Stitching away

Lately it seems that I have a lot to show, but no motivation to actually getting around to post. And it's not for lack of computer time either. I'm spending a lot more time on the computer now that the t.v. in our room died (sigh). I really think it's the shorter days. I just need that daylight! (ok, that will be my last daylight savings time rant). The other night I got the sudden urge to embroider, and I've been in an embroidery mood ever since. I don't normally do it, but it's nice to have a craft to do while sitting and watching all my shows.

From the moment I saw this AB print, I was in love. I just love the color and style. So, I drew one of the lotus flowers and embroidered it in red on some scrap linen. Sewed a few quick strips around the edges, and backed it with linen.

I stuffed it with a pillow form that I picked up at IKEA for $1.49. How cheap is that?? I have two more forms, so I'll probably be making a few more pillows. I'm really happy with how this came out. I just love the embroidery. I'm planning on doing some more embroidery for an ornament swap I'm participating. John starts his 4th round of chemo tomorrow, so it'll be a good little project to take with me. You gotta love portable crafting!

I also wanted to offer up a little deal to my blog pals. I have a lot of headbands leftover from the craft fair, and they're just taking up space. For some reason I really thought I'd sell like 100 of them, so I made close to that. Oh boy, that was silly. So, if you're interested, please send me an e-mail at katiebhandbags@gmail.com and I'll set up an etsy listing just for you. Regular price is $8.50, sale price is $7.50 each, or 2 for $14, or 3 for $20. Buyer must pay for shipping. You can see your choices here. It also comes in green, I just haven't relisted it yet.

Holiday Mode

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I'm in full holiday mode. I want to decorate, craft, bake, you get the idea. Although I have yet to do any of the above. Hopefully I'll get around to making the tree skirt before we actually get the tree. And I've already strained my vocal chords singing Mariah's "All I want for Christmas". I probably shouldn't have admitted that, although I know I'm probably not the only one!

I've been wanting to make travel bag, or a "dop kit" as John's family calls it, forever. Men are always so hard to make gifts for, so I thought this might be a good one. I'm really happy with the way it came out. I used some thrifted wool fabric, and some suede from a thrifted skirt. I'm toying around with the idea of putting an applique on the side, just so that it doesn't look so plain. I don't know, we'll see.

Anyway, this one is up for sale on etsy if your interested. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know mine was great!

It's never too late for a Halloween post!

Now that Halloween was like, oh say, almost a month ago, I thought I'd post a picture of Isaiah dressed to the nines. I tried to get him to wear a panda costume that my MIL had made for her kids, but he was not into it. So, a greaser he was. A perfect outfit for a little toddler who didn't want any costume. Jeans, white shirt, and a thrifted leather jacket.
He loooooooved having mousse in his hair. It was so crazy. I actually had to hide the bottle because he kept walking around with it trying to put it in his hair. Ugh, I hope I didn't start something there. He was a little apprehensive about the whole trick or treating thing, but once he realized he was getting something out of it, there was nothing stopping him. He got some good things too (and I should know, I ate most of it). He wouldn't say "trick or treat", so we had him knock and say "pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaasee." It was so cute. Anyway, just thought I'd share since I have nothing better, or crafty to blog about. I'll be making two pies tonight, and will be preparing for some heavy cooking tomorrow. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

I must like pink

This daylight savings time is still cramping my style. I hate it getting so dark before 5pm, and I always feel like it 3 hours later than it really is. I'm pretty sure my brain stops functioning after dark anyway. Plus it's impossible to take any quality photos.

I know I said that I was sick of sewing scarves, but Saturday found me sewing up a scarf for my giveaway winner and noticing that I had several partially finished scarves from my large order. So two more scarves it was. I finished them up this morning, and if my lazy butt ever gets around to it, they will be up on etsy.

I really spent most of the weekend working on this bag.

