Market Recap, Purse Palooza, AND a Giveaway!

Well, I don't know how it happens, but summertime comes around a little quicker with every passing year. This one is no exception! I always find myself wondering what happened to January-most of May?? I guess it means I have been super busy!

Just going to share a bit of market recap with you. For most of you who follow on Facebook, you have already seen the booth and what I wore each day, so this will be brief! We had a great time at market as usual. It is so nice to play catch up with friends we only see twice a year and have a laugh or two. We get to meet new people too. One such person is Sara Lawson....she is an absolute doll! We have been talking back and forth through Facebook for over a year now, so getting to meet in person was a real treat!

In case you don't know who Sara is, she is a super talented sewist who can make anything she sets her mind to. She has mad skills and designs the most lovely bags. She currently creates free sewing tutorials for Pellon as well as shares her sewing adventures over at her blog, Sew Sweetness. If you haven't seen her work, hop on over NOW and go see her stuff. She has quite the sense of humor too! I wish we lived closer to one another....that TX to Chicago thing is a real bummer!

Here we are at market together. She made Monique dresses to wear at the show and looked absolutely fabulous the whole time! She added the best circular skirt to the bodice. I love how it looks!

The next person I was fortunate to finally meet in person was Heidi Boyd. She is just a lovely person, inside and out...what a pleasure it was to talk face to face! She has written some fantastic craft books...more than a dozen (yes, I wrote dozen, people) books on all sorts of great stuff. We exchanged books at market, so I have my own personal copy of her most current book, Stitched Whimsy. It is ADORABLE! I simply must make time to sew up some of her designs....they are just to die for! I need to make these friends closer to home, though...Heidi lives all the way up in Maine! Go visit her blog at Heidi Boyd.

Here's me and Heidi at market:

Now, for Purse Palooza......this is Sara's event that she is doing on her blog. She will be hosting all sorts of great designers during the month of June on her blog. There will be pattern reviews, tutorials, and giveaways galore....you DON'T want to miss it! There's a link over on the sidebar to navigate you to the schedule so you can follow along. I will be posting at the end of June about double loop sliders, so don't miss it! Plus, Sara will be giving away an autographed copy of my bag book!

Now....if you have followed along this far, it is GIVEAWAY TIME!! Just leave a comment here and I will be giving away one each of my new patterns/booklets (includes: Fashion Formula Dresses, Artful Bags & Accessories, The Bebe Dress, and The Sally Shirtdress) to

ONE LUCKY WINNER,

chosen at random. PLEASE enter only once (duplicate entries will be deleted to keep it fair and square for everyone!). The giveaway ends on Friday, June 1 at 11:59PM central daylight time. This giveaway is open to everyone....US and international, so what are you waiting for? Leave a comment today!

And as always....Happy Sewing!