The Janelle Wind Collection

Giveaway Number FIVE winners announced...

Sorry girls that I am a day late in announcing this giveaway. I have been under the weather with a yukky winter cold, so had a little rest by the fire last night, I hope you will forgive me.

It is now time to reveal the final winners from my mega week of giveaways - and each of these two girls win a signed copy of my very first book, Pieces of Me.

I am so thrilled to be able to share it with them both - without further ado, the first copy goes to...

Kirsty...

Oh now you know how much I NEED this!!! I have been trying to fins it everywhere over here (Perth) without success as of yet! And perfect timing as I am redecorating my whole lounge room!! Thanks for a fun week :)

Posted by: Kirsty | Jul 09, 2010 at 01:17 PM

ANd the second book goes to...

Sheryl...

What a great week! thanks for the lovely giveaways! I'd love to win a copy of your book.

Posted by: Sheryl | Jul 09, 2010 at 12:21 PM

Congratulations to both girls. I hope you will enjoy stitching lots of fun projects from my book. If you would like to email me at thejanellewindcollection@westnet.com.au with your postal details, I will happily sign pop them in the post to you.

A HUGE thank you to each and every one of you who entered some or all of my giveaways. It really was a wonderful week of sharing and it brought so much joy into my every day. Thank you ALL so much.

I have LOTS to share this coming week, and I am going to add another blog topic - home decor. More about that soon. So pop back regularly, as there will be lots to share... xx Janelle

Giveaway Number FIVE...

Wow what a week we have had together. I have honestly LOVED this week. I have stitched something each day and shared lots of lovely comments and emails. Thank you thank you thank you.

My last giveaway for this week is super exciting to me too. Today, two lucky people will win a signed copy of my book, 'Pieces of Me'. So if you have my book on your wish list or haven't been able to buy one yet, then today is your chance.

To be in the running to win ONE of two copies of my book, then simply leave a comment on this post. I will choose the winners and announce them here on my blog next Fri, July 16...

Thank you again for sharing this week with me. Don't forget to pop back each day next week to see if you are the lucky winner. Each giveaway will remain open until the day I choose a winner, so still plenty of time to enter.

And I might even have some more show and tell next week too! xx Janelle

EDITED TO NOTE: This giveaway is now closed. A HUGE thank you to everyone who entered this and every one of my giveaways from last week. The two winners will be announced shortly. xx

BIG day of dancing plus more...

Yesterday morning saw us up bright and early heading off for the children to dance in their annual Gala Day performance. This year was the first time Jasper was to dance in the main school Gala day so he was both excited and nervous.

Here they are just before we left, with their hair and make up all done and LOTS of hairspray to hold it all in place...

 

After we dropped our two excited little dancers off at the rehearsal, hubby and I headed off for a little visit with my wonderful friend Natalie. You see, we hadn't seen each others completed books and were itching to get together to swap them. So after I had a little peek at some of the gorgeousness that Natalie is stitching at the moment, we got down to swapping and ooing and ahhing over each others books. Natalie's Christmas book is just gorgeous and having seen and drooled all over the completed projects in the flesh when we photographed them, I was super keen to see her book all printed. It is just gorgeous and I coudn't be more proud of her. Here we are together, sharing our books.

Too quickly our time together was over and hubby and I had to head back to the dancers to help them get ready for their performance.

We were SO proud to watch our little dancers - Emily in modern contemporary and jazz and Jasper in hip hop and jazz. After each style of dance was over, there were trophy's and awards given out. Jasper was beaming with excitement when his name was called out for Consistancy and Effort in Jazz. His very first trophy and we were all excited and proud of him. Here are a few photos I took with my iphone durnig the performance...

This first shot is super hard to see but this is where Emily was being lifted into the air by the other dancers during their modern dance to the beautiful song 'Fireflies'.

And this is Jasper at the start of his hip hop dance, he is in the light coloured uniform. He had an absolute ball and all the way home he kept saying how he wished he could do it all again.

The concert ran nearly two hours late so we were all very tired and hungry so stopped for dinner on the way home - here we are with our tiny dancers...

It was a BIG day but a great day and one that memories are made of...

I am planning on making the list of those playing along with 'Snapshots of June' later today and it isn't too late to be involved. I know there are a few of us so it will be fun to visit and see some snapshots from other people's lives too. Back later with the list xx Janelle

today's snapshot...

