Viva La Moda: Issue 5

Issue 5 of Viva La Moda is now out. This issue focuses on fall fashion in the handmade world including, interviews, trends, and handmade goods.

Craft & Singer Scarf Contest

Craft and Singer are teaming up again to bring you the "Me, My Scarf, and I" contest. They're asking you to sew up a scarf that best describes your personality. The Grand Prize is a Singer ProFinish Serger. Open to US residents and the district of Columbia only. The deadline for the contest is November 23, 2009. For all the details please visit Craft.

Elmer's Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to Karen who is the winner of the Elmer's Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who participated.

Elmer's sent me all these craft supplies to giveaway to one lucky winner! Included in the supplies are the Painters that I used for Thing 1 & Thing 2. You can click on the picture to see everything that's included.

Leave a comment at the bottom of this post no later than Friday, October 9th, 2009. One entry per person. Please leave your email address in the comments if it's not linked to your profile. The email address is only used to notify the winner, I do not save the addresses. I'll choose one winner at random and post their name Saturday. Good Luck!

Open to U.S. and Canada Residents only

This is the same contest from the site Zakka Life. If you entered on the Zakka Life page you are entered in the contest.

Contest Closed

Bust Holiday Craftacular

BUST Magazine's Holiday Craftacular is the best and biggest craft fair in NYC, featuring over 200 crafters, DJs, drinks, and dancing. Shoppers can sip on cocktails, nosh on holiday treats, and buy gifts for friends and family. BUST Magazine will be hand-picking the most unique and talented crafters from across the country to participate.

Deadline to apply as a vendor is November 2, 2009. For more information visit Bust Magazine.

Whipup's 2010 Calendar Competition

Whipup is holding a 2010 Calendar Competition where 13 winners will get profiled on whipup and will get their gorgeous picture and website published on the 2010 annual whipup calendar. Deadline for entries is October 1, 2009. For more information, please click here.

Print & Patern

I recently stumbled across the site Print & Pattern and wanted to share it with all of you. It's a site that lists job vacancies and freelance opportunities in the print and pattern industry. Currently, most of the opportunities listed are based in the UK.

Optimal Print Design Competition

Optimal print is hosting a contest to see who can design the best event card and business card. The winner will receive 1000 GBP worth of print materials from Optimalprint UK. There are two separate divisions for both amateurs and professionals . The deadline for the contest is November 24, 2009. The contest is open to everyone 18 or older. For more information please visit Optimal Print.

BurdaStyle Scarf Dress Challenge

BurdaStyle has teamed up with Bernina to bring you the scarf dress challenge. The dress with the most votes will win a Berniana sewing machine so get sewing! The deadline for this contest is September 23, 2009. This contest is open to US residents only. Click here for more information.

Crafting with the Cricut Expression

Recently I was sent the Cricut Expression to review from Todays Mama and Provo Craft. With the Cricut expression I also received two of their new cartridges they just released, "Winter Woodland" and "From My Kitchen". I used the Winter Woodland Cartridge for all the crafts below. I was so busy playing with the Woodland cartridge I didn't even get around to using the "From My Kitchen" cartridge. But trust me, I already have ideas for that cartridge as well. Another day, another post.

For those not familiar with the Cricut, it's a personal electronic cutter. It can cut materials such as vellum, cardstock, posterboard, vinyl, and even chipboard. Each image on a cartridge can be cut to any size ranging from 1/4" to 23". This is personally one of my favorite functions about the machine. Another function I found useful (and used for the craft below) is the centering cut feature. This allows you to place the blade on any part of the paper and cut any shape at that point (something you can't do with decorative hole punches). I also found the Cricut surprisingly easy to use.

With only a week of using the Cricut, I know I've only scratched the surface. There's so much more to discover. In the mean time, here are a few projects I came up with. Enjoy

Spinning Ice Skater Card

First I cut out a 3" ice skater on heavy cardstock with the Cricut. If you don't have a Cricut I suggest using a large Christmas hole punch ( snowman, snowflake, Christmas tree, etc).

Using watercolors, paint the ice skater on both sides. Let dry. Place in a book for about a half hour to keep it flat.

With a small hole punch, place a hole in the top and bottom of your image (refer to pictures). Tie two separate pieces of thread to the holes. Knot about three times and trim extra thread.

With the Cricut I cut a 3 1/2 inch circle in the front of the card. If using the Cricut, with a 81/2 buy 11 paper,set the blade 9" left and 4" down to center the blade. To do this by hand simply trace a circle onto the front of your card and cut it out with an exacto knife.

Center your image in the circle and tape the thread on the inside of the card (refer to picture). If you don't like the tape showing, place another piece of paper (with circle cut out) over the entire page that has the tape on it. Done.

Other Crafts I Made with The Cricut

I decorated this package with the gift tag by making two slits on each side of the tag and threading ribbon around it.

For the snowflake card I painted the snowflake. To give it more texture and make it 3-D, I bent out the parts of the snowflake that had detail.

Dove Gift Tag with Watercolor

Provo Craft Contests

From September 1 to October 15, 2009, 221 lucky people will find a winning card in randomly packaged boxes of the newest Cricut cartridges—Paper Dolls Everyday, From My Kitchen, Sweethearts, and Winter Woodland. Prizes include a Gypsy, a Gypsy and a travel voucher, or a Gypsy and the Great Escape grand prize!

Todays Mama is also hosting a contest where you can win your very own Cricut! To find out more click here.