Ta-Ta-Ta TaTaTa Taaaaaaaa! Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge Winner!

Months of crafting and snapping and posting and commenting are over. 

The votes are in and have been counted.  I was absolutely meticulous about this and discarded a few votes that had been entered more than once and took the total over three ... In kindness, let’s say that was just over enthusiasm on the part of some voters … no vote fixing here, my friends … oh no ...



The Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge gauntlet was enthusiastically and creatively taken up by The Magnificent Nine:

A. Hadley - school tags

B. Emily - sandwich bag

C. Bianca - japanophile muff

D. Beth - Pleat front Sorbetto top

E. Alli - eating out pouch

F. Ella - belly dancing corset and bra trim

G. Sarah - tic tac toe & puzzle

H. Eilidh - diamond scrappy stocking

I. Ali VeryBerry - boy & girl bootees

Only one couple have danced their way to earn the right to lift the mirrorball.  (Sorry, seem to be channelling Strictly …)



Goodness me! It was a close run thing … A total of 372 votes !!

It was vay vay exciting checking the spreadsheet to see how things were going - every day the Top 3 changed!

So, in customary style, let’s go in reverse order ….


In third place, with 52 votes …..

Hadley from FlyingBlindOnARocketCycle and her tremendtastic tags!

In 2nd Place, with 55 votes:

Eilidh’s divine scraptastic diamond stocking!

And the Winner, with a whopping 81 votes …

Ali at VeryBerryHandmade’s Bootiliciously Scrappy Baby Bootees!

YAY!!

Congratulations Ali! - you get to wear the crown and sash as 2011 Eternal Pings Scrap Bag Challenge Queen ...  you will be receiving a year’s subscription to the Eternal Maker’s Japanese Swatch Club. 




Thank you so so much to everyone who took part with such wonderful enthusiasm and creativity.  You’re all winners …. man …. Thank you too to Anna at The Eternal Maker for suggesting and sponsoring the challenge!  You all rock!

Tomorrow I’ll announce my voter giveaway winner, but for today, let’s just drool over those bootees again … after all, that’s exactly what the babies will be doing! Bwahaha!

yum!

Eternal Maker - Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge - Final Votes Please …

OK lovely people … if you haven’t voted yet … now is your last chance … I’m extending this until midnight THURSDAY (UK time) because I know a few people who want to vote but maybe are a little jet lagged from Quilt Market :)

To sum up, these are our wonderful entries:


and you can vote here
The winner will receive a year’s subscription to Eternal Maker’s Japanese Swatch Club
The entries are awesome [a word I can type but can’t actually say because I’m a Brit and I find it tricky]

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In other, related, news … have you seen the new Echino Fall 2011 line? … S W O O N …  here are a few pics … all available from the Eternal Maker  …

What I love about Echino is that you can obsess and build a stash over time and it will always work well together … genius!
So, go vote, please … your blogfriends need you!
Or go buy, please … your local UK fabric store needs you too!

Vote for your Fabbest Favourite - Eternal Maker Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge -

Hoorah!  It’s time to start voting for your fave Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge project!

Voting will run for a week, closing at midnight UK time Wednesday 2nd November and couldn’t be simpler - you can either vote below using the embedded form or go here … I’ll be posting the link during the week too …

Here’s a little visual reminder of all the wonderfulness …

and here’s where you get to vote: 

Happy Voting! 

And a big big thank you to The Eternal Maker  and to all the brilliant Scrap Bag Challengees for taking part … Good Luck!!

lipsmackinfussycuttingseampressingthreadmatchingbuttonstitchinggrometpoppingpleatmakingdiamondcuttingmuffwarming Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge! Part III of III

So here we are, the final day of showcasing the fab talents of My lovely Eternal Maker Japanese Scrap Bag Challengees.

Remember, voting will start tomorrow …squeeee!!!

Today we’re looking through the round window at Bianca G, Emily L & Hadley

(Clicking on the pictures will take you directly to the flickr pages!) 

 

Bianca G
 
”My sister has been wanting a muff to keep her hands warm when it's cold outside. I think it would be so cute to have the Japanese prints on the outer of the muff with some nice fluffy fabric for the inside. Oh yeah, she also wants it to be a purse, so I'm working on inserting at least a small zipper compartment of some sort. But she would simply die if she got a muff plus cute Japanese fabric. We've been Japan-o-philes for a while.”

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Emily L      tutorial here!   

I would make my little girl a patchwork sandwich bag and try lamintating my scraps once pieced to make it usefully wipeable, she is off to pre-school soon :( and it will be lovely to send her with something made with love and unlike any of the other childrens!

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Flying Blind On A Rocket Cycle - Hadley - tutorial here!

