These fun little Zombie bags are just too cute! Here's the latest one:
I made this one for our friend, Shelby. I had made her mom a diaper bag out of these fabrics a while back and thought it would be fun to do a matching mother/daughter thing. I love the way it turned out. These fabrics are some of my favorite.
I almost wish my name was Shelby so I could keep it. :)
I like making bags. I think you all know that by now. Hey...straight lines, no zippers, no buttonholes...that's my kind of sewing. E..A..S..Y!
Here's my latest favorite bag. It's a new free pattern from Happy Zombie. What's really cool is that it only uses three fat quarters. So, that means that I can finally do something with all those cute fat quarters that are stacking up in the craft room.
Here are a couple that I got as a sample. I think they are from one of Amy Butler's lines. (The stripe was some extra fabric I had.) They had just been sitting on my fabric shelf with no plans what-so-ever until I happened up this pattern. I'm so excited that I can now enjoy them!
They are such pretty, soft colors.
Alli wanted to take a few shots of the bag. Being her typical creative self, she absconded with my camera (again) and the bag to see what she could come up with. (The camera comes back with interesting stuff sometimes. Last week, she took some pretty crazy pictures of a half eaten chocolate chip cookie.) :)
Here are a few of her shots...
This one was funny...
Close-up...
Here, she told me to hold it like a little old lady...
Yikes...I just realized I was totally dressed in my slouchy mom attire, wearing my maternity cardigan from 14 years ago. Flattering...no; comfy...yes!
Good job, Alli! But next time, have one of your sisters hold the bag! :)
We started back to school early this year...the first week of August, to be exact. We are already finishing up week 6! That's hard to believe.
Unfortunately, school takes over for the first couple of months, which means...not much sewing, no picture taking, and no elaborate meals. I am desperately missing all three!
I'm feeling withdrawal symptoms. I must sew! I must cook! And I must photograph something! Now!!
Here's the last fun thing I cooked. This was way back at the end of July for Erin's dog-themed birthday party. I'm telling ya...I'm due for cook-fest.
Last week my sweet neighbor invited us over to make sushi. I, being a sushi fanatic, jumped at the chance. The girls were less than excited. The thought of raw fish sent them into a tizzy and they asked if I could go by myself. I reassured them that she would certainly have a California roll option and not to worry.
(She had no idea I was bringing my camera.)
The girls would agree...it was even better than California rolls. There was nothing uncooked to be found except for the veggies. It was slightly different than your typical sushi. Hers was the Korean version. It's called kimbob, which is easy to remember because her name is Kim and her husband's name is Bob.
The appetizer we made was with these nifty sweetened tofu pockets. You put seasoned rice into these little things.
Then turn them upside down and they are ready to go. They were delicious, but a bit sweet for an appetizer. I liked them more as a dessert.
Here is a picture of all the goodies that went into the sushi. Included is cucumber, carrots, thin slices of egg and tofu, asian pickled radish, along with spam...yes, spam. I was a little surprised by this, but I've heard it's quite popular with some Asian cooks.
We're ready to get started. Kim and her daughter gave some instructions on how to spread the rice. It's trickier than you might think. (At least it was for us.)
Then, the girls were let loose. They did great spreading the rice.
Then added their ingredients.
And rolled 'em up.
Each girl had her own method of rolling.
Some were more gentle than others.
That was the first type of roll. The next one was the big hit. It was about as far from traditional sushi as it gets...maybe that's why the girls loved these so much! Hold on, you purists, you're in for a shock.
This roll is made with Miracle Whip, American cheese, Korean BBQ beef, and some shredded lettuce. I know, I know...it sounds so "out there", but I have to say...it was fantastic!!!
I added some of this...yum!
My camera battery died right about here, so I ran home and got the charger and let it charge just a little more so I could get this shot.
As Alton says, it was definitely....Good Eats!!!
My in-laws and niece are visiting. After seeing all the bags we've made over the past several months, they expressed interest in having one too, so I custom made a couple of purses for them. They each hand picked their fabrics. (I think they did a great job!) And then, I made the inside pockets the exact size of the belongings they wished to put in the them. They turned out great!
Here's the one my mother-in-law designed.
I love, love, love this Amy Butler fabric. I bought it last summer to make a cute top, but never got around to it. I'm glad it's getting some use!
We found this polka dot for the inside lining. And I used a magnetic closure for the first time. (Super easy to do!)
Chantelle chose more girlie fabrics...some of my favorite Heather Bailey Fresh Cut prints.
It was hard to say goodbye to that one!
But, they both love their bags and I loved making them...win, win!
The list was waayyy long...my list of summer projects, that is. Since we did not take a vacation this summer and we finished school in early May, I've actually managed to get quite a lot of that list checked off. But even if I didn't get anything done except this, it would have been a successful summer.
