Crafting Spot

Ever since I got to sewing and crafting I have been trying to get a crafty/sewing spot in my home to work at. It began in the kitchen with me using the eating table as my sewing desk and the kitchen counter and a couple side tables as holders for my tools and materials. Well finally I figured I would use the entertainment center we got from IKEA years ago as the organizing piece for my crafty spot since the unit wasnt really being used anymore and was just a collector of stuff in the playroom. It stayed in the playroom but I moved it to a corner and used a baby gate to block out curious hand from my crafting supplies and organized all my stuff. Next I needed a desk to work at. So I went Goodwilling! I love Goodwill. You can find some awesome stuff there. Well it took a couple days but I found a good sized desk that would be perfect so I bought it for $13 (was half off that day..YAY!) and had my man bring it home for me. I cleaned it up, colored out the scratches and moved it into its destined place. I was VERY happy with my spot. There was one thing missing though. The entertainment unit has a big middle spot where the TV is suppose to sit and having that big black square with nothing filling it annoyed me. I figured I needed a cork board or some sort of displace piece to place pictured or patterns and such. Once again I went Goodwilling. It took a few trips over a couple weeks but I finally found a cork board that looked like it was from a girls room or college room. It had been painted orange and had a couple stickers on it and puff paint. I knew I would be able to transform it into something useful so it went home with me at the awesome price of $1.50. :) 

UGLY!

We already had some white spray paint so I rummaged through my fabric I had looking for something that would pop against the black unit and I would like looking at it. I found a bedsheet I had bought from Goodwill about a month earlier that was perfect. The board trim was cleaned, sanded and then painted. After letting it dry it came inside and it was fitted with the fabric and some ribbon and TA DA!

A new backboard for my crafty spot. the left spot is ribboned off for me to use push pins and on the right I criss crossed ribbons for a slot organizer. The ribbon on the right is sheer so its hard to really see.

Better picture to kinda show the right.

I am very please with how this came out and look forward to using it on my crafting adventures. :)

~C

life...unscripted: business card tutorial

life...unscripted: business card tutorial

Purse

I have an obsession with bags/purses as do many of my friends. Well I had a friend see a bag that she liked and asked that I make something similar. So I created this first bag below. Seeing as how it was my first bag there were mistakes and unfinished edges since I'm also a little unpatient.

My friend loved this purse and used it on ther trip to Disneyland that following weekend but I was not too happy with it.

 Sooo..I got working on one that I took more time on when time was avaliable. I was also able to make a small zip bag to match.

Small matching bag with ribbon loop in the side.

Inside is the Polkadot fabric that matched the ribbon loop. 

And heres the new improved bag!

A shorter shoulder strap with more character to it. It was originally a white belt with a black strip down the middle and I sewed a polkadot ribbon onto the middle to tie everything together.

I added some Fleur De Lis since she liked them and for more eye interest on the outside of the bag since its pretty plan.

Inside shot. 

I flipped the purse inside out.

It has two smaller pockets on one side with a key faub so keys dont get lost at the bottom of the bag. LOVE LOVE LOVE that idea!! :)  Yay Me! LOL!

A magnetic closure to secure the top .

And on the other side of the interior is one larger pocket and two spots for pens. 

Oh I also placed a velcro pocket on the back but didnt get a picture of it.

I will be fixing the other purse and making some improvements on it but she and I are both happy about this new one. :)

I have already had a request for me to make another customized one and the person will pay me. I guess I better start a shop! LOL!! J/k...kinda.. :)

What have I learned from this?

Making bags is MORE FUN that shopping for me. I get to add my own flare and surprise my friends/customers with nifty little additions to the product. I can already see my house filling with bags I've made for fun and for friends. :)

My New Jewelry Box!

