My favorite of her washi tape creations are the vases. You can read her tutorial here.

She is having a washi tape giveaway RIGHT NOW! Head over to her site and leave a comment to enter!

Happy Tape looks to be the US source for all this fab washi tape. They have an online store and a blog!

I have this lovely Amy Butler Velma Bags Pattern to give away! Who’s excited? Amy Butler has some great patterns and this bag is very cute and comes with shoulder and handbag patterns.

To enter this contest leave a comment on this post. If you have sewn something from an Amy Butler pattern before you could leave a comment about that. The contest ends Friday the 22nd of January 2010. I will pick a winner with a random number generator! Good luck!

Login with the username “guest” and the password “pattern”.

Hello, I know what I will be doing this week, just call me ‘guest’!

Their search form looks great and really gives you many options to narrow down what you are looking for. You can find free clothing, needlework, embroidery, crochet and quilting patterns!

Go to it! Let me know what you find!

UPDATED:
So the free pattern downloading started yesterday and ends on August 25th 2009.

This archive is by no means perfect. There are some broken images and finding sewing instructions to go with your pattern pieces appears to be rare. BUT STILL. It’s awesome and having the shape of the pattern pieces is one step in the right direction.

He measures, just so you have an idea of his size, 3 inches from nose tip to back. He has German glass eyes, perle cotton nose, polyester fiberfill and leadshot filling and an Ultrasuede face.

All you have to do is visit her ArtFire Studio and come back to comment on HER BLOG (not this one). The contest ends July 27th.

The winner of the Crafty Chica book The Guide to Artful Living is NUMBER 11!
Sparkle!

Here was her entry:

ok, this isn’t actually about how i overcome my fear and craft anyhow, it’s about why i don’t so much.

i just can’t help feeling like it has to be perfect. i know, not rare. but first i start thinking about how if i mess it up i can just throw it out, but that would be WASTEFULL! then i start thinking of ‘what would i do with 100 pieces of pottery?’ and then i think i’d give them to someone… who? parents! oh, but then even if they suck they’ll put them out somewhere — and TELL people, like that lopsided fat man pottery thing i made in 7th grade — which was on the glass shelves by the stairs until 2002, because that’s when they moved! ugh!

so, that’s why i dropped out of pottery in college.

I can relate! It is actually fun to make stuff and give it to people who love you… but the number of heinous pottery/art projects that my poor family members have received from me.. it’s truly staggering. I honor them for putting up with me. Heeheee.

Sparkle, I will get this book to you ASAP!

The name of this book is Crafty Chica’s Guide to Artful Sewing – Fabu-Low-Sew Projects for the Everyday Crafter. and here is an excerpt from the front flap,

“she’ll show you how to harness the power of her fearless kamikaze sewing style – just dive in and give it 100 percent. Here you’ll not only find out the nuts and bolts of sewing, but learn to have the confidence to blaze your own sewing trail with confidence and flair.”

I’ve met Kathy Cano-Murillo at the Maker Faire in San Mateo and Austin and she is SO NICE, she glows with fun and confidence and that woman LOVES to craft. All of that really comes out in her book, she has a magic of transfering those qualities to the people around her and you just can’t help yourself from smearing glitter all over the place.

I think a lot of people, including myself, sometimes get paralyzed by many things, getting started, finishing, cutting into that beautiful new fabric, I’m not sure if I know HOW to do this thing, oh noes! what if this ends up sucking! OR WHATEVER.

Over and over again in this book Kathy gives you permission to try new things and create and to be fearless. You do not have to be worried that your seams are straight or that your threads match or that you don’t have the most expensive material for the projects in this book, the Crafty Chica will inspire you with so many projects that you won’t be able to stop.

That said, I’m totally going to do some of these projects before I send this out to the winner and then I am pre-ordering it from Amazon for myself.

TO ENTER THE CONTEST!
Leave a comment on this post about a time the thing that most often stops you from creating and how you conquer it.
I will randomly choose an publish the winner on Feb. 24th 2009.

GO!

Thanks so much to all who participated in the Hula Hoop DVD giveaway! That was fun! I’ve been hooping myself these passed few weeks and it can really be a great workout and lots of fun.

