"A Royal Giveaway" Winners Announced

Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in my Royal Giveaway! It has been VERY fun and interesting to read all of your comments about your weddings whether they're past, present or future! Winners were picked out of a hat at random : )


The Winner for the Royal Do Over category is: Canadian Kristin! This is what her post read:
For my Royal Do-Over I would fly my husband and our family and closest friends to somewhere exotic and tropical and 5 star to share a renewing of vows at sunset and a full-on party on the beach for the next many days! Colours now would be the same as then: black and white, gold, cream and deep red. We are Shawn & Kristin and married November 5 and I would marry this man over again in a heartbeat!

The Winner for the Royal Plan category is: Eileen Hill! This is what her post read:
I'm engaged and getting married early next year (no date yet). My theme believe it or not will be pink! I love pink like you do - actually people at work call me "Pinkie", I wear pink just about everyday and hope to have a very light subtle pink dress for my big day!!! Eileen

The Winner for the Royal Dream category is: Deborah A! This is what her post read:
I am in the hope to marry category. After six years together we still haven't tied the knot. I no longer care about what the big day looks like. My dad passed away before he could see me married so it will be a happy/sad day for me. Part of the fairytale for me was to have my dad take part in my day. If I could change anything about my yet to be wedding day it would be that it would have taken place before his passing.

Instructions for picking up prizes: if you already have an Etsy account please convo me at Pinks & Needles so I know your username and who you are is. Please type in "A Royal Giveaway Winner" in the subject box . If you do not have an Etsy account please create one and follow the above directions : ) At some point this weekend I will be setting up RESERVED listings on Etsy for each of you! Once I am finished making your special items each Winner can put their prize in their cart and check out as normal. Any fees incurred will be refunded to you via Paypal. Thanks everyone!

P.S. Convo me via Etsy is there is any more information you would like to tell me about theme, color, style etc. That would be very helpful since I am creating something very specific for you and yours truly : )

I really enjoyed watching Will(s) & Kate tie the knot yesterday! I recorded it on the E! Channel instead of a major network mostly because they really focused on the fashion aspects of everything instead of politics which to me is lighthearted and more fun : ) Wow can I just say I see a hat trend building that is soon to hit the US with a splash!!! Victoria Beckham's fascinator must've been Super Glued to her forehead! It was truly an amazing event to experience visually! I loved Kate's dress and how simple her bouquet was. Will looked dashing and so proud. I loved every minute of it : )

New Items in the Shop!

Good morning everyone~

Well I got up really early this morning to start listing items on Etsy and guess who I saw running around in the front yard unattended? Remember a few weeks ago when I found those 2 cute dogs Mia and Gordo that belonged to my neighbor? They're back and this time they brought a friend "Seven" is her name. Anyway, I called Carla and she was just getting off of work so she came over and picked them up. Those little stinkers need to stop digging under the fence! At least this time they all had their respective collars with name tags on. I just worry because of how crazy fast people drive down my street - it's frightening : (
So I got a little later start on things this morning but at least those doggies are back home safe and sound.
I have almost everything listed in the shop that I was planning on except a couple more I need to take pics of but am waiting for better light. I've listed lots of Vintage Inspired Button pin toppers ~ these are all made from polymer clay and then I hand painted them with pretty accents and a few even have sparkly glitter too!

I'm really excited to debut shiny silver thimbles today! Well it's about time is all I keep saying to myself since sewing related pins seem to be quite popular in my shop! They'll go nicely with the shiny silver scissors I make too.
Here's a mosaic of all the Vintage Inspired Buttons I made. I love making mosaics because then it's easy to reference them all as a group. Flickr toys is the best tool for that.

There's more button card pins in the shop too and fun candy colored pastel mini spools of thread like these:

 I'm hoping to get stitching for my "Stitch n Tea" Party starting today through the weekend. I hope you'll join me via la internet!
Remember today is the last day to comment on "A Royal Giveaway" ~ it ends at 5 pm Pacific Standard Time. I'll announce winners tomorrow some time!

Vintage Button Pin Toppers

Hello all~
Just a quick sneak peek to show you some of what's coming to my Etsy on Friday! I have been having a good time making some vintage button pin toppers. I needed a break from packing up boxes for our move up North so yesterday I watched a Robert Pattinson movie "Remember Me" and sculpted the day away! Good movie by the way. He's just too darn cute and fun to look at : ) LOL!
Here's a short clip of an Interview with Rob talking about the movie! Enjoy : )

Kitchenology Block #1

My dear friends Jenny & Aaron were kind enough to let me use their original artwork as the basis for my next quilt. I am really excited to see one of my favorite prints of theirs come to life : ) Jenny and her boyfriend Aaron are incredible artists. I have been gawking at their creations for years now!! So many wonderful elements they put to use in their paintings...everything from Frozen Charlotte Dolls to Cupcakes piled with Frosting and Sprinkles, Black Ravens and Old Vintage Books ~ AND a million more wonderful things (too many to list).
Here's a picture of Kitchenology from their flickr ~ be careful and hold on tight if you haven't seen this yet...you might hyperventilate due to the "cuteness" overload!
This quilt once finished will be 20 blocks! That's a lot for me since I'm new to this whole quilting thing, but I think it should be a pretty fun journey for me! The pitcher is really tiny and in reality was too small for me to turn under so I decided to make this shabby, rustic, retro and cozy. I figured frayed edges and perhaps a tea stain will keep to the flavor I'm going for : )
I love being inspired by my favorite artists out there in cyberspace ~ I  hope to do it justice for their sake.

