Stamped Keychains

 Here's a little something I found a few weeks back...a stamped washer keychain for my husband, dad, and brother.  I really liked them and tried them out for a Christmas gift...

Not the best pictures but I like the keychains :)

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!!

If We're Gonna Be BFF's...

Got this idea from Kitty Cats and Airplanes who got it from someone else who got it from...I don't know where.  BUT I thought it was pretty cute too so here goes...

Here's what you need to know about me if we're gonna be BFF's...

30 years of artificial trees...and finally last year my husband and I got my first REAL Christmas tree.  I love it! 

I am deaf in my right ear.

I grew up with a hearing impaired brother.

I truly enjoy crafting!  I have found so many unique ideas from the internet these last couple years.  I'm hoping to leave my stamp on this little crafting community myself.

Reading is another passion of mine.  Preferable Christian Fiction but just about any (clean) fiction will do.  I can sit and read through a book in one sitting...that is, if i have the time away from my kids.  Which really doesn't happen. 

I hate it when people are easily offended yet take no care in what they say to others.  WOW. I am amazed at how often I experience this. 

Don't smoke and don't drink.  Never have. Never will. 

Regarding the above...it was one of those things that I never really understood: why do it?  I thankfully had a father who had tried both of these things and genuinely told me how much he hated it.  He told me how the smoking just tmade him feel sick and his breath smelled bad.  He said alchohol tasted nasty.  As long as I have known my father, he has never touched either one of these items.  I have no reason to think anything other than what he told me my whole life.  I'm so blessed to have a dad who told me the truth.  He tried it.  He didn't like it.

I've never been easily offended.  You can't be when you're married to someone in ministry. 

Oh how I love good, clean humor!  Tim Hawkins is hilarious!

My favorite food...skyline chilli.  I grew up in Cincinnati, Oh...I don't like chocolate, love ice cream and cake, hate pie.  I prefer chicken over just about anything else unless it's a steak from Texas Roadhouse.  Those are the best! 

I love Psych, Burn Notice, and Royal Pains.  I'm a closet Supernatural fan!  (SHHHH) They should have never taken Monk off the air!!

My dad turned me into a movie musical lover and a Dean Martin/Jerry Lewis fan.  You can NOT blame it on me!

That's enough for now :) Care to share??

Still at it...

One of the few bags I made as a Christmas gift this year...and it's for a good friend.  I had her husband browse my bag styles and he chose this one for her, so here's hoping that after 36 years of marriage, he knows her well! :) She wears black, red, and white the most so here's what I chose for her.

The Simple Hobo Bag

Close up of the silver ring on the strap...

The inside photo came out too dark and I'm out of time as this needs to be wrapped soon!  So, the inside has a zipper pocket and two slide pockets.  I considered a divider, but didn't have enough fabric to do so. 

PS. I love this fabric!!  It's from Hobby Lobby and I love their fabric! 

I did a little bit of work with leather this week.  That post comes tomorrow...nothing major but I really like them!  Anybody still crafting gifts?  I'd love to hear what you're working on!  I pretty much have put my exhaustive list on my gift ideas page.  Head on over there if you still need some inspiration!

Happy Crafting and Merry Christmas!  (No. I'm not afraid to be politically incorrect.)



and we're still CHRISTMAS CRAFTING!!

Yes. Tell me now that I should have all of this completed, but alas I don't.  It's a good thing I enjoy making gifts!  Here's something we've tried before for a couple nephews of ours.  They seemed to like them pretty well, especially on Christmas day...when they could be found shooting marshmallows at each other!  That probably gives it away, right?

I had a little help on this one...well actually, I didn't do any of it.  I enlisted the help of Mr. Vibrant Designs who also appreciates saving money on gifts.  So, he is usually willing to help with my hairbrained projects.  This one is for our son...5 years old.  This doesn't take any more than maybe 15 minutes to put together.  If you'd like to see a tutorial go here. 

Just for an idea of the size, here's me holding it.  The mouthpiece, on top there, bends down to the side if that's a more compfortable way to shoot it.  Either way works great!  And every now and then, you get to eat a marshmallow, so that makes it even better, right?

The Simple Hobo Pattern is nearly done!  I'll be contacting those of you who volunteered to test run my patterns soon.  If you are new to my blog and would like to test run this pattern, contact me via email, and I'll add you to my list. 

Hope this week is great and you're enjoying it!  See you soon with yet another Christmas Craft!

1

Congratulations to the Winner!!

