Bumblebee Bags

Sewing with Laminate

2012-01-31T07:57:00.000-08:00

One of my custom orders was for a diaper bag made out of laminated fabric. I have never sewn with laminate before and it was quite the experience! I love how the bag turned out...it will be very easy to keep clean. It had 2 front pockets and 2 side pockets...a large back zip pocket and 5 interior pockets. I also made the strap adjustable for over the shoulder or messenger style wear.

as you can see from this picture it is super shiny!

While I was sewing this I came up with a few tips. I simply used the same pattern that I would for any bag I make but there are some adjustments that need to be made.

1. I still interfaced all pieces of the bag with Thermolam. This actually helped me sew it as the laminated part was on the inside as I sewed.

2. To sew a top stitch I had to use my walking foot. If you don't have one it is well worth the investment to get it!!!

3. I also had to increase my stitch length to 4.

5. I had a heck of a time with my bottom thread having "gathers" as my thread was going too loosely through the machine for this type of sewing....I had to put tape on my spool to make it go through tighter.

6. I did not have any problems with wrinkling like some people have stated. I even turned mine out and in a couple of times. You can see in the photo that its not very wrinkly and looks good. I think the key here was that I interfaced everything. It gave it a good bit of support.

7. This is a slow bag to make. Most times I can whip out a diaper bag in 2-3 hours....this one took about 5 to make.

All in all I loved the laminate and there are so many fabulous prints in this fabric.....I cant wait to make more!!

♥ Christina

Adding a Hard Bottom to Your Bags

2012-01-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

I love a hard bottom on a bag...I think it adds a touch of polish not to mention helps it be more stable and durable. This tutorial is how I add a hard bottom to a simple tote bag. I have been doing it this way for awhile and I think its one of the simplest ways out there.

For this tutorial I am assuming that you know how to make a simple bag. While this tutorial is easy to follow you do need to know how to make a basic bag to follow along. If you do not know how to make a basic bag Creative Little Daisy has a great tutorial on one. This picks up after you have cut out all your pieces and interfacing.

If you follow a basic bag pattern for a square bottom..you know that you need to cut a square out of the corners of your bag front and back like the picture below....for this bag I used a 2 inch square

Line up your front and back pieces and sew across the bottom.

Open up the pieces and iron flat

Measure the front part of the notch

and the long side part of the notch

Cut a piece of interfacing the same as your measurements.

Tip!! I always use Pellon #72 for my bag bottoms. It is double sided fusible and it is super stiff. For this tutorial I didn't have any so I used Pellon #71 It is one sided fusible. I just used two pieces...one on top of the other and put the fusible side to the outside on both. This works fine..but I still prefer the #72.

Cut a piece of your main bag fabric big enough to put the interfacing in the middle like below. Make sure you have at least 1 inch of fabric on the ends.

Fold over the sides and iron flat (this is where the fusible is so necessary!!)

On your bag pieces lay the hard bottom piece on top of your sewn line...making sure you center it up. Pin in place.

Sew down the sides of the bag twice...making sure your lines are nice and even as this will be seen on the bottom.

Tip!!!! I always use a #18 size needle when I make bags. I never have a problem going through all the layers this way!

Now you assemble the bag like a basic bag pattern...sewing down the sides

In a basic bag pattern you square off the corners and sew across...you do the same thing here...just make sure you pull the ends of the hard bottom fabric through your opening and smooth it out!

Sew across the bottom!

Tip!!!! I never do a back and forth motion on this part....I have had my needle jam as there is alot to put through your machine. I simply sew across....pull out and start at the top again and sew across once more. This adds durability without trying to shove everything back words.

Do the same thing to the other side and you will have a nice square bottom.

Turn everything right side out and there you have it......a hard bottom for your bag. Just simply finish your bag the way you normally would.

I hope this helps...if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask!!

♥ Christina

PS: Next week I will be sharing a tutorial on how to install a inset zipper to the top of your bag like this

I am adding this to Amy's Sew and Tell Friday....check it out!

Make Your Own Febreeze!!

2012-01-25T08:19:00.000-08:00

I absolutely love the smell of febreeze!!! Love, love, love it! But I hate the cost. With my boys (seriously why do boys stink so much?!) I go through it alot. A year ago I found the best recipe ever...it was how to make your own febreeze! I wish I had bookmarked the site...it had the best house tips! I have used this for awhile and I absolutely love it...I will never go back to febreeze!!

All you need is a spray bottle (use an old febreeze bottle if you have one) baking soda and fabric softner. You can pick any softner you like. I love Suavitel its cheap and the vanilla/lavender scent is divine! Let your nose be your guide..lol!

To make your own febreeze (this will make a 16oz bottle)

1 Tablespoon baking soda

1/8 cup Fabric Softner

Add this to your bottle and then fill with warm water to the top. Thats it!!! Shake and spray!!!!

So, so easy isn't it? I find that the scent from this lasts a lot longer than normal febreeze and my house smells so good...even with the boys ;)

♥ Christina

PS: Let me know if you try it!!

20 Minutes and 20 Dollars for a years worth of Laundry Soap!!

2012-01-24T08:18:00.000-08:00

Laundry detergent....the necessary evil. I have 3 very active boys and a hardworking husband...I feel like I am constantly buying laundry detergent. Or trying to find coupons so I can get it cheap. I knew there had to be a better way! I started researching laundry detergent and was shocked at what I found...there are TONS of chemicals in them. They put dye in... then they put chemicals in to remove the dye to sell it to you dye free! I also found that they diluted the detergent so much that it takes alot of it to wash your clothes. No wonder I go through it so quickly.

While searching the internet I also found tons of recipes to make your own detergent. Alot of people do it this way. The Duggars make all their own laundry detergent. So I decided to give it a try. I used some of what I found and added my own little steps....so here is my recipe...

1 Box of Borax 4lbs

1 Box of Arm and Hammer Soda 4lbs

1 Box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda 3lbs

1 Tub OxyClean 3lbs

3 bars Fls-Naptha Soap

1 Bottle of essential oil (your choice of smell)

Take a big bucket (I used a left over bucket from a previous purchase of laundry detergent) and pour all the powder ingredients into it.

Take the 3 bars of Fels-Naptha and grate them. This is the only hard part...I promise :)

Dump this into the bucket with the powder...

Take a big spoon and mix it all together.

Now this is the part that I do differently than most...I don't like "chunky" powder...I wanted mine to look more like store bought and I also wanted to scent it. So I took 5 cups at a time and put it in my blender..I also added 15 drops of the essential oil. Then I blended it til it was smooth. I forgot to take a pic of the oil...I got it a health food store and it was lavender/vanilla.

You can see by the photo below the difference. The left side has not been blended yet and the right side has. It just gives it a smoother texture. And it smells YUMMY!!!

I store the detergent in the bucket and use what I need for my jar. No one would ever guess that I made it myself!!!

Now the best part of all this is that you only use 1 TABLESPOON!!! per load. For heavily soiled clothes like jeans I use 2. I absolutely love the stuff. I have not had any problems with my clothes not being cleaned and they definitely smell great! My jar holds 10 cups of detergent...that 160 tablespoons....or 160 loads of wash! I still have another 20 cups in the bucket!!! WOW~!~

Total cost for all the ingredients were

$20.97

Total time

20 minutes

Savings.....HUNDREDS!!!

If you make your own or have any different recipes let me know...I would love to hear from you!

♥Christina

PS: Check back tomorrow for how I make my own Febreeze!!!!

Ball Jar Makeovers

2012-01-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012 everyone!!! I hope the holidays treated you all with lots of love and laughter! I was so busy that mine just flew by. As always with the start of a new year I am on a major clean/organization spree. Time to get rid of the old and ring in the new! Since I am organizing (once again) my sewing area I thought I would share a little tutorial on how to "dress" up your ball jars. I love any and all crafts that involve ball or mason jars. They work fantastic for storage and it adds a bit of whimsy to any area. These are amazingly easy to do...all you need is

Spray paint...any color will do. I ALWAYS have black spray paint on hand so that is what I used. Modpodge...if you have never used this stuff...RUN to the nearest store and get some. It has UNLIMITED uses!!! Cardboard...you can use cereal boxes or anything else you have on hand and scraps of fabric.

And of course Ball Jars with the lids and rings. That's it!

Remove the rings and spray paint them the color of your choice.

While these are drying take a lid and trace it on your cardboard.

Cut your circles out and set aside

Pick out scraps of fabric that you like and want to use and trace the lid on it.

Once you have all your circles cut out this is what you will end up with.

Now for the fun part....spread a good layer of modpodge on top of the cardboard piece

Do as the picture says...lol

Once the modpodge has dried gently push it into your Ball Jar ring. The cardboard will keep it nice and tight inside it. On some of them I glue them in but most of the time I don't.

and voila!!! Your newly decorated ball jar!

I absolutely love how they look on my shelf. They hold all my sewing essentials and look cute too!

These are so addicting....have fun making them...betcha' cant make just one ♥

Add caption

♥ Christina

Nervous Energy...

2011-11-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

So a couple of weeks ago I noticed a mole on my face...right smack dab in the middle of my left cheek to be exact...and I noticed that it got big pretty quickly. I went to see my dermatologist and had it removed. On Friday I got the call that it was skin cancer. Squamous Cell Carcinoma...nothing that is going to kill me but something that is worry some none the less. I had a follow up appointment today to remove more skin around the area. For now its all over...nothing left but a very sore cheek and a scar.

BUT...yesterday I made the mistake of googling squamous cell carcinoma...for anyone who has been diagnosed with ANYTHING...please do not ever google it!!! They will show you the absolute worse case scenarios first and just get you all worked up. Trust me on this...after seeing pics of people with holes in their faces I was completely freaked out! So with all my nervous energy I decided to tackle some chores that I have been putting off.

WARNING: For all of you that I have fooled into thinking I am a great housewife who's house is always immaculate-please turn off the computer now!!!! I don't want to ruin that image! ;)

for those of you who really know me...welcome to my mess....

yes...this sad pathetic space is my work space. All I can say in my defense is that I have been VERY busy. Thus this complete mess. Y'all don't even want to know what was growing in my coffee cup

I don't even know what to say...lol...its bad! Just look how I have treated all these beautiful fabrics...the shame!

see all the little scraps of paper? those are all of my patterns..lol. I know, I know..I'm so embarrassed!

BUT.....Tada...

see what nervous energy does for you! I painted the shelf my wonderful hubby built me and trimmed it in some ribbon I had. I organized all my supplies and finally hung up all my ribbon.

I even bedazzled my shelf with some rhinestones I found..lol! LOVE IT!

It now looks so much better and I do have to say it is so nice to have everything in its place. So take that bad nerves...

♥Christina

An Award!

