The winner of the 3 pattern package from Figgy’s Kids is LUCKY #7, Angela! She said:

Hey hey! Thanks for the give-away, and I’m already a loyal subscriber.

I’m so excited that the talented Shelly is in my part of the world. I love the Mary Go ‘Round pattern. It’s great to see that there are cute patterns for us novice seamstresses!

Thanks again everybody for commenting. Feedback is a great thing for an artist. Don’t forget to comment on this weeks giveaway for a chance to win some great functional art from House of Six Cats.

The first time I mentioned House of Six Cats my family and I were headed on a mini vacation to the Oregon Coast. It seems fitting now that the second prize in my Giveaway Extravaganza is from this same shop and comes right after getting back from another little mini vacation, but this time it was to the Columbia Gorge at the base of Mount Adams. The Pacific Northwest is such a scenic locale and Bill, the artist behind House of Six Cats knows how best to frame that beauty.

After an absence of 1o years, Bill was inspired to pick up a camera again by the birth of his daughter Cyan in 2007. He and his family moved from New York to Portland, Oregon in 2008 and now he tries to find the unseen beauty and elegance in the ordinary and pedestrian. Besides making beautiful, functional art with his photography, he also runs the POE (Photographers of Etsy) Street Team.

If you are local to Portland, make sure to check his work out at America’s Largest Christmas Bazaar Nov. 27, 28 & 29th and Dec. 4, 5 & 6 at the Portland Expo Center. You can also see him at the OHSU Heart Research 2009 Holiday Bazaar in the OHSU BICC Gallery (3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road) on Thursday Dec 10 (10-6) and he is work is on permanent display at the LOVE ART Gallery on the corner of SE 13th and Spokane. House of Six Cats is also a proud member of the NW Handmade community.

Now for the giveaway!

Bill has been generous enough to offer up one set of coasters featuring his own wonderful photography. Thank you, Bill! To win, simply go to his shop and have a look around. Choose which set of coasters from the ceramic coaster section (the ones using Bill’s photography) you would like to win and come back here and comment. For more chances to win twitter about this giveaway or share it through some other social networking site making sure to comment here a second time letting me know what you’ve done. Thanks everyone for helping me support handmade and our great Portland artists!

I’ll leave the comments open until Sunday night the 29th at midnight PST and let everyone know who the winner is on that Monday. This week should be pretty busy since PZ doesn’t have school and no classes either. If I don’t get a chance to post again – Happy Thanksgiving!

Keyka Lou is having a holiday sale! Patterns are only $5! Don’t miss out!!

*  comments for this post are closed.

From now until Christmas I’m planning on having at least one Giveaway a week. Yay! *cue fireworks, marching band, and baton twirlers* I’m calling it the Handmade Experiment’s Giveaway Spectacular! WooHoo! *cue acrobats, fire-dancers, and trick ponies* Expect to find great prizes from some of the most talented artists and designers in and around Portland Oregon Alright! *light the cannons, send out the dancing bears, and make room for the clown cars*

What the heck! I figure with enough smoke, mirrors, and excitement no one will notice that I’m not posting much about my own handmade items. It is the holiday season after all. Most of the handmade things I’m making are for people who read this blog! Oops! So, I’m officially putting my Santa’s Little Helper sign up and making my studio a No Peeking zone. I’ll show off the stuff I make for the kids, but unfortunately the rest is top secret.

Now On With the Show!

Let’s start this thing out right with one of my favorite flickr buddies and fellow crafty mamas, Shelly Figueroa owner and creator of Figgy’s Kids. Fairly new to Portland, she just moved here nine months ago from Ohio, Shelly is an awesome seamstress, clothing designer, teacher, and pattern maker who has generously offered up a 3 pattern package. That’s right! Not one, not two, but three patterns are up for grabs!

The first pattern in the 3 pattern package is her Ella’s Bubble Bottom Skirt. This is a fun and easy reversible bubble skirt pattern with an elastic waist and size range of 12 months to 6 years. What little girl wouldn’t love to have one of these?

The second pattern in the package is her Mary Go ‘Round Dress. It is a simple to sew, reversible wrap dress with a snap closure and a size range of 2-6.

And last, but not least, is her Holy Jumpsuit, Batgirl! pattern. This adorably nostalgic jumpsuit is a halter top with an elastic back and big ruffles at the leg in a size range of 18 months – 6 years.

And the best part is Figgy’s believes in sharing! So not only are they simple to make and fun to wear, but you can also sell the clothing you make so long as you give Figgy’s credit for the pattern. I love this! Thanks Shelly!

If you are in Portland and would like to get one of Shelly’s patterns check out Cool Cottons and Bolt Fabric Boutique. If you’d like to take a class from Shelly she’ll be teaching a Bird Mobile class on 12/1 and The To Go Artist Organizer class on 12/6 both at Bolt. Check at both Bolt and Cool Cottons for future classes taught by Shelly. She also teaches at the Lake Oswego Community School if you have a son or daughter interested in learning hand stitching, machine sewing, or other fun craft projects.

