New Fabric Resource

A big thanks goes out to Lindsey who loves to surf the Internet. There's a fabric store in Louisville that I have been meaning to go to but just haven't had the chance to and with me leaving for Costa Rica on Monday, life will be insane the next few days. Not to mention that my husband and I will be in Ohio from tomorrow to Sunday for my best friend's wedding. I am the matron of honor and so there are a lot of duties to go along with that too. Of course, I volunteered to make a card for them so I have to get that done today because I don't want to spend $3.75 for a Hallmark special.

Anyway, again big thanks to Lindsey for finding the Baer site!

Purse Is Done....Finally

Wow, I never thought I would finish making the first purse. I know that it will be easier from now on but that first one was really a challenge. I am proud though that I am able to teach myself how to sew and to make it look good at the same time. I know that I am jumping into a pool that will soon become the ocean but I like it. I don't feel as though I am taking on too much. I enjoy sewing and found a few patterns at Hancock Fabrics today that I would also like to make. I feel as though there is some innate ability within me and I have no clue where it came from but I like it :).

I wanted to add a couple of pictures of my first completed purse that I will send out to my customer tomorrow.

Costa Rica

In one week from today, I will be on my way to Costa Rica for the month of June. My trip will last from June 4th to the 28th. I am really looking forward to this trip although I will be taking two Master's classes there. First, let's get the classes out of the way...one is a directed study and I am preparing a unit of study for my 3-6 graders. I will review and complete the unit with an advisor while in Costa Rica. The other class is called Comparative Education and we compare the educational systems of Costa Rica and the United States. I am excited to be able to get a semester of credit in 4 short weeks in a foreign country :).

Now, onto the fun....we will be traveling through Costa Rica (the country is the size of the state of West Virginia) and visiting the beaches, rain forest, and volcanoes. I am so thrilled that I will have my new Canon Digital Rebel XTi with me but I am going to keep it with me at all times. Apparently, the monkeys will steal anything they can from visitors. There will also be a time in the rain forest when we will be walking across the Arenal Hanging Bridges which is a series of 15 bridges that go through the dense section of the rain forest. We will see if I can conquer my deathly fear of heights. Overall, I am thrilled to be able to go but will miss my husband and the ability to scrap and stamp. Who could pass up this opportunity though?

Some Progress

Well, the progress is not necessarily scrapbook or card related but it's great progress on the purse making front. I have completed eight covers this evening. I have two covers that are in my "difficult" pile for different reasons and four more that are for a customer who wants them after her first cover and inner purse. Now I need to make all of the inside purses. I really want to have them done by the time that I go to Costa Rica; not only so that I can get them to my customers but also so that I do not feel behind when I get back. I really enjoy making them too and I didn't know that I would. I did make a mistake the other night though and tried to sew my finger to one of the covers. Needless to say, it hurt and I now have two holes in my finger where the needle went through. I will not do that again! Here are a couple of pictures on the covers I completed tonight and also my work area.

Finding the Time....

I can never find the time to do everything that I want to do. I just got the Cluck set from Stampin' Up and haven't even had time to cut and mount the stamps. I will be leaving for Costa Rica in two weeks from yesterday and still have tons to prepare for that trip. I am also in deep with the purse making business. I didn't expect to get such a response initially so I literally sit at my sewing machine all day or all night, depending on if I have to go to work that day. Luckily, it's summer break for now so I have a bit more time but we still have some school related professional developments to attend. As soon as I finish posting tonight, I will go sew until I go to bed. I feel bad because I have a lot of customers waiting but I am a one-woman show and can only work so fast. I also want the quality to be good. I am doing this for the fun of it and I love picking fabrics too. I think that once I catch up with the current batch of orders, I will feel a lot better about it. I was just inundated with so many at first. I am making great progress though! I will hopefully get to some cardmaking or scrapbooking too soon.

Random cards

Before I share my cards, I just have to say that there is only one day of school left for the year! Of course, teachers will come Friday and then we also have professional development next Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. It's nice that it is summer as I will be in my best friend's wedding in June and then will spend the rest of the month in Costa Rica but I am looking forward to really spending some time relaxing. I forget during the school year what that means. I also am getting my purse business off the ground and am actually doing well. I have several orders to fill and it's starting to feel overwhelming. I just have to make sure that I keep up with the orders because I really want this to work out.

I have been hard at work on four cards for a variety of occasions.



I made a card for my dad's birthday. I really like the sage green, blue, and black combination. I used some of the Michael's dollar stamps and then stickles on random parts of the card. The more I look at it though, the more I am not sure if I like it.


I also made a card for Mother's Day that uses bright green, orange, and blue. I used Technique Tuesday stamps for the butterfly as well as for the word "mom." I enjoyed stickling and cutting out the butterfly. I punched eyelets and added a turquoise ribbon.



Next, I made a card for my cousin who is five months pregnant and was hit by a car. She is doing well but she's been through so much. I wanted to send her a thinking of you card. I stamped "Thinking of You" with a Technique Tuesday stamp. Also, I used my Cuttlebug to cut out three felt flowers then used some green rick rack as the stems.


The last card I made was for a friend whose dad passed aways due to cancer. I used My Mind's Eye paper as the background and stamped on a set of flowers from Stampin' Up. I added Heidi Swapp brads, rick rack, and stamped "With Deepest Sympathy" from my Technique Tuesday set.

Wedding Album and the Picture Proof

Okay, a week later, I am ready to post the pictures of the wedding album I did for my best friend's wedding. I really enjoyed working on it and found that I am addicted to a few things: Technique Tuesday stamps, My Mind's Eye paper, my Cricut machine, and a few other lovely things. I made twenty pages for their album and will post them all. I know it will look like a lot but I like them all and wouldn't be able to skip or miss one.

Title page


How They Met


The Bride


The Groom


The Matron of Honor


The Best Man


The Bridesmaids


The Groomsmen


The Bride's Family


The Groom's Family


The Grandparents


The Flowers


I Do


With This Ring...


Kiss


Special Memories



Husband and Wife


Just the Two of Us



United in Love

Wedding Album

Okay, okay, I know I said I would post pictures last night but I was just too busy scrapbooking. I finished just one page last night but I think it is my favorite of the whole album. I will try to post the pictures tonight when I get home from work.

National Scrapbooking Day Weekend

Where were you on National Scrapbooking Day?

I was at the local scrapbook store shopping and then scrapping at home with a friend for the rest of the day. We met at the scrapbook store at 1:00 to find that they were having a huge sale. Of course, I found a few things: XL Heidi Swapp ghost butterflies, some yummy K&Co paper, really cool doodle and corner brads, and some clearanced Christmas Basic Grey chipboard. We got back to my apartment and went to town! Allison had never scrapbooked before so I introduced the addicting habit to her, as well as to my Cricut.

I did a pretty good job. I am working on my best friend's scrapbook for her wedding on June 2nd. I now have three pages left to finish: the title page and two for the send off. I finished five pages Saturday and Sunday. I will post picture tonight of what I have gotten done. I will give them the 20 page scrapbook for their wedding instead of a gift from their register. The only thing they will have to do is put pictures on the pages and write a few things if they want.

Once I get those last few pages done tonight, I have got to make some purses. I am behind and feel bad because there are people depending on me. I think that the purse business will keep me extra busy. I just have to keep making time for scrapbooking.