1. giveaway – custom portrait!

    May 15, 2013 by Lauren

    Ok. Get ready for another awesome giveaway. Our friend Mandy creates these AMAZING portraits.

    I seriously want to keep this for myself because how ridiculous/awesome would our portrait be? Me in a vintage dress, Josiah's dorky glasses and a sweet bow tie, plus Carrots and Turnip, of course. So I’ll just pick myself as the giveaway winner, ok? Ok. Ok fine just kidding.

    A custom portrait for YOU is up for grabs! 

    One of these portraits would be so perfect for: newlyweds, new parents, your parents’ anniversary, the holiday season, a crazy cat lady, etc etc.
    You’ll receive an awesome 8.5 x 11″ hand drawn and painted illustration on watercolor paper.

    Some words from Mandy herself:

    All I need to get started on a Custom Portrait are a bunch of pictures of the couple/family and their pets. I really love it, if at least one picture is of them from head-to-toe. (That is way helpful for me) And then I ask them some questions about what they want to wear, how they want their hair to look and other stuff too, like when they got married if they want it listed.. One of my favorite portraits has chickens in it!

    I opened up my etsy shop last November and I started working from home full time this January. Aaaand almost everyday I paint, I listen to Alison Krause & Union Station or She & Him.

    and here’s the cute portrait with the chickens!

    Aren’t you just dying for your own portrait? I knew it. Here’s how you can win:

    We have 7 different ways you can enter this giveaway for a custom watercolor portrait. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry… so if you do all 7, you should leave us 7 different comments here! If you leave them all in one comment we will NOT count them as multiple… it gets too crazy with +100 comments!

    -Option 1: In the upper right hand column, sign up for our newsletter OR to get each post emailed to you. Then leave a comment telling us you signed up. (already signed up? tell us!)

    -Option 2: “Like” The Burlap Bag on facebook! Then tell us here. (already “liked” us? Leave a comment saying so.)

    -Option 3: Leave a comment on another blog post of ours! Then tell us here that you did.

    -Option 4: Post a pin to pinterest about the giveaway. Then tell us here.

    -Option 5: Share the giveaway on facebook! Or twitter. Then tell us here.

    -Option 6:  “Like” Mandy Cave Watercolor on facebook! Then tell us here.

    -Option 7: “Favorite” Mandy Cave Watercolor on etsy! Then tell us here.

     

    The giveaway officially ends June 1st, 2013  at 1:00pm central time.

    Category Contests & Giveaways! | Tags: | 164 Comments

  2. use a carrot to transport knives

    May 14, 2013 by Lauren

    This is one of those simple little life hacks/tips and tricks that are like "oh. duh. WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THAT SOONER??!"

    Picnics are awesome. I'm especially fans of one that include an Austin skyline, lots of fruit, salami, CHEESE, and boxed wine. And a calm dog or two. Ok and dessert.

    But you always gotta bring a knife for that cheese. I don't know how many times I've been like "uh, what do i do with the knife?" and just awkwardly stuck it in my bag... hoping to not accidentally stab myself to death.

    WELL fear no more. Here's a solution:

    Use a carrot to transport knives (perfect for picnics!)

    carrots

    I actually got this idea from a book – they mentioned to use two wine corks. Which I then tried and almost sliced my finger off…. it was so dry, there was no getting the knife in there!

    So I thought for a minute about what else I could use… a carrot! We just sliced through the carrot with the entire blade until the knife was halfway through the carrot – and then just stopped so that it stayed in there. Carrots are thick enough that it won’t continue going through all on its own. (you could also try a squash or something like that, but they aren’t quite as hard). And when you get back home, just eat the carrot! No wasting! And no blood. It’s what I would call a perfect day.

    Go enjoy yourself a good picnic for me, no blood please.

    Category DIY - Life Hacks - Projects, Food Tips and Tricks | Tags: | 5 Comments

  3. cocktail diagrams (and press!)

    May 8, 2013 by Lauren

    Getting out our creative juices through some new designs!

     

    Brunch necessities - a cocktail diagram.

    because everyone needs a good excuse to drink before 12…..

     

    And then some evening cocktails….

    of course, they are in our online shop now as prints :)

    In other news… we got a little bit of press today! Pillsbury reached out a couple of weeks ago asking if they could link to our baking eggs in the oven post. Of course we said yes! Who can resist the little dough boy and his belly. It was featured on their front page and forever now on this linky here. And here’s two screen shots!

    and

    Screen shot 2013-05-08 at 8.26.34 PM

    Thanks Pillsbury. Keep being pilly.

    Category Online Shop, Personal - The Lowe Life | Tags: | 3 Comments

  4. giveaway – 3 sterling silver rings

    April 30, 2013 by Lauren

    It's time for another giveaway!

    It's for 3 BEAUTIFUL sterling silver rings - with textured spinning blocks! They are all hand forged by Erin Griffin Silversmith.

    Wear all 3 at once or just 1. (you could even give them to 3 friends if you’re feeling nice!) They are each approximately 7-7.5 in ring size. 

    And man. Do I want to keep these for myself. They are awesome and the little spinning block is so fun to play with!

    Erin is seriously the nicest person ever. Josiah and I met her and her friend of the boy kind, Brian at SXSW. We ate popcorn and hated ourselves for doing the dusty event and laughed a lot.

    Brian also is an artist and makes the cooooolest wood items ever. Seriously. We have 2 of his vases in our house, as seen below:

    Ok sorry, back to business, those sweet vases aren’t included in the giveaway.
    But THESE are:

    giveaway for 3 spinning block rings - The Burlap Bag

    If you’d like these sweet rings…. here’s some options!

    How you can win these:

    We have 5 different ways you can enter this giveaway for 3 sterling silver rings. Please leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry… so if you do all 5, you should leave us 5 comments here! If you leave them all in one comment we will NOT count them as multiple… it gets too crazy with +100 comments!

    -Option 1: In the upper right hand column, sign up for our newsletter OR to get each post emailed to you. Then leave a comment telling us you signed up. (already signed up? tell us!)

    -Option 2: “Like” The Burlap Bag on facebook! Then tell us here. (already “liked” us? Leave a comment saying so.)

    -Option 3: Post a pin to pinterest about the giveaway. Or a post on facebook. Or on twitter. Or some other social media! Then tell us here.

    -Option 4:  Take a look-sy at Erin Griffin Silversmith’s website. Tell us what item of hers you just LOVE! (i love the whole weightless collection!)

    -Option 5: “Like” BDJ Craft Works on facebook! Erin doesn’t have a business facebook page… so Brian’s as close as we can get. :)

     

     

    The giveaway officially has ended! Congrats to Meagan for winning – check your email! 

     

    Category Contests & Giveaways! | Tags: | 153 Comments

Older Entries