Harry Potter Tote Bag

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Just popping in to show off my newest creations today. 

I've said before how much I love Pinterest. It is like falling down a rabbit hole where you can click and click on pictures for hours, finding all of these websites and ideas that you didn't know existed if not for Pinterest.

I stumbled upon a cute blog called SugarBeeCrafts. She has many cute crafty ideas on her blog. The "Pocket Tote, Library Bag" tutorial quickly caught my eye. It is a simple pattern to make a cute tote bag that includes a front pocket. It is designed to hold children's books, hence the title, but it is easy to change the dimensions of the pieces to make a bag any size you would like. That is exactly what I did. 

I love Harry Potter so when I saw this fabric, I knew it would make a cute bag. The coordinating red has little flecks of gold glitter in it that add to the magical theme of the project. The finished bag is 12.5" tall, 13" wide with 4" depth inside. I boxed the corners at a larger scale than what the pattern called for. 

I also made the handles longer and added velcro to the pocket and main bag opening as a way to close them. 

I do have material to make one more at the moment. If you are interested in having me make another for you, please hop over to the listing on my Etsy shop. As a Thank You for being a follower of my blog, please use Coupon Code BLOGBUDDY10 to enjoy 10% off anything in my store, including this bag.

I've started another bag at the request of my stepmom. This next one is being made with Game of Thrones themed fabrics. It's going to be pretty. I'll be back to show you.

Thank you so much for stopping by. 

I hope you are enjoying a pleasant start to your Summer.

**Hugs from Sunny Miami**

Jen

A Little Addicted to Pinterest...

Hello Friends:

I am proclaiming to the world that I am a Pinterest addict. For the longest time, I never understood what the fascination with it was. I thought it was mainly about sharing pictures and nothing more. Boy was I wrong. I love that site. It is the perfect place to find inspiration and ideas for anything you can think of. It has been my go to source for crockpot recipes more than anything, but I have found many creative inspirations too. One of which was a cute sewing project I wanted to try.

Hot/Cold Rice Packs.

The instructions can be found at Bee in my Bonnet

These were easy to make and a really great idea. You can save yourself the cutting time by using a package of pre-cut squares. They are about 5" square finished and are filled with white rice. I found these adorable fabrics in a package together at Hobby Lobby. The only slight challenge I found was sewing the bags closed after adding the rice. You have to make sure you don't overfill them or else you risk having rice pour out and getting into your machine as you sew. I also read that you can add a scent to the bags by adding some drops of your favorite essential oil to the rice before sewing the bags closed. You can put these in the freezer to use them cold or pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds and use them hot. They are cute and perfect to have on hand for aches and pains. You can also use them as hand warmers in the colder months too. I think I'll keep mine cold for the sweltering Miami heat down here.

Thank you for stopping by. I really enjoy reading all of the comments. The comment verification is always turned off on my blog. I can't stand that feature! My Pinterest profile is here if you would like to follow me.

 I hope all of you Moms had a wonderful Mother's Day with your families today. This weekend was a double special for me. Besides today being Mother's Day, Saturday also happened to be my 32nd birthday. I thought they were good excuses for some stash shopping.

(Post Edit!The bags should be microwaved for 30 seconds not minutes. Thanks Linda! Teach me to write a blog post at 1:30 am. )

**Hugs from Sunny Miami**

Jen

Painting with a Twist

That is the name of a painting studio down here in Miami. It was my friend's birthday on Friday. She decided to invite a handful of friends and family to join her for a painting party that evening. I haven't painted in a long time so I was really excited to join for an evening of creativity. The class was only two hours long which at first didn't seem very long to me to complete a painting, but it was just enough. The class was called "Stiletto". Here is a progression of my painting.

The Blank Canvas

Preparing the Background - Covered the Canvas in Black

A Stiletto Shoe Begins to take Shape

Some more Color Added

The Finished Project.

I thought the instructor was hilarious. He had us laughing during the whole class. It was hard not to make a mistake while laughing, but he made the project super simple for us to follow. It is amazing how a line here and a line there all comes together to make a picture. What I truly love about painting is how forgiving it is. If you make a mistake, you can just paint over it and try again.

