Martha Stewart Stitched Giveaway II

OK, I promised you one more Martha Stewart Crafts giveaway so here it is, it's the last one of the month so make sure to get your entries in!

I have one more package of Martha Stewart Stitched paper to give to one very lucky Etcetorizer thanks to EK Success.

Don't forget that this paper pad is full of pretty papers inspired by country quilting.

They're all double sided, medium weight, high quality papers.  Some have glitter, some have a finish on them to make them seem like oilcloth, and several have faux stitch designs.

Everything coordinates perfectly!

I've been making you guys work hard for your entries this month so for this last one I'm going to make things super easy.  Just leave a comment below and tell me what these pretty papers would inspire you to make.  That's it!  Easy peasy.

Deadline for entries is 9:00 PM (Central Time),

Wednesday, June 27th. 

Winner will be announced the following day.

If you're a 'no-reply' blogger make sure to leave me your email address

 so I know how to get in touch with you. 

(Write your email out like this to try to avoid nasty spammers: etcetorize {at} yahoo {dot} ca)

Make sure to check out the Martha Stewart YouTube Channel for loads of great ideas and tutorials!

Did you know that there are loads of you who are 'no-reply' bloggers

and who don't have your blog linked to your profile?

(If you want to change this to make it easier for people to reach you,

just edit your settings in your profile.)

UPDATE:

This giveaway is now closed.

Thank you to everyone who participated!

Martha Stewart Winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in last week's big Martha Stewart Stitched Paper Pad giveaway from EKSuccess!  You guys are awesome~

Before I tell you who the lucky duck winner is, I thought I'd show you a couple more projects I made with this beautiful paper to give you some ideas!

I made some teeny tiny little boxes and gift tags!

What's so special about these teeny tiny boxes????

I followed the design lines and pricked teeny tiny holes into the paper.

Then filled them with lovely potpurri and put them in my drawers

 to make all of my clothes smell pretty!

And this is just a cute little tag. 

 My Silhouette loves this paper so much that I just had to cut something out~

Hopefully my little projects have gotten your creative juices flowing! 

This week's winner is....

Congratulations Terri! 

If you didn't win, don't fret, because I have one more Martha Stewart giveaway coming up that I'll post later today.  Make sure to come back to find out how you can still have a chance to win!

Show and Tell: LBD for Summer

I was going to start off this post by confessing to all of you about my recent weight gain but in the end I decided I better not get into that.  Someone out there will probably be offended because to others I may not appear to have an issue big enough to be a concern.  I'm at the age though where, when you put it on, it's harder than ever to get it off.  Besides, it's all relative, what's normal to you might not be normal to others and vice versa.

So I'll tell you that I made this latest little black dress for fashion, but the reality is that it's just the quickest way I could think of to disguise the little belly I'm creating by eating way too many potato chips lately.  (I'm off the chips now by the way.  I fell off the wagon yesterday, but I'm renewing my commitment to myself to resist the temptation.  It's my biggest vice so this is a major challenge for me.)

You saw my last LBD that I made, but that was more for fall or winter.   This is my summer version, for the office.

See, don't I look super fit and trim!  It's all due to my dress.  You think I joking, but I'm not~ (And no, I'm not wearing Spanx or any other fancy pants new wave version of a girdle.)

It's made from what turned out to be quite a nice T-knit that I picked up from the bargain bin ages ago.

I used New Look 6154.  I don't think it's in stock anymore but it's a nice little basic dress if you ever come across it in the second hand stores.  My dress is supposed to look like the short sleeved red one.

 The whole thing, from cutting to hemming, came in under 2 hours.

A close up of the neck/sleeve line.

I normally find New Look patterns to fit on the large side but this one didn't require any taking in at all...which I guess is to be expected all things considered~

Do you have an LBD?  Does it get much use or is the whole LBD thing a myth in your eyes?  What do you think? (What I really want to know is...what's your biggest craving that you can't resist?!?!  And how do you overcome your cravings?  Tell me so that I know I'm not alone in trying to get this monkey off my back!)

Don't forget, today is the last day to enter to win the

 Martha Stewart Stitched Paper Pad! 

Get your entries in before 9:00 PM, Wednesday, June 20th. 

