Thursday 19 December 2013

Why I'm going to be quiet for a while....

Meet the latest addition to the family - Luna


Luna was born on December 18th, three weeks early and weighing a healthy 2.7kg. So I'm about to fly over to France, where my daughter and son in law live,  to poke my nose in and be a bossy mother in law help out while they settle in to life as a family. I don't yet know how long I'll be gone.

Luna is going to be living in France, born to one English parent and one Panamanian. So for now....

Goodbye
Adios
Au Revoir
 
And I'll see you all again in 2014.

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Win a goody bag by voting for your favourite TV ad!

Dowlis are giving away a goody bag of £65 worth of branded merchandise. To enter, all you need to do is pick your favourite Christmas TV ad from the selection on their site - and you can watch them all again if you need help in deciding.

Just visit the competition page and use the Rafflecopter form to tell them your favourite - after you've done that you can boost your entry numbers in the usual Rafflecopterish ways.

But hurry, the competition closes at mid-day on December 20th.

Win a bundle of Oxo kitchen accessories.

Lavender and Lovage is giving away a bundle of Oxo Good grips kitchen accessories - a mandolin slicer, a digital thermometer and a set of measuring spoons.

There look excellent, really practical and hard wearing. I have quite a few Oxo products in my kitchen, some of which have been in regular use for many years, and I wouldn't change them for any other kind.

For a chance to win these products,  visit the competition page and complete the Rafflecopter form. The competition closes on February 9th, but if you want to improve your odds you can have daily entries for some of the tasks, so why not head over there NOW and get your first entries in!

Tuesday 17 December 2013

Win a signed tyre and a set of tyres for your bike

Dunlop and Bike Social are giving you the chance to win the actual rear tyre as used by John McGuinness during laps 1 and 2 of his Senior TT win at the Isle of Man 2013, signed by the man himself.  What’s more, the winner will also have a brand new set of Dunlop tyres for their bike!
 


Five runners-up will also win a new set of Dunlop tyres for their bike.

To be in with a chance of winning all you need to do is create and verify a free Bike Social profile between 12.01am Tuesday 17th December 2013 and 9pm on Tuesday 21st January 2014.
 
To read more about the competition and find out how to create your profile (and how to enter if you already have one) visit the Bennetts website.

Win a stunning cuff bracelet


Nude Jewellery are running a competition to win a Brown Rayskin Cuff Bracelet worth RRP £349.00

Enter at  http://www.nudejewellery.co.uk/top-5-gifts.html

The competition closes on January 6th

Win a gorgeous pair of earrings

Pink Tickle is running a competition to win a pair of Radiance with Swavorski Crystal Marquise Drop earrings.

Enter at http://www.pinktickle.co.uk/mens-christmas-buying-guide-to-lingerie/  but hurry! The competition closes at mid-day on December 19th.

Win a £100 gift card with Light Bulbs Direct

Here's an interesting competition which will appeal to my crafting friends as well as my comping ones.

Light Bulbs Direct are looking for ideas for ways to use old and dud light bulbs to create Christmas decorations such as garlands and wreaths, and they'd like YOU to share your ideas.

You'll need a blog to enter - create your decoration and then blog about it and submit the details to them  and you could be in with a chance of winning a first prize of a £100 gift card, with second and third prizes of £50 and £25 cards.

You can read the full instructions here - do please read them carefully before starting work on your creation. The closing date is 12.00am on December 26th.

And since I haven't got a decoration made out of light bulbs to share with you, here's another home made decoration.




Win £500 of menswear with Brook Taverner!

Brook Taverner - Win £500 Worth of Menswear!
 
Brook Taverner is offering you chance to win a fabulous prize, simply by answering the question below.
 
Question: How much are returns at Brook Taverner?
 
Answer:  B. Free - so you can try on at home and send back what you do not like
 
 
Restrictions: Competition open for UK residents only, one entry per person.
 
Closing date: 31 December, 2013
 
 
About Brook Taverner
Since 1912, Brook Taverner has been a leading name in classic men's tailoring. Their beautifully tailored suits, jackets, mens trousers and overcoats are produced using premium cloths from sources around the world. They offer FREE returns, FREE hemming and FREE alterations with every purchase.

Friday 13 December 2013

Win a hamper with Blue Kitchen Bakes

Blue Kitchen Bakes is giving away a gorgeous Serenata  "Let it Snow" hamper worth £69.99

To enter, visit the competition page and complete the Rafflecopter form to get up to 11 entries - even more if you tweet daily.

The closing date is December 27th

Win a luxury weekend away in Bristol with Alderman Apartments

Win a weekend in Bristol and live in the lap of luxury, with Alderman Apartments!
 
Bristol's best serviced apartment accomodations are offering you and one lucky partner the chance to live it up in Bristol for the weekend.
 
You can choose one of three amazing prizes, including:
 
An incredible meal at the Harbourside's sustainable Bordeaux Quay Restaurant
Relax with an Indulge Spa Day for 2 at the Lido Bristol plus a one hour spa treatment of your choice.
Explore Brunel's incredible SS Great Britian, including a 2 year-long unlimited return tickets
 
How to Enter
 
To enter all you have to do is like their Facebook page and choose your prefered experience!
 
The closing date is January 10th.
 

