Tourniquet Tuesday

I've got my marching orders. I am going back to work January 24th. Unfortunately work is in Oregon. Unfortunately my hubby can't go. He has to finish school. Unfortunately this makes my life sad.

I've really enjoyed pretending I'm wealthy enough to not work for almost two months. It's been nice. My sewing skills have expanded greatly.

My new job does not provide me with a laptop, so the hubby and I went to get one yesterday. It's humongor. Yes, that is a word. At least in my vocabulary. My laptop is bigger than my lap.


So, you will understand when I say finding a bag to fit it was difficult. But I did find a bag. Only problem? The laptop sleeve in the bag was too small. So I had to make my own using this tutorial: Sew, Mama, Sew! blog



Laptop sleeve made with houndstooth fabric to match my laptop bag made with houndstooth fabric. I love my sewing machine.


I also love my Silhouette machine. Which I used to decorate my laptop:

This is a movie quote. One of the funniest movies ever. The beauty of this is, if I ever get tired of it, I can just peel it off (it is vinyl) and make a new decoration.

The hubby is playing Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.


And the dog is wondering why no one pays attention to him.

I am wondering what craft I can do next. My time is limited before I am back to the real world.

Au Revoir. I am feeling worldly today.

Much Love,

Monotone Monday

It was a strange, sad Christmas this year.

Because I was unemployed, I had a lot of time to make gifts. I did quite a bit of sewing! Here is what I made:

A quilt for my Mom, which I somehow managed to not take any pictures of. Even though I worked for months on it. Ugh.

Monogrammed a golf towel for my Mom's significant other - Again, no picture.

A casserole dish carrier for my mother in law -

It has an outer spoon holder

And an inner spoon holder


Made from the tutorial found here: Little Birdie Secrets Blog

A tree skirt and stockings for my Dad and his significant other
Made from the tutorial found here: Sew4Home Blog (I left out the pom poms of course!)

And finally, we (the hubby designed) etched glasses for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law using my Silhouette. They were a big hit.

This is pictures of them opening the Lord of the Rings beer mugs with their names in elvish. The hubby thought of these himself because the two of them do a LOTR marathon weekend during Thanksgiving every year.

They also got 4 beer glasses and 2 pilsner glasses with other personalized etchings.

I couldn't figure out the correct settings on my camera for the lighting in the room until present opening was done. Everything was so blue. Literally. I finally got one good picture:

A late Merry Christmas to all!

Much Love,

Snowy Sunday

I was in need a a headband today and I did not have one. So, I decided to make one. I searched the internet for tutorials, but did not come up with what I wanted. So, I took a leap and made one with no pattern and no tutorial.

May I present The Spa Headband.


I have all these shorter hairs around my face and it was really starting to bug me when I would go to wash my face. So, I took care of it. How to make one? See below:

Supplies:
21" long x 5.25" wide piece of any towel material you want. This is the main headband.

4" long x 5.25" wide piece of any towel material you want. This is the back of the band.

Two 3" long strips of 1/2" wide elastic.

Needle.

Thread.

Iron.

Tutorial:
All seams are 1/4"
Click on Pictures to make them bigger

Pin strips of elastic to shorter piece of towel material as shown below:


Be sure the elastic will stretch the same direction as you need your headband to stretch. In other words, the 3" length should be pinned to fit the 4" length of the towel.


Sew elastic onto material in three places on each piece. Use a secure stitch similar to below:


Sew one edge of the short piece of towel and long piece of towel right sides together.


Fold the headband in half lengthwise and pin. Stitch the entire length of the headband, leaving both ends open. Pull the headband inside out so the correct side is showing:




Iron the non-elastic parts of the headband flat so the seam is on the bottom.

On one open end of the headband, fold in edges about a quarter of an inch. Take the other open end and insert it to the end where the edges are folded in. Hand stitch the seam closed.

