Fun Plaid Purse for Fall

Once again, I burned the midnight oil, but the end result in this purse project was worth it! I think it's awfully cute and autumny!

The pattern is from Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules Sewing. It's the "Charming Handbag". That's a really fun sewing book, by the way. If you sew at all, you should pick up a copy. Cute stuff!

Late-Night Purse Projects (and patterns!)

Here are a few purses I've recently made for gifts. This first one combined 2 fabric remnants that I love, but the purse came out a little too small.

The pattern/tutorial is here.
I think it's cute, but the combination of the size and the fabric made it look a little to young for the friend I was making it for. I toyed with giving it to her anyway, because it was late, but finally decided to save it in my gift closet until I need a gift for a teenager. It is quite simple, but I complicated things by lining it and by adding a bottom panel.

At 10:30 pm the same night, I decided to have another go at the purse for my friend (her birthday was the next day...way to plan ahead!). I pulled out some more remnants that I'd been saving for a special project and here's what I ended up with:





I LOVE the way this purse came out. I wanted to keep it! Love the pleats. This is still based on the pattern from above, and it also has lining and an added bottom panel.

Here are a couple of other purses that I made in the early summer. This is the simplest pattern/tutorial. They come together SO quickly. I especially like the brown one.

Quirky Old Meme

I'm beginning to think I should have named my blog "Ponderous in my Heart", because I'm so pokey at posting! My friend, Natalie, tagged me for a meme (my first!) way back in June, but I put it off until I had a recent picture of myself, and then forgot all about it! Natalie is the wife of my husband's college roommate. Confused? That's ok...both of our husbands are named Brian, so it's confusing whenever we're together! She is a much better (more interesting) blogger than I am, and a much better writer! They've been overseas for several years. We're looking forward to them being back here in Texas!

Well, here's a recent picture:


And here's the meme:

5 Quirky Things About Me:

The rules: Post 5 quirky things about yourself. Post a recent picture so we can all look at you and laugh as we read about how interesting (weird) you are.

1. I am totally addicted to hand lotion. Whenever I wash my hands or get them wet at all (like when I put detergent in the washing machine), I have to put lotion on before I can touch fabric or paper. If I don't, I get chills from the icky feeling of my dry skin! And it can't be just any lotion. I prefer Curel, but will use Aveeno in a pinch.
2. I don't like lotions with heavy fragrance. I don't like to smell the fragrance everytime my hands are near my face. I love fragrances, but just not on my hands! I love Bath and Body Works, but please don't give me lotion from there!
3. I have "A Song for Every Occasion". Truly. I always have a song in my head, and I have this little word-association thing going on that causes me to have songs popping into my head all. the. time. So I gave my insanity a name, and I pretend it's a game, rather than a sickness! (I got the rockin' pneumonia and the boogie-woogie flu. See what I mean? I'm sick.)
4. I LOVE school supplies. Always have. I get a little rush in early August when they start stocking the stores with crayons and pencil boxes and Elmer's glue. One year my good friend gave me a box of school supplies for a Christmas gift. I loved it!
5. I have a precious kitty, Jazzy, who is 16 1/2 years old. She is incontinent and has recently gone blind, but I love her to pieces. She is the sweetest natured cuddly kitty ever. Just look at her:

These are her sisters, Gracie (my cat by marriage!) and Reilly (our little red dog):


Now, I'm supposed to tag someone, so I choose Kirstin. But if anyone else happens by here and wants to do this meme, jump in! What's quirky about you?

Answered Prayers!

On September 12th, I posted that my husband had been laid off from his job, and asked for prayers. I am pleased to report that my husband was offered an excellent job yesterday evening, and he has accepted it. He is very excited about the firm he will be working for, and we are so thankful for the way God has provided fo our needs during this 6 weeks. A few weeks ago, when Brian was very discouraged, I started asking God to show us some sign of encouragement each day, so that we would not become disheartened. I began to see daily proofs of God's provision for us. Then, I read this post by Cindy Beall. I thought it was a great idea, so I started keeping a "God's Provision Book". Let me just tell you how hopeful it has made us. When we have grown weary of the job search, these little instances of God's provisions have made us so thankful and peaceful. We will keep using our book, and I'd like to encourage you to give it a try!

