I Won!!!

I won a blog giveaway!  I received my gift last night and I wanted to share with you.  I got a set of 6 gift tags and a Christmas card.  They are beautiful!  They were made by Paper Creations by Nicole and you can find her at:
http://amonetten.etsy.com/
http://www.papercreationsbynicole.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Allen-Park-MI/Paper-Creations-by-Nicole/67758711662?ref=ts

Here is what I received!

The tags are so Christmasy!  I love them!

I wonder who will be lucky enough to get one of these on a gift?

The Christmas card.  It says Very Merry inside.  My daughter will love this card since it is pink and sparkly!

I cannot wait to use these!  Check out Nicole's shop!

Make Your Own Bath Salts!

I love making my own body products!  It is so fun and you get to use it too!  Today, I made my own bath salts.  This is the first time I have ventured into the salts.  It was so easy!  Here is my recipe.

4 cups Epsom Salts
1/4 cup Baking Soda
2 Tsp Liquid Glycerin
Lavender Fragrance (or fragrance of your choice)
Food Coloring (optional)

Mix it all up and put into a jar.  Decorate and these make great Christmas or anytime gifts!  Inexpensive too! Use 1/3 to 1/2 cup in warm bath water.  This recipe makes a lot, so be sure to share!  You could use sea salt in place of the epsom salt, or a combination of the two.  I used what I had on hand.   I didn't have any red food coloring to make purple, so I had to settle for blue.  The glycerin is a great moisturizer and the baking soda makes your skin feel silky smooth.  I can't wait to try it and give some to friends!

All the supplies...

Up close...

In my jar...

Enjoy!  If you make some, let me know how it went or of your variations!

And the Winner is...

The winner of my blog giveaway is Donna from The Laughing Fridge!  Congratulations!

Donna, email me at klkestner@yahoo.com with your address and I will send the bracelet right out!

New Clutch Design

I have a new design!  I am falling in love with it!  I call it The Liz Clutch.  I started designing it this weekend.  I was dreaming about it and couldn't wait to get started on it.  Well, as most things do, it didn't look quite the way I saw it in my head.  Today, I played around with it, and I must say I like it better than I imagined!  Sorry about the pictures.  It was getting dark and I really wanted to get a few shots.  I will try to get better ones tomorrow.

Presenting: The Liz Clutch!

The whole view...

Close-up of the closure...

And what it looks like open!

I need feedback from you!  I love it, but do you?  I am keeping this one myself, but I am itching to make more!

POOLOU DESIGNS BLOG GIVEAWAY #1!!!

Welcome to my very first giveway! I hope this to be the first of many! This is to show my appreciation to all my friends, followers, fans and customers! I couldn't do this without any of you.

THE PRIZE...




I am giving away this very fun, chunky and unique button stretch bracelet! It is made of purple buttons of varying sizes and shades. I put it on clear stretch cord, so you don't need help putting it on! It measures 7 inches and easily stretches to fit over your hand. I am already in love with this bracelet!  $10 value.

I have a thing for buttons! To fnd more items using buttons, visit my Etsy shop!

TO ENTER: You get an entry for every one of the following AND you have to leave a comment for each one to get counted:

Become a follower - even if you are already a follower, make sure you leave a comment to get an entry :)

Become a fan on Facebook - my Fan Page is http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Colorado-Springs-CO/PooLou-Designs/134250103524?ref=ts ~ again, if you are already a follower on FB, leave a comment for another entry!

Follow me on Twitter - my Twitter id is klkestner.  Leave a comment to get an entry and I will follow you!

Heart my Etsy Shop - If you really like what I have to offer, heart me!  Leave a comment telling me of your heart.  http://advenphoto.etsy.com/

You can have up to 4 entries for the drawing!  Please let me know how to contact you, in case you are the winner!

REMEMBER to post a comment for each entry.  The winner will be drawn using http://www.random.org/.  The giveaway starts today (Wed., Oct. 28) and goes through Wed., Nov. 11, midnight MST.  You have 2 weeks to get your entries in.  The winner has 48 hours to contact me to claim your prize.

Good luck and I can't wait to see who the winner is!

Kristen

Check This Out!

One of my pouches was featured on this awesome blog! Check it out at http://creativeflydesignz.blogspot.com. I am so excited about it!

On another note, I am working on my first giveaway for this blog! I am hoping to get it posted tomorrow, so be sure to check back. I hope everyone is having a great week. I can't believe Halloween is this weekend! We have a full day of activites planned for the kids on Saturday. A hayride, fall festival and then trick-or-treating! When I was a kid, Halloween was always my favorite holiday. I loved dressing up and I continued to do so through high school. What is your favorite holiday?

BOOK REVIEW My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

I love to read and am always reading a book! I thought I would do my first book review.



If you don't like emotional tear-jerkers, then don't read this book! I finished the book this morning and I am still emotional from it. I love Jodi Picoult because she has a way of drawing you in and she really makes you think. She goes from different characters points of view, so you get more of the story. It is about everyone in the book, not just one person. She helps you build relationships with her characters. The story line is real life, it could actually happen. While you are reading, you are forced to think "What would I do in this situation?", and it is not easy. She writes about the things we like to avoid in life. The hard decisions. The tradgedy.

There was not a day that went by while reading this book that I did not shed a tear. The book was not all sad. There are some good memories that you have to have in order to like the characters. For me, being a mother, this book was so hard thinking about losing one of my children. I cannot imagine, and it is a great fear I have.

This book will definitely surprise you. It did not turn out the way I knew it was going to in my head. Jodi Picoult has a way of doing that. Just when you think you have it all figured out, you are totally wrong.

This was an awesome book! Full of life and love and sadness. I have not seen the movie. I wanted to make sure to read the book first. I am sure the movie will disappoint me, as all book movies do.

Happy reading! If you have read the book, what did you think?

Apples and Pears

This is too cool! I found this great blog background that matches one of my tote bags! So...here is a picture of the tote bag.

I designed this tote bag. I love how roomy it is! I wanted the tie straps because I like how they look and it is a way to add adjustable straps. There is a large pocket inside and a magnetic snap closure.

I found my background at this great site that has free backgrounds. There are a lot to choose from! Go to http://aquapoppydesigns2.blogspot.com for yours!

Welcome!

Welcome to the all new PooLou Designs Blog! I hope that I can keep on top of this! Being a mom and wife first, this is going to be a challenge, but I am up for it! I am happy you are starting on this journey with me! I welcome all comments and will strive to respond to each one.

I started PooLou Designs at the beginning of 2009, by surprise. I started sewing and fell in love with it! I have evolved to other areas, as well. I create/design tote bags, purses, pouches, earrings, bracelets, just to name a few. I am always coming up with new ideas. I love making thinks and I hope you love my things! Everything I do, I am self taught in. My flaw is, I want what I want when I want it! If I want to learn something, I want to learn NOW! And I do!