I Am Blessed

SOOO....yesterday was an amazing day for me. I won not one, but TWO give aways I had entered!!!
Here I am, money tight, dreaming about buying new fabric and supplies for my shop, when I received an email telling me I had won the Urban Threads  give away. The prize being this:

10 packs of embroidery thread in a super cute pincushion box. I have bought many machine patterns from this shop in the hopes that I will one day have an embroidery machine to sew with. LoL That's how much I love them! For now, I have to rely on my little fingers to do the talking, and this thread will come in very handy for some new hand embroidery patterns I have also purchased. This shop is one of a kind. Love them!

THEN...later that night, I was reading my nightly Stash Manicure email. Every day (but Saturdays) I get an email with a new guest blogger showing different projects and organization techniques to help trim 'the stash' of fabric that all quilters and sewers seem to collect. I don't have that problem yet...haha...I have no problem using every bit I have, but I love reading the experiences of other fabric lovers and seeing all their cool projects. Anyway...they have a give away at the end of every month and lo and behold..I won!!! 

The prize was a full Fat Quarter Bundle of Robert Kauffman's Paperdoll 1930's Reproduction fabric line. And a beautiful quilting book .

The gal that manages the blog is the one and only Madam Samm, who I have talked about before due to her amazing Mug Rugs. Well, she sent me a link to a picture of the box that is going out for me tomorrow and what do I see there?? She put in a bunch more goodies for me, including my VERY OWN M.S. Mug Rug. *squeeee*!!!   I know you think I'm nuts, but I just go crazy for such beautiful craftsmanship and I am so honored to be the recipient of one of these lovely items. Thank you so much Stash Manicure and Madam Samm for giving me a smile that has not come off my face for the last 16 hrs. Yes, I'm pretty sure I was even smiling in my sleep. ;) 

Hope everyone had as glorious a Monday as I did...!

New Jewelry in the Shop

New Fancies in the Etsy Shop!

Play Date Cafe Entry # 4

Here are this week's challenge colors:

And a challenge they were! I thought immediately of coffee and rain..but couldn't quite get anything together. Then I came across these stamps from Unity that I've had for the last year or so and knew I had my brown in the little doggie. The rest came from there. Aren't they the cutest?

I used a grey card and ribbon, and silver embossing for the heart, sentiment and the corners. 

The kitty was cut out of an argyle paper sheet of black, grey and silver. Then the last little touch were some doggie paw brads that I've had forever and have never used. I love being finally able to use all these things that I've had stored for so long! 

I ended up giving the card to my husband, my best friend. Awwww. :)

Play Date Cafe Entry # 3

Nothing like the last minute!! ;)

Here are this week's colors:

And my entry:   A birthday card for my bestest friend. The olive and turquoise happen to match the colors of a tote a made her for her birthday, which is next week. Kismet!

I really wish I were a better photographer. This is so much cuter in person. Ah well. :)

Quilting Fail #2 2010

Hi ya'll. I wanted to share with you my second quilting attempt, after the mug rug debacle.
This one turned out almost as well...har har. ;)

It took me about 8hrs to finish and only a few tears. The good news is now I am inspired to actually take a class and stop trying to wing it on my own.

Give Away Madness

And here is my third post about give away's today. Are you sick of it yet?? ;)
I'm desperate though. That's my excuse. I am on a spending freeze and am not 'allowed' to spend another dime on fabric until I use what I already have, per the Mr. And since the Mr. makes the $$, I can't really argue. :(
SO, I am hoping to just WIN some fabric somehow!  And therefore, please bear with me as I share all these lovely give aways and hopefully turn you on to some fabulous blogs.

And here we go!
This giveaway is for a stack of fat quarters over at Retro Mummy. It is really beautiful. Go check it out. :)

Lucky Mondays

It seems that Mondays and Fridays are the big days for give aways in blog land. Maybe I'm just imagining things...

But this give away is SO super cool. You gotta check it out. You could win a free quilt made by the designer of the fabric that is being used in the quilt. What is more cool than that!??