 
”Depending on the scraps, I would be making tags to distinguish all 3 school kiddies identical book bags, PE bags, swimming bags and cardies; children should be identifiable by pattern!“






Please come back tomorrow for a mosaic-y roundup and details of how to vote!  Yay!

Don’t forget, the prize is a year’s membership of Eternal Maker’s Japanese Swatch Club … so these guys need your votes :)

Secret prize for the best muff innuendo comment ;)

lipsmackinfussycuttingseampressingthreadmatchingbuttonstitchinggrometpoppingpleatmakingdiamondcuttingmuffwarming Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge! Part II of III

So here we are, Day Two showcasing the fab talents of My lovely Eternal Maker Japanese Scrap Bag Challengees. Remember, voting will start on Wednesday … So be sure and pop by tomorrow for the final three ….

So, today we’re looking at Ella, Beth@Madscouser, and Alli.


Clicking any of the images will take you to it looking lovely and shiny and big on flickr!

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Ella            blog here

”I could make a corset belt for bellydance ... and if there were sufficient scraps, a border for the edge of a bra.”

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Madscouser
 
I'd make the Sorbetto top from Collete patterns:http://www.coletterie.com/colette-patterns-news/free-pattern-to-download-the-sorbetto-top  And use the scraps for the central pleat and hopefully the arm & neck bindings if there was enough left! :-)

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Alli H           blogged here
 
”I'd make an eating out kit: a little pouch to hold a knife, fork, spoon, and a pair of chopsticks. Lately I've been feeling guilty about using plastic utensils when I go to restaurants that put your food in takeaway containers even though you'll be eating there. I felt bad that those plastic forks and things only get used for about ten minutes and then thrown away... they barely had a chance to live! :D”
 

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Much as I want to jump up and down and ramble on about how brilliant each one is, I want to maintain impartiality - it’s important that the winner is really down to you guys voting later this week … and I think these entries just speak for themselves!

Come back tomorrow for the final three: Bianca G, Emily L & FlyingBlindOnARocketCycle

lipsmackinfussycuttingseampressingthreadmatchingbuttonstitchinggrometpoppingpleatmakingdiamondcuttingmuffwarming Japanese Scrap Bag Challenge! Part I of III

Greetings Blogfans (I’m channelling Roland Rat?? sheesh)

I’m back in the blogosphere a bit … phew … long story and bit too much to recount here, but here I am anyway!

Now, let’s get down to business ….

My lovely Eternal Maker Japanese Scrap Bag Challengees have really really pulled it out the bag!  I am so impressed, so delighted and so proud to present the fruits of their labours …

Back in the summer the original challenge was to use a Japanese scrap bag from the Eternal Maker, with very little else added,  to create something fabtastic ... and boy oh boy have I got some lovely stuff to show you ... 

I’m going to split this post into three parts, showcasing 3 entries per day and then voting will start on Wednesday … So be sure and pop by for the rest of the loveliness … I'm not commenting on anything, to maintain impartiality!  This will be down to your votes, not mine!


So, today we’re looking at Ali @ Very Berry Handmade , Eilidh, and Sarah@NarcolepticInACupboard.

Clicking the images will take you to them looking lovely and shiny and big on flickr!



Ali @ Very Berry Handmade - blogged here
         


“If I had some gorgeous Japanese fabrics, I would want to do something really special with them... My friend is having a baby later on this year, and I think I would like to make some cute little patchwork baby booties... I can see them now - they would be so fab!”

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Eilidh:  read more here

”I would make a stocking for my wee 1 year old friend Joseph. He'll be spending Christmas in Japan this year (and maybe next) as his mum moved out there with him in March. We all really miss them and this would be a lovely way to show that I'm thinking of them and hopefully he'll use it once he's back in Scotland for a long long time and then the fabric will remind him of Japan!”


more here

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Sarah@NarcolepticInACupboard     blogged here

“If I won the scrap bag I'd like to make a little fabric game I've been thinking about ...”

and the backs of the Tic Tac Toe pieces also go together to make a puzzle! 

 


mosaic tutorial here

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Aren’t they great?!!  I really am beswooned by the genius and ingenuity … Thank you so much you clever clever people!

Please come back tomorrow for the next three!  Ella, Beth@Madscouser, and Alli.   Squee!

Winners! Japanese Scrap Bag Giveaway!

Okay, this was a really difficult one because I wasn’t using mr random generator but my own mind.  heavy, man.

So, if you didn’t win it’s not because it wasn’t a brilliant idea.  I did focus on choosing ideas that I thought people would really like to see and that I thought would embrace the scrap challenge to the full!




I’m joining in too with my scrap bag – although I’m obviously not entering my own competition, cos that would be silly and highly illegal.


I haven’t thought about what I’m going to make yet, but whatever it is I’ll be paying it forward to someone along the line!





