St. Patty's, Buttercup Bags, and Crazy Lester

HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY!

Wow, I can't believe it's the best day of the year already! Hehe, I am a proud little Irish girl and I have been celebrating all day with my little leprechaun family!

I've been a lazy bumster with putting together a post, but I'll give you one now! I've been doing a bunch of sewing to get all of the prizes out from the Spring Fling, so if you won something, it will be sent out soon!

I also had a birthday to sew for - Happy Birthday Nina!!

Holy crap, how did this get 219 views on Flickr?? Wow! Based on the free pattern at Made by Rae, this is my version of the Buttercup Bag. I didn't have any magnetic closures on me, so I used a chunky button to close it up. I love how it turned out and I may have to make another for myself! I hope she likes it! 

Check out some of the other FANTASTIC Buttercup Bags posted in the Flickr Pool!

I also made this wallet to match.

This is my first attempt at creating a wallet - and I've learned some things. 

1. Snaps suck ass. I hate them and I doubt I will use them again. Hello velcro!
2. Make card pockets longer.
3. I love making freezer paper stencils. Woo!

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Okay, so you remember how I said I was going to a night club this past Friday? Well, that fell through thanks to empty wallets. However, Bobby (boyfriend) and I had some adventures this weekend!

Friday - We got all ready to go to the night club, but we had to drop Bobby's 16-year-old sister off at a friend's house first. We popped the address into the GPS and took off. The GPS decided that the fastest route to the friend's house would be to cut down "Unnamed Road," AKA Creepy Dirt Road. 

Bobby, being the curious cat that he is, turns onto the dirt road and visions of horror movies start popping into my head. It was the perfect set up - Friday the 13th, dusk, Creepy Dirt Road through a South Jersey farm, two young girls in the back, and a couple sitting in the front seats. I pictured an ax murderer, goblin or ghoulie eating our souls one at a time. 

Looking around, there are a number of rusted out, broken down tractors and other weapons of mass produce production, a whole lot of dirt, and a beat up barn with the word "PEACHES" painted in two-story tall letters on the side. This farm looked like something out of the dust bowl. I doubt peaches we grown there, it seemed like the farm was either abandoned or used to harvest dry, crumbly dirt.

We were almost off the dirt road when we see headlights coming up ahead of us. Bobby pulls to the side of the path and then we see lights coming up behind us, too.

Oh great, now we're really going to die.

The man in the truck that came at us head-on hopped out and signaled for us to stop.

DON'T STOP, BOBBY!

So we stop. The man proceeds to yell at us that this is private property and people drive through all the time despite the "No Trespassing" sign at the start of the road. We proceed to tell the crazy man that we're sorry, we're leaving, and we were just doing with the GPS told us. He tells us that the land is his father's (the man who drove up behind us and was now standing beside our car as well) and that "People get shot around here for trespassing! 

Perfect. Cue suspense-building music. He babbles on some more about other people who have driven through their crappy little dirt farm and then turns to his decrepit old father and says, "What should we do with 'em, Pa?" 

ARE YOU SERIOUS?? A bit more babbling, I'm getting annoyed at the sound of his voice as he repeats for the fifth time how it's private property and people drive through all the time. Bobby is cool as a cucumber and his sister and her friend are peeing their pants in the back seat.

So Mr. Dirt Farmer lets us go by and we get to the friend's house. We drive home and later receive a text message from Bobby's sister saying telling us that she found out that everyone in that town knows the guy as "Crazy Lester." Lovely.

Saturday - Bobby and I went with his brother and his mom to a mall in Delaware to buy a MacBook for his brother. We had some delicious pizza and laughed a lot about our run-in with Crazy Lester.

Later, we drove out to Bobby's uncle's house in Pennsylvania for a bonfire. We've been to a couple of bonfires at Uncle Carl's and they are always a ton of fun! Before we got the fire started, we drove to a little tavern in Maryland (we were really close to the PA/MD border) and got some fantastic crab bisque. Once we got back, we tossed all kinds of brush and wood onto the fire and even roasted a few hotdogs. Toss in a bunch of beers, and it was a great night. All-in-all, we spent some time in three states - NJ, PA, MD, DE. Fun!

Sunday - We drove back to Bobby's house and met up with Nina (the birthday girl mentioned previously), Anthony, and their daughter K. Anthony was Bobby's roommate our first year of college, and Nina lived next door to me. I love it when we get to spend time with them. We had a nice dinner at Applebee's and then some fabulous ice cream cake afterwards. A great time was had by all!

So now I'm home and recovering from all the excitement. I'm heading out to Corned Beef and Cabbage at the American Legion in town as we do every year. Have a great St. Patty's Day, everyone!

Holy crap!

Wow... Where did I come from!?

Hehe... Sorry for SUCH a long delay in my posting. I've been really really busy with Student Teaching and finishing up my college degree. Thank goodness it's all going to be over in about a month!

However... in about a month is ....gasp... CHRISTMAS!! So with that in mind, I've started my work on the many handmade Christmas gifts, ornaments, and decorations I intend to produce. How many of these that I have planned will I complete - I have no idea. But with hope, I will get a majority of them done.

Right now I am working on a stuffed ball like this one below by Grand Revival Designs. I am making it from light flannel in patterns of baby blue. This will be for my Godson, J.J. He will be turning one around Thanksgiving this year and I'm really excited!

Photo by Grand Revival Designs

My Godson, J.J., the lucky recipient of a ton of fun baby toys I am making!

Since I feel so horrible about leaving you all for such a long time, here are some photos of a few things I've made in my absence.

Some yummy little cupcakes and a lollipop - polymer clay



Stuffed "j" decoration - felt



"It Starts with a Cup" swap on Swap-Bot.com

Hopefully my next installment won't be too far off, but in the meantime, Happy Crafting!

