Summer Daze Day Three - MY TURN!

Welcome to the Summer Daze Giveaways, hosted by While He Was Napping!  It’s a fantastic week of amazing giveaways!  Each day, from June 6-11, new giveaways will open.  Giveaways will be open for four days, so make sure you get your entries in before they close.  You will need to visit the host blog to enter.  Entry requirements vary per host.  

Today's giveaways are courtesy of:

Kim @ Kim's Kandy Kreations has a sweet treat for you.  One dozen delicious, personalized whirly pops to be exact.  Head over and get your name in for these cute, sweet, handmade delights.

  Krista @ While He Was Napping has a set of two handcrafted, personalized luggage tags and a summer subway art tote bag. Perfect for the best part of summer: Vacation! These tags are one of a kind and easy to spot. No more waiting and hoping that bag really is yours. The tote is perfect for day trips and the distressed look lends a hand to a relaxed summer outing.

These giveaways will close on Sunday, June 12, so head over to these blogs and get your entries in for these fantastic prizes. 

And now there's me :) Summertime brings with it it's share of outdoor activities and road trips. If you've got kids (or have ever traveled with me, bwahahaha) you know a favorite question is "Are we there yet?" (or "Wanna stop and eat?"). I've whipped up two little goodie bags, one for a she and one for a he, that will hopefully keep that question at bay for while.  These sweet little drawstring bags are perfectly kid-sized and come pre-filled with a few kid-friendly activities, with plenty of room to add more (and a few snacks too). They're a great size to fill with little treasures, or to keep full of to-dos for doctor's office visits, trips to Grandma's, whatever. One lucky winner will receive both goodie bags!

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, telling me your favorite thing to do to make long car drives (plane rides, train trips, etc.) not so dull. Also - pretty please with a cherry on top leave me an email or make sure one is linked through your profile. I'll take entries through Sunday June 12th 11:59 p.m. EDT. I'll draw a winner within the next day or two thereafter. Open to anyone, anywhere! Good luck, and thanks for stopping by!

Be sure to check back for tomorrow’s giveaways! Now if you'll excuse me...I have to go try and win some candy :)

Summer Daze Giveaways Day Two

Welcome to day two of the Summer Daze Giveaways, hosted by While He Was Napping!  It’s a fantastic week of amazing giveaways!  Each day, from June 6-11, new giveaways will open.  Giveaways will be open for four days, so make sure you get your entries in before they close.  You will need to visit the host blog to enter.  Entry requirements vary per host.  

Today's giveaways are courtesy of:

Ashley @ Ashley Creations has this adorable little hair clip up for grabs.  The colors are amazing and perfect for summer!  It’s like lime sorbet, raspberries and lemonade.  What little princess wouldn’t want this?

Kelly @ Make It Sparkly Mama has a whimsical, single strand bracelet that you can personalize. Customizable with birthstones or crystals of your choice.  This bracelet features oval alphabet beads. It is personalized with 6 Swarovski birthstone crystals on each strand.

Shawna @ A Very Dandoislion Life has some more cute hair clips!  How gorgeous are these babies?  And the colors are divine.  These would be so easy to dress up or dress down.  Perfect for that summer BBQ, cocktail party or wedding.

These giveaways will close on Saturday, June 11, so head over to these blogs and get your entries in for both of these fantastic prizes.  And come back for tomorrow’s giveaways!

Summer Daze Giveaways Kick-Off

Welcome to the Summer Daze Giveaways, hosted by While He Was Napping!  It'll be a fantastic week of amazing giveaways!  What better way to get all ready for summer than with a chance at some really cool, free stuff?!  Each day, from June 6-11, new giveaways will open.  Giveaways will be open for four days, so make sure you get your entries in before they close.  You will need to visit the host blog to enter as entry requirements vary per host. 

