My little blog on the big web

Visit with Santa!

2008-12-06T19:10:00.005-05:00

Today was our visit with Santa. The girls (and Santa as well) had a great time! Let's hope that Santa brings them what they asked for! :-)

I'm going to mention the unmentionables...

2008-12-05T22:28:00.004-05:00

It's not something that we ladies like to talk about, but let's face it - it's reality! Yes ma'am, I'm talking about that time of the month! And, more directly - how not to walk from your desk at work to the restroom with your unmentionables in your hand - alerting everyone that it is, in fact, that time!

My attempt, until now, at being discreet was basically just to shove my 'monthly things' up my sleeve and walk to the bathroom. But, now I don't have to! Yay....

Inspired by the ease of making the tea bag holders, I made this ...

It's functional, yes! But, I think it's also kinda cute (well, cute may be a stretch ... but, still).

So - now I'm wondering - how many ladies would like to get these for Christmas??? Or is this just too personal for a gift? What about for my teenage niece? Is that just a weird gift?

And, another tea bag wallet....

2008-12-04T11:15:00.003-05:00

These are so flipping easy, it's ridiculous! Here is the latest one.

I love, love, love these fabrics and it will be all I can do to give this wallet away! I used one of the lining fabrics for a button on the outside.

And, I just happened to have a lovely ribbon that worked well!

I'm pretty sure (actually, my 8 year old suggested this) that if I slightly modify the dimensions, that I can make some adorable card holders too! Look for those on here sometime soon!!!

Now ... I gotta get back to work! ;-)

Tea Wallet

2008-12-03T22:24:00.003-05:00

For a couple of my friends, I will be making tea wallets and matching cup sleeves. I decided to make one to get my measurements correct. This is it...

I think that it turned out cute! It holds 4 tea packets or sugars/etc.

Here is a picture of the outside:

And, a picture of the inside with tea packets in it:

Inside, with no tea packets:

I decided to make it a simple elastic closure, with a button.

I hope that the friends that will be receiving these will like them. I'm pretty sure that I'd like them if one were given to me!

Now I just have to decide on the fabrics for each person and make the tea wallets and coffee cup cozy / sleeve!!

School Projects

2008-12-01T01:42:00.003-05:00

My daughter, who is in 3rd grade this year, has had the most 'projects' already this school year. She has just finished her latest diorama. This one was on the Cherokee Indians. She still has a paper to finish, to go with the diorama ... but, at least the diorama is finished.

She did a great job - actually, she had the whole family - Mommy, Daddy and her baby sister, help in one way or another ... but, it's her project. And, I think it turned out great!

I thought that I'd share a couple photos, since ... well ..... see below .... I'm so ashamed ......

...

I DIDN'T FINISH THE AFGHAN OVER THE HOLIDAY! I'm so ashamed that I didn't keep my commitment to myself! I could blame the school project - but, that wouldn't be fair ... it'd be more appropriate to blame the nap that I took yesterday and the nap that I took today .... I'll get it done .... I promise!

What was once a shower curtain is now a makeup bag

2008-11-30T00:39:00.003-05:00

Several months ago, I purchased a canvas shower curtain from Goodwill. I knew that I was going to cut it up to make something. I was planning on grocery bags (but, I have not yet made them!). Anyway - as I was sitting in my sewing room, I noticed the shower curtain still sitting there and decided to make a make-up bag.

I haven't decided if I'm going to keep it or give it away for Christmas, but I think that it turned out cute!

The fabric seems a bit nautical to me, so I decided to embroider an anchor on the front of it.

It has a chunky zipper closure. Can you tell that I stuffed the bag, in order to get decent pictures?? lol

All in all, I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Birthday Gift

2008-11-29T22:03:00.004-05:00

One of my dearest friends has a birthday next week!!

I couldn't decide what to make for her (but, I knew that I'd make something). Her birthday is difficult, because it's so close to Christmas - so, how do I decide what is for Christmas and what is for her birthday??

I have seen lots of portfolios or pad-folios online and I decided to make that for her. I didn't use a pattern, just kind of winged it based on the size of the note pad (in this case 5"X8"). I decided to have it close with ribbon and D-rings. I figured this way it is can hold a lot and still close. I put a pocket on the left hand side, as well as a vinyl business card (or whatever card) holder. On the right side there is a full pocket to hold the mini-legal pad.

For stability, I used Timetex between the outside (which is a decorator weight fabric) and the lining (which is quilter's cotton).

While I am sure there are some things that I'll change with the next one - overall, I'm pleased with how it came out!

I hope that she'll like it!!

On another note... I'm still working on the afghan for my mother in law - I'm still committed to finishing it before the holiday is over (and I'm not considering Thanksgiving to be over til I go to bed tomorrow night... lol)!

Christmas gift done and preview of another gift, almost finished

2008-11-26T11:42:00.005-05:00

I have finished one of my Christmas gifts for one of my nieces! I decided for the kiddos that I'd make crayon rolls. I would give them that, with crayons, along with a tote bag (which will have their initial on it, in the same fabric as the crayon roll) and a coloring book. I've not yet gotten the bag done, but I did make my first crayon roll. Until I finished, I had forgotten that I had mentioned making one of these before. Mine might have turned out cuter had I remembered and used the instructions! Oh, well........

I made this one using decorator weight fabrics. I used a ribbon to close it up, but I'm thinking that I may try sewing a button on and using some elastic for the boys ones (a little more 'masculine' than the ribbon).

The picture below best represents the true colors of the fabric used!

I like how it turned out - but, I learned several things ...

1) I need to make my fabric wider than to allow only for 1/4" seam allowance (with just 1/4", it makes it kind of 'curl' on the ends once the crayon is in place)
2) I may need to add a 'flap' to the top of the crayon roll - so that I don't have to worry about the roll being tipped upside down and the crayons falling out. I don't REALLY see this as an issue, as the crayons fit rather snug - but, it might be a good idea.
3) I really want to use a thinner ribbon - today I just used what I had on hand.

I hope that the kids are going to like this little gift - it's always so hard to find something that all the kids will like - boys and girls!

Now the preview..... I'm still working on an afghan for my Mother In Law for Christmas. I've committed to myself to finish this over the Thanksgiving break ... so, look for the final pictures soon!!

New pajama pants

2008-11-09T22:05:00.000-05:00

I've been saying for a few weeks that I was going to make myself some new pajama pants. Only today did I finally do just that!

I had some old fabric (circa 1980-ish) that was gifted to me some time back and I thought it might be nice to use for my pj pants - considering that I wasn't using a pattern or anything - didn't really want to cut into some fabric that I love! The fabric is a nice comfy cotton floral print. Not really a floral that I'd like - but, I admit, it takes a lot for me to like a floral print - but, I think that they turned out cute (and, even if not cute - they are certainly comfy!).

Mind you, I do have a pattern for some pajama pants ... but, I was too lazy to cut the pattern out! It took some 'tweaking' to get the crotch/rise just right - I'm kind of short waisted. Also, there is a little bit of bunching in the front that, while comfy, isn't flattering.... So ... a few things to be changed next time!

I'm thinking that I may go ahead and get my daughter's Christmas PJs done before thanksgiving - that would be unique, as normally I'm down the wire with them. Last year, I was down to the last minute - as usual - and decided to make pants and then buy a sweatshirt and do an applique on them, using the same flannel as the pants. Those PJs have gotten more wear than any of the others I've made in the years past - so, I'm thinking that I might do that again! Is that cheating? And, if so, is it okay to cheat on making the PJs?? I used to make them sweet little gowns - with monogramming and everything - but, they don't like to wear gowns ... :(

The coolest coffee cup sleeve yet!

2008-11-09T02:07:00.003-05:00

At least I think so .......

I was going through the tiny little scraps (I'm not the only one that saves them, am I?) in my sewing room last night and decided to piece some of the cooler ones (leopard print, hand dyed fabric, a jacquard decorator fabric, a cool polka dot fabric and leather!!) and piece them together to make 'something'.

That something turned into the coolest coffee cup sleeve! But, I made it with the intent to put it in my Etsy shop - and, now I'm not so sure! But, seriously - how many coffee cuffs does one person need?

Help me ....... keep it, sell it? keep it, sell it? keep it, sell it? ;-)

And, a new coffee cuff / coffee sleeve / coffee cozy .... for ME!

2008-11-08T19:50:00.004-05:00

I was so inspired by the Star design coffee cuff that I made yesterday that I decided to make one for me (I'm also going to add them to my etsy!).

For mine, I decided to use a purple vinyl for the star. I used the same black denim as with the other one, and lined this one in purple (to match the star). I think that it came out cute! Don't they kind of remind you of the Converse products?

Also - I thought that I'd participate in the One-Word meme that is floating around right now! You should too! ;-)

Where is your mobile phone? table
Where is your significant other? somewhere
Your hair colour? wild

Your mother? funny
Your father? gone
Your favourite thing? daughters
Your dream last night? dreamy
Your dream goal? security
The room you're in? bedroom
Your hobby? everything
Your fear? failure
Where do you want to be in 6 years? happy
Where were you last night? home
What you're not? organized
One of your wish-list items? camera
Where you grew up? everywhere
The last thing you did? sew
What are you wearing? clothes
Your TV? on
Your pets? sweet
Your computer? lifeline
Your mood? tired
Missing someone? Yes

Your car? dirty

Something you're not wearing? coat

Favourite shop? Target
Your summer? HOT
Love someone? Yep
Your favourite colour? Purple
When is the last time you laughed? today
When is the last time you cried? today

And - just because I found this beautiful picture on my camera recently ... thought that I would share! :) How BEAUTIFUL are these girls??? Be still my heart........

New Coffee Cuffs.... with more of a masculine feel

2008-11-07T22:11:00.004-05:00

I have been thinking for a while about trying to make some masculine coffee cuffs / coffee sleeves. And, having been asked by my best friend to create one, today was the day! One is decidedly more masculine than the other, but I think that they both turned out nice. Of course, as is always the way, I can see room for improvement!

This is the first one ... made with skull fabric and a couple of buttons. I think that the buttons make this one less masculine - that said, I'm using it... Worked out great! ;-)

Close up of the button closure

The second one is the one that I made for my friend. I hope that it is well received! I do see where there is room for improvement - particularly with the star - either I should have made a smaller star - or a taller cuff... however, I still think it turned out cute!

Now, I think that I'm going to finish watching this movie!

Cute little vinyl bag, with flower embellishment!

2008-11-06T22:28:00.004-05:00

I was, as I normally am in the evenings, reading the blogs that I follow. And, as I was looking at Jodie's (Ric-Rac) blog, I was reminded of a tutorial that I had been meaning to try. She wrote an easy tutorial for making a pencil case. I didn't follow it to the letter, but I definitely used it for inspiration!

I decided to make a makeup/whatever bag. Anywho - that said, mine is a little bigger..... And, I love how it came out.

This picture gives an idea of the 'overall' view of the makeup bag/case/pouch.

This picture shows the zipper .... the purple zipper matches the flower...... see how my brain works? ;-)

This picture is just her to give a better idea of the true colors..... The pictures above were washed out with the flash.

Now I want to make this same style bag out of cotton!!!

Flower power

2008-11-02T23:20:00.004-05:00

Today my girls wanted me to make them 'something'. They really wanted me to make them bags today, but I just wasn't feeling up to it. I wanted something small and quick!

As a result of my need for it to be small and quick. I decided to make them little hair clips. We've done hair clips before. But, these are a little different. I used a die cutter to cut the flower shapes and then just sewed them to the clips that I had on hand. As a side note... have you ever bought something, put it away only to NEVER find it again? I bought some new clips a week or so ago and now I can't find them - that annoys the you know what out of me.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming ...

The clips. They turned out really cute, I think! And, the girls liked them. I've already made them more in their school colors. Adorable....

I definitely think that I'll be making these for the girls on my Christmas list this year!

Happy Halloween! A little late.....

2008-11-01T22:00:00.004-05:00

Whew ... it's over... I love it, but I'm glad for it to be behind me! Between making costumes (til the wee hours of the morning) and helping a friend with a Halloween party (which was so much fun, for the kids and adults a like), I'm beat!

