cell phone holder

K, still on a sewing kick here.... I do have some new Stampin' Up stuff to play with, so i will make something papery in time. But when I go to clean up the sewing stuff, I'm inspired to sew something else. So I must follow dear muse (or obsession).

Here is a little cell phone holder I got from a pack of bag patterns. It doesn't have a lining or show any hem lines, so I repurposed some fabric. My son has a ton of pants with holes in the knees. I've saved them to make shorts. bonus: I get to keep the bottom of the pant leg. there is already a hem. Yeah. Loving my snaps. So easy to put on and looks professional. Took my hubby a while to catch on that I actually put it in there myself. I feel a few crochet flowers will be added here.


And I also tried a beach bag! It is rather large! Perfect.


here you can see it compared to the smallest bag i've made.


And here it is open. There isn't much fabric on top, as I didn't have enough fabric. but I did manage to make it a draw string. next time, I will make the extension larger. And I want to add a few ribbon pieces to put a hiking clip for keys, water bottles, etc. Maybe even a little cell phone holder as above.

it's a rainy day here today. i have a little princess changing her clothes and accessories and the neighbour's son is playing cars and Thomas on a few mats with my son. Ah, content children. entertaining themselves.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

bags bags everywhere are bags

Can you stand another one from my obsession?? If not, look away.



I think I'm so obsessed with this bag b/c each one i make brings me closer to perfecting the sewing process. One thing I noted between sewing and papercrafting... Sewing is soo much more expensive to buy that cool spotted piece of inspiration. Smallest you can buy is half a meter, whereas for stamping, pick a few pieces of that lovely paper. it'll only cost a few bucks. And look how many things you can make with that 12x12. And you can even afford to hoard a piece. lol

atpresent, I'm figuring out how to sew a liner into this baby. If you click to enlarge this photo, you'll notice that there is no stitching at the top of the orange portion of the bag. I initially sewed this section down to cover the hem underneath when the bag is extended. Now, I'm going to try to attach the lining there before I sew. Just watching Jon and Kate plus 8 season premiere. Are you too?


Anyhow, thanks for accepting my indulgence.
Cheers,
Amanda

more bags....

Hi ho,
here is another sewing segment for your viewing pleasure..

This blue/white/green ensemble is the larger sized bag. It isn't as large as I was hoping, but noticeable. I tried a new handle. It works for this bag, but I don't think I would use this type of strapping on all the bags.

And below, is a side by side to show the sizing. The green black one makes me smile.


And in this shot, I've extended the bag tops. Notice the beady thing at the end of the string. Love them. Must get me some more. Oh darn, that would mean a trip to Queen west again in the fabric district. Darn. Hoping to take a zippered pouch class next month. I'm 1st on the waiting list. Missed it by one day!


Fabric is from Ikea and the purse pattern is from Simplicity.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

circle card

Hi ho,
just a little something today I made this past week when I was not feeling well. It took me over an hour to put this together!!!!!
I can blame it on no mojo, being sick, but I think it is b/c I was working with purple!! lol Purple always puts a choke hold on my creative muse. I just can't work with it confidently.


We're off to Rafael's piano recital today. We're not so hyped up about it this time. Guess it's old hat now. :} May take the subway there as an adventure.

I spent last night happily sewing a banner and apron for my friend's booth at the Distillery District this weekend. She has the eco-friendly online toy store www.littlefootprintstoys.com . Sorry, I can't figure out how to link it. Copy and paste. Have to wait for hubby to tell me how. I keep forgetting.

Have a great weekend. Hoping to do a bit more sewing and play with some new Stampin' up stuff.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

new birdie house

howdy!
Well, we have all recuperated from the nasties! Stayed home yesterday and we flaked out! Today, I spent my bday gift certificate and then some, at the LSS. Yeah!
I present to you, Quickutz bird and house 2x2 die. I've been wanting this one for some time now. today was the day.


The sentiment is from Stamping Bella. The completed sentiment says, Congrats on your new home. I put that last part on the inside. Oh yes,I also used QK new embossing folder. Not bad!

