Kid Giddy in Where Women Create

Can someone please pinch me - I still can't believe it... I'm in Where Women Create Magazine.

In the late summer of 2011, I saw Heather Bailey on the cover of the WWC magazine. I had just met Heather briefly while attending my very first quilt market and had to get the magazine, soak it up and dream. Someday I thought, I'll be in this magazine. Not by way of prophecy, but more so a wish, or a goal, (and seriously high hopes). My craft room wasn't as pretty as the spaces in WWC, but it worked for me and as small as it was, it was a great way to start. I was proud of it and loved every inch. I tried to find Jo at the next CHA to see if she would be interested in my craft room, but that proved difficult.

I should've emailed her, but I ended up writing a book and began negotiations with Sizzix to have them produce a line of dies with me. At that time my husband and I also began major renovations in our home. The new studio was in the works and my once cute craft room became our make shift bedroom. My space was gone. After a long 6 months, the studio space was nearing completion so I decided to get in touch with Jo again at the next trade show I was attending. I met Jo Packham while attending CHA2013 during a random encounter in a hotel lobby. I think I acted like we were best friends...even though she didn't know me at all! lol. I decided to share my interest in having my then almost done studio shared in a future publication. After seeing Jo more often at quilt market, things clicked. I got an email from Jo after quilt market in May 2015, and the ball was officially in motion.

I lined up this local photographer (Kevin Brusie) that my husband had worked with on previous jobs and had him come to the studio. After all these years, regardless of how excited I was, I was so nervous and wanted to be on the other side of the camera.
Kevin asked me to go about my day and do things I would typically do in my studio.

I started cutting out some of my Sizzix Fox die pieces in one area, pinned a little and started sewing. He captured it all. Even the way I tend to stand at my cutting table every single day...barefoot (in summer when it's not freezing) and one foot behind the other.
There were so many amazing pictures that Kevin captured, which were shared in the magazine. These pictures in this post, we're not, but were some of my favorites so much so I had to share them.

We probably could've done a fun spread of just out-take and photobombing pictures. This one had us all laughing for a while. Kevin took a picture of this pin "Are you wearing space underwear? Cuz your butt is out of this world." on my magnetic board. The pin was from my retail days working at an Express store in the mall, 20ish years ago. All of the associates had to wear one of many different pins with a different pick up line. As Kevin was photographing the spur hanging around the neck of my 1/4 scale body form, someone thought to put the pin on the butt. So we did. I couldn't let this photo go unseen. Lol

We tried to coax our daughters out of hiding to get in a few pics, but they refused most of the day. Eventually, I got my oldest daughter to come hang out, and take a few pictures with me. Except...she remained a bit cynical and sarcastic in her smile to ensure the pictures wouldn't end up in the magazine.

We laughed about that for a while. She's a smart cookie.
I'm so grateful to Jo and her team at Where Women Create to give me the opportunity to share my space with everyone, and to share my story. I hope you'll pick up a copy of this issue at your local bookstore before it runs off the shelves. You can also get it on stampington.com

For those of you that haven't had a chance to read Where Women Create, they are allowing me to giveaway a copy to one of my readers. But that's not all...they are also generously giving a copy of Where Women Create Business, and Where a Women Cook. Have you read them yet? Before recently, I hadn't read an issue of either.

I had this image of the CEO corporate world in WWC Business but was pleasantly surprised to find it's an extension of Where Women Create from the business side (and still all of the eye candy). In business we all go through ups and downs, we learn a lot in our journeys, and have a willingness to share those moments to help others. This magazine is chock full of business tips and pick me ups for those down days. It's proof we are not alone and there are always brighter days ahead. 

I used to love cooking before having kids. As my girls got a little older and were eating regular food, they became picky eaters and my desire to cook changed. Now being gluten free (not by choice) has me disliking food and my kitchen at all costs. I eat healthy, but I don't prefer to cook and be creative. Maybe this magazine is just what I need to get back into my kitchen. The stories and recipes have me wondering if I can quickly find the passion again.  

For your chance to win one of these three publications, find the above image on my Kid Giddy Instagram page for more info.

Sign up below for my emails to get info about new patterns, new dies, future sales and other fun stuff. The first one is coming soon...don't miss out on the first bit of giddy goodness.

Infinity Fabric Cone Bracelet Free Tutorial

Got Scraps? Try this scrappy fabric bracelet on for size. I made this bracelet tutorial for the Craft Industry Today magazine last year but never posted it here on my blog until now, whoops. I receive many compliments every time I wear them. They add color to any outfit, are really easy to make, and great for scrap busting - so make as many as you want!

