Placemat Purse

When Ken and I out at garage sales the other day I found a really cool set of placemats. I loved the gingko pattern and the fact that it was a brown and light blue print, currently my favorite color combination. I knew right away I was buying them and I was gonna take them home and attack them with scissors and a sewing machine.
I am SLOWLY teaching myself to sew. I bought a book (The Bag Making Bible by Lisa Lam) about making purses and bags about a week ago. I am mainly interested in how to make pockets, attach zippers, and lining. I didn't use any of those skills with this project :) but now I know what a gusset is, and I used a technique to help me make the bottom of this purse square.

After a phone call to Tami to receive some motivating words, I started.

The placemat was already lined, which was great, until I had to attach the magnet snap closure. I had to rip a seam to attach it. But no big deal, with my mad Green Bottom Bag making skills I managed to create a shape that passes for a purse!


Then I fabricated handles and the flap closure piece.

Then I got all kinds of crazy and made a bottom for the inside of the bag. I took a scrap of fabric and wrapped a piece of plastic canvas, then stitched through all the layers to secure.

It turned out pretty cute and I learned some lessons to apply on the next one. I still have a few more bags to create from this fabric, stay tuned!

Craft of the day

While cruising around the web awhile back I came across a site that had directions for a book wreath. I kindof forgot about it until yesterday when I was thinking about crafts to do (like I need any more) and I decided to try it.
I couldn't remember where I saw the idea, but I knew the jist of it so I bought a foam wreath while I was in town.
As a side note, Rachel and Addy spent the day with me. We went to a craft show, Joannes, Ross, Hobby Lobby, picked up the kids, and then came to my house for a 4 1/2 hour marathon session of crafting. Rachel beaded really cute hair clips!
I didn't take any action pictures of the wreath making, but here is the finished product.

It is fairly big, I think the wreath form was either 10" or 8". I took the pages out of an old book I didn't want, inked the edges with brown, then rolled and glued. The only glue I had was an old-school HOT glue gun. I only have 1 blister this morning on my thumb so I think I did pretty good. I don't really know how long it took me, but we watched How to Train Your Dragon and Finding Nemo before I was done. I think I am going to make a couple more to take to craft shows. Now that I have the process down it should go much faster. I really like the way it almost looks like a giant Zinnia!

8 years

Eight years ago I came to a fork in the road.
Only it wasn't my choice of which way to go.

I now am on the path without a mom.
You know how you hear how if you want to get pregnant all you see are pregnant people? Well, when you don't have the mom that you were very close too it and you are shopping by yourself, it seems like everyone is shopping with their mom. Old people with their even older moms teetering down the aisles, a young man trying to find cookware for his new place and his mom telling him that one was a piece of junk, a young woman with her mom and her baby browsing the childrens books. And then I remember that I have memories of my own with my mom, memories that not everyone has gotten to experience and I smile and keep moving down my own path.

Button magnets

I made myself some vintage button magnets a few weeks ago for my idea board. I really liked them, so decided to make some to sell on Etsy.


The main problem I had the first time was that I accidently knocked one over and it set off a chain reaction of half-done magnets sticking to each other and making a gluey mess. So, this time I got smart and covered the back of a mini-muffin pan with tin foil and stuck each magnet on their own dome.

Worked very well I might say!

I also have vintage checker magnets drying and am in the process of designing display cards for all of them. Fun way to spend a Monday afternoon :)

Favorite way to post on eBay

Rachel and I hit some garage sales yesterday. I was on the lookout for some more things to list on eBay. I did find this cute Sheffield Strawberries 'n Cream casserole dish and some glasses. I am kicking myself over not picking up a stack of old car owner manuals. Oh well, live and learn.

I haven't done too bad selling on eBay, about $250 in a month. I hated listing things though and thought my postings looked amateur and unprofessional....until last night!

I took the time to really look at a site called Sellers Sourcebook. It is almost like blogging now, I get to choose a template and everything is organized and much cuter.

Here are some examples:

Oregon Mills Wool Blanket blah boring yawn

Arizona Blakely Glasses pretty! eyecatching! professional!

I will be going through as listings expire and updating my old style. At least now when I am listing I feel like I am doing a much more professional job.

Pillows!

Just listed a couple of pillows on my Etsy page.
This one is made out of a flour sack. Great material to work with! It feels so crisp and runs through the machine like a knife through butter.
Compared to our bags, I can whip these babies out in no time at all! It feels great to get things done so fast.

We are also making burlap pillows, a little rough to sleep on but look fantastic! No pictures of those yet but soon! We are printing different designs on the burlap, so far crows, pumpkins, crowns, bees, and keys. They look really cool.

I am going to have Annie draw some orginal artwork for an 'Anneliese' line of pillows too. Keeping everyone busy!

not much happening

Not much happening around here, just decorating for Halloween.