Design

Conferences & Keynotes | Sewing

Psst…
ByHeather Bailey August 19, 2013

I may have let slip that a certain someone whose name rhymes with "feather daily" is going to be at The Sewing Summit
next month in Salt Lake City, September 19th through the 21st. The
event has been sold out for a while, but a little birdie told me that
the show coordinators are offering a handful of additional tickets for sale today, starting at 9:00am MST (maybe 30 tickets or so?).

Feather Daily thought you guys might like to know—especially after you have a look through their site and see what a remarkable event it will be. These tickets are in hot demand, so act fast if you're interested. Great teachers, great classes and an incredible variety of subjects, ranging from quilting, crafts and garment sewing to fabric design, photography and social media.

Get your calendars out, you might need to fly to Utah in a few weeks.

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HELLO Giveaways! | Shop News

Giveaway Day 18
ByHeather Bailey August 18, 2013

We went out for my birthday on Friday night for Thai food and a movie
with my siblings and their spouses, and my dad. It was
great to get together after we were all scattered this way and that for
the summer. And just the kind of birthday party I like—easy and low-key.
I'm so glad they all could come along. If you ever visit Tempe, AZ, Yupha's Thai Kitchen is the place to eat.

Of course, this year wasn't a 'big-deal' birthday. When the next one of those
comes along, I'd like a Disco Dance Party with wigs required—nothing
mellow.

This giveaway circus is keeping me plenty anesthetized from any potential
birthday blues. It's quite a project behind the scenes to make sure
everything is reported accurately and the winners are chosen fairly.
(Random number generator, after duplicates and late entries are
subtracted.)

I hope you're having as much fun as I am. I feel like
a game show host at this point, "Step on down, take a spin, survey says
— you win." I need fine, feathered 70's hair and a sparkly dress.

As soon as today's giveaway post goes up, I'll get to work drawing
winners for the last few giveaways. Expect those updates by midday
tomorrow.

And remember that our Day 16 giveaway for a Cricut Expressions 2 electronic cutting machine ends at 11:59pm PST tonight. So, there's still time to enter.

Without further ado, today's giveaway prize is a sewn book tote from FamLee Treasures, made with fabrics from my Garden District collection, as well as a Heather Bailey planner, a chevron note pad and a pack of personal stationery. A $73 value.

FamLee Treasures
is my office manager Karen's Etsy business. Her adorable totes also
make perfect craft totes or church bags. Karen was excited to get
involved with our giveaway party—and it's her birthday this next week
too. That's another vote for Birthday Month. Happy Birthday, Karen!

Comment to enter. One entry per household. Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
field on the comment form. Today's giveaway will close at NOON PST on Monday 8/19/13. Watch for the winner to
be announced early next week at the bottom
of the post.

For more info on these August HELLO Giveaways, click here. Please
share the word. Good luck!

xo—Heather

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HELLO Giveaways! | Jewelry

Giveaway Day 17
ByHeather Bailey August 17, 2013

How about a splash of fashion to keep the giveaway world in proper balance? Today's HELLO Giveaway is sponsored by Urban Attic Boutique, a great online store with a bohemian-chic point of view. Find tops, dresses, pants, skirts, and jewelry, all reasonably priced and right on trend.

Urban Attic Boutique is curated by sisters, Jenna and Tauny—who
have an eye for bold prints and statement pieces. And I would say, as a
group, the items in their shop look comfortable. Comfort is my ultimate
measuring stick for everyday fashion, so this is a big one for me.

Go have a look. But, don't beat me to that seahorse necklace!

Keep current with the shop on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram, where you'll be the first to hear of new items, sales and Urban Attic giveaways. Today's lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to UrbanAtticBoutique.com.

Comment to enter. One entry per household. Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
field on the comment form. Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Saturday 8/17/13. Watch for the winner to
be announced early next week at the bottom
of the post.

For more info on these August HELLO Giveaways, click here. Please
share the word. Good luck!

xo—Heather

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HELLO Giveaways! | Tools

Giveaway Day 16 — A Big One
ByHeather Bailey August 16, 2013

When I say that I'm friends with some cool people at some cool
companies. I mean, wow. I put out some calls, told everyone I wanted to
have a big Thank You Party for my readers, and look what's coming in.
Today's giveaway prize is another big one.

This incredible machine here is called the Cricut Expressions 2.
It is an electronic cutting machine. Digital designs are plugged into
the system on cartridges and out come perfectly-cut pieces. Pieces of
what, you say? Pieces of cardstock, chipboard, sheet magnet, foam, felt,
balsa wood, vellum, cling vinyl, fabric and more. That's a lot of
creative possibilities.

