You can never have too much happy.

Time to get my craft on... making presents for the BFF's birthday.  First up... purse...

Hands down my favorite one I've made thus far.  Had a really hard time not keeping it for myself! ;)

 

Mini purse to go inside to hold chap stick or what have you.

Friend has admired my paper flowers I made and requested some for her birthday.  Tried to keep to the colors of her house.  I likie how they turned out. 

 

Off to dinner with friends to celebrate!

Ohhhh I think she likie! :)

You can never have too much happy.

XOXO

See the good around you, even if you have to squint.

I was put in charge of the dessert for Nancy-pants birthday party.  I decided on lemon cake pops cause someone is a big fan of them. 

 

 

The batch didn't make as many as it normally does and I may have taken a handful to my quilting class for the other creative ladies to enjoy.....  so I decided to bust out a

chocolate chocolate cake!

When it came time to frost it I realized I didn't have anymore of my trusty disposable icing bags (I know I know, I should have the non disposable ones... but I hate cleaning them out!).

Drat.  Time to improvise. 

Zip lock bag to the rescue. 

 

Triple layer chocolate fudge cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting. 

Um. Yum. 

 

 

Elliott may have helped me lick the spoon...

See the good all around you, even if you have to squint.

XOXO

Every flower that blooms has to go through a whole lot of dirt.

Saw this on a friends Facebook status and couldn't help myself. 

Had to partake. 

Aimee:  I will send something handmade (yup, and you know how crafty I am) to the first five people who respond to this post. You must in turn agree to post something like this in your status. The rules are the "something" must be handmade by you and delivered sometime in 2010. w00t! :) ♥

Alison

Lynette

Emi

Jessica

Amanda

These 5 quickly added their names to my status.  Months and months (ok, maybe not that long) go by and I finally decided to do something about it.

 

 

Messaged them all asking what color they liked... the color they were picking was the color of the zipper.  Sneaky.  Cept Amanda... she didn't get to participate because she was leaving on a jet plane.  So she got the only color that wasn't picked.  Orange.  Odd... that's my favorite color! ;)

 

Alison's

 

Emi's

 

Jessica's

 

Amanda's

Lynette's

Every flower that blooms has to go through a whole lot of dirt.

XOXO

Previous Comments:

Aaron - Nice work there little miss crafty pants! All of them turned out super cool and all the participants are darn lucky to receive such a cool, hand-crafted gift! I love you and hope you're having a great day! XOXO

This is it! come and get it B-town peeps.

All you Boise peeps who love a sweet purse AND like to support kiddo's schools... now's your chance to step up!

This is the purse I made for Ms. Izzie-bizzie's silent auction at her school on

MAY 6TH!

6:30 - 7:30 pm

Liberty Elementary School

1740 E. Bergeson St.

Boise, Idaho 83706

Description:
The March Bag is a handmade purse from May and Mae's pattern. Main colors of the purse are black and white with a hand sewn flower accent attached to front of the bag (which you can remove). The purse has a pleated front and two large external pockets (one on each side) and features a smaller interior pocket and a magnetic snap closure. The bag measures approximately 14.5" tall (not including handles) by 14" wide.

Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.

XOXO

Previous Comments:

Aaron - Any bidders?!?! This purse is very cool! Excellent work my love!!

Ang :o) - i hope i can go! i'm planning on it. this purse is beautiful!

I'm not gonna lie... I hated you. Now...I heart you!!

April is a busy month birthday wise for this family. Two of the ladies is the mama and my friend/SIL... I wanted to do something fun and crafty for them. Started searching Etsy for patterns.

I came across one I loved and to make it that much better it was shipped via email in PDF! Love!

Got the supplies...

I got the fabric from one of my happy places in Spokane, The Top Stitch.  It's my happy place.  I might want to live there... maybe.  I mean why wouldn't I? It's oozing with all things I heart.  Anywho.. if you're in the area you should check it out:

The Top Stitch

3808 N. Monroe

Spokane, WA

The rest of the supplies I hit up Joann's. This is the first purse I've ever made... so I decided to ask the all knowing older Joann worker... who might I add... looks like she's been sewing for 40+ years! How could she lead me wrong?

Right?!

She talked me out of using canvas for the inside (between the fabrics, like the pattern tells you) and use this super thick interfacing. You look all knowing, sure! great! lets do it!

When I cut the interfacing out all that kept going through my head was... wow that looks thick.

Super thick.

How the heck do you sew through that once it's all together (6 layers). OK lady at Joann's... I'm starting to doubt you.

OK lady at Joann's... I am super doubting you (that's a lot) Just sewing those folds in the fabric on the front of the purse was a lot of layers. The pattern is now telling me to put the front and back together. With the folds this is probably about a inch thick.... really? c'mon. Not gonna happen. At this point I feel like I've passed the point of no return. Must push on!

Nope, not gonna stop me.

Must.

Sew.

Through. 

OK.

Fine.

I'll stop.

I'll throw you across the room.

Scream and yell for a little bit.

But I can't give up. That's not the kind of person I am. Friend wanted some company so I packed up my things and Elliott and headed to her house. As we're driving to her place I'm thankful for the drive. The fresh air. The break from the dreaded purse. I spent the next three house on friend's couch becoming BFF's with this...

Any other fabric I *might* have scrapped it and started over... but Amy Butler... that just seems like a crime. So I lovingly ;) took out each stitch. Had the hubby stop at the fabric store on his way home from work (Yes, I know my husband is amazing. He stands in lines at fabric stores and does lots of super girly things like that for me.). 

Time to start this over!

Time to sew all layers together... this is when I ran into serious trouble last time.

TA DA!! I made it past the hump. Smooth sailing now. Out side pockets complete. Time to work on the inside.

Inside pieces sewn together. Placed inside and tacked down.

Took a break to make the flower on the outside.

Top band added. Now time to add straps and inside top.

 

Almost done!

Of course I'm about to run out now.... I was prepared for this hurdle. 

Handles complete. Time to fold top inside down. Sew. 

All done!!

Happy Birthday Jme!

Hope you liked it :) Felt soooo good to complete this purse. Not so great knowing I get to make 3 more (yes, 3) right after this one. Whew.

If you like this purse.... and you live in BOISE you're in luck! My oh so adorable daughter is having a silent auction at her school. One of the 4 purses I made is for her auction. 

The silent auction and art fair is at:

Liberty Elementary School

1740 E. Bergeson St.
Boise, Idaho 83706

When:

May 6th

 Time:

6:30-7:30pm

Today's Positive Thought:
 
Personal power grows and blossoms as you recognize
and speak your truth.

XOXO

Previous Comments:

Jme - I like this purse alot and cant believe all the stress you went threw to make it! Thank you again!

Aaron - All the purses are beyond cool and beautifully constructed. Glad to hear Jme likes her new purse! I don't mind shopping for the girly stuff....keeps me in check. Ready to go drag racing baby? ;)

Ame - Glad you likie and you're welcome!