2011-09-14T06:20:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to announce that I have won an "Editors Choice" award for having a creative and crafty blog. Lewis Leong...an editor at Craft Corners, which is part of Become.com’s blogging network saw my site and liked it. Craft Corners is a great website for crafters of any level. They have some amazing tutorials and posts. My favorite is a DIY Magazine Storage Holder

I mean seriously....aren't these just amazing!?!! They actually show you how to do it too....as if I need any more projects.....lol! I cant wait to make some!

I also love, love, love the post about Organizing Your Craft Room!

WOW!!! I wish she would come to my house and organize my craft area...ya'll don't even want to see the messes I create!

Once again I want to thank Craft Corners for thinking my stuff is cool enough for them! Go check out their website...you wont be disappointed!!

♥ Christina

Crazy, Busy Summer!

2011-09-14T05:29:00.000-07:00

This summer has gone by so fast! I blinked only once...and...poof gone! We did so much this summer..both in and around the house. I will post more on those later. I was also crazy busy with my sewing. Though I do have to say having all 3 boys home was not very conducive to staying on a schedule. Not to mention the fact that I thought it was a brilliant idea to get a dog (thought being the key word here) all boys need a good dog I thought. So we got a German Shepherd. On top of all 3 boys at home..keeping my house cleaned...running my business..and working part time....I knew very quickly that I had completely lost my mind!~

We celebrated my husbands 40th birthday...that will be a post in itself...the cake was epic!!! Brogan turned 10..Ean turned 4 and I'm just feeling old! lol

but.....in between all the madness I had time to create some new bag patterns...

this one with a clasp closure, two huge front pockets, a big back zip pocket and 5 interior pockets

This was a custom order diaper bag. I was allowed to do what I want in terms of styling. I thought this one came out super adorable. I am in love with silver rivets....they add just the right amount of oomph to a bag!

this was another custom order...again I was allowed to do "whatever" in terms of styling. This is a huge bag..two front snap pockets, a huge back pocket for magazines, two side pockets for water bottles, 7 interior pockets, and it all zips closed under the flap.

and finally my BusyBee Wallet. I have made variations of this for awhile now..they are always a hit. I carry mine with my EVERYWHERE!! It has a back flap that when you open....

is a cell phone holder!

on the other side is a cute snapped......

WALLET!!! 3 credit card slots and a zip coin slot. Everything you need all in one place!

I have so much more to post...it will take me awhile to get caught up...from Daryl's party...to my laundry room makeover...to the MOST ADORABLE swap I did with Trisha. Stay tuned for it all.....

♥Christina

A beautiful sewing table!

2011-06-28T06:15:00.000-07:00

A while ago I was at work complaining about my lack of a good sewing table. The one I was using was a fold out table. A terrible table to use for sewing...the whole thing bounced when I got going fast....it also was dipping from all the pressure of my fabric cutting. Well one of my co-workers mentioned she had a table she could sell me. She was like "I don't know..you might not like it. Its 8ft long and has drawers all around it" What??? Are you serious?!? This sounded like the PERFECT table for me. So I bought it from her and it is perfect! I couldn't wait to get this baby home and "stylize" it!

Here is the table before. Notice that I couldn't even wait to get a good "before" picture before I started painting it! As you can see from the slots it holds four drawers on each side!!

Here are the "before" drawers.

I wanted to do something totally different with this table. Something that would really make it stand out. I had just started using ModPodge (seriously how did I not know this stuff existed??? I love it!!!) so I went to AC Moore and found a scrap book paper pack on clearance for $9.99. I used 24 different papers out of the pack and modpodged them down. When it was all dry I put 2 coats of Poly Acrylic over everything. I absolutely, totally, irrevocably love the way this turned out!

It looks so fabulous and all the colors keep it fun. I also used cutouts (thanks to my lovely friend Sandy) to highlight the drawer fronts. I still have to put the knobs I bought from Hobby Lobby on it but all in all it is exactly what I wanted.

It works perfect for all my sewing. The drawers are such an added bonus...they hold all my tools and whatnot's! Thank you Amanda for selling me my dream sewing table!

♥ Christina

I L.O.V.E Craigslist!

2011-06-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

You know they say one man's trash is another man's treasure....how true that is!!! If you know me then you know that half my house is decorated with craiglist finds. I will NEVER pay retail for another piece of furniture again (ok other than a sofa...don't like old used cushions...or mattresses...ugh!) Part of the thrill is the hunt that starts with an idea. I wanted something for my basement that would hold games and toys and the little TV that we have down there. Something that would make it nice for Ean since we spend alot of time there. Here is the room before...

did I mention we have ALOT of toys and games. Its totally ridiculous how much these kids have...we even donate old stuff every year!!

and it always looks messy!

So off to the wonderful world of craigslist I went.....it took about a week to find what I wanted at the price I wanted. Voil'a!~ A 3 piece entertainment center for (drumroll please) $45.00 DOLLARS! Ooh yeah baby!

Here are the towers before

and the middle entertainment part before.

I knew I wanted to paint these so I put the boys to work sanding and fixing it. Brogan did the sanding....he did a FANTASTIC job!

Austin took all the hardware off and fixed anything that needed fixing!

Then it was time to paint! I used Krylon paint in a can. I planned on distressing it so I just wanted to make sure it had a good basic coverage. Once that was dry I went to town on it with sand paper. All the edges and anywhere I thought "normal" wear and tear would show. When it was done I put poly acrylic over all of it.

And the results are..........................absolutely stunning!!!!!

I am so in love with how this turned out. It was exactly what I wanted down here. It just makes everything look so much better.

Now Ean has a wonderful area to play and watch TV while I sew. You can see my sewing table right next it. You can see that transformation here. Once again......Craigslist RULES!!!

♥ Christina

PS: A very special thanks goes out to my lovely friend Jess D. Thank you for meeting me and helping me load this into my truck....it was fun...even if for the SECOND!!! time someone thought I was your mother!

PSS: I am linking this up with Beneath My Hearts best diy projects of june..check her out to see more spectacular stuff!

Porch Pillows

2011-05-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for fabric to come in for some bags that have been ordered....I hate being "unbusy" so I decided to take the time and make myself some pillows for my front porch. I have always loved the Cathedral Window quilt pattern (you can find a tutorial on my blog) and decided to make some pillows in this style.

I love the patchworky feel of it. I got the idea for the back of the window panes on the Moda Bakeshop website. They have another great tutorial on there.

I also love how it looks on my rocking chair.

I love that these look so hard to do but are in fact very easy!

The back of the pillow.....I just did it slip cover style.

I am so happy with the result.....now back to bag making!

♥ Christina

Peace

2011-05-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

I feel so bad for all the followers of the man who said the world would end on Saturday. I saw on TV where some of them sold their homes and all their possessions and savings to follow him to what they thought was the rapture. I said a prayer for them...that they might find the true meaning of God and His word and that they might find peace. This is one of my all time favorite hymns....well I have a few. I remember my dad singing this....what a wonderful voice he had.

praying you all have a "peaceful" week!

♥ Christina

A lightbulb moment!

2011-05-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

I have always loved the big overnight duffel type bags. I wanted to make one of my own. The only difference is I do not like the way the insides looked. Most of the duffel bags that I see have binding over the seams on the inside...giving it (in my opinion) a not too finished look. I knew there had to be a different way to do it but for the life of me I could not figure it out....then one night as I was trying ~~desperately~~ to get some sleep...my brain went gaga! I had that ultimate light bulb moment of AHA! So you know what I did next right....I got up and sewed til 3 in the morning! I am soooo happy with the way this bag came out....its exactly like I envisioned!

The front of the bag....2 big pockets

I did contrasting print straps and black piping around the whole bag.

a double zip zipper.....I am soooo loving this

a side pocket....fits my cell phone perfectly!

and voila.....the inside. As you can see it is completely seam free....very neat and tidy!

I love when what you envision comes to reality and it is everything and more! Did I say before that I have truly found my passion?!

♥ Christina

A perfect day!

2011-05-18T05:27:00.000-07:00

So last Sunday the my family and I took a trip up to Philadelphia to see my niece. She has been putting herself through college at Temple (in engineering no less) and wanted to show us around. She took us to Love park.

and Penns Landing

we saw the Liberty Bell....which I always thought was so much bigger but its actually rather small.

But the best part of the whole day (other than just being with my family and niece) was when we went to a craft bazaar at Penn's Landing. As we were walking around I noticed a tent that said "Jay McCarrol" (who was on project runway...my all time favorite show!) and I said to my husband "oh look they are selling his stuff here" then I looked again and guess what????

HE WAS THERE!!!!!!

I so had to get my picture taken with him.

But......the best part is as we were getting our pic taken we were talking about his fabrics (you know...me ~~embarrassingly~~ gushing about how I loved them) when he asked me if I sewed. I said yes and he picked up my BumbleBee Bag and said " This is cool....its sewn really well!!!!!!!!!!!!" OMG!!!!!!! I was in heaven....a man I admire so much for his visionary designs and amazing talent telling me I sew well! It was a perfect day!!

Where in the world am I?

2011-04-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

I have been such a bad blogger lately! I have just been sew ( I mean that literally) busy lately. I promise to be on here more....and I might even have a tutorial or two to share! For now here is what I have been up too....

BackPacks...gotta represent for the boys!

bags

Bags

and more bags!

and adorable hair barrettes! Can I just say now how unfair it is that I do not have a girl...lol!

If you want to see more check me out at http://www.bumbebeebagz.com/ or on facebook as BumbleBeeBagz Spangler!

♥

Ps: Check back on Tuesday for a fabulous tutorial on how to redo an old kitchen table into something spectacular!!!

The Dying Swan

2011-01-13T08:27:00.000-08:00

This year my husband got me the best Christmas present ever!!!! Two tickets to see the Russian Ballet perform Swan Lake at the Strand Capitol Theatre! It has been a dream of mine to go see this ballet since I was about 7. When we lived in Saudia Arabia a friend of my mothers went to Russia and the ACTUAL Russian ballet. They saw Swan Lake and (gasp) secretly videotaped it. They came over one night and we all watched it together and I was hooked. The beauty of the ballerina and the heartbreaking story went straight to my heart and stayed there. I will never forget watching the main ballerina (Maya Plisetskays) and being taken with her amazing beauty and grace. When she fluttered her arms you could see the Swan coming out!

As a girl the story of Swan Lake....a handsome prince who falls in love with a beautiful princess who is bewitched by an evil sorcerer..captivated me. I prayed to find a love like that. Well dreams do come true....because next Wednesday I am going with MY prince to see this amazing ballet!!!

where have I been??

2010-11-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

I just realized its been awhile since I posted....I have sew (heehee) much to say. I had a wonderful time at the Women's Show and sold ALOT!!!! If you haven't checked it out yet go see my new website....it was designed by the wonderful PolkDot Dandy. I will post more with pics later....I have lots to show!

♥ Christina

womens show preview

2010-08-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

phew! what a busy week. I finally got my "big" order done....all 20 chicken print bags. A wonderful man named Bud buys them from me 20 at a time. He works for Tyson Chicken in Georgia thus the chicken print!

