V and Co: moda blog hop

welcome welcome! 

ahhhhh! i of course made the mistake of my dates and am posting completely late! i thought i was supposed to blog about me on the 15th. wrong. that's when a winner will be picked. heaven help me.

so here we go!

welcome to the moda blog hop! i'm Vanessa i just had my first fabric line with moda called simply color. 

a little about my home town.

i grew up in california, and i was born in los angeles. santa monica actually and i lived there till i was 12. we then moved to the place i call my hometown:

 if you've ever been to san diego you've heard of del mar. it's probably the closest thing to heaven there is in my world. i grew up going to santa monica beach, and when we moved to del mar in my 7th grade year, i skeptical to move from the beach i knew, but man was i surprised and now i think of it as the better part of the beach coast.

 the water was warmer, you could do surf PE and meet up at the beach and surf before school to get credit. (just so we're clear...i wasnt a surfer just dated a few. they were cute too)
there were little burger joints, and great places to get breakfast before school (ahem or during school) and great surf shops. i would walk to the beach almost every day in the summer, and in the school year i would make sure i would include the ocean view as part of my run. yup, i lived a hard life.
i think my favorite thing about living there was my walk to the beach.
as a matter of fact, my mom calls me every morning while on her walk either to the beach or while she's at the beach. i try not to cry every time i hear the waves in the background.
 there is a reason why i love blue and green so much and i believe it's because i am always trying to recreate the feel of the ocean. man what a beautiful place to grow up.

what del mar is known for:

the del mar race track though i would say they are famous for fish tacos and for what REAL BURRITOS are supposed to taste like. :P

why did we move there:
my mom wanted a "smaller" town experience for me. and yeah i know san diego is no small potato, BUT compared to los angeles, yeah it is.

now don't get me wrong. i loved growing up there. i feel very VERY lucky to of grown up there.

 but i'm also super happy of where we live today.
iowa is a fabulous place, the people are nice, you get bigger house for your buck, the lightning bugs are breathtaking, the rolling hills of corn are a beautiful sight. but really it comes down to one thing only as the reason why it is the best place for us: our children are so happy here. they are excited to see places around us (chicago, mall of america!!, lake michigan, they have made great friends, and as a family we are truly blessed. even though i miss my beach coast living, i wouldn't trade it for where we are now and how we are creating wonderful memories for my children.

okay now for the stuff you really want to hear:
here's my little candy design:

 here is the downloadable pattern (man i need a pedicure again!)
edit: okay the link now works! sorry about that!

and here's where you get to comment to win:
what i'm giving away is one ombre mini jelly roll, one simply color jelly roll, one layer cake of simply color and one cute little candy.
now one thing you should know about the little candy:

they are 2 1/2" by 2 1/2" and oh so cute...but you CANT buy mine anywhere.
yeah that's right, this little guy could only be attained if you went to market and you got one from yours truly and now i have one little guy left to give away. he's kind of limited edition if you will, only a few out there in the world. so what? well it makes him kind of valuable right?!!!
yeah that's what i thought.

so here we are:
1st chance to win: 
tell me your favorite pattern or tutorial of mine up to date.
leave me a comment telling me so. and add an email address to the bottom of the comment.
2nd chance (and 2nd comment) tell me what is your favorite color combo. i told you mine, i always go for blue and green things. how bout you?
leve me a comment with an email address attached to the end of the comment.
you have till the 15th when i will announce the winner!!!