My First Giveaway

At the beginning of the year, I set up a SewAmazin page on Facebook - you may have noticed some of the links and buttons on my blog sidebar and in the RSS feed asking you to become a fan. Last week we passed the 25 fans threshold, which allowed me to claim a username and shortened URL for the page. Now you can direct your browser to Facebook.com/SewAmazin.com and you should reach the page directly.

To celebrate this milestone, I'm holding my first Giveaway here on the blog. And the prize is a pair of Reusable Grocery Tote/Shopping Bags. Actually, there will be TWO prizes and each winner will receive one pair of bags. You can keep both bags or share one with a friend.

Turquoise & Watercolor

Black & White

I'm so tired of winter - making these bags, especially the colorful Turquoise/Watercolor version, reminded me of summer. I've had the fabrics and supplies in my stash for quite some time and most of them are remnants and clearance items, so each pair of shopping totes is unique.

Each bag is made of home decor weight cotton fabrics, comes pre-washed and measures approximately 12 inches wide by 8 inches deep. The Turquoise/Watercolor accented bags are about 12 inches tall, excluding the handles; the Black & White Houndstooth print bags are slightly shorter at 10.5 inches tall. I've made similar sized bags in the past and my favorite comment about them is that they are deep and can hold a a TON of groceries - they're deep enough to hold large cereal boxes and several half gallon cartons of milk.

 

These shopping bags are very sturdy; the seams are all reinforced, with no raw edges showing. I've even added a new feature - each bag will fold up and be fastened into a tidy little package to keep in your car or handbag (folding instructions will be included). And they're machine-washable - in fact, the fabrics were washed and dried once before construction and the finished bags have been through a wash and dry, so there should not be any shrinkage.

Folded up in a tidy bundle

The handles on the Turquoise/Watercolor bags are padded with batting:

The Black & White bags have purchased handles, each bag has a slightly different size:

You can see several more detailed photos of both pairs of bags in my Giveaways photo album Flickr Giveaway Feb 2011 photoset. A special note to the guys - if these bags aren't appealing to you, they'd make a great gift for your wife, sweetheart, Mom or anyone else who shops.

How to Enter:

#1 If you’re already a fan of my SewAmazin page on Facebook, Thank you! If you're one of the first 29 fans at 9am today, you don't have to do anything - you're already entered once.

#2: Leave a comment here on this blog post. If you're not already a fan, I'd appreciate it if you would go over and Like my SewAmazin Facebook page, too. If you’re one of the first 29 fans, you can increase your chances of winning - just leave a comment here. If you don't want to be a fan (or don't like Facebook) that's okay, too, just leave a comment on this blog post. You might mention what you'd like to shop for using your new bags or who you might gift them to .... or you can talk about the Mets or the weather. Just say something nice. If you leave multiple comments, only the first one will count as your entry.

Please Note: You must leave some sort of identification in your comment so I can contact you. If I can't contact you - you can't win - so please be sure your contact information is either included in your message (email address is fine) or that I can click on your name and find it easily in your blogger profile.

The Rules:

This Giveaway is open to US residents or individuals with a US mailing address only. Sorry, no international participants.

The Giveaway starts today, Monday, February 21 and runs through Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at 11:59pm (Eastern time). On Wednesday, March 2, 2011 around noon, I’ll use random.org to choose 2 winners. The first winner will receive the Turquoise/Watercolor bags, the second winner will receive the Black & White bags.

I’ll contact the winners and they’ll have three days to respond with their mailing address. If I don’t hear from them, I’ll choose new winners.

One last thing - this is my first blog Giveaway so I'm reserving the right to make changes in order to clarify the rules or if there are any technical problems. If you have any questions, please contact me.

Thanks and Good Luck!

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The Giveaway is now finished - thanks everyone!

edited:
Dec-17-2018 Replaced SewAmazin Flickr photos with Google photos; edited links