It's Finished!

I finished my new purse this morning and I really am pleased with it. Here is the finished product.

I used a really heavy craft interfacing so it will stand upright on its own.

I modified the pattern to make the handles longer so I can put it over my shoulder if I want to.

I also added a button and buttonhole so I can close it up for security.

I also added pockets inside for my cell phone and camera.

And last but not least I put my Designs by Nanny label in it.

This was a really fun project that cost me very little to make. I paid next to nothing for the material at estate sales. The flower trim came from a bolt that I got at an auction for almost nothing and the button came out of my button stash. I only had to purchase the ball trim and interfacing.

I'm ready to make another purse. I found some pretty black linen look fabric in my stash and Hancock's has some gorgeous beaded trims that would look fantastic on it. So I will probably be making a run to Hancock's today.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

TGIF Again

I've been working on my purse tonight. The embroidery is finished, trim added and it is sewn together. Now I have to make the handles, make the lining and then put it all together. I want to add some pockets to the lining for cell phone and camera but I am too tired tonight to figure it out.

Robin tagged me on her blog yesterday..the rules are- copy and paste this post and change the answers to yours

A: Attached or single: Attached
B: Best friend: my daughters
C: Cake or pie: Chocolate pie
D: Day of choice: Sunday
E: Essential item: My embroidery machine
F: Favorite type of music: easy listening
G: Gummy Bears or Worms: neither
H: Hometown: Little Rock AR
I: Indulgences: fabric
J: January or July: January (my birthday month)
K: Kids: 2 girls - 5 grandchildren
L: Last movie: I haven't watched a movie in a long time
M: Marriage date: 12/11/64
N: Number of Siblings: 2 brothers
O: Oranges or apples: apples
P: Phobias or fears: Heights and snakes
Q: Quote(s): "If you learn from your mistakes, I'm getting a fantastic education."
R: Reason to smile: My family
S: Season: Spring
T: Tag four : Anyone who reads my blog
Unknown Fact about me: I'm an open book
W: Worst Habit: too many to mention
X-rays or Ultrasounds: ultrasounds
Y: Your favorite food: chocolate
Z: Zodiac: Acquarius


Have a great weekend.


Luck, love and laughter,
Judy

Purse Project

I finally have started a sewing project. I got a purse cut out tonight that I have been wanting to make. It's going to be red with a red, white and navy checked lining. I've done all I can do tonight -- I have to make a run to Hancock's at lunch tomorrow to get a heavy interfacing for it. What I have is not heavy enough. I am going to embroidery my name on it so I went ahead and got a funky design set up on my embroidery machine and saved in memory.

I'll post a picture of it when I finish it.

Yipee!!!! Tomorrow is Friday!

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

My Wonderful Daughters

Here is a two page layout that I did a couple of months ago of my daughters and granddaughters.

Can you guess who belongs to whom? You get three guesses and the first two don't count!

I have been slowly working on my ATC's for Amy's challenge. I now have six done (only ten more to go). I still haven't started any sewing projects but I am definitely going to take a break from scrapping and do some sewing. I'm still trying to find more hours in the day to do my fun things. But my magic wand still hasn't appeared to help out with the housework. Anyone know where it might be?

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Our Baseball Player

Our youngest grandson, Jesse, is the baseball player in the family. He loves the game and has turned into quite a good player. This is a two page layout that I did using action photos that a photographer took at one of his games last year.

I really wasn't trying to tease when I didn't post a picture of my first ATC the other day. I just really didn't know how I felt about it and whether or not I wanted to share. I sent a picture of it to Robin to look at...she says the picture is a little blurry but I think it is my choice of paper and the stitches that make it look that way. It was all stitched on my sewing machine even "Sew".

Hope everyone has had a wonderful Easter weekend.

Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

My First ATC

Okay, I just finished my very first ATC. It features sewing -- I did a bunch of different stitches on the sewing machine and added some decorative trim. I'm not sure about it -- will let it sit overnight and then try to look at it with an objective eye tomorrow morning and get my critic, Robin's opinion.


I do have a question about ATC's. What info is normally recorded on the back to identify the "artist"?


Have a great Easter weekend.


Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Wow! Tomorrow's Friday

It seems that the older I get (and I am getting old) the more I wish for 5:00 p.m. Friday and the work week to be over. I really need the weekends to recharge.