Lovely Little Bag Pattern and Tutorial!

Well, well well... Look who has put together her first pattern!!

Hold on, I'm getting ahead of myself... First off, I purchased a little set of 4inch square charm fabrics. I thought to myself, "Self, what are you going to do with these adorable, yet tiny pieces of fabric??"

So I set to work at making a little wallet/bag/wristlet thingy.I traced my driver's license to get a general size to work with and then I came up with this pattern...

Haha... sorry if that makes no sense. Here is what you will need:

• 7 inch zipper
• O Ring/D Ring
• 7 inches of decorative ribbon (Cut 5 inches, Cut 2 inches)
• 3 1/2 X 3 inch interfacing (Cut 2)
• 4 1/2 X 4 inch fabric for lining (Cut 2)
• 4 X 3 1/2 inch main fabric (Cut 2)
• 4 X 1/2 inch accent fabric (Cut 2) Round the bottom edges slightly
• Iron
• Patience
• Cake

1. First thing is first... Iron your fabric! Make sure it's all nice and pretty. 
2. Attach your accent fabric to your main fabric. Right sides together, simple stitches. Press the seam open.
3. Fuse your interfacing to the back. Center the interfacing with seam allowances and iron. Pretty easy!
4. Attach your zipper. Make sure the zipper pull is even with the outer edge of your fabric. There will be plenty of excess on the other end, though. That will be dealt with later. To sew on your zipper, you want the TOP of the zipper to be face down on the right side of your main fabric. Line the upper edge of the fabric to the edge of the zipper. Do this for both sides. 
5. Press your seam open. 
6. Get your ribbon and O Ring ready! On the side that your zipper starts (Where the pull will be when the zipper is CLOSED) assemble your ribbon with your Ring already inside. With right sides of the fabric together, put your O Ring facing what will be the OUTSIDE of the bag when it is finished. Pin the ribbon in place. 
7. Pin the rest of the bag together, right sides of fabric facing each other. Make sure the seams of your accent fabric line up properly. Make sure your zipper is OPEN. Sew it all together! That includes the ribbon and O Ring. 
8. Trim the excess zipper. Toss it, kids!
9. Turn the bag right-side-out. Ohhh! So pretty!
10. Get your lining together! Press the hem at the top, about 1/2 inch folded down. The raw edge of the hem will be facing out on both sides. Sew the three remaining sides to form a pocket. 
11. Slip the liner inside the bag. Line the top of the liner up with the stitches you made to attach the zipper. Sew all the way around. Here's what it will look like.
12. Slip the 5 inches of decorative ribbon through your zipper pull and put a few stitches in it to hold it in place. 
13. Holy Crap! You're done! Marvel at the little bag. Oddly enough, this bag is the perfect size to hold my digital camera! Too bad I can't take a picture of that to show you XD

I hope that made sense. I appologize if it didn't... This is my first tutorial! Expect more, and PLEASE comment if you liked it!! I love feedback :)

Goodbye Summer!

Ahhh, Labor Day. The official end to summer for most of my life... This time, it's truly the end. Tomorrow I start Student Teaching. No students just yet, but meetings and what not at the school. Then the kids come. Then I am no longer a kid myself - I have to walk, talk, and act like a teacher everyday. My stomach is full of butterflies. I plan on setting out my outfit, getting the coffee pot ready, and going to be early.

For now, while I'm stuck in the RA office on duty, I'm making a pin cushion for my Grandma. Before I moved back to school, she hemmed three pairs of teacher pants for me overnight!! She's a sewing ANIMAL! In return, I plan on making her a pin cushion, maybe a little handbag, and sending candies. I love my Grandma! Here is the pin cushion pattern I am following - I'm using a nice burgundy fabric I found. That's my Grandma's favorite color.

Square Deal Pin Cushion by Heather Bailey - This is a Free Pattern that I just LOVE! I can't wait to finish up this pin cushion and send it on its way! I plan on making one for myself, too. The lame little felt poof I rigged together just isn't cutting it.

I did a bit of shopping the other day... Here are the goodies!

I have two 1/2 yards - one in black, and one in white. They have each have a really neat pattern on them... I sense a purse or two... The orange was a really cheapie remnant that I grabbed. I think it's a cute color! I got some ribbon... Some D rings... Some buttons.... A couple of clearance stamps... some jump rings and chain... Oh! And some ADORABLE mini paper bows!! I can't wait to find some random reason to put those to good use. I really need a life. Sigh.

Never thought I'd be a blogger...

Well, here I am. For years I have thought to myself, with a scoff of course, "What would I ever spend time blogging about?" It seems I've finally figured it out. You see, I am a Jack (or Jill) of All Trades and a master of none, so I cycle through hobbies as if they were socks. Simming, Polymer Clay, Scrapbooking, Sewing, Plushies, Photography, Beading, Macrame, and so on and so forth. So I have a crazy amount of STUFF that has to do with my various hobbies. This blog here will be where I talk about my ADD with crafts.

Let's see... Well, yesterday I finally finished the gift for my roomie Casey's birthday. It is a nifty little shamrock wristlet I created from a pattern at Butterick and I'm pretty proud of it! I changed it up from the pattern they have posted under Free Projects by using ribbon for the hand strap and leaving out the corner parts.

Here is the first one I created a couple weeks ago for my other roomie Andrea's birthday.

The little pull charm on the zipper is a tiny polymer sushi with a glob of wasabi. Andrea LOOOVES sushi. 

I also made a wristlet from a fabric with the map of the world on it for my mom. 

So there you have it, my first blog post. I hope you've enjoyed it, and I hope that my ADD doesn't make me forget that I have a blog.

Happy Crafting!