Something That Makes Me Smile! :)

Even though my sewing/craft room is a MAJOR work in progress and is full of PhD's (Projects Half Done) :), it still makes me smile.  Just before Christmas I went to Home Depot and grabbed this new shelf unit to get eveything out of floor piles and up where I could actually see it and use it.  (You can't see the top shelf, but it's got enough room to house my sewing machine case, a full bag of fiberfill, and a stack of vintage tins full of sewing notions!  I'm eventually going to get some storage bins and label everything nicely. (Like I said, work in progress, right?) 

The other side of the room is a whole other story. UGH! Maybe I will be brave and show it one of these days.  That side most definitely does not make me smile. It makes me gag. haha :)

At least I had enough space and time to be able to create these lovelies over my Christmas break for Mom and Adam's Mom.

First up, this cute pin cushion caddy for my Mom! :)

I used a pattern from Seams to Me: 24 New Reasons to Love Sewing!  Let me just say, I need some practice blind stitching. ;)

This next project is still not finished. HAHA :)  It's going to become a coupon organizer, and it's made using laminated cotton fabric.  After sewing this, I decided I HATED laminated cotton. HA But thanks to Mom, I've learned some tips and tricks and might try using it again.  We'll see.  I will need nerves of steel people, and lots of coffee. :)  The pattern for this came from the New Fabric-by-Fabric One-Yard Wonders: 101 Sewing Projects Using Cottons, Knits, Voiles, Corduroy, Fleece, Flannel, Home Dec, Oilcloth, Wool, and Beyond book.  This book is FULL of fun projects, but not everything is for a beginner sewer, and I had to youtube a lot of things!

These were pretty easy to make, just a little time consuming.  They were also made using the New Fabric-by-Fabric One-Yard Wonders: 101 Sewing Projects Using Cottons, Knits, Voiles, Corduroy, Fleece, Flannel, Home Dec, Oilcloth, Wool, and Beyond book.  :) It's a sunglasses/cellphone holder, passport cover, and luggage tag.  The sunglasses case turned out a little small both times (I made 2), but they ended up being the perfect size for a smaller cell phone or iPhone.

Last I put together this wristlet/makeup bag clutch.  It also came from the same book as the set above. :)  The zipper was a little wonky, but not too bad since it's only the 2nd zipper I've ever sewn in!

I can't wait to get back into my sewing room and start working on some new projects and finishing up all my to do list!! :)

Oh, one more thing!! Adam surprised me tonight and came home early WITH Starbucks for me!! :) Yet another reason to smile today! WOO! :)

Day 5 - Something I Wore

This one was really hard for me to pick today. haha :)  I didn't really want to do a whole outfit, because my work clothes are usually borning, haha, and my comfy at home outfit is usually just AE sweatpants and one of Adam's t-shirts! :)  Plus I waited til it was dark out and couldn't really get a good shot of anything.  So I just decided on the scarf I wore that day.  Today was one of the last "cold" days for awhile, so I took advantage of it.

Mom and I actually made 2 of these, and ended up each keeping one because we both liked the colors so much! :)

I'll have to get a better shot of it when it's daytime!! :)  Happy Thursday all!!

Letterbox??

Let me be honest, when I saw letterbox on the list for Day 4, I had to google it. bahaha :)  I kind of figured it had something to do with mail, but we don't really have those fancy, cute ones that go on the sides of houses here in Pensacola (unless you're downtown).  So anyways, here is a photo of our lovely mailbox. :) tee hee

It's got lots of character with it's poor rusty hinges, broken flag and green/black stuff growing on the side of it.  Pressure wash much? Eh, not really. ;) **Adam get on that!**

So since our mailbox isn't exactly inspirational, I thought I'd share a collection of interesting letterboxes that I found through Pinterest!  Enjoy!

Source: theartofthers.blogspot.com via Danielle on Pinterest

Source: youwillneverwastemytime.tumblr.com via Kim on Pinterest

Source: giverslog.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Georgia on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Brett on Pinterest

Source: tasmaniaforums.com.au via Kylee on Pinterest

Source: retro-vintage-photography.blogspot.com via Kay on Pinterest

 

Day 3 - What I Adore...