When I got home from work today, I finished up my layout for Lesli's Tuesday Challenge for this week and got it sent off to her. If you haven't seen the challenge, check it out at http://www.dragonflytime.typepad.com/. The journaling portion was my challenge as that is very definitely my weakness. Check back on Saturday to see the entries and be sure and vote.





Here is my interpretation of the challenge.

I have decided that I am going to concentrate on some sewing for a while. Yes, Robin, that means aprons for you and Addie and also the cover for her nap cushion. I am also determined to make a purse for myself. Will keep you posted on the sewing efforts. Also, I am going to be working on ATC's for Amy's ATC Challenge. Check it out at http://caffinatedcropper.blogspot.com/.
I haven't done any ATC's so I am looking forward to trying my hand at this.


My dear hubby has gone to get us supper at Cheeburger Cheeburger. Yum Yum..........I am going to pig out.


Everyone have a good evening.


Luck, love and laughter,

Judy

Bubbe

Here is a layout I did Sunday evening based on sketch #1 in Lesli's Sketch Sunday http://www.dragonflytime.typepad.com/

This is a picture of Sarabeth and Addison with their great grandmother taken back in 2005. All the great grandkids call her "Bubbe" which is Yiddish for grandmother.

We are pleased to report that Bubbe came home from the hospital yesterday. She is weak and will have to get some strength back in her legs so she can start moving around more. We are hoping for the best. Again, thank you for all your prayers.

Have a great rest of the week.

Judy

America Sews Roadshow

Today I attended Sue Hausmann's America Sews Roadshow. She has a sewing show which airs on many PBS stations across the country. Sue is absolutely delightful. She brought tons of finished projects to share with us -- makes me wish I had a lot more time to spend sewing or that I could go with a lot fewer hours sleep a night. I did pick up a few very good tips that I certainly will put to good use and have some ideas for projects that I would like to do.

Here's a few pics that I took today (Robin told me to be sure and take my camera and take pictures).

Sue Hausmann

This quilt was absolutely gorgeous. Now I really want to learn to quilt.

I love this handbag. I am definitely going to try making some. Check out the denim jacket she has one. It is a ready made jacket she bought and then did the machine embroidery on it. She explained how she did the embroidery on the sleeves (you take the inside sleeve seam out to do the embroidery and then sew the seam back up). She also gave tips on how to easily shorten the sleeves.

This is an exquisite little girls jacket. A lot of time and effort went into making this.

I wish I had been able to get a better picture of these jeans that she did machine embroidery on. You rip out the inside leg seam so that the material will lay flat and then sew the seam back up after you do the embroidery. I definitely am going to try this.

This is another quilting project. Those big purple flowers are sewn on top of the quilt material -- sort of like applique.

She went over a lot of free motion sewing. I'm going to have to get my book out on my sewing machine and see if I have that capability. I also need to check into some specialty pressure feet for some special applications.

It was a wonderful day, although a long one (10:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m.). My back is very tired from sitting for such a long time so I am going to pack it in early tonight.

Luck, love and laughter.

Judy

Cloudy Sunday

Thank you to all of you for your prayers for my mother-in-law. She got a stint on Friday but still is in the hospital. Hopefully, she'll be able to go home tomorrow. They are keeping her to make sure that her blood pressure is stabilized before releasing her.

I decided that I needed to bring a little Spring into my life so I checked my stash of tee shirts and did an embroidery machine applique design on a shirt for myself. This is a design from my favorite digitizer -- Designs by JuJu. Her work is delightful and always stitches out so nicely. Check out her designs at http://www.designsbyjuju.com/.

I haven't really used circles is layouts so decided to do a couple using circles. I added a little bling on Mischievous with some hot fix crystals in the center of the flowers. And on Sweet Baby Girl, I stitched the rick rack down on the sewing machine. The red buttons must really be vintage as the price on the cards was 40 cents. Does that give you an idea of how long I have hung on to things?

The laundry, bathrooms, and floors are calling my name so I guess I had better try to get a few things done in the house. Unfortunately, my magic wand is still hasn't put in an appearance.

Have a great week!

It's Friday, Again

The end of the work week has finally arrived. We have a busy day planned for tomorrow. Sarabeth has a soccer game at 9:30 and then we are going to Joy and Danny's to visit for a while. Then a haircut in the afternoon. That will pretty well take care of the day.

I have finished two new layouts.

This is one of my favorite photos. It was taken when Addison was just a month or two old. Her oldest cousin Matthew was holding her and they both were snoozing away.

This layout is of Addison sitting on my deck eating a popsicle. She was two years old when this was taken.

