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Make. Customized Tote Bags with ECOBAGS

Posted by christy in Needlework | Projects | Reviews - (3 Comments)

ecobags embroidery

Straight out of the embroidery hoop (sorry I didn’t iron it before taking the photos), I bring you an embroidered tote bag.  This was a lot of fun to make and it reminded me just how much I love to do embroidery.  It isn’t the quickest way to embellish an item, but the look can’t be duplicated by any other means.

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For this project I used an ECOBAG.  This one is a cotton/hemp blend.  The fabric is sturdy but lightweight enough that it seemed like the perfect canvas for embroidery.  I found a pattern I thought would look cool and kitschy on the bag and went to work!

ECOBAGS provided me with these samples to try out.  The bags I received use organic cotton but theyIMG_1937 also carry bags out of recycled cotton and hemp/cotton blends.  I thought it only fitting that try to finish this project in time for Earth Day.  In fact, this company has been around for a long time, launching their bags on Earth Day in 1990.  The bags are affordable and can be around $5-$8.  They offer discounts if you buy in bulk and there are wholesale opportunities as well.

My new favorite tote is the shopping tote.  It is so large and sturdy!  IMG_1936 I decided to applique on it.  I applied some Heat n Bond to the red fabric, cut out the word “books”, and ironed on each letter.  This is my new library bag.  I’d like to try to keep all of my library books in this bag so I don’t have to go hunting for them every time we want to return them.  Maybe this bag will end up *saving* me money from all those overdue fees!

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LUCKY!

Posted by christy in Uncategorized - (7 Comments)

wendyonidol

The *ONE* concert I couldn’t go to with Wendy.  I’m sure she’ll tell about it all in her own words when she gets back from her amazing week.  But, for now, we can enjoy this screen shot from American Idol last night.  The sheer awesomeness of this can’t be quantified. 

Make. Crochet Mollie Flowers Pattern.

Posted by christy in Knitting/Crochet | Stuff I Like - (3 Comments)

There are a million other things I should be doing, but instead I think I’ll be making a gazillion of these Mollie Flowers.

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image from Roman Sock

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Craft Night with the Lincoln Handmade Team

Posted by christy in Events | Lincoln Handmade Etsy team - (3 Comments)

lincoln handmade craft night

I’m a member of our local etsy team, Lincoln Handmade.  Last night we all got together at my house for a craft night.  We spent most of the evening using the Big Kick, eating, and chatting.   You can read more about it at the Lincoln Handmade blog.

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The Big Kick was the hit of the evening.  I bought mine on sale a couple of months ago at Joann. It is a die cutting machine.  It is great to use with paper, fabric, chipboard, felt, and whatever else you can run through it.   You can make appliques like a dream!  TIP: add your heat n bond to the fabric BEFORE you run it through the machine.  Then you have a ready to iron on shape!

The dies can be purchased at craft stores.  I have a few that are exclusive to Stampin’ UP that match their stamp sets.  The dies can get a little expensive.  Most run around $15.  Make sure to use your craft store coupons!  Alphabet and other specialty dies can cost over $100.  We were talking about maybe charging dues for our team and investing in some of these more expensive tools for the good of the group.

This is actually a pretty good price for the Big Kick if you’re interested.  Do you have one already?  What are some of your favorite dies?

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Just Call Me OctoMom

Posted by christy in Uncategorized - (9 Comments)

I bought a new lipstick on Friday morning.  I’m almost out of my most beloved MAC Retro and I needed some new blush, too.  There was a buy one get one free deal at CVS this week so I went ahead and got some lipstick and blush.  I didn’t pay close attention to the specific kind of lipstick I was purchasing.  I was mainly focused on the colors.  Plus, I had Eva with me so it was a quick trip. 

I didn’t open my new lipstick until yesterday morning.  I was surprised to have my lips tingle and they plumped up quite significantly.  I thought I might be having an allergic reaction or something.  Then, I looked at the case.  It is VolumeXL Seduction Plumping Lip Color.  I got Petal Attraction, which I thought would be a bit darker.  Oh well.

