UPDATE: Moving my creative blog!!

For all those who may be out there stumbling upon my blog or waiting for me to post again {since I am so not on a regular schedule}, please update to this new blog if you would like to continue following me: Eat. Sleep. Create. I would love to see you there!!

Purse Palooza#3 - Rock ‘n Romance Aragon Bag

I’m SO excited to share my newest bag with you called The Aragon Bag by Sara at Sewsweetness!  This is my 3rd entry for Purse Palooza and maybe not my last since I have SO many bags on my to do list!!  Even if I don’t win one of the prizes – my reward will be scratching some of those to do bags off the proverbial sewing to do list!!

I made this bag with Artgallery Fabrics Rock ‘n Romance by Pat Bravo and will be taking it on our vacation which just happens to be a short 12 days from today!  We will be going on an Eastern Caribbean cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale and we are extremely excited about it!! 

thanks for stopping by to check out my newest bag!

Purse Palooza 2013–Purse #2

Here is my 2nd entry for this year’s Purse Palooza using Erin’s Two Zip Hipster pattern.  I really love this purse; it is a great travel purse and since we are going on our cruise in just 28 days from now (SO EXCITED!), I knew I had to get working on it!  I purchased the fabric Moonflower by Benartex at my LQS The Cotton Cupboard.  I love flowers and this was the perfect one for me because I wanted a blue purse that would go well with jeans.  This purse took about 6 hours to make, not too bad and since it was the 2nd one I made, it came together better than the first.

I hope you are checking out the great reviews of purses on Sew Sweetness blog, this was one featured this week.  There are also great giveaways, not to mention great prize packages for the winners!  I hope one of my purses wins but if not, at least by the time it’s over, I would have knocked some purses out that have been on my to do list for a while. 

Up next: A Huntington Hobo for my sister whose birthday is the day after Christmas, unless I decide to make myself something else, lol! 

thanks for stopping by!

Gothic Brown Huntington Hobo purse–Pursepalooza 2013

Hi there – long time no post!!  I was so excited to see that Sara from Sew Sweetness was hosting another Pursepalooza this year.  I enjoyed participating last year (and was so happy to win a prize too) that I had to participate again because I am always on the lookout to make another purse!  I have had this fabric I think since February that I got at The Cotton Cupboard and it ended up making the perfect Fall purse for me!  This fabric is Kaffee Fassett Gothic in Brown *swoon*

I was  please to find the perfect coordinating fabrics for the pockets, lining, straps, bottom accent sides and zippers to really pull out my favorite colors in the main fabric.

 

Then I looked through my stash to find the perfect kaleidoscope zipper pull that I got at Zipit to complete my purse.  This is my 3rd version of the Huntington Hobo bag to make and I am happy to report that each one keeps coming out better than the previous one.  My next one will be a gift for my sister Deana’s birthday which is December 26. 

Thanks for stopping by to see what I made ~ hope you have a wonderful day!

Hometown Quilt moving along

Here is a little progress on the quilt I am making for my sister as a housewarming gift!  I have 8 blocks done and this is just 4 of them.  Sorry for the bad picture, had to use my phone because my husband has the camera today and he’s not home right now. 

I love this design – so glad I found a great tutorial for it online on A Quilt Story.  I am thinking all the time about what quilt design to do, I am thinking ivory thread in just the ivory sections.  I know I will be practicing and using one of Angela Walter’s designs since I purchased her book Free-Motion Quilting.  It is a great resource!  I just go back & forth about whether I will quilt it at home or visit my LQS to do it on the long arm. 

Have you ever listened to the podcasts on All People Quilt radio with Pat Sloan?  I love listening to it at work, I have pretty much listened to them all already, and usually jot down notes of blogs I want to visit, or tips I want to remember.  Well, the other day I realized they have great videos (click to see them) on there as well so I started to watch those too.  Learned a great tip about reducing the bulk at my seams on my blocks- by pressing correctly and clipping your seam allowances on the intersections. Watch the Pressing to prevent bulk video to see!  Of course  I never would have thought of that on my own.  This is my 5th quilt and I have a feeling I will still be learning new stuff even when I am on my 25th quilt!  So far each one has been so different. 

