ac/db

I have a little time in between ball games today, so I thought I would share a bag I recently made.

A good friend of mine asked me to make her a bag similar to the pink bag I made for the Book Lovers Craft Swap. We talked a little about what she wanted and I made a new pattern. This bag I made was bigger, had 2 different sized pockets, and a magnetic clasp. I used the MoMo Wonderland Twill fabric - which I LOVED! It was really nice! I wish I would have boughten more of it! Overall, I really liked how this bag turned out.

The inside of the bag - 2 different sized pockets.

This bag turned out to be 18" wide by 14" tall (finished). I used the same tutorials to create this bag as the previous one:
Mama's Pocket Book - Free Tote
Lazy Girl's Instructions on how to do boxed corners

If you are wanting to make yourself a nice bag this summer - I recommend starting with these tutorials. This bag probably took me 2 hours to make. Most of the time was spent on cutting out the material as I used interfacing on all the pieces to ensure the bag kept it shape. I also used fusible fleece to interface the handle - this will make it comfortable on the shoulders.

Remember I promised to post some photo's of what I received in the 'Pimp My Office' craft swap? Well, here it is! My partner used some of my Wists to create some neat pieces:

1. Fun Comic Book Tray - Looks like she recycled a box and covered with Batman pictures. It is pretty cool - I probably won't take it to my work office, but leave it at home to put my sewing projects in.


2. A Desk Calendar - I love having a desk calendar to quickly look at dates. My craft partner made this cool desk calendar that can stand up. I love all the pretty paper she used to create this!


3. A pretty cool ring - I am not sure what this ring is made of, but she used wonderful colours and it is really funky


4. A vase which broke in the mail (boo hoo). But I think I can salvage the beads!

Happy Canada Day everybody! For readers outside of Canada - July 1st is Canada's Birthday (Wanna know more about Canada's Birthday? Check it out on Wikipedia).

Another item to celebrate is it our friend's little girl's first birthday! We will be attending a BBQ to celebrate both occasions. I been stressed to the max trying to decide what to get her for her birthday. Still not sure - but I will hit the mall and hope for some inspiration. I would have made her something, but we have been away at a baseball tournament and just got back this evening.

Picture taken from Savy Seams

Okay - let's roll with the apron tutorial and now figure out how to make oven mitts! I found this great tutorial by Savy Seams that has a downloadable pattern and everything. One thing I would add is a loop so the mitts could be hung, which wouldn't be difficult to add.

The one problem is that searching through my fabric, it is mostly pretty girly. Not that it is a bad thing, but I want some nice fabric that is gender neutral and would be a nice addition to someone's kitchen. Any suggestions?

Picture taken by Life in the Lyon's Den

Earrings I won! Picture taken by Life in the Lyon's Den

Whoa - during the May Day craziness, a couple of blogs around were also giving the chance to win beautiful items. I had made a list of the blogs, but hadn't had a chance to go back to the sites until yesterday. And guess what?! I actually won something! Life in the Lyon's Den had two draws and I won a funky pair of earrings. I would have LOVED to win the necklace she was giving away, but I can't complain! She does have an etsy store that you can check out by clicking here.

Hoooorrrayyy!

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there! My daddy is in Radium, BC hanging out. I called him this morning and chatted with him. Of course I mailed his card late - so he won't get it until next week. Oppps! Luckily my dad is easy going & just likes the phone call.

I recently joined another craft swap and the theme was Pimp Your Office! My office mates and I are currently attempting to decorate our office - so I thought this was quite timely.

Before I show what I received, I thought I would share what I made:

1. Shoe bag - fefff, this was the hardest thing I made because I messed up my measurements and had to insert a panel. I cut 1 square for the bottom of the bag, then one rectangle that would be sewn to the square to complete the bag. Before I sewed the rectangle and square together, I sewed a "tunnel" (sorry - my brain froze, I can't think of the correct description) for the ribbon to pass through to close the shoe bag. Then I just sewed the square and rectangle together the best I could. To finish it off, I threaded ribbon through the "tunnel". I didn't line this bag because it is meant for shoes. The inspiration came from these bags that Smiles of a Summer Night made - big difference between the one I made and hers are the size - I made mine quite large. Oh ya - I used home decor weight fabric that I bought from Ikea - I used this heavy material so I wouldn't have to line it or use interfacing so it would keep it's shape nicely.


2. Magnets - these are super duper easy to make. I bought all the supplies at Michaels - what was needed is glass beads (found in the plant section), decorative paper, glass glue (modge podge works), and magnets. One trick I learned is to glue the glass bead onto the paper BEFORE cutting the paper. It is way easy to cut the paper nicely so it fits the glass bead. Then glue on your magnet!


