.:Showcase Saturday:.

This week has been crazy busy for me, so I'm super shocked that I'm actually getting Showcase Saturday features up.

You can be amazed, too. 

Especially because you guys ARE amazing! I'm always blown away by the projects, and have such a tough time narrowing it down to what I share with you. 

Let's get to it, shall we?

Make Your Own Washi Tape

Chevron!

Bunny Bunting Banner

Kimono Sleeves Tunic

Candy Sushi

Be sure to grab a featured button if I showcased your idea today! 

Have a great weekend!

.:Giveaway Winner - As You Wish Design:.

Have you been waiting to hear who won the $50 credit to As You Wish Design? Wait no more!

.:Tutorial Tuesday - Ombre Ribbon Tunic:.

Ombre is super trendy right now, so I was excited to find a way to work this trend into my sewing. I think this tunic is fun with it’s mostly monochromatic look, while still incorporating the ombre trend and some different textures.

My inspiration piece was found on Pinterest from Mod Cloth, and I tweaked it to fit what I was looking for.

The Ribbon Retreat offers so many different supplies; it was super fun browsing around for what to use. 

Here’s what I settled on:

- Lilac Lattice fabric from Aviary line

- Moonstitch ribbon in Deep Purple

- Grosgrain Ric Rac in Violet

- Double ruffle ribbon JKM in Light Orchid

- Twill ribbon in Lavender

- Satin/grosgrain combo in White

- Tulle in Pansy

- Thread in Amethyst

To make this tunic, you can definitely use a pattern you already have. That makes it much easier! But if you don’t have a pattern to use, you can start off by grabbing a shirt in the size of the tunic you are making. In my case, it is 4T. Measure the width of the shirt.

Mine was 11 inches.

I knew I wanted this to be loose and flowy, so I doubled my width and added a couple extra inches. This part is just a preference; do it to the width of your liking. Same goes for length! I like to cut my fabric on the fold, starting with the length. This saves a step later when you only have to hem up one side! Cut out some arm holes, making sure they all match up! This is another place where a pattern comes in handy!

Hem up the bottom of your tunic.

Measure from just underneath the arm pit to the bottom hem. Divide it by how many ribbons and trims you are planning on using to find out the equal measurements between ribbons. (For a fun alternative, you could do them gradually smaller or larger instead).

Use a fabric marker and your ruler to draw lines on the entire width of the fabric where you will be sewing your ribbons.

Pin your first ribbon in place.

Sew the ribbon in place. For wider ribbon like this, I sewed along the top and the bottom of the ribbon so that it doesn’t get all flipped up in the wash.

Repeat for your remaining ribbons.

Now it’s tulle time! The tulle comes on a spool, so I just un-rolled A LOT of it. I’d say as a general rule of thumb, if you want your tulle to be about as gathered as mine, to go between 4-6 times the width. I just eyeballed it, you can always cut any extra off if it’s too long! I folded the tulle in half, and gathered it along the folded edge, so that the raw, open edges would be coming out from the bottom of the tunic.

Pin the tulle in place.

I top stitched the tulle down, going back over my original hem line.

Now it’s time for sleeves. You’ll need to cut two sleeves to the length and width you want. There should be matching arm holes cut out of the sleeves. Pin the sleeve to the tunic, right sides together, and sew along the arm hole. Attach the other side of the sleeve to the back of the tunic. Finish your edges to prevent fraying.

When your sleeves are attached, you’ll need to hem up the one side of your tunic, starting with your sleeve. Sew all along that edge to the bottom hem. Finish your edge.

At the top of the tunic, create a casing for the elastic to gather at the neckline. Leave a two to three inch opening in the back to insert your elastic. Cut the elastic to your desired length, and use a safety pin to guide it through the casing. Overlap the elastic ends one inch and sew. Sew up your casing.

And you are done!

What do you think?

I love the variations on color, but also the monochromatic look that you get. Plus, the different textures and sizes give the tunic a funky look.

I think my three year old liked it, don’t you?

She was pretty excited to wear it; it makes sewing so much fun when she gets excited about what I make for her!

It looks like she’s posing, huh? She’s really just tolerating the picture taking while straining to watch T.V. Just keeping it real.

One more for good measure.