I mentioned before that we were doing the whole Wizard of Oz theme. With me being Dorothy, my oldest being Glenda the Good Witch and my youngest being the Wicked Witch of the West. I didn't have to make the Wicked Witch costume, but I made both the Dorothy costume and Glenda costume.

Dorothy ... I already blogged about the shoes here. They did turn out well, but the sequins did pop off a bit after I wore them. I did modify them a bit from the prior post, in that I added a red satin bow to each of them. I made the dress, without a pattern and just made it as quickly as I could. So, I didn't take the time to 'fit' it to my shape. So, I look kind of boxy in it, but I think it turned out cute as well. I already had the white shirt. I bought a wig and cut it shorter and used ribbons with the braids. All in all, I thought that my costume turned out well.

Glenda ... my daughter was thrilled with her costume. Basically, I reclaimed the bodice from a thrifted dress, added the skirt portion and puffy sleeves. I also made the crown. She already had a wand. Costume done!

Wicked Witch of the West ... I borrowed the witches dress from a friend and bought a hat. Painted her face, added tights and we're done! But, she's WAY too pretty to look wicked.

As we were getting dressed, my girls were already discussing what they want to be next year... That is how it goes in this house! The Wizard of Oz theme was decided on Halloween last year!

This was the scene when we got home from the Halloween party last night ... How sweet.....

Even though it is late...... Happy Halloween!!

Crown for Halloween Costume

2008-10-30T11:29:00.003-05:00

My oldest daughter is to be Glenda the Good Witch from The Wizard Of Oz. I'm fighting with that last 25% to be done (adding puffy sleeves to the dress and some type of embellishment to the bodice). Our town in trick or treating tonight, so the pressure is on... but, I'm going to be happy with small victories!!! And, I'm tickled pink with the crown, so I'm taking a break from the dress, having some lunch and posting pictures of the crown!

You know how it goes ... sometimes if the sewing machine is being a pain - you have to step away for a bit.

The crown is made using a cut from a thrifted tablecloth, muslin, ribbon, crystals (hot glued on) and timetex. It also has an elastic band in the back.

I had a hard time getting a photo that truly showed how cute it came out... :( But, I am THRILLED with it. Wish I could get the dress finished, so I'd be thrilled with it!!!

Neckwarmer ... made last winter, but worn today!

2008-10-30T07:59:00.005-05:00

I'm cold ...... I'm very cold...... I should turn up the heat, but I'm dreading those high gas bills as it is.

I made this neckwarmer last winter and I realized that I never blogged about it. I'll tell you what I like about neckwarmer (or cowls), you can wear them without the 'ends' hanging down in your way - SO, they work great when you're cold sitting at the sewing machine (which is what I'm doing today - or at least am suppose to be - yet I'm here ... blogging.....hmmm). Anyway.....

I used 3 vintage buttons as the closure. It is so pretty, I think! And, it is very warm!

Dorothy Shoes ... AKA 'Why am I so cheap? Shoes'

2008-10-29T23:32:00.003-05:00

So, as I mentioned earlier, I'm to be Dorothy for Halloween. Now, being a 'do it yourself-er', I decided to make my own red shoes. Let's just say ... I'm so stupid!

I have, painstakingly, placed each of these sequins (I lost count at 500 sequins on one shoe) on an old pair of mary janes. Surely I could have found some sparkly red shoes for not TOO much, right? Anyway - I want to be proud of these shoes, I really do - but, they just aren't as cute as they could be! I will say, however, that they are more sparkly that the pictures seem to suggest... odd. After the initial application dries, I intend to go back in and fill in any 'empty' spots!

Anyway - here are the pictures.......

Hopefully, they will be okay with the whole outfit... which, by the way, is not complete. I'm about 75% finished with Sarah's dress (which is a recon of another dress and reclaimed chiffon fabric) - I've decided (after the fact) that it would have likely been easier to just make a dress from scratch. But, alas, as I mentioned above .... I'M AN IDIOT! lol

Cute little felted pouch

2008-10-28T18:59:00.004-05:00

I recently felted an old wool sweater, making a bag for my daughter. I originally blogged about that here. I still had a bit of the sweater left over and did another small project...

I made a cute little pouch that can hold cards, lip balm, etc. I attached a key chain to it so that it can be carried with keys, for convenience.

OHHHH, now that I type that out, it makes me think about something else that it could be used for. Once, at my former job, I took a CPR class and at the end of the class we got a little key chain with a few CPR items (gloves, barrier, etc.). As I recall, it was about this same size... so, I guess you could use this little pouch for that, as well... anyway, I digress..

Anyway - cute little pouch that was easy to make......

Now, I have to stop making little things... more heating pouches and more sleep masks... and finish up Halloween costumes! I am doing a recon of a dress for Sarah - she's Glenda the good witch from Wizard of Oz. And, I need to finish my costume - I'm Dorothy! Hannah is at least done!!

Sock Monkeys

2008-10-27T00:00:00.001-05:00

I actually made these a few years back. I don't know why I didn't blog about them... but, while we were going through old toys today, we found these. I know they aren't anything special ... but, I SO love sock monkeys! And, I'm still happy with how they turned out (even if my girls played very little with them!)

I happened (somehow) to have some of these socks stuck back in a drawer and decided to try to 'wing it'. I had never made a sock monkey before, but I think that i did okay.

As I was making them for each of my girls, I decided to make one with a pink ribbon and the other with a purple ribbon.

Cute little sleep masks....

2008-10-26T18:10:00.004-05:00

For some reason, my girls decided that they NEEDED - yes, needed! sleep masks. So, of course, I made them for them. They chose their fabrics... so, you can definitely see their personalities (and the difference in their personalities) in their fabric choices... I promise, they were happy (though, you'd never know it from Sar's face in the picture below ... lol).

Sarah chose to have hers made out of a purple and pink polka dot fabric. The lining is a purple fleece and hers has ties on either side.

Hannah (my little rocker child! lol) chose a skull fabric with a red lining. We chose to have hers made with a thin elastic as opposed to ribbon ties.

I really like the one with the elastic best, but it was a bit more painful to sew (though they were both REALLY easy to sew) because the elastic had to be shorter than the width of the sleep mask.

All in all - they turned out cute. But, for the girls' small faces, I think that I should have made the masks a bit smaller - but, we just used the same pattern that I had drawn out for my own sleep masks.

Crazy Quilt, anyone?

2008-10-26T14:41:00.003-05:00

I actually made this 'block' quite a while back and it has been sitting around .... waiting.... on me.... to do something, anything with it! Originally, I intended to do the full on 'crazy quilting' with special stitching, etc. and making it into a tote bag.

But, while cleaning my sewing room last night, I found it AGAIN and decided that I'd leave it as is (without any stitching) and frame it in a vinyl record frame that I have. So, easy peasy ... I think it turned out cute!!!! I'm enjoying having it hanging in my CLEAN sewing room!!! :)

As always ... comments are welcome! :)

Quick, easy and USEFUL gift

2008-10-25T19:32:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's birthday, so I had to make her something, right? We aren't celebrating her birthday until tomorrow... but, this is what I have so far and I couldn't be happier!!

I decided to make her a small hot/cold pack, because she has trouble with her hands aching a lot. And, I also made her a larger one that she can heat up and put in the foot of her bed to keep her warm when she first gets into bed (kind of like folks used to - and my grandmother still does - use hot water bottles)! She's cold natured, so I think she'll appreciate that!! This one is made with rice and vanilla essential oil. The larger one has a flannel cover that is just an envelope style.

The smaller one, I made using lavender essential oil with whole kernel feed corn. The external cover closes with velcro. The really cool thing about this one is that I used left over fabric from my youngest daughter's first Halloween costume! She (the baby - who is .. now ... 5 - oh, my!) picked the fabric - I think that is cute!

In addition to these little hot/cold bags, we've gotten her some nice lotions and a reed diffuser (I bought one of these for my bathroom and let me tell you - it is nice! I love it!! I hope that she'll like it as well). Now, I think that I'm going to make her an apron ... if I do - I'll share - if not, it's on the agenda for Christmas!!!

Funny thing about the hot/cold bags - as soon as I made these for my Mother In Law - my girls each requested one! So, of course, I made them each one. And, each of them have curled up with them to settle down for the night! How cute.....

Oh ... side note .... I think that I like the feed corn bags MUCH better than the rice ... just in case you wondered ;-)

Red Again!!!!!!!

2008-10-24T22:07:00.006-05:00

Getting the red in my hair again was quite an ordeal! It all started on Tuesday. I went, all excited, to get it done ... but, the stupid 'process' didn't work. We decided to use 1 product that worked (supposedly) in 2 ways - both bleaching and depositing color ... hmmm Not so much on my hair!

In any event - I couldn't get back to it til today! Luckily, my hair didn't look BAD on Tuesday - just not what I wanted! I wanted a vibrant RED and I wanted a LOT of boldness!

I *L*O*V*E* it! I mean, really LOVE it!!!! It's very bold (I'm so hoping that I don't get in trouble at work --- I work in a pretty conservative insurance company). I don't think that I'll get in trouble... My boss asked why I didn't go pink last time (which, I'd love to do, actually). Not so sure what all the family is going to think ... but, hey, it's just hair! Right?!?!?

Here are a few more pictures........ Don't really look at the 'style' ... I got caught in the rain after getting the color done today!

Now, while I love the color - we were way messy with the application! Hmph... now I just have to try to 'clean up' the color that is where it shouldn't be.... Thoughts? E-mail me/comment me or whatever if you have some ideas!!

Another one.....

2008-10-23T20:18:00.000-05:00

just because I thought it'd be fun..... ;)

I am 77% Addicted to Coffee

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

Hmmm..... wired for creativity!?!

2008-10-23T19:52:00.004-05:00

Was just surfing the web and found some silly little quizzes and I thought I'd, at least, take the one that was about creativity ... so - here it is ....

92%

Created by OnePlusYou - Free Dating Sites

So - what % of your brain is 'wired for creativity'???

NOTE: Only after I posted did I realize that I took this quiz on an online dating site. How funny is that??

Vinyl, ribbon and nickel plated hardware.....

2008-10-18T20:08:00.004-05:00

makes for an (I think) really cool cuff..... I was playing around in my sewing room and decided that I wanted to do something with a scrap piece of black vinyl that I had in there. And, I thought (and, I realize this isn't an original idea!!!) ... 'hmmm, I'll make a cuff for myself! Initially, I was planning to do a simple snap cuff with industrial eyelet embellishments (which, I still want to do)... but, as I was looking for something on the shelf above my head, a box of D rings fell off (avoiding my head by only inches... lucky!).

And, as I was putting them back up, I had the idea to make the cuff you see below, using some ribbon as the embellishment... What do you think?

With the hardware on the underside of the wrist...

Underside:
Other (top) side:
Or the way that I'm going to wear it... with the hardware on top...

I can't wait to make some more!!! Would love to hear your thoughts.....

I'm coloring my hair again.....

2008-10-15T20:51:00.006-05:00

So - I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY miss the red streaks in my hair.... This was how it looked with my last hair style...

And, because I miss it so...... I'm putting the red streaks back in on Friday! I *think* that it will look cute with the new hair style! I hope so, anyway. I don't really have a picture of the new hair style (hmmmm, interesting, since I've had this style for a couple of months now). But, it's just like this one..... in cut at least.......

Of course, mine is a deep chocolate brown (bordering on black at this point!), not highlighted like the picture above.

I plan to keep the dark brown and just add the red streaks back in .... what do you think??

I have an appointment for Friday at 1pm. WISH ME LUCK!!! ;-)

Granny Squares - And, my 100th blog entry!

2008-10-14T21:15:00.004-05:00

So for, I've only done granny square afghans would of one large granny square. But, I'm currently working on smaller ones (about 7 in squared) to make a larger afghan. As that is the only thing that I have to share (and, I want to do as I said - and, blog more often), I thought that I'd share a few pictures! Here are a few of the granny squares that will be in this blanket:

Nothing exciting ..... I know......

