Wednesday 13 November 2013

Hoop-la Book Review and Giveaway




if you are new to my blog and are here as part of kirsty's hoop-la blog hop then hello and welcome!

i was thrilled when kirsty asked me to be part of her blog hop. i have long been a fan of kirsty's and her work having 'met' her over the internet when i first entered this wonderful world of ours.


kirsty is one of those effortlessly clever people who produces things that are so quirky and original and, as this book demonstrates, is not short on ideas.
hoop-la is a gem of a book that incorporates {well over} a hundred ideas and projects to do with embroidery hoops.
whilst the book is not only a visual delight with all of kirsty's fab fun designs but it is a fantastic manual too with pages upon pages of templates to use and detailed instructions on how to carry out all the different skills. i love all her 
::top tip:: 
ideas too.


so embroidery hoops are for, well, embroidery? aren't they?
wrong!
think again! kirsty shows in this wonderful book that this little humble piece of equipment can be used in oh so many different ways and decorated in an endless variety of ways.

my favourite ideas are the ones that make the hoop into a functional piece, rather than merely as a frame for a piece of art...although those are obviously all awesome too. 

i love the chalkboard idea...and the noughts and crosses game...the vase of flowers, although you may not want to put water in them...the pen holder.


with this theme in mind i made my own little homage to hoop-la frame...an advent calendar pocket decorated in washi tape...ok i should make the other 24, and it would probably look rather cool if i did, but i just love how again you can take something quite simple and make something very striking.


i love when kirsty's thinking outside the box has resulted in more than one frame being the whole picture like the giraffe...the conversation...the hot air balloon.


so the giveaway! kirsty is very kindly offering one of you lovely readers a chance to win one of her fab frames from the book. being a screen printer the one i was instantly drawn to is the mix tape screen print. it's so cool!


all you need to do for a chance to win this frame is to leave a comment here. it is open to anywhere in the world and please feel free to tweet and the rest about it! i will be drawing a winner sometime on sunday 17 november.

thanks again for stopping by and if you have missed the rest of the blog hop (it finishes on friday) do check out and catch up on the other posts right here. you may still be in with a chance of entering some of the other giveaways!

i hope this has given you a good insight into this really marvellous book (put it on your xmas list) you will never look at an embroidery hoop in the same way again!

and i will leave you with this really cool little video that kirsty made. if what i have said hasn't persuaded you that you need a copy, then this really will!








26 comments:

Rhonda the Rambler said...

It appears I am #1 and if that is the case well CRAAAaaaP!!! But regardless what a super cool book!! I am off to find it on Amazon! The book and some hoops - I bet I can find a lot of assorted sizes on eBay! I want hoops all over my new house....what a smart girl. Thanks for sharing....and heres to hoping #1 wins this time (yeah, right!!).

Laughing Owl said...

This book looks so amazing and unique! I've been following the blog hop and with every new project shown it amazes me even more :) Thank you for a chance to win the book and for telling us about it.

DeborahGun said...

such great ideas. I am going to be on the lookout for some embroidery hoops now - I think they would make great, quick and easy teachers Christmas presents!

Marg M said...

I just love the conversation and giraffe. So cute.

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans said...

Awww so many great hoops! Clever to make one a tic tac toe!!!

Lee said...

This book tour/hop has been fun! thank you! Fabulous hoops!

Unknown said...

I love all these hoops! What a great book.

Liz DandeliondD said...

Those hoops are completely genius.
Thanks for the chance to win xxxx

Rachel said...

So many lovely hoop ideas! Thanks for the giveaway! Rx

Anonymous said...

A lovely book, I'm already inspired! This will be on my list, and I'll be on the lookout for hoops...

andri. said...

Oh the santa one is so cute!

Alisa said...

Such a great looking book. Love the idea of so many hoop projects. We all have extra hoops just waiting for inspiration to strike. Thanks for the give away chance.

Gill said...

I love the mixtape hoop too!
This looks a great book!

Tennjenny said...

Love your lego take on it, with your fabric for the background, so cute! I've never done a decorative hoop, though I'm always thinking about it. Maybe this would give me a big push, thanks!!

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Bloody Brilliant!
Love your no.6.

I think even my son would go for hoops if they were planets!!!

Nicky said...

I am not a number ....ok that was a reference to The Prisoner for those too young to remember! I have only seen the re-runs!

Great book - would love to win it and thinking what a great idea for a swap!

Jenny said...

I love the great ideas!! It would be go great to win!! Thanks for the giveaway! My email address is jenjeb@juno.com

Kirsten said...

So many different hoops - love all of the ideas!

Allison C said...

Those giraffe hoops are so cute! Would be perfect for my little guys room

Unknown said...

i love these hoops - such clever ideas and extremely pretty.

http://asaucystitch.blogspot.co.uk/

Hilary said...

Looks fab! :)Especially the giraffe

Karen@littlebirdiequilting said...

Lovely to have found your blog as part of this blog tour! Thankyou for the chance to win the book.

juceyj03 said...

Looks wonderful!
Thanks for the chance, Jessica
juceyj03@gmail.com
FINGERS CROSSED :-)

Just Sew Sue said...

It's definitely going on my Christmas list.

heyitshollyd said...

Lovely idea - look great with several tgether . My favourite is talking heads, and the paper aeroplane xx

Anna said...

I love your Advent twist on the hoop Karen! You will of course have to make all of them and then find a wall big enough to display them all too!