This morning I spent a few hours with my good friend Kim Archer, signing another pile of my book. It was not only lovely to spend the morning with Kim but also super exciting to be signing more of my books. I can't wait till they reach their new homes too. Kim snapped this shot of me today while I was signing away. Thanks for a lovely morning together Kim x

And then later my beautiful friend Mardi sent me this photo - I just HAD to share it. You see I had been patiently (trying to be) waiting for a copy of my book to arrive at Mardi's. I LOVE this photo of Mardi and I love that she loves my book too. Thank you Mardi x

Thank you Kim and Mardi for making my day super special and I love that I have two more photos that make me very happy... xx

Happy happy day...

Today has been a GREAT day. I really enjoyed focusing on the things that make me happy, so much so that I have more than one snapshot from today. I hope you don't mind me sharing more than one...

Firstly while out running errands today, Emily and I popped into a Salvation Army (thrift) store to have a look around. We both couldn't believe our eyes when we spotted a vintage doll house at the back of the store. Emily was screaming with excitement on the inside and I knew we had found something pretty special. We headed off to the counter to have a chat about it and see what price we could arrive at. It was slightly damaged so in the end we were able to purchase it for $50. Now I don't know any of the history of it, but to me that is a bargain.

Here is a view from the front. Look at the beautiful windows and the doors that open and close - just gorgeous.

And on the inside there are lots of rooms, each with their own windows and doors, a proper staircase, wallpaper, a fireplace with a mantle piece. It really is a beautiful piece that was probably once loved by another little girl.

After we brought it home, Emily spent many hours carefully cleaning it, hanging the gorgeous light fittings that came with it and deciding which Blythe doll will have which room. I know one little girl who has gone to bed with a massive smile on her face.

And because today was such a happy happy day, I had to share two more snapshots. This is me signing lots of books for Quilt Fabric Delights. It was such an amazing feeling signing them, there was a little more pinching going on to make sure this really WAS real. Tomorrow I am signing another pile for Kim Archer Workshops@Home - I am feeling VERY blessed, thank you xx

And finally I had a little mummy and son dinner date with my funny little man tonight while Emily was at dancing. We had such a lovely time together. It was hard to find a photo to share from all the funny faces he pulls so here's two...

This 'happy' post is long enough, so tomorrow I will post about the fabrics that I used in my book as well as start the list of those joining me for 'Snapshots of June'. It isn't too late to play along and it is so fun taking pics of happy things throughout the day too. Thanks for sharing about my day...xx

(If anyone knows anything about our doll house, I would love some information like how old it might be etc? I will take some 'real camera' photos tomorrow to share so that you can see the details. Thanks)

A peek inside...

Thank you ALL from the bottom of my heart for your kind words and sharing the love about my book. Today I have spent many hours just feeling the silky pages and soaking in the fact that my dream has come too. I just couldn't be happier and I can't wait till more of you can see my book and the projects I have designed just for you, too.

SO if you are wanting a surprise when you receive your book, look away now. SPOILER ALERT!!

OK for those wanting a little peek at what my pages look like, here is just a little peek. I want to  tell you a little about the concept for my book. As the title states this book is about 'Pieces of Me'. The book is divided into sections and each section relates to something that I love. So the fabric buckets that you see on the cover are found in the 'stitching' section. Each section has 2 or 3 projects in each section, I have given lots of additional ideas PLUS two bonus projects.

Here is a peek at the introduction page to the 'stitching' section of my book. (I love saying MY book hehe)

The other pages in the  book are filled with instructions and plenty of diagrams to make each of the projects, so even if you are new to patchwork I feel VERY sure that you could make any project in my book. I really want this to be a user friendly book, somewhere you can turn when you feel like stitching something just for fun, or for a gift, a family member, a special occasion and more...

So here you have little peek into the pages of my book. I can't wait till you can see more. Tomorrow I will be back with a list of the fabric ranges I have used in my book for those of you that might like to start collecting some fabrics ready to begin stitching when your book arrives...

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'Snapshots of June'

I have had a little idea for something fun that I would like to do for the month of June. I have decided that I would like to focus on little things in my day to day life that bring me joy, make me happy or just make me smile. I don't want this to be something that is hard for me to do so have decided to take photos on my phone each day, then at the end of the day come and share that photo with you here.

My photo today is this...

This little collection of homeware items are something that brings a smile to my face everyday. I have something special planned for them, so for now they are sitting unopened or unused. I can't share what they are for yet, but let me just say that they are bringing me happiness. I can say that they aren't 'work' related, this is something just for me. More about that soon.

