Knock on Wood

I love it when I take time to finish up projects that have been waiting in the wings for who-remembers-how-long. I know that I bought this Witch's boot at least a year ago and took a cell phone picture of the sample in the store so I would remember how cute it was. A few strokes of paint and an electric hand sander later (why do power tools make me happy?) and I have my first new Halloween decoration of the season.

I ran by the same little store that I purchased the witch's boot at a few weeks ago and picked up these F A L L letters for part of my Fall Favorites Gift Exchange. Talk about an easy and quick project. Hope my gift exchange partner likes them.

Jewelry Roll

Since I travel a lot, I needed something to carry jewelry in that was both functional and, of course, cute. So I made this travel Jewelry Roll. A couple of layers of pockets, some coordinating piping, and a ribbon closure . . . .

. . . . and this little carrier just rolls right up to throw in my carry on bag.

I have a lot of crafting to do this week as I get ready to send off my package for the Fall Favorite's Gift Exchange - check back in later in the week and you can see what I'm sending my new friend.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes / Tropic Reservoir / Bryce NP

One of the things that I enjoy about my job is the traveling. I definitely don't enjoy being away from home so much - I miss my family terribly while I'm gone. And I always feel incredibly guilty about leaving my husband home alone to take care of two young boys by himself. He's one-of-a-kind to put up with being a single dad so often! But I do love seeing parts of my state, country, and the world that I wouldn't otherwise get to see. I try to take every chance I get to really get out and experience the area - where ever I go. I "had to" (got to) go to Southern Utah this week to Kanab and Bryce Valley. I've driven this route a few times before and always found fun places to stop and visit. This time I decided to stop at the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park - I only had a few minutes but I drove in and what to my wondrous eyes did appear? Real pink sand dunes in the middle of nowhere. It was a beautiful day!

After day #2 - a day full of meetings, I had the chance to hop a 4-wheeler and head out for a trail ride. We went out to Tropic Reservoir. It was a great ride - a little dusty but definitely worth it! Despite my nasty sinus infection and super sore sinuses, I'm glad I didn't miss this ride.

And on my way back home I couldn't resist a quick stop in Red Canyon to snap this picture. This certainly is a beautiful part of my state!

Chicken Pincushions

I happen to be a pattern collector. If I see a cute pattern, I buy it and stash it away. Sometimes nothing ever comes of the pattern . . . but sometimes an actual "thing" is made from said pattern. I can't quite remember how long this particular pattern has been saved away in my stash, but who can pass up a cute pincushion?

The idea here is to take leftover fabric or quilt blocks or parts of either and make something fun and useful. I can't actually think of a time when I have had extra quilt blocks laying around - I usually only make exactly what I need (I'm a planner that way). But goodness knows that I have more than a few fabric scraps in my craft closet. So I made a couple of simple quilt blocks that are included with the pattern using some coordinating scraps (somehow this didn't seem to even begin to put a dent in my scrap piles). A beak, some tail feathers, and some eyes later . . . and you have a chicken.One new thing that I learned from this pattern is to fill a pincushion with crushed walnuts from the pet store. Perfect weight and easy to fill! And good for my pins and needles too. This pattern is "Pollo Loco" from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. Thanks Miss Rosie - love 'em!

Soccer Bags

It's official . . . I've turned in to a "soccer mom". Hopefully not the stereotypical one but rather one that enjoys watching her son(s) play sports for the fun of it . . . and doesn't over think the coach's choices and number of minutes played and boo the referees, etc. Today was son #1's first team practice. He did G R E A T! Knowing that today was looming, I wanted to make something soccer related just for him. I've seen Noodleheads' great tutorial on Drawstring Backpacks and decided to make a soccer bag for my little man. I changed it up just a little bit - I used all soccer fabrics and since I have the luxury of a grommet tool I added grommets in the bottom corners instead of using tabs to hold the cording.The zippered compartment in the bottom section of the bag exterior is pure genius! I have no idea what we'll actually put in here for soccer purposes, but for me it's all about the "cuteness factor"! I think I have to search around for a fun soccer zipper pull just to add another point of interest.Since I still had some leftover black oilcloth laying around from my hair clipper boxy bag, I decided to line his bag with it - - - whatever stinky socks or grassy shoes get thrown in won't damage it at all. Since most of the sewing for the lining is on the wrong side of the oilcloth, it sews like a charm.

And then today while sitting in a day-long meeting, I started feeling bad for son #2 who wants desperately to play soccer like his big brother. It's already going to be hard enough for him to sit on the sidelines and watch big brother play. Maybe he needed his very own soccer bag to put his little ball and water bottle and snacks in to take practices and games. Besides, he'll be playing on a team within the next 2 years. Of course, I always buy too much fabric which means there were plenty of leftovers. So I hurried home and grabbed my mat and rotary cutter and decided just to make this a simple, easy bag -no zipper pocket, no oilcloth lining. It did have to be "cute" so I patched together a few pieces to make the front interesting instead of plain.
And it literally worked up in all of about 15 minutes. I didn't have a long enough piece of leftover cording so I'll have to zip by a store later this week to grab another piece. But it worked for him today and he loved it . . . and he didn't feel left out. That makes my heart happy!

A Pleated Pouch

I seem to be on a roll with cute little zippered pouches. I decided to try another pattern - Skip to my Lou's Pleated Pouch.This one is super easy and quick. I seem to find plenty of things to pop in these and haul around. Can you ever have too many?

And I've got quite a few fun projects started . . . now I just need some time to finish them up. I had a very enjoyable trip to Joann's today armed with 3 coupons that cut my $60 bill down to $40. And just now, after some very fun blog stalking, I've decided I need to make another quick run there tomorrow on my way home. Fall is definitely in the air and I have some "Fall Favorites" gifts to get ready to exchange.

Here is a peek at one of my current projects that is waiting to be finished. Can't wait to see what these turn in to!

Bags and Clutches

It doesn't take much to make me happy when it comes to some quality time spent crafting. Even a little bag or clutch makes me smile.

I used some of the scraps I had leftover from my last quilt and sewed up another gathered clutch using Noodlehead's tutorial. So easy and cute!

I even got brave this time and made two pockets to go on the inside lining. I need to go to Walmart or Joann's and stock up on zippers now. Everyone I know will be getting one of these for their birthdays over the next few months. Hum . . . that plan might just call for another quick trip to one of my favorite fabric stores, just so I have a variety of colors to give away.
Whether I'm really qualified or not (and believe me, I'm definitely NOT qualified!), I have taken the "opportunity" to cut my boys' hair instead of paying to have someone else do it. (All the haircutting budget dollars go to my hair - somehow that seems fair.) We finally broke down and bought a really nice set of clippers last month and I wanted to make a bag to hold the clippers, and all the other accessories that go with them. I found this great tutorial over at Skip to my Lou and after looking all over for oilcloth that doesn't have pictures of fruit (for tablecloths I'm assuming) I finally procured all the supplies to make this cute Boxy Bag.
I used some heavy home dec fabric that I found at Joann's and ordered in some plain black oilcloth. The bag was incredibly easy to make and it fits all my supplies . . . . it all makes me feel very professional - as if I actually knew what I was doing when it comes to cutting hair. I guess cutting hair is just like parenting . . . . I make it up as I go along!