Craftsy is having their annual end-of-the-year Winter Clearance sale -


They're offering up to 70% off kits + supplies (knitting, sewing, and quilting!) from Wednesday December 28 - Saturday December 31. Click {here} to see all of their deals!

I'm heading over to check out the Aurifil today. Often they'll have the best sales, and then I stock up on 3 or 4 spools (and I've also been known to organize a group order with my friends to get the free shipping hehe). There's also a V and Co quilt kit I've been watching decrease in price that I've been trying to scrape my pennies together to get.

This is a good time to pick up what I wanted for Christmas but didn't get in the fabric department. My hubby, bless his heart, I add this stuff to my wishlist every year but he's just too nervous to buy fabric for me.

Or, I might just pick up a cone of Aurifil and add to my cone stash. (As an aside - did you know you can use cones on your home sewing machine? here are two posts I wrote with tricks to do just that - for both vertical and horizontal spool sewing machines - save money on the thread you buy! it's like the equivalent of buying food at Costco, but for your sewing machine, lol.)


 *this post contains affiliate links to Craftsy at no additional cost to you. For more information, please visit my Disclosure Statement and Advertising Policies page. 

Heads up!

Sharing the coupon love this lovely fall weekend - Craftsy* has rebooted their website, and in celebration, they're having a huge supply sale - 

including $7.15/spool Aurifil* and $27.50 Aurifil cones*!

(Have always wanted to use a cone on your home sewing machine? Here's how I do it!)

I saw there they had some Bonnie and Camille bundles* on sale, as well.

From Craftsy*:

It's the season for more making! The changing colors call for new projects, and we want to help you start the season with all the supplies you need. 

ENDS: Their promotion ends Sunday, October 16, at 11:59 pm MT. 

*Aff links for your pajama shopping pleasure!

Heads up! Craftsy* is having a 5th Birthday sale!

Craftsy* is having a sale - their kits and supplies are on for up to 50% off from now until May 15 at midnight MDT.

Check out their Aurifil* and Fat Quarter Bundles* - they usually have smoking good deals during their supply sales, and have a wide selection of colors!

I may just have to pick up a few spools........happy birthday, Craftsy*! And happy shopping :)

*I've included website affiliate links to Craftsy's site for your pajama-wearing, couch-surfing reference and pleasure, hehehe

Black Friday in our house wasn't overly exciting this year.

I usually stalk my favorite online haunts in my pjs, enjoying my coffee, while the kids play with Daddy.

This year was a bit different; I managed to save enough money from my little Etsy shop business and from my online survey shenanigans to buy a new laptop - which is huge for me - my old one is, well, old, and quite literally falling apart. There is actual duct tape on it.

So once I had dropped that kind of coin, I was

A) pretty much out of money, and
B) pretty flipping stoked about the computer and had very little attention span with regards to any other shopping tee hee

Did I mention - the computer is PINK? Because I was overly enthusiastic about said purchase, I dedicated a post to it, (here).


I *did* however pick up two other quilty things -

A new large cutting mat, 23x35, double sided - $27!

and a few Chicago Modern Quilt Guild friends and I went in on an awesome sale at Craftsy and managed to pick up Aurifil at $6.50/spool:

All in all, a great shopping excursion after a long drought. Not bad, right?

What did YOU pick up on Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday?

Linking up to Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash Share!


*affiliate link to Craftsy

For a long time I've been meaning to write a series of posts on how I manage to fund my fabric and thread stash as a stay-at-home mom and as a single income family. I decided to put it all into one big whopping post. Stick with me - it's worth the read. Note that I've included affiliate and referral links for your reference and convenience.

And now, I have the dream of owning my own longarm quilting machine. I keep entering to win one, but alas, nothing yet. And I'm pretty sure longarm companies don't just give them away [although, if you know of one who'd like to sponsor a super awesome blogger like myself, let me know (hee hee hee)]. So, let the saving begin.

As my fellow quilters and crafters out there know, this is not a cheap hobby to have - so I've had to think outside the box a bit on how to fund my addiction I mean, favorite pass time.

I've been asked quite a bit about how I manage to afford to buy the fabrics and threads and notions I do - and here's how. These are my tips and tricks to keeping my hobby alive without working outside the home.

These tips apply to anyone who would like to make a little extra cash on the side to fund whatever your heart desires!

Tips are listed below in descending order for what I've found my earning potential to be. i.e.: I make the most money, top to bottom, at the below listed tips.









If you have something that you make really well, sell it. Open a little online shop (I use Etsy) and just start! Obviously, you'll have to weigh the cost-benefit of having said store, because, at the end of the day you need it to be self-sustaining and then some in order to have some extra coin in your pocket, but, for me, it's been worth it.

By selling on Etsy, I've managed to make enough to buy a newer, bigger, better sewing machine, periodically buy the fat quarter bundles I want, purchase the Aurifil I want (because I use it in my products!) and more.

It costs nothing to open a store on Etsy; they have a system where you spend $0.20USD to list an item for 3 months, and you pay a small flat fee if your item sells. You can choose to accept PayPal and/or Direct Checkout (credit cards), with funds you earn being deposited into your PayPal and/or bank account, respectively.