So would you like to join me? Would you like to take a photo a day for the month of June and share it on your blog? I have a few photo applications on my phone so will be experimenting with them, but I wont be photoshopping or altering them from the camera, I just want this to be quick, fun and something that keeps me focused on happy things.

If you would like to join me, leave a comment with a link to your blog and I will set up a list so we can visit each other each day and share our happy snaps - our 'Snapshots of June'. I would love you to play along, even if you don't want to use phone photos, that is fine, any photo, any theme in any way you want to share it. Let's have some fun!! And remember this is just for fun so if you miss a day here and there it wont matter one bit! xxx

MY book is here...

I have been pinching myself since this morning when a BIG white box arrived at my house. As I carefully opened it and took my very own book out to hold, I was scared and excited all rolled into one. I have put my absolute heart and soul into this book and there really is a little piece of me on each page. The feeling really was very surreal and I still can't believe that my dream has come true and that my very own book has been printed!

I spent a good portion of my day just looking through the pages and realising that this was in fact real and I could stop pinching myself.

I can't wait until my book starts making it's way to your homes, where you can sit and read and begin making some or all of the projects inside. I am super keen to tell you all about my book, so will be back tomorrow to share a few of the inside pages and more. For now, I am heading to sit by the fire and read MY book. Wow, that sounds so exciting. Thank you for traveling this journey with me... xxxxx Janelle

More reveals...

As promised, today I am sharing the BACK cover of my book with you. I just LOVE this as much as the front...

From the bottom of my heart, thank you thank you for your kind words and support. I am SO very thrilled that so many of you love my book as much as I do. I just can't wait till we can all collectively sit down with a cuppa and look through the pages 'together' too. I will be pinching myself a lot that day - it will be real then!!

Another wonderful shop that will be stocking my books is -

Linda of The Fabric Patch will be stocking my book also. Linda is an online store based in QLD. You can contact the other stores by looking at this post.

Let the countdown begin until my book arrives. I can't WAIT... x Janelle

The big reveal...

I am BEYOND excited to finally share the cover of my book 'Pieces of Me', with you. My book is due from the printers later this week, so I thought it was time to start sharing some of the projects in my book...

SO..... here is the FRONT cover...

I have one of my favourite projects from the book on the cover - my 'Little Cottage Fabric Buckets'. I just LOVE them and have plans to make many more too. They are a great size and are useful for SO many things. At the top of the cover you can see some glimpses of other projects as well.

And here are some of the details...

In my book there are 16 projects, all with full and detailed instructions, including diagrams and my usual style of pattern writing. There are also two bonus projects as well - so there are 18 projects in total.

You will find such things as stitcheries, bags, applique, cushions and much much more...

If you would like to pre order a copy (now that you have seen the cover) have a read of THIS post where I have listed some shops already taking pre orders.

SO, I hope you like my cover. I know I can't WAIT to hold a copy in my hands. Pop back tomorrow to see the back cover, which will give you even more glimpses of the projects in my book. xx Janelle

Would you like to pre order your copy of my book?

I have such exciting news! My book is only WEEKS away now. I just can't believe that in a few weeks time I will be holding my very own book in my hands - AND I will finally be able to share more with you too.

If you would like to be one of the first people to have a copy of my book 'Pieces of Me', I have some wonderful shops super keen to take pre orders. I have put together a pre order collage for these stores, and wanted to share it here with you too - I am bursting to reveal more of the projects and cover with you but want to wait until the book is printed, so for now, here are some more peeks.

(NOTE: This is not the cover of my book, I will reveal that in the coming weeks)

Here are the stores that are preparing to take pre orders. If you can't find the details on their site, please be patient as I have only just given them the details today - and feel free to email them if you are super keen.

I adore all of the stores that stock my products, so these are in no particular order...

Quilt Fabric Delights (South Australia)

Jukejema Quilting Barn (Nowra, NSW)

Kim Archer workshops@home (online Australia)

The Rowan Tree (Twizel, New Zealand)

Happy Stitches (The Netherlands)

Fionamaree.com (New Zealand)

Patchworks Plus (Tasmania)

As more stores have my book available I will post details here and if you would like your local store to get it in for you, please feel free to give them details of my blog and I will happily pass the information onto them too.

I promise to reveal full shots VERY soon - just a little closer to the release day. I CAN'T wait!!! x Janelle