Giveaway – Page 2 – Nightwolf's Den

It’s all about bloggers

Today I’ve got together a few bloggers to answer a few questions about themselves & their blogs

Who are you and where do you blog? Tina Gray, http://tinagray.me
And how long have you been blogging? about 6 years, but with this blog, 2 years.
Tell us a little about you, your blog & your blogging journey. I’m a mum of 5 children and wife to 1 husband. My blog is my space to share what goes on in my head while trying to raise my family, trying to find my skinny self and sharing what I think about stuff.
What is the one thing you wish you had been told when you started blogging? and what one piece of advice would you give other bloggers? Make your blog your own. Find YOUR voice. Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing.
Tina can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Who are you and where do you blog? Liz, www.lizosaurus.com
And how long have you been blogging? 1 and a bit years at Lizosaurus, about 5 years all up.
Tell us a little about you, your blog & your blogging journey. I’m Liz, I live in inner west Sydney with my husband Jarod and my cat Train. Blogging is just a creative outlet for me – somewhere to put my thoughts and chat with likeminded others. My blog has also offered some amazing opportunities – from free passes to the Easter show to a flight to Malaysia for an awards ceremony!
What is the one thing you wish you had been told when you started blogging? and what one piece of advice would you give other bloggers? Blogging is not the be all and end all. There is still a life outside of the internet!
Anything else? Also – make sure you’re enjoying it. If you’re not it’ll come through in your writing.
Liz can be found on Twitter

Who are you and where do you blog? Tork, http://torkona.blogspot.com
And how long have you been blogging? 1 year, 4 months
Tell us a little about you, your blog & your blogging journey. I just turned thirty. I’m a Pisces. I enjoy crisps and long walks on the beach.
But seriously, I am a dad blogger. Why? Because I love being a dad. I love talking about being a father. Not only that, but I am hilarious and I love making people laugh. Hehehe.
I also love to inspire, with a splash of music here and there and the odd hand “written” poetry. Wussy stuff, but I enjoy it, so I make it up talking about stuff dad’s might like as well as the odd gaming info. Overall, I blog about my boy and for my boy. It’s all about keeping memories for the future when I have trouble remembering stuff!
What is the one thing you wish you had been told when you started blogging? and what one piece of advice would you give other bloggers? I wish I was told.. don’t worry about it. Just have fun.
Don’t worry about traffic. Don’t worry about how to blog. Simply keep your blog place neat and just write epic as you can whilst enjoying what you do.
Anything else? Once I had this dream where I was a transforming plant that could transform into anything. There was a mob chasing after me for hours in this dream and I couldn’t get away from them, no matter what I did. I would turn down strange corners, run super fast, chuck rocks at this mob, nothing would work. Then I realised I was a transforming plant, so I turned into an old granny and grandpa and simply walked past them, whinging something about ‘kids these days’ as the granny whilst as the grandpa I was stroking a cat.
Just thought I’d share that.
Tork can be found on Twitter and on Facebook

Who are you and where do you blog? Ames, http://tutuames.com
And how long have you been blogging? In total since Oct 2009, on this blog since March 2011
Tell us a little about you, your blog & your blogging journey. I’m a SAHM to two little ones, a toddler boy, lufflump and a newborn girl, sesame, and not married to but in love with the mister. I’m just getting into fitness and joining Roller Derby so will be also blogging that journey.
I began blogging in 2009. Only the mister knew I blogged. I stopped because I lost my blog mojo and I hated my blog, it still makes me cringe. I didn’t blog again for almost six months. I kept reading my favourite blogs but didn’t write anything.
I started my new blog, Tutu Ames now Accidental Wonderland, as I felt my blog mojo come back mostly thanks to Twitter. I’d spent the six months learning about writing posts, design and topics. I expanded my knowledge, not through e-classes but through blogs I admired.
My current blog is my third baby. She’s gone through many changes but I feel like she’s finding her happy place. The problem is that happy place keeps changing! It’s my place to vent and connect with a wonderful community.
What is the one thing you wish you had been told when you started blogging? and what one piece of advice would you give other bloggers? Take snippets of your favourite blogs but don’t copy, individuality is the key! Also please turn word verification off it makes commenting suck.
Anything else? Happy blogiversary!!
Ames can be found on Twitter and Facebook

Thanks to all who took part in my little bloggy interview. Pop over to their blogs & leave them some love 😀