Linking up here:

Sugar Bee - Craft Edition

Topsy Turvy

Today's Creative Blog

Funky Polkadot Giraffe

My Craftie Life

Blue Cricket Design

Shanty 2 Chic

Someday Crafts

Seven Thirty Three

Whimsy Couture

Trendy Treehouse

Sew Much Ado

Creations By Kara

Somewhat Simple

Crystal's Craft Spot

It's Fun to Craft

Fingerprints on the Fridge

Lil' Luna

Night Owl Crafting

Fireflies and Jellybeans

504 Main

Creation Corner

Naturally Me Creations

Kojo Designs

Tip Junkie

Life In My Pj's

The Train to Crazy

Katie's Nesting Spot

What Allie's Making Now

Mommas kindacrafty

Be Different, Act Normal

A Vision to Remember

Craft Envy

A Little Lovely

I Heart Naptime

All Thingz Related

Creative Jewish Mom

Under the Table and Dreaming

Women Who Do It All

Peppermint Plum

A Glimpse Inside

Young Nester

Not Just A Housewife

The Creative Crate

Thirty Handmade Days

Oops, I Craft My Pants

The Idea Room

Every Creative Endeavor

Positively Splendid

Oopsey Daisy
Rae Gun Ramblings

.:Giveaway - 5 Berries Sewing Patterns - CLOSED:.

** GIVEAWAY CLOSED **

My name is Sumo and I’m a pattern-a-holic.

So, when I was contacted about hosting a giveaway for 5 Berries Sewing Patterns there was really only one answer.

Oh, yeah!

I know I say it all the time, but I adore sewing. I love buying fabric. I love buying patterns. I love creating something for my kids. And I especially love how excited my older two get about what I make them now.

It makes me happy to be able to help share that with some of you. And the best part about today’s giveaway? There are more than one winner! Bonus!

So, let me show you a few of my favorite patterns from 5 Berries.

Olga Hoodie

Paris Romper

Jessica Skirt

Olivia Dress

Madrid Pants

I could probably just list every pattern from the 5 Berries site, but I’ll let you do some browsing of your own!

Want to hear what’s up for grabs?

1st Winner: $56 worth of patterns (approximately 8 patterns) for ONE winner

2nd Winners: $22 worth of patterns (approximately 3 patterns) for TWO winners

3rd Winners: Everyone who does a Facebook shoutout will receive a coupon code for 30% off – which means that everyone can be a winner!

Here’s how you can enter to win:

(Each comment requires a separate entry).

MANDATORY

1. Visit 5 Berries and comment back with some of your favorite patterns.

EXTRA

2. Post on Facebook about this giveaway (leave me a link!) This also gets you your 30% coupon code!

3. Tell me who you’ll be sewing for!

This giveaway will run through Monday, April 2nd at 11:59 p.m. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, April 3rd. It will be YOUR responsibility to check back and see if you’ve won.

.:Market Yourself Monday–Ombre Ribbon Tunic:.

Happy Almost Monday!

Whew, what a weekend we had! Talk about busy!

First, let’s talk Hunger Games. What did you all think? I thought it was well done, and stuck pretty close to the book. But that being said, I can read about mystery and murder and stuff like that all day long, but I don’t totally love watching it. I’m glad I saw the movie once, but I probably won’t be watching it again. And I’m sure I’ll watch the next movies for the other books, too, and I’ll feel the same way again.

But the main part of my weekend was throwing the popcorn party for this beautiful little girl.

She actually turns two tomorrow, but we had fun celebrating her with our family and friends. I’ll do another post on the party, but I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Throw in a little house hunting, and staying up until one the nite before the party making popcorn, and I’m basically wiped out. In a good way.

So, this week I’m just going to be sharing a project I originally shared on The Ribbon Retreat blog a couple of weeks ago: this ombre ribbon tunic.

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out! I’ll show you how I made it tomorrow.

Before we start the party, just a couple of reminders.

First of all, I just wanted to remind you about the giveaway at Your Vantage Photography. I’m confused as to why no one is entering it. I know a lot of Utah people read this blog! This is a killer deal! Even if you don’t live here, but know you’ll be traveling here at some point, you can still enter. You get a photo session, a cd of edited images, as well as a $40 print credit. That’s a $225 value! Get on it people!

I also put up a giveaway on Friday that may have been overlooked. If you love reading, and love young adult fiction, then this one is for you! Go check it out!

Now it’s time to party! Tutorials, crafts, recipes, shops, giveaways – we’re pretty open, just link back pretty please!

PS – Check back tomorrow for another giveaway!

Get your link on!

Linking up here:

Tools Are For Women, Too

The Girl Creative

Craftomaniac

Mad In Crafts

Keeping It Simple

Making The World Cuter

It's So Very Cheri

Texas Monkey

Baby Makin(g) Machine

Miss Crafty Pants

Sew Chatty

Simpsonized Crafts

Dittle Dattle

The $500 Wedding

Skip To My Lou

Brassy Apple

.:Giveaway–WATCHED - CLOSED:.

