The Winner...

I am so sorry this announcement is late. What can I say the Hubby is in Hawaii so things have been NUTS around here all on my lonesome. I knew it would be crazy so I actually started on a finale out fit just in case I SQUEEZED in there and oh my goodness I am so excited about it. Now fingers crossed it sees the light of day :) If you haven't had a chance hop on over and vote at Project Run and Play, it is a super close one this week.
Now on to the winner of the Retro Romper Set:

HomebirthinMomma said...

omg. I LOVE IT!! i voted for you on project run and play!! awesome work and beautiful photographs!! i would love to win this for my lil girl and all her lil friends! thanks!!

February 7, 2011 4:01 AM

Yippie! Please email me with your address so I can send these little rompers your way! Thank you everyone for your kind words!

A little update on some other things: 
I am working on a photoshoot for an adult version of the Frosted Pain Boloreo. It is a lot harder when my partner in crime is half way around the world :) But I will beg one of my friends to come help :)

I am waiting for a response from the lovely ladies at Sugar City. If I do not hear back from them after a week I will go a head and post the To Market To Market dress (the second version which I think looks a lot more put together.)

I also have been working on a pattern for a knock off of a Tea Collection dress that was requested:

It is what a lot of there dress are based on so hopefully I get it right. So, that is what is going on behind the scenes :)

Winner and maybe I'll be a loser?

I hope you had a wonderful and magical Christmas. We are contemplating having a New Years Eve party but you know how it is as Mommies and Daddies this holiday is more for "all the single ladies"... and single gents. I wanted to say thank you for all the kind comments on the drum giveaway. They really brightened my day and some (Nicole) made me laugh out out loud. As for the give away Drum roll please (do you get it... drum roll?) AWWWW so lame! :)

 Kelly said...

You are so creative and those drums are beautiful. I would love to win.
moodykelly at gmail dot com

Your parents have fantastic taste in names by the way :) Congrats! I will shoot you an email to get your address. 

Now as for the me being a "loser" I remembered the other day that I totally failed to mention that my dress was NOT selected in the Shabby Apple contest. It was actually pretty comical. For some reason I thought the results were going to be announced on Thanksgiving so I patiently waited until we were in Bali. (Side note: Being Irish I am totally superstitious and think I jinx things by watching them. Hence if BYU was loosing in football while I was at Uni there it was because I was watching the game, so I try not to check blog contests religiously for fear I will jinx myself, yeah I am that weird.) On Thanksgiving I nervously logged on to find out that no, I had not won and that {hello!} it had ended days before. I went in to tell my hubby and he says "yeah I know I just didn't want to be the bearer of bad news while were on holiday. The competition ended a few days ago." HA!!!!!! That guy can keep a secret! Anyway, I did receive some fun news from the company though and lets just say I may be posting some dresses to get your opinions as January rolls on. So, if you are keeping tally, I got the boot from Crafting with the Stars early on:

 was pummeled in the Knock off competition:

 

and now lost Shabby Apple:

Apparently I am a total glutton for punishment because starting in a few weeks I will be competing in "Project Run and Play".

I think it is healthy to get your bum kicked every now and then (or in my case every time ha!) I actually joined thinking "surely it will be with other amateur bloggers like myself".... I was so terribly wrong. I will be competing against extremely talented seamstresses. Several of which have very successful stores and clothing lines. You can check out everyone's profiles HERE. It looks like another bum kicking for SNML (my friend Elizabeth abbreviated the blog like that and I LOVE it)! Thankfully we received the themes early so I have BEGGED my friend in Jakarta to pick up something for me, okay bright green rubber boots if you must know ha! I just REALLY hope I make it to the week where the theme is retro because I have the cutest idea!! But lets be honest I am just amazed I am thrown in with these ladies. If you would like to follow along I would be thrilled! On the horizon is the promised notorious "green pants" tutorial:

Ha! Just kidding, but that story is pretty cute. Although The Sniches is my current fav. Anywhoo (get it who...Dr. Seuss? Man I am full of lame jokes tonight!) I will also be putting up the schedule for Apron week tomorrow. I am trying to get the first apron in before New Years. It is a glamourous one if I say so myself! Please send me any ideas or ones you would like to see made! 

