Vintage Vinyl Journals Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered last week's Vintage Vinyl Journals giveaway.

The winner of the Grease journal is...

Meg from In the Loop who said...

Congratulations, Meg! I sent Meg an email to notify her of her win. If I don't hear back from her by Friday, February 3rd at 7:00am (EST), I will choose another winner.

Don't forget Vintage Vinyl Journals for your future gift-giving needs. These things are awesome! Thanks again to Katie for this fantastic giveaway.

I'm Being Featured on Knock Off Decor Today!

My Land of Nod Wall Art Knock Off is being featured on Knock Off Decor today!

Beckie (of Infarrantly Creative fame :) started Knock Off Decor as a place to
"showcase the amazing work of some seriously talented designers
while giving those with less of a budget a chance to mimic them.

Because after all 'imitation is the highest form of flattery.'"

Check out the feature here.

If you are visiting from Knock Off Decor, I'm so happy you're here today!

Hope you'll take a few minutes to look around.

Thanks for the feature, Beckie!

A Tale of Two Quilts: Part II

Last Monday I shared the first of two quilts that I sewed as Christmas gifts for my girls. Today I'm sharing the second quilt, the quilt that I made for my youngest...

I mentioned in a post way back in August that I wanted to make a plus quilt. I'm so glad I did. I really love this quilt pattern.

The finished quilt is about 43" square, and I used charm squares again. If you're interested in making a plus quilt, Jeni at In Color Order has a great tutorial, which I used to decide how to sew my quilting lines. Love the look of it...

Here's the back. It's a little busy, but I kind of like it...

And here's the label on the back of this quilt...

Same style as the label I made on the other Sherbet Pips quilt. Again, I got the idea for this label design here.

I love these quilts, and I really think I'm getting hooked on quilting. In fact, I'm working on a doll quilt right now that will be a birthday gift for my youngest later this week. Hopefully I'll be showing it to you soon. I still have to show you some other Christmas gifts that I made, too. Can you believe January is almost over?!? Crazy! Have a great week :)



I'm linking up over at {Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

Valentine's Flag Bunting

I'm guest posting over at At Home With K today as part of Kindra's 2nd Annual Be Mine Bonanza. Today I'm sharing a tutorial on how to make a Valentine's Flag Bunting...

Head on over to At Home With K for my tutorial, and while you're there check out the other great Valentine's Day ideas that have been a part of this series.


And don't forget to link up your "love" themed projects at the Point of View Love Link Party going on now! Have a great weekend :)

Point of View and Love Link Party!

Point of View is back for 2012! The theme for January is "love", and this month's projects are really beautiful. Take a look...

Jonie from Just Between Friends
Amy from Ameroonie Designs
Meg and Steph from Do It Yourself Divas (Our guests this month... Thanks for joining us, ladies!)
Camilla from Rosy Red Buttons

Michelle from A Little Tipsy
Gwen from Gwenny Penny (Click HERE to find a mini tutorial on my Mixed Media Song Lyric Hoop)

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

My project this month is a Mixed Media Song Lyric Hoop...

This is the first line of the first song my husband and I danced to at our wedding ten years ago. It's a Valentine's Day gift for my husband. Click HERE for a mini tutorial on how I put my mixed media hoops together.

Now it's your turn. Do you have a love-themed project that you would like to share? We would like to invite you to join the Point of View Love Link Party right here on Gwenny Penny! Any idea that you feel relates to the theme is welcome at the link party (love, hearts, Valentine's Day, etc). It doesn't have to be a new project... If you have something in your archives that's love-related, link it up! We want to see any and all love ideas. 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!


<a border="0" href="http://www.gwennypenny.com/search/label/Point%20of%20View" target="blank"><img src="http://i953.photobucket.com/albums/ae14/gwennypennyblog/PoVButtonA.jpg" border="0" alt="Point of View: A Creative Collaboration,a creative collaboration,point of view,point of view a creative collaboration"></a>

Mixed Media Song Lyric Hoop (A Mini Tutorial)

The first song my husband and I danced to at our wedding ten years ago was the Led Zeppelin song "Thank You". This is the first line from that song...

When I was trying to come up with a project for this month's Point of View theme ("love"), this idea popped into my head, and I decided that it would make a nice Valentine's Day gift for my husband, too. I'm in the process of redecorating our bedroom, so this will find a home on one of the walls in our room. This type of project would make a great gift for anyone who has a favorite song that has special meaning to them. It would also make a great wedding gift, if you know what song the bride and groom will be dancing to.

Since these particular song lyrics probably mean nothing to 99.9% of you, this is just a mini tutorial that kind of walks you through my thought process when I make these kind of hoops (like my Spring Embroidery Hoop Art or my Birth Announcement Embroidery Hoops).

The whole thing started with a basic idea. This sketch sat on my desk for a few weeks...

I originally wanted to embroider the entire thing, but time is always a big factor in how I go about doing things, and I ran out of it, so this transformed into a mixed media project.

I gathered up some materials and got to work...

I decided to use yellow fabric backed with fusible web to create the sun. I used a ruler to figure out what size I wanted it to be, then I went into Microsoft Word and drew a semicircle to create a template...

Embroidering the entire song lyric would have taken me forever, but stamping looks nice and is a lot faster. When I do fabric stamping, I like to use a pen on my stamps instead of an ink pad. It gives me more control over where the ink goes so I don't end up with stray marks. This is the pen that I use...

I just draw right on the stamp...

and stamp it onto the fabric...

I chose to embroider one word from the lyric. I used a pencil to lightly draw the word on the fabric...

At this point I put the fabric in the hoop and started embroidering...