And as most of you know I am participating in the York Womens Show this October so I have finally begun to get started on all the stuff I need to make. Here is my newest bag pattern....I sooooooo love this!

I have never carried a bag with a zip top before...seriously....but now that I make them this way I LOVE it...no more stuff falling out.

this is also another pattern......I adore bows and think this came out really cute

and of course I got started on accesories. I've wanted to make a pleated wristlet for awhile now but just couldnt find the time....I'm glad I did....

I put 2 pockets in it....one for your liscense and credit cards and another for a cell phone....its what we cant live without these days huh?

and I got around to this......a square makeup bag....

fully lined

thats alot for one week....but I am on a serious time crunch! I also got my new website up an running....just not with any products yet..lol....I am hoping to have that all done by the 1st of October. I would love if you checked it out and let me know what you think!!! http://www.bumblebeebagz.com/

As always all patterns on my blog are my own!

dont forget to check out all the wonderful stuff at Amy's show and tell......I am always so amazed at how talented people are!

♥ Christina

More Bags!

2010-06-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

I have to say I love Amy's Show and Tell Friday's....it keeps me motivated to get my stuff done. Here's some new bags I did this week...

a messenger bag....

another one of these....I need a name for it but havent come up with one yet!

another recessed zip top....

back zip pocket

my newest pattern.....a pleated hobo

recessed zip top....

and my must have.....lots of pockets!!!!

can't wait to see what everyone else was up too!!

♥ Christina

ps: just a side note....all bags are designed and made by me!

Some more sewing done and a new bag pattern

2010-06-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

So I got in a groove and got quite a bit so sewing done lately....heres a look

I love this pattern....the more I make them the better it gets!

recessed zip top

hard bottom and plenty of pockets

a double eyeglass case

dualed zipper compartments

both pockets are fully lined and completely seperate...you can keep your sunglasses on one side and your regular glasses on the other....scratch free!

I finished this last Friday....a lady wanted a "picture pocket" on the front

here it is with a pic in it

This pattern I came up with today....I wasnt too sure if I liked it at first, but the more I look at it the more I do!

pretty cute....right?

lots'a pockets!

and thats all I have to show for now.....if you want to see more cute stuff head over to AMY's!!!

♥ Christina

I'm so excited!!

2010-06-09T06:29:00.000-07:00

Well I took the plunge and signed up to do a show.....a big show....this fall. I am going to be in the York Women's Show at the York County Fairgrounds. It is the biggest event of its kind on the East Coast!!! I am so excited to be a part of this. They showcase everything from makeup...to fashion....to decorating....all for the woman! It is a great way to meet all the local business and really get to networking. They do all the advertising for you and your business...from the web to newspaper...to RADIO!!! Can you imagine? I think I would have a heart attack if I heard my business name on the radio. I have so much sewing to do to get ready for this but I cannot wait! Go check it out and if you live anywhere near this......you have to come. I will be giving away tickets for the show later on so check back. When you go on the site click on "Exhibitors" and scroll down to Clothing and Accessories and you will see ME!!! Did I say I was excited?

♥ Christina

Natalies Spring Photo Challenge

2010-05-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

Natalie from Natalies Sentiments is having a spring photo challenge. You are to upload a pic that makes you think of spring. Here is mine......my boys fishing.

I took this through these two big trees.....they were so busy concentrating they didnt even notice me!

♥ Christina

Happy Mothers Day and a thought on Motherhood!

2010-05-09T06:39:00.000-07:00

I read this article this morning and totally agree with it. I think we as women need to start standing up for ourselves and demanding respect from the male society. Its time to have "ladies" and "gentlemen" back!

this was written by a Jessica Mary Buck for the York Daily Record

This column is about motherhood, or the lack of it. You may bristle at my frank comments, but they are long past due.

In the York area it seems that more toddlers are beaten to death by their mothers' boyfriends annually than those who die from other causes. The scenario is painfully similar: The baby is usually illegitimate and the father is probably in jail. The mother lives with an unemployed boyfriend, mooching off her meager welfare benefits. Sometimes the mother works and trusts this lowlife to babysit. Having no interest in the child, and indeed harboring primordial resentment toward the offspring of another male, this subhuman savagely mistreats the baby, killing her or maiming her for life.

I lay the blame for these atrocities solely at the feet of the women! How does a woman become so decadent that she would live with a man who would abuse and kill her child? A mother's protective instincts once were considered so basic that if she killed her own child, she would definitely be declared insane. The Zapruder films of the 1963 Kennedy assassination were startling in that when shots rang out, women could be seen instinctively throwing their children to the ground and covering them with their own bodies. New mothers have often told me, "I would gladly lay down my life for my baby, in an instant."

Historically women have been the keepers of civilization. Even our Wild West would never have been settled if not for women moving out there and laying down new rules

-- "You're going to stop shooting each other in the streets! We're going to have law and order! You're going to build schools and churches, and this town is going to be made safe for raising children!"

In the 1950s, when I was a young girl, it was a whole different world. There was an unspoken undercurrent that permeated every girl's existence -- unspoken but blaringly clear. Your whole youth was a prelude to the fact that you would some day bring children into the world, and they would need a secure home. You had to be a "good girl" and guard your "reputation" because if it became soiled, no "decent man" would want you (read that "from a good family, educated, destined-to-be-successful"), and you needed this setting to insure your children's security. A good girl was not expected to have premarital sex, and the accepted package deal was marriage, mortgage and children. However, a girl who became "soiled goods" usually had to settle for a ne'er-do-well with no future.

Running around in our starched crinolines and white gloves, most girls were virtual pillars of self-respect, and the guys not only respected us, they seemed to place all women on a pedestal. I remember an incident when some boys beat up another boy, and when I asked why they had done so, the reply was, "That stupid idiot -- he said the 'F-word' right in front of the girls!"

This middle-class morality prevailed throughout society, including all races and economic levels. Men found jobs, couples got married and established intact, two-parent homes. If an engaged couple "got into trouble," they simply moved up their wedding date. There was very little illegitimacy, and with a strong father in the home, there was minimal serious juvenile crime. The 1950s era wasn't "Mayberry USA," but it was darned close.

If you want to destroy a culture, you only need to corrupt one group of people -- the young women. Although women maintained societal order for decades, future generations were negligent.

Throughout the late 1960s and '70s girls were sold a "bill of goods" and made to believe that they could engage in a sexual free-for-all, just like the boys did. Running around in torn jeans and spewing the " F-word" in every sentence, these girls subverted their own biological purpose and needs, and then abortion on demand further demeaned and exploited them. It was the New Morality.

The guys, having no sense of respect or responsibility, simply stopped marrying the girls. This led to a huge increase in illegitimacy when the only choice for these now-aging women was to be a "single mom" or miss out on motherhood altogether. Rather than holding men accountable, the welfare system stepped in and became the enabler of this scenario, leading to the subsequent total breakdown of the orderly previous culture.

The attitude of some men today is, "If you love me, you'll have my baby," and the girlfriends fall for it. Women need to adopt a new attitude, "No! If you love me, you'll get a job, marry me and make a real home for a baby." No woman should settle for illegitimacy and poverty for her children!

I believe that societal order can be restored if women will regain their self-respect, demand accountability from men, and see that every child is born into a secure, safe home. This responsibility lies directly with today's young women. The men aren't going to change until the women do.

I'm over orange already.

2010-05-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

Its friday so it Sew and Tell time! I was fabric shopping last week when I saw this print...I loved it! When I got it home I layed it down next to some fabric I was working on for my sons room when....BAM...it happened...instant love. I no longer love orange......this is my new love

I adore the green and zebra print together. Sorry the pic looks funky....I had already loaded this baby up with all my junk when I remembered to take a pic.

I put a zippered pocket in back

the front pocket

and a zippered top

ahh, what love! I was really busy this week, if you want to see more of what I got done click HERE for an eyeglass case I got finished......and click HERE for my littlest man's room makeover!

♥ Christina

PS: for all those asking.....I will do a tutorial on recessed zippers. Maybe by next friday?

Ean's Room Part 2

2010-05-07T11:16:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got his room done!!! I love how it turned out. THIS is what his room used to look like. He's getting to be a big boy now so I had to update it. If you remember I bought the furniture at yard sales and on craigslist ( I am soooo addicted to that site!!) and THIS is what it looked like before.....and now....the after!

I think I want a new rug!

I painted all the furniture black and made his quilt and curtains.

that dust ruffle kills me everytime I see it....talk about a pimped out toddler bed! I patchworked his blanket and lined it with super soft minky fabric.

these are the curtains I made

and remember this....it was that blue thing I got for 15 dollars at a yard sale. A little paint and and a little curtain and it holds his books and pullups and wipes and anything else. (if you do something like this please be sure to secure it to the wall so it will not fall over!)

heres a little close up of it

and this is the dresser I got for $15

a room fit for a king....dont ya think?

Ean does!

♥ Christina

Eans Room Part 1

2010-05-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

My Little Man was getting to big for the crib so I decided to get him a toddler bed. In the process I decided to redo his room. :) I wanted a nice dresser I could paint and something to put his toys on soooo....I went yard sale'ing and this is what I found.

I found this dresser with 5 drawers that were in perfect condition for $15! As you can see I had already started to paint it when I thought about taking a before pic.

I also found this for $15 (can ya believe it???) and just wait til you see what I've done with it!

and his toddler bed. I found this on craiglist for $30. Its so cute.

Little Man likes it!

I got fabric and am making his curtains and bedspread. I even made him a dust ruffle for the crib...hysterical huh?! I'll post the results when I'm done.

♥ Christina

A new creation

2010-05-05T12:03:00.000-07:00

I think everyone in my family wears glasses. Except me...but I have heard ~~people~~ women say how hard it is to find cute glass cases. So here ya go...I came up with one.

it is double sided so you can put your regular glasses on one side and your sunglasses on the other.

double zipper pulls

and....well.....I think its cute! If I wore glasses I would so make me one!

♥ Christina

More Orders Done!

2010-04-30T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yeah!!!....Amy had her baby. A girl....I'm so jealous! Well while she was off having fun (haha) I was busy finishing up some orders.....

A messenger bag for Karen

a tote for April.....I love the ball trim

cant say who this is for....its a mothers day gift from someone to someone!

my little helper

a bag for Amanda....I am so loving this....this is my newest pattern. It was a freakin nightmare but now that I know what NOT to do I think the next one will go quicker.

it has a recessed zip top closure

and I am so in love with this bag. The fabris is just soo gorgeous...plus I'm diggin' orange this year!

and thats it....check out all the other goodies folks have been up to here!

♥Christina

New Product Love!

2010-03-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

Check this out....its a new program that allows you to take a "snap shot" of something on a computer and put it on your blog!!! Gotta love ANYTHING that makes it easier. Take a look.......