JCrew Knock Off Giveaway

In continuation of my 3 "3 dollar dresses" I made a knock off of a JCrew dress I REALLY want but refuse to pay $98 dollars for. Instead I paid three. Now granted it is not the same gingham fabric, I was lucky to find the fabric I did. I couldn't believe it when I asked if they had flannel "my fabric guy" went into the back and pulled out this blue plaid flannel. I had to Dryel it but it turned out to be really nice. WAY to thick to ever actually be worn in Timor, hence the fun giveaway. The JCrew dress looks like this:

And my version looks like this:

I have to say this was a challenge! I have never done oxford sleeves before let a long with out a pattern. (And of course then I rolled them up so you can't even see them DOH!)  I just kind of made the whole thing up as I went a long. I did make a patten and photoged each step so we'll see if there is interest in a tutorial. Like the JCrew dress it does have pockets, right next to my hand it this pic...

Just like the JCrew it also has a faux little pocket along the dropped waistline. Unlike the JCrew it does not have button holes up the side, it has buttons, but no button holes ha! If you win you can put those in as I have STILL not found my button hole maker. I don't think I personally would ever button it up but to each their own. I also would wear it with leggings but I nearly died from heat stroke in the flannel alone! Evie was in no mood to be put down by momma so she got to join in the fun.

So in these pictures I look like I have the knee version of cankles... anyone know any knee slimming work outs? HA! Alright so if you would like this dress please leave a comment below. Keep in mind I am not a professional seamstress and there are probably some mistakes, oh and remember about the button holes, although I am making myself one as we speak out of light cotton and have zero intention of putting button holes so they aren't necessary.  There is a big hem so you can let it down if you are taller, again I think it would look great with leggings. (Felicity I hope you keep saying leggings in our funny voice ha!) Now it is back to cleaning and getting ready for our big dinner tomorrow night, the Ambassador is coming for dinner and I am a basket case. Guaranteed Evie is going to fling something at her, Sawyer will refuse to eat what I made and Finn will do his weird Darth Vader voice by breathing into his plastic cup, and I am going to slip under the table out of embarrassment. Wish me luck and best of it to you!

Little Boys Holiday Necktie Set Giveaway

First I have to quickly mention: Two of my knockoff items became finalists over on Sew Much Ado. If you haven't checked out this blog you really should she does some Uh-Mazing tutorials. The dresses in the dress category are soooooo cool! There are two that I would LOVE to know how to make. The Yorkshire is going to get crushed but I totally don't mind because these dresses and sweaters are so cool! I would also like to know how to make ALL the necklaces in the "accessories" category. If you get a chance pop on over and see the stellar projects and if you like one cast a vote :) Now on to the give away....

I love little boys in ties. I love them in ties even more when they are in cool funky fabrics. I love them in ties EVEN MORE when they are easy to get on ha! A while back I posted a tutorial on how to make a velcro on little boys necktie. It was at the point in blogging though when I didn't know how to make digital patterns. I know my instructions for cutting the ties were not perfect so in order to facilitate a lot more tie making I made a downloadable pattern which can be found HERE. With so many fun holiday parties coming up I wanted to make sure you could easily make a tie for every occasion! So print it out and follow the same instructions from THIS tutorial and off you go! If you don't feel like sewing your own, or you want a cool presie for a friend then this is the post for you!

I am giving away 2 of the four holiday neck ties I made for the boys because, well, um we don't even have a reason to have them wear ONE holiday necktie let alone four ha! I do want this to get to you in time to actually be worn so this is going to be a quick giveaway.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday evening (our mail is going out Wednesday morning so please please please if you win contact me with your shipping address as soon as you win!)

