Things Got Cray Cray Over On Instagram

Serious. And yes I said cray cray. 

Three days ago I posted this little ol' photo:

I have a new product in the works right now that will be revealed next week, but I was on the hunt for some little wee ones to test them out before they go up in the shop. Here were my 'rules':

Thinking, okay, maybe I'll get 50 inquiries. That would be awesome and easy enough for me to go through, verify, and choose three lucky kiddos. Wrong.

I had 50 within ten minutes!!! You guys; by the time tomorrow happened, I had gained over 300 new followers and had about 200+ comments on the photo plus over 250+ photos that were hash tagged for me to go through. It was all becoming very overwhelming. But still manageable. Until sh*t hit the fan.

People were tagging me in like dozens of their photos of their kids, leaving me comments in places they shouldn't, hash tagging incorrectly... it was cray cray. In less than 24 hours I had to close the call for product testers because I had over 500 inquiries! I am only one person!!

But, even after I had closed it, I had even more people reposting, tagging, hash tagging, gettin' cray cray that I tried really hard to explain the rules and that it was over. And still it just kept coming. So finally I decided yesterday to choose all three 'winners' before May 1st in hopes that it would stop. It didn't for a few hours, but Instagram is now calm.

As frustrating as it was to have dozens upon dozens, maybe half a hundred, unnecessary photos to go through and the confusion of it all, I am so totally excited! 

So really, thank you all who participated, I am so overwhelmed with love for the support that everyone is showing me! It is truly amazing to know that so many people want to be involved in this process; I am blessed! 

So, what is this product I've been working on? Well, you'll just have to wait and see! But I can tell you that feathers, stamps, and vibrant colors are involved and little ones will be testing it out. I'll have one ready to reveal next week on Oliver and with the reveal a GIVEAWAY. So be sure to look for that.

Thank you all again from the bottom of my heart! And congratulations to the three winners!!! I can't wait to send you the product and see your little bambinos in them! 

Chevron Stitches 300 Likes on Facebook Giveaway!

Well, well; just minutes after posting that I will have a giveaway at 300 likes on Facebook, I met that. So as a thank you to you and as promised, I am giving away one of my infinity scarves!  

Remember, if we can get me to 300 GFC followers as well, I'll be giving away another infinity scarf! So be sure to pin and share this giveaway for even more free stuff!

This giveaway will end April 25th at 11:59 p.m. PST. Please enter by filling out the form below. Be sure to read the Terms & Conditions! Thank you all for your support; good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The GFC Collective

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Welcome to the weekly "GFC Collective" party :) This is a link up for bloggers who want to gain followers and meet some awesome new bloggy buddies. I have met some pretty neat people by following them with GFC. It's so easy to keep up to date with all of my fav blogs :)

Not sure if this is the blog hop for you? Listen to what other bloggers have to say...

"Just to let you know, your blog hop is the best I've participated in for gaining new friends!!! I couldn't believe the results!! Thank you!"

- Danavee, This Vintage Grove

Has the GFC Collective done wonders for your following? Let me know, shoot me an email at peacoatsandplaid(at)gmail(dot)com

Bre @ Peacoats and Plaid

Autumn @ The Busy Bee

Heidi @ Antlers & Roses

and our super amazingly awesome co-host (can you tell she's one of my favs?)

Ashley @ Chevron Stitches

...want to co-host? Email Bre at peacoatsandplaid(at)gmail(dot)com

Now that you've linked up, who wants to be a part of a MEGA giveaway to kick off 2013? I'm looking for bloggers who:

... have a MEGA awesome blog

... want MEGA page views for said blog

... want to grow their following in a MEGA way

Is this you? If yes, drop me a line at peacoatsandplaid(at)gmail(dot)com 

so I can include you in the MEGA fun.

Pinspiration Friday

This weeks Pinspiration comes from A Beautiful Mess blog. {I am a little obsessed with this blog, by the way.}

As soon as I saw this I knew right away it would make the perfect Christmas gift for Oliver. 

So I gathered up and old coffee can, some fabric and leather scraps, leather lacing cord, wooden beads, two wooden dowels, some batting and glue and put together a cute little drum for my little drummer boy.

I can't wait to see him banging on this Christmas morning! 

