Purse, Wallet and Pouch

"It wasn't supposed to be so big."
That was my response to my hubby when he told me the purse was big. But I haven't had any problem keeping it filled with stuff!

I found the pattern online while browsing for a new purse pattern. I'm not allowed to BUY any more purses, but Mr. Crafty Heart never said anything about MAKING new purses!!! Since I have a huge stash of fabric, I figured it would be OK since I didn't spend any money on it - free pattern! I got it from Leah Williams at Sew Spoiled. It's called the Weekender Travel Tote, which I guess should have told me it was TOTE size, not purse size. It doesn't look as big in all the pictures I've seen of it!
I have to say I'm in love with it though. Every time I think of trying to make one smaller, I can't stand the thought of not using this one! I know I could take it apart and make the pieces smaller, but I always feel like a traitor when I think about taking my seam ripper to her. (Maybe I need to mention this to my psychologist?)
I love the different fabrics together, so I made a wallet and a make up bag to match:

Aren't they gorgeous!?!? I don't remember where I got the free pattern for the make up bag, but the wallet is a free pattern called Made to Order Organizer. If you are going to try to make this wallet, be sure to check out Pam's directions first - the original directions are WAY too complicated and not well-explained. Her directions are wonderful. Even with her additions, though, it is a labor-intensive project, but WELL worth it (IMHO).
So now I'm off to enter my purse and accessories in a contest held by the AMAZING Amy Latta who is definitely One Artsy Mama! Please check out her blog and leave her some love!!!

Boy Wallet

My 7-year-old loves to collect quarters and to count them to see what he has enough money for. He got a papery wallet from a kids meal at Subway, but it didn't have anywhere for his coins, only dollars. And he also happens to have a few of those! So today he asks me how long it will take me to make him a wallet with a coin compartment. Since I had JUST cleaned up my crafty corner, I said only a few minutes and got to work! I found a tutorial for one he liked at Mud Puddles and Daisies. He picked out the fabric and lining, and this is what we got:

Sorry for the picture, I couldn't find batteries for my camera so I had to use my phone.
The fabric he picked out is a dark blue, and the lining is cream. The vinyl pocket isn't quite wide enough for an actual drivers license, but since he's only 7 I think we can make something up! He also keeps his handcuff key in one of the credit card pockets. He currently uses it to lock the upstairs bathroom door.
Maybe he'll use one of his quarters to buy me a gum ball as a thank you!

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Coffee with Cream

It's amazing what God can accomplish through a cup of coffee with flavored creamer.

In the last 12 years I've lost a marriage, two pregnancies (in a year), a home house, my mother, and my mother-in-law. And in losing my first marriage, I lost my view of myself.

But with this one cup of coffee, I've gained so much more.

For the past 12 years, I have allowed my ex-husband to make me see myself as ugly, unlovable, and LESS, instead of seeing myself through God's eyes, where I am beautiful, loved, and worth more than I can possibly imagine.

I'm tired of seeing myself through my eyes.

So through this one cup of coffee, with creamer given to me by my Regnum Christi sisters with a simple note and much love, my eyesight is starting to improve. And not just because I finally have caffeine in my system!

They see me. Weekly they see the real me, and they love me. They've seen me through happy, and they've seen me through sad. They've seen me through excess, and they've seen me through want. They've seen me contribute, and they've seen me sit silent. And through it all, they see ME, and they love me. 

I want to start seeing myself through THEIR eyes. 

It's going to take more than this one cup of coffee. It might take these entire two bottles of creamer, left on the seat of my van with a simple note by hearts full of love. But as I feel the warmth of the coffee flowing through my system, I can feel the warmth of their love flowing around me. And I can believe that maybe, just maybe, there IS more to me than meets the eye. 

Happy New Year!

A month late,  but that's my life! I'm reposting the post I made LAST New Year's Day, because it is still relevant (and based on the lack of comments no one read it lol). 

Welcome to 2013!

I always think that on January 1, my life will magically change because the day before I made a list. The list is pretty much the same every year: get organized, stick to a budget, get my prayer life in order, do more with the kids..... December 31 comes along, and I realize I didn't stick to the list, and my year ended the same way it began, which is how the year before ended! So I'm going to try something new this year: I'm going to focus on my blessings. That's it! I'm going to declutter my life and my mind, and keep only those people and things that bless me. With less to clutter up my life, I will have more time to focus on those blessings, which will make me a happier person. And I think that as a happier person, the things I usually put on my list will come naturally. And my life will change! I know it's not going to happen over night, but I'm hoping that, come 2014, my list of blessings will be more than I ever expected!

I hope yours will be too. What are YOU blessed with today?

Home Made Sweetened Condensed Milk

Move over Ma Ingalls! I would say Martha Stewart, but 1) I don't like her and 2) well, I just like Ma better!
I made my own sweetened condensed milk!!!!! If I WAS Martha, there would have been a camera on me and you could have seen the shock on my face when I tasted it and it TASTED JUST LIKE THE CANNED STUFF!!!!! Except for the powdered milk that didn't dissolve. Here it is!

It's just powdered milk, milk, sugar, and vanilla! Just be sure you stand watch over it and not go off and take a picture of your oldest child, whom you haven't seen in a few weeks, cuddling his baby sister. You'll have to dump the pot and start over. Not that I would know.....

After it cooled, I turned it into coffee creamer! Sorry I don't have a picture - all the batteries are in the Wii remotes and I don't have any for my camera. The boys think Mario is more important than blogging.... Just trust me that it looks JUST like the expensive stuff in the store, and I added some peppermint extract and it tastes just like my favorite seasonal creamer! (Except for the powdered milk that still has not dissolved.)

