Sew Mama Sew Giveaway - We Have a Winner!

I was sooo amazed to have 271 people leave Comments to enter my SMS giveaway! I read and treasured every single one of them! Such nice things you all had to say! This was my first time doing the SMS giveaway, but I had so much fun and I shall be sure to jump in next time as well.

I used Random.org to choose the winner, which was #3 - Hannah from New Zealand! I will be contacting Hannah today, and get her parcel in the post tomorrow. Thanks again everyone for leaving such nice Comments, and thanks to SMS for sponsoring this fun event!

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway - It's A Hoot!

Here is my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway! Just leave your Comment with your email addy, if your contact doesn't autmatically show it! It's easy! I shall choose by random choice.

Four items: A Tea Wallet, My Own Rewards Card Wallet, My Own Shoop-Shoop Bag, and a Kool Tote Bag. All It's A Hoot! If you are the random winner, you will receive all four items! International shipping ok. Thanks for stopping by!



She's Nuts!

One day during my visit with my bloggie friend Aunt Pitty Pat in Kansas last fall, she said "Come on! I'm taking you to the nut house!" I was scared - I figured she might try to leave me there! Or maybe they'd just keep both of us! Well, the nut house turned out to be the Nifty Nut House :-) Once inside, I definitely went NUTS! I bought copious amounts of Jordan Almonds, Hazelnuts, Butter Cream Mints, and Dried Cherries - yummm! Since my visit was 24 days (how in the world did she put up with me that long???), we managed to make a second trip so I could load up and bring some goodies home with me. Since then, APP has sent me Nifty Nut House care packages - isn't she sweet! Or would that be...sweet and salty? LOL! Anyways, yesterday when I reached into the mail box, there was a Small Flat Rate Box. Upon opening it, I found all these Jordan Almonds! That's it! Nothing else in the box! Just chock full o' Jordan Almonds! I'm in Nifty Nut House Heaven right now...thank you so much, my nutty friend!



Princess Abby Bag

I needed to wrap a gift for a sweet baby's first birthday. Wrapping paper? Gift bag? Naw....I almost never use 'em! I like to wrap my gifts in some sort of tote, pouch, small quilt, or table runner that I've created. So much more fun and hopefully something the receiver can enjoy, or regift as a wrapping for something else. I had previously used a bit of the Mendocino "swimming fish" fabric in a burp cloth I made baby Abby, and her mom told me she is fascinated by the fishies. So I knew that would need to have a starring role in the bag for sure, along with some "goldfish in a bag" I had. I also had some Far, Far Away Princess & The Pea fabric and since Abby is quite often referred to as "Princess," that had to be in the mix as well. Actually, I just pulled out what I call my "$100 Fabric Baggie" which is a gallon ziploc bag of special fabrics, some of which are bits and pieces I paid quite a "Princessly Sum" for in Etsy shops ;-) I won't tell you how long it took me to choose the fabrics for this bag, but it was DAYS.....  I really had no plan, other than to use some of the special fabrics and to further personalize the tote using printable fabric sheets.

Here's the other side.

Princess Abby's grandma and I usually call her "Missy" so I used the printable fabric to add "Princess Abby (also known as Missy)" to the Princess & The Pea block. Remember I said I had no plan? That's probably why I wound up putting the word strip running up and down the bag instead of across, but it works ;-) Heck, the kid can't read yet anyways!

 I used both types of fishies on one side: "Fishies!"    Oops! The goldfish-in-a-bag is covered up by the handles, but trust me, it's there!

And "More Fishies!" on the other. Her dad is an avid fisher, so fish and fishing features prominently in their household.

I decided Princess Abby "hearts" camping - mostly because I had some of the cute Camper Van fabric, but also because her grandma HATES camping - I'm just a little evil that way ;-) (But really, her grandma is my very, very good friend and I love her dearly.)

Some puppy dog fabric had to go in there too, because Princess Abby loves her BIG puppy dog, Ruby, and her great-grandma's little puppy dog, Monty. Abby and Monty chase each other around til they both pretty much fall asleep in their tracks.

I wish I had thought to take a picture of Princess Abby WITH the bag, but I didn't. Here's a picture of the Birthday Girl. Happy Birthday, Princess Abby! Oh and don't look now, but you have cake on your face ;-)

Sewing Accessories Swap

I was in Aunt Pitty Pat's Sewing Accessories Swap - we worked with our assigned partners to create each other a sewing machine cover, a sewing machine apron with pockets (goes under the sewing machine), and a pinkeep with scrap-catcher bag. My wonderful partner was Amy from Domesticity and Other Ponderous Things. Here's what Amy sent me! This pic is from Amy's blog, because I've been having some camera problems, but I do have a few pics I took as well. She used some "measuring tape" twill tape as an accent - it's so darned cute! What a perfect touch!

Here's a somewhat murky picture I snapped. Comparing it to Amy's pic above, you can see it was a bit smooshed from being stuffed in the shipping box, but it does fit my machine perfectly!

A close-up of the cover...

The pinkeep is awesomely huge! And you can see the measuring twill tape up close and personal in this pic. Amy also included these nifty snips - they will definitely come in handy!

Here's a shot of the machine apron - so handy for stashing those tools I use all the time....ahem...including that "reverse sewing" one, LOL!

Amy also sent some of the scraps so I can make whatever else I might want to coordinate, a yummy smelling candle, and two handmade pins she crafted - they have apple heads - she's VERY talented!!! Thanks so much Amy - you were a wonderful swap partner and I love everything!

This pic's a bit blurry, but I couldn't resist - I was trying to get a better pic of the scrap-catcher, and apparently Diesel wanted to be in the shot:-)