Happy New Year!

December simply came and went too fast. Here are a few of our highlights. Nanna came to visit us the week before Christmas. We enjoyed our time with her so much! We went down to Old Town to visit the Mormon Battalion Historic Site and then had a lovely lunch at the Casa de Reyes.

 Earlier in the month, the kids got to hang out with Santa at our church Christmas party. I love how Aaron really captured Santa's attention. Notice his gestures, "First, I would like..., second I would like," I don't think there are many other 12 year olds sitting on Santa's lap! Aaron has the most Christmas spirit of any child I know! It's fun.

 Legoland was all decked out over the holiday break. We were able to sneak in a visit with some PTA coupons I had that expired at the end of the month. It was busy but seeing all the cool lego sets made it rather enjoyable. I'll do a separate post of all the mini Star Wars Lego scenes.

Here's my favorite Santa rescue scene in Miniland.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and wish you all the best in 2012!

The clutch craze continues...

Awhile back, I posted a picture of my very first clutch that I learned to make at quilt group. Learning to sew on a zipper has totally transformed my craft making abilities! I think I watched several youtube videos on zippers and clutches in the week following that quilt group meeting. Anyway, I decided to make a bunch of clutches for birthday presents for friends out of the darling DS Quilts Collection from Joann Fabrics. My cousin Mary from Material Mary, mentioned it so I found the designer line at my local store and knew the prints would look great. I have a link to her cute blog on my sidebar.

Look familiar?

So, a friend of mine saw the clutch at one of our birthday dinners and asked if I could make a cute little one for her phone. So I checked out etsy to see what kind of ideas were out there and started working on my little prototype. :) I'm a little embarrassed to post my first phone clutch because I have used it so much that it's starting to look a little dingey. But here's one that I finally got around to making for my friend. My phone clutch is for a blackberry so it's a bit smaller, this one is for an iphone so it's a little taller.  I searched for a large lobster clasp and was totally surprised to find some at Joann's. It's by Darice Jewelry Designer and comes in a 2pk. I've seen these cute little clasps on clutches, wallets, and purses of all shapes and sizes.

And here we are! I'd love to make a contribution to the world of tutorials with this little one especially since I have benefitted so much from what others have put online. I'm sure there might be some tutorials already out there but I'm proud to say that this is one that I figured out on my own.

And lastly, here are the latest clutches I've made. These turned out much smaller that I was imagining. You'd think I would have realized that when cutting them out but still, they will be a fun little size for makeup, or whatever you might need in your purse. Here's the link to the tutorial. http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/04/27/pleated-pouch-tutorial/
I did make a few changes as my experience with clutch making has evolved. I prefer a wristlet with my clutches and I like to use fusible interfacing to give the clutch some structure. You could also use a warm and natural type batting but I opted not to. Also, adding small tabs to the ends of the zipper improves the overall appearance of the opening.

What a find...

So where do you keep your earphones or bluetooth for your phone or ipod? Mine earphones are tangled up near my dashboard. One of the blogs I followed posted this darling tutorial that solves all your earbud dilemmas! Check it out! A few of my buddies are getting these little cuties for Christmas...sssshhhh...don't tell! http://erinerickson.com/2011/11/circle-zip-earbud-pouch-tutorial/

Easy Christmas tablerunner

Remember my tablerunner with fall colors a few posts back? Well, I decided to make one for my sister for Christmas with some of my Christmas stash from last year. I love seeing blue in Christmas fabrics. How about you? I went out to Riverside on Veteran's day to have a craft day with my cousins. I helped them make some darling little waitress aprons for their girls while I worked on Hollie's tablerunner. Kathy happened to pick up some of the same fabrics I did so I gave her some of my extra strips to give her a jump start on her runner. She's thrilled with how it turned out. I think she's made like four already! Way to go Kath!  I sent off Hollie's last week and she called me yesterday and loves it. Mom got a table topper which unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of. Maybe I can get her to send me one and I'll post it later. After I sent of Hollie's, I was dying to make one for myself so I got busy and here's the result. It fits nicely on my little cedar chest table.

Again, here's the link to the wonderful tutorial: http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2010/08/table-runner-tutorial.html

Wah-lah! Here's mom's table topper:

My clutch craze

It's so amazing the things you can find online! I googled "clutch tutorial" and came across this fantastic site that showcases 14 free tutorials. http://tipnut.com/clutch-purses/
Here's the one I tried out. http://www.noodle-head.com/2010/04/gathered-clutch-tutorial.html
I just added the wristlet. For the longer lengths, I tied a little knot. I thought they turned out super cute. And they've been a hit for birthday gifts. So now, I just have to work on building up my stash because it seems like I'm giving them away as fast as I'm making them!

November Card Swap

Check out the cute cards from my card swap! Mine is the "merry & bright" christmas tree card.

http://needles-n-notions.blogspot.com/2011/11/card-exchangethe-rest-of-story.html

I came home inspired to try out the folded circles flower. So cute! Here's what I came up with. I used Stampin' Up!'s Spice Cake Designer Series Paper. And I used the 3/4" circle punch for the flower pedals. These flowers are so fun and easy to make. Love that paper!

And then I decided to jazz up my swap card after finding some cute ribbon from Michaels.