Win a set of treatments from the Harley Medical Group

The Harley Medical Group Wonder Wishlist Facebook Competition
 
 
Win one of two  treatment sets from a range of tailored options. There's a lot to choose from - and each winner gets one course of treatments for themselves and one for a loved one.
 
The competition closes on December 23rd.

Thursday 12 December 2013

Win a prize with your festive #dramaface

Freesat are giving you a chance to win one of two prizes of all the essentials for a cosy night in including:
 
·       Freesat HD with Freetime boxes (including installation)
·       Cosy onesies
·       Hampers of delicious festive foods and drink!
 
Find out all the details at http://dramaface.freesat.co.uk/christmas/ 
 
The competition closes on December 20th.
 

Win a pair of Hotter shoes

Life, Ninja Killer Cat and Everything Else is giving away a pair of Hotter shoes. To enter, visit the competition page and complete the Rafflecopter form. The competition closes on December 30th.

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Two ways to win with Ministry of Comps

Ministry of Comps is looking to reach 500 followers on Twitter,  and when they do, two lucky followers get an mp3 baseball cap and 16 VIP paintball tickets and ten will get 16 tickets. To enter, follow them on Twitter and retweet one of their competitions tweets.  I'm not going to embed a tweet here for you today because if you go to their Twitter page to do it, you may be lucky enough to visit on one of the days when they are giving bonus prizes of tickets or caps. Not only that, but they retweet lots of other competitions, so if you are looking out for competitions to enter on Twitter, it's well worth following them and visiting their page.

On top of that, if you visit their website you can also enter a weekly competition with a prize of up to 32 paintballing passes. The competition closes every Thursday.

Win a Leica digital camera with Enterprise UK Rent A Car

To celebrate the launch of Enterprise UK Rent A Car's online magazine Open Road, they are giving away an amazing Leica camera prize bundle, including a Leica X2 digital camera. To be in with a chance of winning, just like their page and enter your details.
 
 
Closing December 13th

December's Right Venues competition

The prize for December is a one night stay for two, with B&B at Rocco Forte Balmoral Hotel (Sunday to Thursday) combined with a champagne private tour on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.
 Enter on the competition page, writing "none" in the Company Name and Job Title fields if necessary. They are very happy to accept your entry even if you don't represent a company.

Closing 31st December

December's Ask Her Friends competition

As you probably already know, as well as their one-off competitions, Ask Her Friends has a regular monthly competition where a group of bloggers pick their favourite products from the site, and entrants have to choose their favourite collection.

This month there is a Christmas gift theme, and as well as being able to enter the competition you will get some great ideas for gifts and stocking fillers - if anyone wants to treat me to a Grumpy Cat cushion, for instance, you know where to find it!

The prize, as usual, is £50 to spend on the site, and you can enter in lots of different ways using the Rafflecopter form on the post.

The competition closes on December 20th.

Win a £100 Amazon voucher or one of 20 £20 vouchers with Its Appt

Simply download the Its Appt app for FREE on Android or iOS register, and then fill out their form on their Facebook page to be in with a chance of winning.
 
To be in with a chance of winning simply follow these 3 easy steps
 
Step 1
 
Download the Its Appt app for FREE on Android (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.lothianious.itsappt&hl=en_GB)  or iOS (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/its-appt/id625215746) and register your details.
 
Step 2
 
Visit their Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ItsAppt/app_567120506699217 ) and fill out your details on their competition page to confirm that you've downloaded the app.
 
Step 3
 
Sit back and relax!
 
Its Appt is a new FREE app this holiday season that helps you buy the right gift for your friends and family. Use the find friends feature to connect with others and find out what gifts they’d like for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries or any occasion. You can flag and mark items as purchased, & let your friends and family know when you’ve received their gifts.
 
RULES: Free to enter and open to residents of the UK only, aged 16 and over. Closing at mid-day on January 2nd.

Win a Best of British baking course

Baking is fashionable. Very fashionable. So how would you like to spend a day at Braxted Park in Chelmsford, where you will learn to make these delicious British classics:
  • Lemon Drizzle Cake
  • Bakewell Tart
  • Chelsea Buns
  • Toffee Apple Cakes
  • Fruit Scones
To enter, all you need to do is visit the Braxted Park Cookery School's Facebook page, Like it and share this photo.

One name will be drawn at random from those who has both "shared" the post and "liked" The Cookery School at Braxted Park Facebook page. The closing date of the competition is 16th December 2013 at midnight and the winner will be drawn on 17th December and notified before 20th December 2013. The Best of British Baking course will be held on 4th February 2014 at The Cookery School at Braxted Park, Essex.


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Tuesday 10 December 2013

Tweet to win a Tom Tom XL

Enterprise Rent-A-Car UK is currently hosting a Twitter competition that offers the chance to win a TomTom XL. Just Follow & RT. Competition ends this Thursday (12/12/2013)

Here is the tweet - if you are logged in to Twitter you can follow them and retweet from here:


Monday 9 December 2013

Two new competitions from Kloo

Kloo Language Games and Read With Kloo each have a new competition on their Facebook pages. Both competitions close in the early hours of the morning on December 15th.