So I have been looking for a new jewelry box for some time now but havent found one that I liked enough or that had the features I wanted and within my price range to keep longer than a month. Now that my daughter gets into more of my things a new necessity has risen of making this not accessable to her (hanging it on the wall, high!). Needless to say I have lost some jewelry and am not too happy about that.
So I was at the Goodwill a week ago with my Sis and found a poor beat up small decorative cabinet and saw potential. So I bought it and finally with the holiday weekend over and the family trip to CA behind me I could now focus on creating my Jewelry Box. I wanted it to blend well with the bedroom so I went and bought the paint colors we have in our bedroom but in sample size since I didnt need much. Off I went cleaning the cabinet and then painting away. The longest part was waiting for the paint to dry so this took about 3 hours.

Here are the before pictures.
Yes I know, not a pretty picture. Missing drawer knobs, rough coloring.

 And the back is pretty simple and blah...

Since it was missing the knobs on one of the drawers I figured I would get new ones for the whole thing. So here are the new ones painted and drying. There are four but one straggler got placed to far to be in the picture. Oops!

And now here is the final project hung in my bedroom with some special items on the shelves. As you can see I also added hooks on the bottom for my necklaces. Pretty happy with how this came out. :)

What do you think?

Beat up cabinet from Goodwill : $3

Sample paint :                           $6

New Drawer Knobs:                 $3

Hooks: Already had on hand so free

 TOTAL:                                $12  - not to shabby!



Head Rest Portable DVD Player Holder

So this coming weekend is Memorial day weekend. My little family will be traveling down to California to visit with my In-laws and any other family who want to visit while we're there. I love my In-Laws! They have awesome food and are VERY kind and easy to get along with. :)
Anywho, since this trip takes about 5-6 hours (diaper changing stops and doggy potty stops) we always borrow my brothers Portable DVD Player for my daughter or for myself to pass the time. Last year on our trips I had placed the player in my daughters lap since we didnt have anything to put it on and she would keep pushing the buttons. Well this year I decided we needed those head rest screens for the movies but I didnt want to pay the prices they were charging. Even for the used ones on Craigs List I felt the people were still charging to much. I'm cheap. LOL! Well, I figured why couldnt I make something for the DVD player we have?
SO! I whipped out this little do-hicky last night.

*sorry for the dark pic, it was night time when I finished and got excited to take picture with my phones camera.

It wraps around the headrest. Two holes for the metal bars to go through for support, wrap it over the top and the two end pieces velcro at the base of the head to stay put. The pocket in the back has some elastic at the top just for more staying support and a whole at the bottom for the remote sensor.
I have to say I was VERY proud of myself for making this without a pattern or instructions.

I found this tablecloth fabric at good will. It costs me $2.00 for about 4 yards of it. SCORE! So this actually costs me about $0.30. My partner doesn't like it much since its more Christmasy and he's not into Christmas nearly as much as I am, so I'll be making another at a later date once I find more generic sturdy fabric at Goodwill for cheap.  :)
The only negative thing about this is when you want to switch movies you have to take the player out, but I figured for $0.30, heck I am totally fine with that!!

California here we come!

Welcome ! 2011

I am welcoming myself to the blogger community. I honestly never thought I would have a blog but here I am creating one. I have a few close friends who blog and I LOVE when they have new stories or events to tell. They're always so interesting and mainly VERY funny. I've never been a great writer so my blog will not be of stories (i'm sure there will be random ones so beware) but I have always had a passion for creating. I love painting, pottery, drawing and now sewing. My blog will be about sharing my creative ideas, creations or inspirations from others.
I have recently acquired a sewing machine from my Mother. My sister-in-law, Mom and I gathered at my house to begin a project and to get me sewing so my Mom brought down her extra machine for me.It was a little old and VERY basic. We didnt quite finish that project so the sewing machine sat in my closet for about 8 months or so and just recently I got inspired by a friend to start sewing. I am still quite new at this and have sewn by hand in the past but only on small things like hems and such but quickly picked up the sewing machine with help from the manual. :)
So off I went sewing, researching and finding projects galore on websites and other crafty blogs and quickly finding CHEAP fabric from goodwill on their 50% off a specific color tag of the day(idea from inspiring friend). I now have a slew of projects to do in 2 binders I put together as well as quite a few brewing in my mind.

So I hope you enjoy a little of what I can share and maybe you too can be inspired as I was!
Thank you!
~C