The Birthday Girl

So Buddy was invited to a birthday party for a little girl in his class.  I asked him if he and his friend who were invitied played with the little girl and her friends at recess.  He said, "Yes, we play dogs."  I'm not sure what that means.  When I asked, he rolled his eyes.  I didn't realize that parents could be so clueless to a 7 year old, but apparently, we are.  Anyway, this little girl likes Squinkies.  So, we bought her some squinkies and then I made a little birthday pouch to hold them in using some of my scraps.  I used this tutorial....

The bags that were sent to me

I did enjoy the swap, as well.  It is always great when someone sends you something spectacular in the mail, right???  I think I will definitely do this particular swap theme again sometime.  I really did enjoy seeing all the bags people came up with. 

I was lucky enough to have 2 partners this time, that is just how it worked out.  I needed 1 more person, and I thought it would just be easy to do it myself. 

LeAnn sent me this really cute bag in Bliss.  She also sent me a tasty treat and a cute notepad (did you know I am a sucker for notepads?  Yup, notepads, bags, boots, chapstick, travel mugs, little scissors....the list could go on and on.)  Sorry, I forgot to snap a shot of those (actually the candy bar was long gone....lol).  :)  But it was the perfect swap package, you will have to trust me.  I love the Ruby fabrics she used.  I love the color grey and of course, red is one of my favorites too.  My mom was here when I opened it and I remember saying to her, isn't this bag "so me"?  And, she agreed. 

Melinda sent me this cute laminate bag, which I was also quite tickled with.  I haven't worked much with laminated fabrics and I thought this was particularly cute.  It also has the snappy top, a pattern I have always wanted to try....but never have.  And, you can see she sent quite a few extra goodies, too.  Notice the scissors?  Did I already mention I am a sucker for cute little scissors??

Well, just writing about all this swap goodness makes me itch for another swap.  MAYBE it will be sooner than I think.  I have to get caught up on a few other projects around here first.

A bag for a friend...

I know, you've been wondering if I drowned in a pile of UFOs or scraps in my sewing room.  Nah, life has just been busy (I know you can relate).  Although, the state that my sewing room is in...I could have easily have fallen down and never been found again.  That is a project for another day.  Sometimes, when life gets like this....it does cross my mind to maybe stop blogging.  But, then I think about all my kind friends who always seem to be there when I get back at it.  I really do enjoy it.  And then I get a sweet comment like this...."I adore these darling bags. I guess I'm afraid of zippers, but you've inspired me to take the plunge and try one. Love your blog, visit daily." from a blogger, Dianne, who I have never heard from before...and that just makes my day.  I always see all the "hits" my blog gets and I always wonder who is stopping by for a visit.  I love hearing from you!  I also have been in "lurker" mode lately myself, so I get it.  Sometimes you just want to see what is going on.  I often have people leave me nice comments, but in their blogger profile, they have it set up on No Reply....so I cannot answer  your question or just say hi myself or if I am having a giveaway, I can't contact the winner.  Just something to keep in mind.

Well, the swap wrapped up.  I still need to do the drawing for the prizes.  I was very pleased with all the bags I saw.  If anyone had a less than good experience, I would hope that you would email me in private with your concerns so that I can make some adjustments next time.  All bags have been shipped.  All but 1 were on time, which is a fantastic statistic.  And, I did read all of your comments and suggestions on the last post.  Seems many of you are eager to get going on another swap.  We will have another....I just need a bit to catch my breath. 

Well, last Sunday I had to give myself a good kick in the pants to get a gift done for my girlfriend.  I needed it done by Monday.  Nothing like waiting to the last moment, right?  I had started it the week before, but wasn't happy with my fabric choices.  I made her this bag, which is actually the Libby Bag by Clover and Violet, but I opted to put a magnetic snap inside it and skip the binding and the flap.  Maybe next time.  This pattern did have a little typo, but I caught it.  It called for you to sew 7 rows of charms, when you actually needed 8.  Nothing big, just something to note if you intend to make one yourself.  The picture diagram showed 8.  I also think I did my own thing on the handles.  But, that is typical me. 

This bag is a great size.  I love big bags, and this has lots of room for a teacher to put folders in it, and it has great, great pockets, for Ipads or Nooks.  I'd darn near call it perfect, really.  I used the last of my Strawberry Fields charms on it.  A sad day!  LOL.  My friend loved it, so it was worth the stash sacrifice.  My apologies for the winter pictures.  I would love for the sun to come out again.

SWAP update- attention all swappers

Might I just say, you ladies are mighty impressive.  I have never had so many early birds before.  I thank you and I know your partners thank you as well.  And, I am seeing some really cute bags on FLICKR.  If you haven't had a chance to post, please do! 

Yesterday was our EARLY BIRD DRAWING deadline.  I haven't heard from a few of you listed below.  If you did ship, please let me know via comments or an email.  I'm sure a couple of you did ship, and just forgot to let me know.  I know some of you were very close to being done.  I don't want to exclude anyone from the drawing. 

Melinda F
Melinda C
Liz B
Carla F

While the date for the drawing was yesterday, you do have until this Saturday (Feb 11th) to ship and "officially" be on time.  I suspect that this will be the case.  I do hope everyone is on time because I would hate to have to exclude you from any future swaps.  No one likes having packages arrive late, myself included.  Please don't put me in the position to be the meany.


I think I will be drawing 2 names, and each winner will receive one of the bags in my my SWAP bling picture and a bag pattern I bought.  I am thinking of trying to round up a sponser for the next SWAP.  Feel free to throw me ideas on that topic.

One last note, Sharon created a darling tutorial for her bag and you can find it here. 

Nine

Only 9 swap packages that still need to be sent. 
Don't forget to submit your photo to our flickr group found here.
It is fun to see what everyone made.
I did have a couple of ladies say they forgot to snap a photo prior to sending, so feel free to submit a picture of the package you received too.
Let's go 9.....snip, stitch, and ship! 
Be on time!  Better than that, be early!
I have some nice drawing gifties to give.
You don't want to miss out.

PS
Kelly is having a heck of a clearance inventory sale over at Cotton Charm Quilts.  Time to stock up!  She even has some RUBY at a great price.  Great shipping, too.

Gathered Clutch

So I made both my partners a gathered clutch.  I found my inspiration here at Clover and Violet.  They found the original directions here at Noodlehead.  I had actually made Noodlehead's original gathered clutch a while ago and loved it. 

I also used some scrap to make some more these fun fabric portfolios for my partners.  I found the original directions for the portfolios here at The Cottage Home.  Great fast and easy project!  Great directions. 

 This is a picture of the back.  I love these little labels from Sweetwater.  You can find them here.

I also made couple of mug mats.  I wish they were a bit more fun though. 

Stay tuned...I'll show you what my fabulous partner LeAnn sent me in my package!  It is BLISSFULLY sweet.  We have had 17 packages sent out as of to date. 

Eleven

11 swap packages already shipped
good job gals
21 left to go
you can do it
11 days left to get in on the early bird drawing
you don't want to miss that do you???
18 days left to just be on time
imagine the look of delight on your partner's face when the mailman blasts the horn
and she runs out to get her package
priceless