News, 30 Days of Lists, and the Giveaway Winner!

Hello readers. I am sorry for my absence lately. I have been distracted due to my husband coming home after 51 days of being apart. I moved to Maui ahead of him and he flew in on Wednesday. When he got here, we took a mini-vacation retreat on the other side of the island. It was lovely!

{Hubby and I... yes I'm blonde again}

{View from our lanai}

I am bummed out that I haven't been keeping up on posting my 30 days of lists to the Flickr group. I am hoping to pick it back up now that I have internet access again and complete the last bit of the challenge.

I have been very excited about my second Etsy shop, Upcountry Vintage. It has been my main focus lately and I am finding lots of great goodies for everyone on the Mainland. If you haven't already checked it out, please add it to your favorites at:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/upcountryvintage

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Upcountry-Vintage/183931551648024

http://twitter.com/#!/Upcountryfinds

http://upcountryvintage.blogspot.com

So now, last but not least, I wanted to post the winner of my St. Patties Day Giveaway!

{Heidi Jo}

Please contact me with your mailing address and I will send you your upcycled bird plush. I think it's a penguin, others think it's an owl. Whatever you decide, just make sure to give it a good home.

Happy 1st Day of Spring!

Spring is finally here!!!! Time for cute outfits, gardening, farmer's markets, and all the other activities you have been waiting all winter to do. So go outside, and enjoy the sunshine :)

Sincerely,

Kiddins St. Patties Day Giveaway!

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy St. Pat's Day from Kiddins. What better way to celebrate then by posting a new giveaway? Everyone loves a giveaway!

You can enter to win my newest product that hasn't even been listed on Etsy yet!!! That's right... my blog readers hear it first. I have been working on making softies out of thrifted and vintage linens with felt. These are one of a kind and limited in quantity. They are beautiful in detail! Check out the back view... it's really special.

If you want to enter for a chance to win this special little guy, please copy and paste the info below into the comment form. Thanks!!!

{Bird plush - body is made of vintage linens upcycled. Decorated with felt}

{Back view of plush and detail of vintage fabric}

To Enter:

COPY AND PASTE this into a comment below and fill in the info.

• First Name:
• State (or Country if International):
• How You Subscribe to Kiddins Blog (You Must be a Subscriber to Win):
• A Way to Contact You (E-mail, Twitter, Blog, etc.):

This giveaway will end next Thursday, March 24th at 9pm Hawaiian time. A winner will be posted on Friday, March 25th. Family members are not eligible to win the prizes.

Thanks for participating!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Have a Safe & Happy St. Patrick's Day from Jess @ Kiddins

The Tacky Souvenir Swap: Part 1 {The Hunt}

{Source}

A while ago I was poking around on my twitter page, as I often do (if you aren't following me yet, you should!!!) and I saw a post that caught my attention. It said something about a TACKY SOUVENIR SWAP. What could that be, I wondered? I love tacky kitsch! And souvenirs. And swapping. So I clicked the link. And then promptly signed up.

At the time, I still lived in Northern California, just north of San Francisco. As many of you know, San Francisco has quite the tourist population and so it's a great place to find souvenirs. Sonoma County, where I lived, also got a lot of people coming and going due to it being a "Wine Country" destination. But I was just packing my bags to move to Maui, which from my recent trips here, I knew to be a gold mine for nifty gifties.

Never before had I seen entire SOUVENIR DEPARTMENTS whenever I walked into a drugstore. Yes, when you go to Walmart, Kmart, or Longs you get bombarded by towels, postcards, and flipflops with Maui written all over them. It is craziness. We have ABC stores (which is a little chain shop) for all the tourists to shop at. I personally favor shopping at the Swap Meet, where vendors sell similar new products.

So I was assigned a swap partner in the UK named Sophie. I got her some goodies that I will share in a future post (I don't want to spoil her surprise if she reads this) and I can't wait to post more updates as we continue the Tacky Souvenir Swap fun!!!

{Yes, this is an entire Souvenir Department}

The "My Heritage" Challenge

I am known to be a little OCD at times, and I even use coasters on Ikea furniture. So, I thought it would be a fun project to make some felt and cork coasters for the Indie Free Spirits Team challenge,  "Who do you think you are?".  The rules of the challenge were that I had to be in the main listing photo (I included my thumbs!), I had to represent my heritage in the piece, and it would be a good idea to dig through old photos to get started.


I was inspired by a photo of a baby quilt that my mom made me. I use a lot of hearts and flowers in my illustrations and I feel that this quilt is very similar to my creative style and who I am as an artist today. I thought that it would be a fun influence for this project.

{My first quilt that my mom made for me}

I am mainly German, Dutch, and Irish. I have been greatly inspired by Dutch motifs lately that include tulips and hearts. I also wanted to include other floral and natural elements, such as clovers, butterflies, and flowers. My first baby quilt had a lot of these elements in it and was hand sewn by my mom, so these colors and motifs are all very special to me and my family.

