Three Things : Fabric (& a giveaway)

(Unikko - Orange, Mirabelle Red (Alexandar Henry), Alfie Barkcloth (Yellow))

One of my favorite parts of my recent creativity travel was working with fabric in my projects. I have been playing with bits of it with my sewing machine and starting to collect small pieces here and there (haven't gotten into any clothes sewing yet).

Here's a fabric layout I made in Christina Lazar Schuler's class at Inspired called Textile Anthology (check her Etsy store for available kits):

She talked about making an entire album of fabric pages (the one above is 8x8). I like that idea and I also love that this sort of page  can just go in my regular albums as well (put it into a page protector or add grommets to fit to your album rings).

So why fabric? I like to think of it in the same way I think of pattern paper - a decoration. A bit of color. The cool thing about fabric is that it also lends texture to your project. We can all use a bit more texture in our lives. Fabric can be added to a layout with adhesive or stitched on by hand (I actually really liked the process of hand-stitching the photo on the layout above) or with a machine (quick and easy). Try using it in place of patterned paper on your next project. It's also especially great for covering chipboard albums.

Currently I am storing my fabric pieces in my metal shelf:

Here are three of my favorite sites for checking out fabric include Sew Mama Sew (love searching by color), Purl Soho (especially loving their contemporary collection), and Repodepot. You can also search etsy for vintage fabric sellers like Shabby Vintage Mom who has some cute bundles of vintage fabrics.

The giveaway today is for Donna Downey's newest book Fabric Scrapbooking. It's very much a project-based book with step by step instructions and supply lists to walk you through each project.

To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment below. I will close comments and pick a winner on Wednesday night around 7pm (April 23).