Angry Chicken....

Amy Karol, over at 'Angry Chicken has come up with a fun project for the holidays.  Take a gel-bleach pen and decorate napkins!  Miss Amy has a book of projects with an attitude...'Bend The Rules Sewing"....I have the book, and I really like her philosophy.

I have found something.....

....and I think I should tell you guys about it.  First of all,  to quote Mariel over at "Or So She Says"
"Speaking of reasonable prices, when I saw these insanely cute bags of LB Artworks, I was like "what?!" I was so shocked, I had to call Jessica...."she's selling these super cute bags for that??" I swear these could be sold for double the price, but I love this shop all the more for being reasonable and I will sing their praises forever! I love that the bags remind me of nature and that they are so durable (4 layers)! If you want a unique, quality bag...this is the place. Just don't buy my favorites before I get to them!"   


Well, watch out Mariel..I just bought a bag from the birds collection...this one:



Go look....it is a little late for Christmas shopping, but...hey, this for me,moi and myself.   Here is a peek as some of the other bags (photo from Or So She Says Blog):

There is nothing in it for me, friends, just the pleasure of telling my friends 

about the work of this gal from Tennessee.


That said, I am off to make a new ironing board cover.  I saw this dreamy and fun IBC on "Monica Wants It"  and headed over to the Etsy seller to grab it....guess what?  Someone beat me to it...it was like totally gone!  Sooooo, I rummaged in the sellers sold file and found out what the fabric was (discontinued, natch!) but did get my hands on a couple of yards. Then I found a tutorial on how to make a new IBCl..... that I think I might make sense of.  Will show you when I finish. 

Another beauty from AggieRay's shop

IMG_4634,
originally uploaded by aggieray46.

....well, here is what happened,

 ...and it's not over yet.  First of all,  Saturday I participated in a craft faire at our church.  It was fun, but very tiring for this arthritic soul. I have never done this before, but had a good time designing the space and displaying my stuff.

My friend, Karen, had a booth and Dona stopped by to visit and shop.

 There were 35 or

 so vendors and a very nice turnout.  And everyone did very well.

Wouldn't you buy an apron from this guy?

I did nicely, thank you very much, however I did not sell one single apron!  I tried everything....... even tying one on Garth and having him sashay around the venue.  He was a good sport, but no luck!  They are all back home now.  It was a beautiful, bright sunny day, and a good time for everyone.

The cold weather came in on Sunday morning and after church, so no planting bulbs outside......We opted for indoor activities...... got some cracked crab then stopped by Radio Shack to get a fire wire so I could transfer data from my old iMac to my brand new racy model.   Turns out we had the wrong type of wire, but went ahead anyway.  Not knowing it would take 4 hours, we went to bed.  It started to snow in the night and the power went out as trees and wires gave way under snow load.

Woke up to this.....just beautiful.  What was NOT beautiful, was that the old iMac was not hooked up to the battery stand-by and as best we can figure, it is fried!  AND, keeping the data I need (like passwords, address book, calendar quicken, etc.  out of my to itself).  Our Mac guru has been called, but he cannot get to us due to snow and our long, uphill driveway.

I can get on the internet with my new baby and man the shop as well as blog. I remember those passwords, of course.....but the bank, email, etc.  duh!

Now, what have I learned from this.  DO NOT mess with technology and take mother nature for granted on the same day!  Backup your keychain (passwords) so you can get to them with another OS.  Our son-in-law is emailing technical help as I write, so the troops have arrived.  Update tomorrow if the snow melts and the creeks don't rise!

Eat, cook, eat, cook, eat and on and on....

...we had ham...we had turkey and all the fixin's for it all ....for about two weeks...we had it all....family and their doggies here throughout the week from all corners (Montana, Tahoe, Oakland and Los Angeles).  The freezer is packed with everything from turkey and ham to saffron bread to pureed persimmons!
A good time was had by all....adults,  doggies and kids!  Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Chirstmas 'n stuff...

Making Christmas stuff for my Etsy shop, the Craft Faire at church and to give as hostess gifts, etc.  Pot holders are flying out of my sewing room.   As for the aprons,  I really have a hard time.  I did find one tutorial that works pretty on Fabrotopia's site...click here to go to site and download instructions.   I can't wear hats and I can't put together an apron.  Just better move on.  


There is a new design for my wristlets.  I have altered Leah Williams' pattern from over at Sew Spoiled and added a cuff on the top.  This make installing the zipper a real snap for me and looks kind of cute.

And this is my favorite fabric....I know someone who would look stunning carrying this, maybe on New Year's Eve.   Lately the fabrics are getting more interesting to experiment with....ultra-suede is fabulous.  The Asian style fabric shot with gold is stunning, and I have some cranberry poly-satin that makes a yummy wristlet. 

I have uploaded these to Flikr, and my friends over there seem to like the design and use of fabric.  Gives me some incentive  to play more.  So, I guess I will offer a couple of these for sale in my shop and see what takes off.  Wish me luck.

I made it for me...

I got some suede cloth online as well as some satiny home dec striped fabric.  I made this bag and I will  not give it up.  It was an adventure sewing with the fabrics and making the bias piping.  But I had to have it.......a bag just like this and the only way to have one was to make it myself.  Here is the finished product.  I need to say I this the best of all and I will never sell it! Never....made it for me! is the inside....ohhhhh! Yum!

Well...that said, I guess I should show and tell my other new creation....

This is a heavy, satiny fabric with one of my favorite black and white prints.  Perfect for a New Year's party with a little black dress and some garnet beads!  Speaking of beads.....an Etsy seller(BlueMoonBaubles) emailed me and wanted to trade beads for a wristlet from my Etsy shop.  It really worked out...her she made me twelve zipper pulls for one wristlet.   About $1 each.  Good trade.
Good night!