3. Birdie pencil holder - I found a wooden pencil holder and I actually covered the front with fabric. First step of course is to paint the whole thing white (I did 3 coats of white acrylic paint). Then I covered the pencil hold part with some nice paper. Lastly, I glued on the fabric - I traced the bird outline onto the wrong side of the fabric and then cut it out approximately 2 cm bigger than the outline (this is so it could be glued to the edges). Once the fabric was glued on, I glued on white ribbon around the edges to cover the seams of the fabric. I think it turned out quite nicely.


4. Chalk Board Painted Pots - This was super simple! I painted 3 pots with black board paint (comes in a container or in a spray can - I used the container type because I wanted some texture and didn't want to deal with spraying the pots). I painted 3 coats of the blackboard paint to ensure complete coverage. Once dried, I modge podged some pretty decorative paper around the top. I actually put a coat of the modge podge glue over the paper to ensure that it was water proof. Voila! A pot you could write on!


5. Dreamcatcher - my swap partner had put a dreamcatcher on her wish list, so I thought I would take the opportunity to learn how to make one. There are a lot of great websites out there that provide wonderful instructions! I had no problems making it and I think it turned out quite nicely.


6. Lastly, I gave my craft partner a wall sticker - Obviously I didn't make it! I found a bunch of pretty cool wall stickers at a local store called Paboom.

Wall sticker in my craft partner's office

I will show you what I received back soon!

We have a new addition to our baseball team! One of the ladies on our team had a little girl last Saturday. She is so adorable! Mom and babe have been at our last 2 games. Here is a picture of our new little Chronic (our team name) at her second baseball game:

Second game for our newest team member!

Michele and baby hanging out at the baseball diamond.

Mom didn't receive a "hooter hider" at her shower - so I have been searching for tutorials how to make one for her. I found a couple tutorials, but I am pretty sure there are more out there:

Hooter HIder tutorial by Made By the Mama Monster

Hooter hider tutorial by Bliss Tree

Our friend that plays on a different baseball team had a baby shower for his little girl. I whipped up a baby towel for him on Saturday. His team all wears camouflage, so I made a towel in a pink camouflage fabric. It is pretty cute! Sorry for the bad pictures of the towel, I was in a rush to get to the shower! Dad did try the towel on too - so funny!

Auntie Mandy and newest team member of the Bratz crew!

Photo taken by MelMakesPretty

Thanks to Mel Makes Pretty! She took some photos of the items I made for the easy peasy swap. When I was reading her blog, I noticed we sew similar items - so I wanted to mix it up a little. I decided to make her a pillow (it was on her "like to have" list). I bought the fabric while I was in Calgary and I made my own pattern by using the dimensions of the pillow that I bought a couple years ago. It was pretty simple to make - one thing I would do differently next time is make a pillow insert this way the cover could be put in the washing machine. If anybody wants the dimensions, send me a message and I can post them on here.

I also made Mel a pin cushion like the one I made myself. I didn't fill it so I could save on shipping and included the instructions how to finish it off. The fabric is by MoMo Wonderland. I love this fabric. Unfortunately I have used every single piece of it! So, I may have to go find some more online.

Photo taken by MelMakesPretty

Alrighty! I found the camera charger (don't ask where I found it... I feel pretty silly!).

First I want to show off what I received from a swap I participated in. MelMakesPretty sent me this beautiful necklace and bracelet. She is also from Australia, so we swapped chocolates... yummy! I can't wait to try them out. I wasn't able to take photo's of what I made her - but I made her a pillow and a pin cushion, like the one I made myself. Hopefully she will take some photo's that I can post on here.





Here is some of the fabric I bought the other day. Yikes! What am I going to sew with all of it? My favourite is the penguins - I think they rock! So, I am definitely going to make myself something out of that fabric!

Okay, I am a little disorganized this week. db is now working in Vancouver 3 days a week for the next couple of months. This means lots of organizing life and other stuff like ball without him. The one thing I have noticed is that I spend about 1/2 my day looking for items I have put down. Usually I would just ask him where I put something and he usually knows. Like my glasses and keys - I swear I am going to put a beeper on them!

One of the things that I have magically hidden somewhere in our abode is my camera charger. I can't seem to find it anywhere. I even called db in Vancouver tonight to ask if he knew where it was - but he didn't. So, that means no pictures of the wonderful crafting I have done lately. Sigh.

I also went fabric shopping today and spent way way way too much money. Yikes! I got some really cute fabric including some of my favourite Arcadia by Sanae! I have no plans for any of this fabric I bought today, but I love it all.

Onto this week's tutorial: APRONS! I found this great site that lists 52 free apron patterns. I haven't gotten through all of them yet, but there are some goodies in there! I am attending a couple of weddings in the fall, so I might make a kitchen basket with a apron, oven mitts, coasters, glass magnets, place mats and some pot holders in it. What do you think? Would you have liked/like to receive this sort a gift at your wedding? I can't decide if it is too old ladyish of a gift. Anyways, check out the 52 aprons and let me know which is your favourite and that you would like to receive as a gift!