Are We Reaching the End of The Shopping Mall?

Back in the day when my mom took us shopping for school clothes seemed to be the beginning of the mall's popularity. At that time we only had two choices. By the time I was a teenager, they seemed to pop up all over the place. The day after Thanksgiving was a special treat because all the ladies in the family would meet at my mom's house and we'd head to Woodfield Mall Illinois. It was a blast! We also thought it was a treat because the malls had extended hours for Christmas. Back when I was much, much younger, they opened at eight instead of nine or ten, and no one camped out in the freezing cold at two in the morning to get that camera for $85 instead of $200. Crazy! And there is no way you'd catch me near any store the day after Thanksgiving anymore! That is now my decorating day so I don't have to face the crowds.  

Now it seems like many are closing down while the big box stores and outlet stores are popping up all over the place. The area where I live is growing like crazy with stores and restaurants. Our poor mall only has two stores left, Carson's and Sears. Penney's just closed their doors there and I'm wondering how much longer the two remaining stores will be there. After all, they opened a Kohls, OfficeMax, Ross, Hobby Lobby, and many others just across the street and down the road. 

It seems like the malls and cute little shopping towns are sliding slowly into history. In the photos above you will see my latest trip to the mall. It was actually eerie. It's the mall I mentioned that has only two stores left. All my special shopping days will remain in my memory and my heart forever!

A New Spin on Fusible Applique

I actually owe credit for this idea to my husband. He took one of my Christmas towels to his work room without my knowledge and did some experimenting. He cut roughly around the applique and spray glued it to a piece of wood. He then took it to his scroll saw and cut it out as close as he could get to the outside stitching. When he showed it to me I couldn't believe what he did! It was so cute. Instead of getting mad at him for taking my Christmas hand towel and cutting it apart, I gave him a couple of my own appliques to cut out. He came back about 20 minutes later and I was in awe. My creative mind is now spinning!

They look so cute sitting up on a shelf. How cute would this be to drill a hole in the tops and make Christmas ornaments from your holiday appliques! Another cute idea is to make them up for all holidays and make pretty garlands. I've heard of people fusing them to card stock and making greeting cards from them, but this is another fun and creative way to use them. 

Memories.....

I finally got around to cleaning out the home office, and that's when I came across these gems. When your kids write you notes, you save them forever. I have every note they ever wrote me when they were small, but these are when they were much, much older. When I first moved into an apartment after my divorce in 2006, both of my kids lived with me. My daughter was the first to move out a few months later, then my son moved out about a year after that. During the time they both lived with me, they would write me notes and in these notes, they argued over who loved me more and who was the better child. One would start the note, then the other would add to it, and so on. One note had about four additions to it. I will cherish these forever!

Along with the notes I came across this picture above. It was taken of me and a little friend about five years ago when I was working full time at the animal clinic. Back then we took in orphaned fawns. An animal control officer brought this one in when she took this picture. We still rehab wildlife but no longer take in deer. Between pets, humane societies, exotics, and wildlife, you never know what is going to come through that door. Do you see why I like to fill in occasionally now so my co-workers could get some time off?

The Midwest Scroll Saw Trade Show

Who knew that going to the Midwest Scroll Saw Trade Show would turn into a new passion! A few months back the hubster, who is an extremely talented woodworker, came across an ad in one of his magazines for a scroll saw show. He was so excited about it that he suggested we get on the Internet and find a hotel for the weekend. I'll admit that at first I was a little reluctant, all I could think of was rows and rows of scroll saws. Then I figured, why not, this could be fun and I've never been to Dubuque, besides, whenever I want to go somewhere for a weekend or vacation, the hubster is always willing to go. I couldn't have been more wrong. It wasn't just scroll saws at all. They had classes and a display of some of the most talented artists you'll ever see. They also sold patterns and woods. It was nothing like I had expected. I had a great time. I even bought two scroll saw patterns. I also bought some wood. My first project will be this intarsia sleeping kitty cat then this cute yorkie. The thought had crossed my mind to turn some of my own clipart and applique images into some Intarsia patterns. First things first, I have to practice, practice, and practice so I can make some nice samples.

