Giveaway, Interview and Review of Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing

Let me say that I love reading books by crafty peeps about creative people that I wish I could hang out with in real life. That's what Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing is all about.

Don't believe me?

Well leave a comment in today's post and you are entered to win a copy of Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing or Kathy's first book Waking Up in the Land of Glitter: A Crafty Chica Novel. I will randomly select two winners who will receive one of her books. Enter by midnight Pacific time March 15th, 2011 and you are in the running for some good reading!
Two of my favorite quotes from Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing:

"....she was, being made to feel like a misfit minx by the one person who should have been holding her pincushion."

and
"I think it is doggone silly that people wait until January 1st to adjust the volume on their optimism."

Kathy was gracious to take the time to answer a few questions I posed to her on her busy blog tour. (This photo is from her product launch at the Michaels awhile back but I just had to share it.)
Here are her fun answers:

When do you make time to write in your crazy (in a good way life) full of family and crafting?

"I LOVE to write, it is my escape and it calms me. It is a sacred thing, it sounds goofy, but I swear it is the truth. I always write late at night after the family has gone to bed. Even with my very first book, Making Shadow Boxes and Shrines - that was in 2002, I had already settled into my habit of night owl typing! It works well with my novels because my mind is free and clear of "kathy" or "crafty chica" and my world transforms into that of the characters."

Do you scribble ideas on napkins and bits of paper when they come to you? Or do you remember them by emailing them to yourself from your phone? Or.....

"Just like with ideas for projects to make, I do anything and everything. I take a lot of pictures, I carry a mini journal in my purse, sometimes in my bra! I email and do voice memos. They all come in handy because I'll forget. I hate it when I finally go to bed and I get all snuggled in and close my eyes - and then a scene pops in my head. I absolutely have to get up and write it down so I don't forget! Just like with any creative project!"

Do you indulge in retail therapy? If so what are your favorite stores?

"You know, I'm not a big power shopper. I'd rather make my own designer purses than buy them. I'm not a big fashionista. I do love big rings and chunky bracelets. Someday when I die and they read my will, someone will ask "Who did she leave her costume jewelry collection to?"


Are the musical tastes of your characters your own? If not what's hot on your current ipod playlist?

"For the first book, Star's music was the music I listen to. But with Miss Scarlet, I forced myself out of my comfort zone. The music ranges from Glenn Miller to John Coltrane to Perez Prado! As far as what I listen to, right now on my play list I have Bomba Estereo, Michelle Blades, Marina and the Diamonds, Pato Banton and Florence + The Machine"

Have you ever made a "Ten things no on else has probably done list"?

"Here's a few!
1. Thought I had a ghost bugging me only to find out it was a baby lizard stuck in my hair. It fell on me while we were cleaning the backyard shed!
2. Woken in my car up by Ziggy Marley.
3. Fell asleep in the wrong tour van and woke up to find a band of Caribbean musicians all around me! (long time ago!)
4. Honked at a happy couple walking down the sidewalk to startle them out of their bliss because I was mad because I was single. (long time ago)
5. Put glitter on my husband's painting when he wasn't looking.
6. Drinking wine to calm my nerves at my mother-in-law's birthday party, only to get "too calm" and jump in the pool with all my clothes on in front of everyone (it wasn't a swim party). My husband told me that he said "Was that my wife who just did that?"
7. Wrote a love note to my dad's leg with a Sharpie on his leg, right before they took him into surgery to have it amputated due to cancer.
8. Got kicked out of the office chocolate club for accidentally eating all the chocolate. (I didn't know it was the group's coveted stash!)
9. Interviewed Matthew McConaughey right after he got out of the hotel shower, he wore nothing but his fluffy white bathrobe and still had water droplets on his chest!"

More about the amazing book that makes me torn between reading it and sparking my creativity so that I want to go make something!

Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing
By
Kathy Cano-Murillo

The founder of popular www.craftychica.com pens her second Crafty Chica novel, following Waking Up in the Land of Glitter (2010). Scarlet Santana has abandoned a promising engineering career to follow her passion for sewing. To raise money to attend a prestigious design academy in New York, she works for a local designer, teaches a sewing class, and sells clothes on her web site devoted to Daisy de la Flora, the flamboyant designer who inspired Scarlet's retro look and bubbly approach to life. As Scarlet works herself to exhaustion, the women in her sewing class become their own an unofficial support group. When her big break turns out to be a big bust, Scarlet must consider whether following her dream is worth losing herself. Cano-Murillo lays the quirkiness on thick, but the story amidst the gimmicks has a lot of heart. --Aleksandra Walker

10 Things No one else has probably done

10 things probably no one else has done.

JAG posted her 10 things probably no one else had done, so then Dave did. Here is my list.

Like Dave, I worked in the Art Department on kids (and adult TV and film) so a lot of what I do that no one else has done has been....for work! And been paid to actually do it.

1. Glued Fruit Loops together in bowls for 4 days straight. One of my very first jobs was at a company that produced stop-motion animation. This was before a lot of CGI. The Fruit loops moved 32 times in a second to form the letters "A" , "B" and "C" as in the vitamins that were in the cereal.

2. Hauled a car full of lava rocks (the kind you use in a barbecue and large ones rented from a rental house) to the desert in Palm Springs in the middle of the summer where the wind turbines are and set them on fire with the pyro guys from the movie "Volcano" for a car commercial.

110 degree weather + gusting wind + fire + dumping big rocks = best time ever (NOT)

3. Made torches, wall sconces and spaceship stick shifts out of those accordion plungers from the Home Depot.

4. Showed people how to glue pom poms together into fun little monsters for 4 days straight.

And on this topic I will add an additional thing that I don't believe anyone else has done since it happened at the same event-CHA- The Craft and Hobby Association convention.

Walked around with a button on my butt that said, " I sat my tush on a Komfycush!"

I really felt that that was where it was meant to be. In addition to the button on my butt, there was green "Cindy Hoo Hair to sport" And most importantly silly photos with giant knitting needles to be taken.
Now I was not the only one to sport the Cindy Hoo Hair, there were hundreds of people walking around CHA with the bold hair look. Here is Maria.

This was my favorite Dude:

It's a fine man to sport Cindy Hoo hair with his girl!
All of this was a promotion for a great line of products from Stone Creak Creations. One is totes to store your crafting supplies and the other is the Komfycush. It is padding for a chair that sports pockets on the sides for more storage. We crafters can sit for a loooooong time and boy can our tushes use the soft padding!

OK, back to the list.

5. Did fittings of big fancy bellydance costumes with a bucket of "Grip clips" for 14 girls in a dance rehearsal space bathroom in 2 hours.
This photo was taken when the troupe, plus a whole bunch more of her amazing students, performed at a half time show at the Staples Center at an arena football game. I sewed the skirts and long gloves too, but that was another project. Leela can really put on a wild show. Pop on over to LeelaBellyDance to check out more of her fabulousness and her upcoming shows and classes.

6. Snuck into the Vermeer exhibit at The National Gallery of Art with my mom, just like in the old days of sneaking back stage into clubs when we were under age. The museum had been closed due to the government shutdown on the day we actually had our tickets due to the Budget standoff between President Clinton and the House of Representatives in the era when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House.

7. Drove back and forth across the country taking pictures of a vintage Barbie everywhere.

8. Hold Easter Egg hunts but instead of eggs I hide little airline bottles of alcohol.

9. Received Fedexed comfort food from my mom when I was on my deathbed.

10. Buy jewelry in bulk. I'm talking major pounds of the stuff. All tangled thrown in a box or all individual in zip lock bags. It's like mini dumpster diving. Speaking of that, I do like to go to dumps and take stuff, not leave stuff.
The Glastonbury, CT dump is so nice and sorted out that you actually have to pay a dollar (I think it was) to get in. I went there with my Aunt Nan and we scored vintage canning jars and old rake that she planned to make into a wall hanger for coats and such. I now go to the Burbank recycling center and have scored some cool mother boards and some other neat little items.

So that's my list.

Let me know if you make one!