I also made a special gift for my friend. She is a nurse and loves all things Pink in Breast Cancer Awareness Theme. Plus she loves bags! So I made her a tote bag.

Looking forward to the next painting class. I hope you all are having a fabulous weekend.

**Hugs and Love from Rainy Miami**

Jen

A Fun Sassy Kitty Project for Sale

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone:

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. I had the pleasure of attending two Thanksgiving meals yesterday. They were both wonderful. The weather was just beyond perfect in Miami. We couldn't have asked for better.

Its been a while since my last post, but I blame my absence on technology this time. My router decided to give up one day which forced us to buy another one. Needless to say the new one didn't work as well as the old one at first. It was such a chore going on blogs and websites with many photos and videos. I couldn't figure out what the problem was. One day I got fed up, put on my computer thinking cap and worked some magic on my laptop. When all else fails, uninstall and re-install. Now, everything works! So I have been able to get back to my routine blogging visits.

I have been doing some stitching. I even started a new Chatelaine project which I will post some pictures of this weekend.

I did finish a new project yesterday. If you recall my last blog post, I bought some sewing patterns on Etsy to make iPad and Kindle Sleeves. I found the cutest kitty fabric in Joann Fabric and thought it would make such a cute iPad Sleeve. I actually had more than enough fabric to make more than one of these so I am offering this one for sale. I think these make wonderful gifts. This sleeve fits any 10" electronic device. It measures 11.5" tall and 9" wide. It it very nicely padded with heavy weight stabilizer.

Front View: There are two pockets in front.

Back View

Inside View

If anyone is interested in purchasing this one, it is $24.00 plus shipping. I can make a smaller one to fit a Kindle or a Nook. That size will cost a little less.

I always appreciate your visits and comments. To my visitors up north and across the pond, stay warm! 

**Hugs from Miami**

Jen

Sewing & Bowling for the Cure

Hello Friends:

I have been a busy creative bee the last few weeks and have some more finished projects I couldn't wait to show you all. My cross-stitching has taken a back seat to other projects these last few weeks but for good reason. Of course, one of the projects was the scarf that I showed in my last post. It turns out that the charity event (which happened on Saturday) that I made that scarf for had too many prizes. My stepmother decided to keep it for another event she is coordinating for in November. I was fine with that. My honey and I still went to the other casino night charity event on Saturday. We had a great time and ended up winning a 2 night stay at a nice resort on Ft. Lauderdale Beach. Nice way to end the evening don't ya think? I'm not complaining! :-D

Any hoo....So last month I was elected as Director to the Board of Directors of the Greater Miami Bowling Association here in Miami. One of our biggest bowling events that we hold in October is called "Bowl for the Cure". It is a tournament open to all of our bowling members where they can come, compete and help us raise money for Breast Cancer awareness. Our goal for this event is to raise $6,000 to donate to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. 

Believe it or not, our bowling association board has never had someone amongst them who could sew. Believe that?! So I volunteered to make some one of a kind hand-made items to add to the items for sale at the tournament. 

Here are the first two items that I made. I will be making a few more of each.

First: An IPAD/10" Tablet Device Sleeve.

It is perfectly padded inside with a heavyweight stabilizer. There are two pockets in the front for accessories. Plus check out the inside. It is completely lined. Isn't it awesome?!

I found this wonderful pattern on Etsy.com. The designer is a UK designer called SusieDDesigns. https://www.etsy.com/transaction/151728626?ref=fb2_tnx_title. 

I am so proud of how this came out. The pattern was clear and easy to follow. I keep looking at it and find myself in amazement that I actually made it. My sewing machine got a good workout with this project.

The second little project I made is an IPod Holder. 

Back View: It has a pocket for earbuds.

I found this easy to sew pattern on Etsy as well. It is by Jody'sCraftCreations. https://www.etsy.com/transaction/149205122?ref=fb2_tnx_title

I just bought another pattern from SusieDDesigns to make a smaller sleeve for Kindles and Nooks. I'll make sure to pop by and post a pic when I finish one of these.

Thanks so much for stopping by and visiting. I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy some cooler weather in your near future. Unfortunately, Miami has one temperature...HOT! 

**Hugs from Miami**

     Jen

A Special Scarf Present

Happy Holidays Friends!

