book review & giveaway!

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wooohooo! i'm so happy to be part of my friend kathy cano-murillo's blog tour for her newest crafty chica novel - miss scarlet's school of patternless sewing!

i received an advance from her publisher and started reading it right away. i enjoyed kathy's first novel, waking up in the land of glitter, so i knew i'd love her miss scarlet.

first of all, kathy is just about the nicest, sweetest, kindest person you'd ever want to meet. we know her as the crafty chica, a madly talented artist and crafter with a creative passion for her latin roots.

kathy's writing style is lovingly descriptive and fun to read. her characters are immediately likable and relatable...as an artist and a crafter myself, i get such a kick out of their crafty lingo, thoughts, and mishaps. it's like there are little private jokes woven into the story just for me. 

i was drawn to the title right away, because i am all about patternless. i rarely use templates or patterns when i create. i am all about the shortcuts - i hate to measure, i leave the instructions behind, and i tend to design on the fly, tweaking mistakes into opportunities as i go along.

and on a more figurative note, the book's tagline really resonated with me too... sometimes to find your life's true path, you have to stray outside the lines.

click here for a book synopsis...
click here for the video trailer...
click here for the bio...


since there are many bloggers on this book tour who already did a fabulous job of interviewing kathy with questions about the story, her character development, her writing style, her experience and inspiration...i went rogue (as i often do) and asked her just three simple and totally non-sequitur questions:


what is the wierdest thing in your fridge right now?
The item itself isn't weird, but the way I use it kinda is...I always keep a tub of dark chocolate ready-made frosting in the fridge. That way when I need a quick hit of the hard stuff, I can run over and dig out a teaspoon and savor it! I only allow myself to do that a couple times a week so it lasts a long time. Hit and run chocolate!

if you were on the show, survivor - what is the one luxury item you would bring with you to the island and why?
I would craft a mini-suitcase and have my iPhone, charger, drawing pad, pen, red lipstick - oh and pictures of my husband and kids - all stitched together so they would count as "one" item!

what is your go-to doodle when you're in a boring meeting?
It's always henna-inspired flowers in the corner of the paper. And then I add vines and leaves up the side to the top corner, next thing I know there are more doodles than notes! If it is a super professional meeting, I'll write the topic of the meeting in fancy bubble letters so it looks like I think it is super important and exciting and no one will mind me getting doodly with it.

and now for the giveaway!
one lucky winner will get a copy of both books!
just leave a comment here on this blog post to enter for your chance to win...i will pick a winner on friday, march 11th at midnight (pst). good luck!




3/12 update:  congrats to Tracy, aka "scrappynana" who won this drawing!


visit kathy's flickr gallery to see more of her art. i love her colorful drawings, her style is just so happy!