Maxwell Designs Blog: May 2010

Maxwell Designs Wet Bag & Apple Cheeks Giveaway

You asked - I deliver. My last wet bag giveaway was a great success thanks to everyone who entered. Its time to reward you again for your support! This time there is a special guest with us - AppleCheeks™. Here at Maxwell Designs I want to be able to offer you more quality cloth diaper products so I am NOW A RETAILER for AppleCheeks™ so we are starting off this new adventure by offering a combined giveaway.

Ilana has been very generous and we are combining our talents and doing a giveaway for a small wet bag (perfect size for your Maxwell Designs diaper bag!) and a Little Bundles kit on both our blogs!

Thats right there are actually two ways to win.

For those who are familiar with Apple Cheeks you will know they are a Canadian brand proudly designed and manufactured in Montreal, Quebec, Canada New advances in textile technology allow for amazingly trim fitting washable diapers that unstuff by themselves in the wash!. Our diapers fit a larger range of babies than similar products on the market, and stand up better to the rigours of the washing cycle. They are fully customizable and can be used as a diaper cover over our hemp or bamboo inserts, with boosters for added absorbency if so desired, and fleece liners to keep baby's skin dry and rash-free. Alternately, the handy, wide envelope opening allows you the option of placing your absorbency underneath the microfleece lining, wicking moisture away from baby's skin and keeping him feeling nice and dry while still absorbing to the max! So many options in one diapering system!

AppleCheeks™ cloth diapers bring you the ultimate in form and function, combining effective leak control with attractive styling. Imagine a dry bottom that actually looks good! Who knew? Also AppleCheeks™ reusable diapers come with full customer support, so you can invest in your child’s future knowing that they stand behind you.

How do you get your hands on this awesome package? well here goes:

Mandatory entry:

Visit Apple Cheeks web site and let me know what products you are interested in

Additional Entries:
Publicly follow Maxwell Designs and AppleCheeks™ Blogs using Google Friend connect (1 entry per blog)

"like" Maxwell Designs on Facebook (1 entry)

"like" Apple Cheeks on Facebook (1 entry)

Follow both Maxwell Designs and Apple Cheeks on Twitter (2 entries) - make sure to post your entry for each follow - Maxwell Designs =1 Apple Cheeks = 1
Subscribe to my blog in the reader

Go to my website and tell me which Wet Bag you love or would love to have (1 entry)

Purchase any Maxwell Designs product (10 entries)

Pre-order any Apple Cheeks product from Maxwell Designs (10 entries) you can enter multiple times for this one

Blog about this giveaway on your own blog (2 entries) leave a comment telling me where the post is and a link to the post

Take my button and add it to your site or blog (3 entries)
Tweet about this giveaway in your own unique way making sure you use the words "LOVE @maxwelldesigns @AppleCheeksDipe #giveaway #clothdiapers" anywhere in your tweet or you could use this tweet:
"WIN a Wet Bag & Little Bundles Kit from @maxwelldesigns @AppleCheeksDipe http://ow.ly/1SfKH ends 16/06 #giveaway #eco #clothdiapers"
(we love tweets so do it as much as you like - just make sure they are more than 2 hours apart)
Jump up and down and shout "I love a cloth tushie!" (1 entry per day)
Finally VOTE for me for Mom Entrepreneur of the Year Award (1 vote per entry - vote as many times as you like - the more the better!!)

Good Luck
This Giveaway will end on June 16 @ 12 midnight (Pacific time). A random comment will be chosen. The winning comment will be verified at that time, so if you said you follow the blog in your comment and I don't find you in the follow list, we will choose another winner. The winner will be contacted by email the following morning and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours the winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry no exceptions.
OPEN TO ANYONE - However any extra shipping charges to anywhere outside of the Continental U.S or Canada will need to be paid by the winner (this will allow me to keep costs low in order to run more competitions - hope you understand)

Large Wet Bags now in stock

It seems that everyone loves a good wet bag so here are some of my latest products. My large wet bags can fit 8 large prefolds so thats plenty of room for diapers or swim suits or to take things to the beach in - pretty much anything. My small wet bags are the perfect size to fit into your diaper bag whilst out and about too!

Winner of a Maxwell Designs Wet Bag & Essential Oils

First let me say Thank You to everyone who entered, I had no idea it would be so popular. I got some great fabric ideas for new wet bags. I will be adding new wet bags all the time so visit my website to see if your favourite one is there.

CONGRATULATIONS

Winner #283 Heather Aguilar "web"

May 17, 2010 5:08 PM

Heather please contact me within 48 hours to claim your prize.

Let me know in a comment would products you would like seen in future giveaways. Have an awesome day and once again, thank you to everyone who entered, I wish everyone could have won.

New Designs - Organic Cotton Canvas & Hemp

Here are just a few new designs that are now available on my website http://www.maxwelldesigns.ca/ . Popcorn fabric, med size, black hemp $64.95. Autumn Leafs fabric, med size, organic brown cotton $64.95.
Wet Bags - small with snap closure handle $15.95

Maxwell Designs Wet Bag & Essential Oil Giveaway May 2010

Since cloth diapering Shia full time I have found I need a lot more accessories - such as the indispensible Wet Bag. These bags are useful for so many reasons - great for storing and transporting cloth diapers, wet and dirty items, wipes, even taking snacks to the park or pre-school...the list goes on and on.