But, it's all I have today! ;)

Can you believe that I've made 100 blog entries? That's actually not great, considering how long I've had this blog - but, my 100th none the less.

Now - off to bed, work comes too early!!

What I got in the swap

2008-10-12T18:57:00.003-05:00

Without further adieu.... this is the hat that Emily made for me. I mentioned our swap in the prior post.

On me ....

But, the cutest version.... on my eldest daughter! Yes, it does look good on her - but, alas, it is mine - all mine..... bwahaahaahaa

I think that I made out great in this swap! Thanks, Emily!!!

I can finally post it......

2008-10-12T14:04:00.005-05:00

So, on Craftster, I decided to participate in a personal swap! I've done swaps before, but not one on Craftster. The reason for this swap is because I saw a post by the cutest girl, wearing the cutest hat - which I had to have! This is her original post: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=264813.msg2973809#msg2973809 Isn't it just too adorable for words?????? And, to think - she said it was an 'accident'!

Okay - so, I PM'd her and asked if she'd be interested in a swap. I'd make something for her, in exchange for her making that hat for me!!! She, to my delight and honor, said that she'd love to. I decided to make a tote bag for her. Her only request was that it have cute fabrics and not be too girly - she also mentioned that she liked the color red.

So, here is the bag that I made for her. I really like this bag! And, kind of wanted to keep it for myself - but, I quickly said to myself 'but, you really want that hat', so I boxed it up and off it went to the post office!

This is the outside. I made a removable yo-yo, with fabric covered button, pin as an embellishment:

This is the inside of the bag, with three pockets:

This is another picture of the bag, with the matching key fob that I included:

She said that she loves the bag and I'm so glad!!!

I love the hat that I got in return and I will take a picture TODAY and post it later! I really, really, really adore my hat!!! Picture to be added shortly!!!

Oh - should probably add that the linen/cotton blend fabric in the bag is recycled from an old dress that I had 100 years ago ... so, this is part of where this bag started..... and, improved use of the fabric, I think - agree??

My next project!

2008-10-10T10:53:00.002-05:00

I am just beside myself with how cute (and, seemingly easy) this project is. I am going to make one (or more) of these in the next two weeks ... and, I can't wait.

Here is the link where I originaly saw this project: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=272007.0

Last weekend

2008-10-10T09:35:00.003-05:00

Last weekend was SOOOO much fun. My oldest daughter had 2 friends come over to spent the night on Friday. They wanted to learn to crochet, so that was nice! I really enjoyed teaching them (my girls already know a little bit, so they were 'helpers' for the other two.

One of the girls, in particular, really enjoyed it. She wants to come back over for more crochet lessons! I'm excited that she is so excited.

Their 'project' was to make friendship bracelets for each other. They all really enjoyed doing that. This meant that the really didn't do anything other than chain, but still - they had fun! And, have interest in learning more!! Here is Sar showing off a couple of her bracelets!

The next morning, we all went to Monkey Joe's to play til WELL after lunch. They got to run, jump and play! Had pizza for lunch, then did it all again til nearly 3! How fun is that? You can see that I made them all matching shirts - purely selfish reasons - having them all dressed alike made it a lot easier on me to keep my eyes on them!

While they were having their fun ... this is what I did! More on this to come in another post!

Needless to say, by Saturday night, I was dead on my feet - but, a great time was had by all! So, I'd say that was a successful weekend!!

Too long gone......

2008-09-27T21:03:00.003-05:00

I haven't blogged in a very long time - bad Michelle - bad Michelle. You know how it goes.... life gets in the way. First, I was very busy with the summer activities and then before I knew it, I was busy with the new school activities.

In any event.... I finished a crocheted throw blanket and thought that I'd share it. It is basically a large granny square blanket that I finished with a scalloped edge. It is approximately 50" X 50" squared. Not too big... not too small.... just right! ;) I really LOVE the colors in this throw!! And, because it only took 4 skeins of yarn (that were on sale for $2.22/skein) it's a REALLY inexpensive gift. Or, is it an inexpensive throw for myself??? Hmmm, I have to decide!

And, now the pictures....

Still nothing to post about ......

2008-06-16T20:47:00.000-05:00

What Michelle Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated.

You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.

You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily.

You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind.

A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable.

You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out.

Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia.

Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person.

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.

You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily.

Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Because I've been away and have nothing better to post about ....

2008-06-10T18:03:00.001-05:00

You Are a Bright Star Soul

Like a shining star, you have no trouble being the center of attention

In fact, you often feel a bit hurt when all eyes aren't on you

You need to be number one in everything, no matter how trivial

And it's this ego that both hurts your confidence and helps you achieve

You're dramatic and a powerhouse of pure energy

You possess a divine quality or uniqueness that's hard to define

A natural performer, it's likely you'll become famous in some circles.

Just learn not to take everyone's reaction to you so personally!

Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul and Prophet Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Mother's Day Gift for my Mother In Law

2008-05-10T22:04:00.003-05:00

Luckily, my Mother in Law appreciates handmade gifts. This works well, since I like to give handmade gifts.

This year, I decided to make her a tote bag/purse and matching key chain. I'm pretty happy with how it came out. It was extremely simple, yet - I think - it turned out really nice.

Outside:

Inside:

Set:

For Mother's day, I get to REST! I'm really looking forward to that. Sheets need to be pulled from the beds and washed, but my 7 year old said that Daddy could do that - that it is 'Mommy's day and I shouldn't be bothered with that'. Thank God for that sweet baby! :) And, thank God for the other one too! My life would be so boring and a lot less full of love without those two! I'm blessed, indeed, just to know them!

Vinyl 'wallet' and key fob set and a recon!

2008-05-04T22:52:00.004-05:00

I've recently started working with vinyl and I thought that I would share something that I've made.

It is a vinyl 'wallet' that can be used to carry paper money, receipts and/or coupons. It's a simple pouch style that is lined in the same fabric as the fabric on the key fob. I thought that I'd add a bit of 'detail' by including the pink and purple flower, with button. It has a simple velcro closure.

The set:

The flower detail:

I like how it turned out.

The last item is a leather makeup bag that I made. It started out as part of a leather skirt that I bought at Goodwill for a measly $2. I wasn't sure if it would stand up to a freezer paper stencil, but it did - and, nicely, I must say. I was very pleased with how it came out!

Well - it is back to the job tomorrow ... not happy about that, but what's a girl to do?

Quick and Easy Project

2008-05-01T13:57:00.004-05:00

I recently bought a new key chain with a college logo. After looking at it, I got to thinking how easy (assuming you could find the hardware - which, I did - yay, me!).

In any event, in my search, I found the following link that gave some instructions on how to do it - though, I admit, I didn't follow the tutorial - as I didn't have the time to bother with the heat and bond... lol. Also, I didn't sew the ends together prior to inserting into the hardware (though, it likely is a good idea to do so) This is the link:

http://www.jcarolinecreative.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=KEYFOB

Also - in addition to making some with ribbon (which, admittedly, is easier), I also finally used my Clover Bias tape maker, to use some fabric that I really liked.

It really only extended the project time by about 5 minutes - so, this extra step certainly doesn't make it a time consuming ordeal.

Here are two of the key fobs that I made. The one on the right is using ribbon. The one on the left is using the fabric that I ran through my Bias Tape Maker. I think that they both turned out cute. I've made others, but they have already made their way into the possession of others..... So, these are the ones I have left for pictures!

I certainly think that the girls' teachers will probably get these for end of school gifts. I'm thinking that I'll use my embroidery machine to personalize them.

If only I hadn't just bought myself one - I guess I could make one just for me... perhaps I'll gift myself one for Mother's Day ;-)

I love my iPod .....

2008-04-27T22:19:00.006-05:00

... so, I figured I should keep it 'cozy' ;-)

I made my first iPod cozy, using scrap fleece and ribbon. I think that, considering I didn't even so much as measure my iPod Nano, it turned out quite cute. And, it took me all of about 10 minutes start to finish to do it (not couting the hand stitching to secure the sticky backed velcro - which, incidently, I will NEVER do again. I'm such an idiot sometimes...... but, I digress....... ).

Anywho - here is my new iPod cozy.....

I can't wait to make another one. I am thinking that I may use some yummy wool felt for the next one, perhaps with an applique, such as this one (I'm assuming that this one is using wool felt... it certainly looks like it):

Details on this project (IT IS NOT MINE!!!! - I just lust after it!! lol), can be found here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=224736.0

In addition to the iPod cozy - I also tried my hand at felting an old wool sweater (actually, I felted it some time back, but in my 'to do' pile it rested for way too long) and making a bag out of it. I made a little bag that my daughter will wear slung over her body. She really likes it. Given the VERY thick fabric that the felting created, I chose just to sew it up with no lining.

Here are the pics........

And, the best pic - of the lovely model, with her new bag....

I have another bit of the sweater left, so I think that I'll make some other type of bag eventually. We'll see......... Stay tuned!

New sewing project....

2008-04-26T20:40:00.003-05:00

My daughter's friend has a birthday this week. My daughter wanted me to make her a sling pack backpack like I made for her little sister. She wanted different fabrics and also wanted her friend's initial monogrammed (by her request, freezer paper stencilled). I think that it turned out cute. Now she (my oldest daughter) wants the same sling pack for herself - only we decided that instead of just a patch on the front, we'll make hers a pocket.....

Anyway - here are the pictures.......

Front:

Inside:

Outside showing the grommets at the bottom of the bag:

For the monogram, I just printed a font out on the computer and traced it onto freezer paper and did a freezer paper stencil.

All in all - I think that it turned out cute and I hope that the little friend will like it! :-)

New Coffee Cup Cuffs

2008-04-13T20:09:00.002-05:00

I can't go without my coffee - and, I can't stop making coffee cup cuffs! I've done them in knit and crochet - but, still, my favorite are sewn/quilted. Today, I decided to make a couple more (maybe for gifts - maybe for myself - maybe for etsy - who knows). At any rate, I love how they came out.

The first is also freezer stenciled. I stenciled a treble clef on it in purple.

The second is actually my favorite. It has a different lining fabric. I love the contrast of the black and pink (sorry, I know the pictures aren't the greatest.

Both have a fun fir type yarn couched onto the edging to finish them off. I think that they turned out pretty cute.

An 'unusual' fabric.....

2008-04-12T21:19:00.003-05:00

I've seen tutorials online for fusing plastic shopping bags and I have finally gotten around to trying it myself.

Outside:

Inside:

I fused several shopping bags together, but for the outer layer, I used a black trash bag. For added stability, I chose to add a fabric (with light interfacing) lining. I used a snap for closure. The 'lopsided' flap is intentional - I promise! ;)
It turned out cute, I think.....
Thoughts are welcome!!! :)

Oh - one note - as I tried this with my first attempt - stenciling with paint, on the plastic is NOT recommended - it will not stick... lol. Perhaps another type of paint might work though.

Yoga anyone?

2008-04-09T21:24:00.003-05:00

One of my girlfriends had a birthday this week. Yay, her! Birthdays are good, no?
Anywho - I needed to think of some 'handmade' gift that she'd really appreciate. I decided that she needed her very own yoga mat (who wants to lay on the stinky yoga mats that the gym provides?? eeeewwww!!). But, of course, with her own mat she needed a super cool bag to put it in (this is where the 'handmade' comes in) ;) Knowing my girlfriend's taste, I knew it had to be something subtle and classy ....
And, here it is .........

More 'new' projects to come...........

I've got to get back to blogging .... so, hopefully, this will be a start (yes, I know - I've said it before ... but, this time I really mean it ...... I swear!!!)

New Year, New Hair and New Hat

2008-02-04T23:43:00.000-05:00

So - were you wondering if I had fallen off the face of the earth?? I know I've been a terrible blogger - but, I will try to do better, I swear!

First off - HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!! I hope it is a great year for all of us!!

Secondly, I have a new hair style (well, a new hair color) - I really did this last year (ha, as if that was so long ago) - but, haven't shared it yet. Here 'IT' is - I love, love, love my bold red streaks in my hair!!!