To enter the giveaways all you have to do is Like the  page and then click the giveaway tab and answer a really simple question about yourself and enter your email address.
The first one is on the KLOO Language Games page and the link to the giveaway is -https://www.facebook.com/KLOOGAME/app_289264554441128  The prize is a set of 'Learn To Speak Spanish' KLOO game cards. Within seconds you can be making grammatically correct Spanish sentences using the colour coded KLOO cards and as you play the games you will be learning new Spanish vocab.
The second one is on the Read With KLOO page and the link to the giveaway is -https://www.facebook.com/ReadWithKLOO/app_289264554441128  . The prize is our KLOO 'Catch the Bug' Reading game for children aged 3 +. It is a game that allows children to form their own (English) sentences using the colour coded KLOO cards and when they read the words correctly they will win KLOO animal cards that form a puzzle picture that allows them to 'Catch the Reading Bug'.

Win a pack of Moo business cards

Moo business cards are great - they are easy to design and order and handy to carry around. Don't think you have to have a business to need business cards - if you have a blog they are great too. In fact my husband uses Moo cards to spread the word about his blog. I could imagine popping one into each of the cello display bags I use for the hand made cards I donate to charity. I'm sure you could think of many other uses (and as a comper, it always pays to have some cards handy for those "drop your card in the bowl to win a meal" affairs so many restaurants have).

 Tales of pigling bland has three sets of 50 to give away. You can  enter by commenting on their blog post  and/or by tweeting the message they suggest.  You may have one commenting entry in total and one tweeting entry every day.

The competition closes on January 15th.

Sunday 8 December 2013

What to do when a prize doesn't arrive - and how to prove you won.

About eighteen months ago, I blogged about what to do when  a prize doesn't arrive. It's very disappointing when you are eagerly awaiting something and it fails to turn up.

Most of what I wrote before still applies, so I'm not going to write it all out again - just follow the link and read my advice.

However the way of contacting the Institute of Promotional Marketing has changed - they now have a simple form to fill in on their site. You can use this form if you find a badly run competition, too, even if you aren't a winner. And you no longer need to worry about whether to also contact the Advertising Standards Authority - the IPM will do so on your behalf.

Of course, it always helps if you can prove that you are a winner! That means making sure you keep all correspondence about your win. And the most important thing is to make sure you always keep proof that you have won. (Not just in the fear that something may go wrong - you might want to thank the promoter, share the news with your friends or brighten up a losing streak by looking back over past wins)
  • If you get a letter KEEP IT. If there is no return address on the letter, check to see if there is one on the envelope - often printed on the back flap.
  • If you get an email, SAVE IT somewhere it won't be deleted. I move all my winning emails into a special folder I keep just for that purpose, and I never delete them until I have received my prize, made sure all is well with it and thanked the promoter.
  • If you get a text message STORE IT somewhere it can't be deleted, either on your phone or by emailing it to yourself.
  • If you get a phone call TAKE THE CALLER'S NAME AND NUMBER, Simply dialling 1471 after the call doesn't always help  - the call may be from a withheld number or may be the switchboard of a large organisation where they won't know who called you.
  • If you get an online notification, for instance a message on Facebook or Twitter, or a pop-up on a website to say you have won an instant prize, TAKE A SCREEN GRAB. You'll need to find out how to do this on the device you are using. On a PC hit the PrtScr key, which saves it into your computer's memory, then paste it into a document where you can save it. I generally save it into a Word document, setting the page to Landscape and dragging the image out to fill the page. I choose Word because it's so easy to email to people but you could use an image editing programme - anywhere you can store it safely. On an iPad, hold the sleep/wake button down while briefly pressing the Home button. This takes a photo which it will save into your photo stream - I generally then email it to myself so I can store it with my winning emails.
There will inevitably be times when you can't get hold of any contact details at all. In that case try to find the original details of the competition where there may well be some contact details. Don't forget that if you were a Grape Vine subscriber at September 1st, I still have details (where they are still valid) of every competition I covered in the magazine, and save them until 12 months after the closing date.

A couple of tips that might help you get your prize:
  • Don't be aggressive. Being polite pays, even if the person you are in discussions with doesn't do the same! Most of the time there will have been a genuine glitch in the system or loss in the post, so don't immediately assume you were never going to get the prize.
  • Don't be impatient. It can take 4-6 weeks from notification to a prize arriving. The prizes are not usually sitting waiting to be sent out; there are lots of links in the chain and people have to notify others, who have to pass a message on to others, and so on. This is especially the case with most competitions on blogs. The blogger herself (and it seems to be far more often a "her" than a "him") will never see the prize - she has to pass your details on to a PT, who is dealing with a promotions agency, who is dealing with the business providing the prize. It can take AGES, and unfortunately if anyone in the chain lets the blogger down,  they don't have the leverage that a big business would have in order to persuade the promoter to give you your prize.

Saturday 7 December 2013

Win a 6 piece knife set

There's a new competition at Belleau Kitchen - as well as a gloriously sinful recipe for chocolate mincemeat sticky buns!

The prize is a set of colourful kitchen knives in a clear acrylic block


To enter, visit the blog post and enter using the Rafflecopter widget.

You have until December 10th  (well, Rafflecopter being what it is, the early hours of the 11th) to enter.

Friday 6 December 2013

Win cracking choclolate with Kavey Eats

The latest cracker of a competition from Kavey Eats is for this gorgeous Rather Large Christmas Cracker from Hotel Chocolat.




To enter, simply head over to the competition page  and follow the instructions -  and some of you will be pleased to know that there is no Rafflecopter involved!

The competition closes on December 13th.