This
Cricut is a free-standing machine that is easily operated using
touch-screen technology. You don't have to have a computer. From what I
read, this is one of the easiest cutting machines to operate and there
are a number of video tutorials and reviews posted online if you're a
visual learner.

Included with the Expressions 2 machine is their Cricut Essentials
cartridge which includes hundreds of designs and a Cricut Alphabet
cartridge. Beyond that, Cartridges galore
are available separately from a variety of designers. The machine
features a cutting area as large as 12" x 24" and it will arrange
multiple items for you in order to prevent waste.

Great for crafts, party decorations, card-making, scrapbooking, fabric
applique, product packaging, valentines. I can think of so many fun
things to do with a cutting machine. What incredible technology to have
on hand.

Oh! And Cricut is also including a bundle of iron-on vinyl in three colors—winner chooses the colors.
Wait till you see what you can do with this iron-on vinyl. Holy cow.
You can customize tee-shirts, pillows, shoes, sports jerseys, hats,
handbags, Christmas stockings—anything. To see images of this
heat-transfer film in use, visit Cricut's iron-on vinyl product page, then click on each color of vinyl to pull up project ideas.

With so many functions and uses, it's quite impossible for me to cover it all in this one post. I recommend you visit their "New to Cricut?" page, the Cricut Blog, and the Cricut Forum if you want to delve in to the details and see all that the Cricut Expressions 2 can do. Cricut is also on Facebook (a great resource), Instagram and Twitter, so go say hello.

All in all, today's generous prize is a $345 value. Thank you, Cricut! To enter for today's
giveaway, leave a comment here on this post. One entry per person.

Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
field on the comment form; I can access that info from behind the scenes. Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Sunday 8/18/13.
(This is a big one and it's Friday—so I'm giving you all weekend to
enter. This means it will overlap with Saturday's and Sunday's
giveaways.) Watch for the winner to
be announced early next week at the bottom
of the post.

For more info on these August HELLO Giveaways, click here. Please
share the word. We have lots more in store for you this month.

Good luck!

xo—Heather

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HELLO Giveaways!

Giveaway Day 15
ByHeather Bailey August 15, 2013

I've been asked to be the keynote speaker at The Sewing Summit
this year. We just firmed it up this week, so watch for an announcement
on their site soon. As a bonus, I'm going to fly in for the entire
event and well, hang out. Which means I'll have the chance to get to
know some fabulous people who will be there with me.

One of those fabulous people is Melissa Esplin, who is scheduled to teach at the event. I'm excited to meet her. Melissa not only sews and maintains a beautiful blog, but she is also an incredible calligrapher. And she teaches calligraphy online. Yes, you can take classes without having to leave your desk!

Calligraphy is gaining attention from today's style stars as a
back-to-crafts artform. Beautifully-lettered posters add a personal
touch to a home or office. And personalized calligraphy is a great way
to enhance a wedding or baby announcement—or otherwise stand out in a
mess of computer-generated communication.

Take a look at Melissa's incredible lettering on her website and blog. See Melissa's classes on her site, I Still Love Calligraphy, where you can learn from the best. And don't miss her beautiful, free printables and tutorials as well.

Today's lucky winner will receive five ready-to-write cards and five envelopes, all hand-lettered by Melissa. Talk about putting your best face
forward. Your mail and affection will look like it came from the queen
herself.

The hand-lettered kraft-paper cards feature "5 Things" prompts such
as "5 Reasons Why I Love You" and the blue envelopes read, "Kindly
Deliver to" or Please send to." They can be used together or separately.
A $35 value.

Melissa
does custom calligraphy for families and businesses. She designs logos,
tattoos, greeting cards and more. But, calligraphy isn't her only
passion. If you like to sew, then you must swing by Melissa's blog to
see her sewing acumen as
well. She is teaching at The Sewing Summit afterall. When my
fashion-fabric line hits next spring, I have a secret wish that we'll
get to see Melissa work her magic with the collection.

Okay! Exciting. Let's get this contest going. To enter for today's
giveaway, just leave a comment here on this post. One entry per human.

Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
field on the comment form; I can access that info from behind the scenes. Today's giveaway will close at NOON PST on Friday 8/16/13. (Extended deadlines here and there, depending on when I get the post up!) Watch for the winner to
be announced within a day or
two at the bottom
of the post.

Follow Melissa on all over the social media scene, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest and send her a love note while you're at it, "Melissa, your work is beautiful!"

For more info on these August HELLO Giveaways, click here. Please
share the word. Tomorrow's prize is the biggest one so far, so don't forget to check back in.

Good luck!

xo—Heather

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HELLO Giveaways! | Tools

Giveaway Day 14 — Art Supplies!
ByHeather Bailey August 14, 2013

Art supplies! Who doesn't love to collect art supplies!?

