Giveaway from Jerusha Hawkins - French Film Purse!

[Unrelated to this post news: Guess who just had her gallbladder removed? That's right, that means I've lost 2 organs in less than a year. Gaggg....]

Jerusha from Jerusha Design emailed me a while ago wondering if I'd like to giveaway one of her creations, and I jumped at the chance! She makes some super interesting and creative purses out of old film, and will be giving away one featuring an eiffel tower to one of my readers!

(I had to have a black and white picture of this purse - the combination of film and paris just screamed old theatre to me. You can scroll down to see a color picture at the bottom!)

Here is what Jerusha has to say about herself:

Hello! my name is Jerusha Hawkins. I am a full time wife and full time mother of one beautiful 18 month old girl named Nazarie. When i was 16 i got my first job at a movie theater in my town and i fell in LOVE with cinema. Everything about it! It was an amazing first job. Well, when we would have old film they would just THROW IT AWAY!! And i remember thinking what a waste it was because to me it had some real beauty to it. I started taking the film home and for a little while it just sat under my bed. Finally i really decided i wanted to put it to use I started by making a film purse it took forever and and wasn't anything too special. Over the years, im now 23, i have come up with a design that I love and really excited about and i hope you are excited about it too!

Here are some other examples of her awesome work:

And here is another picture of the giveaway prize! You can also see more of her work in her etsy shop.

Also, a quick note: I LOVE hosting giveaways for other new bloggers. If you're interested in me hosting a giveaway to you, send me an email with your ideas!

Now, how to enter:

1) Follow my blog if you don't already

2) Follow Jerusha's blog (use the link at the top)

3) Leave a comment with your name and a way to contact you

Also, for one extra entry, visit Jerusha's etsy shop and leave a comment with your favorite item!

Bundt Pan GIVEAWAY!!

Here it is - the bundt pan giveaway!!

I used this pan last night to make an amazing pumpkin cake.. it was the easiest thing ever and delicious. I absolutely LOVE this pan - it worked better than any bundt pan I've ever used!!

From now until Christmas Eve I'll be posting recipes, along with my reviews of them, to be used with a bundt cake pan. I've picked ones that are perfect for the holiday season, so hopefully they'll be good for Christmas baking.

For more info on this pan, check out this post.

The giveaway will end on Christmas day - think of it as my Christmas gift to you :)

Now, for the rules. Read carefully!

You can enter 1, or 2 times.

For 1 entry: Leave a comment and follow my blog! If you don't have a blogger profile for me to find your email address on, leave your address as well.

For 2 entries: Leave a comment, follow the blog, and link back from your blog!

Bundt Pan Specs

I realized after posting last night that I should've given some more info on the cake pan I'll be using for my recipe reviews and giveaway, so here it is!

Part of the reason why I chose this particular pan was because it was inexpensive. I hate it when I see bloggers review things that they have gotten for themselves or for a giveaway that is out of a normal person's price range. Really, who'se going to go buy that after seeing the review? And then you get so excited about something, only to go to the website and find that to get that item you'd have to sell your house/car/kids. So, I wanted to pick something that was reasonable.

How reasonable you ask? $14.99. Not bad, eh?

Here's the rest of the info on this pan:

Nordicware Natural Commercial 2 Piece Angelfood Cake Pan

Made of even heating, rust proof aluminum and galvanized steel wire around the rims for added strength, bakers agree that aluminum is best. A removable bottom for easy cake removal.

Features:

• Constructed of aluminum
• Cooling feet
• Lifetime warranty
• 9.4" x 9.4" x 4.25"

Tell me what you think - do you like this idea? How would you use this pan?

Have Holiday Baking to Do?

I know it's been a while; school has been eating my time and soul. I am on break for the holidays now though, and have a few projects planned!

A while ago I mentioned that I was approach to do a giveaway for the CSN stores. I decided to get 2 bundt cake pans, as I've been wanting to do more baking for the holidays. That means one for me to test and review, and one to give away to one of you!

I've been collecting a set of recipes (I'm thinking 3 to 5) that I will try making, baking, and reviewing, and then after all of the reviews are in I'll do the giveaway.

ALSO, here's the most important part. If you have an amazing recipe for a bundt cake that you love, send it to me at the email listed under my about me section with the subject 'bundt recipe' and I'll feature you on my blog!

Here's the pan I'll be giving away:

I was contacted a while back by a representative from CSN (that online store where you can get pretty much anything - a bar stool (which I want for the breakfast bar I will someday have in my post-graduation apartment), other furniture, clothing, baking stuff, you name it!), asking if I'd be interested in reviewing a product of theirs on my blog. I was told I could either get a free product from them or pick something to give away. Well, I couldn't just pick something for myself of course, but I thought it'd be kind of boring to just do a giveaway.

So, here's the deal. I'm getting 2 of something from CSN - one for me to review and do some tutorials with, and then one to give away!

What is it you ask? A bundt cake pan. Sounds kind of weird for a sewing blog, right? When I originally started this blog however I wanted it to be a mix of different creative pursuits, and I've been getting the baking itch lately. So, I'm going to come up with a series of tutorials/recipes of awesome and yummy things you can make in this pan, and then after I show you all how to make them I'll hold the giveaway!

What do you think? Interested?

I already have some awesome guest posters lined up, so keep checking back - the first one will go live on Wednesday!

The Hera Shirt GIVEAWAY - Closed

Here is my latest giveaway!

I am REALLY excited about this shirt, and I hope you guys enjoy it!

This one-shoulder, greek-style top is named after the greek goddess Hera, who for very complicated reasons I won't go into is associated with peacocks. Hence the beautifulturquoisecolor.

This beautiful, very comfortable shirt can be worn 3 ways (shown below) and can fit a size xs to a large.

There is one difference between the shirt I'm giving away and the one in the picture. The giveaway shirt has a band of the same fabric around the bottom, because I felt it was a little too short. If you don't want that band there, you can simply cut it off!

Now, for the rules. Read carefully!

You can enter 1, or 2 times.

For 1 entry: Leave a comment and follow my blog!

For 2 entries: Leave a comment, follow the blog, and link back from your blog!

The Red Bow Skirt Giveaway!!! - CLOSED

Who'se ready for another giveaway? I must admit, when I first completed this skirt I wasn't so very fond of it. It's grown on me though; I love it for it's bright cherry redness, it's cuteness, and oh my - it's comfort. Most skirts that you wear on your waistline seem uncomfortable to me- too tight in an area that wants no tightness. This skirt is great because it has the wonderful tie - it makes all the difference!

We took pictures of this skirt the morning after a friend of mine's wedding. It was held in the most beautiful location; I knew we had to go back to that area for some pictures. It was my first time being a bridesmaid, and it was such a beautiful wedding with a sunset reception!

I'd like to make a little shout out to my wonderful photographer. You can definitely tell when I take the pictures and he does. Frankly, I suck and he's pretty much awesome. Unfortunately, for the rest of the summer you're stuck with me and my photography. Long distance...sigh....

Anyway, to my photographer: Thank you, and I love you.

Now, for the rules. Read carefully!

You can enter 1, 2, or 3 times.

For 1 entry: Leave a comment and follow my blog!

For 2 entries: Leave a comment, follow the blog, and link back from your blog!

For 3 entries: Do all of the above, and make a guess as to where I'm living this summer! Here's your hint:

Tank Dress Giveaway!!! - CLOSED

Finally, here it is-my very first giveaway item!! I'm so excited about it and hope you all love it as much as I do (I was so tempted to keep it once I finished)!

I call it the "Dorothy" dress. :)

This tank dress features a white ribbed-knit top and a gingham skirt, attached with wide white elastic. It has a gingham bow attached to one shoulder and white pleats decorating the front of the top. The skirt is french-seamed, so there are no exposed raw edges in it.

It should fit a small to a medium. I am modeling it in these pictures, and the elastic sits around my waist without stretching. It fits me very comfortably, though it might be a bit to large on anyone smaller than me. The tank top part of the dress is sized a medium, if that helps.

