Let's Say Thanks

http://www.letssaythanks.com

Its been a while...

A very long while.

I'm going to blame it on Ike. yeah. Ike. Its all his fault.

anyway, I've been a sewing fool lately. woowoo.
I even had a hand in influencing two others to start sewing also. A nine year old and an older old. and that makes me happy.

I got really into making tea wallets.
Tea Wallets? wha??
Yeah, thats what I said.

Well, what happened was...
Ya know? Sometimes I get really bored (zero motivation, zero inspiration, whatever) and I read forum threads that I normally wouldn't read when I actually want to read a forum. So, yeah. I was very unmotivated one day... scanning the threads on Swap-bot, I come across someone wanting a tea wallet... hmmm... tea wallet... interesting... I read the thread. Saw some photos and thought to myself... hey, that looks easy enough... I think I'll try it. So I did.

I used my coworker, Angela as my guinea pig (she's always saying she likes my stuff, so hah! she's stuck with it!). Anyway, I used this really adorable fabric that I got a Joann's. I had been eyeing it for a while, but I didn't want to pay full price. Then one day, like magic, it was HALF price! heaven.





And some others





Cute, huh?
well I think so. that's all that really matters. :P

So since I am all excited about these quick and easy wallets, I went ahead and tried my hand at creating a tutorial. I even busted out my illustrator skillz. check it.


Tea Wallet A quick and simple gift.

When reading this *tutorial* please keep in mind that I have had no formal sewing lessons nor do I know what all the terms are called. I just got a wild hair one day in the Fall of 2007 and bought a sewing machine. I’ve been having fun since. All I want to do is sew and craft. So with that, let’s make a tea wallet!

Look through your fabric stash (who doesn’t have one?) and pull out some cute fabric. I like cute, but you can use whatever you want.

Iron it to make it smooth... oh so smooth. Then, cut out two rectangles about 10" x 4" and one at about 2 1/2" X 10".

On the smaller piece, fold over 1/4" at the top and press to make a nice fold. (see, term… I have no idea) Stitch across the length of the piece over the fold. This will be your pocket panel.

Now get what will be your inside panel and pin the pocket panel to it. Grab the outside panel and face both panels to each other. Pin.

Now stitch a quarter-inch seam around three sides, leaving one short side open.
OK, now turn it inside out. Press it with the iron to make it look all smooth and pretty.

On the open side, fold in so you get two nice edges. Now press it so that its all smooth and stuff. Don‘t stitch it just yet. Whew!

Measure what would be a third of the wallet then stitch.. two stitches and you‘ll have three pockets. now that you have your nice and pretty pockets. Now let‘s decide on how you want to secure the wallet…

• you can sew, glue, fuse a ribbon on the outside of the middle pocket. then tie a cute bow
• you can sew in some Velcro.
• add a fabric loop thing and sew on a button
• use a snap button

You can pretty much do whatever you want. Just keep in mind that it is easier to pack the wallet if it is secure somehow.

Now once you‘ve decided how you‘re going to secure it (or not) you can stitch the open side (add your loop at this point if you’re going to do that).

Voila! Now you have a tea wallet.





once I figure out how to add the pdf, I'll include that as well. (yeah, i have a pdf. woowoo. I'm a bigshot wannabe)

Burning the Midnight Oil?

I should re-name this blog something like Midnight Craft Fool or something. Its like I don't get started with my crafting until dinner is made, dishes are washed, kitchen is cleaned, emails are read, kid is asleep... it is usually after 10 before I can get some me time to craft. I do it for a few hours and get in bed between 1 and 2AM.

I like to watch the local Fox station when I'm crafting. Here's the line-up:

10:00 PM TMZ - not really into celebrity stalking, but it could be funny at times. I think that blond dude is, well, he's just different.

10:30 PM King of the Hill - I wanna marry Hank Hill. Peggy is one lucky woman. :P

11:00 PM - Midnight Two episodes of That 70's Show - I don't know what it is, but I can watch that over and over. My only wish is that they would show the episodes in order. In the first one last night, Kelso and Donna ran away to California. Donna needed to get away after being left at the alter by Eric and Jackie minced Kelso's words and agreed to marry him.
Then the second episode, Donna is back with blonde hair and dating Kelso's brother, Casey and Jackie and Hyde are a couple.

Midnight - 1:00 AM 2 episodes of Scrubs - I had never watched this show until it started airing on Fox in syndication. I can't believe I never watched it.

So that's what keeps me company while I'm burning the midnight oil with my crafts.

Here are some of my latest projects:



It is a Breast Cancer Awareness Dotee. I made this for a swapper who was flaked on. I hope she likes it. I really think she's cute.



This one is for a Winner Take All Dotee Game. Its part of a group that I am in on Swapbot. (I think she's cute too)



I have been so into making zipper pouches. This one started out pretty big. I messed it up so I tore it apart, cut out the mess up parts and started over. Its about 2" x 2.5" and yes, I think its cute. I sent this to someone who says she likes pink. I really hope she does.


For a digital art post card swap I did this:



I had to include my name on the card. So since I'm in love with @gnomad I added him to my card. But if you look at his eyes, you'll notice they are not his. :) They are mine. Its a lot freaky looking but I think its cool.

I know, I know...

I know y’all have been wondering what I’ve been up to…
So here ya go…

I don’t have photos of them all, but I finally finished all of the summer dresses I was making for the little girls, my sis and gran. Woooo… I made eleven dresses total and one blouse using the mock smock material stuff.
Here's one of the first ones. Since I've learned to make straps.




I finally figured out how to make a zipper pouch. This was one of the hardest things to do.
They even zip and don’t catch! These are my 5th and 6th try.
Be proud of me. I am. :p




I was having an anxiety attack because I hadn’t made anything in a couple of days. So, I made this. I sent it to a friend’s daughter.



This is what made me push myself to get that darn zipper right.



I don’t know if I shared this with y’all yet… Out of PolymerClay, I made this little guy. It was for the adopt a critter swap. His name is Felix Eisenhauer P.
He traveled to his new home in a matchbox and took with him breakfast, lunch, an energy drink and a snack in case he got hungry.



Some other Polymer Clay critters made by me and my son.






So there you have it. Some of my latest crafts.

I'm such a loser

I am going to update this soon.

I've been doing a lot of crafting and want to show it off. so check for that soon.

Regarding Gnomad?

I have no idea where he is or where he will be next. He's been corrupted with everyone wanting to show him a good time at the bars and stuff and now he thinks he doesn't have to listen to me. i tell him to go to one place but he ends up somewhere else. I give up. look for him on twitter. www.twitter.com/gnomad

The Roaming Gnome - An idea

A few days ago @ darkGracie gave me an idea.

I don't exactly remember what she said and I cannot locate the update. At the time I was just browsing Twitter on my phone. I wasn't involved in a conversation with anyone. But she said something along the lines of twitter and a roaming gnome....

--lightbulb!--

If you know me you know I love gnomes. I have quite a few just sitting here on my desk at work and they're all over my house. So anyway, I thought since I have one to spare, I could start this roaming gnome project.

I hope enough tweeps join in.

The gnome I am choosing is about 5 inches tall. I chose him because he is small and postage wouldn't be so bad.

Once I get the word out (and enough people wanna play), we'll set some guidelines. Two things that will be a must, first, is that you take a photo of it either with you or somehow indicating where you're located and second, that you send it on to the next tweep.

I'll also start a blog and whoever has the little guy can write a post about the guy's visit. Add your photo, etc. And of course, we'll start a flickr group. :)

So if you're interested in playing and/or helping me organize this, let me know!