What you'll need:
Print a copy of the PDF pattern - click here for the google doc
Fabric of your choice. 2 Fat Quarters can make 2 8" bracelets or use scraps.
Thread color of choice
¾” Non-rolling Elastic cut to desired length
Regular Scissors & Pinking Shears
Sewing Machine
NOTE: Seam allowance is 1/4" unless other wise noted.

What you'll do:
Prep: Measure your wrist and hand to determine the length of the bracelet you will want
to make. The elastic should be cut so they are 1" longer than the length your hand
measured (this will keep it loose not tight). Cut out 2 cone pieces for every inch of the
finished bracelet length. (To get over my hand is 8”, I cut my elastic to 9” to cover the
overlap at the end and to prevent it from being too tight). When cutting, the curved edge
of the cone, and the two sides should be cut with the pinking shears, and the 3 inside
edges, should be cut with straight scissors.

Step 1: Make all of your cone pieces by folding them in half, right sides together and sewing
the raw edge.

Step 2: Keeping the cones wrong side out and slip them onto the elastic strap alternating
colors or patterns. The seam edge of the cones should be centered on the top of the
strap. Sew the first cone piece to the elastic leaving ½” – ¾” at the end of the elastic
to connect to the other end.

Step 3: Sew all of the cone pieces to the strap with a ½” in between each piece.

Step 4: With the last cone on the elastic, overlap both ends of the elastic and sew together.

Step 5: Wiggle the final cone in place, just over the sewn elastic ends, and sew it in place.

Step 6: Flip all the cones over so they are right sides facing out.

Alternative Options:
1) To make it fuller, use 3 or 4 cones for every inch.
2) If you are making a necklace, scarf or belt, you can shrink and use the same pattern, and use a thinner elastic or soft but sturdy cording.
3) If you make a belt and want to have the cones all hanging down ward, make sure the cones are sewn in the opposite direction at the half-way point.

The more you wear your bracelet, the softer the edges will get. If you have any questions while making your bracelet or any of the other adapted accessories, please leave a comment below. After you make some - please share some pics and tag me @kidgiddy on instagram or twitter and use the hashtag #kidgiddysewing!

Giddy Up Friday: Snow People Chess Set, Crafts n' things

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When I was younger, I remember going to visit my Great-Grandmother at her house. (I was young - I thought it was her house, but many years later found out it was not her house but my mother's Aunt's house). For the sake of the memory, I still call it her house. I remember in the front room a little table, with a checker board painted right on it. It was a small round table, just big enough for the board and some chess pieces (again from memory). I've always had a love of chess since learning it, but honestly don't play it all that often. I can beat my husband any time while playing Othello, but he often check mates me in Chess! Regardless of wether I win or lose, I still love the game. I love the pieces and I love the challenge and strategies.

When I went to visit my dad in Utah one summer, I went to his office at BYU and saw some chess pieces made from steel. There they were, lined up along the top of a desk or windowsill. They struck me as simple and beautiful, and I have wanted them ever since.

I don't have a machine that can turn a bar of steel into amazing chess pieces, but I had a vision of creating a kingdom of winter chess pieces with the wooden trees and snowmen that you'd find in any hobby store. I will be the first to admit that painting and stamping is not my go to medium, but once in a while I am smitten with an idea and must tackle it head on! You can find all the information for this project in the current Feb 2012 Crafts 'n things Magazine! (You'll even see it on the front cover in the top corner!) I hope you enjoy making your own set! If you have children, invite them to help or let them make their own! Here's what you'll need!...I bought all of my own supplies and got all the wooden pieces from a place online called craftparts.com. (I was not paid to say that)! Since crafts parts is no longer selling the tiny snowmen, you can also try this other website.

T-minus 5 days until I leave for the ever fun Craft and Hobby convention. Stress is high and there's still so much to do! Thanks for visiting, and it's almost time for that Anna Griffin pattern giveaway I mentioned last week! Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that post!

Have a wonderful week and come find me if you are attending CHA, I'd love to meet you! You can tweet me @kidgiddy to find me!

(PS...have you seen what my twin sister Sue, has been up to lately? Here's her latest project featured in the beginning of the same issue! - it's only a sneak peak - so you'll have to get the copy and check it out!)