It's from the same fabric as this wallet and the brown leather suede accents are from a thrifted skirt. I really love the way it came out. I had originally intended to list it on etsy, but for the time that it took me to complete it, I'd have to charge a lot for it, and I'm not sure anyone would buy it. So, it'll probably end up as a Christmas gift for my MIL, although I'm not sure she really wants a pink purse. Who knows, maybe I'll just keep it for myself.

rain and a wallet

Today it is raining hard and I'm finding it difficult to have any motivation to do anything around the house. I did take a shower, only to put some pajamas back on. At least I'm clean, right? I shipped the scarves out on Tuesday and I'm glad to have that out of my hair. I find it really difficult to sew a lot of the same things at once. I'm a lot more product when I have a couple of projects going on at once. Something about controlled chaos I suppose.

I spent the better part of yesterday working on this wallet.

The outer fabric I got at Hancock's last week when the decorator fabrics were 50% off. I am in looove with it and I'm tempted to go buy more. Since it's so dreary out the pictures aren't the best, but I did need an opinion on the button. What do you think? With or without?

This may find itself in my etsy shop a little later on today. We'll see if I get my act together. Otherwise you can find me sleeping on the couch.

Seashell Angel Ornament Tutorial

What you need:

• 3 wide seashells, two preferablly a little bit smaller than one


• 1 small wooden bead, approximately .5" in diameter


• hot glue gun
  
• acrylic paints


• small paint brushes


• strand of small beads or pearls

Step 1:
Place the bead onto the end of a small paint brush. This is to hold it steady during the painting step. Place a small amount of hot glue into the hole on top. This way it will look more like a head than a bead. After the glue dries, paint on the hair. You can use your color choice

Step 2:

Paint on the facial features. I use the end of a paint brush to dot on the eyes. Then brush a small amount of pink for the cheeks and add a mouth. Let dry.

Step 3:

Using the hot glue gun, dab a small amount on the side of the larger shell, and attach one of the smaller shells like this. Repeat on the other side.

Step 4:

After the paint is dry, attach the head to the body using a small amount of glue to the body. You want to try to angle the head down slightly so that you cannot see the hole on the bottom.

Step 5:
Cut a piece of ribbon about 4" long. Glue onto the back in a loop for a hanger.

Step 6: (Optional)
Add a small strand of beads across the front.

Tada! And a finished ornament. I used these last year on the front of Christmas packages.

Is anyone interested in kits of these to make themselves? I'd probably be do a set of 3 for $5-$7.

Winners and a question

The first winner is Jessi and the second is Lindsey . Jessi, you get first pick, so e-mail me with your choice. Please e-mail me with your addresses! Katiebhandbags@gmail.com


And the question... Is anyone interested in a tutorial on how to make angel ornaments with shells? If so I'll write a quick one up and post it.

One Year

Well it seems that many people in the blog world are celebrating some type of milestone. It didn't occur to me until after seeing some, that I had passed my one year anniversary. So much has changed for me in one year : We lived with John's parents, bought our own home, had a baby turn 1, took a nice family vacation, and found out John has cancer. Phewww.. who would have ever thought. I am so thankful that I have found blogging. (and I don't even want to mention my first entry, yikes). I've made some great friends, who have made me feel that I am not crazy for sewing instead of doing the laundry. You have all given me encouragement for my crafting, and support through this whole John ordeal. So as a huge Thank You for all the comments, cards, gifts, etc, I thought what better way than a good old fashioned giveaway!

I'll choose two winners at random on Monday morning. The first chosen will get the option to choose either a scarf or two headbands. Each winner will get to decide which color they would like their prize in. So if you want to be entered, leave me so love! Everyone is welcome to enter!!

On another note, today John starts his third treatment. After this is finished he'll be halfway done. Whooohoooo!