I have another idea for the birds... just to find time.

thanks for looking,
AManda

long weekend activities

Howdy!
Did you have a good weekend? Today was a holiday for the Queen's birthday and yesterday it was mine. My bday is usually on the May long weekend. As a kid, it was a drag, as it is traditionally the 1st camping weekend of the summer. You got it, no one was around to come to my bday party. boo hoo. So this year, we went camping!

We had things to do and some visitors on Friday and decided to go up on Saturday. in the rain!! Everyone was so psyched. All I wanted to do was stay home and make a bunch of my new project. Shhh, can't tell you yet.
But in the rain we went. About 10 minutes on the highway, Neve puked her guts up!! She was sick in the middle of the night, I guess she still had some of the bug. We turned around, went back home to clean her up. I suggested that Henry and rafael go up and Neve and I would join them on Sunday, after I sang at church. NOOOOOOO!!!! was heard from little miss sicky. "I wanna doh tamping too!" What a trouper.

When we got there, it wasn't raining. It hadn't rained there all day. yeah! We set up and had a fire with marshmallows. The most anticipated event of the trip. It was a great time. I think i even got some wind/sun burn. The best part, my Dh loves to camp and cook outdoors. So we ate very well.

Rafael named the little area green island and had great adventures. He was sad to go and took some pictures to remember. I love this one of the sky in the water and take note of how you can see what's in the water in the foreground.



Thanks for looking,
Amanda

embellishment

So here's another idea to perk up a gift for a teen...


I couldn't resist this lovely purple, leather book. It looks and feels so nice. ahhhh.
But I wanted to perk it up a bit. I used the rhinestones from an iron on. I wasn't sure about ironing on leather, so I used crystal effects to glue the stones on instead. It wasn't as painful as I thought it would be. B/C it was an iron on, the jewels were stuck to the plastic paper from the top. So I just turned them over and dabbed Crystal effects on it with a stick pin. Laid it on the journal and waited for it to dry. then I removed the plastic. voila. Embellished leather bound journal.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Three pretty maids in arow

If you came for a card, look away, look away!!!!! NOW. If not, read on....

my cousin's daughter is in town and it's her birthday today, so I wanted to make her a cell phone/mp3/ipod, whatever holder. This is what I came up with....


It took me 2 days of thinking and a day of trying things out. My vision wasn't working, so I compromised. I saw a cell ophone holder using this type of clip here
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5934264
and wanted to try it.


I wanted to line the bag, but was having trouble and tried many combinations to get the ribbons sewn in afterwards. Finally, I abandoned the lining and serged everything. Oh,How I love my mini serger (except when I have to rethread it. You need a degree for that. Thankfully, I have 2.) The black one with orange was taking a long time, so I tried the new way and added a pocket on the other 2. Love it. So fun! NOw I just have to get more clips. They are not cheap!


Thanks for looking, Off to take my son to piano lessons.
Amanda

birdie and some flowers

Here's a little paper crafting eye candy for you. I'm working on more bags.


Thanks for looking,
Amanda

weeds'n butterflies

Here's a card I inspired by the fabric in the previous post.


Stamp is from Stamping Bella, buttflies- Martha Stewart punch, corners-foamies. Distressed the edges and messily sewed the card. Done.


Off to have a nap before our lobster supper. YUMMMMMMM.
Happy Mother's day!

thanks for looking,
Amanda

more fabric swatches

K, you know I'm on a fabric kick right? But I just made a mom's day card, so I'll show it to you tomorrow. Lighting is not so good here right now.

here's my stash of pretty cloth.


Most of it is from Ikea,but I went to Designer Fabric today, downtown, Toronto. yes, I parked and everything. Was disappointed. Haven't been there for YEARS and it has CHANGED. Now all the samples are hung on hangers, you sift through them all and take them to the cutting table, they go back and cut it for you. Kinda put me off, so my Uncle and I left, had lunch and decided to go back, as there was more time on the parking meter. Lo and behold, on the way out,found this beauty...