All you have to do to enter is post a comment and your email (so I can bug you immediately for your mailing address). They will come all wrapped in fun holiday wrapping ready to rip open and wear or give away! Now as for the Merry and Bright dress. The pattern is now available HERE (I was in an odd mood when I made it and instead of simply calling it the purple dress files I called it "Robe Violette" which means purple dress in French.I know.... I am odd) I am going to have a FULL tutorial posted on how to tape together and cut out the pattern followed by the sewing tutorial. I know like 18 pages seems daunting but it is just because the pieces are long. You can totally do it. Just breathe. Also I would like the dress to be popped in the mail this week so I am going to cut the time by one day. I know I am awful but I kinda think all the people who are going to enter have ha! Please feel free to print out the pattern but I encourage you to wait until the tutorial to cut it out. There are some tricks wink wink.

I Am Thankful Giveaways: Merry & Bright Dress

I love the month of November. Partly because in Timor it means we receive all the local holidays {5} plus all the American holidays {3} which equals a lot of time off. But mainly it is because of Thanksgiving. It is my Hubby's favorite holiday, he always comments that it has all the good things that Christmas has (food, family, joy) without the stress of buying presents (spending hoards of mola, wondering if they will even like it etc.). I tend to agree with him, but not enough to switch my favorite from the Fourth of July ;) Anyhoo, I feel like our family has been overwhelmingly blessed this year. One of those big blessings for me has been this blog (oh no, I am gagging on a big ball of cheesiness). I honestly believe it is what has saved me from feeling completely isolated creatively here on the island. I wanted to say thank you for being such fabulous friends and so I am going to be doing a series of give aways tied to tutorials. Each item that I give away will have a tutorial and pattern (if needed) posted after the giveaway is started. That way if you don't win the item you can still make it for yourself! Most of them are knockoff of items I would LOVE to have this season. So far I have 3 Mommy sized dresses (1, 2, 3), a gorgeous blouse, 2 Anthropologie knockoff ornaments, a toddler girl's christmas dress, and a set of boys christmas ties to give away. Phew! When I type it all out like that it seems like a lot ha! All you have to do to win the items is leave a comment on the give away post. You can mention what you are thankful for this season, where you will use the item etc. You can be entered another time if you post on your Facebook about the giveaway, another time if you mention it in a post on your blog ;) AND the big shabang you can enter yourself TWICE if you go HERE and vote for my Shabby Apple Dare to Design entry #12. (Put two comments saying voted on Shabby Apple, if you already voted for mine do the same thing) Just make sure to leave separate comments each time telling me what you did! And be honest, Santa is watching! With out further ado I give you the

Merry and Bright Dress

This is a knock off of Shabby Apple's Nantucket dress. I LOVE how it turned out.

I love the details in this dress. The cuff sleeve, the gathering and pockets....

The fantastic big sash and bow...

And of course always my favorite, the over the top collar

Now it does cut low (my mannequin is a hoochie ha!)

And I am not going to lie this vibrant purple was hard to pick a color for a cami under it and shoes to go with it. I went with a black Cami and light yellow heels. There are probably much better combinations but um, this was at 7am and at that time my brian is mush.

(I look like I just sucked on a lemon in that picture ha!)
I would say this is a size 6 but I am pretty bad at guessing sizing. But just think, if it is the wrong size for you it will make a great gift! I also serged the hem and then did a simple stitch to keep it up so that who ever wins it can easily hem it to the perfect length for them. The entire dress is serged so it will last a long time, although I must tell you I only have white serger thread so don't wear the dress inside out ha!! The tutorial and pattern for the dress will be posted this weekend. Oh and I just have to mention that this dress cost me 3 dollars to make!!! 3 DOLLARS!!! (Every time I thought of this I had to say out loud "I want my two dollars" which I think wierded out our housekeeper) I had mentioned before that I was going to do 3 dresses for 3 dollars each and this is the first one! The giveaway will be open for 5 days ) closing on the 17th. I hope your Veterans day was lovely. I am lucky enough to be surrounded by veterans in my family, my hubby, father, father in law, 2 brother in laws and a sister in law, so yesterday was full of offering thank you's for me!







