Oh Mercy Me.....

Why, oh why, do I do this?  I once upon a time had the most perfect craft room (this would be the first of many craft rooms I have had in the past 11 years) , after my husband of almost 30 years passed away 11 1/2 years ago a dear friend of ours finished the basement off in our new home......  I was an avid stamper at the time ( I sold Stampin' Up)  I had a good portion of the basement (1/4 of the basement) for my craft room.  I had built in cabinets, lots of counter top a wonderful work area, I even had what I will call my coffee bar, it had built in cabinets and a sink... oh why yes... I do have pictures.... So when I say "why, oh why", do I do this.... I just finished redoing my current craft room for the umpteenth time trying to make it more functional!

I had enough room in this, my first craft room to have 3 tables set up for classes! 

I sold this home in 2006 and moved close to my daughter and her new little family....  While I loved this craft room, I have no regrets of getting to love on my new little granddaughter on a daily basis... (she is now 8 1/2 )  Precious time indeed those 4 years and while  I lived there another one was born and I spoiled two little granddaughters!  

So stay tuned and I will show you what I did this week to my current craft/sewing room to make it more functional!

Happy Wednesday!  Nancy

Helping a friend...

In the middle of getting Christmas projects done, yesterday I dropped what I was doing and helped a friend (Cindy) make a Diaper Bag for her grandson who is due in March.  She chose Pul fabric for the outside and in nothing other than monkey fabric.  This particular pattern takes a long time to cut and prep and  it is a bag I would never try if I had not been experienced without having someone with some "bag knowledge" to help me!  Another friend Elaine wanted to get in on the fun and she joined us and helped with some of the prep work, (she even got to try out my Juki and I think she is sold!).  My Janome will not handle bags this big and thick!

You just have to put feet on these bags....

I just happened to have a few of these in my stash!

Can you tell she is pretty proud of her accomplishment?

and there you have it another bag is finished!  I know she is so excited about her new grand baby... I believe this will be the first baby in the family for a number of years!

Nancy

The Amber Bag by Swoon Patterns

I just found Swoon Patterns a while back,  The Amber Bag caught my eye since my youngest daughter is Amber!  With her new job and hauling stuff back and forth between two schools I thought possibly this bag just might fit the bill for what she needs... we shall see.....

If not I have another one up my sleeve......

The pattern came in two sizes and this one is the larger of the two.

I put more hardware than I intended on this one.......

The fabric looks like it could be twill but it is not!! It is flannel!

I thought it ended up looking like a professional bag.... 

Happy Saturday!  Nancy

A long overdue gift

What did someone tell me one time about good intentions?     Well obviously I had good intentions and it just did not get done..

A family friend got married over a year ago, (yes I am embarrassed) I was going to mail a gift before the wedding, since I could not attend the wedding... then time got away from me....  So this year on their first anniversary (in May) I thought I would just make something for them that I knew the bride/new wife would just love.  So fast forward to November and I was cleaning my craft room again and came across everything for the gift.  I decided it was time, time for me to just get that present finished.  I finished it and mailed it on the same day and the sweet couple (Katlyn & Jordan) should be getting that gift any day now!

Katlyn loves bright colors and loves elephants even more.  When I saw this fabric I knew exactly what I was going to make for her!  A thermal casserole carrier!

The pattern is a freebie from 2 Little Hooligans although when I make this I add at least 3 inches in length to both pieces.

AND who doesn't like a gift with their name on it?  I used my Cricut machine and made a stencil and etched her name on the side.... as long as the dish doesn't get broken, she will always know which dish is hers!  Look real close below and you can see her name on the side.....

Hope this provides the couple with many years of casserole carrying to different events!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Nancy

The Professional Tote (aka Diaper Bag)

My friend Pat's daughter Amanda was soon to be in need of a diaper bag.... so I went fabric shopping with Momma's specifications of what she would like to have.  Momma then sent me to the VB (you know Vera Bradley) website to take a peek at the bag she liked.  I hunted and hunted and hunted some more in search of the perfect pattern for such diaper bag.  After purchasing three (yes three) patterns I came across to what I thought was the perfect bag  "The Professional Tote".  It fit the bill for the size, pockets and straps.  I.hope.she.loves.it

The floral fabric was great the Chevron was really hard to work with.... it was not even straight on the bolt so it was a bear to get straight....

When finished I gave it two really good overall sprays of Scotchgard Fabric Protectant.....

I love the pockets on the inside.... even a place to hang your keys... and the center zip pocket is padded and safe even for your IPad  (you know you can never start technology to early these day...) haha

 and the feet.... you gotta have feet and with a bag this big it was deserving of 6 feet!