Another great competition from Ask Her Friends

Ask Her friends are really spoiling us at the moment - they have just launched yet another competition, this time for a Beara Beara backpack.


Head over to the competition page and enter using the Rafflecopter widget. The closing date is December 13th at 5pm.

What’s more, you can get 10% off any purchase of Beara Beara at AskHerFriends with the code BEARA10, up to 20 December 2013.

A quick way to unilke Facebook pages.

You can like 5,000 pages on Facebook - that's a LOT of pages!

However if you are a comper, you may well have found that the current plethora of Advent competitions has brought you close to your limit. Even if you like far fewer than that, it's almost impossible to keep up with every post on every page unless you have a regular pruning session.

However it's very difficult to find and unlike pages quickly. You can go to your profile page, scroll down to the Likes on the left click on the word Likes and then when they open across the screen, select "Other Likes" from the drop down menu under "More" and then go through them one by one, unliking those that no longer appeal to you by hovering over the top right hand corner of each and selecting "unlike". But if you like thousands of pages, that will take a l-o-n-g time.

Most people prefer to use the app Unlike.it but it can be a little temperamental, so if it isn't working for you there is another very quick and easy way that Facebook doesn't tell us about.

Go to any page on Facebook (that's a business page, not a personal timeline) and look up at the top right hand corner. You will see a blue "create page" button.


Now if you've never wanted to create a page, you've probably never thought of clicking on it - but just try it now. Go on, head over to the Grapevine page and give it a try! (Don't worry, it'll open in a new window so you won't lose your place)

Now on the top right of the screen you will see two buttons, "Pages I like" and "Pages I admin". Click on "Pages I like" and your likes list appears, with your most recent likes at the top. It's very easy to scroll down the list and hover over each "liked" button changing it to "unlike" - but don't get trigger happy and unlike ones where the competition is still running!

When I tried it, I couldn't get it to scroll down as far as my oldest likes, so I presume there is some kind of limit on how many is shows, but nevertheless it's a useful tool and anything that saves time at this hectic time of year has to be welcome!

Thursday 5 December 2013

Win dinner for four at Thistle Marble Arch.

Win a three course dinner for four at Thistle Marble Arch. To enter, visit this link -http://www.thistlechristmas.com/christmas-countdown/. Find the present on the interactive map, hover over it to reveal a message, follow @ThistleHotels and tweet them the message to enter.
 
Closing date is 10/12/2013

Twelve Days of Christmas competitons at Breakthrough

The lovely blog Breakthrough is having a Twelve Days of Christmas event. You'll find the blog here  - a new competition is being added every day until December 12th, and they all close on the 13th, so there's still time to go back and enter those you've missed seeing.

The competitions and prizes so far are:

December 1st - a £50 Experience Days voucher

December 2nd - Raw Chocolate baking ingredients

December 3rd - Automatic Writing

December 4th - two fiction books

December 5th - some Feel Good games

Don't forget to check the home page every day to see what the latest competition is!



Wednesday 4 December 2013

Quick! Enter now to win a Kindle Fire HD

How are you getting on with the Advent competitions? I've already had a few small wins and one lovely prize of a Kindle Fire, so I'm very happy!

If you'd like to win a Kindle Fire of your own, UK Enterprise is running a competition on Twitter. You simply need to follow them and reply to their tweet, telling them what your dream winter escape would be. But hurry, the competition closes on December 5th.


Coleus Chimes: Competition: Christmas Giveaway £15.00 Amazon Voucher

Coleus Chimes: Competition: Christmas Giveaway £15.00 Amazon Voucher

Win a 5* holiday to Malta with Visit Malta's Advent Calendar

Win a 5* Holiday & Daily prizes worth £20,000!
 
Want to get your hands on the best advent calendar of the year?
 
Between the 1st – 24th December Visit Malta are giving you the chance to win a different prize each day including 18 holidays & mini-breaks, £300 worth of Crew Clothing Vouchers, 20 pairs of Crocs boots, 5 Trunkis, 5 Digital Cameras + MORE!
 
 
Click the link to like the Visit Malta Facebook page & click on today’s advent calendar box, enter your details & be sure to come back every day for more chances to win
 
 

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Win a silver necklace

The latest lovely competition from The Diary of a Jewellery Lover offers a prize of a very pretty silver necklace. To enter, visit the competition page and complete the Rafflecopter form. The competition closes on December 31st.

You can check the current list of all the great competitions being run by The Diary of a Jewellery Lover here. Make sure you haven't missed any!

Monday 2 December 2013

Win winter teas with Blue Kitchen Bakes

The latest competition at Blue Kitchen Bakes is for a set of three winter teas from Teapigs. The winner will get a set of three teas - chai tea, chocolate flake tea and spiced winter red tea.

To enter, head over to the competition page and enter through the Rafflecopter widget.

The competition closes on December 14th.

Sunday 1 December 2013

Another Advent - this time from Chez Maximka

Have you been trying to keep up with the Advent and 12 Days of Christmas competitions today? It's been a frenzy hasn't it? I don't think I've ever seen so many appear on the first of the month!

So it's great to find one that gives you a little time to enter. Enter the lovely Galina at Chez Maximka who is giving you a whole 12 days in which to enter, with more of the prize being revealed each day.  Pop over to December 1st's blog post to see how to enter  then check back each day to read more and get extra entries.  You have until December 13th (ie midnight on the 12th) to enter.

