1,000 DONE AND FINISHED

I DID IT!!!
ALL ONE THOUSAND NAMETAGS ARE FINISHED!!!! (Sorry, for screaming, but I am so excited and relieved.) Here is a picture of the last 70 tags, I just finished.
Thank you Kristin at BBD Supplies for the felt flowers and circles. Couldn't have done it without you and all of YOU my friends who have cheered me on. Thank you!

So, let's celebrate by having a little GIVE AWAY!. Yeah! Remember, the little sneak peak I gave you in my last post?!

I think, this little pocket belongs to one of the cutest things I have made so far. I know, I say that quite often, but I really like it and I have received more inquiries on it and the girls have received more compliments on this design, than on any others before.

It's my new "Anika Twirl Skirt with attached zippered Purse". You like???

If you do, you can win a copy of the pattern before it goes on sale in my Etsy store. The pattern is for sizes 2T - 5T and includes a very detailled pictured tutorial and pattern pieces for the purse. The Purse is the highlight of the pattern. My girls LOVE it! It holds their Chap sticks, sun glasses, hair clips and typically numeruous trinkets. It's even big enough to carry a Beanie-Baby-size stuffed animal.
The pattern is a real playground for mixing and matching different fabric prints. Everything goes. The only limit is your imagination.

So, if you like to win a copy of the pattern, simply leave a comment on this post and tell me how much you love the skirt ;-) Just kidding, just tell me what you are working on right now, or what your next project will be, or maybe you have a link to a new tutorial that you really like. Or, just tell me where you will go on vacation this year!
Good luck. I will be picking a winner sometime at the end of the week.

BTW, the pink skirt in above picture is for sale right here.

Thrifty Spring Skirt Re-Purpose Project

Another project that cost me next to nothing. I LOVE those kinds of projects!

Just finished this set of skirts in perfect spring colors: light green, blue, pink and purple with cute birdie and simple flower appliques.

All I did to make one of these skirts is add a fabric strip for the waist band, close the back seam and insert elastic. Easy peasy.

You will notice that the skirts are a tad too long right now. But, I figured, spring is still at least three months away here where I live, so that's three more months for the girls to grow another inch or so. And while you are looking at the pics; see how short and tight the shirts are.... :( This is a total underestimation on my part as to how much they'd grow over the winter. Anyway, they will have to stick it out until warmer weather arrives. Too late into the season to buy more long sleeved shirts.

Okay, if you are still with me after my ramblings, then here comes a little GIVEAWAY!!!!! Yeah! See, sometimes it pays off to read through a full post ;-)
I have enough of the thrifted "something" left, to make a skirt for one of my lovely blog readers! Are you excited?!

As you may have noticed I have not told you yet, what I re-purposed in order to make these skirts. So, in order to qualify to win , leave a comment and tell me what you think it is I used. If there is more than one of you with the correct answer I will pick a random winner among those with the correct answer. Everybody only gets ONE guess, though. Sounds fair?!

Okay, one more thing for you to read through: Just so you know, based on what I have available I can make a skirt in these three sizes:
a) 11 inches long (won't have blue gingham waistband, but the light green of the main fabric)
b) 12.5 inches long (blue gingham will only be on the inside of the waistband, outside will show the light green)
c) 13.5 inches long (as seen in the pictures)
I would estimate that the 13.5 inch long skirts are a 4T.
Now, go on and take your guess! I will leave this giveaway open until next Sunday (1/24/10).

SMS Giveaway Winner - and Nikolaus Day

You guys are all sooo nice! 165 entries to the giveaway! WOW! I am overwhelmed.
And you all gave me so many great ideas for gifts for our male teachers. My favorites were:

- coffee/tea cup cozy with coffe shop gift card
- lanyard for the PE teacher
- bookmarks
- journal covers

I am swaying between the cup cozy and the lanyard. I may even make both. So, thank you everybody for playing along and entering in my giveaway.

Random.org picked number "25" as the winner. And that would be Karen from Twiceasniceboutique. She said: "Chocolates, or baking- Men love to eat right?"
If you have a minute go check out her blog and Etsy store. She makes the coziest sleep sacks. If you have a little baby these are a must-have. I have been using sleep sacks for all three of my children and they are the best thing to prevent SIDS and you don't have to worry about thrown off blankets at night.

So, now where does the second part of the post title come in, you ask???!! This is the reason why I am posting at this ungodly hour already! The kids woke up at 6:15 a.m. in order to check out their boots. More on that tomorrow! Have a great second Advent Sunday everybody.

Yeah !!!, it's SMS Giveaway Day !!!

How exciting! It's finally here! This year's SMS Giveaway Day.

I am so thrilled to participate this year. First I had all these great, awesome plans to handmake something for this giveaway, but then quickly and totally ran out of time. So, instead, I have decided to pick a set of fat quarters of one of my current favorite fabric lines. I hope you like...

But, first, here is a picture of the handmade gifts for the kids' teachers:

Handmade soaps (Yes, I made them myself! Super easy and fun.) and a lavender filled ornament.
If you are ever looking to purchase fresh dried lavender you HAVE to go with posi_trade on Ebay. They have the most reasonable prices I could find anywhere and their Grosso lavender smells just awesome. Right now I am storing it in my sewing room in a tightly closed ziplock bag. But still, the room smells like a lavender field.

