At Last

China really is on the other side of the world. I have waited 2 months to receive this shipment of purse frames with which to experiment. The next step is to google "what to do with a purse frame" or "now I have all these little purse frames so....." or "help me justify so many purse frames". The internet is a marvelous tool and I'm sure answers to my crafting questions await on someone else's blog.

Ruffles for Spring

All the little girls will be wearing ruffles this spring. Some will be wearing layers of ruffles in a bright statement of the 60's meet a circus clown. K has these pants to start, with a shirt potentially to come.

Zippe With a Widow

I've worked out how to add a window to the front of a zippie pouch. I bet a small something peeking through would look great on a purse, too. Rather than being sewn on top of the front fabric, this accent is mounted from behind and banded with the smallest bit of accent fabric. Now I really do have someplace to use those tiny scraps of this and that I've deemed too pretty to throw away, but have until now fretted over saving for no good reason.

IKEA zippies

The newest version of my zippered pouch is banded with a complementary fabric and sports a delicious round bead as a pull. IKEA provided the blue floral fabric for these two pouches made from orange fabric found in Colorado last summer and remnant denin. If you can believe it, I am already contempleting replenishing zippers, having ordered lots of 25 in three sizes not so long ago.

Purple Purse Handles

I intended to buy a pair of purple acrylic purse handles at half price. I don't have a certain project in mind; I just thought the price was right and the handles were fun. At the check-out, the handles rang up half-price with the added bonus of a decimal moved to the left. Now the purple purse handles were a quarter. The (obviously disgruntled) cashier asked me if I liked the handles. I said yes and she encouraged me to consider picking out more. I was torn between a great deal and the shady ethics of the situation. And how many purple purse handles does anyone really need? See for yourself.

I Need More Ears

And I could use more arms, as well. It is too fun and too easy to whip up something shiny and colorful with beads. Then I want to wear my new creation. The bottleneck is the number of appendages available.

It grows obvious that any blog readers in need of bead projects should speak up, place an order, and drop hints about your favorite color.

What Would You Pay?

R and N's school is holding a fund-raiser during the spring carnival. Each class is tasked with creating a raffle basket organized around a theme. My contribution is an "arts and crafts" basket comprised of a wooden drawer unit filled with the glue, glitter, paint and pipe cleaners any crafty elementary student could be busy with. Note the bonus bin of clay, markers, paper and more. I hope someone bids for the ensemble.

New Digs

In an effort to clear out a bedroom for R to have his own room, I have added scrapbooking to my sewing space. The new high table and tall chair are meant to say to short passers-by, "Keep moving! This, too, is Mom's space." I have yet to scrapbook in this new zone, but I have discovered that the table is delightful for beading.

Think Spring

This spring green appeals to me right now. I have started my seedlings, and I'm very ready for warmer weather and some activity outside. This short and thin necklace with vintage stencil bird buttons will be fun to wear and was very quick to make. Cute, right?

Knock-off Earrings

I spied in Robert Redford's jewelry catalog a pair of earrings I thought were cute. I copied them literally. Another time I'll post an inspiration photo that provided more general inspiration for a project. I wonder if I will soon need to have my ears double-pierced so I can wear a larger number of the earrings I have piling up around here.

Scooter Bag

N has been asking for a scooter bag for the front handlebars of his ride. His little sister's scooter came with one, so naturally the playing field is in need of leveling. My version attaches with Velcro, has an outside, zipped mini-pocket as well as a main, zipped pocket, and sports monkey zipper pulls. Unfortuanately, N came upon the completed project while he was in a sour mood. All I've heard so far is that the bag lacks the red fabric he is sure he told me to use. It's a tough crowd around here.

Sweet Earrings

I passed a delightful hour in a local bead shop yesterday. I went in armed with pages out of Robert Redford's jewelry catalog which contains many pretty things at always pretty prices. The bead shop owner whipped out her copy of the same catalog before showing me components to mimic jewelry projects I don't need, but want anyway. These earrings are one. Fussing with the bowl of candy to make it look "natural" took longer than constructing the earrings. Sweet!

Owl Beads

I have found the perfect place to display my collection of tiny turquoise owl buttons. The stripes and triangles wall hanging I've been playing with for some time is finally at the top of my list to sew together. The owls perch just so at each intersection of points. The only downside I anticipate when incorporating the beads on my wall hanging is that once that owls are installed you won't be able to see how often my triangle points met crisply. You'll just have to take my word for it.