The Grape Vine November Winners List

Here are the former Grape Vine readers who have reported wins worth £500 or more during November. Their names will go into the draw with all the others from the year, after the final closing date of December 31st.

Well done to all the winners!


Ursula McDermott      holiday to Lucerne – Travel Switzerland
Jan Beal                      Trip to Frankfurt by train for Skyscraper Festival inc Sheraton Club Lounge accommodation - Facebook - £1,000 approx
Jan Beal                      Mystery prize from Metro - iPad4, Samsung Galaxy Camera, £300 Love to Shop vouchers and a LFW Rodial goody bag etc - £1500  Facebook

Louise Rothwell           Ice Hotel holiday – The Times

A prize a day for 12 days

This year there seem to be more Advent competitions around than ever - and there are also lots of "Twelve Days of Christmas" competitions, starting on various dates in December. One super one is from Kelly Martin Speaks, where there are gorgeous goodies on offer every day from December 1st to 12th, with each one running for a couple of weeks so that the final competition closes on Christmas Day.

To enter, visit the blog and click on the "12 Days of Christmas" tab at the top, where you will be able to see which competitions are already open and which you can still look forward to.

Entry is by using the "Gleam" app - I think those of you who find Rafflecopter a bit daunting will find Gleam much easier, especially when it comes to the tweeting bit, which I know from running competitions myself, about 1 in 4 people get wrong when using Rafflecopter. Gleam does it all for you so you don't have to go tracking down URLs and pasting them in!

And since it's almost Christmas, here's a picture of one of my hand made Christmas cards.


Saturday 30 November 2013

Win a bumper selection of chocolates

Lighting Superstore is giving away a huge bundle of Cadbury's chocolates in their latest competition. Runners up will get £10 and £5, respectively, off their next orders.

They've come up with a novel task - you need to guess how many light bulbs they have in their showroom. They've provided lots of clues to help you with your guess.

Enter on their blog, putting your answer into the space in the Rafflecopter, after which you can get extra entries for liking, following and tweeting.

The competition closes on January 5th.

Thursday 28 November 2013

Win a Beautifuyl Batik Lined Satchel

The latest competition from Ask Her Friends is to win this gorgeous satchel


Isn't it great?

For a chance to win it, pop over to their competition page and complete some or all of the tasks in the Rafflecopter gadget.

The closing date is December 10th.

And if you don't win, you can save 10% on any Flights of Nancy item from Ask Her Friends by using the code FON10 at the checkout.

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Another delicious competition from Kavey Eats

I'm particularly fond of the competitions on Kavey Eats, partly because they are always food related and partly because I recently won a lovely hamper of pickles from one, so I'm delighted to bring you news of her latest one, with a prize of three drums of Betty's Chocolate Mendiants.


photo reproduced with permission from Kavita Favelle

Don't they look delicious? To enter, just head over to the competition page and tell her what toppings you would like to see on a mendiant. You can get extra entries for tweeting and for liking the Facebook page. And Rafflecopter haters (why???) please note, there is no Rafflecopter involved!

The competition closes on December 6th. 

Tuesday 26 November 2013

Give yourself an Advent-age!

It's almost December 1st. For most people, that means a shopping frenzy, checking that you have enough Paxo and tinsel, testing  the fairy lights and writer's cramp from addressing Christmas card envelopes.

For us compers though, it's a different kind of frenzy - the frenzy of Advent calendar competitions. The lure of all those daily prizes has us comping in every free minute, and frantically checking the web to make sure we've not missed any.

This year is going to be more of a frenzy than ever, as there will be so many different ways to enter. Web sites, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, Pinterest, Google +, maybe even You Tube, they're going to be all over the place. I wouldn't be surprised to find some that are exclusive to apps on your smart phone or tablet too - if not this year, then next.

Lists of advent competitions crop up on all the well known comping sites and forums, but if you try to follow ALL the lists you'll get exhausted and confused, as many competitions will appear on all of them. I suggest either sticking to just one list, or better still creating a list of your own and using that.

I have a folder in my bookmarks called "Advents 2013" and I will save each one that I plan to enter into that folder, so all the links are ready and waiting in it for me to visit every day. And after the New Year, instead of deleting the folder I can archive it and look at it next year, as many companies are bound to be running them again next year.

I'm not going to do a comprehensive list here, but I have already spotted quite a few places that are going to be having Advent competitions. Here are the links - because I'm writing this in November, they may not go to the actual calendar page as not all of them will go live until the start of December, and I can't guarantee they'll all actually appear!

(Note - usually when I list competitions on here, I have been asked to do so by the promoter so I can get back to them with queries. However these are just what I've found by googling or reading press releases, so if you have a query you'll need to contact the site itself)

Christmas Competitions  a prize a day for 12 days, starting Dec 12

Babymel

BigJigs Toys

Danfoss (I know this one is popular with compers but actually it is intended for plumbing and heating installers)

The Spirit Cellar I don't know much about this but it looks as if the prizes will be gin

Gourmet Burger Kitchen I can't remember what rumour made me add this to my list, we'll just have to wait and see what happens......

Haggis Hunt not really an Advent, as it runs from St Andrew's day to Burns Night. I'm sure that, like me, every year you say "I'm not doing that Haggis Hunt ever again!" and by the first weekend in December you are peering out anxiously over Loch Lomond and telling your nearest and dearest about the weather in Inverness.