Everyone have a great weekend.

Luck, love and laughter.

Hump Day

Yeah! We're on the downhill side of the work week!

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. We had glorious sunshine and a high in the upper 70's. Some of the spring flowering trees are starting to bloom and the Bradford Pears should be in full bloom in just a couple more days. And I have seen tulips starting to push up.

I have a couple of more layouts from Joy and Danny's wedding finished for the wedding scrapbook .

They decided on a very non-traditional wedding cake.

Let me tell you this cake was as sinfully delicious as it looks.

I'd like to ask that you remember my Mother-In-Law Mollie (robindiane's Grandmother) in your prayers. She is in the hospital. Her doctor feels like she had a mini stroke Saturday night and a mild heart attack Monday night. She also suffers from Parkinson's. They are running tests to determine exactly what has happened and to come up with a treatment game plan.3

Have a great rest of the week.

Luck, love and laughter.

It's Monday

Why do Monday's come so quickly? The weekends just are not long enough. Of course, my day did not start out the greatest in the world. I turned the alarm off and went back to sleep. So it was rush time getting ready for work. I hate when my days start off like that. I need a certain amount of time to just sit and stare at the wall before I start getting around in the morning.

Okay, I have one-half of my second goal for the week finished. I completed a layout from a sketch that was in Lesli's sketch Sunday http://www.dragonflytime.typepad.com/. I am a relative novice at scrapbooking and this was the first time I have done a layout from a sketch. This is a picture of Jesse and Sarabeth taken after he played in a championship ball game in 2005. Can you tell from the grin on his face who won the game? Of course, Sarabeth is her big brother's number one fan.

I am going to call it a night and go put my pj's on and curl up and read for a while.

Luck, love and laughter.

Sunday Evening

Ah, daylight savings time has arrived. As glad as I am to see it, it will take my system at least two weeks to adjust to the time change.





I'm afraid I have not been the least bit productive this weekend creatively. No scrapbooking, no sewing, no embroidery projects were on the horizon. Since my fairy godmother did not show up or a magic wand suddenly appear, I did manage to get some housework and laundry done. And to treat myself, I got my nails done yesterday afternoon.





This morning I went through picture files on the computer, uploaded some older pictures to Walgreens, and ordered prints. My number one goal for the week is to get pictures organized and filed by category so I won't have to hunt when I want to scrapbook.





I went to Tuesday Morning this afternoon to see if they still had a couple of things that were in the ad last week. I was able to get two 12 x 12 scrapbooking kits for $9.99 each. Included in each kit are album, paper, stickers, and other embellishments. I also got two packages of the charms for Crocs for the girls. Mission accomplished.






Number two goal for the week is to do a couple of LO's from sketches. This is something that I have not done before. I have a couple of pictures in mind for Lesli's Sunday sketches http://www.dragonflytime.typepad.com/; I just have to decide which one I am going to use. I figure two goals should be obtainable...anymore than that would discourage me.









I haven't yet introduced you to the third member of our household, our sweet, lovable Annie. She is a terrier mix that we adopted several years ago from the Humane Society. Annie is spoiled rotten and pretty much rules the roost around our household.









Everyone have a great week.


Luck, love and laughter,
Judy

It's a Snowy Friday

We've had more snow today. When I woke up this morning, I thought the weatherman had really blown the forecast. There were just a few flakes flying and none on the ground (the way they talked yesterday, we were supposed to get hammered). But.....come late morning it started snowing heavily and kept it up until 2:30 or 3:00. Then started up again about 4:00. It looks like it has just about stopped again.

Here is a picture of the snow this afternoon.

Well after listening to the forecast yesterday morning, I decided I didn't want to have to worry about getting to and from work today on nasty streets. I got a vacation day approved for today and I have spent the day at home being creative.




I spent the morning scrapbooking. I don't often get to spend this much uninterrupted time working on layouts.


I did this layout of Addison and Sarabeth. Robin took this picture a couple of months ago when they were playing at the park.

I used stickers for the lettering and got out the Sizzix to die cut the swirls and circles.

Then I did a layout for My Sewing Journal of the costumes that I made for Addison and Sarabeth for Halloween. I experimented on this layout using the sewing machine to sew the buttons on and embellishing with decorative stitches. Sarabeth wanted to be a doctor so I made her scrubs and embroidered Dr. Sarabeth on the top. Addison asked for a pirate costume so I made one for her.

