It's All About The Kids Craft Blogging Event - Day 4 - Kid Friendly Books from FunStitch Studio, an imprint of C&T Publishing

Welcome to Day 4 of the It's All About The Kids Craft Blogging Event.  Today, I want to share insights on some current and upcoming releases of books published by Fun Stitch Studio, an imprint from C&T Publishing.  Fun Stitch Studio is all about kids and they have also sponsored this blogging event with a giveaway!

FunStitch Studios has released many kid friendly books, which do not require adult support to be creative.  Of course, they are also fun for kids of all ages, making them an excellent resource to work on a project during a Family Craft Time too!  Their collection of kid friendly books cover quilting, sewing, fashion, home decor, activity books, embroidery, pop out boxes andsofties & toys.

They have many spectacular coloring books that scream fun and creativity.


Many Activity Books that help kids learn new skills and make fun projects.


Here are a few Soon to be released books that have caught my attention:



This is Mouse An Adventure in Sewing, by Brenia Maloney is an excellent crafting book, which I think would bring smiles of crafty goodness to any kid.  Projects also look like they'd make for delightful imagination and story telling time.  I'm confident this is going to be a best seller and wanted to share insights with you about this book today, as well as let you know it is currently on sale in the online store for C&T Publishing.


Press Release:
Maloney uses her gentle humor to inspire and encourage kids to create their own wonderful worlds with Mouse as the central character. In This Is Mouse, kids will find step-by-step instructions to guide them in creating our intrepid explorer and all the crazy characters, accessories, and vehicles for each adventure that he embarks upon. Kids can choose to work on any one of 25 easy projects. Mouse floats down river in a leaf boat made of felt for his African safari. There, he meets giraffes and elephants. But watch out for crocodiles and snakes, Mouse! Next, Mouse travels to the South Pole where he encounters seals, penguins, and the occasional whale. And if those adventures don't take your kids far enough, watch Mouse blast off in a rocket to meet aliens on another planet.

At the end of each how-to adventure, Maloney writes her own story of what Mouse and his new companions are doing. The book kindles kids' imaginations by encouraging them to come up with their own stories for each destination while teaching them basic sewing terms and patterns. "This Is Mouse is the book that I didn't have when I was a kid, but always wanted," says Maloney. "I wanted to create stuffed animals, but also special worlds for them to live in. "This Is Mouse inspires endless hours of storytelling and play. Not only will This Is Mouse reinvigorate the creative spark in your kids, it might even convince them to put down their electronic devices—for a minute, anyway!

Brenna Maloney is the author of the best-selling sock book trilogy: Socks Appeal, Sockology, and Sock It to Me. This is her first Mouse book. She is also the author of Ready Rabbit Gets Ready!, a children's book by Viking Juvenile, releasing in February 2015. She lives and works in Washington, DC, with her husband and two sons. Follow Brenna at brennamaloney.com.Published by FunStitch Studio, an imprint of C&T Publishing, This Is Mouse—An Adventure in Sewing (December 2014) is available at ctpub.com and other fine booksellers.

My Review:
Brenna Maloney is a very talented person who comes up with the best projects for kids and family craft nights.  This is Mouse - An Adventure in Sewing is filled with fun items that kids can make using a variety of supplies (fabric, felt, socks, recycled chicken pot pie aluminum tins, stuffing, glue guns, thread, marking pens, pins, FIMO clay, etc.), many of which you probably already have in your home.

 
Whether you make a mouse that is a astronaut, one that meets an elephant, or any of the sweet characters in this book, you can certainly have fun admiring their beauty as well as creating stories with them to grow a imagination.


Just be sure you dress warmly when you go with Mouse to Antarctica.



FunStitch Studio, an imprint of C&T Publishing: This Is Mouse—An Adventure in Sewing by Brenna Maloney, best-selling author of Sock It to Me, Sockology, and Socks Appeal.

Did I mention a Giveaway ?

C&T Publishing is a sponsor for the  "It's All About The Kids" blogging event, this week,  and they have donated a copy of Sew It!  Make 17 Projects with Yummy Precut Fabric Jelly Rolls, Layer Cakes, Charm Packs & Fat Quarters, by Allison Nicol. 


This book is a perfect book to help teach kids to sew and it starts off with the basic sewing and quilting skills, using pre-cuts. And it is written to help kids learn on their own, without adult help, where each project builds on skills learned from other projects, making this a great book to get that budding quilter to have fun sewing!

SewCalGal also thinks that this book would make an excellent gift for budding quilters, of future generations.  All of the projects are designed to be sewn on a domestic machine, without adult assistance!

If you are interested in winning a copy of Sew It!, please enter by using the Rafflecopter form below, after you have read the rules underneath.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Rules for this giveaway:
1) This giveaway is open to followers of SewCalGal that reside in the US.  The sponsor will ship a copy of this book directly to the lucky winner.
2) Followers are asked to complete the rafflecopter form, which will be used to randomly select a winner on Sunday, November 2nd.  SewCalGal will notify the lucky winner via email and this post will also be updated to announce the winner, once they are notified.

Don't forget several blogging friends are joining me this week, to help share insights on kid friendly projects.  Here is the schedule and links to all the participating blogs.  You'll also find some great giveaways in this hop, but most importantly we all hope to inspire others to help provide opportunities and encouragement to help kids find their creative side and the joy of being crafty.

