Guest Blogging today at Southern Lovely

I'm over at Southern Lovely today taking part in the "What I Know" series. I'm talking about sewing. Lord knows I'm not a pro by any stretch of the imagination. Most of the times I still feel like a novice. I've shared some simple tips for the beginner sewer along with some easy beginner projects that anyone can create! 

I hope you'll join me over at Southern Lovely. 

{Announcement} Bowdabra Design Team

I'm so excited to officially share with our fellow followers that I've (Mrs. Woodsy) joined the Bowdabra Design Team! This has been about a month in the making, and it's been killing me to not share it with the world. I announced it earlier last week on our Facebook Fan Page, upon my bio on the Bowdabra Blog being published. (More reason's why you should follow us on Facebook--you get to learn "breaking" info as soon as I can release it!) 


Yesterday, the announcement was made official on the Bowdabra Blog. Please stop by the blog, read the announcement, and of course feel free to browse around the blog. Last week, the designers on the blog focused on Back-to-School ideas. 


I recognize that not everyone might know what a Bowdabra is; it's an easy-to-use crafting tool used to make bows. You can also read more about the Bowdabra and get some step-by-step directions on the Bowdabra blog. 


I'm so excited to join such an amazing group of ladies. Your probably thinking; "What does Mr. Woodsy think of this"? He's excited and has already been spitting off ton's of Bowdabra project ideas to me. At times I think he has more ideas than me! Its great--that's another perk of working together as a team. Oh, and lastly, you might be wondering if Mr. Woodsy know's how to operate a Bowdabra. The answer is YES! He used it last Christmas to make my Christmas gifts look amazing! 


I invite you to follow along on the Bowdabra blog to be inspired and get crafty! 

Paint It Black {Winners}

Thank you for those who entered the contest. There was not too many people who entered, so that just meant those who did enter had better odds of winning a can of Spray It Black! 

Congrats to our two winners! 

Apparently, both winners want to revamp their shoes! 

Please email us, so we can send you a can of Spray It Black! 

We look forward to running another contest in the coming weeks! 

Happy Blog-iversary + {Paint It Black} Giveaway!

Last August we published our first blog post on Sew Woodsy. We were celebrating our first anniversary in our home, and had completed multiple projects throughout the year. Being the photographer I am I would document projects here and there, and never really thought anything of it until one day I realized our projects were never ending. We were always going to be working on a home project, craft, DIY, woodworking, etc. I wanted a way to publicly document our projects to share with our family and friends. I brainstormed names with my two friends, Sarah and Christy, and after much debate and words thrown together, Sew Woodsy was born (well of course after discussing this with Mr. Woodsy). I had some experience with blogging, since I am the author of a cooking blog, Katie's Cucina, but hadn't really thought out an editorial calendar. I just knew I wouldn't post on Sew Woodsy half as often as I did on Katie's Cucina. I just couldn't imagine having the time. Low and behold, both sites are posted on almost as frequently as the other, and surprisingly, Sew Woodsy took off in its first year! I am proud to say that we have over 700 following us on feedburner and over 100,000 hits in our first year! Words cannot express my excitement, and although Mr. Woodsy doesn't always understand the blog language I speak (absolute unique visitors, bounce rate, referring sites, etc) he is also very proud, and at times can ramble off a few statistics. This blog has kept us motivated to work on home projects during times when all we wanted to do was crawl into bed and rest. Sew Woodsy has given me more drive to be creative, and has taught me over the year what its like to build a brand. I'm excited to see what this next year will bring us, and can't wait to announce some pretty BIG things that we have in the works.

Last October the fine people at Simply Spray contacted me and asked if they could send me some product to test out and give away on our blog. I agreed, and if you remember, we gave away some Spray Blood last October to mark Halloween. I've held on to the Paint It Black for way too long now, and to thank all of our loyal followers on making Sew Woodsy successful we are giving away not one but two cans of Paint It Black from Simply Spray!

2 lucky followers will win a can each of Paint It Black! 

Mr. Woodsy wears his croakies (they hold his sunglasses) every single day of the year. He typically goes through a new pair every few months because they fade so quickly. We tested Paint It Black on his croakies... 

I painted one side, and you can see the difference already.

Here are the new and improved croakies for Mr. Woodsy's glasses.

Mr. Woodsy patiently modeling his croakies.

To enter for a chance to win Paint It Black please answer one simple question: 

What would you paint black if you won this prize? 