Okay, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. If you want to win this adorable 3 pattern package deal I want you to do three things.
1. Subscribe to my blog. (bookmark me, follow me, put me in a reader. Just come back!)
2. Go to either Figgy’s Kids or 1000 Markets, look around and then come back here and comment. (favorite item, next pattern piece, what you think is missing. In short, give Shelly, a hard-working crafty mama of two some love by giving her some feedback, please!)

3. Make sure you leave me a way to contact you.

If you want more chances to comment and win simply do some networking for me. Facebook, Twitter, whatever. Just leave me another comment letting me know how you got the word out. I’ll leave comments open until Sunday night midnight PST. Monday morning I’ll announce the winner. Thanks! Now I’ve got to get back to sewing!!

I used Lotta Jansdotter’s Simple Sewing for Baby dress pattern for this present for our friend Mabel’s first birthday party last weekend. (The real color is closer to the first one. The felt is like a lime green) Instead of using Lotta’s pocket pal pattern I cut out this fun nesting doll from my yard of Kokka created Trefle fabric. I used some scrap sage green crushed velvet for the back and stuffed it with some bamboo filling. Ally, if you are reading, you should be able to wash the whole thing in cold and air dry. The gingham was some I’m gotten from Knittn Kitten over the summer.

A couple of new things for me with this one. My first time making my own bias tape and adding it to sleeves and neck. Actually I think this was my first “over the head” dress, all my other ones being pinafores, so that’s fun! It was pretty easy although I will say that I really DISLIKE bias tape!! I even made my own packaging with some vintage wool felt I got at Knittn Kitten last time I was in.

Shannon if you’re reading this STOP NOW!!

I am also including a picture of the oven mitts I made for my 100th blog post giveaway winner, Shannon. I used The Idea Room’s tutorial. Did I mention that I DISLIKE bias tape!! Ha! This thing took me several times to get it looking decent. My first oven mitts. Shannon, if you’ve snuck down here please know they were made with love and not TOO much cursing. I hope they make your holiday season brighter and don’t make you burn your fingers!!

If you haven’t checked out Pt.1 or Pt.2 you really should. This is Pt. 3 and the final installment of my Park City Girl Fall Quilt Festival favorites roundup. Enjoy! And make sure to check back on Monday. I’m going to be having an awesome giveaway to start this holiday season off right.
Bumble Bean’s Cheap Hotels Quilt – I love the concept and design on this one. So cool!

A Commonplace Life’s Roundabout Quilt – Great colors and you’ve gotta love those circles.

I Love Baby Quilts’ Finn’s Quilt – All hand quilted (She doesn’t even own a machine!). I’m such a sucker for Heather Ross’ gnomes.

Fresh Lemons’ Good Folks String Quilt – I love a great string quilt and Anna Maria Horner’s Good Folks fabric looks great here!

One Flew Over…’s Mermaid Garden Quilt – Heather Ross’ Mermaid fabric looks great here. Awesome quilt!

Kate Themel’s Prayer For Peace Quilt – Wow! How amazing is this?!?

ritacor’s Dutchman’s Puzzle Quilt – I wouldn’t be able to part with this great quilt either! I love all the orange.

La Vida Compartida…’s Quilt – Beautiful purple patchwork. So pretty!

The Pink Ganeshji’s Domocile I Quilt – Very cool quilt. I love the story behind this one.

Julie B from QuiltinJewel – I’ve never seen one like this. Very cool! You can change the look of it by buttoning and unbuttoning it.

Serendipity – I’m not usually a floral gal, but this one is really special.

Revolutionary Cakes’ Little Bow Quilt – Totally original. I can’t believe the creativity I’ve seen during this quilt festival.

Marcy at Sunflower Design’s Quilt – Another one of a kind quilt. I love the color contrast. It isn’t often you see black quilts.
Attic Window Quilt Shop’s Rose Abunda Quilt – Gorgeous. A true heirloom piece.

Camille Roskelley’s Red Velvet Cake Quilt –  This quilt is a knock out! I can’t get enough of the red and turquoise combo and the cake doesn’t look half bad either!

Sure, its bragging, but I can’t help myself. I entered a picture of PZ and Q’s astronaut and space alien costumes into nonchalant mom’s Halloween Costume Contest and I won!! I am so excited! Yay!! Of course, if I win a contest with my very first handmade Halloween costumes, where do I go from there? Who cares! For now, I’m over the moon!!

So here is where this little experiment gets tricky. Christmas time. I’m actually pretty excited about it and although Hubs hasn’t made any commitment to handmade I’ve been thinking of several fun homemade gifts/projects he/we can do for the kids as gifts for Christmas time. I’ll keep you posted on how it pans out.

