Craft Book Month - Kaleidoscope by Melly & Me

I'm very excited to once again be participating in Craft Buds "Craft Book Month" this year!

I love to buy sewing books, but often forget to pull them off the shelf and create from them as I intended to do when I purchased them. Craft Book Month helps remind me to do just that! You can participate too, and this post will not just include my entry, but also all the links and information to get your on board as well. 

For my project, I've I started with the Melly & Me book, Kaleidoscope and some soft pastel fabrics that have been tucked away in my collection far too long.

This book is PACKED with all kinds of serious cuteness, all enhanced with that delightful Melly & Me style! It was hard to choose which project to start with, but having our friends' new baby girl arrive helped me narrow my choices to the sweet Bumble Bub.

Here's my version...

 I made a matching bib from the tiny star print and backed with Minky to go along with it. :)
This is such a darling little bug and I'm sure to sew it again! The pattern was very easy to follow, straight forward, and I appreciated the unique way it was assembled.

Since I was making one already, it only took a few minutes more to make a second at the same time, so my other little buzzy friend will be donated with our next box for the FLUFF Project and will be the perfect pal for a child in foster care!

Melly & Me has just released a new book and fabric collection called Snug as a Bug, and I can't wait to get my hands on it too! :)

Be sure and check out ALL the Craft Book Month fun and join in!

It's time for the 3rd Annual Craft Book Month at Craft Buds! This year, we're excited to celebrate all month log with a blog hop of your inspirational craft book projects, a crafty contest, free patterns and prizes!

Don't let those craft books sit on your shelf and collect dust! We want to see what you've been making. That's why I've teamed up with some fabulous bloggers who will be showing off their projects made from craft books, all month long!

Blog Hop

Week One
Monday 9/2: Fabric Mutt / LRstitched
Tuesday 9/3: Stitch This! The Martingale Blog / Stitched in Color
Wednesday 9/4: Fabric Seeds / Pile O Fabric
Thursday 9/5: The Feisty Redhead / Rae Gun Ramblings
Friday 9/6: Sew-Fantastic / Clover + Violet
Saturday 9/7: A Prairie Sunrise / Small Town Stitcher

Week Two
Monday 9/9: Hopeful Threads / Go To Sew
Tuesday 9/10: The Sewing Rabbit / Sewing Mama RaeAnna
Wednesday 9/11: Marci Girl Designs / imagine gnats
Thursday 9/12: Sew Sweetness / amylouwhosews
Friday 9/13: Lindsay Sews / 13 Spools
 Saturday 9/14: Inspire Me Grey / Angela Yosten 

Week Three
Monday 9/16: Sew Very / Craftside
Tuesday 9/17: The Littlest Thistle / CraftFoxes  

9/1-9/30: Link up your craft book project at Craft Buds from your blog or Flickr account, and enter to win prizes. Winners will be announced on Tuesday, October, 1!

 

2012 Craft Book Month Projects (L to R):
Sew Crafty Jess, Sewing Rabbit, Stitched in Color, MissKnitta's Studio

To participate in the month-long contest, just link up any project you've made from a pattern in a craft book. That easy! You'll tell us a little about the book, the project, how you personalized it, etc.

Rules

1) One entry per person. 
2) Your craft book project must have been completed in 2013. 
3) Create a new blog post or Flickr photo (dated September 1, 2013 or later) and link back to Craft Buds/Craft Book Month in your post or photo description. In your post or photo description, make sure to list the craft book you used and provide a link if possible.
4) All winners chosen via Random.org. Some prizes available to international winners, so please join us!

Prizes

Visit Craft Buds and link up your craft book project during the window of Sept 1-30 and you'll automatically be entered to win some fantastic prizes from the Craft Book Month sponsors!

No time to make a project? You can also follow Craft Buds all month long for your chance to comment and win some new sewing and quilting books for your library.

 

Hope you have a GREAT WEEK! :)

Threading My Way - Create H.O.P.E. Designs Sew Along Blogger Share!

Today, my bloggy, Aussie friend Pam from Threading My Way is sharing her versions of the Create H.O.P.E. Designs pattern, Faith, Hope & Love Skirts by Red Thread Stitches.

Here's a peek at one of her's....doesn't that lil' pup fabric just make you squeal!?!?!? Too stinkin' cute if you ask me! ;)

Drop by her blog to see ALL THREE skirts she has beautifully sewn and while you're there, you'll want check out all the fun projects she's a part of! I love her Threading Your Way with Threading My Way series and have found so much creative inspiration from the links! Thank you Pam for sewing along, your skirts are perfectly adorable and impeccably sewn....just as I had expected they would be! 

Find the Faith, Hope & Love Skirts pattern in the Create H.O.P.E. Designs shop here.

