Totes for the Hosts

In anticipation of being hosted by good friends in Greenville, SC, I whipped up some tote bags for the two girls and their mom.




This bag was my favorite to design and make. I found the birdcage pattern here. Check out their other fun patterns, as well.




I used Lollychops' tree pattern found here. Also, loads of cool patterns to be found here.



This is the Pleated Beauty Bag from Bend the Rules Sewing by Amy Karol. I used the flower from the floral fabric to create the embroidery pattern.

Back from Spring Break!

My little toiletry bag and I have been on vacation. We stole away to Georgia and South Carolina, visiting Savannah, Hilton Head, Charleston, and Greenville. The highlight of the trip for me was the Middleton Place Plantation Gardens outside of Charleston. My photography skills don't do it justice, but I thought I would shares some pics, none the less. The azaleas were in full bloom and amazing!

This One Is For Me!

This is my fabric love for the month. Using the instructions purchased from oh, Fransson!, I made myself a larger version of this toiletry bag. I lined it with the same fabric using iron-on vinyl. The fabric is Moda's Chez Moi Charisma Tomato Blend and repurposed linen. This line of fabric is amazing in person. Now I need to go on vacation and enjoy my bag.

Colored Pencil Roll

I've been seeing these on multiple blogs, so I thought I would give it a try. I used the instructions from Pink Chalk Studio and adapted it for 12 pencils. I can't believe the pencil sharpener buttons I found today at the craft store! Of course, they don't really sharpen anything, but they seem like the perfect compliment to the pencil roll.

Handmade Baby Gift For A Boy

I've been keeping busy sewing up all kinds of fun things for gifts. It's hard to post a gift if you think there might be the slightest possibility that the recipient might actually read your blog. I can finally tell you about the diaper changing pad and diaper and wipes clutch I made for a friend who just had a sweet little boy. I used Sew Take a Hike's tutorial and machine quilted hibiscus fabric (using the reverse side of the pattern). I also tested out iron-on vinyl on cute polka dot fabric for the inside. I used the same fabric for the inside of the clutch, as well. If I was having another baby, I would sew make this for myself.

The gift wrapping was a sewn burlap sack closed with the scallop stitch I just discovered on my sewing machine. I also wanted to mention the colored elastic on the clutch is a hair band. I've got them in every color now!

I've got a couple more posts coming up with some more gifts I've made. I might just risk it and post them early.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We did manage to get a little crafty around here for Valentine's Day. Finally decided on maya*made's heart bunting and Zakka Life's candy maze. The little guy made the lego heart for me. Don't you think it looks a little retro?

Stamp Frame for Photos

Okay, apparently Valentine's Day has gotten a wee bit more complicated than I remember back in my days of kindergarten. I purchased super cool 3D Clone Wars cards (sans envelopes) for my son weeks ago, when I ran across them at Kmart. I figured I was done thinking about that. Nope. He needs his cards to be tucked into envelopes and then they need "address labels" and "stamps" (both of which were supplied by the teacher.) So, I cut out my own envelopes using this template as a guide (check out the cute cards too!) And, I thought it would be more fun to make our own stamps, so I used fd's Flickr tools to create the above stamp. It let's you choose the date; but, wouldn't it be even better if it would let you choose the message on the postmark? They also have a lot of other really cool photo tools. I used MS Word and address labels to print them out.

Of course, these are fake stamps, but you can design real stamps at PhotoStamps.