Busy Monday: The Gnome Girls made it to STUFFED

I've waited forever to share this awesome news...and then when I finally could, one thing lead to another, and I got sick for 6 weeks out of 7! I've been playing catch up ever since.

Some of you may recognize these little gnome girls from my Designer Showcase table last year at the Craft and Hobby Winter Show. And although that was their first "official" outing in public and away from their forest, their story goes much further back in time! These Gnome girls were based off of my twin sister Sue and I! She has always had a love of Fairies and I have always loved gnomes and all things small, cute, and imaginary (but real - always real).

I was so excited to submit these Gnome Girls (GNaomi and Willow) to be considered for the Winter 2012 issue of STUFFED Magazine and then almost missed the deadline thinking I could submit it via email. Nope. Not really! I frantically mailed them out over night at the last minute and they were still - miraculously - accepted for submission.

Then a couple of months later I was in the car with my family (not driving) and was checking my emails. I got an email from STUFFED and found out that my Gnome girls were going to appear in the Winter issue! I was so excited I cried. My daughters felt so bad that I was crying - until I told them why. Then they asked "well - why are you crying if you are so excited mommy"! Gotta love the things kids say! Excited just wasn't even a strong enough word for it!

Eventually I received an email with a PDF copy of the spread to proof. Again - so excited. Now it was real. No matter how many issues or publications I've seen my designs in, a new one is still so exciting and even validating. That I must be doing something right!

The other happy surprise I discovered after the publication was released on the Stampington website, was the surprise mug shot of my Gnome Girls on the Table of Contents too! These girls must have been so pumped and had so much fun at their photo shoot! lol! (they are real you know!)

I haven't decided yet if I will offer this pattern in my first sewing pattern book or online in my Etsy shop. So stay tuned! It will be available at some point! I promise.

If you want to make Gnaomi & Willow's adorable tent, click this Mini Tent link. I love giving some things for free...I thought every little kid (and adult) should make a little tent like this one for all their imaginary (real) friends! It would make a great little house for a family pet too!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and for reading all my kid giddy news! I love what I do and love sharing it with all of my readers. I leave for this years Craft and Hobby Winter Show in just 10 days! So I have to get busy! Keep checking back for more fun stuff and my Anna Griffin Fabric and Patterns giveaway! You know - these yummy (Butterfly, Sunflower, Peony, Dog Bone & Scotty Dog) patterns....that's right! I have one of each pattern to dish out, and some awesome Anna Griffin fat quarter fabric bundles to some lucky readers! You won't want to miss it!

Have an awesome day and a wonderful week everyone!

Busy Monday: Bits 'n Pieces Series - Teeko the Polar Bear Softie

Hello everyone,

It is late Monday night and I had to get this little Teeko the Polar Bear post up on my blog, before flying off to neverland! I still cannot believe the year I have had. This adorable little Teeko marks the end of the "bits 'n pieces" series! This latest holiday issue (Nov/Dec 2011) of Crafts 'n things Magazine is officially out on stands...and is as cute as can be! You won't want to miss it.

A year and a half ago, my life was totally different. I blogged feverishly, I struggled to sell anything on my Etsy shop, I took my girls to school, went to karate, ran, biked...did all the normal things I would - well - normally do! Then one day a friend told me to submit something to Crafts 'n things Magazine! I thought - there's no way I could do that. But I resisted the urge to run and hide, and contacted them immediately. To my surprise - they loved my work.

I found out what they were looking for and shot an email back only 10 minutes later. Then I got an immediate response - they loved my Owl. Now I was ready to run and hide again! I had never written a pattern up - at all! I thought it had to look, sound like, and be as confusing as the store bought patterns! lol! And I certainly didn't follow those - let alone know how to write one up for others to understand it! I worked really hard on it. I wrote some of it - and struggled to write the rest. I just didn't have the confidence. I still wanted to run and hide. Finally, the day before the due date - I convinced myself it's now or never, and did it! I did the same thing when I accepted the challenge to do an entire series for the magazine! I wanted to run and hide - but told myself - "it's now or never!" So I did it. And I couldn't be happier!

I don't know how many Crafts 'n things Magazine readers are reading my blog. I don't know how many people like or love my designs. All I do know, is that I stretched myself. I didn't run and hide - when Heavenly Father knows I could've! I dug deep and I climbed my mountain. I have learned so much from this series, this experience, and I sincerely hope you have all enjoyed the new plush friends we've made together: Heddy the Hedgehog, the Tufty Bird Family, Sammy the Seahorse, Carter the Crab, the Reversible PumpKat and now Teeko the Polar Bear! Eventually, when I get my act together and have less work to do - all of these patterns will be available as kits in my Etsy shop, or my own web store. But we have time!

