What have I been up to lately?

Well, it's 2 weeks instead of 3, right? That's a little better. Some of you may be wondering what I have been up to for the last two weeks. Honestly, a little bit of everything:

I started work on a beautiful maternity shirt...

It's not finished yet and I've got fabric to make a second one, but isn't it an awesome wrap shirt? Hopefully I made it long enough to keep up with my ever-expanding belly! (This is made from a pattern courtesy of Megan Nielsen at http://www.megannielsen.com/.)

I made tons more cards:

Can you tell I'm really in to making four card sets with matching card purses? I sold the bird set before it was even finished! (I'd like to thank Ellie at Digital Stamp Oasis for the super-cute squirrell stamps. Check her out at http://digitalstampoasis.etsy.com/.)

And, alas, tons of fabric shopping:

My daughter picked these out for some summer dresses! I can't wait to get to them sewn and show you all pictures of her in them!

A messenger bag/laptop bag for myself. I loved the slight green tint to the slight green tint to the khaki fabric!

Who could resist the World War II era airplane print and the old-timey baseball pinstripe? I think I'm going to make a carseat shade/cover from the airplanes and a blanket backed in this awesome Egyptian cotton I found with the baseball one.

And the fabric for my scary project...I'm making messenger bags for my mother, 12 year-old sister, and 10 year-old brother. Can you guess which canvas and lining goes to who? I've decided that the more text messages I get asking if they are finished, the further down my to-do list they get pushed!

I've been busy! I also started work full-time last week so it's amazing that I get anything done. It was a nice break to sit down with you and show you all of my various-stage projects and I hope to do so again soon. Now, back to my nesting-instinct-induced cleaning spree!

Purple Canvas Messenger Bag

I know it's been almost 3 weeks and I'm just now getting around to my first real post and I apologize because I know all of you ghosts out there have been anxiously awaiting! So here it is...my purple canvas messenger bag. I made this bag for a Valentine's Day gift exchange with my fellow crafters over at Miss Imagination, but don't worry...my recipient did not get the bag pictured here! She got round two which turned out much prettier and much more square!

(A little plug for my friends who run the wonderful site Miss Imagination...if you are looking for a home of supportive crafters in a variety of mediums, this is the place to go! These ladies, and our one lonely gentleman, are full wonderful inspiration and support! Feel free to stop by and meet my friends at http://www.missimagination.com/)

Now, this is my very first sewing project. I have to say I was pretty proud of the piece when it was finished. In fact, I have happily moved the contents of my purse into it for the time being. So here is what I learned from that very first night with my mom's borrowed sewing machine:

#1) My husband can sew... my 25-year-old, video-game-obsessed husband, can sew. I would curse because I couldn't figure something out and he would set me on the right path. I was more than a little surprised.

#2) Sewing machines make Wal-Mart kitchen tables shake like leaves in a high wind. It's scary, but you get over it.

#3) I cannot sew a straight line to save my life. Let's just say the top-stitching gives this bag character. Lots and lots of character. (After further investigation, I have learned that I try to sew too fast and that if I'd slow down, and learn to pivot, that my lines come out very nice and neat.)

#4) Squaring corners is not as scary as I thought it looked.

#5) Turning straps is MUCH scarier than it looks. This small piece of the puzzle led to three days of utter frustration. (And another strap later I have the process figured out, though I am scared of really thin straps.)

Now the important part...PICTURES! (Please excuse my dirty kitchen floors...I haven't found a good place to photograph things that ought to hang.)

I made this bag following Larissa's tutorial a mmmcrafts.

(http://mmmcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/06/basic-messenger-bag.html)

For some bonus material, here is the cosmetics bag that I made as a matching gift for the second round messenger bag. I actually made this bag before I made the second messenger bag and it gave me the confidence to try again. (I will admit that I broke the first zipperby sewing into it and had to take it all apart and try again; but, I am no longer afraid of zippers!) Once again, the pictures aren't that great and this time I'll blame it on the lighting.

I made this bag using Michelle's tutorial at Craftster.(http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=176509.0)

Alright, now for yur trivia question...what did I mess up on the messenger bag? Give up? I attached the flap wrong-side up...yep, sure did. Go me! Guess what...I did it on the second bag, too.

Thanks for looking, friends. I hope you all continue following me as I complete more sewing projects and showcase some of my paper-crafting items! I promise it won't be another three weeks before I post again!

Greetings, All!

Hi, and welcome to my blog! I hope that after meeting me you will continue to follow as I share my journey of opening a home business selling handmade cards on Etsy. This journey includes a lot of the rest of my life, too, so I hope I won't bore you! Some of the things you can expect to read about are: papercrafting (scrapbooks and cardmaking are my favorites!), gardening, cooking, and sewing.

See, I live in a small town outside of Kansas City, MO called Warrensburg. I have a full household consisting of my dear husband, Josh, my just-turned-2 daughter Karsyn, my brother-in-law, Jeremiah, and his best friend, Tim. We're all one big happy family and expecting an addition (or two!) in June. Oh, yes, and our sugar glider named Stitch just chittered, reminding me that he lives here, too.

A little more about me: I'm 21 and currently a stay-at-home-mom...except that Karsyn still goes to preschool because she loves it and cries if I try to keep her at home. That means that I am currently job-searching, too. My husband and I are both members of the Missouri Air National Guard. I am in the process of getting an honorable discharge, he is in the process of transferring into the active duty Air Force. (Wish us luck, we're more than likely going to be stationed at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas!)

Alright, now what you've all been waiting for! A sneak peek at what you'll be reading about from me soon!

Current Projects:
A purple canvas messenger bag (and a mini sized one for Karsyn)
Tons and tons of handmade greeting cards
Scrapbook pages: I'm in the process of starting our baseball season album, the new baby's album, and as always Karsyn's albums are a work in process.

Expect to see tons of pictures as I'm a budding photographer with a new camera!

I look forward to sharing this journey with everyone and hopefully sharing lots of fun projects with you!