I was really excited when I saw that today, January 3 was "Something You Adore" Day on the Photo A Day Challenge.  Today happens to be Adam and I's 7 1/2 year anniversary. :)  We actually started dating May 24, 2004, but it wasn't official until July 3, 2004 (if you really want to get technical). haha

So today, what I adore most is this guy right here...

I couldn't imagine my life without him! :)  He's supportive of my wild ambitions, a ton of fun to be around, always making me laugh, and always there for me when I need him. :)  Sometimes I think he's deaf because of me though.  (Or he pretends not to listen quite often.) ;)  Ya see, I like to talk... A LOT... and usually (ok, always!) it's very fast and very loud. ha :)  But that' ok because he loves me anyways, fast talkin' or not!

Anyways, hope y'all are joining along for the challenge.  And if not, make sure to link up with Fat Mum Slim using hashtag #JANphotoaday on Twitter or Instagram.  And Shelley from The House of Smith's found this great app for all you iPhone and Android users out there.  It's called my365! Check it out and keep track of your daily photos with the cool calendar feature!  Find me on there and follow me, I just downloaded it yesterday!

Here is mine as of yesterday! :)

Day 2 - Breakfast! And some antiquing too!

So I'm not much of a breakfast fan, not necessarily the food, just the time it's usually eaten.  I'm not a morning person. :)  Anyone who really knows me, completely understands that.  I'm not fully awake before 10am, sometimes later. ;) haha

Oh well, here's pic #2!  A quick breakfast before we got started taking Christmas decorations down (more on this in a minute), and then did a little antiquing/shopping later in the day.

So, we were planning to leave the tree up for a few more days since we got it decorated so late this year.  However, I heard Adam say, "Oh don't come out of the bedroom yet."  Of course, I flew right out.  I listen really well. ;) "...when, what to my wandering eyes should appear...", but a lovely Christmas tree knocked over on the tile floor.  Yeah, I was not happy.  The tree was down, ornaments packed up, lights wrapped up in the next 30 minutes.  My cats know how to motivate me to get something done quickly. :)  haha As far as I could tell, nothing got broken.  This is the 2nd time they've knocked our small tree over.  From now on, the big tree is going up!

One last view of the mantle last night while watching The Green Lantern.

(Can you see Barnaby?  He's our Elf on the Shelf that needs to go back to his box/home.)

A few more photos from today....

Adam wouldn't let me have this at Mixon Antique Mall.

It's a "Cat in Sundress" from Primitives by Kathy. SO FUNNY! ha :) 

We found these fun treasures at Oooodles of Everything Past and Present.

The 2 mice are ornaments (or were).  I'm going to repair their string and hang them on the tree next year!  They are so fun!  The tin will hold sewing notions and the book was just plain cute. :)

Next stop was Barnes and Noble to check out Forks over Knives.  We watched the movie on Netflix last night, and it was pretty eye-opening.  I have read A LOT on the Whole 30 diet, and we can't wait to get started cutting out meat and dairy and moving toward a more plant-based diet.  It's going to take some time getting used to it, and lots of discipline. :)  Let's hope we can do well!  The book has lots of good recipes in it, so I might have to order it from Amazon!

Right now I'm on the hunt for a new planner.  None of the one's I've found so far have been just right.  I'm really tempted to get one of these pretty little 2012 Simplified Planner from Emily Ley! :)  Her 20% off sale ends tonight, so I need to hurry up and make my decision!!

It's back to work tomorrow for me!  I've been off for 11 days!! YIKES!  I'm afraid I won't know what to do tomorrow. haha :)

Now I'm off to start a mini Harry Potter marathon with Adam!!  We got this in the mail last week, and are just now sitting down to start watching all of them!

Hello 2012!

Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's with your loved ones! I can't wait to see what this year brings!! I've got so many new goals, ideas and projects planned that I'm just bursting to work on everything right this second!! But first things first. Back to blogging!! :)

So I'm going to try to follow along with Fat Mum Slim's Photo a Day Challenge this month and see how that helps with me blogging regularly!! Here's the plan!

I hope everyone can follow along! Use hashtag #JANphotoaday on Twitter and Instagram! :)

Here is my first photo!

My FIRST Sewing Projects!