PS. I am looking to have "No Mans Land" clothing tags made, if you know anyone who does a nice job and is affordable please email me. I feel a bit overwhelmed when I look on Etsy etc. There are just so many talented mommas out there I want to support them all!

"Paint"

The second round is going on over at "Sew Dang Cute" if you would like to enjoy some fun inspiration for painting you should absolutely check it out! I am thinkin' I am totally out this week ha! I hope your halloween weekend is fabulous!

Time to vote and some major inspiration!

The first projects are up HERE at Sew Dang Cute and OH MY GOSH are they amazing. I am determined to do several of them this week. It is such a fun way to get totally inspired. Lets see if you can guess which one is mine :) The internet is down at our house, boo, so I headed over to a cafe which has it's up sides {chaco hazelnut milkshake being the main one} but it has it's minus's, I can't really upload pics here. Hopefully it will be revived at our house tomorrow and I can share with you the wonderful things that went on at the orphanage this weekend. I am so excited to show you how some of the fabric I have received has been put to good use. Also this next week I have a fun theme, 3 dollar dresses. I will be sharing 3 patterns for 3 dress all that cost me 3 dollars!!! 2 mommy dresses and 1 little bubs dress. Thanks for taking the time to vote! Hope your weekend is fantastic! I am wishing we could go somewhere like this together:

and drink hot chocolate and pick out pumpkins. Maybe get lost in an apple orchard.

We will be carving pumpkins soon, they actually have them here year round because they are a major staple in the locals diet. I think we may paint them first though as they are all green ha!

Cheers!

Kelly

Double Header Contest and Christmas Card winner{s}

I was so excited this morning when I jumped online and went to Shabby Apples blog {like I have been doing every 10 minutes for the past week}

& saw that my dress design made the top 15!!!!!! AHHHHHH! Sooooooo excited :) There are so many gorgeous dresses it is certainly going to be an uphill battle but I am just thrilled that my first attempt was even considered. If you would like to participate in the final decision you can go vote HERE. Of course I would love a vote for my design, #12 :)

In other news I was also selected to compete in the "Crafting with the Stars" competition over at Sew Dang Cute

Each round has a theme to adhere to. The first one being:

I was lucky enough to be paired with Jen from Tatertots and Jello, a blog I am slightly obsessed with ha!!! I am thrilled to be a part of it but I must admit I am pretty nervous. I am at quiet a disadvantage since there isn't a "craft" store within several thousand miles. I am freaking out thinking "oh my goodness what if next it is something like pipe cleaner crafts" um, I don't have any pipe cleaners and I have yet to see them on the island {trust me the crafty nerd I am I have totally looked ha!!!} At least it will keep me biting my nails right? :)

The way the voting will work is that our projects will be anonymously posted and then readers get to comment to vote! I hope it is okay if I mention when the projects are posted and you mosey over and check it out:) I will of course post a tutorial on the project I made as soon as I am allowed (after the next round is announced) It is funny because it has kind of made me pause before posting something. You cannot enter something you have already made (understandably) which makes me think uh oh knowing my luck I will post something and the next day it will be the theme haaa! We'll see if I even get past the first round.

Now on to some fun exciting news!!! The winner of the Christmas Card. Thank you all so much for your comments! The cards have been ordered and are on their way as we speak. I am about 2 weeks behind schedule {I like to get the cards out so they come a day or two after Thanksgiving} but now a days if they MAKE it to the recipients I will be happy ha!! Now on to the winner, thanks to Random.org

Woo hoo! McKenzie when you are ready just email me and we will get your card all made up!

But thats not all folks!!! I totally couldn't just pick one so I went a little wild and crazy and picked another.... but then the power cut off ha!! You'll have to trust me that it was number 71 :)

Congrats Kristi!!! Email me when you want to start getting this party started!