Okay, back to the issue at hand.
Problem is, that these gifts are, let's be honest, geared towards female teachers. But, it just so happens, that there are also two male teachers: Yanic's Gym teacher and one of the Pre-school teachers at the girl's school. And, I have no idea of what to make for them!
This is were you come in. For your chance to win, please leave a comment and give me your ideas for a handmade gift suited for a male teacher.
Giveaway will be open until Sunday, December 6th (Nikolaus Day). And I think I will pick the comment with the best idea. If there are several comments that I really like I will draw a random number instead.

Oh, I guess, you would also like to know what you can win ;-)
Four fat quarters of Michelle Engel Bencsko's Shade Garden fabrics.

Good Luck!

Look at all these Goodies....

So, it was my Birthday this past Sunday. AGAIN! To be honest, ever since I turned 30 a while back I lost count. Now, everytime somebody is asking me how old I am, I actually have to start calculating my age. This time around I am 37. So, Happy Birthday to me!
And have a look at all the cool things I received from my family. I am having a hard time figuring out which to look at first:

... and then these gorgeous trims from farbenmix.de:

And the newest cool book available:

Now, before I loose your attention with my showing off, back to the little giveaway from last week. Since, there were only four entries I decided to give everybody a little something. But, first of all, the PJ pants will go to:

Congratulations, Myra. I hope your boy will like them.
Jacy, Carrie and Lauranie you will receive a little something for the holidays from me. I will send you separate emails to get your contact info.

Thanks for playing along.
I am hoping to get back into the groove with sewing soon. So, I can share some more than overdue projects. Christmas is coming way too quickly this year.

Giveaway for You - because I wanted to take a short cut...

So, yeah: This could also be filed under stupid.
In my pajama sewing frenzy I also wanted to make a new pair of PJ pants for Yanic. From the same flannel sheet I used for these jammies for the twins.

And since every Mom KNOWS her children and how big and tall the are, there is no measuring needed. Right???? So wrong!!!

Well, long story short, I just started cutting away. It was late at night and I did not want to wake Yanic just for the sake of these pants and figured I will cut them a bit bigger (!) just to be sure. If they are a bit baggy, no problem, he will grow into them...
So, 30 minutes later the pants were done. The next day I asked Yanic to try them on. What a picture! I was rolling on the floor it was so funny: The pants were about 6 inches too short and fit tight as a pair of girl's leggings. Unfortunately, he would not allow me to take a picture of it.

So, instead of a size 8/10 I ended up with what I think is more like a 5/6. So, if you have somebody in mind who would like to have a new pair of PJ pants leave me a comment here. Don't forget to include a way for me to contact you. Either through your blog or email. The pants were intended for a boy, but if you have a girl and still would like to win these pants, let me know and I will add a little girly applique on the front (my pick! ;-)) International entries welcome.

The pants have a little tag in the back to make sure they are put on the correct way.

I will leave this giveaway open until the end of this week.

We have a new winner!

Sorry, Tracy, I was hoping you would contact me regarding the book and buttons giveaway.

Well, let's pick a new winner. Drumroll, please....!!!!

Congratulations, Lauranie!!!! I will get the package out to you right after the weekend. I hope you enjoy.

And the Winner is....

....Tracy. Congratulations!

Unfortunately, you did not leave a way for me to contact you. So, please get in contact with me through my blog so I can get your address and send off the book and buttons.

Ladies, if Tracy has not contacted me by Tuesday next week, I will draw another name.

We have a Winner!!! - And another Giveaway!!!

This was fun! The first ever giveaway on my blog. Thank you all for your comments. I read every single one of them and went to your blog, if you have one. Some of the blogs I found are quite interesting and I added them to my feedburner.

So, with the help of Mr. Random, the winner of the children's apron is:

Congratulations, Christie. She wrote:

"I have a three year old little girl who follows me around the kitchen, wanting to do everything I do. This apron is so cute! I know she's love it!"

Now, on to the second part of this post!!! I have been hinting for a few weeks, that my 100th post is coming up soon! Well, this is it.

I never thought, I would have so much to talk about, or get so addicted to sewing, that I have all these many projects to share with you. Also, I never imagined that there would be anybody out there, who would read my blog (except for family - but they are forced to, because they get automatic emails everytime I blabber). I think, I have four or five Sweeties, who stop by on a regular basis. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Okay, now on to the giveaway: I have been thinking back and forth about what to do: Fabric?!, something handmade?! and combination of the two?!. In the end I decided to give away one of my Sewing Books. It is brand new with all the patterns still sealed in the pocket inside the book. I will also throw in a couple of cute Baby Buttons.

Here is what you have to do in order to have a chance to win:

1. Leave a comment on this post and tell me what your next crafting project will be (1 entry)

2. Make a purchase in any of my shops between today and this coming Friday (8/14/09) (5 extra entries).

If you mention "Giveaway" during check-out, I will give you an extra 10% off your purchase. This offer is only for you, my bloggy friends and does not include shipping cost or custom orders.

Etsy Kindershop, Etsy Kay-Kreative, Artfire Kay-Kreative.

I will leave this Giveaway open until next week Saturday, 8/15/09 and have Mr. Random draw a winner. Good Luck!

Apron Give Away!

Good Morning Everybody,

did you know that there is a week long apron giveaway hosted by the Apronista?!

Well, now you do. To enter for all kinds of cute to sexy aprons klick on the picture below.

Also, I am giving away this reversible child's half apron. Great for the upcoming Holiday Season.

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and tell me who you would like to win this apron for. I will be accepting comments until Friday Midnight and randomly pick a winner on Saturday. Good Luck!