Rag Quilt Purse

I am a purse freak! Really, ask my husband and he will tell you! I love purses. I swear I was born holding a purse! Anyway, imagine my delight when I realized I could combine two of my great loves . . . purses and Stampin' Up! Doesn't seem likely does it? Well that is what I thought until I saw what people were doing with fabric and their Big Shot Machine! Even though I found these creations all over the place, I never thought I could actually do it. I don't sew. I used a sewing machine once to make some VERY simple curtains and that was like 14 years ago! When I get a hole in clothing or a button falls off I throw it away! Anyway, in April I attended a Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar and got to hang out with some friends when I arrived! The plan was to hit a couple of scrapbook stores and quilt shops. While browsing the quilt shops I was talking to my friend Kim at Stichin n Stampin' about how much I love purses and I would love to make one of those Rag Quilt Purses that I see everywhere and she told me how easy it would be and gave me all kinds of advice on how to do it and what I would need to get started. I ended up buying some fabric. Upon returning home Kim was kind enough to send me some different varieties of batting to try! As usual, life got busy, the fabric began collecting dust and I didn't have hopes of ever getting to it! (I even talked my mom into giving me her old sewing machine that was collecting dust!) If you are still reading this, I bet you are wondering if I have a point, well I do :) Last weekend I decided to blow the dust off the fabric and sewing machine and make my first Rag Quilt Purse! As I said, I am not a sewer, so this took some trial and error and my sewing wasn't perfect, but, I love this purse!! I am using it and I have gotten more compliments on it than any other purse I've ever carried and I've only been carrying it for 3 days! So, you wanna see it???

What do you think? Pretty isn't it?! Of course purple is my favorite color. I watched the videos over at Chic' n Scratch and she does an awesome job of instructing you on how to make this!

News Flash! News Flash! News Flash! News Flash! News Flash!

Have you heard the latest news???? Stampin' Up! released a brand new catalog today and let me tell you it is BEAUTIFUL! I just can't tell you how excited I am about this catalog. The new colors are gorgeous! There are new accessories, new stamps, new ribbon! oh my! There is a link on the sidebar to the left, you can download a pdf of the catalog or you can go to my website and see it there! If you want to see it in person, come to my open house next week! You will also get to make a card using new product and see some of the new accessories. You can find more information on my website!

This new catalog has motivated me, so hopefully I will update my blog more :)

Oh my goodness, am I blogging?

I am, I am! I have been trying to get here and post, but something always gets in my way! Life is busy, but wonderful, so I can't complain there :) I am excited that winter is finally behind us and we can get on with spring and summer a/k/a Camping Season!

Last weekend I was able to attend the Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar in Milwaukee and got to spend time with some of my good friends and meet a few new friends! I also learned a lot of neat techniques and had just a great time!

I do have something to share with you today, I was in a secret Easter Bunny swap and this is one of the things I made my bunny, I am addicted to making these mini pizza boxes and have been playing around with different sizes. This one was big enough to hold 6x6 paper on the inside.

I used Old Olive for the Base, Sweet Pea DSP for the front, Chocolate Chip for the "E" and some Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon tied around the box. Two pretties flowers and some Chocolate chip Corduroy buttons finished it off. I thought it was cute!

Build A Bear

I was excited when I finally purchased the Build A Bear die and used it for some gifts I gave to my friend's kids for Christmas!


Supplies:

Ink: Real Red
Cardstock: Garden Green, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black, Cameo Coral
Accessories: Big Shot Scallop Circle Die, Stampin' Up! Bear, Beary Essentials and Beary Girl Die, DSP from Country Living Holiday Kit from 2008, silver cord and Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon.

She is just beary cute, isn't she?



Then I had a couple of giftcards to give, so I made some adorable gift card holders for them. I used some CD folders I had. Yes, a little big for gift cards, but I really wanted to use the Build A Bear and it fit perfectly on these!


This is the outside.

Supplies:

Ink: Real Red
Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black, Cameo Coral, Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot Scallop Circle Die, Stampin' Up! Bear, Beary Essentials and Beary Girl Die, DSP from Country Living Holiday Kit from 2008, snowflake punch, Old Olive Striped Ribbon.


Here is the inside:

Happy New Year!

Has it been another month already? Apparently time is going by faster than I think, which is bad because I feel like it is just flying! Anyway, I have lots of stuff to share, so hopefully I can get caught up on my blog :)

Here is a banner I made for my New Year's party, isn't it the cutest?:

It was a teeny bit time consuming putting it all together, but it was worth it in the end. The best part is I can use it every year by changing out the last pennant and making a new on for that year!

Supplies:

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot, Silver Cord, Whisper White Organza Ribbon, Pennant Bixz XL Die



I used my Cricut for letters on this one, but Serif Essentials would have worked too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I realize Thanksgiving was LAST week and my last post was a MONTH ago! Better late than never, right? It's the thought that counts, right? LOL I have been busy, busy, busy! Family, work, life, crafting, you know the drill! But I wanted to check in here and post something!!

These are a couple pictures from Thanksgiving day:

This is my Thankful banner that I created and showed you a while back. I hung it on the mantel over the fireplace! It looked so nice!












Next is my beautiful table! I spend as much time on my table as I do cooking!



















And a close up of the place setting:

The flowers are not real :( but I did fill the vase up with some shredded card stock to add some color!

I ran out of time to make the napkin rings, so I just tied a bow around the top of the napkin using Dusty Durango Polka Dot Ribbon. It looked great and worked perfectly with these napkins!

It was a good day filled with good food and family. Hope your Thanksgiving was as blessed as mine!

Remember Me?

I am alive :) Just been incredibly busy this last month. And of course we are embarking on the holiday season so it will remain busy. Can you believe it is November? Seriously? What happened to June, July, August, September and October? This year has gone so fast!

Here is a card I made recently. I hadn't done a criss cross card in a while and I had some of this paper left that I didn't know what to do with. This is a bright card!

I have more projects to post soon!