Winter Leggings

Somehow, someway, all the stars have aligned so that I could bring you today's post.

The first thing that happened....I pinned this image of these very cool winter leggings.

                                                      Source: ebay.com via Etcetorize on Pinterest

Next, McCalls came out with some new patterns and this leggings pattern caught my eye:

M6173

After that, Wholeport Crafts contacted me and asked if I'd like to order something from their website for FREE and write a post about how I used it.  Ummmm, yeah, I can do that!

And here's what I came up with!

 

Even though we're having what's considered a heat wave here, it's still FREEZING COLD outside, and will be for several months. I think these cozy, comfy, stylish leggings should come in handy.

It's taking me some time to get used to wearing so much pattern on my legs but like I said, they're so comfy I don't care.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the fabric.  It took hardly any time at all to get here from overseas and it's very good quality.  I've seen this type of fabric in stores and it's usually quite thin and 'chemically' feeling, not this stuff.  It's double knit, thick, soft, and sews easily.

Check out Wholeport Crafts for a wide assortment of craft supplies, fabrics and lace, and even baking supplies!

Would you wear patterned leggings?  Have the fates come together for you recently?  Leave a comment below~

*I recieved the fabric used for free however this is not a paid post and all opinions are my own.

This project was featured here:

Blogging Mentor

Even though I've been blogging for over two years I still feel like I have so much to learn.

I want to make changes to my blog but I'm nervous, because I'm so comfortable with it the way it is...but things are pretty slow moving around here when it comes to attracting new followers.

So, that's why I'm signing up for One Artsy Mama's Blog Mentoring program!


Topics covered will include Blog Design, Branding, and Blog Promotion/Growth, specifically focusing on aspects like improving your photos, where and how to submit your ideas, finding your own voice, etc.  

These are all things I can learn more about.

The cost is only $20, unless you do a little promo post like this, then you can get 50% off!

So, for only $10 you can recieve the weekly assignments and get one on one feedback from Amy at One Artsy Mama from the end of January until the end of April.  That's a lot of bang for your buck!

Check it out for yourself and see if you want to come along for the ride!

Back in Business

You may or may not have noticed that my Vintage Pattern Shop on Etsy has been a bit low on stock lately.

For those of you who have a life, run a blog, try to keep up with Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest you can probably relate when I say, sometimes I just need a short break.  And this past year it was from Etsy.

But, it's a new year, and guess what... I have new stock!

Yes, I forced myself to go through my cabinet and release more patterns.  I love these patterns so much that it's really difficult to let them go, but the reality is, that even if I wanted to, even if I did have the time, I just couldn't get around to making them all.  So, it's time to let them go to new homes to others who love vintage patterns as much as I do.

Here's a sample of some of the "new" patterns:

I've even got a couple for those of you expecting a new addition to the family this year!

For those of you who have never visited, I specialize in smaller sized patterns mostly from the 70's but you never know what you'll find there.  Click over to the shop to see what other treasures you can uncover!

Personalized Tea

Some of the ladies in my family have very stressful lives.  These cute little personalized tea bags each have an affirmation to help them get through the day and look on the bright side of the tea cup~

Here's what you need to make your own:

Materials:
-pretty papers (one sheet of two sided patterned and one sheet of plain)
-Mod Podge and sponge brush
-tea (if you can find the tea that's already on a string that's best.  That way you don't have to add your own.)
-if you don't have a cutting machine you'll also need a pen and scissors

1) This project is sooooo easy but does require a tiny bit of prep work.  First, you need to decide what you want your tea bags to say.  I used positive affirmations but you could send more personal messages, love notes, or anything else you want!

I'll share mine with you to get you started:

Have fun, play with fonts, colours, and sizes.  I use my Silhouette machine to write them all out into cute little frames and then cut them out, but you can still do it old school and just use simple shapes.

Here's what they looked like all cut out:

2) Cut out small squares of pretty scrapbooking paper to use as your background.  It's best if you use two sided paper.  Your squares need to be just a bit bigger than the ones you made above, see pic #2 below.

3) Take your teabags out of the box and unwind all of the tags.  I had to trim mine just a bit.

4) Apply some Mod Podge (or other adhesive) to the back of one of your text pieces, and place the tea bag tag on top.

5)  Add just a bit more glue onto the tag you just added and place the whole thing onto one of your background papers.

6) Now just repeat until you've tagged all of your tea!

It's that easy!  I also recovered the boxes that the tea came in to make it a bit prettier.  If I had more time I would've use a nice wooden box or something more special (yes, I was a last minute crafter again this Christmas).

My 'new agey' affirmation type ways can be a bit much for my family and I was expecting a lot of rolling eyes on Christmas morning when these were opened but they went over surprisingly well.  These would make a great Valentines gift too!

What would you like your tea bags to say to you every morning?  Leave a comment below~

Fun Time Waster

Here's a fun website for anyone else, besides me, who's avoiding taking down all those Christmas decorations:

Daily Makeover

If you like playing with make-up and new hairstyles it's a fun place to check out the latest styles.

If you've ever wondered what you'd look like with a certain celebrity look, you can find out!  Just upload a pic of yourself and try on hairstyles, colours, make-up, and accessories all day long~

I'm a bit surprised at how cute some of the short styles look!  But the Katie Perry blue hair is definitely out~

Check it out and have some fun with it.

What style above do you like the best?  Should I go for it and change up my style?  Leave a comment~

Diana Ross Top

I've been meaning to tell you about this fabulous book for ages but I wanted to make sure I tried one of the patterns first....which took me a little longer to get around to than I thought it would.

This book is sort of old news by now, but it's still worth telling you about.

The book has loads of patterns in it, 10 basic dresses each one with several variations.  The down side is that it's one of those books where you have to trace the patterns out but most of the dresses don't have a crazy number of pieces so it's not so bad.

The dresses aren't exact replica's, only inspirations.  You can make dresses from throughout history from Bette Davis, Rita Hayworth, and Marilyn Monroe's iconic pieces through the '60's with Twiggy, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Audry Hepburn, into the my favourite era, the '70's with Farrah Fawcett, Diana Ross, and Stevie Nicks, right up to the '80's with Madonna.

I started with the Diana Ross inspired dress but made it into a top.  It's still pretty flashy and I'll obviously wear something underneath it, but I couldn't resist that gorgeous disco vibe.

Here's my version.  Not quite so flashy without all those gorgeous sequins but I love the sleeves.

Have you made anything from this book?  Which famous frock would love to make?  Leave a comment below!