And the black damask. Can't wait to start cutting out. Just have to sew the handle on my 3rd small bag and cut out the big bag. Oh yes, got some grommets and things to put on the end of the drawstring. Still have to find a good drawstring, not sure what kind to use. Any ideas?

Really, I'll post you a card tomorrow, K?

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

It's in the pink and grey bag

So I went back to Ikea the next day to get the fabric panel, it was gawn, gawn, gawn. I was sad. But my trip past the fabric section inspired me. I bought a whole bunch o colours for a new batch of bags. And I like this fabric more. The bag stands up a little better.


I adjusted the pattern, as I didn't like the zipper idea, but am familiar with the..."I wish I had a little more room in this bag" feeling. So I extended the fabric for the zipper panel and made it to be a drawstring extension.


I also extended the handles to allow more room when the inside panel is in use. I dragged out my mother's mini serger to make the insides nice and neat. I'm very happy with this bag and feel confident enough to sell it. And I have some more cut out already to be sewn. yeah. I even prewashed the fabric. Usually, I'm too eager for such things, but I wanted it to be well made.


Thanks for looking,
Amanda

Ikea Panel sewn Bag

Sorry, couldn't come up with a title...
But Look what I MADE LOOK WHAT I MADE!!!!!!


I bought this pattern on my 1st trip to Fabricland a few weeks ago and have been waiting for the right fabric. On a trip to Ikea yesterday, i SCORED!! This is a curtain panel. It has all of this in one piece of fabric. And I still have the pink/yellow, Orange/white, Blue/white colour combos to explore.
This is the small version. (it holds a diaper, diaper wipe box, cell phone, keys, compact, crochet pencil case, granola bar and a few more things.) My DH was even excited about it and wants me to make the big one for myself so DD can have the little one. I can see us now, matching dresses, bags, Oh dear.

The patterns calls for a zipper, but I didn't have one so I used a snap. I have some ideas to change it up for the next one. I will add a lining and a pocket inside I think. Can't wait to get to the sewing room again.

thanks for looking,
Amanda

clay animals

Howdy!!
As I mentioned before, I've broadened my blurfing to blogs other than papercrafts and was excited to find my way to 4 Crazy Kings. She has awesome activities to do with the kids and I've done a few.

I found a stash of clay in my room. I had bought it from Dollarama a while back and thought it might work for this project.
I cased the whole thing... you can find the original here

The clay was a little more challenging to work with than the model magic. I'm going to look for some to try more things. When the clay did dry, it was brittle. Poor Neve's lion met it's demise as it fell to the floor. Shattered.


I love the colourful Fish that Rafael made. We did a plate background by watering down the paint and blowing it with a straw. they had fun with that one.


Neve's fish was looking colourful until her colours started to run into one another. The joys of no boundaries! I like her plate splat also.


Rafael's lion....


And my favorite is the owl. He painted the branch, then the backgrounds. it is night with a purple moon and the stars.


I highly recommend this activity. I would love to say that it took a long time, but it didn't. We did it in 2 sessions. Make animals and plate backgrounds in one and then painting them in the 2nd after they dried. Sometimes, I think it takes me longer to prepare the activity than it takes them to complete it. Thankfully, they like to paint. They were happy painting extra plates!

Thanks for looking,
Amanda

SU case

Here's the 1st card I cased to get my mojo going last week. I haven't stamped since then, so it's the last I have to show you until I get another hit of inspiration.

it's in the Stampin' Up! catalogue. Don't have it right now, i can't tell you what page it is on.
Of course, I had to change it up a bit. I used Quickutz revolution flowers die and Sizzix buttons die.


We spent the day at an indoor fair, complete with ferris wheel and mini train. It was an awesome day. it's an annual thing and our 3rd year going on May 1st. It's cool to note how each year, my daughter can do more and more. And my son is becoming a speed demon! Here's a special picture from today for my valued Mississauga reader. Beijinhos.


no plans tomorrow, I'm hoping to do some stamping. i finished the dress, but my model isn't being cooperative at present, so maybe another time. And I'm working on another dress.

Thanks for looking,
Amanda