 There'll be one more Martha Stewart Giveaway this week

 so make sure to check back to find out how you can win!

Sunshine Award

Isn't it nice when someone gives you a pat on the back and says "Good job!"?  Well that's what happened to me recently when the lovely Lauren from The Well Crafted Home let me know that she was sending me the Sunshine Award.  This award is for “Bloggers who positively and creatively inspire others in the blogosphere”!  What a great thing to pass along~

Here is how this award works:

• Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them
• Answer the following 10 questions about yourself
• Select 10 more bloggers, link their blogs to your post and let them know they’ve been awarded the Sunshine Award!
• Don’t forget to copy and paste the award on your blog!

So here goes!  I'll try not to blow your mind with my oh so fascinating life~
1) Fav colour?  I don't like the hurt any of the other colours feelings so I don't really have a favourite, but I'm currently very drawn to peach.  This could change by the time I post this though.
2) Fav animal?  OK, now I seriously can't possibly begin choose.  They all fascinate me, except for the ones with loads of legs and antennae. (Cats and giraffes are probably the coolest but you didn't hear that from me)
3) Fav number?  42-no interesting story here, it just is.
4) Fav drink? Pour me a tall glass of pink lemonade and I'll be pretty darn happy.
5) Facebook or Twitter? OK, I'll be totally honest here, I hate them both.  I can barely find my way around Facebook and I only set a page up for Etcetorize out of peer pressure. And Twitter? I really don't like that it makes me sound like my grandma did when the internet first came out, but...I just don't get it (for the record, I don't think I've ever met anyone who does).
6) Good book or Good movie? Oh, a good book, most definitely!  And when they turn it into a good movie, that's even better.  You can find me as Etcetorize on Goodreads if you want to see what I'm reading.
7) My passion? You probably expect me to say sewing or crafting, but I think it's actually travelling.  People who don't know me very well are often surprised that I'm the kind of person who likes to throw on a backpack and venture off to far away places all by herself and just disappear into a new culture...but I do it, and I've been to over 40 countries so far!
8) Giving or getting presents? Well, that's a hard one isn't it?  But I probably enjoy making and giving presents most, especially to my niece and nephew.
9)  Fav day? The day after I've mowed the lawn.  I have a big yard and it can sometimes take me two hours to mow the lawn.  When I can just go into my yard and enjoy it without having to work on it, I love it and can totally relax.
10) Fav flower? Well, I'm actually allergic to flowers.  People don't believe it until they hand me a bouquet and I instantly start sneezing, coughing, and choking (very pretty I tell you).  I still like them though, the flowers that is, and my garden is full of them.  I would really love to get more tulips in there though.

That's it!  That's me. Now you know everything about me.

And now I get to tell you about 10 wonderful bloggers out there who I think you need to go check out:

Lucija-2 Cut(e) 2 Sew
Adele-Mammy Made
Mie-Sewing Like Mad
Amanda-Simply Homemade
Donna-Distressed Donna Down Home
Kirsten-Craftiments
Lisa-Stuff n Such by Lisa
Amy-A Home Made
Leslie-Leslie Marquez Designs
Jodi-Meaningful Mama

Thank you so much Lauren for including me and for liking Etcetorize enough to tell others about it.  I'd like to say I'd do this even if my mom were the only person following my blog, but really, it's all of you who keep me inspired and creative.

Thank you!  Have a sun shiny day!

Make it Great Monday

Thank you so much for linking up all of your great creative ideas last week everyone!  Here's a sample of some of the wonderful ideas out there in case you didn't do the rounds and check everyone else out.

1. Andrea from The Simple Craft Diaries share and excellent tutorial on how to add interest to an easy t-shirt scart/necklace.
2. Love and Laundry shared a great shows you how to make the perfect summer beach/pool bag from a great looking towel.
3. Amber from Salt Tree showed off her beautiful brooch bouquet, with excellent directions on how to make your own.
4. And, you know I can't resist a good fashin recycle, so go check out the cute skirt tutorial from LauraLynn over at Laura's Bit and Bobs.  Can you tell what her skirt used to be?


If you were featured you can grab a button from the sidebar!

  

Now, once you're done checking out all of those great projects, make sure to link up your own.

