is made to protect the prizes. They go into a plastic bin when I receive them, and it is covered by an air tight cover. I have a dog in my home and I have a smoker in my home, so I do everything possible to protect the prizes.
Most companies are very good about getting prizes off to customers quickly also, but some companies are overseas, so please allow all sponsors a 2-week time period before you report to me that you still haven’t received your prize. When the company is overseas, it can take 6 weeks to 90 days for an item to also arrive.Whether or not you read the above, the rules for giveaways are in place to protect everyone. I do not want to hear you didn’t read them, they will be posted on my blog daily during each featured day. There is no excuse for not reading them.

I hope you are enjoying the Christmas Caroling Row Along and enjoy the rest of the event.
Until Next Time
Keep Stitching
Cynthia

Tuesday, September 5, 2017

A Christmas Caroling Row Along is Finally Here



After months of planning and work behind the scenes from everyone, Marian (Seams to be Sew), designers and Sponsors to get this event ready. The wait is finally over. Today A Christmas Caroling Row Along starts.
Here is the schedule for the event.

The Christmas Caroling Row Along Schedule

Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Cheryl LaPlante
      (sponsored by Quilt In Piece)
Morning Glory
Pampered Pettit
Fun Threads
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Show and Tell Day
Bloggers will be announced at a later date

Here is the link Marian post for the first day of rows for you to check out and collect. Don't forget each designer has giveaways with their post so don't forget to enter before you collect the row pattern. You don't want to miss out on entering the giveaways. There is lots of fantastic prizes to be won over the next 6 weeks.

I look forward to share my row with everyone on the 14th September.

In the meantime enjoy the fantastic rows  this event has on offer.

Until Next Time 
Keep Stitching 
Cynthia