In honor of my new do (no, not really - but, it seemed like a nice seque)... I made a cloche style hat.....

Well - that is it for now - but, I hope to get back on here and blog like a good girl!! ;)

Easy Christmas ornament ... to match a quilt!

2007-12-22T16:20:00.000-05:00

I made a small lap quilt for a friend's daughter for Christmas. I had some scraps left over and thought that I'd make a matching ornament. This is what I came up with....

Sorry for the short blog - but, many other irons in the fire right now.... More later, I promise!

More Christmas gifts

2007-12-17T16:46:00.000-05:00

I've made a few more Christmas gifts. I don't know if I'll be done by Christmas, but I'm making lots of progress. The biggest 'issue' I face is being able to have the Christmas gifts actually make it to the destination of BEING Christmas gifts. My girls keep trying to take them .... hmph....

At any rate - here are a few pictures of the latest.... Hannah modeling....

First one is a hat for their baby boy cousin.... I actually quite like the camo!

This one is a hat/scarf set for another of their cousins

A couple shots of the third to show it properly - also for a cousin!

And, finally - a pic of me modeling a neck warmer/scarflet that I made for a friend - yet am wearing right now - so, I guess I'm as bad as my girls about not wanting to 'gift' the 'gifts' ;)

New Hat/Scarf set - Christmas gift

2007-12-02T21:07:00.000-05:00

So - I've finished a scarf and hat set for one of my nieces - I've not yet decided which (and, neither reads this blog - so, it all works out okay!).

Both of my girls wanted to model it - so, here they are!

The last one shows the flower a bit better - oddly, the button color looks a bit 'off' in the picture but, it matches perfectly IRL.

That's it for now .... off to work on more prezzies.....

New crocheted hat and a scarf (made in 30 minutes - yes, ma'am 30 minutes!)

2007-11-29T00:24:00.000-05:00

I have been on a crazy crocheting bend - what is up with that?

Anyway - the new things... I made MYSELF a hat - well, it was mine for like 3 minutes. Once Sarah saw it - it became hers - hmmmm, interesting how that happens... Oh, well, it is way more cute on her than it was on me. Perhaps, after Christmas, I'll actually get to make one for myself! Here are a few pics of the hat (on my, super, super, super cute model!)

In addition to the hat (apparently, for Sarah - ha), I made myself a scarf. I will be making SEVERAL more of these for Christmas presents - since, LITERALLY, I made this scarf in 30 minutes!!! You have to love a chunky yarn and a Q hook!! I'm in love with this color! Here is a picture of the scarf that everyone I know and love will receive for Christmas... lol

I have got to get busy on the Christmas gifts that I'm making this year! I definitely will be making more scarves and hats! I think that all the kiddos in my family will be getting a scarf/hat set this year!

Something else for me..... is this a trend??

2007-11-23T22:50:00.000-05:00

Nah - it's not a trend - I'm sure it's not...... ;) And, so what if it is a bit of a trend ... I'm always making for others, but rarely for me... so - I don't apologize ;-)

Anyway - my hands get cold - I mean, really cold, when I'm on the computer or knitting or crocheting at night during the winter. Obviously, one does not want to wear gloves while doing these things.... so, I had seen lots of 'fingerless gloves' or 'wrist warmers' online - and, I thought that I would make some of my own. And, I'm so glad that I did. My little hands are so warm and toasty as I'm typing this post.

Here is a picture of them (or one of them) - as I took the picture myself, I could only get one. As good as I am - try as I may - I couldn't get a picture of both while still holding the camera. So - you'll just have to trust me that I have 2. Trust me that I'm not going all Michael Jackson with crocheted fingerless gloves... ;-)

Now, I've got several more pairs to make - as I've gotten several requests since showing mine off. Luckily - I have a bit of a ride tomorrow (to go to a football game out of town) - so I think that I can knock out several pairs then!

This is how these (to fit my hands) are made. This is CERTAINLY not to be confused with a proper crochet pattern - but, it is instructions for those that might be interested....

1. chain 32 (30 for length - 2 for turning)

2. 1/2 dc across length (start in 3rd ch from hook)

3. ch 3

4. dc across length

5. ch 2

6. repeat steps 2 - 5, until you have 7 rows of 1/2 dc and 7 rows of dc

7. fold your rectangle in half

8. whip stitch from top for 3/4 inch9. leave approx 1 1/2 inch for thumb hole

10. whip stitch rest of length

11. Turn right side out

12. place on your super cool - uber hip little wrist

13. admire your awesome creativeness and oh-so-coolness (b/c everyone else will )

In addition to keeping my hands warm, I figured I'd keep my husband's head warm at the game tomorrow. Here are a few pictures of his crocheted hat that he'll be sporting at the game! I have still not taken a picture of me in my hat! But, I will - I promise!

Now that everything is done to keep us both warm and cozy at the ball game - guess I need to get back on Christmas stuff, huh?

Another hat.... this time, for me....

2007-11-21T00:44:00.000-05:00

I rarely make things for myself - but, today, I've made two hats - JUST FOR ME! I've only got pictures of one. The other is to be worn on Saturday - as I attend the Carolina/Clemson game! Go cocks! I'll take a picture of that one sometime to post.

In the meantime - here is one of the hats (beanie style) that I made for myself today. Don't mind the crazy looking pictures of me... I'm just not a very photogenic person... but, since it is for me, I figured I should 'model' it. So ... here it is.......

I think that I like this one better than the other one that I made. This one was made using thick chenille yarn by Lions Brand. I made a scarf using this yarn last year - and, I had some left over - enough to make this hat, so that worked out great! This hat went quickly. I loosely used this pattern. The change that I made, to allow for my smaller than average head (please, no jokes or comments ... lol), was to have fewer increase rows. It seems to fit great with these adjustments!

But, I will be wearing the other one (again, I will post pictures later - I've only just finished it - and it's 1am... LOL) on Saturday - since it is (almost) in the school colors. The USC (University of South Carolina) colors are Garnet and Black - and the other hat is Raspberry and Black - not exact - but, it's what I had on hand.

More hats....

2007-11-18T23:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally have pictures of the hat from the previous post, on my daughter - Hannah. This picture was taking at 6:30 in the morning (hence her looking 1/2 asleep). I think that it turned out cute - given no pattern - but there are things that I would have changed.

In addition to the little beret type hat for Hannah - I made a beanie for my oldest, Sarah. I really like how it turned out - and she LOVES it. I want to make one for myself - tho, I know that I won't look nearly as cute as she does in hers!

I really liked the idea of the beret that I made for Hannah and tried to make another one (again, no pattern - just *hopefully* using what I learned with the first one, to improve). I'm not sure that it turned out much better - but, here is the 3rd hat that I've made. This one is for the girls' cousin for Christmas - hopefully, she will like it!

I've, in addition to the hats, made several Christmas presents lately. Several people are getting new scarves for Christmas - and various other things. I've got several bags in the works, as well as a few pieces of jewelry.

Is it wrong that I want to take a break from making things for others - and make some fingerless gloves for myself? Yes, it is - I know this - yet I still want to. But, I won't! I'll be strong!

There are so many things that I want to make for Christmas this year - looks like most of the gifts we give this year, will be homemade. That is normally true - but, even moreso this year. Usually, for my girls, I make PJs/gown and a toy - but, normally not more than that. This year, however, they are each getting PJs, at least 1 toy (one is already made for each - but there are several other things that I have my eye on - just looking for the time), scarves and a purse. So - looks like they will have a very 'homemade' Christmas this year.

While discussing homemade Christmas - I thought that I'd mention that Sarah has decided to do a painting on canvas for everyone for Christmas - she's already finished the painting for her Daddy - and, it turned out great - if I do say so. It's great having such a talented daughter!!! :-)

Pretty Little Beret for Hannah

2007-11-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

I was making slippers for Hannah (clearly, I still think she is 2 years old - judging from the extremely small size they were!) - and, she decided that she wanted a 'hat'. So, I'm a terrible one to not follow a pattern, but I thought - hmmm, I think that I crochet her a hat. While I don't think that Crochet magazine is going to be knocking on my door looking for the pattern (and, thank God, since I didn't write it down... lol), I think that it turned out pretty darn cute.

I know that it would look WAY, WAY more cute if it were on Hannah, instead of this bear - but, I think that it might be a bit un-motherly for me to wake here just for the purposes of making this posting better - so, for now - we'll just have to see it on the bear! ;-)

I plan to revisit the slippers - just not tonight. So, here is yet another picture of the cute little (I think) hat...

The pictures really don't do the colors justice! It is actually HOT pink! Just like a 4 year old's cool little beret should be! ;-)

On other fronts - I've now finished 4 handmade Christmas gifts - this is extremely unusual for me! I'm very excited about that!!! I hope to be sharing some more later. I've got a project that is currently being blocked that I hope I can take pictures of later and post here. I've got several other items cut out and ready to hit the sewing machine - so, yeah - I'm happy about my progress thus far!! And, in addition to the current momentum on hand made gifts - I'm also getting my girls' Christmas pictures made much earlier this year! Normally I'm like a week or two from Christmas - this year, they will be done the day before Thanksgiving - can you imagine??

Crochet and Felting.... and, yes, I'm still alive! ;-)

2007-11-12T00:16:00.000-05:00

Okay - so, I haven't been blogging for a few weeks, but I've been steady creating! I'm diligently at work on my Christmas list already!

I'm currently have a torrid love affair with wool yarn, my size I crochet hook and the processing of felting. I've made the cutest little purses for my girls for Christmas. A little more than 1 skein of yarn, a couple of hours of crocheting - then a bit of time in a steamy hot washing machine - and, you get lovely, lovely purses! The felted purse in this picture is Sarah's - the unfelted (picture taken, to show the difference pre and post felting) is Hannah's. I'm going to add some cute buttons to add to the design.

And, I know that I should be just worrying with making Christmas gifts, but I also made a cute little bag for me! It's a clutch purse that was, gasp, also crocheted with wool yarn and felted. I simply LOVE the autumn colors in this yarn. It has a button hole and vintage buttons for closure. I've not yet used it - but, I can't wait to! I think that I'm going to put one (or more) of these felted goodies in my etsy shop!

Don't mind the terrible picture - it doesn't nearly do justice to these bags! They are so, so pretty in person. The clutch was felted with only 1 washing in hot water. The girls' bags were run through 2 cycles (hot wash/cold rinse). I also, probably after Christmas, plan to make myself a (much larger) bag like the girls' bags.

I hope that I'm going to be able to be on here posting a lot of the projects that I'm making for Christmas! I've found lots of great projects that I'm eager to make and give to folks for Christmas - and, I hope to share them here!

Another 'project to try' has been checked off of my list...

2007-10-20T23:18:00.000-05:00

I have a list a mile long, I admit it - of all of the projects that I want to try. Many of which are found, here, on the internet - on many of the blogs that I visit daily. I have to keep a list, because I know that I'll eventually forget.

Anyway - I've, this weekend, marked one off of my list! Yay, me! ;-)

The project that I've completed this weekend (and, plan to make many more of) is a project that I saw on one of my favorite blogs. Check out the original tutorial here!

And, here are mine! My little girls are going to be so happy to get these tomorrow! I think that they'll really like them!!!

The only thing that I did differently from the tutorial is the following. In the tutorial, Amy, traces her clip onto the felt using a water soluable marker. Since I was using a dark felt, I found that to be a bit problematic - so, what I did was trace my clip onto paper - therby making a pattern. Then I just attached the pattern to the felt, using double sided tape and sewed around the edge. Everything else is pretty much the same as the tutorial (so, I won't rehash that here!).

I've also been making a lot of crochet wrist cuffs. I've listed several on etsy. Here are a few pictures of them, as well. My oldest is in love with these - and, has asked me to make her a matching 'choker' necklace to go with several of the cuffs that she's sporting these days.

Check out some of the other cuffs on etsy! I'm hoping to make some quilted ones, sometime soon, as well!

