It's An Earth Day Birthday Artterro Canvas Book Kit Giveaway!

With today being both Earth Day and my birthday, how about we celebrate with a crafty giveaway AND a discount offer from an eco-friendly craft source?

Artterro makes Eco Art Kits for adults & kits who love crafts.  These sets provide natural and recycled materials, in 100% recycled packaging.  They make it easy to create Earth-friendly, high quality projects in favorite crafting mediums like paper, fabric, felting, jewelry & book making.

Today Artterro is relaunching their ready-to-craft kits with a brand new look, extra materials and bonus projects in every set so they're even MORE enjoyable and sustainable. And one Sew Can Do reader will win one of these brand new sets: a Canvas Book Kit! 

The Canvas Book Kit gives you all the goodies needed to make a beautiful fabric book: 

- Blank 6"x8"cotton canvas book
- Batik and solid-color cotton fabrics
- Fun, colorful ribbons
- Artist-quality acrylic paint and brush
- Glass and wood beads & sequins
- Craft thread, needles, threader
- Plus tips and ideas to get you started

It can be used to make a Storybook, Journal, Baby Book, Scrapbook, or anything else you can imagine, and there are plenty of materials to use on other projects too.

It also includes two bonus projects to turn the packaging into things like a birdhouse, mailbox or frame for art.

Last year my kids and I tried Artterro for the first time and we did a little review of our experience. 

We'd gotten the wool felt bug kit and they'd had a lot of fun making some little critters. Even with 3 kids crafting, we still had lots of supplies left over to make other crafts too.

There are kits for every type of crafter, and you don't need to have any special skills to use them, so they're great projects for beginners or to try out something new without having to run around gathering up supplies.  Just open the box and start crafting!

As a special for Sew Can Do readers, Artterro is offering you a 20% off at their online store through May 1st, 2014.  Just use code: SEW20.

       

Now how about a chance to win an Artterro Canvas Book Kit?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Craftastic Monday Link-Up + More Craftastic Monday Mixer on FB!

Happy Craftastic Monday!  I hope everyone who celebrated had a warm & wonderful Easter.  I know my family was happy the last of the snow finally disappeared and there's new life popping up outside.

We also had a great start at the first Craftastic Monday Mixer on the Sew Can Do Facebook page last week.  Instead of specific posts, you share your blog, shop or Facebook page over there.  It's a way to promote your site or its page to other crafty, creative people and find some new sites you might love at the same time.  Twice as much exposure every week!   

How the Craftastic Monday Mixer works: 

No complicated rules or mandatory follows required, just..

- Add your direct blog/Facebook page url in the comments of the Craftastic Monday Mixer update on the Sew Can Do Facebook page: HERE.

- As long as your page/blog is mainly craft-related it's welcome.  Link up every week!

- Crafty, handmade shops are welcome too -  no giveaways though.

So when you're done linking your latest project below, head over to the Sew Can Do Facebook page to get even more exposure and find new crafty places to love!

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Now let's see some Craftastic picks..

My kids would love to make this DIY Pirate Treasure Map from Night Owl Corner:

This chair transformation from 24 Cottonwood Lane is amazing and done using chalk paint of all things!

Techie's DIY Adventures made this lovely faux inlay cornice using a stencil. Lovely!

Ana Love Craft shared some adorable Easter embroidery.  I love the one with the bunny backsides!

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on the Buttons Page to let everyone know.  I also feature these projects & more party favorites on the Sew Can Do's Craftastic Picks board on Pinterest AND I share each of them on Twitter too.  Follow me there to see more great projects (and see if yours is one of them)!   

  

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple:

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to giveaways, shops, link parties or other people's work).  Add the link to your specific post (not the main page of your blog).
• Grab my party button & put it on your post or blog somewhere.  The code can be found HERE.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

How To Make A Multi-Pocket Gardening Apron

Now that it's getting sunny & warm and green things are growing, it's time to get back into the garden. And what better way to get motivated than with a fun little Gardener's Apron to wear!

This gardening apron has two rows of multi-sized pockets, so you can easily tote items of all sizes like hand tools, stakes and seed packets. A simple sash tie means it's nice and adjustable too. It also works great as an apron for crafting & baking and can be flipped to the flat, reverse side as well. Lots of options for whatever you're working on.

Make it in about an hour to wear out in garden the very same day!

Materials:

- Cotton fabric (1/2yd for body & sash, 1/2yd or FQ for each of the pocket layers)

- Double fold bias tape

- Sewing Notions (shears/rotary cutter, pins, marking pen/chalk, iron)

The cute prints I used are from the new How Does Your Garden Grow? collection by Timeless Treasures. I'm seriously in love with this collection's bright colors and fun mini prints. Perfect for a gardening themed project!