I'm incredibly excited to share today's prize with you. Copic has generously contributed a set of their Ciao Too
artist-quality markers. I've been researching markers heavily all year
and Copic stands tall at the top of the list. Not only does Copic offer
their markers in scores of colors, with a variety of nibs to choose from, but Copic markers are also refillable and blendable. That's right—blendable. The ink flows smoothly and colors can be blended together without glaring streaks or stripes.

They make several styles of markers which hold differing amounts of
ink, but follow the same color system. The Ciao markers
here come with a brush tip on one end and a chisel tip on the other.
With some product lines, you can choose which nibs you like best and
swap them out as you see fit. Most of their markers are
double-ended—except for the super-duper wide ones.

One popular style, the Copic Sketch marker, can be attached to their proprietary air-brush system where
colors swap out easily and there's no fussy clean-up.

I'm just mesmerized by these. Like every product I'm including in the
giveaways this month, I contacted the company because I genuinely love
what they do. I have been fawning over this prize ever since it arrived
at the studio on Monday. Someone is going to be one lucky duck.

Copic
markers are top-of-the-line. They don't come cheaply, but they do their
job fantastically and they maintain their value quite well. With refillable alcohol-inks and replaceable nibs, these valuable tools can be used in perpetuity.

They work great for fabric studies and that works for me. I love them.

So, here's your chance to get hooked on these amazing markers too. Today's winner will receive this 24 pack of Copic Ciao Too markers. A $130 value. Thank you, Copic!

Follow Copic on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and the Copic Marker blog. In fact, check out the Gallery on their site for inspiring artwork and artist interviews.

Comment to enter today's contest. Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
field on the comment form; I can access that info from behind the scenes. Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Wednesday 8/14/13. One entry per person. Winner chosen at random using the random number generator at Random.org. Watch for the winner to
be announced within a day or
two at the bottom
of the post.

For more info on my August HELLO Giveaways, click here. Please
share the word. Check back every day.

Good luck!

xo—Heather

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HELLO Giveaways! | Tools

Giveaway Day 13 — Puj
ByHeather Bailey August 13, 2013

Today's giveaway is from my friend, Katie Richardson, who invented this crazy-cool folding baby tub and quickly expanded her business, Puj Baby, to include several other hip and helpful products for families.

Katie
is good friends with Isaac's sister, Maureen. She and I have met up a
couple of times and every time I see Katie she's reached new heights in
design. I'm incredibly impressed with her and her success.

I discoverd the Industrial Design program at my university when I was
just about to graduate in Apparel Design. I have kicked myself ever
since for not learning about it sooner. At one point, after I had
abandoned my plan to pursue Medicine, I had hunted for a degree that
would lend itself to animatronics (mechanical puppets and special
effects for the movies, that kind of thing). I wanted to know how to
make anything and everything, sewn items on through to electronics.

I am still mad that the Industrial Design program never came up on that hunt. I
had grouped it in with Civil Engineering and passed it right by. If I
could do college again, I would major in Industrial Design and minor in
Apparel Design. The inventor in me still craves that education on
materials and processes. Perhaps I can find a program somewhere yet and
scratch that itchy itch.

My point is that Katie here majored in Industrial Design. As did her
husband, Ben. And look what they have created! Isn't this impressive?
Together they are a design power house. And I can't wait to see what
they do next. You can too. Follow Katie and Ben's journey on their company blog and on Katie's "Secret Blog"—I sure hope it's not a true secret—Katie? Puj Baby can also be found on Instagram and Twitter at @PujBaby and on Facebook as well. Check them out.

Without further ado, today's giveaway prize is a generous bundle of amazing inventions from Katie and her company, Puj. Winner will receive one Puj Tub, one Puj Hug baby towel and Puj Nubs, knobs to hang your Puj products on. A $90 value.

By the way, the Puj Hug towel
fastens gently around mom's neck so she can get baby from the tub more
safely—without fuss. Or dad's neck. See how this works at Puj.com. I love inventions!

I know some rad people.

Comment to enter today's contest. Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
field on the comment form; I can access that info from behind the scenes. Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Tuesday 8/13/13. This one requires a U.S. address. And they can't ship to a P.O. box. Watch for the winner to
be announced within a day or
two at the bottom
of the post.

For more info on my August HELLO Giveaways, click here. Please
share the word. Check back every day.

Good luck!

xo—Heather

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HELLO Giveaways! | Paper Craft

Giveaway Day 12 — A Day for Cake
ByHeather Bailey August 12, 2013

Today is my birthday. I don't know if there will be any celebrating just
yet. My kids are sick and at least one of them is staying home from
school. We're waiting to see how the others are faring. Thankfully, with
my campaign for Birthday Month, who really cares. There are 31 days in
August. We should be able to find a day for cake somewhere in there. It's Birthday Month!