On the agenda for tomorrow is making the girls' Halloween costumes! I hope to get that finished and out of the way this weekend! They wanted super easy costumes this year - but, I'm still making them (Yay!! they had originally said that they didn't want me to make them and I was bummed). Truly, their costumes are taking little effort - but, it still beats store bought to me! :)

Additional project on the agenda for this weekend is the making of a birthday present for my mother in law. The intention is to make a cute tote bag (for groceries or other stuff that one might need to cart to and fro) and a simple apron (I bought the most lovely fabric for the apron - and I want to make one for myself with that fabric also!!). I can't wait to get those items made, and I'll off course share them here as well.

It's so cozy.....

2007-10-12T21:50:00.000-05:00

I know, I've been gone for a few - but, I'm still around, I swear. Just extremely busy. It's very hard to find 'free' time between being a Mommy to a 7 year old and a 4 year old, working full time outside the home, trying to stay in somewhat decent shape and all the various other things that we 'modern' women do ... but, I've been doing some 'yarn' things (both knitting and crochet) while watching my 1 hour of TV each night. So, I thought that I'd share a few!

The first one is a little cell phone cozy that is to be added to etsy! I think that I'm going to make myself one as well! My cell phone is so scratched up from it just being thrown into my purse. Maybe something like this will help a bit! Yes, I know that I can buy one of those cell phone cases, but I so hate them ... this I like.

The second thing is a crocheted coffee cup cozy. I think that I'm going to do some of these for etsy too - but, this one is being used daily by yours truly. Note: please forgive the hideous picture - it was taken with my cell phone!

So - as you can see, it's getting 'cozy' around here .... ;-)

Race 4 The Cure and a wee bit 'o crafting......

2007-09-29T22:22:00.000-05:00

Today I, along with three of my friends, did the Susan G. Komen Race 4 The Cure! I'm so proud of me (and us). We raised money for the cause, showed our support and had lots of fun! Here are a few pictures from the race! I raced (okay, I walked - but, I raced the clock... ;) ) in honor/celebration of my grandmother who is a two time breast cancer survivor! The race didn't take long, it was only 5K - but, it was oh, so much fun! And, I feel very proud about my participation - and, honored to have friends who participated too! I've made up my mind - I'm doing the timed/competitive race next year - I'm so inclined to do so - that I started jogging today at the gym, so that I know I'll be ready by the next race in the spring!!

Don't you like my t-shirt? I did a freezer paper stencil on it! I really, really, really like it - oh, and, I really like it! ;-)

Now - for the crafting! I made a large tote bag. I'm going to make some of these to sell on Etsy, but I'm pretty sure that this one is just for me! ;) I'm in love with this retro looking bowling fabric. I used a fusible fleece for stability and nylon webbing for the handles. I really like the look of fabric handles, but since I intend to use and abuse this bag, I thought that the nylon webbing would offer a lot of stability for the wear and tear.

This bag is HUGE - I can use it for the gym or shopping or whatever - it'll clearly hold everything! This is NOT your tiny little tote bag!! It's finished size is about 20" X 16". I can't wait to use it!!

Since I've been up since 5:45am - I'm actually kind of proud that I've allowed myself time to post a blog entry tonight! Not to mention the fact that I made the tote bag tonight! I think that I'm about ready to crash - but, even so, today has been an extremely satisfying day!

Personality Test

2007-09-22T18:10:00.000-05:00

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

You have high extroversion.

You are outgoing and engaging, with both strangers and friends.

You truly enjoy being with people and bring energy into any situation.

Enthusiastic and fun, you're the first to say "let's go!"

Conscientiousness:

You have high conscientiousness.

Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life.

Most things in your life are organized and planned well.

But you borderline on being a total perfectionist.

Agreeableness:

You have medium agreeableness.

You're generally a friendly and trusting person.

But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism.

You get along well with others, as long as they play fair.

Neuroticism:

You have medium neuroticism.

You're generally cool and collected, but sometimes you do panic.

Little worries or problems can consume you, draining your energy.

Your life is pretty smooth, but there's a few emotional bumps you'd like to get rid of.

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is high.

In life, you tend to be an early adopter of all new things and ideas.

You'll try almost anything interesting, and you're constantly pushing your own limits.

A great connoisseir of art and beauty, you can find the positive side of almost anything.

The Five Factor Personality Test

Wonky Monster and rock climbing....

2007-09-17T21:09:00.000-05:00

So, I've made some cute little 'monsters' for my cute little monsters. And, they requested that I make one for a birthday gift this past weekend. And, right now, that is the only 'crafty' or 'artsy' thing that I have to share. So, here it is .......

In the past - I've made up a pattern for these little felt monsters - but, this time, I thought what the heck and just cut into the felt... I'm not really happy with how that turned out - but, I'm doubtful that a 3 year old cares!

At the birthday party, there was a rock wall - I have to share a picture of my 7 year old scaling the rock wall like she was Spider-Man... oh, so cute!!!

My oldest has her birthday party this weekend - so, I have GOT to pull together some 'goody bags' this week - Why do I always put everything off to the last minute?? Anyway ... that said - I probably won't be posting anything much until next week - unless I get a crazy spurt of energy and get all that has to be done, done early... then, maybe I'll have time to do some fun stuff!

Altered Domino...

2007-09-09T22:32:00.000-05:00

I bought some dominos at a yard sale and thought that I would try my hand at altering some. This is the result.

I had a lot of fun doing it - and can't wait to try more. Now, to decide exactly how to USE these little bits of art!

Oh - b/c I'm addicted to UTEE currently, that is how I finished it off. See my prior blog entry to see how I use the UTEE - I used it in the same manner here!

What Color Is My Soul Painted? Wow ... how deep is that??

2007-09-09T20:58:00.001-05:00

What color is your soul painted?

Orange

Your soul is painted the color orange, which embodies the characteristics of balance, heat, enthusiasm, flamboyance, playfulness, aggression, over-emotion, danger, desire, strengthens the ability to concentrate, attraction, adaptability, and stimulation. Orange falls under the element of Fire, and symbolizes glory and fruits of the earth.

Click Here to Take This Quiz

Quizzes and Personality Tests

Another Freezer Paper Stenciled Item

2007-09-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

This one is for a baby gift... just thought that I'd share! This stencil was much harder (for me) to cut out, as my craft knife is getting dull - but, I still think that it turned out cute. I used clipart from PCCrafter to create this stencil.

I have started making my 'bucket' from the previous blog - but, I'm not yet finished - I hope to have it done and share it here before the weekend is over!

I so want to make one (or more) of these.....

2007-09-04T09:13:00.000-05:00

I found these cute little buckets in the blog, Ric-Rac online! And, now I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY (get the point) want to make some of these! I'm not exactly sure what I'll do with them - but, I think that I'd like to make some!

It's early yet, so I don't have anything creative to show you of my own yet - though, I hope to show something by this evening. But, before I lost site of this blog and project - I wanted to put it on here!

Sarah tried her hand at Freezer Paper Stencils

2007-09-03T21:32:00.000-05:00

So - Sarah loved the Skull bag so much that she wanted to try her hand. But, she couldn't just put her stencil on a ready made bag - so, she wanted to cut the leg of a pair of old jeans, make a bag - THEN do her stencil! So, that is what we did! She sewed it together, herself, attached the strap and I did the snap. Other than that - it was all her!!

She likes the Clemson Tigers, so her stencil was a tiger paw. I think that it turned out cute as a button! Here is the picture.

I also made her a skull t-shirt that she is sad that she won't be wearing to school tomorrow. Tomorrow is a 'game' day for her and she has to wear her cheerleading uniform - I didn't think that she'd ever want to wear anything but her uniform - so I was surprised that she was bummed about not wearing the shirt.

I have finally tried my hand at freezer paper stencils...

2007-09-02T18:45:00.001-05:00

and, I am in LOVE with the process. It is possible that I might stencil everything in site, given the chance! It was super easy and goes SOOO fast. I'm sure that it depends very much on the particular design that you use. This skull was super easy and, oh so cute! My girls now are having a love affair with skulls and cross bones - I think that it is because they are in love with Pirates Of The Carribean (can't blame them there - I love those movies too!).

This one is for etsy, but Sarah has already requested one with a pink skull - so, I have to go get some more fabric paint and resist the urge to stencil everything in sight! Here is a picture showing the detail, though unfortunately - not the true color of the fabric paint - which is a gorgeous metallic aqua.

I can't wait to try my next project! What should it be..... stay tuned!

Quilted Purse to share

2007-09-01T23:07:00.000-05:00

Well - I've finally made a new purse! I think that I'm going to list this one on Etsy - but, I wanted to share it here too!

It is black and white on the outside and a fantastic lime green for the lining! Additionally, I made a (removable) lime green and button 'flower' for embellishment on the outside. The purse is quilted with a varigated green thread that I just adore!! I also added a magnetic snap closure. I think that it turned out cute and I almost hate to part with it - but, I rarely carry a normal sized purse - I'm more the 'large bag - fit the kitchen sink in it purse - kind of gal.' So, I hope that this purse will go to a woman who will enjoy it!!

I, now, want to go make a new bag for me - in my style! :-)

Birthday Girl and more UTEE

2007-08-22T22:04:00.000-05:00

First things first - today is my 7 year old's birthday. I'm not really sure how she is 7 - I mean, I know I just brought her home from the hospital. It is amazing (and sad, honestly) how quickly the time passes. I was telling her, as we drove home from her first day in 2nd grade, that it just doesn't seem like it was 7 years ago that she was born. I look at her and I see the beautiful 7 year old that she is - but, I also still see the tiny baby that she was just 7 short years ago! Okay, I'm okay now! For her birthday, she got a real 'big girl' bike - oh, how excited was she!!! Just wanted to share a picture of the birthday girl, with her birthday present!!!

In addition to her bike, Mommy also made her a special necklace. She was so very excited about her necklace too! She always loves it when she gets something homemade! I love that about my children - that they can appreciate the heart that goes into a home made gift!! This is her necklace. I painted the background pink, painted on dots (with dots) and stamped an 'S' for her name. Then used the UTEE technique described in an earlier post.

Below are a few more UTEE items that I have made. The first picture is of another pendant and also a keychain that I made. The pendant was stamped, etc. and the keychain was painted - both were then finished with UTEE.

The next picture is of another pendant. This one was done a little differently. I did the background as the other pendents (paint and inking). But, while the UTEE was still hot, I made an impression of the rubber stamp (with white pigment ink) over top. This left a true impression in the UTEE for a different 3d effect which I love.

The final picture is another pendant that was made in the same manner as the previous ones - just painting/inking/stamping, etc. Unfortunately, this one was rather difficult to photograph - but, hopefully you can see a bit of it anyway.

How creative am I, you might ask (or maybe you wouldn't, but it is a cute little 'quiz' anyway!)

2007-08-22T13:10:00.000-05:00

You Are 99% Creative

You are an incredibly creative person. For you, there are no bounds or limits to your creativity.
Your next creation could be something very great... Or at least very cool!

How Creative Are You?

Back from Vacation and Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE)

2007-08-18T12:36:00.000-05:00

Well, we are back from vacation - and trying to settle back into our normal routine. It is so hard to get back in the 'groove' of things after doing absolutely NOTHING for a week. But, one week down now, and I'm sure that next week will be easier.

School starts back next week and I can hardly believe that I have a daughter that will be in 2nd grade. I can't believe that it is even possible - I mean, I brought her home from the hospital last week (or, so it seems).

And, now - the ultra thick embossing powder......

I've been playing around a bit with it and have made a few things. I really love this pendant that I made. I'm going to hang it from a black satin cord and wear it a little longer than a choker. I think that it turned out cute! I just cut the shape out of a heavy (almost mat board) card. Then I painted the front white. Then did a little bit of coloring on it, just by rubbing ink pads over it. Then I stamped some lettering. After that, I covered it with a clear pigment ink, dipped it in ultra thick embossing powder - and zapped it with the heat gun (did this several times). I added one layer of a glitter embossing powder for some depth and then finished it off with another layer of the clear ultra thick embossing powder. It ended up quite sturdy!