A business opportunity

I really thought that after the craft fair was over, I'd be able to get it together. But I'm starting to realize that I may, in fact, never get it together. And I think I'm o.k with that. Right now, I'm busy sewing up 15 scarves. These scarves are an order that resulted from my craft fair. Actually, I'll tell you the story. We had barely finished setting up, when two nice ladies came over to my table, and immediately started gushing about the scarves. She loved them, told me how wonderful my table was, and then, she had a business proposition for me. Can you believe it?? I nearly peed my pants (and I'm not kidding). Anyway, she owns her own business in which she has over 100 vendors of handmade goods, and each month she has a showcase of 40 and sells their products. And she wanted 15 of my scarves. She actually thought at first she could buy them all, but then realized I'd be left with nothing to show. I only had 9 scarves there. So, that was some major excitement. After she left, my cousin and I both needed to sit to compose ourselves. The only catch is that I have to mail these scarves out by Monday, leaving me little time to sew anything else.

I also wanted to show this cute little package from Jenn Maruska. Let me tell you, if you ever have an opportunity to swap with this lovely girl, do it! It was a small swap, in which she requested this Pumpkin Spice coffee drink, and offered up some of her gorgeous wool. (Grr for the blurry picture) How could I resist that? This is our second swap with a month or two. And I'd happily do it again! Thanks Jenn!!

All about the Craft Fair...

I am pleased to say that the craft fair was a huge success! I sold a good amount of things, met some really nice people, and made a great business contact. I even got to meet a bloggy friend, Stephanie, of Creative Reveries, who was just as nice in person as she seems on her blog! Plus, she wore this skirt that she made which is soo cute! Here we are in front of my table. I didn't realize it until I looked at this picture, but I must have looked like a hot mess! Oops. Stephanie is wearing the scarf that she bought from me. She was happy that I still had it because she had seen it on my blog. I thought that was funny.

Anyway, it was interesting to see what sold. The scarves were by far the most popular thing. I definitely should have made more, and I probably would have sold more if I had. I only brought one of each color, so lesson learned there. I only sold a few of my headbands, which actually surprised me. I guess people aren't into headbands as much as I thought. I'll be listing them on etsy when I get a chance. I probably won't make any more for a while, so if you wanted one for a stocking stuffer, better get them while you can!



I didn't remember to take a picture of my table until closer to the end of the day. It looked more full at the beginning. My MIL and I found the quilt rack at the thrift store and she painting it white. I used cake stands to prop up the smaller bags, and a few bowls to hold other items on the table.




Overall it was a great experience, but I was glad it was over. I spent yesterday just relaxing and it was wonderful. Now I have a custom order to do 15 scarves this week, so that is a new challenge. But the craft room has to be cleaned up before anything gets done! Thank you D.C. Craft Mafia for putting on a wonderful show!

Buy Handmade!!

I know I might be a little behind on the bandwagon, but better late than never right? I pledged to Buy Handmade for the holidays and I'm going to encourage my friends and family to do the same. I'm thinking I'll send out a little e-mail sending them to the website, and also including a list of my favorite handmade online stores. So if you have one, let me know! You might think about sending out a little e-mail yourselves!!

And I'll be back tomorrow to tell you all about the craft fair, pictures and all!

Almost There

Holy Moly. The big day is tomorrow and I can't believe it! I'm having moments of feeling prepared, followed swiftly by those of nervousness. My mother in law was a saint yesterday and helped me with some finishing details. Not to mention watched Isaiah, who was actually himself behaving like a saint as well.

I made this banner today during Isaiah's nap. My plan is to safety pin it to the table cloth. I hope that it's easy to read. It was really hard trying to get a decent picture of it!

All in all, I feel pretty good about the situation. Although who knows what other unexpected things will pop up. My MIL I went to the thrift store the other day and picked up some leather skirts. She really wanted me to try using some leather, so this is what I came up with. It'll take some more practice because that leather can really be a pain!

I also wanted to share these gorgeous tags that I bought from the amazing etsy seller paperologie. She was super easy to work with and shipped quickly. (Although my apologies for the picture).

Alright.. wish me luck! If you're in the D.C. area tomorrow, come stop by and say hi! I might just give you something free ;)

DC Craft Mafia presents

The Unusual Suspects Holiday Arts & Crafts Festival

Saturday, November 3, 200712pm - 8pm

The Anastasi Room

5020 Battery Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814