Rachel Bustin

Granola, Stretch Cream and a Picture….

As all compers know, there can be times when you go through a very quiet spell with no wins at all. This has happened to me through most of July. August started off better though with a couple of Twitter wins, a facebook win and a WEM (winning email – these are very rare and when you receive one you will be jumping up in the air!).
The picture below shows some lovely packs of granola that I won on Twitter with @lizisgranola The pink apple and cinnamon one is amazing! It’s very crunchy, with soft apple pieces and just enough cinnamon without it being overbearing. I have been taking it to work to have for breakfast with a pot of yogurt drizzled over the top. Perfect for that slow release energy needed during my pregnancy.

I won the Pregnacare vitamins and stretch cream with OK Magazine and they sent me a WEM to let me know I’d won. WEM’s are very exciting and this win has just come at the right time for me. The stretch cream is very useful at the moment as I feel myself growing!
I won the lovely book Snowflake Bay by Donna Kauffman on Facebook from the author herself. It was an international giveaway and arrived with some lovely cards from Virginia. I love looking at international stamps from packages abroad so was chuffed to bits to see this one arrive all the way from Virginia, USA. When I get through my back log of book wins I am sure you will see a review up of this on my blog and Goodreads. 
           
This beautiful framed artwork I won with @StudioCanalUK on Twitter is one of my most treasured competition wins. Every now and again I love to win things for my house and this is one of those special ones that will take pride of place on my wall.
           
I love to her about other people’s competition wins so feel free to share your stories. I think it gives everyone determination to keep on entering.
Rachel xx

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Monthly Wins: May

Well that time has come around again to give you my list of competition wins from last month. May has been one of my quietest months for a while, but then I haven’t entered as many as normal due to my blogging every day in May challenge #BEDM, taking up more time than usual. I am as always very grateful for the competition wins that I have won.
This month I have had 11 competition wins, 9 of them from Twitter competitions with 1 from a blog comp and the other from a Facebook one. I must admit nearly all my wins are from Twitter as they are so quick and easy to enter especially when I’m on my lunch break at work. 

  • A  couple of boxes of Asparagus

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My Essential Blogging Stationery

I am a huge stationery addict, and have been since I was very little. I was over the moon when I won this mug during national stationery week on Facebook. Its perfect.
I cannot pass up the aisle’s with all the pens, notebooks and other essentials in supermarkets. I love that they seem to change their ranges all the time as well. Then of  course you can pick up discontinued lines at a fraction of the original cost! Bargain!
              I'm a Stationery Addict
This is a collection of some of my blogging stationery essentials. My sister always finds me weird and wacky pens from her travels which she always brings home. I have pens from Seattle, Utah, Arizona, and from all over Canada. I get so excited to receive pens, and you can always find a free pen anywhere. When I was little I used to go into Barclay’s and pick up the free pens with all the different phrases on.
                  Blogging stationery
My Blogging essentials include, post-its, notepads, pens, highlighters, pencils, planners, and diaries. Also including a mug of hot chocolate and some biscuits although they are not stationery but essential!
What is on your blogging essential stationery list? Do you have a favouite pen?
 Thanks for stopping by.
 
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Where to Find Free Samples

I love to find and receive free samples. It’s a great new way of trying new products that are coming out. I also save them to make little gift bags up at christmas for my sisters.

                      Lots of free samples I have collected - Rachel Bustin
Over the past few months I have recieved many free samples and small wins through the post, so today I thought I would take a piccy of the ones I have left that haven’t been eaten, drank, given away, planted or used in some other way!
The Coco Pops porridge sample only arrived a few days ago so I am looking forward to that one, as I’m a major chocoholic! I found this sample giveaway on Facebook. I normally find it very hard to win anything on there, I believe it’s because the volume of traffic on there entering competitions nowadays has grown tenfold. A few years back the chances of winning a competiton was relatively good! It just gives me more determination to try harder! My only other win from Facebook this year was back in January when I was a runner up in a Roots crisps competition, they were yummy!
Finding Free Samples
  •  Visiting your local department stores for health, beauty and makeup samples. If like me you don’t always wear makeup they are practically throwing them at you!
  • There are lots of freebie websites out there, so if you sign up, they send you emails each day with links to sample giveaways.
  • Some magazines giveaway new trial size products so keep an eye out when you go shopping!
  • With the increase of social media users nowadays lots of companies are giving away 100’s of samples to advertise their products. Facebook and Twitter are the best ones for this!

Most of the other samples are plant seeds, which for a huge gardening enthusiast like me are the best post arrivals ever! All the little white packets are herb seeds so I thought I would grow a little herb garden in some pots on my patio.

I would love to hear your thoughts on which are the best freebies you have ever recieved?
rachelbustin.com

 

Twitter wins, books and the arrival of free samples!

                         
This is one weeks worth of wins and free samples. The door handles and letter box were from a Twitter competition with Yale on #FreebieFriday, the best day of the week for Twitter competitions! which I will say more about later on in the week! The Tefal frying pan was also from a Twitter competition and it arrived with a pack of sausages and some celery! this was from @love_thecrunch. I honestly didn’t expect the sausages and celery I thought the competition was for the frying pan, so it was an unexpected lovely surprise!
The mini bottle of baileys and the tiny tube of splash concentrated drink were free samples. I love to sign up for free samples as its a great way of trying new products without the cost. A great tip is to save them up for little stocking fillers and pop them all in a little gift bag for Christmas for the family. The past few days I have had a green tea teabag through the post box from PG Tips, which made a lovely cuppa after all that painting and decorating fiasco! A couple of Lacoste aftershave samples have arrived as well, and I know I only entered for one sample so that’s twice the luck! 
I find the free sample websites online through various links, through postings on Facebook and Twitter. I might occasionally have an email sent by company sent asking if I would like to try one of their free samples and sometimes they ask for a review in return. 
The three books in the photo were more of my Goodreads wins. Entering the competitions to win free books from Goodreads are my favourite ones. I love to help out debut authors with their new books in posting reviews on Goodreads. There are also chances to read proof copies of new books before they are even published! For a booklover like me this is so much fun! If you are lucky the books are often signed by the authors and can include bookmarks, postcards and I have even had a pen!
Rachel xx