Friday Night Sew in Results

It has been forever since I participated in Friday Night Sew In and I’ve missed it!  Thanks to Wendy for of Sugarlane Quilts for sponsoring in Heidi's absence.  Of course, there were many Friday nights over the past year I still sewed, but just didn’t bother with signing up or committing to do a blog post about it.  I thought it would be fun to get back into it since I started to blog again.  My oldest sister just purchased her first home and I am so thrilled about it!  Her and her family are so excited to have a bigger house and the kids to have their own rooms!  I look forward to my next visit so I can see it in person. 
I decided for her housewarming gift, to make her a quilt using Sweetwater’s Hometown fabric.  I actually won 4 charm packs a few years ago and I also purchased binding fabric and the backing fabric shortly after that had just been sitting around.  I think the fabric will be perfect because she said she was going to be decorating her house in the cranberry color that is featured in the collection. 
The hardest part, I believe in making a quilt, is figuring out the design.  This will be my 5th quilt and I am excited to start working on it. (I still have to share my 3rd and 4th quilts with y’all and will soon).  I spent hours perusing my quilt patterns and free ones online.  I almost decided to just sew the 5” squares randomly and make it simple, buuut decided against it because I wanted it to be more interesting than that.  So I am making HSTs.  The stack in the photo is what I completed on Friday night.  I have since been working on more during the weekend and have the whole stack sewn on one side of the center line.  Since I decided on the HSTs, I think I will have enough leftovers to make her more than just a quilt, perhaps a throw pillow and maybe a table runner and dish towels.  That’s my goal. 
In other news: We went to see Pacific Rim in 3D with DH’s coworkers yesterday, it was surprisingly good.  The 3D was amazing.  Not sure I would have liked the movie as much if it was in 2D.  We love going to the movies, even thought about going again today even but we have a lot of housework to do, so we may not. 
Thanks for stopping by – hope you have a wonderful week!

Rock 'n Romance Summer Top

I'm not sure who is still reading my blog but hey if you're still out there - hi after EXACTLY a whole year of no posts!  If you are reading this post, I would LOVE to hear from you, so please leave a comment saying hello.  It would be nice to know I'm talking to someone after all this time!

There's no guarantee I will post again on a regular basis because I have to admit, this last year has been really nice but was filled with many ups & downs.  For those who follow me on Facebook, you will know what I am talking about.  If not, it's not something I really want to chat about.  Just know that everything is all right, life is good. I am blessed.

Last weekend we celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary - so crazy it's been that long!!  Since I had a 4 1/2 day weekend, I celebrated it by sewing ALL weekend and it was awesome!  I made halter tops out of 4 of my t-shirts, took in 2 tops that were too big on me, sewed 3 tops from scratch (no pattern), made 2 headbands and an infinity scarf!

Here is one of the tops I made from this post by The Daily Stitch No Pattern Required Summer Top tutorial. It was easy to follow but I ended up making a mistake with my cutting and had to 'add on' some other fabric from the Rock 'n Romance fabric I had by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics.  I like it like that though! Then, I ended up putting too much fabric in the bust area and had to take some in with darts so it wasn't so full but it's still too full.  It is so comfy though, so that's o.k.!  I also made a matching braided headband because I just can't stand to have my hair touch my face.

We ended up going to get pedicures (I was not sure John would want to do it, but he was game and sure enjoyed it too).  He picked out OPI Don't Mess with OPI green for my toes and ended up painting his as well - lol.  Afterward, we went to a nice Indian restaurant we had been wanting to try for a while now.  It was delicious.  Afterward, we visited his dad & stepmom since we hadn't seen them in a while.  

I'm thinking of not posting on this blog anymore since I don't have any plans to continue stamping and this blog was primarily about stamping and the serenity I got in doing so.  To be honest, I got burned out which is one reason I quit design work about a year & a half go.  I simply was not enjoying it anymore.  My new blog will be generic and not specific to any craft I do because I do like to dabble in so many things!!  

So once again, please let me know you're out there still!  Thanks for reading.  Feel free to find me on Facebook or Instagram if you would like to keep up with my life (I post there more) 

FNSI: Christmas in July!

It has been a few months since I participated in Heidi & Bobbi’s Friday Night Sew In and I sure missed it!!  There are 110 participants this time! 

I figured since it’s July, I should make this Christmas in July since I am trying to stay ahead of the game making my gifts so I can have a stress-free holiday!!    So I decided to make some potholders as gifts, which I believe can appeal to lots of people.  It comes as no surprise I decided to make a few for our house as well *wink* because I had to ‘test’ how they came out & how I would proceed, right? 

