My pretty purple and green spring bag/purse

I found my self in the mall a few weeks back browsing the purse department in Macy's... YIKES!! No way was I able or willing to spend high $$$$ for a spring bag!! So I thought to my self... why not make one (the light bulb went on :) I began my search for a cute crochet bag pattern, this took some time because there are a lot of wonderfully cute free bag patterns out there (but I loved the search). I decided I really liked this stitch pattern http://www.piece-by-piece.net/Crochet/pssbag.htm

The only problem was that the bag would not be sturdy enough to hold all of the things I keep in my purse, I think I actually have fit arms because of the weight of my purse :) !
So, it was time to get creative. I decided to only make the outer shell of the bag crochet and actually sew a sturdy fabric bag for the inside. I had this pretty purple leftover yarn from another project and thought that it was a nice spring purple color so I went with it. The only problem with this yarn is it is very soft and I was really worried (after I crochet the section I wanted) that it would not hold up well. I just hate that feeling of  Oh'no! I just waisted HOURS on something and it is not going to work!  I  had that feeling on this one. But, I went a head and planned out the fabric portion of the bag and pieced together a rectangular shaped bag and lined it with an iron on interfacing I also added reinforcement in the form of cardboard to the bottom. I did alter the crochet pattern for the purpose of having a bottom to the purse. I made a rectangle base before I started the pattern and just made it the size I wanted to bag to be, then I cut the fabric to match the size of the crocheted portion. 
I added a few interior pockets to hold my cell phone and lip gloss etc. I also added a few fabric flowers and a super cute purse charm I found at Michael's :)

I love your feedback :) let me know what you think

Some lace, some ribbon.... Ooh La La

Been a busy busy week! As I mentioned, we will be making our final military move in a few months. We have been working on getting our little ranch sold for the past month and a half and it looks like it is sold YIPPEEEEE!!! We had to vacate our place :(  and finding a place to stay for a few months with horses, dogs and kids should have been a huge challenge, but by the grace of God it was not!! A friend of ours has a large ranch house and she offered to rent us a room and board our horses!! That was a relief! Normally, I would have just went a head and moved to our new state early but because my adopted daughter is getting married in November, she needed us to stay (her and her future husband will be moving with us). So, we found a place to hang our hats for a few months, all was looking good. Then came the news that our movers would be showing up 5 days before we scheduled them, which only gave me one and a half days to get all of my stuff organized!! And of course... my military man was in the middle of a base exercise and there was no way he could get off, so the kids and I were on our own. I ran a round like a crazy woman, throwing things in boxes that I thought we might need for the next 2 to 3 months. I packed my little car and ran back and forth dumping my stuff off in the room . I think the past few days had been the most stressful few days I ever had in my life!! Before I knew it, there were men trudging through my home again, packing up all of our belongings that will be going into storage until we find a home in our next state.         So, now it's all over, I am sitting here in my rented room, watching my kids play the Wee (they are loving that there is a Wee here :). I am still feeling a little displaced and frazzled but I know that too will pass in time. I have a little place set up to carve my stamps, which I have been working on.... I have a HUGE order, yippeeee :)

In the mist of all of this moving chaos, my adopted daughter had a lingerie bridal shower Thursday night. What fun!! She thought she would die of embarrassment :)))
One of the things I gave her are the garters that she will be wearing on her wedding day. Of course, hand made is always best :)  and thank the Lord I made these garters a few weeks ago, phew am I glad I did not procrastinate :)

I was totally hooked on this lace the  minute I saw it!! Isn't it pretty!!

Found some beautiful ribbon...

 I ironed the ribbon in half, got it all pinned in place and went on to sewing

This is the one she will keep... it has the special lace that I fell in love with

This is the throw a way garter, I made it a little different. I changed the lace, the bow and the charm

I wanted to present her gifts to her in something special

I found this adorable little suitcase in just the right colors and Ooh la la appeal :)

Under the first layer are the garters, under the second layer is the ooh la la :) I will just keep that one private :)

I made this cute little traveling tag using one of my stamps that is for sale in my shop. I actually made this stamp design a few months back just for this reason

I love the way it all came together :)

How cute is this cake!!! And yummmmy it was good :)

Sew busy :-)

I have spent a lot of time on this recent project of mine. I actually did this one for myself... kind of based on necessity. I searched the local stores for spring/summer  pj's that are cute but not revealing. I do like to look cute :-) for my husband of 17 years... but I do have kids. So, the see-through little nighties and the super short shorts  that are so popular in the stores are not on option for me... not that they would be anyway. I just wanted something that I can walk around my home in that would cause my husband to smile when he looks at me yet not gross my children out :-) You think this would be an easy find, after all I do live in an area with a mall... but nooooo it was either sexy or muumuu! :-) I then went on line to see what I could find, and there are some cute pj's available but I am not willing  to spend over $70 on something to sleep in.  I thought, hmmmm I could make some and it would be much cheaper! The thing is, I do not enjoy sewing. I can sew, I am pretty good at sewing, I just do not like it all that much. But.... I do want to look cute :-) So, I found some great fabric at Hobby Lobby and started sewing. Even though I grumbled about how I dislike sewing the entire time I made these pj's I do like the results!

I do not understand why some of my pictures turn sideways? I do not see a way to turn them on the blog either.... sorry