So, without further ado, the ten winners who are entered into the next round to win a year’s subscription to the Eternal Maker’s Japanese charm club are:

• narcoleptic in a cupboard
  
  If I won the scrap bag I'd like to make a little fabric game I've been thinking about ... ooh intriguing!  Can’t wait to see!  I’ve been wanting to make a memory game for ages … is that what you have in mind?
  
  
• Sarah Olson
  
  I think I'd like to make a quilt square purse, or maybe an eyeglasses case!  OR SOMETHING SHAPED LIKE A DINOSAUR.  Just because.  You’re on!  I want to see the something shaped like a dinosaur!!
  
  
  
• Flying Blind On A Rocket Cycle
  
Depending on the scraps, I would be making tags to distinguish all 3 school kiddies identical book bags, PE bags, swimming bags and cardies; children should be identifiable by pattern!  Blurry brilliant idea Hadley!  I can see people really appreciating this one!

• Alli H
  
  I'd make an eating out kit: a little pouch to hold a knife, fork, spoon, and a pair of chopsticks. Lately I've been feeling guilty about using plastic utensils when I go to restaurants that put your food in takeaway containers even though you'll be eating there. I felt bad that those plastic forks and things only get used for about ten minutes and then thrown away... they barely had a chance to live! :D  This is such a great idea … I totally agree about the plastic cutlery thang …
  
  
  

• Bianca G
  
  
  My sister has been wanting a muff to keep her hands warm when it's cold outside. I think it would be so cute to have the Japanese prints on the outer of the muff with some nice fluffy fabric for the inside. Oh yeah, she also wants it to be a purse, so I'm working on inserting at least a small zipper compartment of some sort. But she would simply die if she got a muff plus cute Japanese fabric. We've been Japan-o-philes for a while. Well, anyone who can write the word muff without sniggering is a better person than me … can’t wait to see your muff *snigger!"

• Ali @ Very Berry
  
  Oooh - have been thinking about this all day... If I had some gorgeous Japanese fabrics, I would want to do something really special with them... My friend is having a baby later on this year, and I think I would like to make some cute little patchwork baby booties...  I can see them now - they would be so fab! Oh yes, bring on the booties!
  
  
  

• Eilidh
  
  I would make a stocking for my wee 1 year old friend Joseph. He'll be spending Christmas in Japan this year (and maybe next) as his mum moved out there with him in March. We all really miss them and this would be a lovely way to show that I'm thinking of them and hopefully he'll use it once he's back in Scotland for a long long time and then the fabric will remind him of Japan! Lovely idea and it’s good to have something Christmassy … eek! only 16 weeks to go!
  
  
  

• Emily L
  
I would make my little girl a patchwork sandwich bag and try lamintating my scraps once pieced to make it usefully wipeable, she is off to pre-school soon :( and it will be lovely to send her with something made with love and unlike any of the other childrens! I’d love to see this made, it would be soooo useful!

• Madscouser
  
I'd make the Sorbetto top from Collete patterns:
http://www.coletterie.com/colette-patterns-news/free-pattern-to-download-the-sorbetto-top
And use the scraps for the central pleat and hopefully the arm & neck bindings if there was enough left! :-) This is a lovely top and the pleat would look fantastic in scrappy japanese style …

• Ella
  
  I could make a corset belt for bellydance ... and if there were sufficient scraps, a border for the edge of a bra.  How could I not let this one in!?  Go shake those scraps baby!

Yay!  So, ladies … Please make sure that you email me your postal details so that Anna get your scrap bags off to you!  You’ll have until roughly 10th October to complete your project and for voting to commence.  woohoo!    I’ve set up a Flickr Group, so please go and join there for updates, more details etc.




It would be great if you could chart your process a bit for the rest of us, but if you’re really busy, a pic of the scraps you get and of your finished item would be fine too. 



Everyone is welcome to join the group – please come on over and comment or add pics of your own scrap bag makes …


Those of you who didn’t win this little giveaway still have a chance to win 16 FQs of Holiday Fabric – Jovial by Moda – for my blogiversary giveaway … There are such great answers coming in you should go and have a read!

Thank you all so much for such great ideas … you make my day, really!

Yay! It’s Giveaway Time - Round One - get those creative thinking caps on …

This giveaway has now closed ... thank you :) Round Two coming soon!

Hello lovely people - (201 followers! yay!) I hope your Monday has been a joy.  My boiler conked out over the weekend so I’ve been pretending that I’m on a camping holiday and boiling up great pans of water on the hob … you can tell it’s still a novelty eh?

I got my lovely Japanese charm swap fabrics a couple of weeks ago …   I split the charms (there were two of each design) with a friend of mine, so I’m left with 28 little squares of delight. 