Well my idea is to do some scrap busting but then I remembered I had this gorgeous fabric that I made John’s Christmas stocking out of last year and my brother-in-law loves purple so the one on the left will be perfect for him.  The one on the right will be ours since we love green more than purple. 

I loosely followed a few tutorials: Scrap busting potholders and Quilted patchwork potholders.  I quickly decided I would rather make the style on the left since it doesn’t have binding, therefore less work and I can put the little holder thing in the corner.  It’s difficult to do that with the binding style. 

Can’t wait to make more scrappy ones this weekend!!  Thanks for stopping by!

In Love with Stitch in Color

Back in February, my friend Stephanie and I visited our favorite LQS, The Cotton Cupboard because they were having a different sale every day that month!  As soon as I walked in the door, my eyes immediately were drawn to some new fabrics Stitch in Color by local artist Malka Dubrowsky (Moda fabrics).  I practically drooled all over them and proceeded to hem and haw over which ones to get and well, let’s just say that I walked out with way more than I usually do because I found the PERFECT fabric to make a Luscious bow tote with! 

I adore how this turned out and I am entering it in Ellison Lane Quilts Summer Sewing Contest!  This purse was a lot of fun to make and the pattern easy to follow too.  

 

Here is a picture of the inside, just as fun as the outside, wouldn’t you say?  Many months ago I was blessed to win an assortment of Aurifil threads and for this one, I used a FUN multicolored one, you can see the thread close up if you click on the photo. 

And because I am so in love with this fabric, I totally had to go overboard with my accessories too.  lol.  I made a simple clutch/makeup bag.

 

 

I made a cute little keychain.

 

 

 

 

I made a fun sunglass case.  Unfortunately I can’t find the gal’s blog that I saw the tutorial on it for. 

 

 

 

and last but not least, my FAVORITE besides the purse of course, is my Stitch in Color Zippy Wallet!  I made mine a little larger than Anna did so the credit cards could fit better.

 

I rounded out my collection by purchasing this book, which is signed by Malka.  TONS of great bold, fresh quilting projects in there!

Purse Palooza, new chapter and new ‘do!

First up is my new tote/purse I made this week to enter in the 2012 Purse Palooza contest that is happening at Sew Sweetness.  When on vacation in CA in April, I wanted to check out a fabric store or two but we only had time for one, and immediately my eyes locked in on these gorgeous fabrics by Alexander Henry.  The pattern is the Pleated Tote by Artsy Crafty Babe, Rebeka Lambert.  This is the 2nd purse I have made from her patterns, which are easy to follow and usually only require 2 (1/2 yd) fabrics.  The purse and inside pockets are Barcelona, straps and lining are Sol, which can be viewed here.  I just adore bold, bright prints for my purses so they can be worn with many colors!

Here is a view of one of the inside pockets.  I love that this purse is large enough to fit all the contents of my purse PLUS my Toshiba tablet.  Can’t wait to show it off! 

Here is a link to all the entries for the contest, there are some awesome prizes up for grabs!  I am enjoying all the inspiration for reviews of purse patterns, there are giveaways every day too so be sure to check it out! 

NEW CHAPTER: I am not sure if anyone noticed or not but the Gina K design team had a release about a week and a half ago and I am no longer a part of the team.  I stepped down May 1 after much consideration and prayer.  It is just time to enter into a new chapter in my life.  I am not ready to share about it yet, so just trust me that it’s for a great reason and I have incredible peace about it and am excited too!  I hope I do not lose all of my readers but if I do, that is o.k.  My posting will not stop all together but it will be sporadic and just when I feel like posting, not when I feel I have to.  I need to live a life of no commitments after having been on design teams for 4+ years in addition to working full-time.  Stamping was beginning to be more like a job (something I had to do), rather than something fun (something I wanted to do).  In fact, since I quit, I have stamped only 1 card and it was not as enjoyable as it had been in the past.  My sweet niece Gabriella graduated from kindergarten and I wanted to send her a card.  I felt bad I did not put as much effort into it as usual, but that’s how things have changed for me.  I am a firm believer that there is a season for everything and my season for design team work has come to an end. 

NEW ‘DO: Now for my new hairdo!  I have been growing my hair out for a few years now, with the intention of donating it to Locks of Love, which I have wanted to do for a LONG time now but just never managed to grow it out long enough because it would bug me!  Here is the before picture.  I had a long, thick ponytail!

 

 

Here it is right after the ponytail cut!  My reaction afterward surprised me.  I got tears in my eyes, I couldn’t believe it was gone and tears of joy with doing this great thing for someone less fortunate who had lost all their hair. 

