The Weekly Thread Giveaway – March Winners

 

The time has come for me to announce the winners!  YAY! I didn’t quite reach 300 but got pretty close.  Just a few left.

The numbers below were chosen randomly out of 197 possibilities.

 

And the five winners are:

8 – Jose Salinas

26 – Danielle Kelly Wilson

240 -Cathy Zimmerman Johnson

289 – Kat Musco

294 – Mallory Monarch Jones

Congrats guys and gals!  Make sure to check out the giveaway post and let me know which style and color you want for your bracelet.  And also please let me know your address that you would like the package to be sent to.   You can email me at:  urbanowlknittery@gmail.com with the information.

If you didnt win this time and still want a bracelet, they are for sale in my Etsy shop.  And make sure to stay tuned for the next giveaway!

 

 

 

The Weekly Thread: I’m baaaaaack, and with a giveaway!

Well folks, its been a long time, I know, but hopefully I am back to the blog for the foreseeable future!  And hopefully you forgive me for being gone so long.

A lot has happened in my personal and business life in the past 9 months.  And its been quite a crazy ride.  We moved to Salt Lake City from St. Louis for my hubby’s job.  He was doing the same job, under the same boss as StL, but at a different university because the boss had accepted a position that moved their lab there.  So we went too!  Salt Lake is an absolutely beautiful city, full of loads of outdoor adventures of all kinds.  And we made some wonderful lifelong friends there.  But after a very short, 8 month stay, we moved yet again to a northern suburb of Houston, Texas (where Matt grew up).  He was offered a fantastic job, in a great location that we just couldn’t turn down so here we are, back in Texas and loving it!  And best of all, it is a permanent job that will allow us to finally buy our first ever house and let me do my crafty stuff full time!!!

That right, FULL TIME!!!

I am beyond excited about this because being crafty, baking, cooking, organizing, designing (all the time), is pretty much my dream job. And thanks to my darling Matty, that dream has come true!  A gal I was talking to yesterday described herself as a “domestic goddess” when I was talking to her about her job and I liked that so I think I am going to steal her title for myself.

Shannon Meredith, domestic goddess.  That had a good ring doesn’t it M

A bit narcissistic perhaps, but it does sound a bit better than:

Shannon Meredith,  stay at home crafter that sometimes doesnt fix  her hair and wears work out clothes all day. 

Well, I will work on it.  In the meanwhile, just one more bit of news to share.  Yesterday was my big 3-o birthday!!!  Yep, I have joined Club 3o, as I like to call it, and there is no going back now.  I just have a short decade to enjoy it until Club 40 is knocking on my door!  In light of the celebration, I have a special giveaway to kick off my 30th year of life and my return to the crafting blogging world!  Since winter didn’t really exist and summer is just around the corner, this time, I am giving away some of my new products:  bracelets.

There will be 5 winners and each winner will have their choice bracelet below:

The Wrap Bracelet

that can also be worn as a necklace.

The Pendant Bracelet

and The Rope Bracelet.

and with their choice of these colors:

Now for the rules.  Its quite simple.  Just become a fan on my Facebook fanpage:  Urban Owl Knittery.  If you are a fan already, thanks!  You are automatically entered.  If you aren’t, you better do it or you won’t be entered into the contest.  And everyone is invited to share the link to this post of their FB profile and/or page, Twitter account, blog, other social media.  It’s all good to me!  I would love all the advertising to help others know that I am back in action and to increase my community of followers on FB.  I am very near 300 now but how wonderful would it be to get up to 350 or even more!

The contest starts immediately and ends on March 27th!  I will announce the winners promptly afterwards and get started on your winnings! 

Again, I am so excited to be back and making new fun things and updating the blog!  I have been out-of-pocket for way too long.  I still plan on making my own website (aside from Etsy) but that is still a long ways away.  My current project, in between orders, is to update all my info on this page.  Then go from there.  Thanks again friends, and as always, please feel free to leave suggestions for things you would like to see on the site.

Shannon

WOW! Its been a while…

Well since I last posted, a lot has happened in my neck of the woods…

A brief summary, if you will:

Early in December, we traveled to Tulsa, OK to visit my family for a tweener Thanksgiving/Christmas celebration

(my sis and hubby decorating my moms tree)

Then we came back for about a week or two and celebrated Christmas with our labmates.  Everyone (except one girl), was staying here in Utah for the holidays, so we celebrated together.  I made my first every turkey and it turned out deee-licious!  Thanks for the recipe mom!