I hope you all had an amazing Christmas with loved ones and friends alike. I sure did. Now I am enjoying the first of a four day weekend off from work. Yay!

Well it turns out, I was not able to finish the quilt for my stepmom. I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I thought I could do the hand quilting in two months. There is always next Christmas though right?! Right.

So thanks to my procrastination, I had to decide on a last minute project for my stepmom. I had no clue until an e-mail popped into my inbox from Hot Potatoes. Did you ever watch the Carol Duval craft show on HGTV? The Hot Potatoes owner, Mary O'Neil, used to guest host on the show and do stamping projects. She was always so much fun to watch, and just extremely talented with stamps.

In recent years, Mary started selling Velvet Scarf Kits on her website. The fun part with these scarfs is that not only does she give you all the materials and the easy directions to sew it together, but she gives you instructions on how to emboss the velvet using an iron and a rubber stamp. This was my first time doing this technique. It was really cool.

I did not emboss the swirls on the front. That was velvet fabric that came that way already. I embossed the black piece with the starburst images.

I won't lie. The sewing part was a pain. I've never sewed on velvet, and have heard it is not pleasant to work with cause it moves so much. I definitely did my fair share of ripping stitches and re-sewing seams. If you are an expert at sewing velvet, this project is supposed to take 2 hours to do. If you are not, give yourself at least 6. :D

Happy New Years!
Jen

Welcome to The Ghastlie Blog Hop!

 Welcome Ghastlie Fans!

Are you all having fun yet? Silly question, I know you are cause I surely am. We are only on Day 3 out of 10 on our Blog Hop and I for one am totally blown away by the projects my Ghastlie Sistahs have made! I am just as surprised as all of you. Our dear Madame Samm wouldn't let us have a peak at what each other made. Such a clever lady she is. I too would like to give her a shout out and a big thank you for all her work in making this blog hop happen. There are so many talented ladies on this blog hop my friends, you definitely will not want to miss a day of it. Have you seen the prize giveaways so far on Madame Samm's blog? Those are some serious prizes. Keep those fingers crossed. You might just be a lucky winner!

Onto my Ghastlie projects! I made three projects for today. None are original designs of mine. I used a pattern I bought from the local fabric store. It is Simplicity Pattern #3776 - Sewing Accessories. All of the projects are made using fat quarters, cotton broadcloth and fleece.

A forewarning...I hope you like Spiders. I personally hate the creepy crawlers, but for Halloween props, they are perfect.

My first project was made using what the pattern called a "Container", but I call it a Bag. A most perfect bag to store my knitting or crochet project in. Gotta love those three knitting sisters, even if they are giving you the evil eye.

Front of the Bag

 

Back of Bag

My Second Project is a Project Organizer. It has many pockets that are conveniently kept together with Velcro Dots. I thought this project was perfect to showcase the different Grey Ghastlie Fabrics.  The spiders just love to crawl all over it and hide in the pockets. Eeekkk!

Organizer Front

Inside of One Side

Pockets on Other Side

Back of Organizer

My Last Project is a Table Top Container featuring Sebastian the Cat. I don't know about you all, but when I sew I accumulate a lot of trash on my table. My seam ripper tends to make an appearance too often sometimes.

One Side

Other Side

Before you continue hopping along, I have one more surprise for you all. As a thank you for participating in the hop, I am offering up a GIVEAWAY to one lucky hopper who comments on my blog during the hop. Here is what I am giving away (spiders excluded!):

My giveaway includes:

~ 4 Fat Quarters of Ghastlie Fabric

~ 1 Fat Quarter of Pink Kona Cotton Fabric

~ 1 Spool of Grey Coats and Clark All Purpose Sewing Thread

~ 1 100 Pin Package of Dritz Straight Pins

~ 1 Package of Schmetz Universal Sewing Machine Needles (These should fit all Machine Brands)

~ 1 Hand Exercise Ball...for those days when nothing you sew seems to be coming out right...The saying on the ball says: " When Life Throws You Scraps, Make a Quilt!"