 

Here it is after it was blown out and straightened, which I may or may not take the time to do myself!  One thing for sure is, it feels amazing on my neck,  have so much hair, I put it up 9.5 times out of 10!  No need to anymore! 

 

 

 

and here is how it looked the day after.  I have more wave & curl to my hair so it is less work for me to let it go natural. 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, whoever is still reading my blog! *smile*

Gina K Inspiration Hop Day 3: One in a Million

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

Here is the card I made using the new One Free with 3 set, One in a Million.   So when you purchase any 3 stamp sets until the next release, just add this set to your cart for absolutely free!  I made this card to send to my cousin, who I visited while in CA so I could send her pictures I took of us and her cute little dog, boy.  I thought it would be cheerful for her and sure enough it was.  She texted me last Friday night to thank me for it (and the pictures).  I  just love the tall line art flowers in this set, and true to Gina K style, there are quite a few sentiments in this set so you can make a nice set of cards if you wish (I love doing that!) I used my new Labels 23 set and before I took the label die off the white cardstock, I drew a line on the inside with a black marker for a nice crisp frame.  I used my swiss dot embossing folder on this card and colored the flowers with copic markers and put some bling for the flower centers. 

Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration:

• Gina K
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker (you’re here!)
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you were wonderfully inspired by all the great creations shared just for you! 

Gina K Inspiration Hop Day 2: Vintage Notes & Sweet Strawberries

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

First up is a 6” scrapbook page I made using Vintage Notes by Tami that I made for my 6-yr old niece Gabriella.  It’s been a while since I’ve made any scrapbook pages and really enjoyed making this!  She adores these pages.  When I went to visit at the beginning of April, I saw she had this scrapbook page (click to see) I made her from Nov ‘10 on her dresser and she told me the day I left, that she slept with it (crying herself to sleep because she missed me so much), her mom told me she grabbed it before it could get ruined though.  It just broke my heart over and over.  She was still crying a week & a half after I left!  That’s the price we pay for me being the Most Awesome Auntie I am, I told my sister!

One thing I know is priceless, is when you write things in your own handwriting.  I want her to have this kind of stuff because one day when I have passed on from this world, it will mean 10 times more to her when she remembers me.  I know I wish I had more things my mom had written me than I do, since she is gone.  Gabriella is so cute, the first night I got there she was so eager to share her treasure box with me…it held a bunch of items she has received that mean so much to her.  So, I know she will treasure this.  The girl even collects tags from clothing and the coloring sheets/menus from when they go out!  it’s so funny.  So a little about what I did now – I used Bubblegum cardstock, Petals & Wings pattern paper, yellow, pink & green buttons, flower punch, green silk ribbon, coated pink paper clip, pink paper flower.  The sentiment in the yellow punched flower is a greeting from the new set One in a Million which was perfect for this page. 

 

Next up is a card & box ensemble I made using Sweet Strawberries by Theresa.  The box was fashioned after a little chocolate box I got that I tore apart to make a template.  I then ran the whole thing a piece at a time through my swiss dot embossing folder to mimic the spots on strawberries.  The card measures 2 1/2 x 3 inches.  I added some red & white polka dot ribbon to mimic those spots again!

Here is a view of the inside of the box, where I tucked in some delicious Ghirardelli chocolate squares.  Here is a bit of trivia for you – did you know the factory store is in my hometown of San Leandro, CA?  yes that’s right!  Their factory store offers the chocolates at 60% off retail.  What a deal.  I came home with quite a bit of it of course!  I just couldn’t help myself. 

Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration:

• Gina K
• Tami Mayberry - Illustrator Vintage Notes
• Theresa Momber – Illustrator Sweet Strawberries
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Carolyn King
• Cathy Tidwell
• Donna Baker (you’re here!)
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Melanie Muenchinger
• Michelle Woerner
• Sharon Harnist
• Suzanne Dean
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Gina K Inspiration Hop Day 1: Basket Additions 2 and Lacy Borders

The Design Team for Gina K. Designs welcomes you to another fabulous Inspiration Blog Hop!!! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through their blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of deeply etched, pre-cut Gina K. Designs stamps! To see the full list of winners check the Big News forum at Stamp TV a couple of days after the hops!!

