A Bag for a Ballerina ...

Sugar and spice and all things nice ... Isn't that what all girls goodies are made of? I love making all the girly things although growing up I must admit I was quite a tomboy and would rather run around wielding a sword than brandishing a ballet bag. But the joys of having a girly girl for a daughter is that I can now at the age of 42 (dare I say it) experience all the girlyness.

So ... seeing a gorgeous ballet print fabric (when once again in the quilting shop just browsing she whispers) I just had to have it. It was in the baskets with the offcuts and just had to be rescued. I have made quite a few ballet bags but usually in satin so couldn't wait to use this pretty fabric. 

Some pretty ballerina print fabric ... add to that some tulle, satin and sequins trim ... wave your magic wand and say abracadabra!

Okay, it wasn't quite as easy as abracadabra but I did enjoy sewing this cute bag and they really are pretty easy to make. For all the purists out there ... please read no further ... I use my trusty glue gun to attach the tutu and sequins trim which makes life far easier. Gasp, shock and horror ... I know, I know. And while I'm admitting to short cuts ... I make the tulle tutu by sewing it onto elastic ... yes it's out there ... I did not gather it on my machine. The first time I ever tried gathering tulle ... my halo slipped badly as the curses came fast and furious out of the sewing room. Tulle is not my friend! So tutu and sequins attached, the last little detail is iron on gems for a little girly bling attached with my gem wand.

One Tutu Ballet Bag later ... and a satisfied smile on my face.

NEWS FLASH "GET LINKED UP"

Go to the following link to join the link up. HURRY ... time is running out!
http://thebusybeequiltshop.blogspot.com/2013/03/monday-link-up-lets-get-acquainted_17.html

Sewing for Sanity

Sewing is my therapist. I can be in the worst mood or have had the most awful day but when I start immersing myself in a project and the creative juices start flowing and there is just so much gorgeous fabric to choose from ... then all that reality just fades away. And yes, sometimes there are curses coming from my sewing room and my "hey girl guy" has come in  telling me to take a break as I can't possibly be enjoying it and then looks at me completely puzzled as I respond emphatically that I am loving it. You see ... I know that you completely understand that even when you have to unstitch or have sewn the lining on wrong side facing ... well it still beats a day at the office so to speak. Yep ... so guys ... like your worst day on the golf course is still better than a day at the office ... the same applies to us. Oh and in case you were wondering about my "hey girl guy" reference. Well unlike Ryan Gosling my guy actually does all those amasing things ...  like burn himself on the glue gun while helping me make fabric flowers or going to the quilting shop with me knowing full well what he is in for. So for being so fantastic I have named him my "hey girl guy"!

But I digress ... So as I was saying, my therapist, although not cheap is infinitely more satisfying. The sessions in therapy will be lifelong if you see the list of projects and tutorials earmarked to do. One of the benefits is rarely having to buy a gift as what better excuse than to embark on one of those projects. One such project that I was wanting to tackle was out of "Sweetwater's Simple Home" book. The market tote bag made from burlap. Of course I made changes but it was the source of my inspiration ... (by the way ... don't you just LOVE Sweetwater's creations)!

Taking an idea from a book and adding a personal touch.
I just love this floral linen with the burlap!

I used a burgundy topstitch to pick up the roses and added a detachable brooch to "style it up" a bit.

 

Ta-da ... the finished product ... which is always a little hard to part with!

Pimping my Eggs for Easter

I just love all celebrations and tend to use them as an excuse to completely go overboard submerge myself in some craftiness and creativity. So with Easter around the corner what better excuse. My daughter is in Grade 2 and with each celebration day we do a crafty gift together to give to her classmates. For valentines day we got some inspiration from pinterest of course and did the "Valentine Butterfly" I'm sure you've all seen around ... 

While getting all easter inspired on Pinterest (yes ... am raising my hand to confess to being an addict) I came across a pin of a cupcake with a bunny ears topper. Yay ... the bunny ears was a free printable. Don'tya just love those! You can find the printable here http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/2011/03/hoppy-easter-printable/. I had bought some easter eggs to play around with and came up with a pimped up egg which is perfect for a little easter gift for her classmates. 

Easter egg + goggle eyes + heart gem + fluff ball + ears = one pimped up egg

Bunny Mugg Shots 

One down and 23 more to go ... 

From a wonderful world to a world turned upside down ...

Okay ... so over a year AWOL! Where to start. Well the last post where I was crooning along with "What a Wonderful World" came to a rather abrupt end. The moral of the story ... don't tempt fate! To make a long story short ...lesson to self ... watch out for business partners that seem too good to be true ... coz I tell you what ... they are too good too be true! So one year later I am ... minus previous business partner, add to that major loss due to aforementioned partner, new business flying solo and many bumps, bruises and scrapes along the way! BUT a constant among the numerous changes ... YEP ... my crafts! (and of course my wonderful man and daughter well most of the time.. and em ... not necessarily in that order). So I'm feeling rather happy with life right now and thought it was time to dust myself off and climb back in the saddle and say HOWDEE everyone!

Towards the end of last year a craft project that sort of landed in my lap was a "simple, little gift" from my daughter's class to their mothers as a end of year gift. Her teacher, knowing my rather fond attachment to my sewing machine enlisted my help. The children had spent the year being Earth Angels and she thought it would be cute to make shopper totes embellished by some fabric artwork by each child. Well if you know me you will know that nothing stays simple when I'm involved and I will accept full responsibility here but this simple little project grew to enormous proportions!

Laying in bed this simple little tote grew into a burlap shopper tote to tie in with the earth angel theme. Then this burlap shopper tote, albeit rustic, grew a calico pocket detail with an iron on transfer of the children's artwork ... nope not enough yet ... magically appear a ruffle detail and wait for it ... a detachable flower brooch WITH beaded tassel ... and not just one but 24 for each child. No not enough yet I decide that the teacher and principal should also get one! Going to sleep with a smile on my face this all sounded wonderful. Until amongst the year end rush these 26 bags had to become a reality. Burnt fingers (thanks to my glue gun) and bleary eyed they were finally finished with a little help from my man.

Very rustic burlap shopper tote with box pleat ... the inspiration & the progress

 

Oh did I forget to mention that I also thought stamping with StazOn ink would look good ... picture black stained fingers and mutterings trying to centre and space the letters. The kids did a handprint on the back of the bag to personalise it ... another of my midnight ideas!

Burlap Shopper Bags in varying stages of completion ... doesn't the kid's artwork look great!

Move over Ryan Gosling ... I have my own "Hey Girl Guy"