SnapIt Screen Capture

Capture anything you see on your PC screen! Don't waste time cropping your captures. Take a "snapshot" of anything exactly what you need, with just a click. Irreplaceable tool for Bloggers, Designers, Office Workers, Business People, Analysts, Technical Writers who have to describe interfaces, menus, buttons, etc.

LOVE IT!!!!!

A busy March

2010-03-31T08:48:00.000-07:00

Whewww, last month was so busy for me and it doesnt look like the next 2 will be any calmer. Oh, well....makes life fun. So heres what I've been up to..............I did a craft show in the middle of March and did very well! I am very fortunate that my gorgeous best friend makes THE MOST amazing jewelry ever and go's to the same shows as me. It so helps to pass the time!

Here she is setting up......

All done....she seriously does amazing work!

Here was my side. I didnt realize I got her butt in the photo....oops!

Also what I've been up to.....LOTS of sewing!

My cousin has 3 little girls.....unfortunately I have never met them. If they look anything like their momma then they are most likely beautiful to boot! She wanted bags for each of them and one for her for Easter. All matching. So this is what I came up with....I made each of the girls a little different.

This one has black binding and a black ribbon and zipper

White binding, zipper and a floral bow

blue binding, zipper and polka dot bow

and for the momma.....a combination of all 3....with pink binding and pink zipper and bow

I have done a ton more sewing.....if you want to see any of it go check out my Etsy shop. Happy Easter!

♥ Christina

Beautiful gifts!

2010-03-16T04:28:00.000-07:00

Things have been so crazy around here the past week. Kids are sick, husband is sick, I am sick! Is it summer yet? I also have a craft show this friday that between the sickness, I have been trying to sew for. I think I am going to have enough done but.....why do I feel like I dont! Anyway, I had to take time to do this quick post to tell you about this wonderful swap I did. Sue from Berkshire Cottage has this amazingly beautiful daughter who knits. She made her mom a pair of fingerless gloves and Sue posted about them. I loved them! So I proposed a swap. Something from my store for the gloves. Well I got the goves friday and can I tell you how much I love them!!!! They are simply stunning. I had to work all weekend and of course I had to show them of to all the girls. NO ONE could believe that a young girl had made them. They look so profesional. I seriously wear them all the time. I think I may have to buy another pair from her....the ones I got are so super soft in black....I think I want another color. Kaleigh, you are such a beautiful, talented young lady!!!! I mailed your "thing" out today so I just hope you love it as much as I love the gloves!!!

♥ ya
Christina

ps: AS SOON AS I CAN FIGURE OUT WHAT MY 2 YEAR OLD DID WITH MY CAMERA CARD I WILL TAKE PICTURES AND POST THEM!

Amys Sew and Tell Friday

2010-03-05T04:03:00.000-08:00

Well its that time again....time to show off what we did this week. Here was my week workload. As soon as my boys leave for school me and the little man head downstairs to the sewing factory. My husband (bless his heart) created a whole play area for the little guy so he plays and I sew. Sometimes I play and he tries to sew! I have a couple of craft shows coming up and I am trying like crazy to get my stock back up. I also want to update my Etsy by the end of the month. We'll see how that goes!

This was a custom order laptop bag for my cousin. We both fell in love with the owl print. So sweet!

the straps are adjustable and its huge!!! 17x15

a back zip pocket never hurt anyone!

this bag will be listed in my shop hopefully soon. I absolutely love orange....makes me want summer!

magnetic snap closure with a interior zip pocket

on the other side are 3 slip pockets. Its also a bigger bag... 15x15

here it is in a turquoisey blue color, I am so loving these colors!!!

I also got 2 messenger bags done. I seriousley ♥ that red chandelier print.

the strap is completely adjustable and removable

I started making this style of bag because I adore them!!!! So easy to use and it literally can carry everything. I put a wipes case and 2 pullups in mine when I go out with my 2 year old. I dont need the big diaper bag anymore and this works just great! Plus I put in 4 pockets for your ID and Mac cards.

another beautiful Amy Butler print.

and thats it. Phewwww. I have 2 more messenger bags cut out. Ones purple with turquoise highlights and the other is a blue/teal with lime green highlights. If I can get them done this morning (you know the saying about best laid plans right?) I will post them later on in the day! Thanks for stopping by!

ps: I do custom work! lol

♥ Christina

pss: everybag but the laptop is for sale!!

Psssss...I got the other 2 done!

cant decide which I like better.....this one or................

this one!! Do you see now why I sew? I love it all!

Escapism

2010-03-02T12:23:00.000-08:00

I want to be here! I want to make whoever is under the umbrella get out of my spot!!! (sigh) I can just imagine.....

A few orders done!

2010-02-19T16:04:00.000-08:00

Here are two custom orders bags that got done. I love, love, love the first one.

and a cute wristlet to match!

This is my newest mesenger bag pattern. I love the style of bag. So easy to carry everything and be hands free!

Go Down Death

2010-01-29T04:42:00.000-08:00

I got an email from a blogging friend the other day...she asked me to pray for her because her father is in hospice and my not have much time left. I immediately said one. Then I started thinking of my dad. I know exactly how she feels...my father was in hospice for awhile before he passed on.
                 He had COPD and was til the end a chronic smoker. His hospice was in Pinellas Park Florida and I lived here in York Pa. In life my father was a very "complicated" man. I found out after his death that he had been diagnosed with being Bi-Polar when he was younger but was never treated. Growing up with him was scary and hurtful and fearful, but it was also full of laughter and daring and experiences. If you know anything about bi-polar you know they have wild mood swings. From deep dark depression.....to shopping like crazy and being happy.
                 I think in his heart of hearts he wanted to be a good father. I really do. But the reality was, he wasnt. He was abusive and manipulative and controlling and in the end he died alone. Because of our relationship I never made it a point to go see him. Even though I KNEW he was in hospice. When he died I realized what a fool I had been. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE should die alone without loved ones around. That will always be my biggest regret. I should have been a better daughter AND a better Christian and gone and visited him. Regardless of our relationship!!!
               So as I thought of my blogging buddy, I thought what a joy for her to live near her father. What a blessing to be able to spend the last of his days together and to be able to offer comfort and support to her mother. Someday she will look back and remeber the love that was felt and feel peace. I wanted to share with her a poem that has always brought me peace when a loved one has died. Its written by James Wheldon Johnson. He was an amazing man who accomplished so much! I hope she enjoys it and I hope she knows I pray for her nightly!

GO DOWN DEATH!

Weep not, weep not,

She is not dead;

She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.

Heart-broken husband--weep no more;

Grief-stricken son--weep no more;

Left-lonesome daughter --weep no more;

She only just gone home.

Day before yesterday morning,

God was looking down from his great, high heaven,

Looking down on all his children,

And his eye fell of Sister Caroline,

Tossing on her bed of pain.

And God's big heart was touched with pity,

With the everlasting pity.

And God sat back on his throne,

And he commanded that tall, bright angel standing at his right hand:

Call me Death!

And that tall, bright angel cried in a voice

That broke like a clap of thunder:

Call Death!--Call Death!

And the echo sounded down the streets of heaven

Till it reached away back to that shadowy place,

Where Death waits with his pale, white horses.

And Death heard the summons,

And he leaped on his fastest horse,

Pale as a sheet in the moonlight.

Up the golden street Death galloped,

And the hooves of his horses struck fire from the gold,

But they didn't make no sound.

Up Death rode to the Great White Throne,

And waited for God's command.

And God said: Go down, Death, go down,

Go down to Savannah, Georgia,

Down in Yamacraw,

And find Sister Caroline.

She's borne the burden and heat of the day,

She's labored long in my vineyard,

And she's tired--

She's weary--

Do down, Death, and bring her to me.

And Death didn't say a word,

But he loosed the reins on his pale, white horse,

And he clamped the spurs to his bloodless sides,

And out and down he rode,

Through heaven's pearly gates,

Past suns and moons and stars;

on Death rode,

Leaving the lightning's flash behind;

Straight down he came.

While we were watching round her bed,

She turned her eyes and looked away,

She saw what we couldn't see;

She saw Old Death.She saw Old Death

Coming like a falling star.

But Death didn't frighten Sister Caroline;

He looked to her like a welcome friend.

And she whispered to us: I'm going home,

And she smiled and closed her eyes.

And Death took her up like a baby,

And she lay in his icy arms,

But she didn't feel no chill.

And death began to ride again--

Up beyond the evening star,

Into the glittering light of glory,

On to the Great White Throne.

And there he laid Sister Caroline

On the loving breast of Jesus.

And Jesus took his own hand and wiped away her tears,

And he smoothed the furrows from her face,

And the angels sang a little song,

And Jesus rocked her in his arms,

And kept a-saying: Take your rest,

Take your rest.

Weep not--weep not,

She is not dead;

She's resting in the bosom of Jesus.

Will it work?

2010-01-25T08:41:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I was up late the other night (little man WOULD NOT sleep) and I watched this infomercial. I got totally hooked. Now I'm thinking I need to buy this.

The workouts looked cool and somewhat do-able...............but I dont know. I mean, I do belong to a gym that I NEVER go to and I do have the Windsor Pilates DVD along with the Burn DVD's and some other Kathy Smith DVD's. I hate this. I hate excercising and dieting and all the other stuff that goes with it. I guess I should just get back into running again......but this does look cool!

Resolution smesolution!

2010-01-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

I don't like to make New Years Resolutions. Not that there aren't things I need to work on or do. I just don't like them because I always break them by the 2nd day! ALWAYS! My list this year was the same thing as last year and the same as the year before that.....well you get the point. So instead of a "New Years Resolution" I am now going to make it my to do list....got that? I ALWAYS finish my to do lists.....it really bugs me if I don't. I can be quite obsessive about getting things done in the time and the way that I want them done. My husband can attest to that! We will see if this works out................so here are my "Top Ten Things To Do"

1. Bestow Happiness: I consider myself a happy person. I sooo do not take myself seriously, I like to kid around and just have fun. This past year I have allowed negative people who do not REALLY know me to judge me and bring me down. I have NEVER cared what the opinions of others are but where I have really dissapointed myself is I have not shown MORE happiness to those who are negative. I have basically written them off. That is not the RIGHT way to be......so I will try to be more positive and more caring to those I dont like.

2. Enjoy the Day: I get so caught up in the bags I have to make or the house that I have to clean that there are days that pass by so quickly I completely miss them. I want to start taking the time to ENJOY the day and reflect.

3. Nourish My Soul: Somedays I feel like I am so far from being what God had intended. I NEED to make it a priority to make Him the priority!

4. Lose Weight: YADA YADA YADA! Can I just forget this one?

5. Enrich My Boys: I want them to read alot more than they do and I want them to experience how wonderfully beautiful everyday is!

