Red Coral and Black Agate Jewelry

I seem to be on a jewelry making kick lately - so enjoy another new necklace/bracelet set.

 

This one is made with red coral rounds and rondels and gray/black agate oval beads.  Love the color combination!

 For the bracelet, I went with three strands - one gray/black agate, one red coral linked with chain, and the third just a simple silver chain. 

 

I'm loving the agate trend - I have a couple of new types of agate beads on order so you'll be seeing more in the next few weeks.  In the meantime - I have been working on a brand new sewing project - it's been cut out and sitting on my sewing table waiting for attention for a few months.  I've been dreading it for some reason, but it is actually turning out to be more fun that I anticipated.  Hopefully next weekend I'll have pictures.

Making Necklaces

I got on a jewelry making kick the other day - some came out the way the picture in my brain looked.  A couple didn't quite turn out the way I imagined.  But that's the great thing about jewelry - you can recycle it and try again.  Here are the ones that made the cut.

This one is long and you can't really tell from the picture, but the beads are a beautiful coral color.

Then I made a slightly shorter one with turquoise beads.  I love it - made a matching bracelet for it too.

Then I found another really cute crystal pendant.  I've made a couple of necklaces like this before, but this one will be sent off as a gift.  Again, bad picture but imagine a clear crystal - the flash makes it look yellow but it really is pretty.

And here is a close up with the charms I added.  

Catching Up - Bags and Car Carriers

Ah - summer is flying by.  I've been having too much fun playing with the family.  Oh that and maybe a little work thrown in here and there.  But I have been doing a little crafting over the last few weeks.  So here's some catching up.

A foldable reusable bag.  Easy to make - thought I'd like it better than I do.  The straps are not nearly long enough for my liking.  But it is cute. 

And we were in need of another little boy present.  So I went back to a favorite - the car carrier.  Only problem is that the tutorial I've relied on for these has been taken down.  Thank goodness I have a couple of samples lying around to take measurements from.  Love this fabric!

So for future car carrier making - here is my own (picture-less) tutorial.

Outside and inside pieces 14 x 14 inches

Car pocket 14 x 9 inches (fold in half)

Ribbon tie 36 inches

Sew folded pocket to lower part of inside fabric.  Sew in center at 7 inches and then on each side of that 3 1/4 inches from center seam.

Sew on road (oval or figure 8).  Add in lane line with floss. 

Place ribbon in seam and then sew inside and outside pieces right sides together leaving a 2-3 inch opening in side for turning. 

Turn and top stitch. 

Burn ends of ribbon to seal.

ADORABLE!

I do have some more very cute projects lined up - time, now I just need to make some time!

More Ric Rack Baby Blankets

Well more new cousin babies are on their way and as always that calls for some new baby blankets.  I decided to resort to one of my favorites - - - the ric rack receiving blankets with the tutorial from Sew Much Ado.  It's a classic . . . it's easy and quick . . . and they sure are cute. 

This one uses two Riley Blake Peak Hour flannel fabrics that I absolutely love.  I may or may not have a whole pile of this line in cotton just waiting to become a couple of pieced quilts.  Such a perfect boy print - and sometimes those can be hard to come by.  I think I may have to stash away another couple of yards of flannels for just these occasions in the future. 

And this one uses another couple of prints from Riley Blake.  Love the camping/outdoor theme. 

Both of these blankets are now with the soon-to-be parents.  I have at least one more that I can't wait to see finished - think cowboys. 

Kid's Calling Cards

My boys go to a school outside of our neighborhood with kids that we don't know and that generally don't live around us.  They're young enough that most of them haven't memorized phone numbers yet either.  They have made some great friends this year so I came up with these fun calling cards (as in "Call us and we can have a play date") for my boys to give to some of their best friends at the end of school last week. 

It is just a simple MS Word project with pre-made business cards and a template.  It was fun for them to hand out to their most favorite playmates before they left for the summer.  We hope that some of them call to come over and play!

A Flock of Tote Bags

Is it a flock or a herd or a litter or a gaggle?  Well regardless, it took me much longer than it should have (because these are super dooper easy and quick) but I'm finally done with all the tote bags we'll be using for teacher gifts for the boys this year.  They have just one more week of school left.  I'll take these and roll them up, add a gift card and a ribbon and we'll be done.  I used a great tutorial from Skip to my Lou's blog.  Add some great canvas fabric from Hobby Lobby (what a fantastic selection!) and ta da - bags galore!

This last one is my most favorite.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's all about the fabric!!!

Tutorials I Love

Since this blog is for me to keep my crafting life organized, I decided to post a tutorial that I found that I think is great. I want to be able to find it later . . . When I really need it most. And I'm always so impressed by the time and energy people put into tutorials. You really can learn almost anything you need online. I always seem to find just what I need on the Internet! Any hoo . . . This great tutorial is from Red Pepper Quilts and it is How to Machine Bind a Quilt. I have a couple of quilts waiting for their binding. I've tried machine binding once before and wasn't especially happy with the results. I think I might just give it a go again with this tute at the ready.