THEN I text my sister and tell her, and she texts back that she is getting ready to make her laundry detergent. Ma Ingalls is definitely cheering us on!

Now to figure out how to get rid of those chunks.....

My Heart is Over Flowing!

Wouldn't yours?

Heart 2 Heart Challenge: Coffee

I'm really getting into the Heart to Heart Challenges. It's definitely helping to get my scrapbooking mojo back! This theme was Hot Cocoa. I'm currently decorating my kitchen in coffee stuff, so this was really exciting! I got out my Silhouette AGAIN and made these:

They are both from the Silhouette store, and all paper and stamps are from Close to my Heart.
They were soooooo fun to make, and I can think of so many uses for that mug! I wish I would have had some raffia to put in the bottom. I tried to crinkle up some quilling strips, but it didn't have the same effect. I also debated about cutting out the top of the cake slice where the pink paper is, but I wasn't sure what I was going to put inside to I left it in. I think if I was going to put food in there I would have cut out that area and used a page protector to cover the hole.
Now to invite someone over for coffee and share these in person!!!

Thanks Snow Much!

...for looking at my wonderful Thank You card!

I made it for a challenge over at my favorite blog, Heart to Heart. You may have been able to tell from my blog, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Close to my Heart. I was a Consultant a few years ago, and I'm trying again to spread the love of this amazing papercrafting company.
Anyway, H2H has challenges going all the time, and this one I'm entering is called "Snow Much Fun" and is the first one for January. Go here to check it out - you have until the end of the month to enter yourself! To enter, your project must be mostly Close to my Heart. If you need CTMH supplies, go to my website and check out the special offers we have going on, especially Whooo's Your Valentine. Let's celebrate National Papercrafting Month in a gorgeous way!
I can't wait to see all of your snow creations!

I am in LOVE!!!!!

I received my copy of the new Close to my Heart Idea Book, and I can't stop staring at it! O. M. G. Gotta go lock myself in my craft room now. See ya in the spring!
http://mycraftyheart.ctmh.com/

Close to my Heart is CLEARLY the Best!

Want to see why? Check this out! Then go here for MORE information and creativity.

I am the Vinyl Queen

(Sung to the tune of the Dancing Queen) And I don't mean Queen of the 45s. Although those were cool. My mom had the best collection and when we were kids ... well, that's for another post!

I am the queen of cutting vinyl on my Silhouette. Hopefully at income tax time I can talk Mr. Crafty Heart into letting me get the Cameo! 12X12 cutting goodness! Anywho.....

I have been creating with vinyl so much in the last week that my blade is smokin'! It really is addicting. I'll share some pix of my creations in a future post. This post is dedicated to the AMAZING folks at My Vinyl Direct. I was provided some vinyl and transfer tape to use and do a tutorial on. Wow, did I get a great deal! The vinyl and transfer tape are high quality, and their customer service is awesome! I will definitely be ordering from them soon! So here is what I made.

Sorry the picture doesn't do it justice. It's the wall in our half bath, and I was scrunched in the corner standing on the toilet lid. (TMI?) Hard to get a good picture! 

All of the shapes were cut using the FREE program that comes with all Silhouette machines, Silhouette Studio. The waves were a free file from a fellow Silhouette user, and the other shapes I had purchased at the Silhouette store when I first got my machine. So, here is the low down.

This is a snapshot of what Studio looks like. You choose the image you want to cut, and you can resize, duplicate, rotate, edit the shape, weld it to another shape, the possibilities are endless. You can even design your own shapes!

When you have it the way you want, click the "send to Silhouette" button and load the vinyl into the machine.

It's a personal preference on whether to use a mat or not for vinyl. If I have a roll of vinyl, or a piece of adhesive backed vinyl, that will fit between the rollers (they hold the paper and roll it in and out for cutting) I never use a mat. Obviously I do for smaller pieces that won't fit under both rollers. 

Once it's loaded, if you own a Silhouette cutter, DO A TEST CUT! Yes, I typed in all caps. I cannot stress this enough. Even if you're cutting the same medium you cut yesterday, do a test cut. It only takes up a TINY bit of space, like less than a half inch, but it could save you an entire piece of paper and/or your cutting mat! So do it. Cause I said so. Make any adjustments needed, click cut, and jump on Facebook or Pinterest while the machine does the work!

Once the cutting is done, you do what is called weeding. This involves removing all pieces of vinyl that you do NOT want in your design. 

Silhouette America has a nifty little tool called a hook that works great for helping get rid of tiny pieces so you don't rip your design trying to use your (in my case) non-existent finger nails or scissors. 

Then you need your transfer medium. This transfer tape from My Vinyl Direct is AWESOME! A lot of times I'll just use clear contact paper to transfer my designs, but not any more. This stuff works 1,000 times better! I didn't have a bit of trouble getting my vinyl onto my wall. So, you cut a piece the size of your design, remove the backing, and stick it to the right side of your vinyl. What's nice about their transfer tape is the grid lines. If you have a design or words that need to be straight, you can use these lines to line everything up. 

Once the transfer tape in down, rub over the design so it'll come off of the backing and stick to the transfer tape. 

Stick the transfer tape to the desired location, in my case the bathroom wall, and rub over the design again so it'll release from the transfer tape and stick to the wall. Some vinyl or vinyl kits come with a scraper you can use to make it easier. Mine looks like a pan scraper from Pampered Chef. My Vinyl Direct sells a Squeegee Tool that looks like it would do a better job!

Carefully remove the backing, and voila - wall art! What could be easier!

So, to recap: choose a design; cut; weed; transfer to wall; enjoy! 




I would like to find something to fill some empty spaces on the wall, but I may just cut more bubbles. Or a shark. Or start decorating the other walls. And the hallway. And the living room. Think the neighbors would care if I started on their house?