Hello Monday

Hello Monday, it's nice to see you again. I'm sure many of you despise Monday's and like Office Space have 'the case of the Monday's', but oh no, not here. I love Monday's. I get to enjoy some one on one baby time since big sister goes back to school and the hubbs usually has a client meeting or two. I also get to look at a bunch of blogs, shops, websites {Pinterest} to get inspiration for what I will be working on this week. Whether it be a new product for the shop, a blog post for entertainment, a new Pinspiration Friday project, a new design element for Chevron Stitches, something for our home, new art to display - anything! So each Monday I am going to share with you my Hello Monday inspirations that come from sitting back, relaxing with a cup of coffee, and listening to baby babble and blow raspberries. There might also be some Twilight involved....

This weeks inspirations involved a personal project, a home project, a Etsy shop project, a blog element, and my Pinspiration Friday {sneak peek}. 

Personal Project:

I ordered some amazing japanese import fabric in hopes to make a rad bag for myself. I got the fabric a while ago in the mail, but haven't been able to find a pattern or tutorial that really rocked my socks; until this morning. Here is the fabric...

Amazing, right? I really want to make a bag that I haven't made before. Yah know... with a recessed zipper, interior zipper pocket, leather handles; the works! I wanted to make something that was outside of my comfort level and something that would give me a challenge. So I found this...

The 'It's a Cinch' bag over at Sweet Verbena. I will be adding a few different elements and changing some things up, but this is the inspiration bag. I simply cannot wait to make it! 

A home project:

We have some chore jars that don't really have a proper place in the house where they will be seen and are easily accessible. {What are chore jars? Don't worry - a diy post will be going up later this week about them!} We have this empty wall space under a piece of canvas art that would be perfect for a floating shelf to house those jars. 

I love this shelf - the drawers are perfect cause I can put little trinkets in them or use as junk drawers, ha. 

Found on Etsy // Honeys Treasures

Etsy Shop Project:

A new banner for the shop. I really love what I have right now, but it is a little hard to tell that it is for Olivers Treasure Chest.

That image was taken at Oliver's baby shower, just cropped to fit 'Oliver's Treasure Chest' in the photo and get some bunting in there. I really do love it, but it's time for a change. I like something with the idea of bunting as well as flags. Maybe washi tape? Im not sure. We will see what I come up with.

**Update! I had some spare time and made a new Etsy shop banner! Tell me what you think!**

Blog Element:

A sponsor section. I have been going back and forth on when to add sponsor space to the blog and wondering if it would be a good fit for me. So many of my bloggie friends offer it as well as some amazing blogs out there and I feel a tug to go in that direction. I currently am just showing blog love with buttons I've grabbed from some of my fave blogs, but eventually would like to add sponsor swaps and maybe even sometime in the future paid sponsor space?!? Some of the blogs that offer sponsor space and are amazing:

Antlers & Roses, Free Spirit Reigns, Sassy Lemonade, Sweet Lavender Bake Shoppe 

{Please check them out! They've been amazing friends of mine and wish all the love on them. They deserve it!}

Pinspiration Friday:

Sneak peek at what will be this weeks Pinspiration Friday Project

And I can't wait to make this!

Do you have any current inspirations? Share with me!

You've Been Mugged | A Mug Swap

Last month Heidi over at Mustache Mama and I hosted the You've Been Mugged Mug Swap. We had so much fun hosting and seeing everyone's little updates on IG. I'm so excited for the link up so I can see what everyone got!

Meet....

Heidi of Mustche Mama and myself; Ashley Marie of Chevron Stitches.

My mug swap partner was no stranger to me. I was partnered up with Andrea over at Shabby Kitteh.  Back Story: Andrea and I were paired up, randomly, in the Share Your Style Swap. Since then we have become good bloggie friends. With this mug swap, Heidi partnered up the ones that contacted her {including myself} and I partnered up the ones that contacted me {including Heidi}. So, when she partnered me up, I got Andrea! So awesome! Ok, back to this story...

I had a lot of fun shopping for Andrea and I sure hope she loves her goodies!

Andrea knows my {small} love for owls and sent me the biggest and coolest mug ever, plus some goodies for the family. 