Now if you didn't win the give away but really want an original totally personalized Christmas Card may I make a tiny suggestion? Hop on over HERE and email Leah about having her make you one up. Her designs are to die for ;)

I hope you all have a fantastic Friday evening, please go see a movie or get some ice cream for me! I am going to go clean up Finn's Space Party..... ughhh totally the worst part about parties ha!

Cheers!

Kelly

Burberry Give Away Winner

It is Sunday night at 11:30 pm, I know that is early morning Sunday in the states but I am going by my time because I just couldn't wait ha! I was so excited about this my Hubby even watched intently as random.org picked and then I counted (SEVERAL times) to see who the winners are. Congratulations ladies!

First prize goes to:

Jana said...I am a follower, I leave comments and i would love that bag!

1. I get so crazy when I'm thinking about a project that sometimes I can't sleep. Does that count?

2. Yes I have seen tutorials that make things look way too easy. One that looks great is a tie tutorial that makes fat ties skinny-so clever

3. Fall? I love walking and crunching the dry leaves.

September 3, 2010 7:29 AM

Congrats Jana! I totally just saw that tie tutorial somewhere as well.... where was it. That always happens to me, I need to bookmark better. ANYWAY enjoy your new fall purse!

The Wallet goes to:

kati said...

YEAH I am a partner in crime!!! lol

I actually commented way back when you had 19 followers and was asking for your address... I have the fabric, it IS ready to ship... it IS NOT in the mail just yet!!! Sorry!!! It will be there by Christmas I promise!!! (hint it is cute and pink)

HA HA HA creative headache... oh you bet I was at work tonight eyes glazed over, thinking about all the aprons that I could make for fall and christmas... and then tea towel holders, and then RUFFLES! Then came back, then drifted off again... I find that I need to sew at least 20 min a day to avoid such issues... I AM SO GLAD I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!

side note: my husband and I went to the city last week and there was the burberry store and I told him how much I would love to go in there, and see a real burberry item... but I totally chickened out... I will next time!!! This would be so cool to win... then I could see a real life burberry!

September 2, 2010 11:59 PM

Kati congratulations! Now you don't have to go in there! Well, unless you love it so much you need a matching purse ha! It always cracks me up the posters they have on the windows of their stores. Their models always look so ticked off. It makes me think "um you are wearing Burberry head to toe, why are you so mad?" Ladies please email me with your address so I can get these babies in the mail before we head out! Plus you need them for fall right! Thank you for all the comments it was awesome! Hopefully I can find something special in Rome to giveaway :) I also wanted to say:

I am still holding out shreds of hope of winning. There is a women's group here that sews bags, wallets, hair bands etc. to raise money for women in the community who are victims of domestic violence (unfortunately a common thing here in Timor). They use a sewing machine that is older then me. I thought if by some miracle I won I could donate the sewing machine to them. I really need to do a giveaway with something from them, it is all fantastic and very Timorese... hmmmm maybe soon :) I have dubbed this week "Plain White Tees" week and have lots of fun tutorials on what to do with all those dingy white shirts you have shoved in a drawer (there is even a tutorial for boys comin' up woo hoo!). I will also be posting a picture of the dress I made for Shabby Apples "Dare to Design" contest and you can give me feedback before I turn it in (I would LOVE your feedback).

Cheers!

Kelly

PS I had some questions about some dresses: in the Christmas card, it is Shabby Apple's "Yorkshire" found HERE but I am totally coveting THIS ONE. The one in the header is from Anthropology... but I did make a nock off in purple ha!

PPS The Cowl Neck sweatshirt tutorial can be found HERE

PPPS No reason, just wanted to do 3 PPP ha!

Could I get your vote?

Remember this little cowl neck number?

I entered it in the Lil' Boo Upcycle contest never thinking I would EVER get consider but it made it to the top 15! I was so shocked and flattered when I saw it. The other entrants are AMAZING and I really don't think I have a chance (Seriously, how cute is that first dress?) but I thought I would throw it out there and see if you would mind clicking HERE and maybe giving me a vote? It is actually relatively embarrassing how they totally let you see where you are in the race ha! This is the first time I have ever entered any sort of sewing competition so it is probably fitting that I get 15th place hee hee. I am kind of glad this came up so I could show you Krystle's version of the sweatshirt that was on her blog The Noble Wife.