Discovery Foods

Little Stuff

Kiddy Charts

Storksak 12 Days of Christmas starts Dec 01 

Superbreak 12 Days of Christmas starts Dec 02

Pour Madame

Weber Grills

Your Dog

Lenze

Manchester Arndale Centre

Bar Chick

Athletics Weekly

Ents 24  ALREADY STARTED!  opened Nov 25

Today's Golfer

RGB building supplies  aimed at professional builders. Runs from Dec 09-20

Q Hotels

Abbot Fox

Game  draw which you  are entered into automatically if you buy a product from their Advent Calendar page

Butlins

Puma Hotels

South Bank London

Rocks Off  definitely ADULTS ONLY!!!!!

UK Campsite

Visit Blackpool  (I get a site security error warning when I visit this site)

London Designer Outlet

Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham  starts Dec 02

Ragdale Hall

Sheridan & Co

Total Merchandise

Under the Christmas Tree runs Dec 06-17 

WKD drinks - I think this will either be on this rather unlikely looking Twitter profile or on their Facebook page

Aerial Direct

Do please feel free to add these to your own lists or those on sites or forums you belong to!


















 



Win a week's supply of disposable nappies

It's the first time that Emma, over at Life as it Is, has ever run a competition so I hope you'll give her your support, especially all you parents and grandparents, because the prize is a week's supply of Naty eco disposable nappies.

To enter, pop over to her blog and tell her, in a comment, why you would like to win.

But hurry, the competition  closes on December 2nd.

Monday 25 November 2013

Win Chicco Happiness bilingual toys in time for Christmas

Here's a lovely competition if you have young children to buy for this Christmas.  Cate on her 'Me add three' blog is giving away Chicco Happiness bilingual (French and English) toys.  There are two prizes: first prize is a Count with Me Bear and a Talking Dragon.  Second prize is an interactive carpenter's workbench. 

As blog competitions are typically low entry and with two prizes up for grabs you have a great chance of winning.

Entry is via a Rafflecopter widget on the blog and the competition closes on 10th December.  Prizes will be delivered in time for Christmas.

http://meaddthree.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/win-chicco-happiness-bilingual-toys.html

Win lovely prizes just in time for Christmas!

Ring Automotive are running a competition on their Facebook page  where you can win an iPad, Xbox, iPod or Xenon bulbs - it closes on December 22nd,  just in time for Christmas.

It's a driving game with the prizes going to the highest scorers, but if, like me, you are bad at games you'll be pleased to know that there are  prizes to be won randomly too, just for playing.

And if you ARE good at games but are worried that you might get a genuine high score yet  be beaten by a cheat who has hacked in and faked their score, you'll be very pleased to know that they have already thought about this and they have several mechanisms in place to identify and disqualify cheats - for instance they will be able to actually see the laps driven by those who have the fastest times to make sure their car finishes the race in the correct time; if it disappears or the time doesn't add up it means they can disqualify them

How to spread the word about your competition

I know that most of you who are reading this love to ENTER competitions, but some of you, especially those with a blog, love to RUN them too.

And isn't it disheartening when you are running a competition and hardly anybody enters? You can draw attention to it by tweeting about it and posting on Facebook, and a tip here is to use hashtags like #win , #prize, #competition and #giveaway so that people who are not your followers (yet!) but are actively searching for competitions to enter will spot it. If you are using an app like Rafflecopter or Gleam that includes options for Facebook sharing and tweeting, these will also help to attract people who may not have heard about the competition.

But the best way to reach people is to use the sites and forums used by compers, often on a daily basis. This very blog is one of them - you can get your competition listed here by following the link at the top of the page.

The Money Saving Expert forum is a very popular place to find competitions, but anyone running one of their own isn't allowed to list it, it has to be listed by somebody else. Simply asking on Facebook or Twitter if any MSE-er will list it is almost certain to find you an obliging member. There are lots of other  comping forums too, some public and some private, so a similar request for "any comping forum" may well help.

I'm always happy to list competitions, with a few exceptions - for details see the "How to get your competition listed" page.

But there are lots more places you can either post the details of your competition or submit them to be posted by the site. Here are some to try

Loquax - you now need to register with the forum in order to post, but they are happy for you to post your own competitions

The Prize Finder

Competitors Companion (no relation to the magazine that used to go by the same name!) - the "Add your competition" link is at the bottom of the page

UK Competitions

UK Wins

Competition  Hunter

Also there are now several blogs that have competition links, where you can submit to a  page that is updated weekly or monthly. Some you could consider are

Super Lucky  - you will find the current link up pages listed towards the top of the right hand column

Emma in Bromley  - Emma has taken over Prizes for Parents from my daughter Emma who used to host it at Mellow Mummy. You'll find the current link-up page by going to the competitions tab and looking for the Prizes for Parents link.

Julie's Notebook - details of how to join in are in the #WinningWeekends tab, and you'll need to look through recent posts to find the current link up page.

I'm sure there are many more sites and blogs out there that list competitions, but I hope that these will help you to spread the word about your competition or, if you are simply looking for more competitions to enter, help you to find something new.

Sunday 24 November 2013

Some competitons to cheer up a gloomy Sunday

What a horrible grey, gloomy day it is today. And if you're an English cricket or Rugby fan you'll probably be feeling even greyer and gloomier.