Monday, October 27th 

SewCalGal - Event kick off

Tuesday, October 28th 

SewCalGal  

Sarah Vedeler Designs 

Wednesday, October 29th

SewCalGal  

Happy Cottage Quilter

Thursday, October 30th

SewCalGal
I Have A Notion

Freemotion by the River

Blue Feather Studio/Marjorie's Quilting Bee

Friday, October 31st

SewCalGal

Jacquelynne Steves, The Art of Home  

Hoffman California Fabrics  

Jean's Quilting Page  

Wendy Sheppard/Ivory Spring 

If you are a blogger or non-blogger and would like to join the fun and share insights on projects suitable for kids, tips, or tutorials, as appropriate, you are also welcome to join the fun and add a link to the linky below.  Non-bloggers can upload photos in a Flickr group called "It's All About The Kids". An InLinkz Link-up 


You can find the C&T Publishing at:

http://www.ctpub.com/
http://www.ctpub.com/stash-books/
http://www.ctpub.com/funstitch-studio/
https://www.facebook.com/ctpub?ref=mf
https://twitter.com/ctpublishing
https://www.youtube.com/user/CandTPublishing
http://www.pinterest.com/ctpublishing/
http://instagram.com/ctpublishing

Shape by Shape, by Angela Walters

Ever struggle with how to quilt a certain shape?  Or maybe you might feel that you stitch the same design in the same shape, over and over again.  Today, I'm excited to be able to share insights with you on an excellent new free-motion quilting book:

For those that enjoy free-motion quilting on a domestic machine, or a long arm machine, you'll certainly enjoy Shape by Shape, by Angela Walters and published by Stash Books, an imprint from C&T Publishing.

Angela takes popular shapes used for quilting (e.g. Squares, Triangles, Circles, Diamonds, Hexagons, Negative Spaces and Borders) and shows you a variety of free-motion quilting designs for each shape, plus tips for changing the angles and other ways to alter these designs, as well as combining them.  The possibilities are endless.

Each section in this book contains photos of various quilting designs with step-by-step illustrations.  

In each of these core quilting shapes, Angela shows a variety of free-motion quilting designs that work perfectly for these shapes.

 With 126 pages, 70+ designs, excellent instructions with great visuals, this books is of great value for anyone interested in free-motion quilting, although SewCalGal recommends it for Confident Beginners to even Experts with free-motion quilting.

SewCalGal also believes the designs, as well as many insights shared in this book apply to those that do free-motion quilting on a domestic sewing machine, as well as those that quilt on a long-arm machine.

I hope you get a chance to check out this book at your favorite quilt shop, or online at Amazon.  But, of course, you can also find it online at C&T Publishing.

You can find Angela at:

You can find Angela Walters at:

http://www.quiltingismytherapy.com/ 
http://thebusinessofmachinequilting.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AngelaFMQ
https://www.craftsy.com 

You can find C and T Publishing at: 

http://www.ctpub.com/ 
https://www.facebook.com/ilovequilts
https://twitter.com/ctpublishing
http://www.youtube.com/CandTPublishing#g/u

You may also want to check out my list of books on free-motion quilting, many of which have links to my reviews.  I'll be updating this list shortly, to add Shape by Shape.

Forest Fairy Crafts, a Review and Giveaway

Forest Fairy Crafts: Enchanting Fairies & Felt Friends from Simple Supplies 28+ Projects to Create & Share, by Lenka Vodicka-Paredes and Asia Currie is a new book published by Fun Stitch Studio, an imprint by CT Publishing.  Fun Stitch Studio is all about the next generation and they encourage kids to "Stitch Your Art Out".

This is a "must have" book for kids that enjoy using their imagination and love Fairyland!  It is an excellent book to give as a gift to a child interesting in learning to create with basic sewing projects, as well as for caregivers of children that are looking for fun projects to do with them.  Heck, this book is going to be fun for adults that enjoy Fairyland too!

The projects all come with well written and easy to follow instructions, with great visuals.  You can make all sorts of fairies (pretty ones, funny ones, or even scary ones.  And, you can even make gnomes as well as "Treasure Keeper" projects where all sorts of little treasures can be stored.  And, every project is perfect to keep or for a special gift.

Fairyland is fun for all ages.  And, wouldn't a Fairy Crafty Party be delightful too!  What would you serve at a Fairy Crafty Party?  Of course Fairies like to eat natural foods that are healthy.  Thus, I think some fruit, juice, milk, honey cakes would be appreciated by the Fairies invited to your crafty party.  Please remember to take pictures and share insights on what you create (and what you serve) too!

Here are a few photos of projects made from insights in this book:



And, don't forget that this book also shows you how to make your own designs too!  Possibilities for making Fairies, Gnomes and Treasure Keepers are endless.

You can find this book on Amazon,  C&T Pubishing and many quilting and crafting stores.

You can also find Lenka and Asia at:

http://www.forestfairycrafts.com/
https://www.facebook.com/ForestFairyCrafts

Did I Mention A Giveaway?

Followers of SewCalGal can use this Rafflecopter giveaway form to enter.  This giveaway will remain open thru the end of October.  The winner will be randomly selected and this post will be updated to announce the winner.    And, I'll also send the winner an email to claim the prize.

UPDATE:  Rafflecopter randomly selected the lucky winner:  Beth T.

This giveaway is open to quilters anywhere in the world.  SewCalGal will pay for shipping, out of funds raised from Craftsy, Smilebox and Amazon affiliate programs. For those that have purchased items from these sources, by clicking them from links on SewCalGal - thank you for being a "postage angel".  I couldn't continue to afford to ship giveaways and prizes from various events, without your help and support!  Combined with the fact that I personal like their products, becoming an affiliate was required for SewCalGal to continue to provide these opportunities for followers to enjoy.  As such, I hope to offer many more to you in the future, but the volume and ability to ship US, US/Canada vs world-wide will be limited to funds raised from such affiliate programs.  Email me, if you have questions or concerns.


To learn about more giveaways and contests, click the page on my blog labeled "Giveaways".