I updated my facebook yesterday and generated so many comments about my new plump lips, I decided to do a comparison for the blog.  I took these this morning.  I tried to get the same distance from my lips as possible so you can see the difference.

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Can you tell a difference?

Flat Trisha Plays America’s Next Top Blogger

Posted by christy in Uncategorized - (1 Comments)

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Looks like I was a few minutes too late to win, but can I have bonus points for having Flat Trisha with me?  This was at my local CVS pharmacy.

See what all the fuss is about at MomDot.com.

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Posted by christy in Uncategorized - (3 Comments)

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Taken on the way to Kansas City, just after we crossed the river into Iowa on Hwy 2. 

April Craft Challenge Deadline

Posted by christy in Challenges - (1 Comments)

image courtesy of Spool {} via flickr

Can you believe that it is almost time to have your April craft challenge completed?  Have you even started?  If you haven’t, don’t worry.  You still have a few more days.  The deadline is Wednesday, April 22nd.   Email the picture you’d like to include for voting or you can go ahead and upload it to the Flickr group.  If you blog about the challenge, email me the link and you’ll be included in the drawing for the free month. 

The winner this month will win a great stamping bundle (value over $60!) from Schlosser Designs.  I’m also pleased to announce that the sponsor for next month’s challenge will be the Lincoln Handmade Etsy Team.  I’m a part of this great local group and they are getting together a bundle of their handmade products for a mega-awesome basket for the winner.  You won’t want to miss out!  May craft challenge packets will be available for sale until April 27th.  This is a little earlier than normal.  I need to do this so I can be sure to get all of the packets ready to mail by May 1st. 

Did you know I have 3, 6, and 12 month subscriptions available?  Have a crafty mom?  What a great Mother’s Day gift!  Are you a crafty mom?  Send your husband/kids the link.  I know this is kind of sounding like an infomercial and I might be a bit biased, but I think they make a great gift for yourself or someone else.  You will always be able to purchase them month by month, but if you purchase a subscription, you get a bit of a discount. 

Have no idea what I’m talking about?  Check out the Craft Challenge FAQs. 

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Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Posted by christy in Uncategorized - (3 Comments)

IMG_1897 Our trip to Kansas City was so much fun!  The kids had such a blast meeting the characters from The Wizard of Oz and playing in the exhibit they had set up.  Dorothy was so great with the kids and made Eva feel so great about her dress and shoes!  IMG_1898 For days before the trip they kept asking to go to Emerald City to see the Wizard.  I was so glad we could oblige! 

The exhibit will be at the Crown Center for just one more week and the characters are only there on Saturdays, so if you’re in the area and your kids love the Wizard of Oz, it is definitely worth going to!  IMG_1901

The exhibit itself was a trip through Oz.  It is definitely geared towards kids.  You can follow the yellow brick road, meet up with the scarecrow, tin man, and lion, and make your way towards Emerald City.  IMG_1908 You can go behind the curtain and push some buttons to make the wizard speak.  Then you can go into the witch’s castle (Caleb’s favorite), see some flying monkeys, and watch the witch melt. 

It was really crowded when we were there.  I was nervous Caleb wouldn’t be able to handle the crowds but it just goes to show you, if he’s interested enough in something, he can do it! 

We would have like to stay longer in Kansas City and visit more with our friends, but in the end we decided that there’s no place like home.

IMG_1893Thanks to Wendy for the last minute use of the ruby slippers.  Eva’s broke on Friday and I didn’t have time to fix them.  They are all better now.  Good thing Eva has big feet and can fit into a size 12.  Scary, since she just barely turned 4. 

Stuff I Like. Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Posted by christy in Stuff I Like - (2 Comments)

I’m in Kansas City today taking my kids to see the Wizard of Oz exhibit at the Crown Center. Here are some favorites from Etsy inspired by the Wizard of Oz.

This is now a screen shot of the original etsy mini I had published.  One of the items sold before I had a chance to print the screen so the bottom right hand corner item is not original to this post. 

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