So how about trying to win something - wouldn't that cheer you up?

Here are three competitions you can enter - all use a simple Rafflecopter widget - and maybe the thought that you might have a surprise to look forward to will make your day feel brighter.

The Diary of a Jewellery Lover is giving away a hip flask. Enter here Closing December 15th

They are also giving away a beach radio - it's sand and water resistant and to me it looks as if it has a rather cute face! Enter here Closing December 13th

And Mummy Barrow has three prizes of a set of 500 business cards to be won. Enter here Closing November 29th.

And if all that hasn't brightened your day, here's a cute cat photo for you!

Friday 22 November 2013

Win one of 10 hampers of cereals

Conservation Grade have 10  hampers of Jordans breakfast cereals to give away. To enter, head over to their competition page and use the Rafflecopter form to answer the question. The competition closes on December 4th.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

The Shutterly Fabulous Winter Window Dressing competition

Here is a great competition to enter if you have a blog - Shutterly Fabulous and Pedlars have got together to offer a first prize of a 20 piece tableware set, a second prize of a wall clock and a third prize of a notebook.

To enter you need to create a Christmas window display in your home or office and then blog about it. You then send in a link to your post by Twitter or Facebook.

Read more about the competition, which closes on December 8th, on the Shutterly Fabulous competition page.

Win a LION!!!

Well, a lion adoption!

Great Experiences are giving away a super prize - a £100 donation to the WWF  (that's the World Wildlife Fund and nothing to do with wrestlers) in the winner's name, enabling them to adopt a lion and receive a lion adoption pack. The winner will also receive a pair of tickets to see "The Lion King" at the Lyceum Theatre in London and an original newspaper of their choice.

To enter, head over to the competition page and give your own caption for this great photo. The competition closes on January 10th.

Win £50 to spend with Ask Her Friends

Here's a new competition for  you from Ask Her Friends. Every month they ask a panel of bloggers to choose products from their site - this month they have put together a Christmas gift set - and then you can vote for your favourite and be entered into the draw.

Have a look at the gorgeous gift sets here and then  comment with your favourite and use the Rafflecopter form to record your entry and get extra entries for liking, tweeting etc.

The competition closes on December 1st.

That's not all! To thank you for visiting and voting on the Bloggers' Panel, Ask Her Friends are giving you a 5% discount on your shopping - simply use the code PANEL5 at checkout.

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Win a Google Nexus 4

Tech Guru is giving away a Google Nexus 4. To enter, visit their competition page and complete some or all of the tasks in the Rafflecopter form. The closing date is November 30th.

Usually when I list a competition on here, I have been asked to do so by the promoter, but this time it's something a little different - one of the Rafflecopter tasks is to blog about the competition. So this is my entry!

Sunday 17 November 2013

Win a Lindt Chocolate Advent Calendar

Blue Kitchen Bakes has a lovely new competition for you - they are giving away a beautiful Lindt chocolate Advent calendar. This looks like on to keep for yourself - it's far too good to give to the kids!

To enter, pop over to the competition page where you can get up to 11 entries by performing various tasks like commenting, tweeting and following. And don't forget to record those tasks using the Rafflecopter form!

The closing date is November 25th.

Friday 15 November 2013

Win six Gruffalo soft toys

Aren't they gorgeous? Scottish Friendly is giving away a set of all six  of them. To enter, you need to visit their Facebook page and Like it, then post your  best family money saving tips to their wall, using the hashtag #ThriftyFamily

You can enter once a day until the closing date of December 2nd, and if you are one of those naughty people who enters competitions from several accounts - don't do it, they'll be watching out for you!

You can read more about the competition, including a link to the full terms and conditions, here.

Win a £50 Nude voucher

It's not what you're thinking! Nude is a range of gorgeous  contemporary jewellery and they are giving away s £50 voucher.

You'll find the full entry details on their blog post  which has a link to their Facebook page. To enter, you will need to like their page and link and share the competition post and then comment on it in just one sentence telling them about your weird and wonderful marriage proposal.

The competition closes on December 1st.

They are also  offering 15% off purchases on the Nude Jewellery website until 1st December. The promotional code is  facebook 25

Win a Druh Golf Belt signed by Lee Westwood

Golfbase  are offering you the chance to win this very smart hand made belt, signed by Lee Westwood.
To enter, simply submit your details at http://www.golfbase.co.uk/t-druh-belt-competition.aspx by the closing date of December 10th.

Golfbase have given us an exclusive discount code.  The discount code is COMP10 and allows 10% off any purchase** until the 1st of December.
(**Excluding Galvin Green products)

Thursday 14 November 2013

Win a wooden train Advent calendar

Submit a photo of your child and their favourite toy for your chance to win a wooden train advent calendar:
 
The competition ends on 27th November 2013

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Win a limited edition print worth £350

Home decor blogger Love Chic Living are running a competition to win a limited edition Patrick Caulfield Wine Bar print from Habitat worth £350.
 
 
This is going to be a really interesting competition to enter - here's what you need to do:
Take a blank empty frame, it can be any type, new or old, and then ‘frame’ something. Be as imaginative and creative as you would like to be. You can craft something and insert it into the frame, you could hold an empty frame up and ‘frame’ a view, you could put your most precious photograph inside the frame, or you could even ‘frame’ yourself doing something funny or silly and take a photo of it. The options are endless but you must take a real photograph of your framed creation and upload it to Pinterest.
 