If you would like additional chances to win you can do the following: 

1. {1 entry} "Like" Sew Woodsy on Facebook and leave your name in a comment below.

2. {1 entry} Follow Sew Woodsy on Twitter and leave your twitter handle.

3. {1 entry per day} Tweet about this giveaway using the sample tweet below or the tweet button at the bottom of this post.

4. "Enter for a chance to win 1 can of Paint It Black via @SimplySpray and @SewWoodsy #Giveaway http://ow.ly/5RYnW " (*1 entry per day--must leave separate comment per day for each time tweeted). 

5. {1 entry} Click the "stumble" button at the top right corner of this giveaway post, and leave your name. 

6.{1 entry for subscribing 1 entry for verifying} Subscribe to Sew Woodsy via email and verify the subscription.

7. {1 entry} Follow Simply Spray on Twitter and leave your twitter handle. 

8. {1 entry} ‘Like’ Simply Spray on Facebook and leave your name. 

This giveaway is open to United States residents only. Each entry must have a separate comment to make all of your entries count. 

(If you already like Sew Woodsy on Facebook, Twitter, or subscribe via email, just leave a comment saying so.)

This contest will remain open until 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, August 6, 2011. 

The following day one winner will be chosen at random using random.org. 

Sewn Homemade Business Cards {& CFL Blog Con recap}

Last Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend the Central Florida Bloggers Conference at Park Maitland School, in Maitland, Florida. I was excited to see some of my blogger friends in real life, finally put a face to a name with those I chat with on Twitter, meet new bloggers, and of course learn new blogging techniques. The number one rule when going to any type of networking event is to have a business card. Let's face it you will be talking with many people and you aren't  going to remember each and every person you speak with. It's great to hand a business card to that person, so that they can check out your blog once they are away from the chaos and in the comforts of their own home. I'll be the first to admit I procrastinated and originally wanted to have professional cards printed; however, I know deep down inside my "West Elm taste on a WalMart budget" was kicking into full gear. I just didn't want to spend the money! Plus with our impending blog re-design right around the corner I knew I would just need to print new cards once again. I opted to make a homemade business card after doing some extensive research. Actually, this card, was part inspiration to the cards I created. 

I spent all of last Friday evening cutting paper, aligning paper with the printer, and in the end they were a huge success. My only regret is that I didn't make 20+ more! I gave away 48 cards in no time, and each time I handed my card to someone the receiver would get giddy, exclaiming "you're the one with the unique homemade business cards"! I thought it was pretty cool that people were talking about my business cards! I had multiple blogging professionals tell me to keep up with the homemade cards, since they match our niche so well. So I guess once the blog is redesigned we will not be getting professionally printed business cards. Instead, we will be making our own... card by card. 

Here is a quick tutorial on how I created my own sewn homemade business cards. 

I put my logo in a word document along with a text box that had my name, web address (in bold), telephone number, email address, and twitter handler. I moved around the logo and text box until I was happy with how it was printing out. I wanted the paper to wrap around the card, so that I could sew the ends. I think I got the positioning of the logo and text on the third try. After I printed out a few sheets of my logo and information I then started cutting scrap cardstock I had on hand. *The pink and beige metallic are actually leftover cardstock from our wedding invitations I made over three years ago! You will want to cut the card stock, 3.5 inches long by 2 inches wide (standard business card size).  

Next, I used a boning tool, to make a crease in the paper which makes it easier to fold a heavier card stock. Once the card stock is folded I then placed one glue zot near the side where the logo is to secure the logo/information to the business card. 

Next, you'll run the cards, individually, through your sewing machine. I choose to use some decorative stitches, along with basic straight stitches and zig zag stitches. As pictured above, this is how your cards will look prior to being trimmed. I ran the cards through the paper cutter, and then trimmed the loose thread from each card. 

Here is how the final product will look! 

You'll notice I used a variety of different cardstocks I had on hand, along with stitching styles. I absolutely LOVE how they came out. When I go to work on a new batch after the blog revamp is completed I plan to use all recycled paper (pictured on the left). 

They are relatively thick, so make sure if you have a carrying case you'll have enough room to store them in! 

----Central Florida Bloggers Conference Recap----

I love going to conferences, and highly suggest if you've never been to one and want to learn some new techniques and network to find the closest one to your house and go! It is the best motivator and if you want to ever turn your blog into more than a blog or if you just want to improve your blog they help. 