I think that you could make a lot of things like this - of course, jewelry and additionally any number of other 'embellishments'. I'm going to make some magnets as well... I think that the options are limitless.... and, I look forward to doing more projects!

Well - I've caught myself a summer cold, so I think that I'll try to get a nap in before I have to go shop for new shoes for school!!

No 'creating' for a week...

2007-08-05T20:52:00.000-05:00

We're currently at the beach! We got here yesterday and will be here for the next week. My girls are having a blast already. I may not be checking in regularly - but, will try to have enough fun for me, you and everyone we both know! ;-)

Meanwhile - a few pictures of my current view!!!

Snap pouches

2007-07-27T12:01:00.001-05:00

Okay - so, I was looking to do two things - and, as it turned out, one was the catalyst to the other. I had some scraps that I wanted to use up, so I decided to make myself a makeup case for my purse (I'm really trying to get my purse organized, it seems, huh?). In any event. This is the little pouch/makeup case that I made. I was happy to use the extra bits of scraps that I had stuffed in an envelope for some crazy reason. I put them on top of some hand dyed fabric, stitched it all down, made the little pouch, attached a snap and called it a day! And, I love it - very practical.

And, the second thing that I needed to do was to make some type of little gifts for the teachers (7 of them, yes, 7 of them) from my girls' swim class. So - I thought that I'd make little pouches for them. All are girls/women, except one 14 year old boy, who will get candy - so, I think that they will like the pouches. Here are a few of the pouches that were made for the teachers. I did the larger pouches for the teachers that worked most directly with the girls for their lessons. I did smaller pouches for the other girls that help out, but didn't really work with my girls (didn't want to leave anyone out.

I'm thinking that I'm going to make a larger version of these pouches to hold my file folders that I lug back and forth between work and home. Think that will make me want to work?? haaaa

Receipts, galore - tamed now! And, Success at last!

2007-07-24T11:27:00.000-05:00

Okay - I admit it, my purse often looks as though it is a dumping ground for any and everything made of paper. In particular, it seems that receipts take over my purse. Then, with all of the paper in there - it takes forever to find the items that I actually need. So ....

I decided to make a little pouch, specifically to hold my receipts in my purse. This is the result - please don't mind the TERRIBLE picture - I took it with my cell phone and I know that it is BAD, BAD, BAD! But, my camera is AWOL at the moment!

In other news - my girls are taking swim lessons this week (they were in lessons last week, as well). They are, for the first year ever, doing GREAT. What I mean by that is that it is normally a huge ordeal to get them to do it - let alone enjoy it. They have been, up until now, so afraid of the water. My husband, his Mother and his Sister do not swim - and, they have transferred some of their fears onto my children. I do swim and I wanted my kids to be able to swim - so, this is their third year of lessons. And, believe it or not - this is the start of our successes!!! They both learned to swim, although they were quite afraid still, their first year. But, this year they have not only gained the confidence and 'belief' that they can swim, but they have also developed a love for the water!! I'm so very excited for them!! Finally! They will be able to enjoy the water and not be afraid. And, I will no longer be the mean mommy that made them 'practice' their swimming - but, rather, the nice mommy that 'let's' them play in the pool!!! Success, indeed!

If it is really helpful (and quick), is it cheating?

2007-07-22T20:50:00.000-05:00

Okay - my family is on our way to the beach in a few weeks for our family vacation. My girls, of course, need a 'cover up' for the beach and pool. So - off to Wal-Mart we went to get some fabric. Well, I found this lovely smocked fabric (smocked at the top, with an ample amount of fabric for the skirt and hemmed at the bottom). Seriously, all I have to do is to make a seam up one side and call it a day! They will have cute little pull on cover up. So - since it is this easy, does it mean that I'm cheating? Does it mean less that I don't have to really work to give them a hand made item??

These are the fabrics that I found... In addition to making each of them a cover up for their swim suits, I am going to put some ribbon ties on some of them and make cute little sun dresses. The girls are really excited - in fact, Sarah intends to make her own cover up - it's only one seam - so, I think that she is fully capable of making it! I mean, she has made herself a bag before - this is easy peasy for her!

I'm dreading the weekend ending! I've enjoyed spending so much time with my family this weekend!! And, it doesn't help that I'm swamped at work (and, honestly, behind on some stuff - with my boss breathing down my neck for status on my 'tasks'). Oh, well - hopefully, this will be a better work week than last - and, at the very least, each day puts me closer to our beach vacation!

Coffee Cuff and Another Pop Up Card Holder

2007-07-21T23:35:00.000-05:00

I made this pop up card holder for my sister in law (I decided to keep the one that I made the other day, for myself) for her birthday. It has a little bit of beading and some hand stitching for some added detail. I think that it turned out cute. The lining is a cute pink polka dot fabric. I used some pretty ribbon and yarn for the 'pull'. I hope that she will like it and think that it is both cute and functional. I have put a gift card in the holder for the rest of her birthday gift. Now, I just have to make her card and I'm all set.

I also made myself a coffee cuff, using this fabric. Unfortunately, I don't have it on a coffee cup to show it properly - but, I think that you get the point. I can't wait to get a cup of coffee from my favorite coffee house so I can put it to good use. I think that I will be making several of these for my coffee loving friends. I think that they will like them.

I think that the next task that I need to tackle is doing some organizing in my sewing area. I really want to work on quilting some of my yet-to-be quilted quilts, but I realized that I have GOT to get some order in my sewing area before I can do that. Even making these small projects the last few days have been a challenge with the lack of organization in that area.

I'm so happy to be back blogging! And, even more happy to be back sewing again - It's been way too long!!

Updated picture of my girls....

2007-07-20T21:46:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday we went to the zoo - while there, we took this picture of my girls! The oldest is Sarah and the baby is Hannah... Sar and Han as we call them. I LOVE this picture of them, and had to post it!

I would totally make some of these crayon holders.... if.....

2007-07-20T21:17:00.000-05:00

my girls didn't always break their crayons into multiple pieces!! I can't quite figure out WHY they feel the need to peel the paper off and break their crayons into small pieces - but, they do it none the less. Perhaps if I made them some of these crayon holders they would take better care .... hmmmm - Actually, maybe I should let Sarah make them for herself and her sister! I think that is what I'll plan to do! Perhaps we can make a project of it before our beach trip.

http://nested.typepad.com/blog/2007/07/materials-you-w.html

I made a pop-up card holder....

2007-07-20T12:56:00.000-05:00

Don't have a picture yet - and am planning to make a few more, so will take a photo this weekend. But, I just wanted to report that I did, in fact, make something! Yay, me! It is quite cute and I think that my sister in law will appreciate it. I think that I will put a gift card in it - so, it actually doubles as 'wrapping' for her gift, I suppose. That said, I thought that you could do a similar thing, on a larger scale, to gift CDs - I may try that at some point too.

Anyway - I am pleased that I finally did make something - so I wanted to share.

I've had a couple of people indicate that they would like to swap ATCs with me and I'm thrilled - I've contacted you each individually. Thanks!!! And, looking forward to the swap!!

Updated to add picture:

I need a kick in the pants - any volunteers??

2007-07-18T19:16:00.000-05:00

I think that I need someone to 'motivate' me to create something. I've not stepped foot in my sewing room, aside from the occasional mending of our clothes, in months. I have the desire to do something - I can't seem to stop flipping through Quilting Arts (and the like) magazine. I just can't make myself go in there.... It's the craziest thing...

So - this is my idea - Maybe if I can get someone to agree to an ATC swap with me, I'll be moving in the right (and, creative) direction! So - who will volunteer? Please! Pretty Please?!? Pretty Please with an new ATC on top??!!??!! ;)

The one thing that I think that I am going to make tonight is a quilted coffee cup 'cuff' that was featured in the Winter '06 issue of Quilting Arts magazine. The coffee shop that I go to every morning doesn't always give me a 'cuff' for my coffee - plus, this is way more cute, no?

Another project that looks pretty interesting from that same issue is this mini pop-up card case. It looks pretty interesting, quick and useful, as well. My sister in law has a birthday on Saturday - maybe I will make one of these for her. I have some great fabric that my oldest daughter painted some time back that would be really nice for this little wallet. Hopefully, I'll get it done (seriously, it shouldn't take long - I can commit to this, right??) and she'll like it.

Well - while I have some direction and inspiration - I think that I'll get in that sewing room. And, seriously - if someone would like to swap an ATC with me - let me know! I'd love to!!! :)

Bermuda Bags

2007-07-17T20:40:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking a lot lately about these cute little bags that my Great Grandmother made for me as a child. Of course, there were the store bought Lily Pulitzer - but, mine were hand made (with much love, I'm sure) by my Great Grandmother. I so loved those little bags.

Now, of course, I want to make some for my girls - but, can I find such a pattern??? Of course not!!! It's starting to annoy me. So, if any of you nice ladies know where I might find such a pattern/instructions, please let me know!

I know that I've been away for a LOOOONNNNNGGGG!! time, but I hope that I'm going to be back on mor regularly. I've been going through a lot of stuff personally, that has just kept me from being very creative - but, I hope that my hiatus is over.

I've missed you all!!!

Saw the Fall tour of Rent Last night!

2006-10-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

And, it was so good. If you're not familiar with the musical Rent, you might want to check out this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_(musical).

I had not planned to go, but got a call from friends at the last minute with and extra ticket - How could I pass that up?

Declan Bennett, who played Roger, was AMAZING. He is an awesome singer/actor. I swear there were moments during the show where I literally forgot where I was - as I was so immersed in the performances. Another stand out, in my opinion, was Krystal Brown who played Mimi. They were both amazing, as was Tracy McDowell as Maureen. The entire cast was great, but those 3 were probably my favorites.

Well, it's back to work (oh, the joy) tomorrow. So, I guess, I should get to bed and get some rest tonight! :-)

The pictures I promised, several posts back!

2006-09-29T21:51:00.000-05:00

Front of Altered Book (closed):

Altered Book (open):

Several of the pages inside Altered book:

Pieced top for wallhanging:

I can't post pictures :(

2006-09-29T11:06:00.000-05:00

Well - I intended to post pictures with my last post, but Blogger has other ideas and isn't letting me post anything - weird.

Anyway - I'll try to post pictures at another time!! :-)

Altered book - fabric cover and the beginnings of a wall hanging

2006-09-29T10:19:00.000-05:00

So - I have been wanting to do an altered book for a while - finally, within the last few months, I started one (still isn't finished, but it is started). I thought of collaging the outside cover, but decided - instead - to do a fabric cover. This book has no particular rhyme or reason (i.e. there is no theme) - just a hodge podge of things that I wanted to include. It is so fun to do these altered books - much more so that scrapbooking (which I also enjoy). I thought that I'd blog a few pictures of my not yet finished altered book. The cover was done with hand dyed fabrics and one print fabric. I didn't dye the multi colored fabric, but I did dye the black fabric. The pictures, unfortunately, are not that great - but, I think that you'll get the idea of the book anyway. I've taken pictures of the outside with the book open and closed, as well as a few shots of some of the altering inside the book.

Now, the wallhanging - you may remember from my last blog that I mentioned that I was working on a wall hanging. This is that wallhanging - notice any similarities between this wall hanging and the fabric book cover? lol Obviously, I'm loving these fabrics and the combinations of these fabrics. So far, for the wall hanging, all I've done is piece it (and I'm not certain if I'm done with that or if I want to add an additional border... thoughts? comments? suggestions? lol). As I have mentioned before, I'm a horrible quilter (pure lack of experience), so I'm always looking at the pieced top (or whatever - not sure if you'd call it a top when it is a small wall hanging - would you? I guess you would - anyway, I digress.....) for a LONG while before I do any quilting - I'm always worried that I'm going to screw it up!