Isn't the mug awesome? I poured my coffee in it and I didn't need a refill all day! The whoopie pie mix we are making next week {it's on our Advent Calendar!} and my daughter loves, loves, loves the snoopy cocoa mix. 

Now for the link up! I'm so excited about this! Submit your link below of your post on the mug swap. I hope everyone had fun and got to meet some awesome peeps. Even though I already knew my swapper, I was stoked! 

Thanks Heidi, for asking me to co-host with you!

November Recipe Swap

I hope you all had a lovely Holiday! I sure did... I ate until my stomach was literally hurting! 
Then, once I recovered from all of that food, I jumped in the kitchen and cooked up a couple dishes from my recipe swap partner, Allison!

Unfortunately I am a horrible swap host and forgot to take photos of the process and even the finished dish! But I thought I would share with you a couple of the recipes she sent to me. Which, by the way, were on adorable polka dot paper.

Hey; at least I took a photo of the happy mail, right? 
She sent me some amazing recipes, some yummy potpourri, and fun little fall cupcake liners. Definitely going to be making some red velvet cupcakes in those for Christmas!
Okay, so now on to the yummy stuff...

Skillet Pastaitsio

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 onion
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. tamato paste
3/4 tsp. dried oregano
3 c. chicken broth
1 c. heavy whipping cream
2 c. {dry} elbow macaroni
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 c. grated parmesean

Preheat over to 350 degrees

Method:

*For this recipe, use a skillet or dutch oven that can go right from the stove to oven*
Saute onion in butter. When softened, add beef. Cook until just barely pink. Add cinnamon, tomato paste and oregano; cook for 30 seconds.

Stir brth, 1/2 c. cream and dry pasta into skillet and cook on medium high for 10 minutes, stirring often. Macaroni should be tender.

Whisk remaining 1/2 cream and cornstarch together. Stir into skillet and cook another 2-3 minutes, until sauce is thick and creamy.

Add 1/2 c. of parmesan to mixture then top with remaining parmesan. Bake for 15 minutes.

Wow! Does that sound yummy or what!? Well, let me tell you... it was! This might be a weekly thing. And, it was so easy! I had Bry help me add the ingredients when needed while I stirred the mixture. This is sure to make your family full!

Now, for the desert!

Impossible Coconut Pie

*Note: this recipe does not call for a crust because the filling makes its own crust

Ingredients:

2 c. milk
1/2 c. biscuit mix
1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. white sugar {you could use raw sugar, but you won't get the 'white' look}
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. flaked coconut

Preheat over to 350 degrees {or leave it on from dinner!}

Method:

Grease a 9 in. pie pan

Combine milk, sugar, biscuit mix, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a blender. Blend on low speed for 3 minutes.

Pour into prepped pie plate

Let stand for 5 minutes then sprinkle with coconut

Bake for 40 minutes

{Can be served warm or chilled}

The recipe says to serve warm, but I popped mine in the refrigerator over night and ate it for breakfast and it was amazing! I love coconut so much and I have always wanted to make a coconut pie! I am sure you will love it too. 

Thank you all for participating in the recipe swap! I hope you were able to add to your collection of recipes and get to try something new. Please be sure to link up your posts!

Pinspiration Friday

Hello all and Happy Friday!

This is my first Pinspiration Friday post on the {new} blog! This will be one of three weekly series you can expect to see here at Chevron Stitches. For now, it will just be a post of an inspiration craft, project, recipe, etc. that I have found on Pinterest. If you would like to link up with me weekly, leave a me a comment and I will start adding a linky for you! Here is my Pinterest Pinspiration Friday Board where you can see each inspiration pinned by me and a few of friends. If you would like to be added to the board, let me know!

This week I found a really cool indie craft - a DIY Dreamcatcher.

Oh so cute! We have a few of these around our house that have been collected by my daughter, but with this tutorial you can make one of your own inexpensively. I actually changed mine up a bit and made it even easier by using an embroidery loop with a stretched lace doily that I had already put together for a previous project. I just added the cording, beads, and feathers and came up with this:

I've done a few craft nights where we have created things using all of these materials so I already had everything on hand. But for a few dollars, you could head down to your local craft store and get everything you need.

This is going to be the perfect addition to the wall in my sewing space.

Do you have any crafts or projects inspired by Pinterest? Leave me a comment below with the link and I would love to check it out!