Upon checking in to the conference we were asked to sign up on the "blog" wall! Since there were not a lot of other craft blogs at the conference Sew Woodsy was placed under "other". 

Our conference started off with Keynote speaker, Marc Middleton from Growing Bolder. He was an amazing motivational speaker. Pretty much reminding each of us that if we put our minds to it that we can succeed. His show is in 171 markets and 550 stations. They began in 2009 with only 1 station! 

Here are a few of Marc's Tips:

- "Don't spend a penny you don't have to"

- "Future proof your work product"

-"The power of repurposing"

- "Simplify in every way possible"

Ben, from Adventures with Ben, spoke about taking your blog beyond the guest post. As Ben stated "Potential blog readers are everywhere... and that's exactly where I want to be."

Here are the points that Ben touched on during his presentation: 

-Find writing partnerships, repurpose your content, get featured in the paper, write for a paper, write for a business, participate in speaking engagements, engage in your niche community, and engage in your local community. 

The last session I'd like to share was with Rachelle of the Travel bite. Rachelle, spoke about building a media kit. Something I've been wanting to do for Sew Woodsy for a while now, and am currently working on! 


A few items you should including in your Media Kit? 
-Biography, who are you?
-Why do you write? 
-What experience do you have?
-Real life examples
-Photos of yourself, both candid and professional headshot
-Work, what other services do you provide? 


With all of Rachelle's examples I can't wait to start building my Media Kit! 

There were so many other great sessions throughout the day, and two tracks to follow along with, which meant 2 topics every 30-45 minutes to choose from. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to attend this conference. I gained so much more knowledge and by the end of the day my brain was on mental overload! I can't wait to start implementing a few of the new techniques and tips I learned in the coming weeks!

Bean Bag Toss {Guest Blogging on Sawdust and Paper Scraps!}

We are so excited to announce that we are guest posting over at Sawdust and Paper Scraps today, and have finally shared our secret project. A tutorial on making your own Bean Bag Toss game (otherwise known in the South as "Cornhole"). We hope you'll go over to Sandra's blog and show your Sew Woodsy love, and follow Sawdust and Paper Scraps while your at it--she's amazing!

Here are a few more "behind the scenes" pictures from our project:

Mr. Woodsy building the frames. 

Mr. Woodsy working on the legs. *You'll notice he has no safety glasses on. Don't worry--it was a posed picture! :) 

The bean bag toss boards almost complete!

Sanding the boards. 

Sewing a double stitch was key for this project! 

Corn feed to fill the bean bags. 

The final product. 

Bean bag toss in action! 

HGTV Design Star {Episode 2} is on Tonight!

(photo compliments of HGTV)

Does anyone love Design Star on HGTV as much as we do? At times we really think we could hang with the big dogs (especially on someone else's dime)! We were so excited to see that the show was being filmed in Brooklyn, New York. If you look at the picture above, Mr. Woodsy and I were just there two weeks ago over the Fourth of July, and we have pictures to prove it! . *We will be sharing our pictures from NYC soon! 

If you missed last weeks first episode, we'll give you a little recap. After the new design stars met each other they were given a 30-second camera challenge (something they will be doing each episode). After the camera challenge the finalist got into groups of 2 and chose at random a room to design in their new 3 story apartment that they will all be living at throughout the season. If you want to watch the full episode you can view it here on HGTV. 

(photo compliments of HGTV)

So, we'd love to know what was your favorite room from last week's episode, was? I (Mrs. Woodsy) was smitten for the "Great Room"! It was exactly what I aspire my house to look like one day! 

(photo compliments of the HGTV blog)

Of course Mr. Woodsy LOVED this "RELAX" sign, and is already dreaming up some cool new sign he can make for our home! 

What about your favorite designer, so far?

We're tossed between Cathy Hobbs (left) and Leslie Ezelle (right) and the fact that they worked together makes it even more difficult for us to choose! They both have strong personalities and impeccable taste! You can actually vote for your favorite fan on HGTV's website! We'd like to know who you like so far in the competition? 

I'm so excited for tonight's episode. It's going to be an interesting one! You can check out a preview of tonight's episode on HGTV. Remember to watch at 9pm/8central! 

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored campaign by Crafterminds and HGTV Design Star. My opinions are my own.

Happy Birthday to Me!