(Me using my injector on the turkey)

Then, we headed to Houston for an impromptu visit with family and to be with family to celebrate the life of Matts grandad who passed away around Christmas.

(Matt’s dad bought this VW bus for a retirement gift to himself last year.  He has wanted one for a long time and now he has a beautiful one)

(Matt, his grandma Evelyn and me)

Then we came back for about a week and headed to Hawaii for a conference.  Matt was giving a talk, along with our boss, and I was tagging along like a good wife to soak up all the sun and play!  They always seem to host conferences in the  most convenient, beautiful and exotic  locations dont they?  But hey, I wont complain one bit, as long as I get to go too!!!

(One of many beautiful sunsets we enjoyed last week by the ocean.  The whales were giving us a show as well as an added bonus!)

So, this would be the reasons for the shop still being out of commission and my lack of posting.

However, we are back, for now, but I have a big announcement coming soon that I can hardly wait to share with you.  But alas, it will have to wait because I am not organized and ready to announce it yet.  But rest assured, I will post on here when I am ready!

*If you are interested in reading about our Hawaiian adventures, feel free to jump on over to my family blog here and read on! There will be several posts in the coming weeks.

Beard Hats Galore!

Hey there everyone!  I just got most of my beard hat styles listed in the shop.  I have a few more to post later next week as they get made but thought I would get as many up as possible now.  A few have been sold already so get them while they last and I will ship them in time for Christmas! Click here to get to the shop!

Here is a preview of a few not sold yet:

Many thanks to this studly dude for modeling ALL 24 styles in the freezing cold, after a long days work,  just so I could post these this weekend while he was gone!

You ROCK Matt!

 

Small Business Saturday

Did you know that the 2nd Annual Small Business Saturday is occurring this weekend November 26th?

Well me neither, but I am glad I just found out!

I guess it is an annual event started by American Express to help small business owners advertise their business better and to reward people for shopping small and local.  They even have an FB page about it but wish I had know sooner to take advantage of some of the free advertising.  So in the spirit of supporting local/small businesses, I would like to share info for one of my favorite ones so you can find some unique gifts for yourself, friends or family for Christmas.

Windfall Arts:  Pottery by Rachel Miller

Rachel is a good friend of mine from St. Louis and a FAB-U-LOUS potter!  She started her Etsy shop about the same time I did but has also been accepted and participated in many local art shows and has had several online features as well.  The two most recent places are:  3rd Annual Etsy Art Sale and Open House and Papersnitch.  She is a full time artist and focuses mainly on pottery, although that is not the limit of her artistic talents by any stretch of the imagination!

Recently, I purchased my first pair of earrings from her and I LOVE them!  I have worn them almost everyday since they arrived.

These are mine, so you cant  have them,

but look at all the others she has for sale in her Etsy shop. If you dont hurry, I am likely to beat you to the punch!

I also got a few buttons to use for my brimmed hats and cant wait to see how they turn out!

And if jewelry isnt your thing, she sells many teapots, bowls, serving dishes and many other lovelies that are not only useful but will surely add to the ambiance of your dining room, kitchen or other areas of your home!

If you are a blog reader, like myself, be sure to add Windfall Arts to your blog roll.  Rachel blogs about things that inspire and challenge her, shares photos of her works-in-progress, and chronicles her quest for the perfect teapot!  She LOVES making teapots!

So, go check out Windfall Arts Pottery and or other small local businesses near you!

Cream Cheese Chicken Squares

Well, I definitely dont claim to be a food photog, but I do like to share recipes with you all so please excuse my terrible picture tutorial for this recipe   I often take pictures when I am cooking these days, rather than setting up a photo booth with beautiful lighting so it is usually dark and poor photography conditions.  Nevertheless, if you want a new, easy and quick recipe to try out, give this one a try!

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped cooked chicken

3 ounces cream cheese

2 Tbs melted butter

2 Tbs chopped green onion

2 Tbs milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 cans crescent rolls

3-4 Tbs seasoned bread crumbs

*I use rotisserie chicken that has been pulled off the bone, then chopped.  I typically always have rotisserie chicken on hand for just such an occasion or for other easy chicken recipes.