And you are done! You can even wear it in the shower and throw it in the wash when it needs it.



Much Love,

Forked Friday

Well Hello. It's been a couple of weeks. Let's recap:

My mother came to visit - we had a fantastic time together! We went to a ghost town, went shopping, went to garage sales and got pedicures. I'm so glad I got to see her!



I got laid off from my job on Monday. My last day is November 5th. I am very sad to be losing a job I love doing every day. I actually woke up every morning excited to go to work. The kicker? My company is giving my job to a guy with no environmental experience to do PART TIME. Good luck with that.

So I have spent the past week looking and applying for jobs all over the west coast. We shall see where this next adventure takes us.

So, in celebration of a tanked economy, I did some crafting today. I used my new machine to make a card and decor for a birthday present for my father-in-law:


Because we've been getting 12,000 political ads in the mail every day, I decided to make the birthday card and the present tag out of them. The wrapping paper is the back of a paper bag and I used twine to tie it all together. I had everything on hand so total cost = $0.00.

Thriftyness and recycling. I'm all about it now!

Hope everyone had a great week!

Much Love,

Tegua Tuesday

It's here, it's here, it's here!!!

My birthday present came in the mail yesterday. You remember, the one I was dropping the not so subtle hints about? This one:



It cuts paper, vinyl, magnet paper, t-shirt transfers, and even does temporary tattoos.

I have already made some Halloween decorations and etched some glass:

Front door:





Loaf pan:


I am so excited to do more!

On my list are baby onesies, decorative vinyl for my walls and more glass etching.

Did I mention I'm excited? Seriously one of the best birthday presents ever - it's so useful!

Thank you hubby for taking the hints. And then having me show you where to buy it. And letting me ignore you all night while I bond with my new machine. You rock.

Other tidbits of info:

I talked to my wonderful grandparents tonight. I know they will read this too - so I love you both!

T minus 9 days until mom is here.

Michele better give birth tomorrow. Hear that Amelia? Time to come out. Lots of people want to meet you. In addition, your mother would like some relief. Let's hope tomorrow is THE day!

A tegua is an ankle-high moccasin worn in parts of Mexico and the Southwest.

This was a fantastic day.

Much Love,

Tetrad Thursday

Hello. It's almost the weekend - yay!

Here is dinner:

Ravioli With Sauteed Zucchini

Ingredients

• 1 pound cheese ravioli (fresh or frozen)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 small zucchini, sliced into thin half-moons
• kosher salt and pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)

Directions

1. Cook the ravioli according to the package directions. Drain them and return to the pot.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until just tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes.

   

3. Add the zucchini mixture and 1/4 cup of the Parmesan to the ravioli and toss gently to combine. Serve with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan.

   

Also, I have a friend who has a very tiny dog. It's a chihuahua. Sigh (can you tell how I feel about yapper dogs?). But she recently lost her dog's little pillow for her truck. She has leather seats and now the dog slides around in the seat. Giggle! So I decided to make her a new one using fleece and batting.

Cutting out the bones:

I decided to put just one little camouflage bone on each side:

Hopefully she likes it!

A tetrad is the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one..... so.... that would be the number 4.

Happy Friday eve to all!

Much Love,

Stormy Sunday

I worry about our trees sometimes. Today was one of those days:




Because it was so stormy today, I decided to complete a craft project I've been wanting to do. I've been wanting to spruce up my office at work. I'm going to start with these magazine files which are boring and look like they were made in the 1970's!



I've also been dying to try out Mod Podge. It's a glue that dries clear and sticks to almost anything. So, here is what I decided to cover my magazine files with:


Just some scrapbooking paper. About 30 cents a page. But you could use any wrapping paper or whatever you have laying around the house. So I cut the paper to fit the magazine file, and used the Mod Podge to stick it on! Easy as Pie! Mmmmm pie.......


Can't wait to do some more projects now!

Hope everyone had a good day.

Much Love,