Waxed Thread, Beads, and a Filipino Button

I was in the Philippines in April on business. I've been there before. There's a lot of down time at the hotel, and boredom is rampant. I wanted to take something to work on, but traveling 8,000 makes for very careful packing. Luggage space is at a premium, so waxed thread and beads seemed like a good choice.
I wanted to shop for fabric while I was there. In doing that I realized how cheap buttons were! Packs of 6 or 8 were less than $1, so I bought some of those too. Using one of my button finds I made this bracelet.

 I think the tan color worked nicely with the light blue beads.

I gave the bracelet to my daughter when I got back home. She's always loved the color light blue, so I knew she would like it. I'm making myself one now with red (my favorite color) and silver beads. I'll post pictures once I finish it.

Scarves Galore

Here's some scarves that I made and little about each one.

 I found the chiffon fabric on a clearance table for $1.00/yd at Hancock.. Gotta love the clearance fabric!

 The beads are a mix of new purchased and some that I salvaged from taking apart vintage jewelry that was either broken or ugly. The beading was tedious but the results were really worth it. After making a few different ones from bought fabric I decided to try one from a vintage lace table cloth.

 All of these 'pearls' are from vintage necklaces that I disassembled with some gold and pearl seed beads mixed in. I did a different one with a heavier lace table cloth, but I sold all of them to coworkers. Lots of female family members of my coworkers got handmade scarves for Christmas last year. I suppose if scarves stay in style till next Christmas I'll be back in the business again!

The Anti-Fanny Pack

It was two summers ago when I finally got frustrated with not being able to find a cross body bag that I liked for under $50. A few times each summer Mr. ShowMe and I will take our dogs, (a studious 7 year old Border Collie and a rambunctious 3 year old Australian Shepherd), out for a fun day at a park, or a festival, or another dog friendly event. At these outings, Mr. ShowMe typically carries both leashes, because it’s just easier that way. If we each have one of the leashes and try to walk side by side the two are constantly crossing back and forth and tangling up the leashes. When I try to walk behind Mr. ShowMe in an attempt to keep the leashes from tangling, whichever dog is with me will start panicking, convinced that they’re being left behind and pulls incessantly on the leash choking themselves and attempting to dislocate my arm at the shoulder. So, see, like I said, it’s just easier if one of us carries both leashes.

So on said outing, Mr. ShowMe has the leashes and I have every other outing necessity, such as the bottles of water, the cash, tickets to the event, the program, the occasional hot dogs, or snow cones… so I needed a cross body bag. I know I don’t need to convince you, my dear reader, that this was something that I “needed” and not just “wanted”… or maybe I’m still trying to convince myself. hmmmm But anyway, I couldn’t find one that fit the bill. They were starting to get more popular a couple of summers ago, but they still weren’t in abundance, and the ones I found that #1 I liked, and #2 were large enough for all of the aforementioned necessities started at around $50. Now Mr. ShowMe would argue with you if you said I was frugal, but still, I couldn’t bring myself to spend $50 on a bag that I’d probably carry fewer than 6 times a year.

So I’m at JoAnn’s one day with my daughter, (it's our happy place!!!) and they had this wall of those quick sew patterns. You know the ones I mean. They’re all a flat $2.00 or $2.50, this one’s a blouse, that one’s an apron, a skirt, and then there was this cross body bag pattern. It seemed to be all that I was looking for. I had tons of fabric stashed at home from when I used to dabble in crafts and sewing years ago. A quick glance at the notions list and I realized all I would have to buy was a zipper. So I could invest around $5.00 and try to make the bag that would cost $50 otherwise. A no-brainer, right?

So I got the pattern and zipper, hurried home, selected my fabric, and got busy. It had been awhile since I’d sewn anything, (other than a few home decorating projects), and I had never lined anything. It took me a couple of weekends, but I finally finished and it wasn’t half bad! I was left with a real feeling of accomplishment.  So here are some pictures of the completed bag. My skills have improved since then, so keep that in mind, but it was this cross body bag that led to more bags, and more crafting in general and to this blog and so on and so on.

Oh yeah, and about the title of this post.. The Anti Fanny Pack.. I realize a fanny pack would have given me the same hands free convenience that I got from a cross body bag, and they’re cheaper than a bag, but I just can’t stand fanny packs. I mean no disrespect if you like them. More power to you if you do!

So while the rest of the world calls them cross body bags, to me, they are really Anti-Fanny packs.

Lace & Pearl Bracelet

I just love the Flamingo Toes blog. If you haven't been there yet I highly recommend it. You can get there here. She has the best tutorials. They're clear and concise and her projects don't cost an arm and a leg. I have a mile long crafting to-do list thanks to Bev there at Flamingo Toes.

A while back she posted a tutorial for a Lace and Pearl bracelet. It was a knockoff that she saw somewhere. I made one of my own, but alternated crystal beads with the pearls. I had the beads from a couple of old broken 1950's crystal necklaces that I had taken apart. That's one of the advantages of having a husband dabbling in the antique business. He buys a box of crap treasures at an auction and I get all the broken unsaleable items from it to craft with.

Here's my version of the bracelet.

I had to make a second one for a good friend at work who positively swooned when she saw mine and just had to have one!

Let's Get This Party Started

Ok, to blog or not to blog.. that's been the question. I probably didn't pick the best time to start a blog. It was February. Things were crazy at work and I had an overseas business trip on the horizon. Preparing for that was taking up most of my spare time. Then I got back from my trip and things eventually settled down at work, so I was back to the question to blog or not.
I follow about 50 blogs. Some are no longer active, I need to clean up my list, (something else to do!). Most of the ones I follow are craft related. I'm so amazed and inspired by some of my favorite bloggers. Maybe on a future blog post I'll list my favorites. As soon as I figure out how to post links and all that that entails, (something else to do!). Maybe in the mean time I'll write some posts about some of the things I've made lately and a little more about me along the way, so you can get to know me.
"You"... that's my followers. Right now it's just my daughter. (Hi Honey!) But maybe one day there will be more, and "you" might read back through older posts. Assuming "you've" seen something the peaks your interest.
I've dabbled in crafts most of my adult life. In the last couple of years I rediscovered sewing. Maybe it's because I'm older and bit more patient, but I enjoy it more now than I did in years past. So, on with the blog. Hold on to your hats. Let's look at some recent crafting fun!