For the sunbeams, I just started embroidering without drawing any lines first...

And that's it, in a nutshell :) Have fun and get creative!

Now it's your turn... Check out this month's Point of View collage and link up your past or present love-themed projects at the Point of View Love Link Party!



I'm linking up...

How Do I Live Without You, Picnik?

UPDATE: Click HERE for a follow-up to this post, including seven different alternatives to Picnik.

If you are a fan of Picnik, you have probably heard that they are closing down in April. I use Picnik all the time, and I am already starting to mourn the loss. Picnik and I are pretty tight, but it's time to get out there and find something new :) So I'm putting the question out there to all of you... is there another online option that is just as good and easy to use (or better) than Picnik? Or, do you use a purchased photo editing software program? I'd love to hear about either one, likes, dislikes, etc.

What I like about Picnik and am looking for in a new program...

• basic photo editing aspects
• photo touch up options
• ability to add words and stickers (like arrows and lines) to photos
• photo collage options
• easy to use
• relatively inexpensive (I paid for the Picnik premium membership... $25/year, but I'd rather not shell out hundreds of dollars to buy photo editing software.)

Thanks! Hopefully this will help a lot of people out :)

Giveaway: Vintage Vinyl Journals (CLOSED)

This giveaway is now CLOSED.

In celebration of a new year, I have a really awesome giveaway for you today... A brand new journal for jotting down your creative ideas. A new journal is like a new year... a fresh start. But this is not just any journal. This is a Vintage Vinyl Journal, and it is gorgeous!

Katie Pietrak left the corporate world to launch Vintage Vinyl Journals last spring. On her website, she says, "We rescued the forgotten vinyl record and lovingly crafted a one-of-a-kind blank writing notebook for those who appreciate a simpler time – when albums started with a pop and a hiss as needle met groove and thoughts were recorded pen to paper." Don't you just love that sound?

Every journal features a recycled vintage album – the original vinyl album on the front and the album cover art on the back. These journals are eco-friendly and handcrafted in the USA from recycled materials and 100% acid-free paper. Each journal contains 240 high quality unlined pages.

These journals would make fantastic gifts for music lovers. Katie has a wide range of genres and artists available, so take a look for the perfect gift for someone in your life.

Let's get down to business... Katie is generously giving away one of her beautiful Vintage Vinyl Journals today! And guess which one it is?!?

"We go together like rama lama lama ke ding a de dinga a dong"... Grease!!! I love that movie!

Wouldn't you like to get your hands on this journal and start filling its pages? Here are the details on how you can enter for a chance to win a Grease journal from Vintage Vinyl Journals...

Please note: No international entries for this giveaway. US residents only. Sorry!

This giveaway is now CLOSED.

Mandatory entry:
Visit Vintage Vinyl Journals, then come back here and leave one comment on this post telling me which journal is your favorite.

Optional extra entries:
1. Sign up for the Vintage Vinyl Journals newsletter. Leave one additional comment on this post letting me know that you did.

2. "Like" Vintage Vinyl Journals on Facebook. Leave one additional comment on this post letting me know that you did.

That's up to three entries per person. Make sure you either leave an email address in your comment or that your email is attached to your Blogger profile. If I don't have a way to get in touch with you, I will choose another winner. This giveaway will be open until 10:00pm (EST) on Monday, January 30th. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator. I will announce the winner on Tuesday, January 31st, and they will have until Friday, February 3rd at 7:00am (EST) to respond before I choose another winner.

Thanks so much to Katie for this giveaway :) Good luck everyone!




All photos in this post courtesy Vintage Vinyl Journals.

A Tale of Two Quilts: Part I

I told you I'd be back today ;) When I checked in after the holidays, I mentioned that I had sewn two quilts as Christmas gifts for my girls. These quilts were a long time coming. I bought the Sherbet Pips fabric for them way back in March of last year, intending to get them done right away. When December rolled around, I finally used Christmas to motivate me to get them started. I am so happy with the results. Today I'm going to share one of the quilts, the quilt that I made for my four year old...

I used Rae's Storytime Squares quilt pattern, slightly modified. I had to change things a little because I was working with a charm pack (5" squares) instead of the 5.5" squares that the pattern calls for. I went with wider sashing around the outer edges of the quilt and traditional binding. I used Kaufman's Quilter's Linen for the sashing. This was my first experience with this fabric, and I really like it. It has a nice weight to it. The finished quilt is 43" square.

Here's the back...

I really like the way the back turned out. I was afraid it was going to end up crooked. This is only the third quilt I've ever made, and this was the first time I used more than one fabric on the back of a quilt. I added a little Pearl Bracelet in red (from Lizzy House Outfoxed) and solid gray to the Sherbet Pips for the pieced column.

I incorporated the label into the quilt itself instead of sewing it on the quilt at the end...

I got the idea for this label design here.

My daughters were thrilled when they opened their quilts on Christmas morning. They knew they were getting them, and they saw the quilts as I was working on them, but I didn't let them see the finished product until they unwrapped them. Santa brought them little red armchairs this year, and these quilts hang on the back of their chairs in the living room. I love finding the girls curled up in their chairs under their quilts reading books or seeing them build a fort by flipping their chairs over and covering them with the quilts.

I don't think I have ever been more proud of a project that I have done. There is something so satisfying about completing a quilt. And it's even more satisfying to give that quilt to someone you love. I believe I may have been bitten by the quilting bug :)

I'll be sharing the second Sherbet Pips quilt next week. Tomorrow I have an awesome giveaway for you guys, so make sure you stop by. It feels good to be back!



I'm linking up over at {Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.