Assembly

Start by cutting the following pieces:

Apron body - two rectangles 17 inches wide by 10 inches high

Tall pocket - one rectangle 17 inches wide by 16 inches high

Front pocket - one rectangle 17 inches wide by 11 inches high

Sash - one strip by 5 inches high and two strips by 5 inches high

Fold both pocket pieces in half, height-wise (wrong sides facing) and press.

Stack layers so apron body pieces are on the bottom (wrong sides facing inward), tall pocket in middle and then shorter pocket on top, with bottom corners all lined up. Use a bowl or small plate to trace & round off corners.

Keeping pocket pieces together, mark lines along the front with disappearing marker or tailor's chalk as shown and stitch down the two outer lines along the shorter pocket.

Lay pocket pieces on top of body pieces, pin together and stitch along middle line from top of tall pocket to bottom. Now there are two rows of pockets with different sizes.

Baste along sides and bottom to keep the layers even and then encased in bias tape and stitch tape into place.

Take sash pieces and fold in half height-wise and press along fold to make a nice top crease.

Open and stitch each short end of the middle piece to a short end of the longer pieces.

Fold in half, right sides facing, and stitch edges together for the just longer pieces. Stitch the short sides on the diagonal with a ½ inch seam allowance.

Leave the middle portion of the sash open. Trim raw edges.

Turn right side out and press all around, pressing raw edges inward on the middle portion.

Insert apron body into opening of sash. Using a directional print like this sprout one makes it very easy to line this up evenly. Pin into place.

Carefully top stitch 1/8 inch away from the opening, removing pins and sewing slowly so the body stays in place and doesn't shift.

Now the apron is ready to wear and fill with gardening goodies.

I received the fabrics pictured from Timeless Treasures to use as I desired, with no financial compensation.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experiences.  

Craftastic Monday Link-Up + New Craftastic Monday Mixer on FB!

Happy Easter week everyone!  Not only is there a great link party here today, now there's a party over on the Sew Can Do Facebook page every Monday too:

Instead of specific posts, you can share your blog, shop or Facebook page over there. That's right - you don't have to have any projects to link - just your blog or crafty business! It's a way to share your site, or page, with other crafty, creative people and find some new sites you might love at the same time.  Twice as much exposure every week!   

How the Craftastic Monday Mixer works: 

No complicated rules or mandatory follows required, just..

- Add your direct blog/Facebook page url in the comments of the Craftastic Monday Mixer update on the Sew Can Do Facebook page: HERE.

- As long as your page/blog is mainly craft-related it's welcome.  Link up every week!

- Crafty, handmade shops are welcome too -  no giveaways though.

So when you're done linking your latest project below, head over to the Sew Can Do Facebook page to get even more exposure and find new crafty places to love!

~~~~~~~~~~

It's also time to announce LUV Dream Flats giveaway winner:

Stacie Skinner-Hoxsie

Congratulations Stacie and have fun picking out some fun new fabric shoes for spring.  And for everyone else, use my code CBLUV20 to get yourself 20% off any order in the LUV Footwear shop! 

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Now let's see some Craftastic picks..

Crafts By Courtney shared this cute project that would be great for the kids - carrots from thread spools & washi tape!

Something Splendid crafted up this fun burlap bunny table runner:

Thought graham cracker houses were just for Christmas?  Think again!  Yesterfood made some adorable houses for Peeps chicks:

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones.  I love projects that allow for reuse and Crafty Journal showed just that with this clever way to add some Easter egg fun to button-up shirts that's quick, easy and, best of all, not permanent:

Crafty Allie showed how to make fabric look vintage with, of all things, coffee! Definitely a "want to try this" idea:

If you're one of this week's features, be sure to grab my Featured On button over on the Buttons Page to let everyone know.  I also feature these projects & more party favorites on the Sew Can Do's Craftastic Picks board on Pinterest AND I share each of them on Twitter too.  Follow me there to see more great projects (and see if yours is one of them)!   

  

Ready to link up your crafty creations?

 

Party rules are simple:

• As long as it's crafty, and made by you, it's Craftastic (no links to giveaways, shops, link parties or other people's work).  Add the link to your specific post (not the main page of your blog).
• Grab my party button & put it on your post or blog somewhere.  The code can be found HERE.
• Check out some of the other fabulous links and share some crafty comment love.  We all love getting comments!!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up