The tiger in the photo above was my favorite piece from the show but it's quite complicated for a beginner.

While we were there we stayed at the Grand Harbor Resort and Water Park. In the bottom photo you will see what a beautiful view we had from our room. If you ever visit Dubuque this is a great place to stay. You can park your car and walk everywhere. There is a casino (we actually came out ahead for a change) across the street and a cute winery (where we bought a bottle of wine for the room) within a five minute walk down the river walk. 

It was a nice getaway but tomorrow is Monday so it's back to the studio for me.

Wedding Weekend

What an exciting weekend! On Saturday I got a new daughter. My son Bryan and his now wife Heidi, were married in a beautiful garden ceremony. Later a reception followed with good food, good friends, family, dancing, and of course spirits! I got an extra treat because I got to have Baby Paige for three nights!

Be sure to notice the bottom of the first photo. Somebody stole the show!

FREE Poufy Jewelry Bag Tutorial with Eight Pockets!

 
Here is a super easy and quick tutorial to make this fun jewelry bag just in time for travel season. I made a bunch of these for all the ladies in the family about twenty years ago. Some of them, myself included, still use it today. It's a pretty simple drawstring bag with a twist. You'd be amazed at how much jewelry it holds! Inside there is a large, padded center and eight pockets. When you pull the drawstring to close it up, everything stays in it's place. Let's get started!

Supplies

3/8 yard fabric "A" or two fat quarters  (outside of bag and pockets)

3/8 yard fabric "B" or two fat quarters (lining for bag and pockets)

2 yards of 1/4" wide ribbon or thin cording

2 1/2" round facial buff sponge (found in cosmetic dept)

--You can also cut out a 2 1/2" circle from batting if you prefer

Thread to match fabric

Facial sponges I used

General sewing supplies such as needles, pins, measuring tools, cutting tools, fabric marking pencils, sewing machine, iron

Instructions

1.  Iron fabrics.

2.  Cut one 13" circle and one 11" circle from each fabric. Take the large circle made from fabric "B" and fold it in half. Mark the fold at each edge with a pin. With the right side facing up, measure 5/8" down and draw a 1/2" long line. Fold the circle in fourths and cut a tiny snip (about 1/4") at the corner. It is important that this is a tiny snip because it is only for turning your fabric right side out. When open, it shouldn't be any bigger than an inch opening. Repeat the snipped corner with fabric "B".

 

3.  Using a sewing machine make a buttonholes on the 1/2" line that you made on the large circle. I like to make my buttonholes using the manual method instead of the buttonhole foot because I feel like  I have more control. Using a seam ripper, make the slit in the buttonhole. I place a pin at the top so that I don't cut through the stitching at the end. The correct placement of the buttonhole should be 5/8" from the outer edge of the circle. 

 

4.  Place your large circles together with right sides together and stitch all the way around the circle, 1/2" from the edge. Trim away excess seam allowance about 1/8" from stitching. Turn right side out through the square and iron. Repeat this step with the smaller circles. Top stitch around each circle 1/8" from outer/seamed edge.

 

5.  Fold the smaller circle into fourths and mark the exact center on the side that matches the outside of the bag (fabric "A"). Lay the circle on a flat surface with that side up. Draw lines to make eight sections just like you would if you were cutting a pizza. Center this piece over the bigger circle with the bigger circles lining side facing up and secure with a couple of pins.

 

6.  Place the buff sponge on top in the exact center. Draw around the sponge then slip the sponge between the two circles and secure with a pin. Be sure to be using a disappearing or water soluble marking pin or a chalk that you can brush away. Take to the sewing machine and stitch on that circle. I found the zipper foot worked best for this part.

 

7.  Stitch on the straight lines from the edge of the sponge to the edge of the smaller circle. Remove all the markings when finished. You've just made your padded center and eight pockets.

 

8.  Thread the ribbon through the two buttonholes using a small safety pin. Insert the ribbon into the first buttonhole, then come out the second one. Pull out the excess ribbon leaving a loop sticking out where you started about three inches in size. Insert the ribbon back into the hole you just came out of and thread all the way around. Bring it back out through the hole that doesn't have the loop. You will have one buttonhole with the "loop" and the other hole will have two tails. Tie the two tails into a knot about four or five inches from the bag and cut away the excess. Pull the loop and the tails you just made to close the bag!

