Vintage Craft Workshop Giveaway!

As many of you may know, October is my birthday month, and to celebrate I am going to be doing a few giveaways to thank you, my loyal readers for spending time with me and my crafty endeavors. The prizes are going to vary widely: crafty books, supplies, and even some non craft related things that I just plain like. It's my birthday, and if I want to break from crafting for a prize or two, who's to say I can't? Make sure to check in frequently so you don't miss out on any fun projects or new giveaways! So without further ado, let's break out our boomboxes and headphones and get this party started!

I am starting my Birthday giveaways a little early! I'm just so super excited to be old (ha!). The first giveaway is one copy of Vintage Craft Workshop. This is a fabulous book filled with vintage inspired crafts that fit any experience level!

There are easy to follow tutorials, patterns, and great step by step instructions. It is also published by one of my favorite independent book publishers, Chronicle Books!

I can vouch for the super cuteness and ease of use for this book as my sister gifted me a copy last year :) I am trying out Rafflecopter for this giveaway, so please leave me your feedback on whether or not you like this platform better than simply leaving a comment. I think I like the fact I can reward my followers and facebook "likers" with extra entries. I really do appreciate the time you all give me :)

*Please be patient while the widget loads* a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am sponsoring this giveaway myself, though I do participate in Chronicle Books' affiliate ad program. If you would like to support them by buying a copy of any of their fabulous books, you can find a coupon link at the bottom of this post that will give you 30% off your entire order plus FREE shipping.

Be sure to check back the entire month of October for more crafty projects and weekly giveaways. Thanks for visiting and spread the word :)

Book Review: Sewing Made Simple

Hey Everybody! I have a ton of sewing projects lined up over the course of the next few months, so I decided to get a book review up for those of you that might not yet be well versed at sewing! Sewing Made Simple is a great sewing primer by Tessa Evelegh, and is published by one of my favorite independent publishers, Chronicle Books . I would highly recommend it not only for sewing newbies, but seasoned vets, as it is full of great tips, and has about 20 projects that utilize and build upon the skills shown including clothing and home decor projects.



From a purely aesthetic standpoint, it is a beautiful book, with great photography and the kinds of special details I come to expect from pretty much all Chronicle Books. No white borders here, your pages are trimmed with lovely fabric prints in colors and patterns that will inspire you to pick up the book and start sewing as soon as you lay eyes on it. There are also tons of full color photos, as well as some cute, hand drawn diagrams.

There are some really great sections on sewing machine anatomy and tips on buying a sewing machine (which I actually found incredibly helpful as I inherited my current machine from my mom when she bought her new one, but I have been thinking about the possible upgrade to a machine that does more stitches and fancy-pants work like one touch buttonholes and the like). It definitely helps you to get a starting place for what you may need or want in the wide world of sewing machines! If machines aren't your thing, there are also lots of tips and techniques on hand sewing (including "must know stitches" complete with diagrams!).



The total sewing novice will appreciate all of the labeled and numbered photographs the book provides you with on different types of threads, needles, scissors, buttons, etc. Heck, those who have been sewing for years may have their eyes opened to something you just never used before because you didn't really know a good application for it!



My favorite part of the book is that every section has helpful little tip "bubbles" that give you a tip or trick on how to make a technique easier. If you used to steer clear of zippers, or pin tucks, it might have a tip that makes them your new favorite thing (I know I'm excited to try out pin tucks on lots of new projects!).

My one and only gripe for the entire book is that some of the patterns in the back need to be taken to a copy store and blown up to a usable size. I love instant gratification, so to have to go someplace to get my patterns blown up before I can use them is a little irksome. Other than that I think this is the perfect book for anyone that sews or wants to learn!


Chronicle Books provided me with a copy of this book for review. All statements and opinions above are my own.

Happy Haulidays!

With Christmas fast approaching, I know many of us have gift giving and the buying of all these gifts on the mind. I, like many others, also use this time of year to give back to charities in as many ways as I can. Luckily, while I was going about my gift browsing I saw this contest on Chronicle Books' website.

Happy Haulidays is giving a chance for one blogger to win up to $500 in their books! Not only that, they will donate $500 of their books to the blogger's charity of choice. Oh, and did I mention the winning blogger will be able to give $500 of their books to a commenter on their post?

It's a win-win-win situation! For those of you unfamiliar with Chronicle Books, they make some very unique books on several topics (including crafts and baking--two of my favorite things!). To get your chance at winning $500 in Chronicle Books titles, simply leave a comment on this blog post, and let your friends know that they can win as well by commenting, and keep your fingers crossed for me to win! I have selected The Children's Book Bank located right here in Portland, OR as my charity of choice for this contest. They provide books to children in low income areas who may otherwise not have any. Please visit their site to find out more about this great organization, and I encourage you to find a similar local charity to donate to this holiday season.

Now on to the books! What exactly might we all be winning? I have a list a mile long but my wishlist includes the following titles:

1-2-3 Sew

Holiday Crafting and Baking with Kids

Instant Iron Ons

Every Day's a Holiday

Curiosities

Whip Up Mini Quilts

Denyse Schmidt Quilts

Flour

Tartine

Wookie Cookies

Tartine Bread

Garden Anywhere

Apartment Therapy Presents: Real Homes, Real People, Hundreds of Real Design Solutions

Penny Saving Household Helper

Over and Under the Snow

I Love Color

His Shoes Were Far Too Tight

Chicken Big

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Pattern Making

World of Geekcraft

Ten Little Zombies



Whew! That's one heck of a list! As you will notice, despite my not having kids I did put some children's books on my wish list. Should I win, I would be donating those to charity as well. Good luck to us all and again, tell your friends to come comment to get their entry in. Visit the Chronicle Books website for more info on their books and the contest! Can't wait to get your hands on some of these books? Chronicle currently has a Friends and Family sale going on through November 30th: