Bella Pouch Pattern Review & GIVEAWAY

Hello friends!

I haven't been around much, busy with the kids and life. I'm so happy to be here today with a pattern review & giveaway for you. Bonnie from Pink Stitches was so kind to send me her pattern for the Bella Pouch to review & giveaway one to a lucky reader!

Ever since I saw this pouch I pictured it in this chicken & rooster fabric I had. I think it's fun and cute. It holds my camera perfectly with room to spare for other items, if I had a second camera I would have taken a picture to show you.

I paired it with this ric rac fabric because it had the green, aqua, red and brown. Don't you love those roosters? I had to fussy cut to get the rooster on in the corner and didn't realize his head would be covered. Oops!

For the interior fabric I used a brown & white dot fabric. And the rooster fabric for the pocket {optional}. There are so many ways you can change this pouch up. You can do all the same fabric, two fabrics or three like I did. Really, you could throw in a couple more if you wanted. The inside pocket is optional. And you can add a D ring & wrist strap, but I coudn't find the lobster clip that would be used on the strap.

This pattern was well written, included great pictures of the steps and it's very easy to make. Plus, it only requires 2 or 3 fat quarters, some interfacing & batting. If you haven't used a magnetic snap they are really easy to install and don't require a special tool.

Do you want to make your own? Enter using rafflecopter below, the first entry is mandatory - simply leave a comment telling me which fabrics you think you would use for your own pouch. Everything after that is extra. The giveaway will run from today {7/30/12} through Thursday {8/2/12} and I will announce a winner on Friday!

If you don't want to wait for the giveaway or you don't win {sad face} you can click HERE to purchase the pattern from Bonnie's Etsy shop, Pink Stitches. You can also find Bonnie and what she's up to at her blog Pink Stitches.

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Downton Abbey & Flawed Perfection Jewelry

Hello friends! I am so excited about today's post have have been looking forward to it since being in touch with Megan from Flawed Perfection Jewelry. If you like Downton Abbey or beautifully hand crafted jewelry this post is for you. And there's a special promotion code at the end. :)

Have you seen Downton Abbey? If not, get to your nearest Netflix or Hulu and go watch now. As with many things, I was late discovering it but quickly fell in love. I love the simpler time. My favorite character is Anna. I love the story between her and Mr. Bates. I suppose I picture myself as one of the downstairs characters. Must be all that cooking and cleaning I relate to. ;) If I were a woman of privelege I would be like Sybil. I love her independent, rebellious spirit. Even if it does get her into trouble sometimes. And that is why I chose the Sybil colorway when ordering my necklace. {Mine is the marquise one pictured} It took me some time to decide as they are all so pretty but I loved the pop of color.

Let's welcome Megan to tell us more about her new jewelry line.

Hi, I'm Megan from Flawed Perfection Jewelry. I design sterling silver and gemstone, pearl, and/or Swarovski crystal jewelry. I'm so happy to be on here today to share a really fun line! Welcome to...

I've come up with 7 colorways inspired by the characters and activities of the beloved BBC/PBS series. Each colorway is comprised of 3 colors of Swarovski Crystals. Even if you haven't watched yet (first off, why haven't you?!), I hope you enjoy these fun color combos! Let's meet one of them, the fun and colorful Sybil colorway:

Lady Sybil's colorway has the most obvious inspiration. Her "surprise" pants look was the perfect inspiration, as it shows her spunky spirit and fun personality. This colorway also seems modern, just like Sybil's forward-thinking ideas for the time. These colors fit perfectly with her bold personality.

Source

Here are 2 designs shown in the Sybil colorway. 7 designs are available in all colorways.

I hope that these colorways capture a bit of the colorful fashion of Downton Abbey! My favorite thing about these colorways is that they are a subtle nod to Downton without being dated. As beautiful as vintage jewelry is, a chic, modern piece of jewelry in a special colorway can be fabulous too. I'm also offering FREE shipping on your Dinner at Downton order for the next week. Just use code DOWNTON at checkout.

So, what's your favorite thing about Downton Abbey? Are you as obsessed as I am?

Thanks for having me today! Remember to stop by my blog for a full explanation of all 7 colorways.

-Megan

Thanks to Megan for letting me participate in her promotion! I can't wait to {finally} start on season two of Downton Abbey now that it's available on hulu.com.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Fourth! {a few days late}

It's not often that I have projects done ahead of time so a late 4th of July post really isn't very surprising. ;) Our plans for the holiday changed so many times I can't remember them all now. The day before it turned out that we would be home and I decided to make the kids something patriotic to wear. That night I started on the baby's romper, and had a short list of things to get from the store in the morning. The kids told me what they wanted their flag shirts to look like, I had a different idea in mind for my son but he's old enough to have input and veto my ideas in these situations. Next year I might just surprise him instead of asking. ;)

After shopping, cutting & ironing freezer paper and painting {my oldest did her shirt} I finished up the romper. Then I sent the kids outside to torture them capture the moment with pictures. We spent the day at the carnival. It was a really fun time full of rides, fresh lemonade, cotton candy and funnel cake. There were only a handful of rides that the baby could go on with me so we spent most of the day watching the big kids. It was a hot & humid day and by the end we were all ready to go home to cool down and have a quick dinner before going out to watch fireworks.

I hope you had a fun & festive fourth! It's one of my favorite holidays.

It's hard to tell but my daughter wanted hearts & stars instead of just hearts. My son wanted the flag to wrap around the shirt but I ran out of time. My favorite was the romper that my youngest wore, the pattern is a free download on fabric.com called Hannah's Pillowcase Romper by Create Kids Couture. {click the name to go to the pattern}.  The skirt that my oldest daughter is wearing is from last year, I made it using a $1 handkerchief and white cotton for the band. We all had matching patriotic flip flops and the girls had hairbows as well.

Just for fun here are some more pictures I got of her in the romper. I can't wait to make more of these, I think it would make a sweet gift. This is the second CKC pattern I have used and both I used the same size as what I would buy in the store.

Thanks for visiting!

Linking to:

Just Three {July}

Popping in real quick with a list! I love lists. This is one list linky I've been meaning to participate in for a while but this month I anticipate much busy-ness getting ready to kiss the Army life goodbye and move back into the civillian world. It will be a strange and exciting transition I'm sure.

Meanwhile, I have this sewing machine and piles of fabric calling my name. So to keep me in check and on task I'm making a list of just three things to do this month. You can do more but just three will be plenty for me.


1. Bowls & Borders Blog Hop Did you know that I quilt? I'm still very much a beginner and this quilt will be my first time paper piecing. Why did I sign up for a project with a deadline on something I've never done before? Because I'm crazy. And I love this stacked bowl quilt. I think it would look really cute hanging up in my kitchen. Wherever that kitchen is I'll find a wall space or cupboard front to hang it from. I'm really glad I signed up too because they filled up quickly and had to close sign ups early.

 

 

2. Lydia's diamond quilt/duvet. I don't have pictures to share yet but some months back I started cutting diamonds using Riley Blake's Fly a Kite fabrics {so cute!} and then I stopped. I need to lay the diamonds out, figure out how many more I need {quilt math makes me shudder} and order fabric before it disappears forever. That's all the progress I expect on this quilt this month, but it's important to get the fabric while it's still available.

3. A little quilted something. I can't be too specific about this because the recipient may be reading. ;) But I promised the person who helped choose the name of my etsy shop a prize and well, some months and 200 fb fans later....I still haven't done that. I've thought about it and then well, you know how it goes.

Thanks for visiting! Do you have Just Three this month? Click the button above to visit Tracey. She has some pretty incentive to link up this month!