** GIVEAWAY CLOSED **

I’m a total book worm. There’s not much better than finding a book so good that you just can’t put it down.

My problem is that I often feel that way about books! I love reading, and love getting engrossed in a story.

So of course, I was thrilled when Cindy Hogan contacted me about reviewing a copy of her sequel to her first book: Protected.

I love reading series because I hate to say goodbye to characters, and usually don’t want the story to end. I was excited to see where Cindy had picked up with her characters.

Here's what the back of the book says:

She has the guy. The terrorists have been taken care of and she has a shot at becoming popular.
Life is great!
Until they find her.
Now she must run and leave behind everything she knows,
including herself.

Protected was a great read! It was exciting, and pulls you right back in where you left off from Watched. There were the teenage trials that most of us can relate to, as well as the suspense of the storyline. Danger and excitement, plus hope that good will prevail – add in a bit of romance, and what’s not to love?

If this sounds interesting to you, then you’re going to love the giveaway for today. Cindy is going to be giving away FIVE copies of her first book Watched, as well as ONE signed copy of her first book Watched. That’s six winners! Then you’ll be ready to pick up Protected once you get done!

Here’s how you can win:

(Each entry requires a separate comment).

MANDATORY

1. “Like” Cindy’s page on Facebook.

EXTRA

2. Sign up to receive the newsletter on Cindy’s blog. 

3. Share your favorite genre of book to read (young adult, historical fiction, sci fi, etc.)

4. Recommend a book for me to read!

With Protected coming out tomorrow, there are going to be some fun launch parties going on! If you’re around the Barnes & Noble in Layton, or the Costco in Bountiful, you’ll want to head over! On top of Cindy and other authors there signing books, there will be games, cupcakes, and door prizes. Party!

This giveaway will end on March 31st at 11:59 p.m. MST. It will be YOUR responsibility to check back and see if you’ve won!

.:Potted flowers & iBulb:.

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of iBulb for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

We all love for our homes to look and feel nice. With spring coming in right now, one of the best ways to do this is with flowers!

Bulbs are a great way to get an easy fix. No complicated planting instructions, and the best part? They last! Easter and Mother's Day are just around the corner, and what better gift to give than something your gift receiver can enjoy over and over? 

Along with making a great gift, this is also a great beginning planting activity to do with your kids. Bulbs are so simple to use; you literally just dig where you want the bulb to go, drop it in, and you're done! I know my girls would love getting in on something like this. It would be really neat for them to be able to see the fruits of their labors, as the flowers grow.

I love the idea of potted bulbs because you can easily make this match the decor in your home. There are tons of great pot options these days, or better yet, get your craft on and create a pot to match your home using paints and a stencil. The possibilities are amazing! 

 

Bulbs also make a great centerpiece. Spring is a popular time for weddings and showers, so something like this would fit perfectly: a centerpiece that is the favors! Perfect! Wouldn't you love to take one of these babies home with you? 

 

 

Bulbs are easy to come by. You can find them in garden centers and flower shops, but assuming that most of you are like me and like to get as much done in one stop as possible, your best bet might be your local grocery store. That's convenient!

iBulb is a Dutch foundation that is committed to growing the Dutch bulb sector. As a result, their site is going to be offering lots of different planting information for us to benefit from. It should be noted that iBulb is not a bulb supplier.

.:Silhouette Chalkboard Vinyl:.

I was excited when I got a chance to try out the new Silhouette chalkboard vinyl. It was a happy day when the UPS man rang my doorbell to deliver it.

I’ve been wanting to get my craft supplies organized, and I had just the idea of how to use the chalkboard vinyl to help me do it.

 

 

I’ve been starting to collect glass jars to store my crafting supplies in. We’re hoping to move soon, and I’m really hoping to have my own craft room. Which meant that I needed a new system that doesn’t involve Ziplock bags.

 

 

So the supplies have started going into the jars, and now the jars have some lovely labels that I made using Lucy II and the chalkboard vinyl. I wrote the labels on using a chalkboard marker, which is so much nicer than using traditional chalk.

 

 

And the best part it, I can switch supplies out if I need a bigger or smaller storage solution, and just re-label!

 

 

I’ve got some other ideas for the chalkboard vinyl once we get into another house that hopefully has a play room. Wouldn’t it be fun to have it on the wall as a little art area for your kiddos?

 

 

What would you use chalkboard vinyl for?