Let's get this party started!  Today's giveaways are courtesy of:

Mindie @ Bacon Time With the Hungry, Hungry Hypo.  She has a wonderful fabric rosette bracelet and matching summer scarf up for grabs!  The bracelet has an adjustable stainless steel band with "follow your dreams" engraved on both sides.  A single pearl adorns the bracelet for a light, yet sophisticated feel.

And Delina @ Dew This has a super cool, year round countdown calendar kit. Choose your preferred holiday (Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving or Easter), spend a little quality time with your crafty self and get your countdown on.

These giveaways will close on Friday, June 10, so head over to these blogs and get your entries in for both of these fantastic prizes.  And come back for tomorrow’s giveaways!

Focus on the Bow

My cousin Mollie cracks me up. She sent me an email a few weeks ago asking me make her a bag for spring and summer, big but not huge, good enough for work and daily use. She even picked out her own fabric and the pattern she wanted (it doesn't get much easier than that). There was an adorable bow on the strap that she was in love with. She told me "I kind of like the zipper pocket inside. And I'm ok with the rings. But the part I really need is the bow. Just focus on that bow." I had the feeling I could have sent her anything and as long as there was a decent bow she'd be happy :)

These were the fabrics she selected:

 Magnolia Lane Blooming Tulips by Michael Miller

Nicey Jane Welcome Road Stripe by Heather Bailey

She told me to tell her if I didn't think they matched because matching isn't her forte (and I thought "Uh oh. I'm the one who would pair cherries with rubber duckies because cute matches cute, right?") but I thought they were splendid (so I know a good match when I see one but I just can't pick it out for myself--welcome to my dating life, bwahahahaha). It was such delightful fabric to cut into - the colors were vibrant but soft, and the fabric was soft but really sturdy feeling.

She chose this hobo bag from JCaroline Creative. It was a fairly simple bag to put together. I'm glad I've made oodles of bags before because there were a few things that didn't sit right with me that I changed. I didn't like the way her straps were connected so I changed that. And I re-ordered some of her steps. But for the most part I followed it exactly as written. Of course, the part I concentrated most on was the final step - the bow. She's been received in Ole Virginny, so I can show you without ruining the surprise - here she is:

I fussy-cut the fabric to get maximum flowers on there. And it falls to a perfect point against you - not too long, not too short.

Happy green zipper and a magnetic snap closure (tip for you: I find that if I sew a square of fleece to the back side of the fabric where the snap is it really stays so much more secure. It took me way too long to learn that.

I found these gorgeous wooden rings on sale at Joann's and scooped up a few. I think they give a really nice touch to the bag and go much better than metal hardware would have with this fabric.

And here's the bow. I think I retied this bow at least eight times. I was under such pressure that I kept tying it funny.

So that's that. I made this bag in an evening - true story. And it was really quite fun to put together. I think I might make one of these for myself for summer. It's quick enough that I might actually accomplish it, too.

Now I must scoot because "The Killing" is coming on soon. See you tomorrow for the start of Summer Daze!!

I'll be linking up here this week:

Sew-Along - Get Ready!!!

See post here.

Hello!! I know the sew-along doesn't start for another week, but I wanted to give you time to select your fabrics and get everything ready so you can hit the ground running. I have made up a separate materials/cutting list that you can print out and take shopping with you (or take to your stash). You can then use it to keep track of all the pieces you'll be cutting out.

You can find the materials/cutting list here
You can find the pattern for the larger bag here
You can find the pattern for the smaller bag here

Please let me know if there are any issues with the links - I've never done this before so I'm learning-as-I-go (which is what took me so long to get the pattern into an electronic format that would be easy on your printer and require no extra formatting on your part). When you print these make sure that 'None' is selected in the scaling section (or, as it says on my computer, 'Actual Size').

One other thing: good old Anonymous asked me for the dimensions of the finished bags. The small bag is 10 inches wide, 10 1/2 inches high, and 4 inches deep. The large bag is 12 inches wide, 12 1/2 inches high, and 4 inches deep. The measurements for the extras that need to be cut (straps, pockets, etc.) for BOTH sizes can be found here in the cutting list.