A Royal Giveaway ~ this giveaway is now closed ~ winners will be announced Sat. April 30th!

Hello Friends! I wanted to let you know a couple of things that are happening here at Pinks & Needles! I hope you'll stop by on Friday April 29th at my Etsy Shop ~ I will have FUN NEW ITEMS posted!

Also I will be hosting "A ROYAL GIVEAWAY" starting today April 21st ~ All you need to do is leave a comment telling me:

Whether you are already married and had your chance to do your wedding all over again, planning a wedding or dreaming of your big day ~ what Colors, Theme & Style would you choose AND Where would you have your wedding?
And...for All The Single Ladies out there feel free to leave a comment about a party theme you might throw for yourself!

I will choose 1 winner at random from each category!

Category #1: The Royal Do Over (for those already married)
Category #2: The Royal Plan (for those in the stages of planning their big day)
Category #3: The Royal Dream (for those who aren't engaged or married yet but dream of it happening to them)
Category #4: The Royal Queen (for the happy single gals out there that wouldn't dream about getting married)


ALSO in your comment please include which Category applies to you and the Date of your Anniversary or Future Wedding & the Names of the two lovebirds or if you are a single your name or nickname! I will be making each winner something special. Please know these items may take a while for me to complete and I will list them as a RESERVED LISTING in my Etsy shop for you to pick up at your convenience for Free of course!

Thanks everyone! Have a "royally" great day!...okay enough of the royal thing I just couldn't help myself,
Gigi

PS Winners will be announced sometime on Saturday April 30th!
Good luck!

This giveaway is now closed : )

A New Little Pincushion Set to Share With All of You!

Remember last week when I said I Love PARIS in the Springtime?! Well is this enough proof that I do? I finally got this pincushion set complete as of yesterday : ) I really love the shade of green of the latte bowl - it's kind of a mix of olive green meets lime green! Very pretty and it pops with the pink accents. This is the very first parasol/umbrella I have sculpted so that was kind of fun. The little pink rose is to represent "April Showers Bring May Flowers" and of course I had to included a box of "EAT ME" chocolates too. When I visited Paris I think I ate chocolate every day and croissants filled with chopped up chocolate, warmed and buttery....mmmm....I can almost taste it! The little red heart has a teeny tiny PARIS banner across it, lightly glittered so it sparkles whilst you sew!

Easy Ice Box Strawberry Cream Cake

This is such a cool ice box to make because it's cute, retro and super duper easy!
I made this recipe up a few years ago and always get so many good complements on it so I wanted to share with all of you.

What you'll need:
1 box yellow cake mix (I prefer Duncan Hines) + eggs, oil, water
1 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip (thawed)
1 basket of strawberries
1 small box of vanilla instant pudding + milk

If you hit the sales just right you can usually make this dessert for about $5.00 : ) And it serves 12 people.

Bake the yellow cake according to package directions - use a 13 X 9 lasagna pan for the best results.
My oven bakes a yellow cake mix perfectly in 35 minutes - don't over bake if you can help it. Cool on wire rack in pan for about an hour and then turn out on wire rack to complete cooling.
While cake is baking make your vanilla pudding according to package directions (use "Pie" directions which calls for less milk) - chill in fridge until cake has completely cooled. Wash and slice your strawberries (keeping each strawberry together after slicing) - put back in fridge.
Once it's cooled you can cut the cake in half. Now split each cake into two by slicing through horizontally. What you are trying to accomplish here is making four layers to stack on top of one another.Lay your first layer down on a pretty plate and then divide your vanilla pudding into 3rds. spread pudding onto first layer, then add a cake layer and repeat. You should have 4 cake layers with pudding in between each layer. You might need to secure your cake with tall toothpicks or skewers since this baby is kind of tall.What I do now is trim each side by slicing down to make the sides pretty and even. Evenly spread Cool whip over the entire cake and sides. One whole tub tends to be just a little too much "frosting" so I usually have about 1/4 c. left over. The last step is to decorate the top and sides of your cake with sliced strawberries! Be creative and get fancy with your designs if you want to! I usually use almost a whole basket of berries and that's good news if you do because if you have kids or a hungry husband who can't wait to dig in you can always give them the left over cool whip , cake ends and berries to tie them over until the cake is done chilling. That's right....you read correctly, now it's time to chill! I put a loose layer of plastic wrap over the cake and pop in the fridge. I think this is what makes this cake super fabulous is the resting period. I love to let it sit a day before digging in but if you can't wait an entire day I understand...but at least wait a couple of hours. It's best served straight out of the fridge with a nice big glass of cold milk! MMMMMMmmmmmmm Yum!Enjoy!