Practical Bag

One of the other projects I had a chance to make this year for Christmas is Grand Rivival's Practical Bag.  It is another one of those projects that can be done really fast.  It has just two pattern pieces and this is another great project for any beginner. 

Grand Revival's Practical Bag, denim exterior, cotton interior w/removable kanzashi flower pin made from the same fabric as the lining. 

Grand Revival's Practical Bag, faux leather exterior, plaid fabric interior w/removable kanzashi flower made from same fabric as the lining.  I call this my "wanna be Burberry" bag.

Grand Revival's Practical Bag, home decor exterior fabric with cotton interior lining, removable kanzashi floral pin decor made from same interior lining fabric

Two things that were added/modified from the original pattern and instructions was an interior pocket and magnectic closure.  Wait, I'm not done yet.  Stay tuned and I'll show you another fun gift I had the opportunity to make this year.  Hint:  My Silhouette sd "toy" Santa gave me last year!

Simple Tote

Another Christmas has come and gone...Hope y'all had a Christmas full of peace and happiness.  This year, I tried as much as I could to make gifts for everyone.  However, precious time was very limited but I did get a chance to make a few handmade gifts.  While there are very expensive gifts to purchase and give, I hope my children realize it is the thought of the gift that is much more important than what department store you purchased the gift from and how much it costs.

The Simply Style Tote was a quick and easy tote to put jogether in time for Christmas:

I'll show you more later......  Can you guess what else I made for Xmas gifts?  Stay tuned!

BABY GIFT

Did someone press the "fast forward" button?  Goodness, in just a few weeks it'll be the holidays!  Can't believe my last post was back in May.  Well, it's been a busy ride since then.  My family followed my son's basketball team around the island as well as Oahu and Las Vegas where they played several tournaments in which one of them, they placed 2nd in a national tournament, (open division) against a team from Washington State.  It was a wonderful experience for the team and they are such an awesome group of boys and we are so grateful that my son had the opportunity!

One of the Coaches in the basketball organization, "Coach Bruce" and his wife just had an addition to their family and I made a few simple things for their little one.

Here's a little onesies with a cute tie.  Thought it would be appropriate for the tie to be of a basketball print. 

Check out a fantastic tutorial here on how to make one of these adorable onesies.

I made this next onesies using my Silhouette sd.  I got the clip art from their website store and used the Silhouette's red and blue vinyl to create a "copy cat"  basketball logo using a baby figure.

Close up

It was easier that I expected.  Of course, it helps having a great heat transfer tutorial here on the Silhouette's website

Last but not least, I whipped up this little pillow.  The inspiration came from this flicker photo here.  I am very pleased with how the colors go well together.  Instead of sewing a button in the middle of the pillow, I just tied a knot to give it a more interesting shape.  Don't think a sewing a button in the middle would be appropriate for an infant gift.

Welcome to the world baby Peyton-Blake.  You have an awesome family who are so lucky to have you in their life!

Do you have a favorite baby gift you make to welcome little ones when they are born?

GRADUATION CARD

Last year, I found myself having to purchase graduation cards.  With a closet full of scrapbooking and card making supplies, there was no excuse!  I promised myself to handmake grad cards this year.  A friend of mine, Melissa, who is a very talented and creative paper crafter, showed me a sample of what she was commissioned to do for her nephew's graduation.  To make a long story short, it was absolutely fabulous!  She always show me her creations that motivates me 110%.  I searched the internet for a card similar to what Melissa showed me and found this wonderful website and tutorial here.  

This is what the finished cards ended up looking:

I wanted to add a little dimension to the card so I added a little tassle made out of DMC thread.  This is how the tassel was made:

Starting in the front, wrap the DMC thread around the graduation cap square about eight times:

Slide a strip of thread underneath the front strands and tie a knot at the top, like so:

Remove thread from square and place another piece of thread horizontally under the bunch of thread you just removed from the square cap.  Securely tie a knot close to the top like so:

Cut the horizontal thread close to the knot and cut the bottom loop of the tassel:

Find the center of your graduation cap square and carefully poke a skewer through to make a little hole.  Slide the top of the tassel threads through the hole and follow with a brad.  Secure the brad by bending the metal pieces back so the back  metal pieces are flat against the cardstock.

Secure the back of the square cap with a piece of scotch tape. For dimension, I chose to use double-sided foam tape to give the card some interest, but if you don't have the double-sided foam tape, regular glue dots or glue will do just fine.  Adhere to the card.

Making personalized handmade cards are so much fun!  I've got a bunch more to make....Luckily all my recipients are males.  However, there are many pretty female grad card tutorials out there at internetville.

Happy Graduation to all the graduates! 