I used Random.org....but perhaps someone can tell me how to get the picture of the actual generated number?  I don't know how to do that....


But....


Without further ado...congratulations to #119...

Kathleen who said


I absolutely love the bag you are giving away! There are so many great bags in your shop, its just too difficult to chose just one!

If I don't hear back from you in 2 days time, I will announce another winner. 

To everyone who participated??  I thank you!  WOW!  My blog grew to almost 200 followers this week!  I am so happy to have so many new readers!  Keep your eyes peeled because I have some amazing items coming up this year...and another giveaway or two coming up as well!! 

See you soon!

Barrett Holder Tutorial

Yesterday I showed you some in process photos of a couple Christmas gifts I was working on.  I finished them up today and took a few more photos.  So, here's a tutorial in essence...believe me, it's NOT hard!!  Not even sure why I'm bothering because this is so easy, you don't even need directions.  Moving on...

Hair Barrett Holders

Materials:

craft paint

foam brush

lighter

wall letters

glue gun

ribbon

Paint your letters...decorate however you want.  I had considered using adhesive jewels to decorate these but they weren't on sale and were out of my price range for this project. :(  So, for now they are just painted.  I have a B, K, and an A.  If your letters are white to begin with, it should only take 2-3 coats of paint to cover it.  If they're a darker color, it's more like 6-7 coats.  Yeah. I know.

Let the paint dry..........

Cut two strips of ribbon in your desired length.  I chose 1 1/2" wide ribbon and cut them about 18" long.

Put 2 lines of hot glue on the RIGHT side of one end of the ribbon.
Place the ribbon with the hot glue on the back of the chosen letter.

Repeat with the second ribbon...

You should have something like this.

Grab that lighter and melt the ends of the ribbon to prevent fraying.

Voila!  Done! 

Can you guess??

So...I'm about a third of the way through my Christmas crafting...for gifts that is.  Here are some "along the way" photos of a couple things I'm working on.  Care to take any guesses? 

OK. So remind me that the B needs another coat of yellow...this I know :) 

These are for a gift for my husband.  He does already know about it because I really needed his imput to get the whole thing put together, so I will be able to post finished photos.  FYI, I'm not actually canning anything with these.  AND there are a dozen jars. 

And just for cuteness...

Technically a bang trim :) There's no way I'm cutting the curls in the back that you can't see in this photo!  But at least now we can see those bright blue eyes, right? :)



Shhhh...

A little side information...

I'm throwing a few bags up for sale on my facebook page..some last minute Christmas gifts that will arrive in time for Christmas!  Head on over and comment!  First comment with email address purchases the bag!!

So far...these three for sale ONLY on facebook, ONLY for today at 30% off! 

 Hope you buy one!

Giveaway Day!!!

I know...I know.  We just finished a giveaway recently here but when I heard that Sew Mama Sew is hosting a major Giveaway Day I just couldn't resist!  Besides, it is my goal that all of my followers would own a Vibrant Designs Bag...so I'm just doing my part!!  Here's the deal...starting December 13, any blog can link up their handmade giveaway on Sew Mama Sew.  So, if you're a crafty blog and wanna take part, just head on over! 

Let's get down to business.  Anybody remember my "I don't know what to name it" bag??  I made it in one of my favorite fabrics, perfect for the winter months.  And this is the bag I'd like to offer to one of my lucky followers! 

This would make a great cross-body bag.  The strap has a white O ring detail to draw the eye. 

Four inside pockets are perfect for holding all of your essentials.  And the best part? These pictures were taken when you could still see our grass!!  Now outside photos are simply monochromatic.



Now, would you like to know how to win this great winter bag? 

Here's how to enter...

(not mandatory but encouraged!)

1.  Become a follower

2.  Go to my Etsy Shop and tell me your favorite Vibrant Designs Bag!!

That's it! 

Giveaway is open until Friday, December 17th.  I will pick the winner by random via random.org. 

Interested in a purchase?  Get 15% off in our Etsy Shop using this coupon code.

vibrantdesigns15

Are you interested in any of my patterns?  I would love to know which ones!  Comment or email me.  I'm working on 3 currently that should be availabe early next year.  And to my new followers?

Welcome!!

Christmas Crafting...Felt Cuff Watches

I recently posted my leather cuff watch tutorial.  After making it, I decided I wanted to try it in felt, so here goes. 

