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    Giveaway Day 30

    ByHeather Bailey

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    StationWagon_300ShortToday, I had the privilege of flipping through an early copy of Kerry Goulder's new book, Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love. The release is set for mid- October, but I got my hands on one of the only two copies Kerry has seen herself.

    That's right, Kerry (aka Kid Giddy) sent me one of her only two copies so I could share the book with you as part of my August HELLO Giveaways celebration. So exciting! Thank you, Kerry.

    My first peek at this charming project book was earlier this year
    when Kerry asked me to write the book's foreword. Over the course of
    several emails back and forth and a couple of phonecalls, I got to know
    Kerry and her concept. Each project in the book is tied to a story and
    centered on four themes, taking us "from a fairy woodland, to the
    coastal waters, to the arctic, and back."

    Pinchy_300ShortKerry
    lives in Maine with the ocean as her neighbor. One of my favorite
    projects in the book is her Pinchy the Lobster character. Coming from
    the land of paisley turtles and floral elephants, there's something about a calico lobster that certainly works for me.

    I also love her station wagon and hipster-camping-trailer pattern
    above. Not only does it wax nostalgic, but here's one car toy that won't
    split your eyebrow open when your toddler attacks. That's a true bonus.
    I've had more than one request from my family to design some soft
    boy-toys suitable for snuggling. Our Evan likes a big reaction. This often translates into experimental hammering on his siblings and parents—especially at bedtime.

    Beyond these great projects, Kerry has also included a dolphin
    pattern, an orca whale, a row boat, a hot air balloon, a teddy bear, and
    an igloo—to name just a few. A wide variety of projects for one book.

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    Join me in congratulating Kerry and KP Craft on their lovely new book. Watch for Sewing Tales to Stitch and Love: 18 Toy Patterns for the Storytelling Sewist to reach your local bookstore or fabric shop this fall and go get yourself a copy. Also, keep up with Kerry on her Kid Giddy blog (she's just beginning to post reveals of her gorgeous new sewing studio), and on facebook, twitter, pinterest, and flickr while you're at it.

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    Today's giveaway winner will receive this early copy of the book—signed by the author and me. Invaluable 🙂 Comment to
    enter. One entry per household. Be sure to include your email
    address
    in the comment form so we can contact you if you win.

    Giveaway closes at 11:59pm PST on Sunday 9/1/13. It's
    a holiday weekend and the final stretch of my giveaway marathon. As
    such, I'm giving you through the weekend to enter so everyone can have a
    decent shot—even those who have found time away from the computer with
    their families! Watch for the winner to
    be announced within the week at the bottom
    of the post.

    For more info on my August giveaway party, click here. Please
    share the word. See you again tomorrow. And Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone.

    Good luck!

    xo—Heather

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    Giveaway Day 10

    ByHeather Bailey

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    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

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    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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  • Pattern & Design

    ByHeather Bailey

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    If you're looking for a fun present for someone artsy in your life, check out this new coloring book from Jenean Morrison,
    another print designer who works with Free Spirit. She published this
    gorgeous thing herself. And it's just that—gorgeous. Every page is a new
    repeating pattern—there's 50 of them—on crisp, white paper, in a thick,
    substantial book—it's not one of those floppy, wussy coloring books
    with newsprint pages.

    I'm a big fan of artsy, craftsy gifts for kids especially during the
    holidays because they come with built-in entertainment. This makes the
    time off from school go more smoothly. And it's not TV or video games.

    I'm giving this copy to Charlotte for Christmas. So, I've gotta go wrap it up.

    If you want one too, as a gift—or for your own self—you can get your copies on Amazon.com. Here's the link. Support an independent artist while you're at it. They are only $12. And stop by Jenean's blog for a hello and a congratulations. Birthing out a book is no small feat.

  • Summer Reading

    ByHeather Bailey

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    I recently asked for book recommendations on Twitter. Here’s a list of what came through. Of course, who knows what literary taste each of these books reflects, but I’m enjoying the adventure of finding out. If you are looking for a summer read, one of these might suit your fancy — but read at your own risk. I don’t know anything about these books.