6. Seduce My Husband: Any married couple with children knows how hard it is to keep romance alive. It is the foundation for all that is wonderful in a marriage but it can be the one thing that is so easy to put on the back burner. I want dates and hugs and kisses and most of all I want the wonderful man the Lord chose to put in my life to know that he is all the world to me. I could not have asked for a better father to my children or a better provider!

7: Be A Better Friend: I have alot of friends....but out of those only a handful are what I call "my soul sisters" they stand beside me in times of stupidity, they recognize the person on the inside and most importantly they NEVER JUDGE!!! Everyone needs friends like that....and I want to make sure that I am that friend to them!

8: Practice Frugality: This should be easy to do as we are an extremely frugal couple, but there are always ways we can improve upon it.

9: Take Risks: I want to push the envelope of life and do things that are scary and challenging and hard. All for the purpose of saying " I did it!!!"

10: Do A Marathon: Okay this is sooooo not going to happen this year....but it's worth putting on here cause ya never know!

So what do ya think? Somethings will be easy, some will be hard but I think they are all pretty do-able. What's on YOURE to do list?

I was so spoiled on my birthday

2010-01-04T12:00:00.000-08:00

My birthday was simply the BEST this year. I came home to find this absolutely gorgeous flower arrangment from my momma......they smell just as beautiful as they look

And then my fabulous, sexy, amazing husband made me THE BEST pork BBQ I have EVER eaten. He spent all day looking online and in cookbooks for a recipe for the type of sauce that I like. It has to be the southern spicy/tangy style!!!! It was simply divine......better than any I have ever gotten down south!

And of course you cant have BBQ without coleslaw.....thats a crime!!! So he made me homestyle coleslaw...FROM SCRATCH! Lordy I love this man!

And to top it all off was the perfect ending. A chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. Pure Divinity!

But wait it gets better. My husband knows that I am an absolute book freak! I read at least 3 books a week. Now before you ask how I have time with 3 kids and all the sewing I do.....if you're a book lover like me, you will ALWAYS find the time! He also knows that I have such a hard time getting out to my local paperback trade store to get any books with the little one and all the other stuff I have to do and forget the library.....I just paid a 42$ bill for overdue books! So what did this wonderful man do you might ask.........

HE BOUGHT ME AN ELECTRONIC READER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This little baby is so amazing. You can go online and download ANY book you want in like 5 minutes! ALL IN YOUR HOME! AAAHHHH, I am sooo in love. I put 3 on here when I got it and I have already read through the first and now I'm on the second. What a smart thing I did in marrying him!

Christmas Joy

2010-01-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

Oh the joy of Christmas! We had such a wonderful one this year. I am sooooo blessed with family and absolutely, truly, wonderful friends!!!! The boys got "just what I wanted!" from Santa and managed to make my house look like a bomb went off in 10 minutes!

only the little one would smile for me.....the rest were too busy looking at their things. They got ~~too much~~ alot of stuff.....but everyone was happy....and best of all..........................................................

mom got quiet time!!!!

New York part 2

2009-12-15T04:59:00.000-08:00

Well New York was absolutely fabulous!!! Crazy traffic but just amazing to walk around and look at everything. I had the best time and I went to Mood!!!

can I just say how awesome this place is!!!! They have everything from buttons to buckles to a whole wall of ribbon and trim.....a sew'rs heaven!

just look at all that fabric! I also got to see where they filmed Project Runway. Parsons School of Design. There were dress forms in all the windows...too cool!

the only bad point.....the cost. We went out for dinner and my meal was 37.oo dollars. JUST FOR ME!! Now I know for some of you that may not be alot, but for where I live it is. We usually spend that for our family of 5 when we eat out. What cost the most? My 11 DOLLAR drink.

didnt know that til the bill came. Oh well, all in all it was a fabulous day!

New York State of Mind!

2009-12-11T09:58:00.000-08:00

As you all know (from an earlier post) I am going on my first ever bus trip to NY this Saturday (can I say again how excited I am) so I decided to make a little messenger bag to take along. I didnt want to lug around my big ole' bag. You know....the mommy one....the one that holds EVERYTHING but the kitchen sink, though some days by how heavy it is I think its in there too! So this is what I came up with....my new messenger bag pattern.

it has a magnetic snap closure flap and its cute, cute, cute

(if I do say so myself)

a nice long handle so it can fit across the chest comfortabley

and my favorite......lots of pockets to hold all the essentials. I put in pockets just for my drivers license (can I say that I hate the fact that blogger no longer has a spell check on here...I just had to google license to see if I spelled it right) and credit cards so I dont even have to carry a wallet and it has two bigger pockets for my cell phone and camera.

so what do ya think?

My Beautiful Boys!

2009-12-10T03:16:00.000-08:00

I often find myself shocked that these beautiful, perfect (maybe not all the time) boys came from me. I have no greater blessings in my life than these!

Oh, the way it was!

2009-12-08T05:26:00.000-08:00

For the past week and a half we have had a wonderful nightly routine. I make sure all my sewing is done..the dishes are done, the little one is in bed and then my two older boys and I watch a movie. Not just any movie....but North and South. I absolutely fell in love with this series the very first time that I saw it, and I am sooo happy to say that my boys love it just as much as me!

has any of you ever watched this? If there were ever a time that I loved it was the Old South. (let me start off by saying I am totally against the slavery that went on) the dresses and the balls, but most of all the Honor! Gentlemen were bred to BE gentlemen. They had honor and dignity. They fought for what they believed in, and heaven forbid if you insulted them or their families. Do you remember the duels fought over women's honor?

What a time. Now-a-days its hard to find many with honor. People are rude and selfish and just plain gossipy. The whole notion of a "gentleman" has gone out the window. Just yesterday I was flipped off by an OLDER man in his car. All while I had 3 kids in mine. Nice, nice to know that respect is still out there. This is the same person who will then complain about the "younger generation not having any respect" I miss the old days. When people went to church, when they had empathy and compassion and when most of all the men had RESPECT for women. As a mother of 3 boys I hope to instill manners in them.

Not just the "please and thank you's" but real manners. Like..ALWAYS hold the door for a lady, NEVER disparage a women's character, ALWAYS be attentive to her needs and thoughts and ideas, work HARD and SUPPORT your family, ALWAYS be true to your word, but most of all......live with Honor and Dignity!

I'm going on a trip

2009-12-06T07:40:00.000-08:00

Next Saturday I'm going to good ole' NYC. I am so damn excited. I have NEVER been there. I've been at the airport more than a few times but never downtown NY. The VERY FIRST place I want to go is.........

this is THE fabric store of Project Runway (my all time favorite show). Maybe....just maybe Tim Gunn will be there!

and of course I want my picture taken with him. JUST BECAUSE!!!!!

Did I say how excited I was? Anyone else have some ideas of great places to visit in NY!

I bought myself something...

2009-12-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

I was on Etsy the other night, just looking around when all of a sudden "BAM" I saw it. The most beautifulest (is this a word?) necklace EVER!!!!! So I bought it (well ok actually ordered is more like it) just like that. No thinking, no waiting...just a fast click of the mouse and it's mine........take a look

obviously mine will have 3 discs and they will have MY boys names on them, but isn't it just awesome!!! I soooo cannot wait to get it! It's by Wisegal Designs. Go check her out.....you may find your own to die for necklace!

these are a few of my favorite things.....

2009-12-04T07:10:00.000-08:00

Gloria Jeans Sleigh Ride! a wonderful chocolate coffee peppermint mix....in a milkshake style.....YUMMY!

Noel Scent from Bath and Body...a sweet warm sugar smell. Simply devine! They only come out with this at Christmas so stock up!

Candy Canes............no explanation needed!

Real Ugg boots....dont own a pair...but oh, I soooo want too. Put one foot in this baby and you will see why!

Stockings all hung by the chimney with care (hand sewn by me of course)

O' Christmas Tree how beautiful are you!

the real meaning of Christmas!

and last but not least......snuggling with my boys in front of a fire and watching all the Christmas movies!

so what are some of YOUR favorite things?

Shhhh

2009-12-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

Shhhhh!.......can ya hear it? The excited whispers of the kids, the frustrated sighs of the parents. The kaachinnng of the cash registers.....the loneliness of the empty wallet. Trees and tinsel and cookies and pies......

Yep......its CHRISTMAS TIME!!!!!!

Crazy month

2009-11-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

Phewwww, what a couple of months! I have never been soooo busy. I am so thankful that my business has really taken off. I have had orders coming in left and right. At this moment I have 12 orders to do for Christmas! This doesn't count the 10 that I already got done! I'm tickled pink..lol!

This year has been good to my family. Lots of love and laughter. Alot of dreams getting accomplished. If someone had told me years ago that I would be this happy later in life I never would have believed them. I feel so fortunate.....I hope everyone else has a wonderful Thanksgiving....and remembers those who cant!

~Christina

PS: CHECK OUT ALL MY NEW "STUFF" IN MY SHOP!

Alway's Sew Busy!

2009-10-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

I have been so negligent lately on blogging. I have had to resew all 13 chicken bags as they have never shown up! Plus I am having an Open House on November 5th with over 14 different vendors. I am trying to get my new stuff out there also. So I will be MIA for awhile.........

Hershey Park Fun

2009-09-22T07:13:00.000-07:00

After all the stress the past couple of weeks I decided to take the boys and their best friend to Hershey Park for some fun. I left the little one with a sitter and away we went!is it so wrong that I want to take a gigantic bite out of him ;)

our first coaster...the comet

the boys and some friends who went to0. From l to r..Brogan, Mathew, William, Luke and Austin

Brogan, Austin and their best friend Luke

Austin and Mom on the bumper cars

Me and my best friends Amy and Jen

and the picture below is my absolute favorite. Jen and I were in front of Brogan and her son Brandon. I held the camera over my shoulder and right as we went down the first huge drop I snapped this photo. I almost dropped the darn thing (it was attached around my neck) I am soooo amazed at the shot that came out. I love the look on Brandon's face....pure terror!!!

it was a great day!

Ean turns 2

2009-09-22T07:08:00.000-07:00

I cant believe my little guy is 2 already. Where does the time go? He had a great time at his party and as you can tell he totally loved his new Elmo Computer from Grandma.He wasn't to sure about the talking Elmo

and the cake was delicious.

all in all it was a great day......just a little sad at how fast he is growing up.

I am devstated and pissed off!

2009-09-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Well I think the title says it all.....here is what has been happening in my world. The wonderful USPS has lost the 9POUND!!!!! box that had all 13 bags in it. The man needed it by Wednesday and it never came......I mailed it out on the 5th of September. Seems a young man at the post office decided to play God and changed my shipping from Priority to Parcel after I had paid and left. I did put insurance on it...but they cant track it with just the insurance UNTIL it shows up and someone signs for it. WHAT A FREAKIN!!! NIGHTMARE!!!!! I am soooo disappointed and so upset....I spent all Wednesday bawling my eyes out. At this point I am just hoping that they show up. I feel awful for Bud (he has been amazing about this and says he will still use the bags at a later date) and I feel like a failure. It is so frustrating to work so hard on something and then it just disappears. Lets just pray that they DO SHOW UP at some point!

ps: talked to the "post master" today and the young gentleman was fired. Seems this was not the first time he has tampered with the mail.