Today’s giveaway is an Urban Lily Life Book Journal (I’m not sure if you can buy these anymore but last check RRP was about $30). Colour may vary from that shown below

The Urban Lily Life Book Journal is a refillable 6 ring binder journal with a soft PVC cover with chrome metal closure.
Each Journal Includes
– 50 printed journaling pages
– 25 ruled pages
– 10 blank pages
– 5 polka dot page dividers
Journal Size – 18cm x 23.5cm

Enter using the Rafflecopter below. Easy one today. Again Australian residents only please

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Friday Night

So today I was hoping to have a guest post for you all but I left my emailing way too late. You know, the usual thing 😉 Instead I thought I’d share with you some of my favourites from the blogosphere.

I’m sharing this post by Tork cause a) it’s funny and b) it’s got cute pandas. I thought I might take part in Clairey’s handwriting challenge. Tina’s blogging posts are always informative. I *heart* Joy the Baker and her post Ten (Super Rad) Blog Post Ideas is great when facing a bit of bloggy block. Can’t share a list of bloggy goodness without sharing Two Lumps (cat owners can relate) and then there’s some bloggers who I struggle to pick just one post from recently – Eden, Lori, Kelley & Sass. I just want to give them huge hugs for a variety of reasons. Amazing women.

So there’s my favourites, all be it short. Hey it’s been a long day (OMG did I mention Miss K is finally sleeping in a single “big girl’ bed. We went and bought her new sheets, a pillow and a few other bits and pieces – she was super excited) and I’m a little tired. Tomorrow I’ll be back with some exciting stuff.

Today’s giveaway is a bit of a beauty pack (thanks to the Bloggers BBQ) with some Dove hair serum thrown in as a bonus 😀 Enter using the Rafflecopter below. Open to Australian residents only

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My 6 year adventure

This time six years ago I started a blog – From the Wolf’s Den (I did have another blog that started in 2005 so really I’ve been blogging for 7 years in May but meh, whatever). My first post was pretty simple. I’d started moving all my blogs from Blogger to Word Press. I don’t think I even kept my blogger blog though I still have my very first blog and my wedding blog.

I was a scrapbooker and a personal blogger. I shared scrapbooking stuff I’d created and just posted about my general life. Then in 2009 I fell pregnant with Miss K (& started a pregnancy blog) but it all got too much so this blog became my pregnancy blog as well. Which reminds me – I need to import all those posts from my pregnancy blog to here – keep it all in one place. In 2010 I became a ‘mummy blogger’. Over the last two years I’ve blogged a bit about crafting, a bit about parenting and bit of general blogging. Blogging has given me the chance to document, rant, share and so much more.

I still can’t believe I’ve been blogging so long. I’ve made some great friendships because of this blog (& Twitter). I’ve also had some great opportunities to work with some awesome brands. AND I got to go to a blogging conference.

So here’s to six years. May the next six bring more friendships, more opportunities and more blog events!!

For the next seven days I’ll be turning the Den into a bit of a party den with some great things lined up. Starting today with the first of my Blogoversary Giveaways.
Today’s giveaway is brought to you by Lenard’s. I have 2 $20 vouchers for Lenard’s to give away. I tried Lenard’s at the recent Bloggers BBQ and it is yummy. Shame there isn’t one in Tasmania 🙁

Enter using the Rafflecopter form below. Open to Australian residents only. Please check if you have a Lenard’s near you before entering.

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Menu Planning

Menu planning seems to be the thing to do if you want to help yourself save a little $$ and make mealtimes a bit more organised. I’ve been planning our meals for years & when Miss K arrived it made our life so much easier. There are still nights when I look at the plan and go ‘nope don’t feel like anything there’ or swap things around. Being the geek I am, I have been looking for a way to have my menu plan a bit more portable – you know, on either of my iDevices 😉

After a bit of searching I came across Menu Planner. This little app has it all – menu planning, shopping list, what’s in your pantry AND recipes all in one spot.Works on both iPad & iPhone/iPod too

I installed the app and got stuck in. Starting with the Setup tab. I left it pretty much as is except for adding our local supermarkets in the Stores tab.

I then added our menu plan for our evening meals for the week. Breakfast here is pretty much the same thing everyday – cereal or toast, unless I have leftover mashed potato from the night before – then it’s potato scones*. Lunch depends on the day.