I'm falling behind in posting again!  GAH!!  But at least I've been busy lately and have something to show for it!! ;)

If you follow my sporadically updated blog, you know that for my birthday this year, my parents got me a sewing machine! :) WOO!! You can read all about that here.  Well I haven't really gotten to use it much since then, but I whipped up one project a few weeks back, and then I got busy and made something else last night!!  Want to see?? :) 

Here is my VERY FIRST project.  It turned out a little crooked, since I'm just learning, my lines weren't very straight.  But I did use my button-holer!  (After, having to go to Mom's and have her show me what in the heck I was doing wrong!) ;)  But we figured it out, and I came straight home and got it to work!! YAY!

Do you like my crooked stitching?? :) haha

more crookedness ;)

I used a tutorial from Sew4Home that is used as a gift card or business card holder. I did change it up a little by using a button and creating a buttonhole instead of the elastic loop, but I used the exact pattern for everything else. I also didn't put ribbon on mine either.

Check out the tutorial below! :)

Source: sew4home.com via Beth on Pinterest

For my next project, I've been wanting forever to try my hand at making a cute pouch with a zipper. Yes, a zipper. ;) Althought confusing at first, they are actually pretty easy to sew in. (If you sew straight, and follow your 1/4" foot that is. If you don't, you'll have to rip out 2 seams and re-do it.) ;) Not that any of that happend to me. *wink* haha :) But overall, I think it turned out pretty cute. The fabric was SUPER CUTE to begin with! It was just a fat quarter, and the interior is a white with brown polka remnant I found at Joann's for cheap! :) I ended up using felt for the batting, since that's all I had at the time, but it worked out really well. I was able to cut a 9 x 12 piece of felt in half, and it worked out perfectly since my makeup bag was 9x6!! WOO!!

Here it is!! :) 

 

I actually used a tutorial from YouTube!  It made installing the zipper so much easier being able to see it 3D. I setup my iPad, and probably re-watched the same sections 20 times. haha :) I did change a few things from the tutorial. I used 9x6 fabric and felt. I also did not quilt the bag, instead I straight stitched some ric rac along the front. I didn't pin it down or anything, I just positioned it where I thought it looked ok, and sewed diagonally down and across the front.

Also, I used a scrap piece of fabric for the wristlet part. It was supposed to be 2" x 10", but my piece only ended up being about 1.25" x 10". I think I like the look of the skinnier wristlet anyways.

I did have some trouble sewing over the zipper on the edges, but I think I've figured out how to avoid that next time. I'll be cutting my fabric the actual length of the whole zipper, ends and all. So It would be about 10" wide fabric with a 9" zipper. This gives some room to sew over the flat ends of the zipper and you won't run into the metal parts. I'll post about how that works next time. Oh, and another tip. If you jam your needle while sewing, don't panic like me. Just turn the handwheel, it lifts it right out. ;) hehe

Oh, and don't forget to BACKSTITCH!! This is SO important!! It locks your stitches in so they won't rip out!! :) Trust me, just do it!

Here is the YouTube tutorial from Crafty Gemini!

That's all I have for now!  I just wanted to quickly share my first sewing projects!  I can't wait to make something else!! :)

PS -- Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to my Mom for not only buying me my first sewing machine, but for always being there to help when I have questions. :)  YouTube and books are great, but you can't beat having a "sewing sensei" in the family.  hehe :)  I know that Grandma would be so excited that I'm finally sewing.  She always used to say, "Oh I wish you could sew."  Well now I can Grandma, and I can cook too.  So thank you for being you and for passing down your special traits to us.  And thank you Mom for always being supportive and for going on this adventure with me!  :)

And of course I can't forget Gussy at Gussy Sews.  I found her blog earlier this year, and she is SO INSPIRING!!  If you haven't been to her site yet, you need to GO NOW! :)  She has the sweetest story about how she got started, and she makes AMAZING products!!  Trust me I have an iPad case that I LOOOOOVE!  See below! :)

Plus, she is just an amazing lady! :)  You can't read her blog without smiling!!  She has such a passion for her life and her business.  And her words just exude happiness and inspiration in every post she writes.  Here are links to her blog and her shop! :) 

Hope everyone has a great day!!  Get busy and go make something!!! :)