There's a learning curve to it, but they make it really easy. Maybe I'll write another post soon on what I've learned while being a seller on Etsy.

Plus, it's a tax write-off at the end of the year, which will save/earn you money as well.

Curious about what my store looks like? I'm SewatHomeMummy on Etsy.


This is a big one, and where I make a really big chunk of my extra funds. I estimate that annually I make up to $1,000USD in cash and gift cards by answering online surveys, shopping through affiliate links and watching suggested videos.

I've used a lot of online survey companies, and the best one I've come across, with the highest payouts, least amount of limitations, best customer service and most diverse gift card options has been SwagBucks.com.

Basically, this is how it works:

Generate an account at Swagbucks.com. On their site, they have several ways in which you can earn what they call "Swag Bucks" - which are basically points you earn towards redemption on hundreds of different gift card options for a ton of different companies (like Amazon, eBay, Target, Walmart, Visa, PayPal, Home Depot, and more!). What I love is that, unlike with other survey companies:

1. each gift card company has multiple options for denominations which you can cash in on - all the way from $5 cards up to $100+.
2. You can cash in anytime - and there are no limits or caps on how many times you can cash your points in in a period - because, there are no periods.
3. Want cash, and not gift cards? Easy. Cash in on a PayPal gift card which is automatically deposited to your PayPal account, then transfer the money to your bank account attached to your PayPal. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
4. They have multiple ways you can earn points, it's not just through doing surveys. You can: (*fastest way to earn points)
1. *answer surveys
2. search the web through their site and earn points
3. *shop at major retailers by using their "Shop and Earn" links - for instance, want to shop at Old Navy this Black Friday? Go to your swagbucks account page first, click shop and earn, find Old Navy on their site and earn 8SB/$1 spent at Old Navy. Booking a trip or vacation? click through to Priceline via your Swagbucks account and earn 8SB/$1 spent. Making a purchase on Amazon? click through from Swagbucks and earn 4SB/$1 spent...and so on...
4. watch videos and advertisements - if I'm sewing or cooking, I have the videos on in the background, earning points while I do other things.
5. play games/download apps/special offers/and more!

Now, I don't make a ton of money monetizing my blog, but it'll buy me a few bundles and some thread every year. There are two ways to monetize your blog: to sell advertising space and to use affiliate advertising. Here I'll cover the affiliate advertising option.

Personally, I use shareasale.com* on my blog. They are one of the biggest affiliate companies out there, their interface is easy to use, and they deal with craft companies I know, have used, and I trust.

Taking on affiliate advertising* is easy to do, but requires a bit of...finesse. You don't want to risk alienating your readership with a bombardment of advertising, both in posts and on your sidebar, but at the same time, everyone has to make a living, right?

Some things to note/my suggestions on the subject:

• take on advertising from affiliates that you know and trust - and that you've actually used. The ones you see in my sidebar (Craftsy*, Amazon*, etc.) I personally own or use on a regular basis and have products or services that are applicable to my readership.
• make sure that you follow the legal disclosure guidelines for your country when advertising affiliates and their sales/products (for example, in the US, you must by law disclose when there are affiliate links on your blog or in a post - note my disclosure at the bottom of this post, at the bottom of this blog, and, in the sidebar affiliate advertising is separately denoted by the heading "affiliates")

Here's where social media can really be your friend. When you make something fabulous, post it on all of your social media accounts - share it with all of your friends and family. Let everyone who follows you know that you make spectacular things, and your items are for sale. 

Also, let people know that you will create custom orders or items for people which are in your scope of practice - or offer your services out to friends and family who may also sew or quilt if they need help with projects they're doing. 


As a side note - if you do start up an Etsy shop, make sure to promote the items you make on all of your social media accounts - it's free advertising!

Really quick edition of "Sharing the Coupon Love"!

Craftsy is having a supplies sale right now with up to 70% off their quilting (and other crafty) fabrics and notions.

Last supplies sale they had I managed to pick up a few spools of Aurifil for just over $7. And they had some really cute Kaffe shot cotton bundles I know of that a few people I know picked up!

Head on over to Craftsy if you're in the market for a sale - it runs for only 3 days, 8/21-8/23.

Happy shopping!

I thought I'd pass this along, although the sale ends tonight, better late than never, right?

Craftsy is having a sale on their sewing and quilting supplies, including thread and fabrics.

I managed to pick up 3 spools of Aurifil for $7.15 each - not bad!

Here's the link to their online store: Craftsy.com

Happy shopping!








This post contains affiliate links.

Hi all!

Quick "Sharing the Coupon Love" Flash Sale alert!

Craftsy is having a flash sale on all of their online classes.


If you've never heard of Craftsy, or you've been a bit hesitant to purchase one of their online classes, you are missing out! I love that I can have access to the classes at any time, day or night, with no expiry date. And I can watch classes when I have time, press pause on that lesson, and when I come back to the video it brings me right to where I left off.

The instructors are great and are there to answer any of your questions (just leave your question in the comment box beside the video and they'll get back to you!).

If you're hesitant, try one of their free classes, see how they work.

Craftsy isn't just for quilting - they have knitting, cake making/decorating/cooking, jewelry, home and garden classes and more!

I've taken several of their quilting classes given by well known modern quilters and have loved it.

Happy learning everyone!