OK - now I'm going to yammer about some things that I hope you find helpful with this little endeavor. This bag is entirely doable - it looks like a lot, and zippers scare some people, but just take your time with it and all will be well. Pinky swear.

There are a few parts that are entirely optional. Don't want a zip pocket on the inside? Leave it out. Don't want a zipper closure? Don't do it. Or use a magnetic snap. Or a button and loop. I won't be showing you those methods, but if you'd like those then go for it. Purse feet are optional as well. I have never had a bag (store-bought or otherwise) where the purse feet were functional - but I really love the finishing touch they give to a bag. Plus they keep the gridded bag bottom nicely in place. Stick with what is at your comfort level. For the shoulder straps I've given a length of 32 - 36 inches. I'm using 32 inches for my bag, but if you like a longer strap you'll want to cut those longer. This part is entirely up to you and your bag-carrying preferences.

You may feel tempted to skip the interfacing and fleece, but I beg of you not to do this. These items are critical to a well-made, structured bag. I've learned this the hard way, trust me on this one. I prefer to use fusible interfacings as I am too lazy really dislike basting the pieces together and trying to keep everything straight. Fusibles make life so much easier, so I encourage you to get those if you can. I've been having a wicked time finding fusible fleece lately, so I'm glad I had a bit in my stash for this one.

Last thing: fabric choices. I love the look of quilting cottons and mixing up the patterns and colors:

But maybe you'd like one of these for when it gets cooler (or maybe it is cooler where you live - hello, Southern Hemisphere!). This looks good all done up in corduroy too:

I've also got some plaid wool I'm thinking of wrangling into one of these for the winter. Go with what you like and with what you'll feel comfortable carrying. You could also use a heavier weight home-decor fabric (this won't need to be interfaced if you do - it's plenty sturdy already).

OK, I'm thinking that's it for now (and enough). Get shopping, get snipping - meet you back here on the 13th, m'kay? Ta!

My Trash, Their Treasure

On Sunday we had our family Memorial Day picnic (I have almost zero photos - but if you want to see how we roll you can check out this post I wrote last year). It was wickedly hot, and having oodles of people around when you're trying not to sweat while sitting perfectly still can wear on the temperament. I was trying to think cool thoughts when two of the sweetest little girls ever came out on the porch with their little hands behind their backs. They marched over and presented their treasures and said "Are you really throwing this away?" In their mitts were some fabric scraps I had tossed from my most recent projects (I keep a separate waste basket next to my sewing table - it's not like they were digging through the kitchen trash....just want that part known :)  I told them I was and their faces lit up like sunshine exploding into rainbows. They ran back inside and pulled every single scrap out of my waste basket and divided them evenly and put them in zip-lock bags.

One of my favorite things about putting a couple of kids together and letting them be without adult conversational intervention is listening to the cute little things they say. Such as : "Let's go in the dining room where we can spread out our material and plan." I was thinking "Yes!! That's what I do!" And "Let's get my grandmom to cut the big pieces in half so we both have the same." And then my favorite: "I bet we could make purses." And boy did they. They found a piece that I had been practicing free-motion quilting on and made two little "bags" out of it (just large enough for their toy cell phones).

They didn't even care about all those loose threads hanging off. That's the best thing about kids - everything is amazing and wonderful to them.

 Here's a fancy faux zipper, with some neat-o-rific staple sewing and candy-striper handles. I love kid imagination.

 And here they are modeling their little treasures. My blur tool wasn't working so I gave them rainbows (I'd love to show you their beautiful eyes but I'm wary of putting kid faces on my blog, especially when they're not mine - that's why you very rarely see Z-man on here.

So what I had considered useless were absolute treasures to behold to them. They recognized the simplest things necessary to make something and made it work from there. I need to hire a few kid consultants for when I'm making things difficult for myself by overthinking them.

That's it for now - I've been busy busy busy sewing this week. Check back Saturday - I'll have the materials list up and some witty banter about options for the sew-along. Ta for now!