I used pink, green, blue, brown, and white felt with blue contrast stitching. There is a protective layer of cork attached to the bottom of each coaster with an additional decorative stitch embroidered around the edge of the coaster. To see the Etsy listings, please visit my shop.

{Coaster Set 1}

{Coaster Set 2}

Thanks for checking these out,

{Day 13} DIY Tutorial Roundup

Things I would love to learn how to make...

Today's "30 Days of Lists" List Prompt was to list some DIY projects that you would like to learn how to create. I decided that instead of just naming items like "embroidery" I would also take the first step in learning them and tracking down a tutorial or book for each item. And why, friends, would I just hog these great guides for myself when I've already rounded them up? I'm sure that one of these crafts is something that you might also be wanting to create yourself... so here you go...

{Make an iPad case or bag. This is a great tutorial from http://biscuitmonster.blogspot.com/2010/08/ipad-case.html}

{I have been thinking a lot about embroidery stitches lately. Maybe not fully embroidering items, but at least details onto the sewn items that I am creating. I have started making plushies and their faces would look great with some of the embroidered effects found on the Sublime Stiching Website or in her new book.}

{Make knit baby beanies out of my Spoonflower fabric designs. This is a simple looking pattern from  http://www.make-your-own-baby-stuff.com/infant-cap.html}

{Make the T-Shirt Quilt from the squares that I already cut up. Here is a good tutorial from  http://www.craftstylish.com/item/7394/how-to-make-a-t-shirt-quilt}

{Make a desk like this one from 14 Feet in Healdsburg (photo from their website). It is  so amazing... steel and concrete!  Unfortunately, I couldn't afford it or the shipping to get it to Hawaii. Check out this blog post from Three Men and a Lady for a great Before and After with the Tutorial!}     

Please share below if you have a project you have been dying to try.

Happy Weekend,

   

30 Photos for 30 Followers

I am now up to 30 followers! Thank you all for reading and commenting. I would love to visit your blogs and follow along as well, so please share a link if you have one. Dani on Sometimes Sweet did this type of post and I thought it was cute. I wanted to do it also and share with you 30 Photos. If you post 30 photos on your blog, please share a link below so I can come visit!!!

30 Photos for 30 Followers

{1. Someone you spend a lot of time with - hubby}

{2. A pic of you}

{3. A random pic of you and your sig. other}

{4. A picture of something that makes you happy - KITTENS!!!}

{5. An old picture of you - 12 years ago}

{6. A pic of your sibling - I'm an only child so this is hub's bro}

{7. A pic you never posted on your blog before - This is DorieLu, the family Frenchie}

{8. A picture of someone you miss - I miss my nieces and nephews very much!!! It's hard living in another state.}

{9. A pic of people who know you now and then}

{10. A picture of your favorite place - Seattle}

{11. A person you can tell everything to - My mom}

{12. A picture of your everyday life - sewing goodies for my Etsy shop!}

{13. A picture from a place you love - San Francisco}

{14. A pic that reminds you of great times - Catching up with my boys over coffee!}

{15. A class photo - I don't have any class photos - I went to a lot of schools and then switched to home-schooling while I studied for the CHSPE. This photo is a "Class Photo" of all the home-schoolers who went on a DC trip in 96. I am in the front row center in the brown hoodie.}

{16. A picture from the best day of your life - Our wedding}

{17. A picture that always makes you laugh}

{18. A picture of your spare time - hanging out in the backyard with the landlord's cat and a cool bevvie}

{19. A Photo From A Great Night - This was the South A Street District's "Winter Blast" Event in Santa Rosa. All the Art Galleries were open, bands were playing, and it was my first time experiencing Atlas Coffee. This photo is of a band playing in the center of the Whiskey Drome while bikes circled around them... it was kinda nuts!}

{20. A picture of the people who are closest to you - they are not all there but the girls from Refuge. They have prayed with me, cried with me, and laughed with me.}

{21. A picture of someone you can always have a good time with - Ali from Ballpoint+Pen!}

{22. A picture of your parents when they were your age. I don't have one, but here is a super adorable pic of my grandma and grandpa when they were dating. I was a sailor and they were too!!!}

{23. A pic from last summer - hubby and nephew on the slide}

{24. A photo of your closest friend of the opposite sex (not sig. other) - My bros and I "in Paris" curtosey of Photobooth, but it was acting up so it's all crazy}

{25. A picture of you on a favorite vacation - Vancouver '08}

{26. A picture of an accomplishment - Graduating the JC at age 18}

{27. A pic of your closest friends - This is my BF and Comic Book Guy Catching Up on Some Reading}

{28. A random photo from photobooth}

{29. A photo that makes you smile}

{30. Someone you will never let go of - Hubby of 10 years!}