Didn't she do an awesome job? Well, thank you for your vote! If you care to mention it on your blog I would love you forever {not that I already won't}. Also I thought it would be fun to start a Flickr group since my favorite thing is seeing what you have made with the patterns available. If you would like to become a part of the group click HERE. I am thinking, monthly little prizes for the coolest remake etc. Plus loads of comments from me.... because us crafty moms don't have enough on our plates right? HA!!! Thanks again for taking a moment to vote. Fingers crossed I don't come in last :)

Cheers

Kelly

I am weird like that....CLOSED

Sorry this took so long to get to. We FINALLY had Evie's party last night after postponing it three times! Alright, so you are going to think I am totally odd, but, I have a wallet from Target that I adore. It is yellow (apparently my favorite color) and very plain. I REALLY like it though. I also have a fabulous diaper bag my wonderful Mum gave me as a gift when I was preggers with Evie. She said she wanted to buy me one really nice baby item and a Stork Sac won out, ironically the same day I won one in an Ebay bid ha making me all set on the purse front as well. When my lovely friend here in Timor asked if I wanted some Burberry items that she had brought with her from London and never used or intended to use I thought hmmm, I don't per say, but I bet I know a few people who might! :) Here is where you come in. I really wanted this to be for people who actually read the blog and are kind enough to comment and keep my spirits lifted and connect with a stranger a gabiliion miles away, hence the rule that you have to have left a comment and be a follower (I REALLY don't like that term {follower}, I was raised not to be a follower, now I have such negative reactions to it. I wish they had another option like {partner in crime} or {fellow creative genius}, I'll write blogger and suggest it) Up for grabs for the winner #1 is a fantastic Haymarket Check shoulder bag.

You picked my favorite too!

The winner of the Cone of Twine is.................

Amy Woodruff said...

Oooooo the Carribean!!! I wrap all my sold items in brown craft paper and tie them up with string. But it's the boring plain kitchen string. This would look MUCH better! Love it!!

I also LOVE the Caribbean, although I am on such a yellow kick these days! Please shoot me an email with your address so it can be sent on its way! Congratulations, I hope you get lots of fun projects made out of it! So, it is midnight here in Timor and there is no way I am going to bed any time soon. You know why? I am working on a project right now that I absolutely positively can't put down. I am in LOVE with it. It is Evie's birthday present from me and lets just say I know she will have it forever. Wondering what it is yet? Watch THIS video (that I am CRAZY about) and see if you can figure it our, and YES I have a pattern coming for you for it ekkkkkkk! Are you excited?

Tied with a Bow- Of TWINE!

I absolutely love simple, classic looking wrapping. (You know: minimum effort maximum cute ha!) Add to that ridiculously easy to use and you have the gorgeous bakers twine available at The Twinery. It honestly makes everything look good! Add a little personalized printed out tag and BAM you look like a pro!

What is fabulous is the twinery is offering Sewing In No Mans Land readers 25% off for the next week! I was floored when they let me know the percentage off. All you have to do is enter SEWING25 at check out. That is a great deal!

(photo courtesy of Elizabeth Moon Photography check out here website HERE)

How does this get even sweeter? If you leave a comment letting me know what color is your favorite and what you would use it for you will be entered into a drawing to pick any ONE entire cone of your choice or a sample pack! I know!!! So awesome! You have to hop to it though because the giveaway ends Thursday morning. Thank you to The Twinery for giving us such a great deal!

In other news Genevieve turns one this week! I cannot hardly believe it! I have been planning a huge party for her and am dying to show you some of the awesome, super easy party ideas I have come up with! Later today (once I can get the PDF files to upload, silly internet) I will be sharing a printable to make adorable tea time sandwich holders:

Cheers!

Kelly