Blog Shout-Outs!

Today's theme?  Blog shout-outs!

I would like to highlight some fellow crafty ladies out there in this big, bad world.  I look to these blogs, amongst others, for inspiration - and a good laugh!

Ali Cat and Co.

First up is BRIANNE over at Ali Cat and Co.  (FB page here.)

She is a woman of many talents - sewing and baking amongst those.  (Speaking of baking, I REALLY need to try this Lemon Cake recipe some time!)  Specifically, though, she has really latched onto making bags.  She loves her some Swoon bag patterns and is making me quite envious of these bags...probably mostly because of the hand embroidery!  She must have a boat load of bags tucked away under her bed.  

She also has two super cute girls, for whom she also sews - pictured below are two patterns she recently tested - the Norah dress by Mouse House Creations (It's out now, peeps!!!  And....only $7 through today!) and the Saffron dress by Zafarani Designs (shouted out below).  

The Life of a Compulsive Crafter

Next up is MAE over at The Life of a Compulsive Crafter.  (See her FB page.)  She happens to blog so she doesn't drive her non-sewing friends crazy with all her hopes and dreams about sewing, LOL!  She does do a bit of the "selfish/mom" sewing, but mostly, she sews for her little girl and boy.

She has a sweet style, girly (well, not so girly when it's for her son, aha!) and understated, and she followed along with the last Project Run and Play.  One of my favorite looks was this one - her Bubblegum dress!  Also on her blog are posts about conscious living, and I will soon be guest posting on her blog (think deodorant!).

Ginger Dimples

CRYSTAL over at Ginger Dimples is a hoot and a holler.  (FB page here.)  She adds a little zing to her posts with her sense of humor - and has made me envious over the years with her awesome Halloween costumes and great Project Run and Play Sew-Along entries - this one being my FAVORITE...and she knows I want to snatch this for my daughter, LOL!

She's only been blogging for eight months now, but she's been sewing for a long time, and one thing she noted in the last PRP challenge was that she wanted to challenge herself and do something she hadn't done before (not sew with ANY woven cottons!) - I think she covered that!  What a great 80s style her daughter has ;)

I have to say, though, that one of my favorite things about Crystal's blog is that she details fun mom-sewing!  (And word up, if you're reading this - I haven't seen any of that in a LONG time!  No hints or anything...)  Here is one photo of her cuteness in a dress she made!  (And here's a link to a lovely mom-and-me project she did!)

Zafarani

Lastly, we have KARLY from Zafarani Designs.  (FB page here.)  She is a funny lady with a big family!  Most of her sewing is for them, which is fine, as she loves to show of both her sewing and her kids, LOL!

One thing I have to say about Karly is that she is SPEEDY!  She always seems to have a million projects - and seems to finish them super fast!  Because she has her share of boys AND girls, she gets the chance to sew for both quite often.

And thing I'm admittedly probably NEVER going to do is sew up a lovely crib set, which she did!  I give kudos to anyone who does that, as it always seems like an effing lot of work to me, if you'll pardon my French!

Above, though, you saw the lovely Saffron dress Brianne sewed, and it was released back in August.  Already, so many people seem to love it!  I know Camden does, as it's pretty twirly!  Karly will have a new pattern coming out, hopefully later this fall, and having seen the sneak peak, I'm pretty excited!

Karly also joined in on the PRP Sew-Along challenge, and I thought both of these entries were great - her Mad for Plaid for her son (because quite often, we don't see enough BOY sewing) and her Candy entry for her daughter - so fun and bright!!

One other note is that some of these lee-days are over at That's What She Crafted, a blog combining their talents (with another lovely lady) into one ultra-awesome experience!  (FB page here.)

Thanks, ladies, for letting me include you in my blog shout-out post!  I can't wait to see what y'all have up your sleeves in the coming months!