Head over to Pink Fig and see whatcha gotta do!

Here is a picture of one of the quilts you could win:

Above All Fabric

Hi Hi,

It's Monday and I do have some things that I accomplished last week and over the weekend that I want to share. Just not today! :) I don't know why I dislike photography so much. It's really odd. My brother and sister are soooo good at it and they love it. It's just not my thing. So I procrastinate taking product photos until I have a bunch of stuff I can do at once. Not very good for my Etsy store I guess... :(

Anyway, I wanted to also share about a cool giveaway over at the Above All Fabric blog.
I was cruising the store and found some Bee-A-U-tee-full fabrics! I didn't even realize there was a Wish List function, or that baby would have been full by now!
Today I fell in love with this palette:

And this Pattern:

This purse is so ME.

And if I don't win the giveaway, I might just be adding a couple things to my Christmas list for the Mr. ;)

Hope you all had a not too bad Monday and enjoy the rest of the week!

For My Sister

There is a new blogger who is trying to get some more blog friends and when she hits 50 she will give away some super cute tutu's and headbands with flowers that she made.





Go Here to comment and become a follower. She has some really nifty crafting ideas.

And I really want my sister to see this because I really want one of us to win those tutus!! ;)

Play Date Cafe Entry # 2

Here was this week's color challenge at the Play Date Cafe:

All five of them! That would be a challenge. 

I was doing a card to send with my Mug Rug to my Aunt, who was turning 60.  She was not happy about this number and I wanted to let her know that she was still classy and fabulous and that age can never take that away. 

Here is my entry:

My Mug Rug Attempt

Okay, so...everyone whose blog I subscribe to (almost everyone, I swear!) has been showing off some absolutely gorgeous Mug Rugs. These are quilted little 'rugs' about 5 x 8 or so. One side is used as a coaster for your mug and the other side can be used for snacks or spoons or sugar packets, or what have you.

And there are some SUPER CUTE ones out there! Let me show you:


By Jennifer at That Girl...That Quilt



By Carol over at Carol's Crafty Creations

And seriously..the Queen of Mug Rugs...Madame Samm. Check these out:





And that's just a sample of the ones she has done!

Well, I thought I would make one for my Aunt's birthday. Something with a pretty Fall theme.
And I tried. And tried. And tried some more.

And do you know what got me every single time?? The binding. I tried piping. I tried double fold bias tape, single fold, you name it. And STILL couldn't get this thing right. I finally gave up because I was already five days late getting the darn thing in the mail and honestly, I was sick of trying. lol 

So here is the final product that she will have to love despite it's flaws because she's family. ;) 

Front

Back

I guess I will keep trying to make the perfect Mug Rug and keep trying to get the knack of binding. I'm sure that by next Autumn I will have it down. ;) 

Successful Project

Early this week I made something that actually came out okay. I got the tutorial from Nancy's Couture and it is so adorable. This one will be for my niece (yes, the future diver) and I'll probably be making more to sell in my shop.

So cute!

Martinique Tote Bag

Hello and Happy Monday! That's not something I say too often. Monday. Blah. ;) But even though it is rainy here today I am happy because it makes for a perfect day to just stay in and sew. And seeing as I have nothing else to do today, I'm in hog heaven!

I wanted to share my latest project, a tote bag made with my most treasured fabric. It is Martinique by 3 Sisters for Moda. I got a jelly roll and a fat quarter bundle on sale from the Fat Quarter Shop . Normally price for this stuff is really outside of my budget, about $130 plus shipping. But, like I said, it was on sale and I couldn't resist the opportunity. It was a super happy day when it arrived in the mail!!

I have had bad luck lately with projects that have just not turned out right, so I figured I would make a pretty tote and hoped that I couldn't really mess that up. Here is what I decided on:

Cute, right? It's 8" x 16".

