Webkinz Bags

It our continuing quest to use the fabric and supplies that we already own, I too have been doing more sewing. I finally finished the bias tape bag that I started last year. I was inspired by Rachel who made several to give as teacher gifts. The design came from the Martha Stewart website. They make great all around totes with lots of outside pockets for storage. It is also great for using leftover remnants and letting your creativity go, by using lots of crazy patterns together.

After my kids saw my bag, they requested their own so they could carry their webkinz stuffies. Any of you who have children old enough to use the
computer will know all about webkinz. You buy the stuffed animal and it comes with a special code that you put into the webkinz website. You then have a virtual avatar of the animal that can navigate webkinz world. The animals can play, games, buy things for their "homes" and socialize. My girls are obsessed, buying them with allowance money, birthday money and asking for them for any holiday. The amount they have is too embarrassing to mention.

So, I modified the bias tape bag a bit to accommodate the webkinz. These bags are wider and have three pockets in the lower level. Hopefully everyone fits in the bags because I don't think I can make them much bigger.

Quick and Easy Project

In our New Year's quest to finished unfinished projects and use already purchased supplies (# 13, #17, & #19), we have found the fastest sewing project yet! Kerry found this easy kid's tote bag on Martha Stewart's wonderful website. I decided to give it a try.

Because I can never follow directions completely, I made a few changes to her well-put directions. First, I felt that the bag might be a bit small for my kids, the model shown was about 4 or 5 years old. I added 1/2 inch to the width and 3 inches to the length. If you do this, don't forget to add several inches to the cording as well.

Her directions call for a water proof nylon to line the bag, not having any nylon in my sewing stash, I decided to use an inexpensive cotton for the lining as well as the out side of the bag. This is where you can use the fun and funky prints found on the discount racks of your local craft and fabric stores. I enjoyed mixing the prints and colors.

The cording I used was a very inepensive cotton cording found in the ribbon section of my Hobby Lobby. I found 2 of the fabrics I used on their clearance racks for $2 per yard. (Nevermind that I vowed not to buy more until I used what I have. I couldn't resist-- you won't tell, will you?) On the third bag, I used ribbon loops at the bottom of the bag to anchor the straps. This is another way to encorporate more detail and color in the design. On an adult bag of a similar style it would be easy to encorporate more mature fabric patterns and a colored cording for the straps.

From start to finish, I think that each bag took about 30 minutes or less. The time and money invested is not bad for a quick and easy project. And the kids love their new totes!

No Poo!

Kerry and I saw this creative sign in someone's yard on one of our neighborhood walks. Really, it made me laugh, but also it speaks on so many levels. So in the coming week, remember:

Don't take any ______,

Don't give any ______,

and don't leave any ______ where it doesn't belong.

I'll let you fill in your word of choice. By the way, does anyone know what kind of animal that is?

Dog Blog 2

Hi, it's me, Blue.
I am staying at Rachel's house again. I am not sure where my people went, but they left me here. They did the same thing last summer. Don't tell Rachel, but I wanted to fill you in on my day. She might not like it if she knew I drooled all over her computer.

She took me outstide and tried to take pictures of me. She always has that silly camera. I don't like to sit still. I just wanted to sniff around the yard. Her yard smells different than mine does. The house next door has two little dogs that bark a lot. I wonder what is going on over there.

It snowed. Instead of staying still for pictures, I decided to hide in the snow. I don't think she could see me, I hide so well. Playing in the snow makes me feel like a puppy!

I keep checking in the studio. But Kerry is not there. I wonder where she went.

It's okay, though, there are two girls here. They like to play with me a lot. They give me treats and brush my fur. I must be the prettiest dog in the world. Also, I take a lot of naps when I am here. I like to sleep. hmmm. I guess it is time for a nap right now. I need to rest before the girls come home from school. They tire me out, but I can't wait to play!

I think this is the best day ever!

--Blue (the dog)

Friday Flower

These snowy hats were left after Wednesday night's snow storm. They say we were getting up to three inches an hour. Good thing it didn't snow for very long.

Have a lovely weekend.

Happy Birthday, Donna Reed

Happy Birthday, Donna Reed (and other useless bits...)

Today's useless bit of trivial information: Today, January 27, is Donna Reed's birthday. She would have been 87. She was made famous by in her rolls in movies like It's a Wonderful Life (one of my favorites) and her academy award winning performance in From Here to Eternity. Her persona was idealized in The Donna Reed Show. (I was more of a Leave It to Beaver and Family Affair girl, myself) She died in 1986 of cancer.

Why? Why!? Just why do I know this utterly useless bit of information, (or the tasty tidbit about Napoleon) you may ask. I must admit, it is my Sunday morning indulgence. A hot cup of coffee, crawl back in bed and . . . . turn on CBS. I must confess, I watch the CBS show Sunday Morning to start my week. Unlike any regular news show, there is little talk of the spiraling stock market, the increasing insurgency in Iraq and the pontificating of political pundits. This news show is filled with good news and uplifting stories. Why not start my week with a bit of light trivia or thoughtful commentary?

There are more interesting stories as well. Like today's story on the Monuments Men, the men and women whose job it was to recover and return stolen artwork from Hitler's caches after World War II. The book Rescuing da Vinci tells how Hitler and his men looted public and private art collections for their own personal use. They stole the thousands of works by Van Gogh, da Vinci, Botticelli, Kandinsky, Klee, Chagall, and many others from Jewish collectors and public museums. The Monuments Men were assigned to find, recover and return the work. These men, some of them art historians and museum curators, did what they could to rescue major portions of European art and culture from destruction. That was today's art history lesson...

And so, I will fill up my coffee cup, crawl back in bed, and see what commentator Ben Stein has to say this morning.

When you handle yourself, use your head; when you handle others, use your heart.
-Donna Reed

Trivia anyone?

Today, I was walking around Hobby Lobby with Rachel when she turned to me in all seriousness and said, "Did you know that Napoleon was the first to use 'bees' when decorating?"

I am not quite sure what I should do with this little piece of trivia or why it was given to me.

Anyone know how this could be useful to my life beyond winning me a game of Trivial Pursuit?

Has our resolution of , drink less wine, left Rachel with entirely too much time on her hands? Or do I need more wine in order to understand these little crumbs she gives to me? Either way I think more wine is definitely going to help.

Anyone else out there have any thoughts on this? Please your help is needed.

Thank you,

Kerry