GRADUATION LEI

Ahhhh, graduation season is upon us.   A time to celebrate all the accomplishments students have worked so hard for the past school years.  In Hawaii, it is a tradition to give a lei to students at commencement exercises.  While there are a variety of leis out there, this year I chose to make ahead leis that can be stored 'till graduation day.  The idea came from a book from the local craft store and what I liked about it was that it was full of various lei projects with many colorful pictures and easy-to-follow directions.

Handcrafted Leis and Flowers Book

The Kumihimo Lei is one that I haven't seen and thought it would be a perfect lei to both the males and females as it wasn't too feminine and at the same time not too masculine.



I'm a visual learner so as you can see, the step-by-step directions met my needs!

Here is a picture of the finished product from the book:

School colors are represented in the leis.  Leis are braided using what is called RATTAIL, a nylon fiber that comes in rolls of 200 yards.

Rolls of Rattail

Multi-colored Rattail

The 8-strand lei is braided using what is called a Kumihimo Disk.  Directions in the book were so easy to follow, my family took turns during  TV night.  As it turns out, I learned that the Kumihimo braid is an ancient Japanese technique for woven necklaces and bracelets.  

Kumihimo Disk

Here, are a few that I completed.  Black and Gold for the mighty Cowboys, Green and Gold for the Dragons, Blue and White for the Waveriders and Black and Blue for the Hoop Dreams athletic team.



Completed Leis

Unfortunately I won't make it to any graduation ceremony this year but the leis will be sent out to the recipients in time for the ceremony.  Tonight I start the Green and White leis for the Wildcats.

Did a little sample of reggae colors.....Teenagers seem to really like these blend of colors together.  

A trial with red, yellow, green and black

Congratulations to all the graduates!  Hope you all become great leaders wherever you go and in whatever you do!  "Strive to Excel!"  Here are a few of my personal tips to the graduates:  treat everyone fair, every decision affects your future (choose wisely),  do a good deed for someone everyday, laugh, smile, and have fun!

Do you know anyone graduating this year?

GATHERED CLUTCH

Here's a project basically from scraps and if you dont mind my saying, it turned out actually not that bad.  The hardest thing really (for me personally)  is trying to find fabric colors and values that go well together.  My novice eye brought together blue, black,white and red colors.  To break the solid "zerbra" front band, I fabric glued on a red yoyo with a button sewed in the middle.


scrappy gathered clutch



This gathered clutch project came from  a NOODLEHEAD tutorial here.  Love that blog!  So generous with her tutorials!  This gathered clutch will definitely be on my Handmade Christmas gift to do list

So, are you going to try and make a gathered clutch?

Scrap Runner

Did I ever tell you that my mother is a Thrift Shopaholic?  It's amazing what she finds in the little Thrift shop she visits weekly.  Sometime ago, she purchased a box of scrap fabrics (lots of scrap) and gave them to me.  I LOVE the colors and patterns as they seem to be from the mid-70's.  The fabric pieces are rather small so there aren't much I can do other than making some kind of crazy quilt thingy. 

I remembered last summer, there was a local Quilt Show where I picked up this 3D Hexagon template and pattern:

The Pattern Front

The Acrylic Template (sorry about the bad lighting)

I cut up and pieced the fabrics together, did a simple top quilting.  Used up the last of the red binding from a previous project.  It ended up to be a table runner.

And here it is.  We used it for Valentines Day since it had a thick red binding that fit the occassion perfectly!

My kids mentioned it looks like something out of "grandma's" house.  PERFECT!  I love items that reminds us of certain places from our childhood.  Every now and then I'll run into an old piece of clothing or fabric that takes me back to my childhood when my mom used to do a little bit of sewing. 

This table runner consists fabric from my mom's Thrift shop purchase and left over fabric from my kid's infant clothing stash.  Yes, very colorful, indeed!  Guess vintage fabric continues to pop up here and there and brings us happy thoughts of back when life was so much more simple. 

What kind of things make you think of your childhood?

AMY BUTER COSMO BAG

I found Amy Butler's newest release STYLE STICHES and it won my heart.  Oh, it is full of fun ideas and colorful pages.  Love the visuals and the oh so pretty patterns.  The COSMO BAG seemed like a bag everyone of all ages would want for their own.  It is a BIG bag so a strong durable fabric only made sense. 

Amy Butler's Style Stiches

My fear of curves had to be overcome so I approached this project w/ an open mind that I would take my time and try to do it as carefully as possible.  Needless to day, I am pleased with the results.  It turns out to be a bag that can be used for overnighters, (daughter already used it twice), traveling (perfect size for a carry-on), beach, sports games, picnics, and the list can go on and on!  The pockets on the inside is way cool and I especially love the xtra deep side exterior pockets! 

Deep pockets on both sides

Nothing, I don't think, can ever fall out of them ever so deep pockets!  This bag will hold A LOT of "stuff". 

Front view of Cosmo Bag

Back View of Cosmo Bag

This bag is really cool, don't ya think?