So, I picked out my strips, cut out the lining and handles and fusible fleece:

And started quilting. Okay, first of all...I've never quilted anything like this before. It was a learning experience, lets put it that way. It did not turn out very well. I mean...OKAY...but not perfect. :(
When both sides were done, I put them together and was half way there.

Then came the lining, pockets, ruffle and straps. The lining and pockets went well. The ruffle hated me. The fabric wasn't long enough (how did that happen??) so it didn't wrap all the way around, it wasn't ruffling appropriately, I didn't have a piece of fabric long enough for 5" x 35", so I just used a strip from the jelly roll, which was 2 1/2 x 35. Which created a small, tiny ruffle. AND, to top it all off, I somehow just blindly followed directions without bothering to look at my creation, and realized once it was all put together that the ruffle fabric was inside out. Yeah. 

I was so sad by this that I just pinned the handles onto the top and called it a night. It is supposed to have decorative buttons at the end of each handle. That will have to come another day when I get over this. 

I know, I'm such a drama queen. But, really. Three projects in a row that turned out like crap??!

I'm just in a bad place right now I think. I need to get my head on straight. 

Here is the 'final' product: 

 See that tiny and not ruffled ruffle....

 Kind of blurry front photo. See those white tag things? Those were from the selvage ends of the jelly rolls. I thought I would be cool and just use them to cover up my major quilting mistakes. LoL.

And here is the inside and the cool pockets. I really like these pockets. It is a nice, roomy and sturdy bag.
I'll just have to try this again. Maybe with cheaper fabric next time. : /

As for today...I am trying something quicker and smaller. Mini wallets, Thanksgiving hair barrets and mug rugs. Wish me luck...I apparently need it!!!

<3
J

Tickled Pink Stamps

Hi There!

I wanted to share my excitement about some new stamps I got recently from Tickled Pink Stamps .
They are an on line stamp company in Australia and I somehow stumbled upon them and their super cute and unique stamps that you cannot find in the US. At least, not that I have been able to see.
I placed the order thinking that it would take forever to get to me and that shipping would be outrageous. None of these turned out to be true. I got my package in just a few days and the shipping was no more than I would normally pay. Are you kidding?? This is awesome!!! I love you guys!

I'm on a 'spending freeze' at the moment, since I am not working. But I HAD to get these stamps because they reminded me so much of my little niece, who I imagine snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef someday. :)

And because I had a 20's theme for my wedding and I love all things from that era. ;)

Check it out:

Go! Cutter Give Away -Sharing the Love

Hi guys, and NEW friends!

Linda over at Lavender Ridge is hosting a give away for an Accuequilt Go! Cutter, plus three dies.

I would love, love, love to win this machine...but I guess I'll share my chances with you all. ;)
Go visit her HERE.

By the way, it's my 4th wedding anniversary today. :) Happy Happy!

Hope everyone had as good a Friday as me.

Commissioned Watch

I finished the bracelet watch my friend asked me to create for her daughter for Christmas. I spent a good bit of time on this thing (learning as I went!) and it, of course, is still not perfect. I just sent pictures off to the Mom and am hoping that she likes it. If not, I will come up with something else and just post this one for sale anyway. :)

This is all base metal (chain, watch face, wire, toggle clasps) with a silver finish and glass turquoise beads and pearls.

Play Date Cafe Entry #1

Hello!

I found a great blog called The Play Date Cafe and every week they give you a challenge idea to create a card with. Usually having to do with specific colors. And the winner gets a prize. :)  And they give you almost a whole week to do it.
I ran out of time on the last challenge, but I swore I would finish something this week!
This week's challenge colors were Burgundy, White and Black (I love this combo).

I was trying out new techniques (using Pearl Ex to paint with), which probably wasn't such a hot idea because I spent a lot of time making this card and I'm really not happy with it. It's totally wonky. BUT, I'm submitting it anyway. I don't care!  Isn't this exciting? I love looking at everyone else's entries as well. So many creative people out there.

Okay, so, here is my card:

Wish me luck. ;)