Here is a couple of pics of my Diaper/Wipe Changing Pad Clutch  I used the pattern from 

Made by MarziPan    It was rather simple, except I got into a big hurry so I could get this bag out, for Heaven's Sake She had the baby this week!!!! (not the not so rounded corners....)  I am my own worst critic.....  

I used Pul fabric on the inside and thought it a little hard to work with.....  It is too stretchy!

   

Happy Weekend!

Nancy

The Patio Project

It has not been quite a year since we purchased this 30 something year old home...... since  July we have been project crazy.... the home did not have a "realistic" driveway (it had not been rocked in years (there is nothing wrong with rocked driveways by the way) and had a curve and everyone about ended up in the ravine when backing out) so the first project was straightening the driveway and knocking out some trees.. a blacktop driveway with a turn around spot, that all involved some bulldozing!  Then we laid some new flooring in the kitchen, dining room and hallway.  The next on the list was a storage shed and landscaping.... The project I love the most is what Mark has been working on and it is almost completed!  A paved patio, it required an upper retaining wall and tons of sweat.....  We still have some detailed finishing work to do, cutting the stone's on the edge......

 AND because you know how one thing always leads to another the picture below shows where we are going to add a second level to the patio.... these stones below will be removed to add a stairway down to the second level.....

AND the firepit we have on this level will be removed and put on the lower level, I  know sounds like a lot of work but this was all of my hubby's idea and I think it sounds fantastic!!

AND tonight we are breaking in the grill with some fantastic steak that my son in law raises!!!  We might even have a fire in the firepit!

I am sure we will get years of enjoyment out of this addition to our home!!!

Happy Weekend!  Nancy

This n That.....

Oh gee, the month is almost half over, kids are starting back to school.... WHERE did the Summer go?  I have been busy doing lots of things...

We have had some major projects going on here at the homestead....  new roof, blacktopped the driveway, patio being built by my sweet hubby and I am doing some landscaping!  In the midst of all of that I got to spend some precious time with my two girls and all of the kiddos, we met at a halfway point..... They had a great time together!  We heard two of the "J" boys in the back of the van on the way home from an overnight in a Hotel (with a pool that they loved playing in)  and they were telling us that they had their cousin "O" hidden in the back of the van... We chuckled, but the truth is they had so much fun playing together all 7 of them and I can imagine one of these days my youngest daughters family will have that little boy from Bulgaria and it will be even more fun, it just doesn't happen frequently enough!!! :(

My youngest daughter has been a stay at home mother for the past 6 years, and since everyone is in school "O" the youngest of her brood is in preschool this year...  She landed a position as the grade school counselor her "dream job" .... she was in need of a lanyard, might I just say she wanted one? Then again that isn't how I roll......

and a glimpse of the landscaping... not yet finished....  The brick is just laid there to show how I want it.... it needs leveled into place.... but it is beginning to look so nice outside!  We took the shutters off and power washed the front of the house!  It is really coming together nicely.... soon I will post before and after shots!

Happy Thursday to all!  Be Blessed!

Another Wavy Top Tote

I had a request from a friend for a Wavy Top Tote  from Sweet Bee Buzzings with a Crossbody Strap.....  I also made her a Necessary Clutch from Emmaline Bags, the ruffled make up bag is my own pattern and I also made a tissue cover.

Have a Blessed Friday!

Nancy

Blue Love continues.....

I got busy this morning and made some accessories this morning.  I made a tri-fold wallet, tissue cover and I made a junk bag without a pattern!  I knew what I wanted and just made it!  I bought this fabric at the Fabric Center - Morris, Illinois!

The Tri- Fold Wallet pattern is from Craftsy the pattern writer is SusieDDesigns (with some additions by me)

A ruffled bag.....  I even made some fabric buttons....

A tissue cover for my purse....

Hope you did something fun today!

Nancy

Blue, Blue, Blue....

Why oh why do I love blue?  I don't know but I sure do and always have!

I think this one is mine!  I will now have to make some things to go with it.... Wallet, add some fabric to the back of my phone case....  make a coin purse..... etc.  OCD yep think I might have it!

Another Wavy Top Tote from Sweet Bee Buzzings  (and it is a free pattern)!  There are two sizes in this pattern, this one is the large size but I did make this one and inch and half shorter in length...

Zip Closure on Top

Zip Pocket on the inside plus two pockets and a detachable key holder...

and feet on the bottom.... still working to get those straight on the next bag....

So that is what I am up to today.... The roofers are here putting on a new roof so it is kind of noisy...

Happy Wednesday!