Thank you for taking this journey with me! I now know a few of you, from the Kid Giddy Facebook page and the Kid Giddy Flickr group, from the pictures you have posted, and I am grateful! There will be more fun stuff on the horizon - but my lips are sealed! Thank you to Abby & Annie for this journey! I hope you all have a wonderful night! See you soon!

Busy Monday: Reversible PumpKat Softies

Boo,

Hope this little PumpKat didn't scare you! Get your copy before it's gone!  The latest issue (Sept/Oct 2011) of Crafts 'n things Magazine is out on stands...or sold out - so run don't walk to get your copy now!

This year for halloween I couldn't decide if I wanted the pattern to be a Jack-o-Lantern or a Black Scaredy Cat! So it became a little of each! Just like some years...most years, my girls can't decided what they want to be for Halloween...until the last minute! Yikes!

By following the simple, sew as you go, concept in the instructions, you can to make this reversible PumpKat for your fall festive table decorations this year! Give them faces or let the fabric do all the talking. Make just one, or make as many as you please. You can even enlarge it to make a really bold...huge statement! No matter what you do...have fun and enjoy the fall season that is quickly approaching!

When you are done making your PumpKat, please head on over to my Kid Giddy Flickr group and post your pictures for all to share. I'm going to start highlighting some of you crafty folks that are posting in there! Please let me know if you have any questions putting yours together! Have an awesome week!

Busy Monday: Carter the Crab Softie - "Bits 'n Pieces by Kerry Goulder"

Hi everyone,

Get your copy while it's hot! The latest issue (July/Aug 2011) of Crafts 'n things Magazine is a very special one this month! Not only is my sweet little Carter the Crab pattern available inside, but MY SISTER's awesome Terrarium tutorial is on the FRONT COVER!!! I was so excited for her and thought it was really fun for each of us to have a project in there at the same time!

As the magazine mentioned - spending summer months with my daughter's finding hermit crabs in the Maine waters have been nothing short of fun, relaxing & awe inspiring! What they didn't have room to mention, was how I wish I could bring them back to my days as a young girl crabbing off the docks at my grandparents house (named "PrattsBottom") in Bozman, Maryland. During cold winter months, I long for summer. I have a life long love of of the beach and all things found there.

I was told my grandmother made the best crab cakes - but I couldn't stand the smell or the taste - so I was content to disagree. Eventually my dad warned me that whatever I caught I had to eat (crabbing or fishing). So I got smart! I would wrap my chicken with string, sit on the dock, lower it in and wait for a crab to grab on. As soon as I had one on my line I'd pull him up slowly and carefully, get a really good long look at him, and then quickly shake him off before my dad could see that I had one! lol! They are just so beautiful to look at. Their coloring is exquisite!

I greatly miss those days sitting on the dock in Bozman. A tiny little town, where the peace surrounds you. I made this little Carter the Crab with those memories in mind. Special memories from my youth. The great thing about these little crabs - they don't bite...and even better than that - I don't have to eat any of them! But they are fun to make, and fun to play with!

I hope you enjoy making your Carter the Crab softies with my original pattern! Please let me know if you have any questions putting yours together! Have an awesome day!

Busy Monday: "Bits 'n Pieces by Kerry Goulder" - Sammy the Seahorse Softie Photo Tutorial

Hello crafty friends,

It's that time again to bring you the next softie in my "Bits 'n Pieces" series from Crafts 'n things Magazine. This series started off with a very fun little "Hedgehog Softie" and the adorable "Tufty Family" which will be available soon in my Etsy shop!

Please be sure to get your copy of the May/June 2011 issue of Crafts 'n Things Magazine so you can get the pattern and written instructions, as they will not all be included here.
 

If you have any questions at all - please do not hesitate to drop me a comment here to let me know! If you'd like to share your Sammy the Seahorse creations - you can visit my Kid Giddy Facebook page and upload a picture of your cute little seahorses and all the fun places they are hanging out! Thanks for purchasing a copy of Crafts 'n Things magazine and supporting crafters like me! Have fun sewing!

Please note these photos are for home and personal use only, as is the pattern. All are copyright protected 2010-2011. Due to copyright and contractual agreements, these tutorial photos will only be up while the magazine is on the newsstands through mid to late June 2011.