Remember when birthdays were an achievement? In the middle here,
birthdays are just novelties, an asterisk on the calendar. If I'm
fortunate enough to reach old age, birthdays might become
accomplishments again. In fact, there should be necklaces to celebrate
your age like an award ribbon. When I'm 86, I'll gladly wear my age on a
gold necklace and swap it for an 87 with a smile.

This year's birthday doesn't just have a small asterisk next to it
though—because I'm giving away big presents every day this month. And
I've planned a big ol' glorious prize for today. Becky Higgins and Project Life are generously donating a complete kit of the Olive Edition I designed for them: a Core Kit of cards, an Album and a Big Pack of Photo Pocket Pages. Everything you need to complete an album. A $75 value.

Project Life is taking the scrapbooking and journaling world by
storm. In summary, it's a simple, efficient system for cataloging your
life in photos and stories.

My limited Olive Edition for Project Life is currently available only at Amazon.com. In addition to the items shown above, there is a big pack of 12" x 12" papers and super-fun month dividers. Everything is very reasonably priced. For more information on Project Life in general, visit BeckyHiggins.com. Becky and her team keep a faithful blog of ideas and inspiration. There are even videos to get you started. Also, for the daily play-by-play, follow @beckyhigginsllc and #projectlife on Instagram.

Comment to enter today's contest. Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
field on the comment form; I can access that info from behind the scenes. Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Monday 8/12/13. Watch for the winner to
be announced within a day or
two at the bottom
of the post.

For more info on my August giveaway madness, click here. Please
share the word. Check back every day. I have amazing prizes planned this week from my friends at Copic Markers, Cricut, Puj Baby and more, prizes worth as much as $300. Prizes I wish I owned!

Good luck!

xo—Heather

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HELLO Giveaways! | Sewing

Giveaway Day 11
ByHeather Bailey August 11, 2013

All three of my kids are at home sick today and I'm having a very
difficult time sneaking away to write a giveaway post, so I'm going to
get right to it before there's more medicine to dose out or 'messes' to
clean up.

With a $35 value, today's prize
is THREE Heather Bailey sewing patterns—Flutterby Pincushions, Boho Cloche Hat and Marlo
Bloom Handbag—enough variety to keep you busy well into the fall and perhaps cover you on some holiday-gift sewing as well.

Comment to enter today's contest. Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in the email-address
field on the comment form; I can access that info from behind the scenes.

Today's giveaway will close at NOON PST on Monday 8/12/13. (I'm
extending the deadline whenever a post goes up later in the day.
Sundays will likely be tricky for me all month.) Watch for the winner to
be announced within a day or
two at the bottom
of the post. For more info on my August giveaway madness, click here. Please
share the word. Check back every day.

My actual birthday is tomorrow, so watch for a big prize in the morning. And some even bigger ones later in the week.

Good luck!

xo—Heather

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Books | HELLO Giveaways!

Giveaway Day 10
ByHeather Bailey August 10, 2013

Happy Saturday. There's nothing like a busy first-week of school to
help you appreciate a quiet Saturday. We don't have one thing planned.
Except another giveaway.

For today's giveaway, my friends at Martha Stewart are offering the winner their fun new book Favorite Crafts for Kids. This isn't a small, 24-project book. Rather, there are 175 projects included. I admit, my copy of this new book hasn't arrived yet, so I can't give you the play-by-play. But, everything the Martha Stewart company creates is absolutely lovely. I'm sure that Favorite Crafts for Kids is no exceptio

And Potter Craft makes beautiful, beautiful books. I met with them at Random House in New York City on this trip.
I thought I was having lunch with one person and found myself in a
board room with a whole team. The same team that brings us this playful
new book from Martha. That's another untold story. A positive one.

My Charlotte is wildly into crafts
and I'm excited to see what she does with Martha's big book of ideas.
If you don't have kids, let this prize give you a good headstart on
holiday gifts or add it to your personal library for rainy-day
inspiration. A $25 value.

Comment to enter today's contest. Be sure to include your email
address
so we can contact you if you win. You don't have to type your email
address into the body of the comment if you entered it in email-address
field on the comment form, as I can access info from the form
behind-the-scenes.

Today's giveaway will close at 11:59pm PST on Saturday 8/10/13. Watch for the winner to be announced within a day or
two at the bottom
of the post. For more info on my August giveaway madness, click here. Please
share the word. Check back every day. (My actual birthday is Monday, so watch for a big prize that day.)

Good luck!

xo—Heather

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