When I started this blog three years ago it was to catalogue my attempts at sewing, knitting and cooking with a dash of parenting. As time has moved on and I’ve found a comfort zone with my writing, I’ve expanded the parenting element somewhat and in the process I have attracted many offers from companies wishing me to review their products, some of which I’ve accepted. My criteria for accepting products for review has been simple: Would I use it? I have rejected probably 75% of these offers as being irrelevant to my readership or simply unattractive to me but for the products that I do elect to keep & review I will be using a more defined method so that you – my readership – know what drives the review you’re reading.

1. I will always be honest if I am reviewing a product I have been sent for free.
I do talk about products that I love with fair frequency and I realise that could be confusing in establishing my motives. From this point forward, any product reviews will have a note telling you at the start of the article that I have been sent this product for free.

2. I will not accept payment for reviews.
I will not put myself in the position where I could be accused of putting financial gain before my integrity. I have built this blog up through investing my time and energy, it’s not worth throwing that away.

3. I will tell the truth about the products I’m reviewing
I recently did a product review for a company that ticks all of my boxes – environmentally conscious, morally agreeable, affordable product – but didn’t write up the review because the product didn’t work for my family. I fed back to the PR company but have felt distinctly at ease since then. From now on, I will tell you if I haven’t liked something I’ve tested but I will also offer my support and feedback to the companies sending me review products.

4. I will not review any product which is manufactured by any of the Nestlé brands.
As a family we actively boycott Nestlé and all subsidiary companies as a result of their appalling marketing practices and continued use of child slave labour. I could not in good conscience ever accept a product of any kind from Nestlé.

5. I will only review products which are true to the ethos of the blog.
If it relates to cooking, crafting, family life etc then I’ll review it. If it’s not something I’ve talked about here then chances are I won’t be interested.

Additionally, at present I have no advertising on my blog. That’s not to say it’ll always be like this but as of this date I receive no payment for anything posted here. Everything I write is my own opinion and words – I will not simply rehash press releases, nor will I change what I’ve written. I do have an Amazon associates link but in the three years of writing this blog I have made £0.10p so I don’t think we have much to worry about there!

If you have read this and would like to send me something to review, please do email me.

As the people I write for, your opinion on this is extremely important to me and so I would welcome your comments on this post.

Thanks for reading

I know you’ve heard all this before. I know that the media plastered this everywhere for a couple of weeks but Haiti is falling out of favour with the media and we must – must – remember that the operation to find and bury the Haitian dead, to clear the earthquake damage, to create infrastructure and support Haiti’s recovery is going to be an ongoing and long-term effort. I also know that those who have been able to donate to the DEC or other charitable organisations have done so.

But – and there’s always a but – there is still much that we can do and particularly to my crafty friends, I’d like to draw your attention to this one. Sarah is looking for 181 handmade dolls to arrive in the USA by March 31st to be sent to an orphanage in Haiti, so that each child has one toy that they can call their own. One simple thing that could make a world of a difference to these kids who have experienced such horrific trauma in their short lives.

I know you’re busy. We’re all busy, but realistically we have three weeks to finish our dolls and send them over to the USA. Please, please consider giving up your time for this because you have no idea how much it would be appreciated.

I’ve been humming and hawing over what to do for 2010 and I’ve decided I’m going to do a “Craft Neutral” year. What does this mean? Well in 2010 I can craft only using the supplies I already own. If I want or need to buy anything, I can only do that with the proceeds from crafty stuff I’ve managed to sell. Not only should this substantially decrease my stash but it should encourage me to pull the proverbial finger out and actually put some of my makes up for sale.

Of course this gives me a couple of months to buy in things

So – who’s with me on the 2010 Craft Neutral challenge?

I posted a photo in my “A day in the life” stream, showing a project I haven’t quite finished yet and it was picked up and posted on OhDeeDoh which is one of my favourite blogs, ever. I am so honoured – thank you for featuring me!

The project featured is this table which I’ve découpaged for Findlay and Nairn’s bedroom. The kids’ Godfather, Dave, is moving out of his flat and has given me a few bits of furniture that he was going to throw out. He and I are hoarding kindred spirits, can’t see any crap thrown out ANYWAY, one of the things he gave me was an Ikea Lack table which had seen better days but which I decided could be given new life!

I used a vintage annual (the 1991 Bash Street Kids annual, for reference!) and a LOT of PVA glue to stick it down and then seal the top. I had a bit of a disaster with the top which I am hoping to resolve this week – I wanted a hard, clear varnish so that the paper would be safe if the kids were to spill something on it and when I asked someone in B&Q for clear acrylic varnish they gave me Ronseal. I didn’t think anything of it but when I applied it, it cracked the PVA. Disaster! I’ve now got some plastikote clear enamel but it’s been raining here today and I haven’t been able to get the table out to spray it.

I have also left one leg uncovered just now until I decide if I like the legs découpaged or not. What do you think?

I have lots to blog about and I’m hoping to get a post or two written today, including a ‘Paddy Factor’ post if time allows. Bear with me!