Well - aside from any 'crafty' endeavors, I may be changing jobs. I like my current job okay - but, I don't feel like I'm 'going' anywhere there - know what I mean? Sadly, I feel 'trapped' in my current position because I do a great job in that position (so, it makes business sense to keep me there). I have the opportunity to go to work for the woman who has been such a mentor to me over my professional life. She was the first person that hired me out of college and the happiest days of my professional life were spent working for her. I'm looking at a pay increase, regaining years of service with this company, flexibility within my job, professional growth - and most importantly - working with the woman that I admire most in my chosen field. I can't imagine WHY I won't go. I'm still thinking about it all ..... but, my heart (as if you should use your heart to make a decision such as this) is telling me to that I should totally change jobs. It's just so hard to think of leaving my friends and co-workers at my current job. Ahhhh, the things to think about! I took today off from work just to have some 'me' time that I could devote to doing some projects and THINKING! I'm sure that I'll make the right decision - It's just difficult!

It's a mad, mad world (at least in my world).

2006-09-04T22:03:00.000-05:00

I've been away for so long that I'm sure you've all forgotten about me..... lol. I swear, summers are wonderful - but, oh so busy! Between maintaining a normal full time job, carting kids to and fro, planning summer vacations, etc. - I think that I'll be recovering until Christmas.

We had a glorious summer, however - so I will commence the complaining. I have no right to complain. It's been a very nice summer. In some ways, I'm sad that it is over - but, in other ways, I am ready for the fall.

Due to the busy summer - I've had very little time to do any real creating. I hope that I'll pick back up with some of it soon, though. :(

Actually, I've been working on a wall hanging tonight - just piecing the top, really. But, at least it is SOMETHING! I'm looking forward to working on it more - I think that it will be a few days before I have time to devote to it.

In addition to the wall hanging that I've been working on, I've also been working on an altered book - I love doing it. I've been meaning to work on one for a while, but had not taken the plunge (aside from picking up some books at the thrift store... lol). I've really been enjoying it. I've also made a pseudo-plaque to display a favorite picture of me and my oldest daughter. This is what it looks like. I think that it turned out pretty cute. I made it from foam core, which I decorated (painted and stamped). I then cut glass to the size of the picture, wrapped it in copper tape (picture and glass) an attached it to the 'tile.' I think it turned out cute.

Well, that is all I have for now - but, for anyone who might still be looking at my blog (probably no one... lol), I wanted to let you know that I'm still alive and well (if not well rested.....).

Later!

I'm still alive, I promise! ;-)

2006-05-17T22:18:00.000-05:00

I have gotten several e-mails asking did I fall off the face of the earth (given how long it has been since my last blog). I assure you, my feet are still firmly planted on the earth. ;-)

I've been busy, busy, busy - with a sick Grandmother and with getting school finished for my daughter.

My Grandmother has a heart condition. Sadly, at her age, surgery is not advisable - so medication is the only option. Fortunately, my Grandmother is one spunky lady and has a lot of fight in her!! I still say that she is likely to outlive me! It's been a long week, but a wonderful week. Long because of the hours spend at her bedside in the hospital - but, wonderful in that I had that opportunity with her. I know that I'm blessed with every minute that I have with her - even if it is in a hospital! Luckily, she was able to leave the hospital today. I know she is happy to be home!

Sarah is finishing K-5 next week. Only the rest of this week and 2 half days next week. Then, it is summer time for her! As is normally the case at the end of the school year - much is going on to keep us all busy! I went with Sarah today on a field trip to a local farm. It was a blast. My baby milked a goat! What a hoot! :) She has another field trip on Friday for being in the 100 book club at school (one must read at least 100 books during the school year to be in the club - she read around 200). She gets to go to Chuck-E-Cheese. Not my idea of fun, but to a 5 year old, I guess it is close to nirvana.

I did get to attend my quilting class on the 5th and I had a blast. It was wonderful to have such a great teacher. Two things came out of my class - 1) I can free motion quilt half way decent, I just need to practice (yes, many of you have told me the same!) and 2) I want a new sewing machine! I think that I'm far more likely to get the practice at free motion quilting than I am to get a new machine anytime soon. But, in the even that my numbers come up in the lottery drawing tonight - what do you recommend? lol There were tons of Berninas in the class, all of which ran like a dream! I'll be 'test driving' many a model before I put down my $$, I'm sure. Plus, I still need to convince my hubby that I NEED a new machine. Currently there are 4 machines in my sewing room (but, to be fair - one is my daughter's and one is a serger (and, while I recognize the difference between my serger and my sewing machines, I'm not sure that my husband does).

With all that has been going on lately around here, I've not had much time to create anything. I did, however, make 'monsters' for my daughters (and, at their request, for my husband and mother in law). I'll try to post a picture of the monsters in my next blog. I'm too lazy and tired to look for the camera right now.

Speaking of tired ....... til next time..........

Blogger is getting on my nerves!!!!!!

2006-05-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

I had a long blog, ready to post and Blogger just went crazy on me....... I doubt that I'll remember what all I had written. I doubt that it was that important anyway, but still... it's annoying.. Let me TRY to remember.....

I had included a comment about a good friend of mine who lost her Dad this week. It's just breaking my heart to see her hurting so. I know, from losing my own Dad, that there is nothing that I can do to make her 'feel' better. I just hope to have her know that I'm there if she needs me!

I also included my current disdain for corporate America. I've come to the conclusion that I'm not cut out for corporate America. Not that I'm in any position to do anything about it financially. I mean, we've come to rely on the money that I make - so I can't just NOT make it. I'm not sure why I am not cut out for it. It's either a) I'm too much of a non-conformist, b) I'm too stubborn or c) a combination of both a and b. I'm thinking that (c) is the likely scenario. I want to be able be ME. Not some person who has to dress a certain way, act a certain way - basically, be something that I'm not. But, alas, as long as I wish to draw my pay check (and the mortgage company, oddly enough, insists that I continue along that path) - corporate America and all of it's restrictions/rules/idiotic rules and regulations is my current cross to bear. Oh well... not since whining over it. After all, I'll need to get to bed pretty soon, so I can be ready to go to a job that I don't want to in the morning.

And, for the fun stuff ... I haven't really felt much like making anything the last week. I did, however, make a fabric postcard. I intend to send this one to my friend. I hope that the bright colors of the hand dyed fabric will at least make her smile, if only for a moment. I hope that she'll like it.

Oh ... the best part ... I'm going to be taking a machine quilting class - FINALLY! I'm really looking forward to it. I am taking Friday off, in order to attend the class. I can't wait. I did get Harriet Hargrave's book (Heirloom Machine Quilting) that DebH and Deb recommended. It's a great read. I can't wait until I can actually put some of it to use. I hope that the information that I'm getting from the book, will be a great compliment to the class that I'm taking. I'm really excited about the class.

Hopefully, I'll find some time this week to do something creative. I have no idea what. All I've done, other than the small postcard, is sketch ... I guess I've just been lazy. Maybe I'll have more energy (and inspiration) this week... Surely, this week will be a good week, right?

Sarah has 'goo' and Mama has a brand new bag...

2006-04-24T22:04:00.000-05:00

Well - it took us a few days, but we finally got around to making the 'goo' or 'slime' today. Sarah had a blast. It actually worked out better that she and I make it today after school (before her baby sister got home), as it was quite a mess. I can imagine that it would have been an even bigger mess with a three year old's hands in it. We did, however, save it in a jar - so that we can let Hannah play with it at some point. I think that Sarah thought that it was the 'coolest' stuff she'd ever seen. She wasn't happy when I finally told her that we had to go inside and she couldn't play with it any longer. I mean, honestly, we had to eat... ;-)

Sarah had her fun - and I had mine. I decided, on a whim - as I'm prone to do, that I wanted to make myself a simple little bag. So, I had some batik fabric that I love (it has the cutest little butterflies all over it) - and I decided to use it to make the bag. I used some of the fabric that I dyed for the lining. Luckily, I had some cotton batting already cut nearly to size, so I didn't have to open a new bag of batting (which I found on sale for 50% off at Hobby Lobby last week - YAY. I like to use the Hobb's Heirloom Premium cotton batting - at 50% off, I stocked up for a bit!!). It's nothing fancy, but since it's all that I've made in the last week, I thought that I'd share it.

Actually, my bag isn't all that I made in the last week. I forgot. I made a pendant/pin (haven't quite decided which it will be). It was an experiment. I painted (two colors of Lumiere paint) Timetex, zapped it with my heat gun (not sure if that is a good idea or not - it makes a nice effect, but it is kind of stinky) and then beaded it - and lined the back with felt. It's cute. I think that I'm going to add both a bale on the back and a pin back, so I can use it as either a pin or pendant - I think that I have some of those combination backs somewhere.

I really need to spend some time doing some spring cleaning ... how am I going to motivate myself? Any ideas on how to do that would be GREATLY appreciated (both by me and my husband). Oh well, tomorrow is another day .... as they say ....

Dye-Na-Flow quilted project...

2006-04-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

Okay - so I wanted the try the Dye-Na-Flow that I bought, but I didn't really know what I wanted to do with it. I decided to wet a smallish piece of fabric and just 'drop' the paint/dye onto the fabric, creating a sort of tie-dyed effect. I was pleased with how it turned out.

Then I had to decide WHAT to do with that piece of fabric. I had been wanting, for some time now, to make a case for my Dell DJ (which they no longer make, by the way - but, I love mine!). I'm guessing that they quit making it because it couldn't really compete with the iPod - I do love my DJ though! Hope nothing happens to it, since I know can't replace it.

Now - back to the real sharing .... I thought that since I had a smaller piece of fabric, maybe this was my opportunity to make a carrying case for my DJ. I decided to keep it simple and just do a bit of quilting and close it off using a simple button and a string to wrap around the button. The case is a bit larger than the DJ itself, as I like to carry my ear buds with it, so I needed the extra room. This is what I came up with. I think that it came out pretty well - it is at least fun.

I'm thinking of attending an art show on Saturday. It is called Artisphere and is held in Greenville, SC. I spoke with one of the coordinators and she indicated that there would be some fiber artists displaying their work there, so I think that I'll try to make it.

Dye-Na-Flow, slime and UFOs

2006-04-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

Today, while purchasing a gallon of glue (more on that later), I bought the Dye-Na-Flow Exciter set. I just knew that I had to have them .... and now that I do, I'm wondering how the heck I'm supposed to use them? It's times like this that I hate that I'm a 'lone' fabric 'artist' (not that I see myself as an artist, mind you -but, what else can I call myself? I don't really like fabric 'crafter' ... whatever - moving on....) - meaning that I have no one locally with whom to discuss fabric creations/techniques/ideas with. All that being said - and I know you know what is coming next - I need YOUR help! Tell me how YOU use Dye-Na-Flow!

Now - on to the glue. Sarah, my 5 1/2 year old, has this 'project' book that she's been reading and she has found several 'recipes' that she wants to make. Wait until you hear the yummy concoctions that we'll be preparing this weekend. We'll start with colored silly putty! And, for good measure, we'll make slime. Yes, slime! Doesn't it sound exciting? Actually, I think it will be lots of fun! I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would ever have occasion to purchase and entire gallon of glue. I guess we will be set for a while for glue! Luckily, with two girls that love making things - I'm sure we'll use it!

I also bought a few more dyes today. Hopefully, I'll find some time to dye some more fabrics this weekend, as well. I have 6 yards of fabric waiting to be dyed. I am not dyeing nearly the volume as some people, but I'm just starting. Tommy has given me some wonderful tips - I hope to use some of them this weekend.

I still have two quilts to do the quilting on. I need to work on that this weekend as well. Actually, I have 3 - I have a crazy quilt that I did some time ago, featuring a picture of my daughter. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it sometime.

It's sad, really, that I have so many unfinished projects. Certainly, I am not the only one, right? Please tell me that you, too, have MANY unfinished projects!! It might be easier to complete projects if I didn't stay on here reading so many blogs! I have a few that I simply MUST read each day, lest my day feel incomplete! Speaking of ... I have a couple more to go before bedtime!