Remember, all Create H.O.P.E. Designs patterns are only $5 each and the money raised by the sale of the patterns is donated to organizations providing care for some of the most vulnerable children worldwide.

Pattern Revolution - Create H.O.P.E. Designs Sew Along Blogger Share

So excited to have Pattern Revolution sewing along with us this month!

If you aren't already following the sewing insight and inspiration at Pattern Revolution, what are you waiting for??? ;) This site is PACKED with sewing tips, tutorials, pattern reviews and MORE! 

Drop by today and check out their versions of the Create H.O.P.E. Designs patterns, Lucy's Little Flower Tunic....

(LOVING the addition of that sweet SASH too!!! AND, she includes a tutorial for how to make "The Perfect Bow and The Baby Proof Sash!)

....and, the Ruffled Diaper Cover...

CUTENESS!!!!!

Find both patterns in the Create H.O.P.E. Designs shop here!

What Create H.O.P.E. Designs are you sewing??? 

Newest Create H.O.P.E. Designs Pattern, With a Dash of Love Aprons by Fishsticks Designs

JUST RELEASED!!!!

The newest addition to the Create H.O.P.E. Designs pattern collection is the With a Dash of Love -Reversible Aprons for Mom & Her Little Helpers.

Read more about this new pattern and see a bunch of the creative test samples over at the Fishsticks Designs blog here.

Find this incredible pattern for ONLY $5 in the Create H.O.P.E. Designs shop here. 

Dixie the Pony Stuffie - Create H.O.P.E. Designs Sew Along + COUPON!!!

Sharing my first Create H.O.P.E. Designs project, Dixie. This pony pattern is contributed by our friend and sponsor My Funny Buddy. 

 Like all My Funny Buddy PDF patterns, this is a straight forward, easy-to-follow pattern that leaves nothing out! This little pony is quick to put together and a great first sewing project too in my opinion.

Her tail is a loop that can easily be attached to plastic rings to keep her close to a little ones' stroller or carseat. No plastic eyes and such make her perfect for even newborns and depending on the fabrics used, might even just be your tweens favorite stuffed friend too. ;) 

Find the Dixie pattern in the Create H.O.P.E. Designs pattern shop here. 

This image shows Dixie with the adorable saddle blanket rolled and tied at her neck. Pattern and instructions for the blanket included in the pattern. 

Remember, all Create H.O.P.E. Designs patterns are only $5 each and the money raised by the sale of the patterns is donated to organizations providing care for some of the most vulnerable children worldwide.  

+++BONUS COUPON OFFER FROM MY FUNNY BUDDY!!!+++

My Funny Buddy is offering a special coupon for those who purchase ANY pattern from Create H.O.P.E. Designs this month. Simply email My Funny Buddy with your receipt from your purchase and she will respond with a coupon good for $5 in her shop......which would let you get any of the other adorable patterns in her shop for ONLY $1! That includes her newest pattern for the insanely sweet Ghost Family!

Wow!!!! Thanks My Funny Buddy! Here's a peek at some of her other cuteness...that you could get for a buck!

My sweet Dixies have been added to my current FLUFF Project box to be donated to children in foster care. The fabric for my Dixie stuffies was provided by Binkeez for Comfort as they graciously & generously sent me the trimmings from their gorgeous giving blankets!

Get to Know China Little Flower/Little Flower Projects

Today I want to start our month of sewing with explaining the "WHY?" behind our sewing. Let me introduce you to China Little Flower/Little Flower Projects. 

The work of Little Flower Projects was begun by Brent and Serena Johnson in 1995 when they became aware of the great need for specialized care programs for the abandoned children living in China.  In 1998 they began the process of setting up as a registered non-profit in the USA and received 501(c)(3) status in 2000.  Brent and Serena have always donated their time, energy, expertise and resources to the organization and accept no salary or financial compensation for their work.  

Brent and Serena met in China as exchange students in the central province of Shanxi in 1990.  After they were married in the USA, they returned to China and started helping babies, one at a time.  They began with no thoughts of doing this work on a large scale, systematic basis but by 1998 they realized how effective these specialized services  were and had secured funding to open a small 12 bed home for disabled orphans.  From 2004 to 2009 they worked with China Care Foundation to help set up and run a unique set of programs serving disabled orphans in China.  In 2009 they again threw their time and energy into  expanding the work of Little Flower.  In 2011 Brent was invited to join the board of directors of the Beijing Chunmiao Foundation, a registered Beijing-based charity.  In 2012 the Little Flower orphan care projects were fully lodged with Chunmiao but continue to be managed by Brent and Serena and operated by the fantastic Little Flower staff. 

