It's My Party Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered last week's It's My Party and I'll Craft if I Want To giveaway.


The winner is...

Darcy from Modern Cozy who said...

Congratulations, Darcy! Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes. It was so fun to read everyone's favorite crafting tools and fabrics. And thanks again to Riley Blake for the fat quarter bundle! I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!

Point of View and Summer/Vacation Link Party!

Welcome to this month's Point of View reveal! The theme for May is "Summer/Vacation". Take a look at the great ideas the members of Point of View have come up with this month...

Tone from Bless by Tone (Our guest this month... thanks for joining us, Tone!)
Amy from Ameroonie Designs
Jonie from Just Between Friends
Ashlee from I'm Topsy Turvy
Gwen from Gwenny Penny (Click HERE to read more about my ditty bag)
Leanne from Organize and Decorate Everything

As always, you can check out each of the projects by visiting each of the blogs listed above.

I chose to go the "vacation" route for my project this month. One of the things I love about Point of View is that I've been using it to motivate myself to complete some of the projects on my to-do list. I've been promising to make toiletry bags for my girls since last fall, and I just hadn't gotten around to it. I had even bought some really cute Japanese linen printed with laundry hanging on the line to use for the bags. After finding the Michelle Patterns ditty bag pattern a few weeks ago, I decided to give it a try. I also started seeing the new Monaluna Next Stop collection from Birch Fabrics and had to change my fabric choice :)

This bag turned out really cute, and it definitely beats the plastic bags my girls have been using when we go on vacation or visit our family in Vermont. Click HERE to read more about my project.

Now it's your turn. Do you have a Summer/Vacation project that you would like to share? We would like to invite you to join the Point of View Summer/Vacation Link Party! It doesn't have to be a new project... If you have a Summer or Vacation-themed project in your archives, link it up! We want to see what you've created. You can link up to the Point of View link party on any member's blog and your link will show up in the party on all five blogs! Add the Point of View button to your post so that others can join the party. And remember, by linking up you have the chance to be featured by one of the members of Point of View next week!

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.gwennypenny.com" title="Gwenny Penny - Point of View"><img src="http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/ae14/gwennypennyblog/SummerPoVButtonB-1.jpg" alt="Gwenny Penny - Point of View" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Ditty Bag

Whenever we go on vacation or head up to Vermont to visit the family for a weekend, we throw the girls' hairbrushes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and hair accessories in plastic ziploc bags. I've been promising to make them little toiletry bags since last fall. I even bought some really cute Japanese linen printed with laundry hanging on the line to use for their bags, but the fabric has been sitting there for months. This month's Point of View theme "Summer/Vacation" was a great opportunity to get myself going on these bags (OK, just one of them, but they can share until I get motivated again :)

I used the Michelle Patterns ditty bag pattern. And as you can see, I didn't use the Japanese linen I'd been saving. As soon as I saw the new Monaluna Next Stop collection from Birch Fabrics, I knew I had to use it for these bags... It's too perfect!

This is so much better than the plastic bags my girls have been using for their stuff.

The ditty bag PDF pattern comes with instructions for three different sizes. This is the largest and measures approximately 9" x 8" and is about 2.25" deep. The smallest size (5" x 4" x 1.5") is supposed to be more difficult, just because it's so small, but I really want to try it because it's just so cute! I really like this pattern and definitely recommend it. Everything came together nicely.

This was my first time sewing covered zipper ends, and it was so easy! I don't know why I waited so long. And I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the inside! Doh! The bag is fully lined with a solid coral colored cotton that matches the coral colored suitcases on the exterior fabric.

So glad to get this one partially crossed off my list. I should probably get the other one done while the pattern is still fresh in my mind. We'll see...

Now it's your turn... Check out this month's Point of View collage and link up your past or present Summer/Vacation projects at the Point of View Link Party! We want to see what you've been up to!