 

Do you like free embroidery designs and tutorials?

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Hot Air Balloon Festival

Have you ever been to a hot air balloon festival? If you never have, you should research to see if any are near you. I went to my first one this past week, and it was fun, as well as a learning experience. My favorite part was at night when they all lit up their balloons. I got some great pictures and I plan to have some printed to hang in our bedroom.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn in Battle Creek which was where the festival was held. We always like to stay at those because we've never had a bad experience at one, they are really nice, and they have a really nice complimentary continental breakfast.

Along with the balloons they had an air show too. The best part of that was watching the Raptor. It's the most advanced aircraft for our (USA) military. I'm not even into that stuff and I was completely fascinated by the show as well.

And I even proved the point to myself that you can spend a weekend at festivals and eating on the road without going off your diet!

What a Month!

I know some might think that I've fallen off the face of the earth but I'm still here. Sometimes life throws you a curve and you are taken completely by surprise. In my case, I feel like I lost five months of my life. It started with a stomach virus, that led to a condition called Hyponatremia. If you aren't familiar with it (this was the first I've heard of it) it means that your sodium levels and electrolytes are dangerously low and it pretty much leaves you so lethargic that walking from one end of the house to the other wears you out. They admitted me into the hospital so they could bring my sodium levels back up, then put me on a limited fluids and high sodium diet. I was lucky though because this condition is known to cause seizures, convulsions, and coma.

Once I got past that. I covered for a co-worker's vacation at the clinic and got busy with life in general. But today I cleaned my studio and tomorrow I'll be back in there creating more projects. I've missed it terribly!

When I was thinking about writing this post, I couldn't think of a good picture to go with my subject. The last thing I wanted to post was a picture of medicine bottles or the hospital room, so I chose this adorable picture of Baby Paige. I'm happy to say that she has turned into quite the Nana's girl. Love her to pieces!!! 

I'll stop by and do some blog visits tomorrow. It's been a long day and I think it's past my bedtime.

Apps to Make Your Creative Life Easier

 

I have to say that smartphones are probably one of the greatest inventions of all time. I use mine to organize my life! It's so cool to have everything at your fingertips. I have shared some of my favorite apps with you before (links at the end of this post) but the links I'm sharing with you today are the ones I use to make my creative life easier. And did I mention that they are all free?

Plan, Start, Succeed This is a great app for the business crafter. It's full of lots of great information.

Expense Manager Another great app for those who want a super easy accounting system for their business or their personal life. I use this one for both. Love it!

CProject This will keep any project from the smallest to the biggest nicely organized. 

Memento Database Just as its name, this is a great database to keep up with your inventory or supplies! 

Quilting & Sewing on the Go This is a nice app to have for those times when you are at the fabric store and you aren't sure how much fabric to purchase or need other important details pertaining to sewing and quilting.

Shopping List When you realize that you are running low on a supply you can quickly add it to your list for your next trip out. You can keep all your lists on here as well, such as your projects in line, studio "to do's" or even your grocery list.

Evernote I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love, love, love Evernote! You can organize absolutely everything in this program. This program does so much that I can't even begin to explain it in this little post, you'll need to check it out for yourself.

Craftsy If you like to see great instructional videos on the go, this app is for you. You can watch your classes on your tablet or phone while you are working out at home or in the gym.

JoAnn, Michaels, Hobby Lobby These apps are from your favorite shops. They all have great coupons, their sales ads right in your app, and even gives you the location of the nearest store when you are out and about. You can even shop from them!

The above links will take you to the Google Play store (for Android), but if you have another operating system such as for the iphone, you can find these or similar there.

If you have a favorite app for making your creative life easier, please share in the comments!

The Wait is Over!

One of my most popular applique templates is my "Chunky Alphabet." I can't tell you how many requests I've gotten for a numbers and symbols template to match. Here it is! Just like the alphabet, it comes in four different sizes plus three different bonus shapes.

They can be picked up at my Craftsy Shop and Etsy Shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShersPatternShop

http://www.craftsy.com/user/470616/pattern-store