You'll find the full instructions of how to submit your entry on the link above. The competition closes on November 22md.

Tuesday 12 November 2013

Win £50 to spend at The Gift Oasis

The Gift Oasis are running a competition to win £50 to spend with them.  In order to enter, you need to visit their Facebook page where you can get up to three entries, by Liking them on Facebook, following them on Twitter and tweeting their tweet, using the Rafflecopter app.

The competition closes on December 1st.

Win a Samsung Note

As the Christmas period approaching people are looking more and more for great pre-Christmas gifts, so what could be better than a competition that offers a Samsung Note?
The competition is on the Bay TV homepage.  The mechanic is  simple, all you need to do to enter is to visit http://www.baytvliverpool.com/, allow the Facebook app using the link in the carousel, answer a question and enter the prize draw.
 
To answer the question, you'll need to watch a short video. You'll find the answer quite near the beginning, but if you're anything like me you'll watch the whole thing with a soppy grin on your face.
 
You can enter once a week until the closing date of December 1st.

Win £300 to spend on oak furniture

Oak Furniture UK have just launched a competition to win a £300 voucher to spend with them. Two runners up will each win a £100 voucher. To enter, head over to their competition page and answer the three simple questions. One entry per person, and the competition closes on January 1st.


Friday 8 November 2013

WIN a Kiddicare Woodland Hedgehog bootie and bib set

The latest competition at Mamajewels is for a cute pair of hedgehog booties with a co-ordinating bandanna bib. To enter, head over to the competition page and enter using the Rafflecopter form (tip: if you can't see the form, click on where it says "A Rafflecopter giveaway"). The closing date is December 2nd

Win a remote radar tracker

How often do you wish you had a tracker for those small things that are always getting lost like your keys or your spare pair of glasses?

Well, thanks to Purple Parking, six people can win a Stick'nFind remote radar tracker, which you stick to the losable item and can then track with your smart phone (assuming you've not lost that!).

To enter, you need to be a driver - otherwise your answers won't make any sense - and head over to the Purple Parking poll page to answer a survey about parking. Head to this page to enter: http://www.purpleparking.com/travel-advice/poll

The competition closes on November 11th.

Thursday 7 November 2013

Win a piece of original art

Richard Buckley is an artist who produces vivid textured abstract canvases that make a great focal point for a room, and he is giving you the chance to WIN one. To enter, head over to his Facebook page and enter through the competition tab.  You have until December 31st to enter.

Wednesday 6 November 2013

ASA Adjudication on MTV Networks Europe - Advertising Standards Authority

What a nerve! Somebody cheats quite blatantly in a voting comp - and then complains to the ASA when he doesn't win! This would be hilarious if it wasn't so depressing to think that somebody genuinely  believes they have a right to cheat but the promoter doesn't have a right to stop therm. One more reason voting comps are best avoided.

ASA Adjudication on MTV Networks Europe - Advertising Standards Authority

Tuesday 5 November 2013

Links in direct messages on Twitter

You may have found over the last couple of weeks that you have been unable to send any of your friends a Twitter direct message that contains a link. You probably thought it was a fault that would put itself right sooner or later - but it isn't a fault, it's a policy change. And it's been done to protect US.

I'm sure at one time or another you've received a direct message from a friend saying something like "I read this nasty thing about you" "I saw you in a video" or "The quick way to lose weight" - and containing a link. If you were sensible, you realised that their account had been hacked and ignored the message. You may, unfortunately, have clicked on the link and as a result your own account may have been compromised and started sending out similar messages, and you will have had the hassle of changing passwords, deleting messages, removing apps and apologising to friends.

So Twitter has decided to try to put a stop to this hacking and spamming by blocking us from sending ANY direct messages that contain links. (Could this mean the end of True Twit authentication? - I hope so!). You'll find that a few are still slipping through the net, but for the most part if you try to send a DM containing a link you'll get an error message, or your message will just sit there refusing to go.

Inconvenient? It can be, but if Twitter is doing something about the hackers who use innocent people's accounts to generate their spam, then it's well worth putting up with.

Win £1,000 of Thomas Cook vouchers

With summer long gone and rainy, dark winter nights on the horizon; what would be better than a chance to win sunshine and escape the typical British weather?
 
Anglian Home Improvements are giving the British public an opportunity to leave the cold behind and enjoy some sun. All you have to do is beat the raindrops in our interactive game, where you will be in with a chance of winning £1,000* of Thomas Cook holiday vouchers.
 
You can play here www.anglianhome.co.uk/winsunshine  or directly through the video at the bottom of this post (readers who view Compersgrapevine through a feed or by email may need to click on the subject of the post to be taken to the website in order to play)
 
Feel free to share the sun with your friends using #winsunshine
 
The competition closes on January 31st.


See if you can choose the fastest Raindrop in the Raindrop Racing Game from Anglian - Click to play now!
Can you beat the British weather? Play the Anglian Home Improvement's Raindrop Racing Game for a chance to win a fantastic family holiday.

November's Right Venues competition

The prize for November is a one night stay at the Hyatt, Birmingham, with an upgrade to a Skyline view room (subject to availability)

 Enter on the competition page, writing "none" in the Company Name and Job Title fields if necessary. They are very happy to accept your entry even if you don't represent a company.

Closing 30th Movember