Amy's Sew and Tell

2009-09-04T05:01:00.000-07:00

Amy from Mommy and Beyond is having friday Sew and Tell. Every Friday you can brag about what you got done that week and show it off. There is some AMAZINGLY talented women out there...aren't we women just awesome.....so go check it out!

13 Chicken Print Bags and 3 others

2009-09-03T08:21:00.001-07:00

and thats all folks!

I'm Baaaaccckkk!!

2009-09-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it has been so long since I blogged. In my defense I have been super busy. Here's what I've been up to....

I went down to Elkin, Nc to visit my mama. She lives WAY out in the country and it is beautiful, this is a pic of the old barn that is out behind her house.

little Ean running after the dog down the dirt lane. I love this picture!

all the boys running back up

He had so much fun with the dogs and the water hose

The boys got to help Grandma pick tomatoes

Even the little man got to help

Then we went to Mt.Airy where Andy Griffith was filmed. The boys loved Opie's Candy Shop

We saw Sheriff Andy drive by

and the town drunk was still there

they had a blast at the malt shop

me and the boys and my momma

Daryl turned 38 so we gave him a nice dinner out!

I ees mucho hombre'

We then went to Myrtle Beach and stayed at Ocean Lakes. It took me days to get all the sand off of him.

he turned into a little fish

we went to Patriots Point Landing in Charleston, SC. I loved Charleston so beautiful!

my proud soldiers

we ate at Bubba Gump's Shrimp which was a huge hit as we are all Forrest Gump fans.

me and my hubby and yes he is just as much a teddy bear in person as he looks....geesh I love that man!

and Ean has learned how to say "cheese" ain't he a cutie

So that's some of things I've been doing. Tomorrow I will post about the 17 bags I've made in the past 2 weeks. I will put up pics of them all.

More Orders

2009-07-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

I cant remember if I ever blogged on here about the huge custom order that I have been working on. A gentleman in Georgia (his wife is a traveling nurse in the hospital where I work) saw one of the bags that I made her and really liked it. He works for Tyson Chicken and they have a big convention in September that he goes to...well he ordered 13 bags from me. He wants all of them to be done in chicken print fabric. He called me yesterday and ordered 6 more bags for Christmas presents. He is so much fun to talk to on the phone. Big southern drawl and all, he sounds so much like my daddys brother that I feel like I'm talking to family. So that is what has been keeping me busy. That and my boys. Also if you remember a post from awhile back about something big going on well it was this. I got asked if I could make a cookie lee bag for a lady to use as a incentive for her sales girls. The highest sellers would win my bag. She told me that there could be orders as big as 50 to 60 bags. Well I was super excited until reality set in. First off to make those bags is an absolute pain in my you know what! It takes ALOT of time and I do mean ALOT!!! Second: the cost to make these bags are outrageous, which cuts into my profit in a big way. To even make a profit off of this bag I would have had to charge her around 95 to 100 dollars. Which she does not want to pay. She wanted to stay around the 35 dollar range. So I told her no. I am only one person and it is not worth my time with my family to spend 3 DAYS making one bag for a profit of 8 dollars! She was very nice and I feel bad but I can only do so much and then it just gets completely overwhelming. I am so glad I listened to my head!

OMG! Look what I did!

2009-06-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

I am so excited. I just redid my room and I LOVE IT!!!!! If you remember this is what my room looked like and this is what I wanted to do to it. I just didn't want to spend a crazy amount of money on it. The bed that I liked was $600 alone. So I just kinda put it aside and dreamed about it. BUT......then I was perusing Craigslist (can I say how much I love that site) and I found a bed for sale. Not just any bed, but a beautiful black 4 poster bed. The best part was the price....you ready for this...$65.00 dollars. That's it! So that started the whole venture for me, and the results are EXACTLY what I wanted. Take a look for yourself ...........

this is the view walking into my room

and tada! The Bed! Oh lordy ain't she a beaut!

Every time I look at this pic I'm in awe. $65.00 dollars for the bed and if you remember the bedspread was only $23.97. So for less than $90.00 dollars this is what I got!

this sign above the bed says "Always kiss me goodnight"

this is my dresser. I love stars if you cant tell already

the curtain star tiebacks I got for $1.00 each.

next is a new TV. Wish I could find a 37" flat screen on Craigslist.

my closet with more of the $1.00 star tiebacks

I bought these lamp shades at Target for $7.00 and hot glued fringe on them. Too cute.

this is the hallway between my room and Eans

and this is the stairway down as you leave our rooms....and that is where the tour ends. I hope you love my room as much as I do.

Woe is me!

2009-06-18T13:09:00.003-07:00

Well the diaper bag was a hit. As a matter of fact it was a huge hit. I have been given an amazing oppurtunity to create something new and exciting. I'm not gonna say what yet. I still have to figure out the pattern...and can I say what a @#%%*! IF and I do mean IF I can pull this off it will be HUGE to me. This pattern is testing every sewing skill that I thought I had and then some. So please put out a prayer that I get it figured out and if I do.....I'll tell ya what its all about!

~Christina

A bag for a baby girl

2009-06-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

I love baby showers.....I especially love "girl" baby showers. As a mom to 3 boys it is sooo much fun to make things for girls. I get to use pink (I've tried to use it for my boys but for some reason they wont go for it ....go figure) and I can put bows and all kinds of cool things on whatever I am making. Sometimes I go a little crazy. Case in point.....my husbands cousins (got that) baby shower. I know her...but not really well, but that still did not stop me from going overboard for her shower. I couldn't help it..she's having a girl. I have been envisioning this bag since I saw Tina Givens material. So I made it for her.It has two front pockets and 4 interior pockets. Plus I put a zippered pocket on the back of the bag.

I love the contrast between the front and the back.

the whole reason I made this bag was for the sides. I knew I wanted this material and I knew I wanted the birds to go down the side. I love it and I love the bows. They go through metal grommets...if you zoom in you might see it closer.

and then I made her bibs. I love, love, love the bow one. If only Ean would let me put it on him (let me rephrase that...if only my husband would let me put it on him) Oh! how sweet!
Then I made custom burp cloths. I see these all over the web and had to try and make some. Can you say SUPER EASY!!!!
I even used my new embroidery machine on 3 of them. They look so pretty. I may have to do some wash cloths or something for me.
Here they are all rolled up and ready to go.

finally I made her a key chain. I absolutely love these. I use one EVERY DAY!!!! They are soooo awesome....you just slip it over your wrist and you don't have to try and dig keys out of your bag while holding a wriggly baby. Just Awesome!
and at last.....its all packaged up with a bow. I hope she likes everything as much as I did making it. OOOOH I need a girl (yes I love my boys....to the moon and back....but I still want a girl)!

I Did It!!!!

2009-06-02T05:08:00.000-07:00

Well I did my first 5k (that's 3.2 miles folks) and I am still so excited about it. I ran the WHOLE DAMN thing!!!!! Never in a million years would I have thought I would do something like this. It really was alot of fun. I can see why people do alot of these. As a matter of fact I am doing another 5k in July and in October I am doing a 10k ( 6.4 miles ) down in Washington, Dc. Its for the Marine Corp and the boys will be doing a 1 mile fun run with the Marines. It sounds like sooo much fun. They also do a marathon. Check it out it looks like alot of fun. If anyone lives around the area and wants to participate let me know we can hook up and do it together. This is my running buddy Sandy. She finished in 34 minutes and I forget how many seconds. She was smoking hot! I finished in 39 minutes and 41 seconds. I still cant believe I did it.

I came in 154th. I think there were about 200 runners. Honestly.....I'm just super happy I wasn't last!

My niece came up to spend the weekend with us. She brought the exchange student that has been living with them, she is from Germany. We took them all down to Baltimore Inner Harbor. If you haven't ever been there you should go. It is so beautiful and so much fun.

My boys loved Lena. They are HUGE WWII fans and kept asking her about Germans and Nazis and does her family say "hail Hitler." I had to pull them aside a couple of times and have a "talk" thank goodness she thought they were funny and took no offense.

I love this pic of my niece and I. She graduates this Friday. I don't know how I'm going to make it through the day!

and last but certainly not least......a pic of the badness himself. He is getting sooo big, so quickly. Its not fair that they grow up so fast.

Busy times ahead!

2009-05-18T04:41:00.001-07:00

I cant believe its the middle of may already. So much has been going on time seems to fly. I spent Saturday doing my nieces hair and makeup for her senior prom. Then I spent the whole drive home bawling my eyes out. I am sooo proud of her..she is not only drop dead gorgeous on the outside, she is also one of the kindest, smartest and truest people I know. I feel like she is my own daughter. As I was doing her hair all I could think of was when she was the flower girl in my wedding at age 5. She was so cute, she spent all night asking if she could have more "lipdicks" on. Yes she meant lipstick. As soon as I get a pic (of course I forgot my camera) I will post one on here.

In other news I finally broke down and bought a good sewing machine. The one I had been using was just a $60 dollar one from Wal-mart. It worked great but its amazing all the cool little attachments and doodads that come with some of the newer ones. I have 80plus embroidery stitches on the new one....I cant wait to incorporate that into my bags. Speaking of which I have 6 to get done this week. So off I go.......

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-10T04:57:00.001-07:00

Happy Mom's Day to ALL the wonderful moms out there. Enjoy the day!

~Christina

Etsy

2009-04-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Well I opened up an Etsy shop today. I don't know if I told everyone or not but I closed my website down. It was just way to much to pay a month. I did sell off of it, but more than that I got ALOT of custom orders. I think people just wanted a way to see what I can do, so I think Etsy will more than suit my purpose. No sooner did I upload my photos than I got 2 emails from this wonderful lady at www.karensfieldgallery@blogspot.com. She gave me some wonderful tips on how to make my photos better and how to utilize the tags. I soooo appreciate this. For some of us its all greek and any and all help is wonderful. But......not only did she do this, she also made me her Favorite Etsy shop of the day! Can you believe it? What an incredibly nice thing to do! She does some amazingly beautiful artwork so if you get the chance go check her out.....and me too!

Birthday suprise and Easter

2009-04-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

My big boy turned 10 ( I still cant believe it) on Easter Sunday so we decided to throw him a surprise b-day on Good Friday. It worked out since the schools had off. He was SOOO surprised, I have never seen such a perfect O on someones mouth before.

I don't think he had any idea what to do......

His friends a such good kids....I love them all!

What beautiful children inside and out!

and the little man loved his Easter basket. As you can tell in this pic he wasn't to sure about it at first.

but as soon as he saw the snuggly the Easter bunny got him he was fine.

and of course the big boys loved their things too......

just look at that face......