Thank you Cindy @ FluffySheepQuilting for organising this swap!  It was so easy and yielded such loveliness!

I haven’t decided what to do with them yet. It was a great swap. I like charm squares.  They make me happy. 



Anyway, let’s get started with this lovely giveaway from The Eternal Maker, celebrating their brand new website, shall we? 



You could win a Japanese Scrap Bag AND get yourself a little charm square action for a whole year!  This is such a great idea - you get 6 Japanese charm squares a month for a year! Thank you Anna, for such a great prize!


Round One:  - for the chance to win a Japanese Scrap Bag, (approx. a fat quarter’s worth of fabric) leave a comment at the bottom of this post to tell me what you’d make!
The 10 most creative answers will win a scrap bag to actually make their item … and then qualify for Round Two!

In Round Two, you lucky 10 scrap bag winners will link up to what you’ve made, and the final winner (voted for by all the rest of us!) will win a year's membership of Eternal Maker’s Japanese Swatch Club! 
 
I realise that lots of people are on holiday yada yada, so the deadline for the second round (what you make with a scrap pack) won’t be until w/c 5th September …
 
The deadline to win a scrap pack (and enter into Round Two) is Friday 19th August, so have a little think and then leave a comment here, telling me what you’d make … remember that you’ll have to actually make it to qualify for the grand Japanese Swatch Club prize! Edited to Add: Just remember you've only got a fat quarter to play with in your minds .... I only say this because I'd be planning quilts and bags and getting generally over-excited.  

Happy thinking!

This giveaway has now closed ... thank you :) Round Two coming soon!

198 followers? - sounds like it's nearly time for another Eternal Maker Giveaway!

Wow! It’s been a busy couple of months here - I’m utterly delighted to see so many people following my random blatherings … thank you! 24,000 hits in under a year?! I know it’s not in the gazillions, like many other blogs, but it means a great deal to me. I am deeply thankful that you’ve come along for the ride.


So, to celebrate this, and more importantly (for them at least!) the fact that The Eternal Maker have a fantabulous new website, we’re getting together again to do another giveaway … This one will be a two parter! It starts on Monday 08/08.

But today let’s have a little look at the new site … I think you will really appreciate all the hard work that Anna has put in. You can see pretty much everything that you can get in their bricks and mortar store …

It’s so worth spending some time here … There’s lots of good stuff - designer bundles, scrap bags, monthly swatch clubs - everything from FQs to charm squares - and some lovely organic cottons.


But, what I really really love about The Eternal Maker is that along with what I would call ‘normal’ stock like Moda, Kaufman, Miller, et al - they also specialise in Japanese imports from manufacturers like Hokkoh, Kinkame, Kiyohara, Kobayashi, Kokka, Lecien etc.


There is wonderfulness here …

how about this lovely deco rose print from Kobayashi?	or this great alphabet print from Kinkame?	or this vintage newspaper linen blend from Kokka?

… For me of course it has to be all of these dreamy Etsuko Furuya prints for Kokka …

(I couldn’t fit the whole range on the page! - trust me I tried LOL!)

Oh how I dream of an unlimited Echino stash. I honestly think I’d swap all my prints just to work only with Echino and solids. 

 Are you listening to that Kokka? LOL!

So - come back on Monday (08/08) for Part 1 of the giveaway …  I promise you it’s a little cracker that could keep you happy all year!

p.s. a little bird told me you might just be able to get your hands on some gorgeous RubyStarSpring at the FOQ next week if the nice delivery man turns up in time ... oh yes ... fingers crossed !!

Winner - Eternal Maker Ruby Star Rising Giveaway!

Apologies for the tardiness in posting a winner, but I’ve been unable to log directly in to Blogger to upload my posts!  I think everything’s fine now, fingers crossed.



This means that Melody’s Interview will be coming to your screens sometime in the next couple of days too!  Melody had the answers back to me pretty much next day, so, my bad.


Wow! What a great response to this giveaway - thank you all! It was great to see how many button fans there are out there -


My oh My … what lovely choices! … I’m still working through snooping on some of your choices!




There were 192 comments PLUS I added the 20 bonus entries from the Melody Miller Questions Giveaway.









So … without further ado … the winner of 4 Ruby Star Rising FQS of your choice from The Eternal Maker
is …


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number 176



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WandaFish aka Angela !!



 Congratulations Angela! 



Looks like all those chances paid off!  You are a lucky lady! 

And I’m not jealous, oh no.  Not a bit.   Not at all.   No-No-No.   Nuh Huh. 


So commiserations to the rest of us eh? 

Keep your eyes peeled for Melody’s wonderful interview later this week … You guys asked some great questions, and she gave some fantastic answers! 

And congrats again to Angela  (I’ve emailed you!)