The Heart Hulaerobics Dvd with HoopGirl Christabel has a several chapters that target body parts for strengtheing and all are great low impact cardio workouts. The DVD also includes warm up and cool down sections, an interview with Christabel and a bonus dance performance that gives you an idea how you can put hooping moves together for a fun dance that is also a workout. Christabel makes it look easy and is as vivacious and interesting on her DVD as she is in person.

Our winner (number generated using http://www.random.org/) is angelacisco! Here’s her comment:

I didn’t realize that people were doing this and that there was a dvd.I bought a hula hoop last summer and used it every night. My husband and friends thought I was weird but I loved it until it broke. I didn’t realize you could make your own.

Angela I will be contacting you via email.

For those of you who did not win I encourage you to try hooping anyway you can and here are some resources for you.
http://www.hoopgirl.com/
You Tube videos on how to hula hoop
http://hooping.org/ – all things hooping
How to make a hoop
tape for decorating your hoop
a nice list of other resources

*photo credit – briebanofsky

A couple of years ago I took a hula hooping class and it was super fun. The trick is to have a hoop that is adult sized, hooping is way harder than it has to be and uncomfortable with a kid sized hoop you buy at a toy store.

I made a bunch of hoops using this tutorial by JasonUnbound. I highly recommend using the 1/2 inch pipe instead of the 3/4, the 3/4 ones gave me huge bruises! They’re fun to make and you can buy fun glittery tape to decorate them or just use duct tape or electrical tape.

Anyway! I have an extra copy of the HoopGirl Hulaerobics DVD and I’d like to give it away to a lucky reader! You’ll have to make your own hoop though! Or you can buy adult sized hoops online as well, HoopGirl sells them and I’m sure you can find them in other places as well.

CONTEST RULES!
Enter the contest to win the HoopGirl Hulaerobics Workout DVD by laving a comment (say anything you want!) on this post! The contest runs until Jan 23 2009 and I will announce the winner on Monday Jan 26 2009.

Good Luck!

The December Indie Goodness Giveaway at Scoutie Girl kicked off yesterday with 15 handmade items worth $390. Participants can enter up to 15 times – 1 comment for each shop represented. Adding a seasonal twist to this month’s contest, each comment is worth 5 cents and the total “value” of the comments will be donated to the winner’s charity of choice!! So every comment counts, and the winner wins twice!

TO ENTER! GO TO THIS POST ON THE SCOUTIE GIRL SITE!
Go to Scoutie Girl and get commenting!

Check out how to enter on their blog Chic!, but you’d better hurry, the deadline is coming up soon!

The fabulous Australian designer Osier! is giving away one $30 voucher to her madeit store, which is filled with fun and unique handmade jewelry (like this awesome “Vice” Brooch that was featured recently in Frankie magazine).

To enter, email Osier! at contact.osier@gmail.com with your name and the subject line “madeit osier competition” by midnight (Perth, Western Australia time) on October 12. One winner will be chosen at random and notified by email, as well as have their name announced on the Osier! blog.

15 indie designers and artists — including Little Story Designs, Boh Bon Soap Company, and Moyou — have contributed items to this month’s giveaway, for a total prize value of $295.

You can enter to win this hefty prize package up to 15 times, by visiting each participating artist’s website and making a related comment on the Scoutie Girl blog. One winner will be selected at random; contest ends Saturday, October 11 at midnight.

The {New New} York Etsy Street Team — an eclectic group of independent artists based in the New York City area — offers weekly give-aways of fabulous items hand-made by their talented members.

Through October 11, you can win this one-of-a-kind octopus necklace by Pulp Sushi. Made from a large, vintage pewter/brass pendant and hanging on an 18 inch chain, this is definitely not a necklace for the shy!

Check out the details on how to win here.

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on Green Jello’s post about your most memorable Halloween costume by Monday, October 6th, 7 p.m. central time. A name will be drawn and the winner announced on Tuesday.

As an added bonus, if you post a picture of the memorable costume on your blog or Flikr and link to it in your submission comment, your name will be entered twice in the drawing!

And the winner of the Lotta Prints Indie Craft Giveaway has yet to claim her prize! Julie please send us your mailing address so we can send you your prize.