Give-Aways and Wins!

2009-04-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

I got my Scentsy Candle in the mail last week and I am in total love. I won this at Natalie's Blog and I cannot say enough about it.

The candles smell sooooo good and it does not get hot. Yes I stuck my finger in the melted wax to see what it felt like and it stayed cool. I love that at night I have a great little night light but that I also wake up to a house that smells AMAZING and I don't have to worry. No candle to catch on fire, no hot wax to worry about. I think I'm going to buy at least 5 more of these things and put them everywhere. One will definitely be in the boys room (why does it always stink in there...like stale sweat...or something) If you would like to check it out go here.

You can check out the catalog and see all the scents that there is. I have Citrus Punch and Home Sweet Home. I have been using mine non stop since last week and have only used up 1 little bar. There is still some left so I think it will last awhile.

AAANNDD...Cheryl at Quilting Memories for Tomorrow is having an amazing give-away. She will be doing it on April 14th and she is giving away a book on how to do the Cathedral Window pattern. She will include a gorgeous pincushion she made herself. So go check her out and enter....you know I will be!

A new room and a steal!!!

2009-04-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

I have decided that I hate my bedroom. OK...so maybe hate is to strong a word....how 'bout ...dislike. This is what my room looks like now. Its alright but its so totally not me. I DO NOT like purple, never have never will so it is beyond me how my room turned into Barneys play house. What I want is this.

I want this bed

and I want the room painted this color

with this bedding.

Now lets talk about this bedding. I absolutely love it. I saw it online for sale for oh...about $179.99. Yes that's right $179.99. Now do you think for one moment I would pay that for a bed set (OK so maybe I would but that's not really the point) no I wouldn't. So I just sighed and thought "Oh Well" (what I really did was pout and try to con the hubby into buying it) and I forgot about it. Well last Thursday the little man and I were bored and decided to go to the mall. Something that I SERIOUSLY never do. I hate the mall, never liked it as a teenager either. So little man and I parked by the Sears entrance something that once again I never do, if I have to go to the mall I always park by the food court. Don't know why...maybe it has something to do with Auntie Ann's Pretzels. Anyway it was pouring rain and we didn't want to get wet so that's why we parked there. We got inside Sears and was making a straight beeline for the door leading into the mall when.......WHAM!......little man got whip lash (no he really didn't, but I do sometimes forget not to stop the stroller on a dime because little man does fall forward) and there it was.....right in front of me. MY BED SET!!!! The one and only one I want. It was so beautiful and oh..it just called me to look at it. And that is when I saw it, the sale sticker and look what it said............

23 FREAKIN DOLLARS AND 97 CENTS!!!!!! OH YEAH BABY!!!!.......can you say all mine!!!

Binding Tutorial

2009-04-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

I cant believe its been almost a month since my last post. WOW! Well I finally got my quilt done and I have the tutorial for the binding. Before I begin I have to thank the wonderful lady who taught me how to do this. Her name is Aunt Marion, at least that is what we called her. She was an AMAZING quilter who had shows with the local quilt guild. She is who I credit with my love of sewing, she gave me my first sewing machine. It was one her best friend (they were both in their 70's) had used as a child. It smoked when it ran, if it did run. But the love of creating started there and for that I will always thank her. Sadly she passed away a few years ago and I often wonder what else she could have taught me. So here is her binding technique.....for when you just want to be lazy and not hand sew one on.

Take the material that you are going to use for your binding and open it up. Take one edge and line it up with the edge of your quilt and start sewing with a 3/4 seem allowance. When you get to the corners here is a neat trick for mitered looking corners. Take your material and pull it up at an angle....

then bring the material straight down

then start sewing at the top and sew all the way down the side to the next corner and repeat

when all the edges are sewn get out some good ole steam a seam. Can I tell you how magical this stuff is. I use it on almost EVERYTHING!!!!

now flip your quilt over to the back and pull the binding up and over to the back of your quilt. Iron on the steam-a-seam to the back inside of the binding and press down on the back of the quilt going over the sew line you just created.

when you get to the corners pull the material out

and fold over onto the back of the quilt. Your back corners should look like this.

with the binding firmly ironed on the the back of the quilt you can now turn it over again and sew "in the ditch" on the front of the quilt. If you go slow and stay in the ditch your stitches will be invisible.

and voila.....a bound and finished quilt. I absolutely love how mine came out. It goes perfect in my front living room.

New bags

2009-03-12T08:05:00.000-07:00

I had an order for 3 bags from a sweet little lady. She is in love with her dog and wanted her pic on two of her bags. I really hope she likes how they turned out.

AND!!!!! I finally got my bag.....is it not stunning! I am in total love. You have to click on the pic to see all the bling on it.

the wallet matches perfectly.....can I say how much I love my husband....he totally rocks!

and on a final note....how hysterical is this.....its spider stickers

this boy just makes me laugh!!!

BLOG AWARD

2009-03-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

I just got an award from Terri over at Blooming Ideas and I would like to thank her for it. What a way to great your Monday! I need to nominate 8 other blogs so here goes:

Cheryl at Quilting Memories: I love her recipes, you HAVE to try her Fried Chicken one...yummy!

Sue at Berkshire Cottage: I adore her.....her heart is as big as the ocean! Probably even bigger!

Trisha at Easy to amuse hard to offend: I got the most beautiful collages from her for my boys room. She does amazing work.

Tipper her blog is an amazing history of the applachian mountains and its people...not to mention her husband and children sing like angels!

Lori at Buttons and Lace, this lady cracks me up! I love her wit and humor.

Coach Blogger...a single dad with FOUR daughters...need I say more!

Amy at Mommy and Beyond, she's a fellow bag maker and she makes me laugh

Natalie at Natalie's Sentiments....this girl makes me laugh.....a total diva.....with a stunning daughter.

and there is my 8. I hope you enjoy this group as much as I do.

On the flip side....I am almost done with the quilt. As soon as I get all the pics taken I will post the tutorial on the binding.

And on another note I started running...I am now up to 2 miles on the treadmill. I have entered my first 5k that is at the end of May. I'm excited, I never thought I could run. As a reward my husband bought me a Kathy Van Zeeland bag. I cannot wait to get it. He's so proud of me and it makes me more motivated.

~Christina

Tennessee Waltz Quilt How-To!

2009-03-02T06:14:00.000-08:00

Well here it is ladies....finally.....the instructions on how to make the Tennessee Waltz Quilt. If you have any problems just email me and I will help you out in any way that I can!

Once again here are the requirements:

1/4 yard for Star Point Background

1/3 yard for Star Points

1/8 yard for Star Center

1/3 yard for Four-Patch (two prints)

1/4 yard for Snowball Corners

1/2 yard for Snowball Background

Get the material that you have picked for your Star Points. You will need to cut it into 3 1/2 inch strips. Take the strips and cut again into 2 inch squares. You will then cut the squares in half on an angle like the pic below.

This next step is a little bit tricky but if you have a cutting mat and follow my directions I hope you will understand it. Take the material that you are using for your Star Points Background and cut it into 4 inch strips. Then cut it every 3 1/2 inches. Put the blocks on your cutting mat with one side on the 3 and the other on the 7. Now you will need to cut at an angle up to the 3 and up to the 7. Look at the pic below to help you.

Sew the Star Points to the Star Points Background.

Next take the material that you are using for the Four Patch Blocks and you will also need 2 strips of the Snowball Background fabric, you will then cut them into 2 inch strips.

Alternating colors sew the strips together. Lay all your strips together with the sew seems matching on your cutting board and cut into 2 inch blocks.

Sew the 2 inch blocks together to form your Four Patch Block

You will also need to cut a 3 1/2 inch block from your Star Center fabric for your Star Center.(I didn't take a pic of this)

Lay all your pieces out to form your block. Make sure you lay your Four-Patch blocks out so that the Snowball Background square is in to the center. If you look at my block below you can see that the upper right block was sewn on wrong ( don't you just hate that!!!!)

Now take a minute and admire your block....they are sew pretty.....lol!

Now measure your block and trim it up square. Mine were 9x9. Take your material for the Snowball Background block and cut a 9x9 square ( or whatever your block measures )

Now use your fabric for the Snowball Corners and cut 3 1/2 inch squares. Turn your material over and using a pen draw a diagonal line down the center of each square. Just be very careful with what you use. If you have a light fabric Do Not use a pen or a pencil as these may show through. Use a Quilting Pen that will wash away. If your fabric is dark just use any ole' pen. Just make sure its not a marker or anything to dark.

Take your block and line them up to the corners of the Snowball Background block. Sew on your drawn lines diagonally. Cut the excess off.

Now you simply sew your blocks together and "voila" a masterpiece.

You continue sewing your blocks together until you have the size you want. The fabric requirements that I gave are for a 9 block square wall hanging. I want mine to hang behind my sofa in my front living room so I wanted mine longer than taller. Comprende? I love this pattern because you can adjust it to what you want...its all up to you. When you are done you will need two coordinating prints for the sashes. I do not like to piece my sashes so I measure the length by width to get enough material to make a continuous one. On the pic below I still have one more sash to put on then I can get the batting and backing on.

I hope all this was easy to understand. This quilt goes super fast. The longest part is cutting everything out (well not really, for me it was picking the fabric) but once you start sewing it zips along. If anyone is interested I have a SUPER easy way to put on the binding. From the front it will look like its hand sewn but its actually done using the sewing machine. Let me know and I will put up a tutorial on it.

~Christina

FINALLY!!!

2009-02-25T16:45:00.000-08:00

We are all finally feeling better (I hope like hell I didn't just jinx myself) and I can finally put up some long overdue pics.....

the first one is of the wonderful Trisha's trade......

these are the collages I traded her a bag for. They look AWESOME in the boys room. I am seriously considering getting her to do a big one for me. I love them...she even used scrabble letters to spell out the sport that went with the pics. Click on it to make it bigger and look at how cool they are. I love ya Trisha...your work is amazing!

the next one is of Brogan....and his trophy.

the weekend that everyone got sick was the Wrestling Tournament. I was there up until the little one started to do the projectile vomiting thing ( can I just tell you that a grown man that was sitting next to us got up and RAN! I mean really... can you believe it....was a wuss...oh well, we ladies know who's REALLY the stronger sex) anyway.....he won 3rd out of his whole division. Not bad for his first year!

aaannnndd.....I finally got all my material for the wall hanging. I will be putting up the first post on how to cut all your pieces on Friday. I have to cut mine first and take pics and yadayadayada!

xoxo~Christina

The flu

2009-02-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

I knew a nasty flu bug was going around but I didn't realize how bad til my house got it. Everyone has been vomiting and having diarrhea....even the dog! When all is well (and I get more than an a hours sleep) I will pick up where I left off and start on the quilt. til then.....

