Sunday, September 26, 2010

Stormy & Fluffy

 

 

Good morning!

About two months ago, we lost our littlest house cat, Kittens the Mittens. We're really not sure how it happened, but we think she accidentally got outside, and then vanished without a trace. After endless hours searching the fields around our home, checking with neighbors, looking in town, and more... we had to tell Matthew that she must be in heaven. As you can imagine, we've shed a lot of tears.

Losing a pet to old age or illness is incredibly painful. Losing a pet under these circumstances is worse. The sadness and grief seems magnified by the uncertainty and the guilt.

With "Kitten" gone, Matthew considered a lot of offers for a replacement from friends and family. But, none of the kitties seemed quite right. That is, until he met "Suri & Ness" at the Oreo Animal Shelter/West Dakota Veterinary Clinic on Thursday after school.

These little bundles of soft fur and endless playfulness were abandoned in a boat by a stray mother cat in Dickinson. A litter of five, one of the kittens had a tail, and the other four did not, indicating the father was a Manx. Three females, two males. Jennifer, an employee at the clinic/shelter, devoted herself to bottle feeding and fostering the litter for the past six weeks, until the kitties were old enough to be adopted.

When the kittens were posted on the Petfinder website, and I learned their story from Jennifer, we decided to visit the shelter. We left with "Suri" and "Ness", re-christened "Stormy" & "Fluffy" by Matthew, two adorable Manx mix kittens, about six weeks old... healthy, playful, and oh so cute. Because they have no tails, they look a little off balance when they run, with a funny hopping gait that resembles a rabbit.

After a rocky start in life, "Stormy" and "Fluffy" have come to the right place... a home filled with fun, a happy little boy and other animals to play with, plenty of love in our hearts, and endless stacks of cozy quilts to snuggle up on.

Note: I had the easy job this morning, writing about their arrival. I assigned Wesley the task of taking pictures of them for the newsletter.... not so easy... they don't stand still for very long!  I think he did a great job.

With appreciation to Oreo's animal rescue in Dickinson, and the Petfinder website, DCQ will send $2.00 for every online order during the next 24 hours. We'll be split the total equally between the two organizations.

Online orders are already pouring in this morning, even before I send this newsletter. Another busy Sunday on the website, and with your help, we hope to make a sizeable donation to a worthwhile cause.

We invite you to visit their websites: Petfinder.com and Oreo's Animal Rescue.

Lucky Seven! And the first winner is…

 

lumieredenoel

12554-15  12554-18

Congratulations to Sharon D!  (Invoice a128098)

Your name was drawn as the first winner during our Lucky Seven promotion.

We’ve e-mailed you a coupon code to allow online shopping for seven yards of fabric, your choice, retail value $9.50 per yard (or less). You can choose either a continuous cut or assorted smaller pieces. We’ll also pay the shipping for the packet.

Thanks to everyone who shopped with us last week,  to qualify for the “LUCKY SEVEN” promotion.  If you didn’t find time yet, don’t despair…. a second drawing will occur for qualifying orders between Sept 25-30.  Then, we’ll combine all names and draw a third winner!  Just be sure to follow the instructions in the blog post shown below, so that your order qualifies for the drawing.

If I won seven yards of fabric, what would I pick?  I’d head straight to the “Lumiere de Noel” category (click here).  These pretty prints have been calling my name lately, and I can’t wait to make some nice holiday accessories using a combination of the regular weight cottons and the pretty wovens.

Lucky Seven!!

 

matthewbugnetdrawing

Good Morning.

Well, we're all up early this morning, writing the newsletter together.  All of us.  Myself, Wesley, Matthew & the cats.

As Wesley & I were brainstorming this morning about a fun new promotion, Matthew overheard the conversation.

"What are you talking about?", he asked earnestly.

"The newsletter.  We need a fun way to celebrate the seventh anniversary for the website,"  Wesley explained.

"Oh," Matthew replied.

He vanished into his bedroom, and the cats Abbie & Aimee followed him.  A few minutes later, he reappeared, bug net in hand, stuffed with bits of colored paper. 

"Abbie and I figured it out!", he exclaimed. "We can have a drawing! For seven yards of fabric! We'll put the names in here, and at the end of the celebration, I'll pick them out."

Wesley & I looked at each other with amusement.  Well, why not?

So, courtesy of Matthew, age 7, let's begin the Lucky Seven celebration.

First, a few rules:

  • Everyone who qualifies between now and September 24 will have their name entered into the first drawing.  Everyone who qualifies between September 25 and September 30 will have name entered into second drawing.  Then, as an added bonus, all names will be combined and we'll draw for a third award.
  • Promotion closes at Midnight (MST) September 30, 2010.  No exceptions.
  • Qualifying orders must include at least SEVEN yards of fabric, and total invoice value must exceed $50.00 (before shipping charge).  For each multiple of $50.00 over that, your name will be entered again.  Example: $200 order qualifies for four entries.
  • Qualifying orders MUST include the code LUCKYSEVEN in "enter coupon or certificate number" on the checkout page. Enter code exactly as shown, all caps, no spaces.  This allows us to track the qualifying invoices.
  • In-store shoppers welcome. The bug net and entry slips will be displayed next to the cash register.
  • Three awards: a total of seven yards of in-stock fabric, priced at $9.50/yard or less, your choice.  May be continuous yardage or assorted cuts.

The "Lucky Seven" promotion fits nicely with our second planned event.  I just marked the batik categories down by $1.00/yard, for our annual Autumn Batik sale. Click here to check out the selection.  Sorry, no back orders on discounted batiks, as many cannot be reordered. 

Have fun shopping!  Please e-mail if you have questions.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Cabin Award Winners: September 19, 2010

Two winners today, Anita van Hall, and Margie Feramisco. 

You’re both invited to pick out FIVE YARDS of FIVE DOLLAR per yard clearance fabric. Click here to check out the possibilities.

I just sent you both messages,  including codes that allow us to identify you as a winners.  Please include that code with your shipping information, and e-mail Tera at promotions@dakotacabinquilts.com.   She’ll help you redeem your award.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Cabin Award Winners: September 5, 2010

Two winners today, Susan KS, and wjalofs. 

You’re both invited to pick out five patterns from Wesley’s five dollar pattern sale category.  Click here to check out the possibilities.

I just sent you both messages,  including codes that allow us to identify you as a winners.  Please include that code with your shipping information, and e-mail Tera at promotions@dakotacabinquilts.com.   She’ll help you redeem your award.

We’ll be busy vending next weekend at the Hill City Quilt show.  Click here to check out the website for the event.  So, we’ll skip a week on the blog, and announce two Cabin Award Winners on September 19th.

Continuing with our FIVE BUCKS, FIVE BUCKS, clearance event, each of the winners that day will be invited to choose FIVE yards of FIVE dollar per yard clearance cotton.

Some of my favorites:

15995-11 30159-16 392717 282303

As of today, you’ll find all of these beautiful quilting cottons, and more, by clicking here.  Wesley & I just updated the category, and added dozens of new bolts.  With over 250 prints to choose from, there’s something for everyone.

Click here to view the “Back to School Clearance” category, in it’s entirety.

I’ll keep in touch…  I’m headed to our annual retreat at our favorite B & B near Hill City, and plan to get some serious sewing done!