To create your meal plan, you tap on your day (so for example today) and you’ll be taken to the meal plan, where you select a meal type (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack or create your own) then you add a course. Here you can add a recipe that is already in your list (or you can add a recipe as you go), or select a food. In the example below, I’ve added the recipe for Pumpkin Soup to our recipes.

You can use the plan you’ve made for the day as a template, move or copy the meals to another date and even email the menu plan to someone (for example, your partner). You can also print your weekly or monthly plan out to stick on the fridge/noticeboard/wherever.

In the Recipes tab, you can add and edit recipes you use frequently and want to add to future menu plans. You can also use the Import Recipes tab to import from a list of sites. I’m yet to try it to see if I can import my favourite recipes from Taste.com.au (and then I scroll down and see it’s in the list LOL)

The Items tab shows you all items in your pantry and items in recipes that aren’t in your pantry – great for helping you make a shopping list. An awesome feature of the Items tab is you can add prices for each item, add you can add different prices for different stores (cause we all know each shop has their own price) Then there is the Shopping List tab. And if you added prices in your Items list you can get an estimate of what your shopping will cost. Bonus!

Overall, it is a super easy app to use and if you get stuck you can click on the Community tab for tutorials, help, to report issues/bugs and even request features for future versions. I’ve been using the app for about a month & I love it. I’ve even deleted my other recipe apps so I have it all in one place. You can also sync your data so it is backed up on the menu planning website – and you can make changes to everything except your menu plan online.

Menu Planner app gets

out of 5

I have ~~4 2~~ codes for Menu Planner up for grabs, if you want a copy of this great app for yourself, leave a comment 🙂 Works on both iPhone & iPad (code has expired but thanks for the interest)

Disclaimer – I was given a code for this app so I could do a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

* Potato Scones (the Scottish way). Mix cold mashed potato with enough plain flour to make a dough. You don’t want it to be too wet or too dry, so it’s personal preference. Divide mixture into handful size amounts. Roll your handful sized ball til about .5cm thick, cut into 4.
Preheat frypan over medium heat. Sprinkle some plain flour into pan. Watch the flour as it will brown. When lightly browned, add scones. Cook til lightly browned underneath, flip and cook til the other side is lightly browned. Serve with butter (never marg. It has to be butter 😉 ). Repeat with remaining mixture.

Giveaway – Eco Tan (closed)

As a kid I remember spending hours and hours baking myself in the sun. Lying there trying to give myself a ‘healthy glow’. We all know now that too much sun can be a bad thing (too little is also a bad thing – vitamin d and all) but some still like to have a tan.
Fake tans – there are so many options out there. I’d like to share a little about one with you all.

I first heard about Eco Tan while chatting about something completely unrelated to fellow Sunny Mummy Sonya via email. I saw her signature & asked her about the company.

Eco Tan is Australian owned company that creates organic, natural tanning products. The tanning products are created with no GMO or animal derivatives and no petrochemicals. In March 2011 the company became the first and only organic tan to be certified by the Organic Food Chain.

Eco Tan Organic Rich Honey tanning solution is a “beautiful luxurious tan that is moisturising whilst giving you a deep tan”. The tanning solution uses Cacao (chocolate), instead of the usual green or orange base, giving a rich color. No fragrance has been added and there are no artificial ingredients. Rich Honey tan is reported to last for approximately 7-10 days.

Eco Tan Organic Invisible Tan is “an organic moisturiser that nourishes your skin without any synthetics. It is has a lovely soft note of roseflower oil”. This tan, once applied, continues to develop for 24 hours AND being invisible it’s safe to sleep in – no more stained sheets. Invisible Tan is suitable for your face and body and each tube will do approximately 3 whole body tans.

Eco Tan Tan-Away glove is an “extreme exfoliator that is brilliant for pre and post tanning”. This amazing glove removes dead skin layers to reveal fresh smooth skin, a perfect base for the tans. It can be used wet or dry. The glove is made from 100% natural viscose with Eco dye. It’s great for unclogging pores on your face but it’s not suitable for sensitive skin. I love my Tan-Away glove.

Sonya has generously given me a tube of Eco Tan Organic Invisible Tan and a Eco Tan Tan-Away glove to give away to one lucky reader. Just enter via the Rafflecopter form below.

Follow on Eco Tan on Facebook Follow on Eco Tan on Twitter

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