Thank you, friends both near and far, for your prayers and encouragement.

Pumpkin Patch and a Precious Little Pumpkin!

Last weekend, our dear friends invited us to join them and their Bible Study class (the younger-than-us-marrieds) for a day trip to Love Creek Orchards Pumpkin Patch in Medina. It was a GORGEOUS day, and the Pumpkin Patch was a lot of fun! Here's my favorite photo from the day:



I love the multi-colored pumpkins and gourds, so I made this photo my desktop background!

Here's a collage of some of the other sights:


My friend, Kirstin, and I got together the night before the pumpkin patch trip for a night of sewing and chatting. She is a precious friend, and truly a Godsend for me! Anyway, she wanted us to try making a fall-themed tutu with leaves for her little girl. We had a lot of fun experimenting and this is what we came up with:

Isn't she a precious pumpkin? We also made the pumpkin applique shirt. Cute, huh?

And this little rosette/bow/clippie thing:


It was a lot of fun collaborating on this project! I'm anxious to try some other tutu projects...anyone want one for a special little girl?

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Canyon Lake Sunrise

A few Saturdays ago, Brian and I had wanderlust. Well, let's just face it...we pretty much always do, but our budget tells us to stick close to home! Anyway, whenever we can, we map out a little day-trip adventure. Sure, it takes a little gas, but it's worth it for the emotional boost of exploring and discovering new parts of Texas. We headed out early in the morning because it was supposed to be cool in the morning and we thought we'd try to get to Canyon Lake in time for sunrise. We just made it. Here are some photos from our morning:



I took a ton of photos, fiddling with the settings on my camera, so the light varies quite a bit. The river photos are on a little branch of the Guadalupe, just below the dam. The river there had a strong sulfur odor. Interesting...and smelly! If you would like to see the collage photos larger, just click the collage above. To see more photos from the morning, click here.

What outdoor adventures have you been on this fall?

Welcome to my Pumpkin Party

Oh, I've been meaning to post on this for several weeks now, but life has kept me awfully busy! Several weeks ago, I invited my coworkers (several ladies) over to our house for a Pumpkin Party. We try to get together a couple of times a year for an outside-of-work gathering. Whenever possible, I like to make it craft-based because, well, I like crafts! So this time the plan was to make these glittered pumpkins. How hard could it be? Paint on the glue, shake on the glitter, right? Ahem. Let me just tell you that this glitter, while beautiful, has the consistency of cornstarch. As in, it coated everything in a 1/2 mile radius, except the pumpkins! Oh well, we had a good time anyway. Here's one of the few that I made:

I wanted to make sure all the ladies went home with something they were happy with. So, on the off chance that the glittered pumpkins didn't work out, I came up with these little cuties.

These are so simple. Just make a largish yo-yo (mine were about 9"), stuff with fiberfill, add a twig and a leaf, then cinch up your yo-yo and tie off the thread. After that, you can create segments or grooves on your pumpkin by wrapping ribbon or yarn around it. So easy!

We ate a yummy supper of Chili and this White Chili from A Year of Crockpotting, plus cornbread, homemade applesauce (also from A Year of Crockpotting) and pumpkin bread. I made souvenier "napkins" by embroidering cheap washcloths (7 for $2) for each lady. In the end, everyone went home with a glittered pumpkin, a stuffed pumpkin, and a pumpkin "napkin":


I think a good time was had by all. And yeah, I'm still finding glitter all over my house! Sparkly.

What special Pumpkin activities have you been up to?

Contest for a Cause

I promise that at some point this week I will post about something besides other peoples' contests! But this one? It's for a very good cause! If you haven't visited Amy Beth at Ministry So Fabulous, you totally need to. And you need to do it now...go to this post and find out how you can help support a special ministry for young women at no cost to you! Oh, and Amy Beth is providing a little additional incentive...go check it out!

Harvest Goodies

I have some catching up to do! Several posts in the works...just need time to get them posted!

But here's a quick goodie for you. Sandy at 4 Reluctant Entertainers is having a contest right now, in honor of her 2-year blog anniversary. Stop by and wish her well, and enter the contest for this delightful harvest of goodies:

And if you win, be sure to share the apple butter with me, ok?

More posts to come this weekend, including some pumpkin-rific projects!