Brent and Serena live in Beijing with their six children.  Brent’s full time job is working as an executive manager for a large international health care company that operates hospitals and clinics across China.  The couple share the responsibilities of supervising the day to day care, medical treatment and education of the Little Flower children, as well as the promotion, fundraising, financial and administrative side of running the organization.   They work with over 160 talented and dedicated Little Flower employees who share the same goal - to make a difference in the lives of abandoned children!

Learn More Here.

Folks, we have an amazing privilege and opportunity to support this beautiful work while doing something we love as much as sewing.....WOW. How lucky are we???

Create H.O.P.E. Designs

 

September 2013 - Monthly Project Announcement

OH MY!!!!

I love what I am privileged to do through Hopeful Threads each month! I get excited about each Monthly Project, but this month, I'm especially PUMPED!!!!! I have been working like crazy behind the scenes to make this an exciting, fun and impact-full month of sewing and am thrilled to finally be able to share all the details with YOU!

For September, we will be having a Create H.O.P.E. Designs Sew Along!!!!

For those not familiar with Create H.O.P.E. Designs, let me proudly introduce you! CHD is the materialized dream of my friend (and 1 of the amazing designers behind Izzy & Ivy Designs!!!) Shasta. She had the incredible idea to bring those within the creative community together in a way that uses something we all share and love, SEWING/QUILTING, to give back to children in need. As soon as I heard the first mention of it, I began stalking her posts awaiting further announcements! I even helped come up with the name! 

My doodles while trying to think of name possibilities.

The CHD pattern collection includes a variety of different patterns from purses, soft toys and quilts to clothing, decorations and MORE! Each PDF pattern is sold for ONLY $5 and the monies raised go to support the work of organizations like China Little Flower, an incredible organization providing care for some of the most fragile of China's orphans. So thankful for their beautiful work!

Create H.O.P.E. Designs has continued to gradually grow and add new designers and we are all hoping that it will just get BIGGER & BIGGER & BIGGER, allowing the impact of those purchased patterns to grow at the same time!

That's where you come in! :)

If you are a pattern designer, I hope you will take a moment to learn more about CHD and find out how you can be a part!!! You can email Shasta directly if you have questions or interest.  

If you are a seamstress or quilter, I hope you will regularly check out the CHD patterns, purchase and use them, and share about them with your friends! If you have a favorite pattern designer, maybe you might even consider messaging them and sharing how you'd love to see one of their patterns in the Create H.O.P.E. Designs collection!

So, in participation with the Monthly Project at Hopeful Threads for September, I invite you to sew along using any of the Create H.O.P.E. Designs patterns! You can get a jump start on Christmas gifts, sew your Little One a new outfit, make one of the stuffed toys for the FLUFF Project :) or even donate your creation to a special fundraiser like Hidden Treasures. Whatever you choose to do, I hope that as you are sewing this month, you will be encouraged and inspired knowing that your purchase and donations are making a difference in the lives of children in need. Thank you in advance!

But the fun just keeps getting SWEETER!!!!

These FAB FOLKS are sponsoring our September Sew Along!

And when I say "sponsoring" I kind of mean SPOILING!!!! ;)

As you sew, be sure and snap a pic of your finished project to share in our September Project Album here. Because.....we have an AMAZING list of prizes to be given away at the end of the month from some INCREDIBLE folks in the creative community who are sponsoring our sew along, and winners will be selected from the photos shared in our album!

CHECK THIS OUT!!!!

Aivilo Charlotte Designs - Winner's choice of 3 PDF patterns!

Cute Quilt Patterns - Posy Patch Quilt Kit (includes pattern & fabrics to make this gorgeous quilt!) 

Fishsticks Designs - Winner's choice of 4 PDF patterns!

Hopeful Threads - A+ Portfolio Kit (includes pattern & fabrics to make this fun project!)

Lilybird Studio - Winner's choice of 3 PDF patterns!

The Mean Princess - MASTER Pattern Bundle! (includes each PDF pattern currently available in her collection!)

My Funny Buddy - 5 PDF Pattern Bundle, winner's choice of designs!

Seamingly Smitten - TWO 3 PDF Pattern Bundles!
Petite Kids Boutique - 2 PDF Pattern Bundle!

Izzy & Ivy Designs - GRAND PRIZE BUNDLE! Garden Party Skirts Pattern Book, Monster Mash Pattern Book, Brooklyn's Boho Beachwear Pattern Book +AND+ $100 Gift Card to Fat Quarter Shop!!!!!

I can hardly sit still I'm so excited!!!!!!! 

Please, take a minute to say a BIG "Thank You" to these sponsors! This Sew Along is going to be even more fun because of them!

 It's time to start those machines, get to stitching and MAKE A DIFFERENCE this month! 

Let's go!