First up is a card I made for Jen’s Deconstructed sketch 48 using Melanie’s Basket Additions 2 which coordinates with Spring Basket and Holiday Basket (used the holiday basket to make this colorful Birthday Basket).  I used My Mind’s Eye Fine & Dandy pattern paper which equally matches the colorful & fun feel to this card.  In Melanie’s signature style, with each new set she comes up with, it increases the value of the original sets so you have endless creations to make intermingling them!  The new die set I have is Spellbinders Labels 23 and I used White, Sweet Mango and Turquoise Sea pure luxury cardstock and added some coordinating buttons!  The banner is paper-pieced with the fine & dandy papers and the image is colored with copic markers.

Next up is a card I made using the new set Lacy Borders and yes, I went traditional with the white lace!  I stamped it on the smoky slate pure luxury cardstock and layered some organdy ribbon over it then put some silver pearls on top of that.  What I really love is the simple Spellbinders Labels 4 for the greeting with the top and bottom embossed with my Kassie’s Brocade folder.
Check out all the amazing designs and inspiration:

• Gina K
• Melanie Muenchinger – Illustrator Basket Additions 2
• AJ Otto
• Carolina Buchting
• Cathy Tidwell
• Deb Felts
• Donna Baker (you’re here)
• Emily Giovanni
• Giovana Smith
• Jimmi Mayo
• Lee Murphy
• Lori McAree
• Sharon Harnist
• Theresa Momber
• Tina Gilliland
• Vicki Dutcher

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you will come back on Monday, Apr 30 as our inspiration hops will continue!

You’re Invited to the April Gina K Release Party!

The Gina K. Design Team is excited to invite you to another fabulous Release Party!!! The party starts at 11:00 am Central Time in the Stamp TV Release Party Forum. Join us for Challenges, Contest Questions, Design Team Samples, Full Stamp Set Reveals and, of course, party chit chat!!! Everything will go "live" at 11:00 am Central in Gina's Store so there won't be any long wait to start shopping!  Hope to see you there!

If you came from Deb’s blog, then you're right where you should be. If not, please go to Stamp TV where you will find a list of all those participating. Here's a sneak peek of one of the cards I will be sharing with you at the party tonight:

Here is a sneak peek of one of the cards I made using Lacey Borders that will be shared at the party today!

Go to Emily's blog, to continue the hop and I hope you will make it to the party today!

April SFYTT–I Miss You

Hi there!  If you’re looking for a Friday Night Sew In** post, I apologize, I was not able to participate this month! 

This is my April sketch for you to try using my Pure Innocence set by My Favorite Things.  Can’t find the direct link to the set, so I’m not sure it’s still available.  The supplies are from an old Taylored Expression key ingredients kit (pattern paper is American Crafts Happy Go Lucky).  It also included the Thickers white fabric alphabet that I used for the hi and colored with a pink copic marker.  On the inside of the card it says, “The One Good Thing About Not Seeing You Is That I Can Write You Letters – I Miss You”.  I made this card to send to my niece Gabriella who will be celebrating her 6th birthday this coming Thursday!  It’s so hard to believe it!  I visited her for a week the first week of April for her Spring Break and have been gone for nearly 2 weeks and got an email from my sister she is still missing me and was still crying about it this week.  It just breaks my heart!  When I talked with her on Wednesday, she said “I miss you'” about 3 or 4 times!  Then after we got off the phone, she asked my sister, “Do you think Auntie Donna will write me a note?”  She had sent me some colored pictures telling me she missed me which made me cry!!  It’s so fun she is learning to write so I can start getting more letters from her!  I have all the pictures from our trip already printed and in the box she will get for her birthday, which includes a collage picture frame that I believe she will cherish! 

I will leave you with a picture of us from my trip, this was taken one evening after I sewed a sundress for Gabriella and this Batman pillow for Joey which they both stuffed!  It was a family effort!  I only got 2 pictures with them (sad) but love this one because they’re both smiling and it was more impromptu! 

**Sorry I don’t have anything to share for Friday Night Sew In which I had previously signed up for, this has been a busy week and I still have a long to do list and I have not sewn a thing in 2 1/2 weeks (since I was in California!) and I miss it a lot!  I am hoping to get something made by tomorrow though since I am suffering some withdrawal from it!  ha.  One thing on my to do list, which I am super excited about is working on a project picked up for publication in Stitch Magazine in the Winter issue!!  In fact, once I finished publishing this post, I MUST get back to working on my submittal document!  Then, I need to finish with preparing for the Gina K release which is on Thursday!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you have a great weekend!!