I decided to add these bags to my line so that you can now match your wet bag to your diaper bag, change pad and sling - or use it on its own. Made from high quality designer fabrics with coordinating inner PUL waterproof material and zipper closure. Keep smells and moisture in whilst looking trendy on the outside.

My current line features a small wet bag (more sizes to follow) which measures 9.5" x 11" - large enough to fit 2/3 large prefold diapers and some wipes, small enough to fit into your diaper bag. There is even a strap for you to attach to your stroller or diaper bag.

To launch my new product I am giving one away to one lucky person - BUT WAIT - you will also receive a bottle of Tea Tree Essential Oils which you can use to freshen your wet bag by applying to the scent tab inside the wet bag.

Here is how to enter:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

Visit my web site to see which fabric you would like to have your wet bag made in - come back and tell me which one in a comment.

Additional entries:

Follow my blog publicly (1 entry)

Follow me on Twitter (1 entry)

Blog about this giveaway on your blog or website (5 entries) leave a comment telling me where the post is and a link to the post

Follow me on Facebook (1 entry)
Let me know what Maxwell Designs products you are most interested in and why (1 entry)

How many words can you make out of the words "Wet Bag" - i.e: bet (you don't need to use all the words) (1 entry per word)

Purchase any product from Maxwell Designs and come back and tell me what you bought (10 entries)

Grab my button for your blog or web site - come back and give me the URL (5 entries)

Subscribe to my blog in the reader

Vote for Maxwell Designs on Top Baby Blogs

Tweet about this giveaway in your own unique way - just make sure to use @maxwelldesigns #giveaway in your tweet (1 entry)

or use this tweet ""I just entered to WIN a WET BAG @maxwelldesigns http://ow.ly/1IRSO #giveaway #clothdiapers #eco #bfcafe #babywearing ends 05/23" (1 entry for each tweet - leaving 2hrs between tweets)

Please make sure you enter your email address on each entry so that I can contact you easily if you win.

GOOD LUCK

Maxwell Designs Wet Bags soon to be available at baby on the hip, Toronto, Canada and Huckleberry Baby Shop, Nanaimo, Canada.

This Giveaway will end on May 23rd @ 12 noon (Pacific time). A random comment will be chosen. The winning comment will be verified at that time, so if you said you follow the blog in your comment and I don't find you in the follow list, we will choose another winner. The winner will be contacted by email the following morning and will have 48 hours to reply with their name and shipping address. If a response is not received within 48 hours the winner will forfeit the prize and a new winner will be selected. Sorry no exceptions.

OPEN TO ANYONE - However any extra shipping charges to anywhere outside of the Continental U.S or Canada will need to be paid by the winner (this will allow me to keep costs low in order to run more competitions - hope you understand)

Winners of Nellies All Natural Laundry Soda

I really wish I could have given this laundry soda to everyone who entered - I love it, but I had to choose only 2 and they are....btw I have no idea why they are blue but the numbers are:

No: 78 Heidi J "I didnt do laundry today as I did it yesterday"

No: 136 little Miss Emmy Lou " http://twitter.com/missemmielou/status/13280351573"

CONGRATULATIONS Ladies, please email me within 48 hours to claim your prize

Watch out for next weeks giveaway - its going to be a fun one!

Home dye update - the results

So I am all done and I am super happy with my new prefolds of many colours. Here is the

'before' photo

'just addng the dye' photo

and the 'final result' photo

Heres one I made to match my 'GroBaby' diaper shell - I made a lilac one to match my other shell too.

I would encourage anyone who has basic prefolds to have some fun with colours - brighten up your babies bum from the inside out.

Maybe I should start selling them at Maxwell Designs?

Home dye update Part 2

So, I had a devil of a time finding 'Soda Ash' in the end I gave up when I found out that it had WARNINGS all over it and that it may cause fumes when using - so I opted for a safer and more readily available product Dylon Cold Dye FIX - and I went dye crazy!! Photos to follow but I now have the following colour of prefolds - Green, Blue, Red and Lilac - they look great and I am very happy with the way they turned out - the green and lilac match my new GroBaby shell covers - an added bonus to home dying, you can match your prefold or cloth to your cover.......I am still in the rinse - wash process so will update you when they are all done.

Hand dying cloth diapers - part 1

I have been using pre-folds for a while now but after seeing some dyed diapers on one of my favourite retailers otterbabies I was inspired to dye my own - I mean how hard could it be? Well not as easy as you would think. I thought I could do the most natural way I knew - with beetroot and blueberries (seperately not together) and set about soaking my pre-washed diapers for a few hours. At first the colour looked great, just what I was looking for, but after asking a very good friend of mine if I was doing it right she told me that vegetable dyes will not hold and will wash out within a few washes - back to the drawing board. Debby forwarded me a great article on dying cloth diapers and I found out I need in order for the dye to stay. So I went on Ebay and promtly bought my dye. I was so excited for it to arrive so that I could add some flare to my cloth diapers.

The dye arrived yesterday and after reading the instructions carefully I realised there was yet another ingredient I needed! I wish the seller on ebay had told me that. I now have to try to find Soda Ash - not an easy thing when you live in a small town with just one hardware store. So I am on the hunt for the alusive soda ash this afternoon -wish me luck. I really want to start the dying process tonight!