I've been waiting for the right time to do this project for a year and a half. It's not something that can be done during the school year. I'm the teacher, so I actually need to be in the house mingling with the students. Last summer was filled with trips here and there and several visitors, so no free time then. But this summer, I was finally able to refinish the buffet in my dining room.
I can't tell you the sense of relief and happiness I have when I walk by the dining room now. I used to grumble and mumble and may even have growled at the room once or twice. That's how much I disliked it.
Ick!
The dark wood, light wood, and white furniture clashed in a big way.
Now, it feels more cohesive. I'm still debating about whether or not to remove the wallpaper. I guess I'll live with for a few months and get a better feel for it. Maybe I'll even hang something above the buffet so that the wallpaper isn't so overwhelming.
Still, what a vast improvement! No more snarling at the dining room. Yeah!
If summer ended tomorrow, I'd be perfectly content. I don't feel like anything has been left undone. It's a good thing, because we start school in August. :)
Mike is one fun daddy! When we lived in Arizona, he was all about finding the coolest pool toys and we have the best memories of our summers hangin' in the pool. It was a huge part of our lives. Here in Virginia, we are pool-less, so Mike is always trying to find ways to make playing outside in the summer heat more exciting.
Recently, he found this huge plastic sheet at work that was bound for the trash heap and brought it home for this.
I had to run up to a second story window to get a full shot.
It was good for hours of fun. Little did the girls know that they would wake up the next day bruised and sore from basically diving onto the ground. Ouch!
Stuff like this just doesn't happen to me. I don't win raffles. I never win contests. But this made up for a lifetime of not winning anything.
Have you ever heard of Free-cycle? It's a Yahoo Group (most cities have their own) whose goal is to help people get rid of their unwanted items by listing them on an e-loop and then it pretty much becomes a first come, first serve kind of thing.
Well, last week, I just happened to be sitting at my desk when a particular message came through. It said, "OFFER: Baby Grand Piano."
After rubbing my eyes in astonishment, I emailed the person as quickly as my typing skills deficient fingers could move. I wrote, "I'll take it, I'll take it. I can be there as soon as possible." After many phone calls and emails back and forth with the owner, and a quick trip to their house to see what kind of shape it was in, he said I could have it, so I hired a piano mover and the rest is history. It all happened very fast.
When it arrived, I was astounded, shocked, amazed, overwhelmed...the adjectives could go on for a paragraph, but mostly I was feeling so incredibly blessed by this beautiful piece of artwork. It had been quite dark at the other house and I didn't really see the detail and beauty of it. I had just thought it was an old, grungy piano, which was fine with me. I'm all about refinishing things.
But when it got into the light of this room, it was anything but old and grungy. It was breathtaking, stunning, and ornate...there I go with the adjectives again.
I still have to scrape my jaw off the floor every time I walk into this room. And then I pinch myself. Wow! It's real. Thank you, thank you, Lord. What a blessing for our family, but especially the girls who love, love, love to play it!
This is the big one. The main summer project that I really, really want to get done. This buffet is sorely needin' a paint job. It's beat up and just plain ugly. (It actually looks much better in the picture than in person.) I think I am probably one of the few people who does not like dark wood furniture. I actually prefer painted furniture...usually white or cream. This monstrosity has been in my dining room for more than a year and I've been waiting (rather impatiently) to paint the thing. Here's an example of what I'm going for...(Jona, of course!)
The only problem is...I also hate the wall paper. So here's my dilemma...do I paint the walls first, then figure out what color to paint the buffet or paint the buffet white and get all the furniture looking the way I want, then find a wall color to go with it?
My husband is hoping that I will like the wallpaper after I paint the buffet as he thinks it's great. (I reeeally don't think I will!) Even my kids love this wallpaper. I told them they could decoupage something with it after I tear it off the wall. That almost won them over.
Yep, we had another one. Well, it ends up being a party when the girls plan lunch/tea along with the sewing of the aprons.
It is so much fun to watch the girls use the sewing machines all on their own...and complete an entire project beyond a basic pillow. What an accomplishment for an 8 year old! I also love that they pick out their own fabrics. You never know what they'll end up with. I love the stripe/polka dot combo that Bethany picked. I would never have put those two together, but they look darling! Wow!
Here is our latest batch. Alli is here with her apron that she started a while back, but just finished today. She had decided she wanted to gather the main part. Wha??? I'm a pattern follower. I'm not a "make-up-a-new-pattern" kind of person. But Alli is a "make-up-a-new-pattern" kind of person, so I tried to guide her in the right direction. Only problem...it took a little longer than she expected and she had given up...until today. I'm so glad she finished it. It looks great. She's not too sure it was worth it as you can't really tell it's gathered while you are wearing it. :)