We've got two separate parties going on

so make sure you link up to right one.

Please, Please, Please
link to the right party and

don't make me delete your project.

I absolutely hate doing that.

Take a second to read this before you link:

Remember to only link:

1) To your Family Friendly Project Post that you've made yourself, not your main blog page
2) Maximum of 3 projects that you haven't link up before
3) Please, no shops, giveaways, or round ups
4) Feel free to hit one of those Follow buttons on the sidebar ;)

And, not really a rule, but something you won't regret if you do....go visit some of the other links and leave a comment, we all love comments right~
If you link up, please post my button somewhere on your blog

so more people can come join the fun:

<center><a href="http://www.etcetorize.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k554/Etcetorize/2012PartyButton150.jpg"/></a></center>

Let's see what you've been working on!

(Both parties are co-hosted by my friend Gen at Cabin Fevered Gem. If you link up you are giving Gen and I permission to tell the world how great you are and possibly post a picture or a link to your awesome project either here, on Facebook, or on Pinterest. Make sure you're OK with this before you link up.)

MAKE IT GREAT MONDAY PARTY:

for all of your CREATIVE PROJECTS

<center><a href="http://etcetorize.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i1115.photobucket.com/albums/k554/Etcetorize/MotivatedMonthlysalmon150.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket" /></a></center>

Here's what's coming up next...

July: Handmade Jewellery
August: Oh Baby!
September: Natural Materials

MOTIVATED MONTHLY PARTY:

for all of your GARDENING PROJECTS

Did you read the post above?  Did you link the right party?

If you did, congratulations, you get to move on and enter the latest Martha Stewart Stitched giveaway!  Deadline is Wednesday, June 20th so get your entries in now~

Easy Summer Halter

My local thrift shop had a load of great scarves lately, so forgive me for doing two fun scarf projects in a row, but I couldn't resist.

Here's what you need:

-Large scarf (mine is 26" (66cm) square, but you can go bigger if you want)
-scissors
-matching thread
-pins
-1 metre (39") of ribbon, lace, or trim for straps (not shown)
-sewing machine

Steps:
1) Fold your scarf diagonally, right sides together.  Sew a seam on each of the open sides.  Along the top leave an opening of 15" from the right corner and along the side, leave an opening of 7".  I stitched inside of the borders because I didn't want a big white line down my front.  Listen to your fabric and decide how wide or narrow to make your hems, anything goes~

Keep in mind that I'm on the petite side and fairly small busted (or as Blanche Devereaux would say...I have perky bosoms!  I'm in the middle of Season 5 of the Golden Girls right now).  If you're larger on top, adjust these measurements to suit your body.  You may want to leave larger openings at each end.  Experiment by basting your stitches first to see what fits you best.

2) Now the scary part....cut your scarf down the diagonal.  OK, not all that scary, especially if you paid next to nothing for your scarf.

3) Open out your scarf and press the seams.  You'll end up with some little bits sticking out the ends of your seams.

4) Just trim them back to match the edge of your scarf.

5) Hem the raw edges that you cut.  I just did a rolled edge but if you're not comfortable with that or don't have a machine that can do rolled edges just zigzag or serge, turn, press, and stitch down a narrow hem.

I'm not going to go into how to do a rolled hem, because every machine is different.  Just take a look at your manual or google it.  It's super easy and so much nicer than a raw edge.  Unfinished edges drive me insane so I couldn't just leave it, but you can if you're into that sort of thing.

5) The last thing to do is to add your straps.  You can use ribbon or lace or anything at all.  Just cut your 1 metre of whatever you're using in half and attach each end to the corners at the front of your halter.

And Voila!  There you have it!  A new, and super cute halter for summer!

You can even try a super duper big scarf and make it a dress instead of a top.

I have to admit, I wasn't so sure this was going to work but I'm super happy with how it turned out.  I think this just might be my 'go to' top for the summer this year!

I hope you give it a try!  Have you checked out my linky party page lately?  I've added new parties, and that's where I'll be hanging out all week.  Come on and join me!

This project was featured here:

       

            

Happy sewing everyone!  And don't forget, you have until Wednesday, June 20th to enter the Martha Stewart Stitched Paper Pad~