Tough Boys

2009-02-19T22:39:00.001-08:00

My boys are amazing. Twice this week they have brought me to tears. My middle one Brogan was acting up one night complaining about his chores. I got fed up so I said "I dont think you love me your always complaining when I ask you to do things" he go so upset and said "how can you say that....when you had Ean and cried....I cried with you!" he was in the room with me when I delivered Ean. What can you say to that?!

My oldest who turns 10 in April, told me today "Mom you will never have to worry about anything...because when I get old I will always take care of you and if my wife doesnt like it then I will kick her out! have you ever laughed and cried at the same time? Man I love them boys.

I have pics I will post soon. Trish sent me THE MOST amazing collages for my boys room. When I can get the time to take a pic I will. Hopefully this weekend!

WINNER!

2009-02-12T05:04:00.000-08:00

I cant believe its over...I didn't even get the chance to sign up for everything! I got sick over the weekend and missed probably about the last 300 entries :( I think I ran to my computer this morning to see if I had won...nothing yet....maybe?

but on to the good stuff..by way of random generator....(thank you so much Natalie for showing me how to do this)....the winner is.......#183 DonnaJ. Congratulations, I hope you love and enjoy the bag as much as I did making it!

ok...now I'm off to check my email again!

xoxo~Christina

Phewww!

2009-02-01T07:28:00.000-08:00

I had no idea the amount of comments that I would get from "One World One Heart" give-away. They have been so beautiful and complimentary my heads spinning! I think I am finally caught up in responding to everyone...on another note.....my first tut for the quilt along has been post poned til next Sunday. I completely forgot that today is Super Bowl. None of the good teams are playing anyway...but check back!

One World One Heart

2009-01-30T07:06:00.000-08:00

After looking around at all the wonderful people involved in this I knew I had to join. What an amazing opportunity to meet so many others!

So here is my give-away. A beautiful little bag with coin purse and key chain from my website http://www.bumblebeebagz.com/.

This give-away goes on until February 11th. The winner will be announced on the 12th. All you have to do is leave me a comment. For an extra entry add me as your friend and follow me!

Be sure you check out all the other wonderful blogs. Just click on the One World One Heart Badge and it will take you there. Good Luck!

x0xo~Christina

I'm so, so sad!!!!

2009-01-27T06:49:00.000-08:00

I'm so sad....I cried all day yesterday....

my beautiful boy......

with the beautiful curls......

had his first haircut.

It breaks my heart......

he looks like such a little man now..

oh baby....please stop growing so fast!!!!

My weekend!

2009-01-26T12:24:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd share my weekend with you. We spent all day Saturday and Sunday at wrestling tournaments. Both my boys play for West York Boys Club. They are doing really well since this is their first year.

Brogan is on the right....doesn't he look fierce? He lost by 2 points in this match.....

and pinned this wrestler in the first round on his second match!

Austin is on top.....he did sooo good in his match....

they were giving everything they had....

he was so close to pinning him a couple of times..

but in the end he lost by 7 points.

They both won bronze for 3rd place. Do I need to tell you how proud I am of them?!!!!

Next match is February 1st.....GO BULLDOGS!

Tennessee Waltz Quilt

2009-01-21T15:12:00.000-08:00

Well for those that are going to do this with me here is what you will need material wise to get started. First off you need to determine if you will be using scraps that you have or if you will be getting material specifically for this. If you are going to be using scraps then all you need is 1/2 yard of material for the block backs. The material for the side strips is something you will want to get last. I never know what I want to do til the majority of the quilt is done. If you are buying material then this is what you'll need:

1/2 yard for block backs

1/4 yard for star points

1/4 yard for star centers

1/4 yard for alternating small squares

I'm going to assume that everyone has a mat and rotary cutter. I will be getting the instructions for the star blocks together this weekend and we will start on the first of February. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do. Scraps or new material?

Quilt-a-long

2009-01-15T15:30:00.000-08:00

I've been kinda burned out on bags lately and have been thinking of making a wall hanging. My question is.....would anyone like to make one with me? I would like to do this one. Its called the Tennesse Waltz quilt. I would give instructions on how to do it and we could all work together! Let me know..........I think it would be fun!!!!

digital cameras

2009-01-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

Can I tell you how much I dont like digital cameras? For one I never get pictures developed anymore. They are always left on my camera. And I really cannot stand the delay. When you are trying to take a picture of a moving kid that 2 to 3 sec delay kills you.

LOOK UP!

COME ON SMILE

PUT THE PRETZEL DOWN!

FINALLY......A MASTERPIECE!!!!

Back to Blogger Land

2009-01-08T06:23:00.000-08:00

I feel like I have been MIA lately. Not only on blogger but in my brain as well. Ever feel that way? Just way too much to do and you start to forget things. My Grandfather passed away on Dec 30th . It was the end of a long struggle for him and I am soooo glad that he can now be free of pain. We took another 8 hour car ride down to NC over the New Years for his funeral. At least this one was kid free! My Aunt Sherrie did an amazing job with all the planning of his service. He chose to be cremated so we had a celebration of life service. I learned more about this amazing man when I was down there. Like.....he wrote poetry. AMAZING poetry. He was also incredibly romantic...he wrote poems for his lady love. He has some here. His poem "TearDrops" was read at his service. It was just simply beautiful.

Not all was sad, I got to see some of my cousins that I had not seen in years. My cousin Stacy is soooo beautiful, it was so nice to see her. I think the last time I saw her I was 15 or 16. I also got see my cousin Nicki and I finally got to meet her wife. How wonderful they both were, so kind and friendly.

Aaannnddd.......we came home with a puppy. A little Cockapoo. She is sooo cute. Like a little chocolate bear. My boys are over the moon in love with her.

I of course love having another female in the house. If only a puppy. We named her Bella and I had to get the pink bow for her hair. I think she's going to be pretty spoiled....don't you?

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T18:59:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all!

I hope everyone had a joyous holiday surrounded by the ones they love!!!!

PLEASE, PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

2008-12-19T11:54:00.000-08:00

This is the true story of a 5-yr old Lititz girl, Hannah Garman, who was diagnosed with glioblastom a multiform, a rare and incurable brain tumor. She has been given 12 weeks to live and is currently in her 7th week. She was going to be the flower girl at a wedding in May, but was diagnosed a week after we asked her to be the flower girl. This is especially sad because her mother died 2 yrs ago from breast cancer. Right now she has lost most of her motor skills. She is confined to bed and cannot really do anything or play with the gifts she is getting from people, but she LOVES getting cards - she has gotten so many from people she does not know and just loves to have grandma read about the people who send them and see their pictures and is so proud of all her cards. Her room is just filled with cards. When asked what she wants for Christmas she said she wants to see how many Chri st mas cards she can get. Many people have passed this wish along to their churches, prayer groups, friends and family. There are school groups where children are making her cards. People are including pictures so she can see who it is that is sending her the card. If you would like to help with her wish, you can send a card to her at:

Hannah Garman
704 Orchard Rd
Lititz, PA 17543

THANKS! Feel free to pass this along to your own prayer group, church, school, etc. Let's see if we can have the cards coming in big postal bags for her this Christmas, since it will be her last holiday.

Updates

2008-12-14T08:37:00.000-08:00

Well we are all kinda-sorta feeling better. Thank goodness! I feel like its been forever since i posted anything. We went to North Carolina for Thanksgiving and had a great time. It was so nice seeing family that I hadn't seen in years.

This is a pic of my granddaddy and grandma and all his grandchildren. He is such an amazing man. Talk about the true southern gentleman! He owned his own furniture company which made the most beautiful handcrafted pieces. He is a collector of musical instruments and actually has quite a few in museums. Some of the pieces he has are 100s of years old. My best memories are of going to his house and hearing him talk about and play all of the instruments. Sadly he is not doing well this year and we are all praying that we get to keep him til after the holidays.

Little Ean loved my mothers farm. Especially chasing the cats!

I finally got around to decorating for Christmas. I am WAY behind this year. I usually do it the day after Thanksgiving. I made the stockings 2 years ago and added little Eans last year. If you click on the pic you will see that I embroidered our initials on them. When we had our 2nd son, our first pointed out that our names were the alphabet.....Austin, Brogan, Christina and Daryl. So of course with the 3rd we had to continue that, thus Ean got his name. And yes if we have more we will keep going...lol!
this Christmas has me feeling more nostalgic. Maybe its the impending loss of my grandaddy or just how fast time flies. I find that the older I get the more appreciative I get of traits that I can claim I got from my ancestors.

Like sewing. My mother and grandmother both were sewers. I remember my mother making me some beautiful little jumpers when I was little and being so proud to wear them. I think this is why my favorite song is "Coat of many colors" by Dolly Parton. I love sewing. Not just bags....ANYTHING!!!! I made the star wall hanging that's in the pic above, and I made quite a few of these quilted wall hangings below.

I also love painting. I think I get that from my dad. I remember when I was younger he would always have these elaborate pencils pictures that he had colored. I still have one that I would love to get framed some day. This is a snowman painting that I did a few years ago. I absolutely love how it turned out. The stars were aligned that night!

I would love to hear from you.....what are you most grateful for from your family?

Missing in action

2008-12-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

So I've been MIA for awhile....it seems sick season has hit our house.....2 with strep throat, one with pink eye and for the others the stomach flu! I have tons of pics to post and things to say and gifts to send and I hope to get it all done this weekend! Wish me luck!

Grand Opening!!!!!

2008-11-23T14:52:00.000-08:00

Well ladies, its here! The grand opening of my store. What a work of joy? it has been. I hope it all goes well, or at least sells well...lol! The winner of part 2 is SUE!!!! Thank you all for your support and words of encouragement. Sue go ahead and pick out what you want from the small or medium size bags. Let me know your address too and it will be yours! :)

Twilight

2008-11-21T04:38:00.000-08:00

I went to the midnight showing of Twilight last night with a bunch of friends and it was AMAZING! I thought the movie was exactly like the book and Edward was hot, hot, hot! I'm ready for #2, #3 and #4 to come out now!

The Winner and Give-away Part 2

2008-11-20T05:09:00.001-08:00

By means of a very sophisticated selection process........

Ashley is the winner! Check out the store on Sunday and pick your set out! Dont forget to send me your address!

Now I think I'm going to combine the 2nd and 3rd give-away, see'ing as how the site will be opened on Sunday. So I'm going to give away a complete set......bag, key chain and coin purse! And........you will get to pick the set you want from my site! So just leave me a comment and if you havent yet.....add my graphic to your site!

:)

Give-a-way part 1

2008-11-15T07:17:00.000-08:00

Well ladies the website will be up on Sunday! So I will be doing 3 give-a-ways this week. The first one is for a coin purse and key fob set. You get to pick the print! To win just copy this graphic and post it on your blog with a link to my website and leave me a comment telling me you did it. For an extra entry tell me what your favorite color is! Good Luck!