Hope you’re all well and have a lovely weekend

- Vonnie x

Using random.org’s random integer, the winner of the giveaway is:

Commenter 18! – Congratulations to Lisa!. Lisa if you could email me with your address I’ll get your goodies posted off to you at some point this week.

Thank you to everyone who participated – I have a cracking load of new books and sites to check out and I appreciate you all stopping by. I’ll maybe do something for my 250th

Next update is going to be the craft challenge entrants – keep your eyes peeled because I’ll need you lovely lot to vote!

I’ve been trying to come up with entry criteria but due to lack of sleep thanks to a very cute little girl I haven’t got the imagination. So! I recently finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (which is amazing and beautiful and made me cry) and I absolutely loved it. Embarrassingly this is the first book in many a month that I’ve successfully completed but it’s really triggered my inner bookworm.

With that in mind, to enter this giveaway I would like you to recommend a book to me – it can be any genre at all – and tell me why I need to have this book in my life. If you’re not a literary type then feel free to recommend a website that you think I need to see.

In return? One of you lucky types will win four stitch markers, a pair of gorgeous pink resin knitting needles (made by Kerry at PennyDog Jewellery) and the knitting bag made by me and embellished with a removeable needlepointed flower brooch by Debbs for the Crafteroo mixed media craft challenge (with apologies for the picture of the bag, it’s not the easiest thing to photograph!).

Go!

• This is my 90th post. 90 posts! NINETY! For my 100th post I’m going to have a very special giveaway featuring some handmade goodies so tune in. I anticipate the 100th post to arrive within the next four weeks.
• I have finally bitten the bullet and opened my very own Folksy shop. There’s only some owl stitch markers listed right now but I’ll expand that with time. I am very nervous about this and hope it pans out because I need to start recouping some of the money I spend on crafty things!
• For the fifth week in a row, Erica is too sick to go to nursery. I can’t even explain in words of more than two syllables just how frustrating this is for me. Is it selfish to crave some time on your own? I have one day a week where everyone is at work/school/nursery and I haven’t had that day for over a month and I resent losing that time. I don’t resent Erica because sure it’s not her fault, but I really needed today. Ah well.
• I decided against using the cookie dough. It probably would have been fine, but there were eggs in the mix and with Erica being ill with seemingly no reason I just didn’t want to risk it. I am quite annoyed at the waste, truth be told.
• You can now become a fan on Facebook! Click the link to go to our fan page on facebook – I promise you won’t be bombarded by updates etc.
• We also have a web presence on Twitter and Flickr
• You may have noticed at the bottom of each post now there are a row of little icons. Can I encourage you to explore what they do and how they work for both you and I? Any questions and I’ll do my best to answer them
• Finally, I was wondering why whenever I leave a comment on your blogs I have no avatar that shows up beside my details**. Turns out that there’s a very simple way to do this – just go to www.gravatar.com, register your email address and the picture you’d like associated with your comments et voila! If you already have a wordpress.com account then your gravatar should be linked as long as you’ve registered the email address you use to comment. I know there’s a fair few of you who comment here but don’t have a gravatar set so go go go!

Today is going to be a day in the car. I have to get Nairn to nursery, Erica to see her Doctor, take our growhouse back to a large nationwide DIY store after it blew away Wizard of Oz-style last week destroying all our seedlings (nearly a month’s worth of planting and the DIY store in question are refusing to replace our seeds, making out like they’re doing us a favour by replacing the growhouse. I am unimpressed to say the least!) then we have to get some food in and finally take the cats to the vet before I can sit down. Happy days!

**Edit to add – the ever-lovely Ryan tells me that the gravatar thing doesn’t work for every blog as the blog owner needs to enable that option. For the most part it should work though!

1. Carina’s Craftblog – Written by the fabulously talented Carina Envoldsen-Harris, this blog is one of my favourite reads. Go! Look! Be dazzled!

2. Incy Wincy Stitches – Sam Gillespie chronicles her textile work and button making skills with an added dash of family life. Her French Knot Sheep have already been picked up and featured on Craft Gossip.

3. Kitschy Coo – Amanda has a shops on etsy and folksy selling her well-executed childrens’ clothing patterns and designs. Her blog chronicles her adventures in parenting whilst running a business, with humour and points of interest thrown in.

4. Beads by Laura – Laura Sparling is a UK-based glass artist with a penchant for knitting. Her cupcake beads have proven to be highly popular of late and her work is in demand. Check out her blog for musings on wool, on glass and on salad cream (seriously!)

5. Little Cotton Rabbits – Julie Williams creates the most fantastic knitted toys and her photography is just to die for. Her blog shares insights into her life with two children, one of whom is Autistic, whilst keeping up with demand for her toys.

I’ll be back next week with some more crafting and baking, including showing the 1.2kg of wool I dyed by hand this week. Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Please click on the photograph to go to the Crafteroo store for Comic Relief on Folksy and check back regularly as more items are being added on a frequent basis. I will be donating an item in collaboration with Kerry from PennyDog and I’ll let you know when it’s there!