Nervous Energy...

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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

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!

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!

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?

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

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!!!