Directions:

*Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

1.  Cream together, the cream cheese and melted butter

2.  Add rest of ingredients except bread crumbs and rolls

3.  Using two crescent rolls, place the long, diagonal sides together and press the seams closed forming a rectangle.  Spoon some of the chicken mixture in the middle of the square like so:

4.  Pull two opposite, diagonal corners together like so:

5.  Then pull one of the other corners towards the middle like so and press the diagonal seams together:

6.  Then pull the remaining corner towards the middle and make sure all seams are pressed together well to prevent leakage when cooked. This step is the most challenging but not TOO difficult.  After you have made them a time or two, you will get better and it also makes a difference the amount of chicken mixture you have in the middle.  About one tablespoon is the best amount in my experience.

7.  Continue until all your squares are made.  If you have extra, you can roll them up like regular croissants and bake at the same time.

8.  Sprinkle a little bread crumbs on each and bake for about 15-20 minutes @ 375 degrees or until cooked thoroughly and a golden color.

Add some veggies and you have a delicious meal

Matts mom shared this recipe with us a couple of years ago and we make and enjoy it often.  Thanks Monica!

Winter is here!

Thats right friends, winter has officially made its appearance here in Salt Lake City.  It snowed all night at our house last night and everything is beautifully white outside!  The trees are all droopy with snow on them and the mountains are covered in snow too!

(This picture was actually from a premature snowing a few weeks ago.  I havent put any warm clothes on yet to get some from today )

I dont know about you, but when its cold outside, I usually want to eat warm food rather than cold.  So today was the perfect day for oatmeal for breakfast!  A couple of years ago, I had oatmeal for the first time in over 20+ years and I really LOVED it!  It was always one of those things I said I hated (but really hadnt tried in a long time) due to a bad childhood experience with it.  And I guess I had been missing out for a while.  So, I snapped a quick picture and thought I would share this quick and easy recipe for delicious oatmeal for you to try also!  It is an adaptation from a Jamba Juice recipe.  (And just as a forwarning, I like the more sticky oatmeal and less liquidy oatmeal so you will have to adjust the amount of water if you like it more liquidy).

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried quick oats

1/2 cup water

1-2 tsp brown sugar

dried blueberries and glazed pecans for topping

(you could also add some other dried berries such as cherries and cranberries  and glazed walnuts if you want too)

Directions:

1.  Add oats and water to microwave safe bowl

2.  Heat for one minute

3.  Add brown sugar, berries and pecans and enjoy!

Have a warm and safe weekend!

Strung By Color Giveaway #2

As promised, Jenny started her next giveaway for her celebratory week.  Click here to enter!  The winner gets a custom made order valued at $20.00!  You can have a gift made for you or for a Christmas gift for a friend!  Why wouldn’t you want to enter   And you better hurry because the contest ends on Sunday!

A blog-iversary has occured…

…but its for my bloggie friend Jenny from Strung By Color!

Jenny is celebrating her one year anniversary of starting her crafty lady blog.

I am so honored to be a part of her giveaway celebrations and would love for all my readers to show her some love, hop on over to her blog, and check it out.  Maybe even add it to your daily blog reader, should you feel so inclined!  She is so crafty and talented and does a WAAAAAY better job than I do of writing about DIY ideas of giving inspiration for home projects.  Sadly, I have been failing miserably in that area for several months now!!!

Jenny’s giveaway started today and ends on Wednesday, October 19th @ 5:00 pm EST.  The winner receives their choice of one free item from my Etsy shop!  I have been doing many giveaways on this blog and sponsoring many the last couple of months but this is likely the last one until after Christmas so act fast and dont miss out on your chance to win.  Just click on the link above to get to her blog and find out how to enter.

And also stay tuned as I will be doing a giveaway sponsored by Jenny in the weeks to come where you could win some of her stylish and fanc-aayyy accessories

Stay crafty friends!

October Giveaway Winners!

And without further ado, here are the winners for this month!

As you remember, you had up to 5 ways to enter.  I counted up all the entries and had random.org generate the 5 winners and here they are:

1.  Emily Michael

2. Jamie Adkins

3. Christine Geiger

4. Sarah Moody

5. Camille Brady

Each of you has the choice of an item currently listed in my shop that is $15.00 or less or a coupon code for 20% off one item.  Please email me at:  shannonscrafts@gmail.com with your choice.  If you want the item before Christmas, please act quickly as my schedule is rapidly filling up with orders!

Thanks again to all who participated and for spreading the word!  I am sponsoring another giveaway for a fellow blogger friend next week so stay tuned for more information and how to participate!