Since I’m the holiday shopper in the family I was helping Hubs out by looking around on Etsy for a couple of handmade gifts for the girls. He’s buying, not me! Anyway, I came up with this little round-up and thought it might help some others of you out there looking for cool handmade gifts for your little ones this holiday season. Happy shopping!

Wee Knit’s Yo Gabba Gabba finger puppets – PZ would LOVE these. Plex (the yellow robot) is her favorite.

Nursery Love’s Story Blocks (set of 12) – Both my girls (3 and 1) would love these cute, colorful blocks. PZ is old enough that she could use them to create elaborate tales and Q would enjoy building them up and knocking them down again.

Sunny Side Up Craft’s Knotty Elephant – This guy looks like so much fun to hold. I’m sure Q would just eat him up. Not quite literally, but just about. Ha!

Steven’s Creation’s Big Red Barn – Both of my girls could spend hours playing with this fantastic farm scene. Q’s favorite animal (and one of her most recognizable signs) is duck so she’d get a big kick out of the little pond while PZ would decorate and redecorate the barn so many times the cow’s wouldn’t know what they were coming home to.

Fezzig’s Carla Bug – Baby Q would love this little bug dolly. Looks like just the perfect size for her little hands and I love the fabrics!

tiffpippin’s Baby Black Beard – PZ would be so adorable wearing this! I could add a plaid shirt and she’d be a little lumberjack.

Softie Cafe’s Felt Fruit – Both girls would play with these. I just love the little strawberries and especially the half peeled banana.

Little Sappling Toys Organic Outer Space Set – PZ would flip for these. She’s all about space right now.
Raptor Baby’s Raptor Robots – Both my girls adore robots. Who would have thought I’d have two girls that love robots, space, and dinosaurs? Not me, but they do. These cute little guys would make a great addition to our dollhouse.

Here is pt.2 of my Park City Girl Fall Festival Quilt favorites. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

crafty tammie- I LOVE the colors in this one. Just beautiful!

blempgorph- Too cute! The first one like this I’ve seen in this list.

quilt it- The kitty cat squares are so fun and creative. Just a really neat idea and really well done. Plus the kitty in the pictures is adorable!

audrey pawdrey-The colors are great and and the shapes and patterns make for a cute, kooky quilt.

don’t call me becky= I really like the sophisticated pallet on this one. Very simple design, but modern. Pleasing for both him and her which is hard to do.

cre8tivekick- Wow! This quilt is a work of art.

ayenforcraft- This one has a great design. I really like the bubbles and vintage prints with the white background. Really exquisite. Perfect for a Modern Victorian nursery.

zonnah’s addiction- Obviously made for a very lucky child. I know a few kiddos who would go nutso for this quilt.

sew at home- This is a really sweet quilt. Makes me think of sunny days and lying in the grass.

my itty bitty quilts- This one feels like a real heirloom piece. Wish I had one in my family.

lifes a quilt- This quilt would really liven up a room. It has great humor and style and is just really fun to look at.

the quilting diaries- Another really sweet one, I love the theme and the smart design.

Amy from Park City Girl hosted her online Fall Quilt Festival last month and got over 600 entries! So far I’ve looked at 228 and these are some of my favorites.

Kathy  from Magnolia Designs’ baby quilt for Lawson. 

Janet from On the Road with Janet’s quilt for her newest grandbaby. 

Nikki from Fancy That Quilt’s picnic quilt. 

Another great quilt by Allison from Cluck. Cluck. Sew.

A great quilt and a great story from Hyacinth for the Soul.

Sisterlylove’s gorgeous gift to her niece.

Aimee of Salt Marsh Design’s first big free motion quilt. 

Casey’s first quilt for her baby girl made out of vintage sheets. 

Obsessively Stitching’s baby quilt. 

Free Falling’s mermaid quilt. You have to check out the detail work on this thing. It’s gorgeous!!

Karin from Making the Seam’s quilt. So cute!

Sarah from Come and See the Seitz’s Baby Boy Quilt.

Nova from A Card a Day’s quilt she made for her nephew Oban.  

Sara’s “Sun” quilt from Sara’s Scraps. 

Meguey’s Unexpected Mermaid quilt posted on her blog, Ruminations and Fabrications.

Check back for more fabulous quiltyness as I continue looking through the massive list. I’ve also got my own little quilty project started. Here’s a sneak peak.

Its my first log cabin square ever. I used this tutorial from equilter. (you can also find it in my sidebar under “how to make a log cabin quilt block”) I’m toying with the crazy idea of making a quilt and entering into the Lark’s Book Quilt It! Contest. I’ve already got birds and some recycled fabrics. I could add some silver fabrics or thread and I’d be golden. We’ll see what I can accomplish with all the holiday sewing I’ve got to tackle. Wish me luck!!