School lunches and a tribute to my 10 year anniversary

2006-04-17T23:10:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day. :-)

The best part of the day was that I took off at lunchtime to go to the primary school to have lunch with my daughter, Sarah. It always takes me back to my childhood when I have lunch with her. I mean, how often do you - as an adult - eat off of 'trays', sit at long tables on tiny seats and drink chocolate milk from a carton? Well, for me, it is now several times a month. I like to go and have lunch with her when I can (which, is only on Mondays - as the rest of the week I work an hour away - luckily, I work from home on Mondays). Sometimes, I even eat breakfast at her school with her - in fact, I will be doing that on Thursday. We'll be having pancake pups. I'm sure you're wondering to yourself what a pancake pup is ... well, it is a sausage wrapped with a pancake on a stick (think corndog - only with sausage and pancakes). You don't see stuff like that on Food Network ..... ;-) It should be fun, though! I know it means a lot to her when I'm able to go - so I want to go as often as I can!

And, the tribute to my 10 year anniversary part ... My 10 year anniversary was last November. To celebrate, Michael - my husband, took me back to the same bed and breakfast where we honeymooned. We've been there several times since we married - it is our intent to stay in every room they have before it is all said and done. But, I digress.... back to the tribute. While we were there, we went to a quilt shop and I bought some wonderful black and white fabric, as well as some funky red fabric. I decided yesterday to combine that with some of the black hand-dyed fabric that I did, to create a small wall sized quilt. The quilt, because I used fabrics from that trip (mostly), is meant to commemorate our 10 year anniversary. All I have left to do is to decide if I'm going to block the quilt and attach a sleeve. I may not block it and just be 'okay' with the slight non-squareness. That is a discussion that I'll save to have with myself on another day ;-)

Tomorrow should make for an interesting day at work. I get to take a CPR class all morning. I'm happy to be taking the class (and on my company's dime), but I know that I'll be swamped in the afternoon - having been away all morning. Guess I better get the Venti Mocha from Starbuck's tomorrow - I'm going to need the extra energy! I really need to learn to go to bed prior to 12:30 am!

Face The Music and Easter egg hunt

2006-04-15T21:44:00.000-05:00

I have finished my first all fused piece! It's small - only 13X13, but it's nice. I like it. It is supposed to be a face (not a 'perfect' face, but a somewhat 'fluid' face). The fluidity of the face reminded me of music - hence the title Face The Music. It's all fused and I used Melody's 'escape hatch' method for the center piece. Then there is some beading to accentuate certain parts of the piece. With the exception of the background (which is a plum velvet commercial fabric), the other fabrics are fabrics that I dyed myself.

I think that it turned out pretty well. I think that I'll hang it up in my sewing room. I love the colors, so I hope to be inspired by it as I am in there!

Here is the detail of the center (main) piece.

On another note, today we had an Easter egg hunt at church. My girls had a great time! This is a picture of them from the egg hunt today. As you can see, even before we found any eggs, Sarah (my oldest) had already stained her t-shirt. Luckily, it all came out.

Speaking of stains, I have one that I can't get rid of on one of Hannah's (my baby) shirts. Since it was stained at school, I have no idea what the stain is - but, so far, I haven't had any luck. I think that I've treated it no fewer than 12 times - still no luck. I bought some stuff today that I hope will work.

I guess I better go 'confer' with the Easter bunny to see what might be left for my kiddos tonight ;-)

A quilt from days gone by....

2006-04-14T16:36:00.000-05:00

I was cleaning up my daughter's room and I found this quilt. It is a quilt that I made some time ago for her. I thought that I'd share it here. I still love the colors and the simplicity of this quilt. My applique work left something to be desired, but I remember being very excited when I finished this quilt... and finding it today, I have to say that - while I *hope* that I've gotten better (who knows, I sure don't) - I'm still quite proud! ;-)

What Flower Am I ..... hmmmmm........ well......

2006-04-14T15:45:00.000-05:00

You Are A Lily

You are a nurturer and all around natural therapist.
People see you as their rock. And they are able to depend on you.
You are a soothing influence. You can make people feel better with a few words.
Your caring has more of an impact than even you realize.

What Flower Are You?

New hand dyed fabrics and new quilt

2006-04-14T00:51:00.000-05:00

I did a few more hand dyes today. I needed some dark colors (i.e. black, dark plum, and navy). I like how they turned out, though it seems that it is much more (at least at my inexperienced hand) difficult to get consistent coverage with a darker color. I will try a few things differently next time.

The reason that I needed a dark fabric is because I had an idea for a small wall hanging (It's 16X16), and in my 'mind' the background would be a dark color.

This is the fused top. I haven't done anything else with it - maybe I'll get a chance to work on the quilting this weekend (though, I'm still recovering from my disappointments with my other quilt, which - by the way - I haven't done anything else with).

I haven't gotten any suggestions from you guys about some 'educational' media with regard to machine quilting. But, I'm still interested - so, if you know of something - let me know! :)

I'm not sure what we'll be up to tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to a day off. My girls have already mentioned that they want to make 'something' tomorrow. I think that I might pull my other sewing machine out and help Sarah make a simple skirt. I know that she is only 5 1/2, but she already LOVES to sew. I think that she just loves to create. Should be fun!

I need suggestions......

2006-04-12T22:37:00.000-05:00

Okay - I sat down and started my quilting and while it isn't TERRIBLE, it certainly isn't great! I really need to take a machine quilting class - but, in lieu of that - does anyone have any suggestions for books on machine quilting or DVDs or anything like that? Hopefully, at some point I can get to a class - but, so far I haven't found one that fits my schedule.

Obviously, I realize that the more I practice, the better I'll get at it. It's driving me crazy. I really WANT to be good at it - honestly, I do..... lol. Maybe I should be at the sewing machine practicing, rather than on here asking for advice?? lol. But, I admit, I'm a book junky - so I'd love to buy a book on machine quilting - so, the phone lines are open now - let me know YOUR suggestions..... ;-)

I cleaned my sewing room.....

2006-04-11T20:49:00.000-05:00

surely that is a good sign?? I suppose it is really more accurate to say that I 'straightened up' my sewing room. Honestly, I could barely get in there. It was a mess. That's what happens, I guess, when you work out of two rooms - one ends up looking like a landfill? Wait, that doesn't totally make sense, given that both of my rooms look (well, looked - now the sewing room isn't so bad - I even vacuumed up all the thread!) so terrible.

I went in there to quilt my wall hanging, but decided that it was far too messy in there to be very creative! Only problem, now, is that I'm too tired to quilt. But, now it looks so pretty that I want to do something in there ..... Therein lies the conundrum, I suppose. At least I have room in there, now, to put the quilt on the sewing table, without it being on top of something else! ;-)

Why, you may ask, do I have a blender on my sewing table? Well, it is because I also use that table to make handmade papers. Not that I've made any in a while, but where else would that blender be - but, in the way of my sewing? Certainly, that makes sense - right?

As you can see - my sewing area is quite small. This is why I use two rooms. My cutting table and ironing surface (as well as much of my fabrics) are in my bonus room - just a few steps away from my sewing room. It makes it very convenient (not as convenient as if it were all in the same room - but, at least it isn't too far) - though, I do tend to drag bits of thread and fabric down the hall as I go from room to room. I do, for small pressing, have a small table top ironing surface that I use in my sewing room.

I've thought many times about moving it all into the bonus room, with the intent to use the smaller room for my scrapbooking (which I currently do in my bonus room), but then I'm reminded of why I put my sewing machines in the smaller room in the first place - two curious little girls - and that room has a door that I can lock! ;-) And, when I come to that realization - I leave it all as it is.

I'm currently only using my embroidery machine, but I have another sewing machine that I actually prefer. I'm thinking of dragging it out - and taking my embroidery machine in to get it serviced. For normal sewing, I really love my basic machine. Maybe if I kept the embroidery machine, my regular machine and my serger all OUT - it would inspire me to keep that room tidy? Nah, I doubt it.

I feel my courage coming on...

2006-04-11T10:20:00.000-05:00

I've basted my quilt... yay! Baby steps .... ya know? I've got lots of ideas of HOW to quilt it - I guess we'll see how well I can implement them.

I do appreciate all of the encouraging e-mails that you guys have sent and I think that has helped me decide to 'just do it'.

I've never had a 'class' on quilting - everything I know (which, might actually fit in a thimble... even though I've 'done' a few quilts) I've just kind of 'taught' myself. I'm sure that nothing I do is the way it is supposed to be done (much like my knitting... lol), but it works for me, I guess. I'll never be a great quilter - nor will I ever win any awards - but, I am (usually) happy with what I do (even if it does take me FOREVER to do it - out of fear of screwing it up). I don't know what I'm scared of - it's not life and death. It's just fabric - but, oh, how I LOVE fabric!! I can't stand to think that I've messed it all up. If I'm doing something really small - I don't mind - but, if it is bigger than say 15X15, I freak out. God help me if I ever decide to do an actual bed quilt (well, I've done a twin sized - but, it was more utilitarian than anything)! I'll literally go insane.

Back to work for me .... just needed a momentary diversion! :-)

Spring Break...

2006-04-11T03:15:00.000-05:00

Well - today was the first day of spring break for my daughter, Sarah. I'm fortunate enough to work from home on Mondays, so she was able to stay home with me today. It makes for some ... ummmm..... interesting conference calls, having her here - but, it makes for a FABULOUS day overall. I wish that I could be home with my girls everyday! It's the days that I am home with them (today it was just Sarah - as Hannah did have school) that I realize how much I miss being home.

I had a very interesting (Sarah thought) and clever (I thought) way to keep her busy while I was doing my work today. I had a bunch of seed beads that had gotten mixed up - so, I gave them to her and had her sort them by color. She enjoyed it AND I got my beads sorted - win/win! ;-)

Speaking of beads, I took out one of my bead boxes today and I realized how much I LOVE (yes, LOVE) color. The beads are so beautiful in the box. Maybe I'm just ready for the colors of summer? Whatever it is, I was so inspired by the colors of the beads, that I took out my camera and took a picture.

Both Sarah's outfit (I had nothing to do with it, I swear - I let my girls choose their own clothes - regardless of how mismatched they are. I figure it is their way to be themselves!) today and the bead box have me yearning to make something COLORFUL. I think that first things first, I'm going to make Sarah and Hannah (my other daughter) skirts - but, after that..... what? I have no idea. But, I'm looking forward to finding out.

It will be back to the office tomorrow.... that's always a drag, but at least I'm off on Friday. We're having a big FAMILY day (we'll all be home) and I can't wait. I think that Sarah, Hannah and I will probably do something 'crafty' and maybe we'll all (my husband included) make popcorn and watch movies. It's going to be fun....... can't wait!!!

Fabric Postcard

2006-04-10T05:11:00.000-05:00

Well - I didn't find TOO much time this weekend, but I refused to go to bed without doing SOMETHING. So, I decided to make a fabric postcard. I love the summery colors of this postcard. I'm trying to decide who I'm going to mail it to. I have such a problem parting with them, so I have to decide quickly and get it into the mail (it's not like I need to keep more STUFF around here).

This is my postcard:

Hopefully, I'll find some productive time this week - I doubt it with tax day looming and also with getting ready for Easter - but, who knows!

:-)

Looks like summer is here.....

2006-04-09T03:16:00.000-05:00

... At least by looking at the latest hand dyed fabric that I did. I am in LOVE with these colors. Normally, I prefer darker/richer colors - but, perhaps because it is getting warm here, these colors are talking to me. I have no idea what I'm going to do with them, but I wanted to experiment with these colors.

I particularly love the green! It's beautiful. I'm not sure that the pictures do the fabric justice, but they really are quite lovely.

Here is the picture:

In other news, or rather - there is no news.... lol - I still haven't quilted the wall hanging that I did with the last batch of hand dyes. I'm still working myself up to it. And, additionally, trying to find the time to do it.

I've got some ATCs that I need to work on. They are for swaps that are required this month - and I haven't even started (well, I've kind of started, but only barely).

Hopefully, I'll have something NEW to post about this weekend. Well, I guess I've posted something new with the fabric - but, I dyed it sometime last week - and am only now able to post about it. Hopefully, I'll work on something this weekend that I can post about.