The measurement of the elastic unstretched is 27 inches, and FULLY stretched (note, this would not be very comfortable to wear!) is 44 inches. My waist measures 25 inches, so I believe it will fit a waist of 24 - 40 inches. HOWEVER, this is simply my estimate - it depends on your comfort level.

Here is a close up of the bow on the shoulder - I realized that the full-length pictures didn't show it off very well. Also, a close up of the pleats before they are stretched.

Rules for Entering:

There are 3 easy things you need to do to enter the giveaway:

1) Become a follower of my blog

2) Create a post linking to it on your own blog.

3) Leave a comment with your email address and the link to the post on your blog that has the link to my link (ha ha, does that make sense??)

This counts as one entry. You can get one extra entry by adding a picture of the dress to your link!

If you have any questions or difficulty with any of this, send me an email or leave a comment and I'll get back to you within the day.

The duration of this giveaway is somewhat flexible. I'm thinking a week or possibly even two, but you can enter as long as the post heading says ACTIVE instead of CLOSED.

Good luck!!

Giveaway update and sneak peak at a new tutorial!

The tank dress that I'll be giving away has been taking me a little longer to complete than planned - partly because I can only sew in 5 minute increments with resting periods in between! But I recover more and more each day, so hopefully I will soon be back to sewing for hours :)

The dress will be finished tomorrow morning, and I will be taking pictures of it then if I can find some models. I tried to make it a size that I thought would fit the most amount of people, while still being able to wear it myself (to check that all is right as I go along). Therefore, it is sized a 'medium', but can also fit a small and can stretch to fit a small large, possibly. I'll have more exact measurements when I post it.

I'm excited to hear what you guys think of it!

Also, the tank tutorial is still coming (I'm thinking after the giveaway), as is a new tutorial on a dress I'm calling the "seaside" dress. It is inspired by this dress I saw at Modcloth:

What do you think?

Tank dress tutorial & giveaway

So, I wrote the tank dress tutorial last night, and was planning on posting it. However, then I thought... maybe I should wait until after the giveaway? I'm not sure- I'd like some input! I taught my sister, who has done some sewing but not a ton, how to make one yesterday and used it for the tutorial. Here's a picture of how it turned out:

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the aqua tank top picks up the colors of the aqua flowers in the skirt beautifully. Guess what her favorite color is??

Tank Dress GIVEAWAY teasers ;)

Hello ladies!

I'm still confined to bed, but tomorrow morning I am taking a little outing to the FABRIC STORE!! And I am beyond excited about it.

This also means I will be picking out the fabric for my upcoming tank dress giveaway. I am so excited about this, but am a little concerned about getting people interested in it. So, if you're interested, comment and let me know!!

Here are some pictures of 'tank dresses' that I've been seeing in some awesome places (modcloth, anthropologie, etc...) that I will be keeping in mind. Which one is your favorite??

Grandpa's Shirt refashion - Tank top dress (tutorial!!) & GIVEAWAY??

I knew I had to wear one specific shirt of my grandpa's in Hawaii. It's very tropical and he wore it there often. However, I have very pale skin and orange tends to totally suck the life out of me. So, I didn't want to make a shirt or anything that would be close to my face with this particular hue!! I wore it as a bathing suit coverup (hence the black underneath!), so I didn't get the best pictures. But oh well.
After thinking on it a while, I decided that maybe pairing it with white would result in something wearable - and it was! Not only that, but I found the easiest, best way to make a quick dress on the cheap!
I am so, SO excited about this dress because of the potential it holds. As soon as I've recovered enough to start sewing, I think I'm going to make about 10 million more of these dresses. And, to share the love, I'll be posting a tutorial of the very next one I make! I promise, you'll absolutely love the easiness and comfort of it! So check back soon!


ALSO - I'm thinking about making one of these as my very first giveaway!! I've always wanted to do one, but since I don't have an incredible amount of time for blogging I never got around to it. If I can get enough people interested in it, I'll do it! Comment if you'd be interetested in entering! :)