RULES: To have a chance to win MY GIVEAWAY, you have to indicate in your comment that you are interested. Please put... "Please enter me in your Giveaway" or "Please include me in the drawing for your giveaway"...etc. If you don't mention you are interested in my giveaway, I will not count your name in the final drawing. I want to be able to only count those who are interested. :) My giveaway will be open until the last day of the HOP which is Friday, November 4th. This way, any late hoppers to the party can have a chance too. I will use Random.Org to draw a name and will announce the winner on Saturday, November 5th. 

You DO NOT have to become a follower of my blog to qualify for the drawing. All I ask is that you leave me a way to contact you should you win...an e-mail would be PERFECT. If I can't get a hold of the winner, I will use Random.Org to choose another winner.

**NOTE: Any and all comments to this post will count for Madame Samm's Grand Prize drawing of the day. If you comment, you are entered.**

Thank you for hopping by my friends and I hope you enjoy the rest of the hop. Here is the list of my Ghastlie Sistahs who are showcasing their creations today:

Mrs. Barb Ghastlie

Miss Karen Ghastlie

Ms. Loralynn Ghastlie

 Ms. Jen Ghastlie. **You are Here!**

Ms Penny Ghastlie

Mrs Rhonda Ghastlie

Have a Wonderfully Ghastlie Day!

Quilts, Stitching, Cards...Oh My!

I have some project updates to share with you all today and it is a little bit of everything and some more.

First, let me introduce you to my quilt. This is the quilt I was talking about in one of my previous posts. The one that has a deadline to finish date of 12/25/11.

I do not take credit for the color choices. I purchased a kit with the pattern from an Ebay seller; however the hours of piecing I take credit for! As you can see, a few rows need to be added before the top is officially done. The pattern is called "Tic Tac Moe". There is a story behind why I chose this pattern and color choices but I will save that for another post.

Next! Here is a "Hello" Card I made this last week. It will be included with my Exchange piece that I will be shipping off this Thursday. Papers and Embellishments all came in a kit I bought from Cupcards to Go. The little "Hello" is a Dazzle sticker from Paper Wishes.

Next! I did some stitching this weekend. I worked on a few projects. First is my "J" Fairy. I finished her left wing and did the back stitching.

I also worked on my "Tree of Stitches" by Abi Gurden from The Stitch Specialists Yahoo Group. I stitched the trunk in Crescent Colors - "Hickory Sticks".

I also worked on my Halloween Exchange piece for the Stitched with Love Exchanges group. It is a secret. :) Can't show it!

Next! I will participating in a blog hop next month starting on October 24. (Button on my sidebar) It is called The Ghastlies Blog Hop hosted by Madame Samm over at Sew I Quilt Now. What are "The Ghastlies" you ask? Well...it is a line of fabric. A really unique line of fabric. I call it fabric with a bit of "personality" (or maybe lack of). Personally, I think they are cool. They make me think of the Haunted Mansion ride in Disney World.

For this blog hop, we are being challenged to make sewing projects out of this fabric. Quilts are not excluded but the point is to see what other sewing projects can be made using this material. Can't say what I'm making...that is a surprise. Hmmmm, I've been saying that a lot lately. I have many secret projects don't I?? I will tell you all a little more about the blog hop when it gets closer to starting.

For you cat lovers!

Finally, I was bad this weekend. I stopped at Joann Fabrics for one particular thing and look what I walked out with: 

I just love the bats. What am I going to do with all this??? Not a clue right now. I have that disease called impulse buying. Have you heard about it? Is there a cure? Never fails, I go to Joann's or Michaels, I buy. I go to my LNS or knit store, I buy and we won't even go there about a bookstore.

With these two fabrics, I am going to make a bag. The top will be the outside and the orange will be the lining fabric. Next month, I am going to the Mickey Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. I heard they give out tons of candy. I don't think my son's little bag will be enough so I am preparing a bigger storage medium. :)

Okay! That is it, at least till next week. I am so excited right now. Friday can not come fast enough. My boys and I are going on a cruise this Friday to Monday to the Bahamas. It will be our first cruise. We are sailing on the Norwegian Sky and we have a balcony room. Can you say heaven? I will definitely report to you all my trip experience with a few beach pics. Here's hoping that the weather behaves. All projects are staying home in case you are wondering. I think I will be too busy staring at the sea while enjoying good food and a few drinks.

Happy Crafting and Stitching my Friends,

Jen