    • 19 Minutes by Jody Picoult (several people recommended this, but warned that it’s “heavy”)
    • Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
    • The Birth House by Sideshow Ami
    • Charlotte Collins by Jennifer Becton (“if you like Jane Austen”)
    • Christmas Jars
    • Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
    • Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (“anything” by him)
    • The Giving Tree (ha! a kid’s book)
    • The Great Night by Chris Adrian
    • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
    • Mistress of the Art of Death (looks like this is a series)
    • Modoc (this is about an elephant!?)
    • The Red Tent (several people recommended this one)
    • Remarkable Creatures
    • Sarah’s Key
    • The Tailor’s Daughter
    • The Time Traveler’s Wife

    And I’ll add Bossypants by Tina Fey to the list.  I’m curious to see what that one is about.  Has anyone read it?

    Several of these titles were not available at the library yesterday with multiple holds placed on each of the copies — a good sign.  The three I ended up taking home for Round 1 were:  Back When We Were Grownups, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Corrections (by Jonathan Franzen). 

    Thanks to everyone who sent their picks.  I have to read at night to fall asleep, otherwise, my mind invents all sorts of excuses to stay up!  If you have a suggestion or two to add, please share it.  Maybe tell us a little about it.  Twitter does’t afford space for much explanation, does it?  Here you can cast more than 140 characters in the role.



  • Flit & Flutter

    ByHeather Bailey

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    I'm bouncing all over the place this week.  By Tuesday night, I'll be in Concord, North Carolina again for Donna Downey's Inspired Artist event.  While there, I'll be teaching a mini-workshop on Thursday called The Flutterby Flip-Book for which my team has been kitting supplies all week.  Around the studio, stacks of Heather Bailey papers are shuffled together with some beautiful solids from Bazzill Basics.  And we're surrounded by bowls and tubs of colorful ribbons, flowers, clothespins, rhinestones, butterflies, and brads.  Bowls of candy. 

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    Cutest paper project!  Can't wait to show you. (We'll post some extra kits to the Heather Bailey Store later this week.)  If you're in North Carolina, come see me.  Here's where you can sign up for the last couple of seats in the 1pm class.  The 12pm class is completely sold out.

    FlutterbyFlip-8w Let's see, there are some Trash Ties workshops
    late Thursday night as well (at Donna's irresistible urging).  We'll
    probably be somewhat loopy by 10pm, so I'm expecting more of a giggly,
    slumber-party-like setting than anything else.  Everyone in the class
    is getting two sets of Trash Ties and I'll be spending the hour
    teaching how-tos and demonstrating hairstyles. I hear there are a few
    more spaces available in the 9pm & 10pm classes.  If you're in NC,
    sign up!  I'd love to meet you.  Here's the workshop schedule
    where you can get your tickets.  Scroll down to the time-slot you're
    interested in (both are on 5/7), then click the blue & orange 'buy'
    button to read more about the class.

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    On Wednesday, before the workshops, I'll be at the Free Spirit
    headquarters     in Charlotte, discussing fabric, hush puppies, high school (Jeff, the Sales Manager went to the same
    high school     as I – small world), whatever comes up.  It's mostly a
    social visit.  Always fun. 

    FlutterbyFlip-7 Friday, I'll fly back out west to attend a preview weekend for next summer's Creative Escape event.  I'll be crafting along with Heidi Swapp, Tim Holtz, Debby Shuh, and the other Creative Escape teachers
    while we preview our classes to each other and the entire volunteer
    staff.  There should be some fun dinners in there too, I think. 

    Come Saturday night, I expect to flop into bed like an eggy crepe.  

    Perhaps
    my kids will pour some syrup on top on Sunday morning — a smoochy
    reunion.  Isaac's always good at heading up some sort of kid-made
    breakfast-in-bed for Mother's Day as well.  I dream of fuzzy slippers and
    chocolate.

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