I was on a roll so I did some more layouts for the wedding scrapbook. Here are some pages of Joy and Danny's wedding in 2001. It was a lovely wedding at Joy's home.

Matthew and Jesse escorted their Mom in for the ceremony.

After they were pronounced husband and wife.

Two families blended into one.

Then this afternoon, I embroidered a shirt for Sarabeth. She had asked for a Lil' Sis shirt to wear to her big brother, Jesse's baseball games.

Front of the shirt.

Back of the shirt.

That's my day in a nutshell. Wish I had the time to spend more days like this.



Luck, love, and laughter,

Judy

Beautiful Wednesday

Today turned out to be a beautiful day - bright sunny skies and it warmed up to around 60. Love days like this. Of course the forecast for the next few days is not nearly so good as today.



My creative juices have been flowing. I finished a layout for Lesli's Tuesday Challenge - creating a scrapbook layout without using adhesives http://www.dragonflytime.typepad.com/. What fun this turned out to be. I stitched the contrasting paper and rick rack down on the sewing machine. The photos were fastened with brads and ribbon and I used brads on the flowers. No adhesive was used.

Robin is still battling the stomach crud...When I spoke with her this evening she said her stomach still hurt but she was no longer had fever. She said she spent the day on the couch.




Luck, love, and laughter,
Judy

Crazy Tuesday

We woke up this morning to snow. The ground and vehicles were covered but the street was clear. So I got ready for work thinking I've got it made with the streets clear. By the time I started getting my truck (yes, I drive a truck and love it) cleared of the snow, snow was beginning to accumulate some on the street. You have to realize that I live in a very hilly section of town and my house is about half way up the north side of a hill. I bravely started up the hill and went the long way around to work rather than going my usual way through the neighborhoods (up and down hills). Encountered some slushy spots and breathed a big sigh of relief when I got to work. We have so little of this nasty weather that I am not the least bit comfortable driving on it. At least this was snow and not ice. Then low and behold by 9:30 the snow had stopped and the streets were clear again.

Here is a picture of the wooded area behind the back parking lot of the building where I work that I took after I got to work. Everything was covered with snow and so pretty.

Now here is the same view when I left work at 5:00 this afternoon. Where did all the snow go?

Would you believe they are forecasting a high tomorrow of 58 to 60 degrees!

Robin just called to tell me she has the stomach bug that is going around. I had it about three weeks ago and Addie had it last week. I can't remember when I have been that sick. It really knocked me for a loop. So lets hope it doesn't keep her down too long.

Luck, love, and laughter.

Rainy Monday

What a miserable Monday we have had after two absolutely gorgeous days. We had heavy rain almost all day. I was beginning to wonder if we needed to begin building an ark. Temperature was in the 60's when I left to go to work this morning but when I left work this afternoon it was in the low 40's with a wind chill of 35. Snow is predicted for tonight...that I can do without.

I had high hopes for Sunday being a creative day. Didn't happen! Ronny and I both were dragging without a lot of energy. We did, however, make it to the grocery store for a major shopping expedition. The pantry had gotten kind of bare. Grocery shopping is one of my least favorite things to do. We have a Kroger store less than a mile from the house but it is probably one of the worst Kroger stores in the city. The employees are terrible and I get so frustrated everytime I shop there. But it is so convenient. Yesterday we went to a Kroger that we haven't shopped at in a long time. This store was great with a wonderful staff and they were really busy. As we were leaving the store, I told Ronny that we now know where all the yuppies shop.

I hope y0u have visited robindiane's blog http://mylifeexpose.blogspot.com/ and checked out the wonderful pictures she took of my grandchildren at the park yesterday. They are precious little girls who are best buds.


Luck, love, and laughter.

Gorgeous Saturday

We had an absolutely gorgeous day here with a high in the low 70's and beautiful sunshine. A perfect day for Sarabeth's first soccer game. Those four year olds were so cute running around the soccer field trying to move the ball. Sometimes in their excitement they moved the ball to the other team's goal. But our Sarabeth did make a goal. Yeah for her! Addison came to the game and got real upset because she couldn't play. She's not old enough -- won't be four until July. But we told her she could play Fall Soccer.

Her uniform is just a little big on her.

Look at her run!

Love the tongue stuck in her cheek!

Addison and Sarabeth came home with us after the game. They had a big time playing together and we enjoyed our time with them.

Pawpaw with his girls.

Got most of the housework done this morning so I hope I'll have some creative time tomorrow.

Luck, love, and laughter