This year I've had the "Birthday Blues" as they are called. It's not because I'm getting older--I simply have a lot of stuff going on in my life + Mr. Woodsy has been working a non-traditional work schedule. I knew I wasn't going to spend the evening of my birthday at a nice restaurant with him nor any of the weekend. I am going to a Food Blog Forum Seminar this weekend, which is definitely the highlight of my "Birthday weekend".  I've made no plans with friends (outside of work) and all of my family is working. Luckily, my co-workers were able to turn my frown upside down. 

Last year, they transformed my cube into a kitchen. To be exact, they transformed it into Katie's Cucina. I work with a very creative group, and we celebrate just about everyone's birthday in our department! 

This year, they transformed my cube into a crafty space! 

Apparently, I'm the next Martha Stewart! They photo-shopped my face onto Martha! lol. 

They printed out a sewing machine, pictures of thread, placed a real piece of fabric on the machine along with some glitter glues! It looks realistic! 

They made a flag style banner {like I make for birthday's} along with re-branding Martha's Living collection with my name! My mother in-law brought me flowers and balloons, too! 

Here is another view of the banner and picture of me!

And I even got to cook with Mario Batali! 

I'm so grateful to have such great friends and coworkers. They made my day special, and without them the day would not have been the same!

No Link Party This Week

Hello, from high in the sky! Last week I was in San Francisco for work and this week I'm in route to New Orleans! With that being said I have had no time to prepare in advance for a link party and/or get one up and running today. I love my iPad, but copying and pasting pictures for features and HTML is about in possible on this marvelous device. The link party will start back up next week, and feature all 4 marvelous projects that linked up last week (due to my lack of copying the html code for the link party in the post).

I'd love to report that I've been crafting away, but sadly with two back-to-back business trips, crafting has been put on hold, and Mr. Woodsy has been busy-busy at work! I do have quite a few cool crafts to share that are on back log. One of these days I'll have time to edit photo's and write up tutorials. Oh, and I have two awesome giveaways in the coming months.

Other exciting news to report on, my birthday is next month and Mr. Woodsy finally agreed to make a head board for our bed (as my birthday gift). Ever since we moved in our house a year and a half ago I've been wanting to make over our bedroom making it a true master suite and a place to relax and get away from the world. So, hopefully by the end of next month we will have transformed our bedroom into everything I've dreamed of without breaking the bank! The hard part is finding the comforter set, cloth for the head board and bench, and curtains that we will use for this transformation. Along with a new fan, pictures, and paint/wall paper. At least I'll be home the next 3 weeks to concentrate on that project. I the meantime, keep on crating and stop by next Wednesday to link up all your awesome projects.

Disclaimer: this blog post was typed on a tablet and may contain spelling errors!

Vote for our Christmas Magnets!!!

A few week's ago I read on the Mod Podge Rocks blog that the Dollar Tree was hosting a Flair For Crafts Contest; a Christmas Challenge to be exact! Well voting opened today and I would love to have all the votes I can get! The main rules were "Create a holiday-themed decoration using materials totaling $20 or less". I decided to enter my Christmas Magnets since they are super easy to make and the main craft supply resides at the Dollar Tree--the glass stones! This project also comes out to be a little over a dollar as well! 

You can find my Christmas Magnets on Page 17! Click on my photo and underneath the picture it will say "vote"! It's that easy! Please make sure you go and vote! I'd love to win a $50 gift card to the Dollar Tree... I can only imagine all the crafts I could make with that gift card! Or even better... a vacation to Las Vegas!!! Either way I'm just excited to have entered and know that the competition is intense (have you scene all the amazing projects entered)? 


Spread the word if you love these magnets and get others to vote too! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

At time when we embrace what we are thankful for we felt it was appropriate to thank each and every one of our followers who make this blog possible! You give us motivation when we aren't motivated to be creative! The past few weeks in our life have been challenging and we appreciate everyones cooperation. We are hoping that next month we can bring a wide variety of creative projects to the blog! Thank you again for following our creative journeys, and we wish that you and your family and friends have a wonderful day together filled with good food and great company! 

Here are a few fall/Thanksgiving decorations that we've placed around our house. We hope you enjoy them! 

The shelves above our couch... great to transform for anyone holiday!

I printed out a free printable here for the Keep Calm & Gobble On. For the life of me though I can't remember where I printed out the subway art piece! Sorry! 

I bought these gourds on clearance at Micahel's for 80% off after Halloween and the other foliage was bought on clearance for $3 at Walmart. I only spent about $6 on this decoration piece! 

On our dinning room table I have repurposed all three jars I used for Halloween and filled them with festive fall decor which I also bought on clearance for 80% off!