It seems like the orange sewed on crooked but that's just the photo.  Here's my son showing us the watch.  I'm thinking he needs one for his birthday!  He's just learning to tell time on a watch other than digital :)

What have you bee up to?  Crafting for Christmas? Visiting relatives?  Did you notice my Christmasified blog redo?  I'll take it down in january, but I love it!!  Maybe it'll come back for a visit in July! ;)  Hope you're all having a wonderful week!



Flannel Tinkerbell =

A Leapster Bag!

I know you all have seen my leapster bags on here but I thought I would share this one anyway.  :P  I had a recent custom order for one of these in pink/purple for a little girl who loves Tinkerbell.  I can't say I don't love Tinkerbell myself, so truthfully, I enjoyed making this one.

I interface both the outside fabric and lining fabric with fusible fleece for added support and mostly for safety of the leapster system.  So, note to self for the next time I decide to use flannel on a bag:  it does NOT adhere well to fusible interfacing, of any sort.  The iron had to be scorching hot and sit for a long time on the fabric before it would completely adhere.  (No burned fabric though!) 

As usual, it has a velcro closure for easy closing with tiny hands, a zipper pocket under the flap for all those important games, and a long strap for making it a crossbody bag. 

What do you think?  Would your 5 year old like one?

A Peasant Dress for Christmas

I wish I was good enough to create my own clothing patterns!!  But alas, I resort to finding other peoples clothing patterns on line and using them.  I have to appologize for no photos of this little dress on it's future owner, but it is a Christmas gift so you'll have to be satisfied with it lying against my totally awesome rocking chair. :) 

I've been browsing the net for great gift ideas for a few months now, and feverishly so these last couple weeks!  I found this really cute toddler peasant dress tutorial.  Wanna know why I liked it so much? (other than it's cute...)  It has long sleeves!!  And specifically right now, it is 19 degrees here!  We are used to cold weather, but not generally this early in December.  So, I am always looking for long sleeved dresses for my girls.  We regularly attend church so they wear dresses often.  AND a dress like this is gReat with a pair of leggings.  So, I'm thinking this dress will get lots of wear :)

I love this fabric.  I just loved the flowers, trees, and squirrels!  Perfect for cold weather!  Oh yeah, it's a small corduroy.  I had red all over my shirt when I was done! 

Some great upcoming news!! 

Have you heard about Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day?  I'll be taking part so if you'd like to read more about it go here.  In one week from today, I will be hosting a giveaway here on my blog in conjunction with SewMamaSew's Giveaway Day.  Be sure to check back in!!  So excited!

Leather Cuff Watch...TUTORIAL!!

Yeah. I know. I can't believe it either.  A tutorial. 

I have 2 young nephews who are growing up...7 & 9...and Christmas can be tough for them.  My husband and I are generally on a budget at Christmas so we TRY to make the bulk of our Christmas gifts.  By now, there are family members who have come to expect it.  Last year, I made these same boys (requested by their mom) a twin size fleece tie quilt/blanket.  This was NOT pieced, but it was tie quilted.  We called it the Secret Blanket because I added a zipper pocket on the underneath of the blanket for the boys to put a little toy/lego guy/whatever in...for middle of the night playing.  They loved their blankets, so it seems they do appreciate handmade gifts.  Ok, to bring this back around...

I recently found sports cuff watches on another blog that I thought were cute.  However, they were attached using hot glue.  My nephews are rough n tumble, hard on things!  I just didn't think hot glue would stand up to them!  I had recently purchased some leather clothes to cut up and make into a bag.  I said to myself, "Self?  A few strips from those leather clothes should make a nice leather cuff watch!"  So I checked the dollar store and they did not have the watch type I was looking for...moved on to Big Lots.  Badabing Badaboom...$5 watches!!  I needed the kind that had the bars on it so I could feed a strip of leather through it and secure it to the cuff.  Without further ado...

Materials

velcro

leather scraps

(you could use felt as well)

thread

watch face (w/ bars)

*Notes*

I did not use a leather needle. I used an 110/18 denim/canvas needle.  It would probably be best to use the leather needle!

I used my hand instead of the foot pedal a good portion of the time. 

I also had to use my finger to hold the sewing foot in place.  When the needle came up, it would pull up the foot as well.  (could this be helped by using the leather needle instead?)

Step 1: Measure the wrist to it's exact measurement. 

Step 2: (my measurement was 6") So, 6" + 1 1/2" = 7 1/2"  Cut two strips 7 1/2" x 2".

Step 3: Measure the bars on the watch face.  Mine was 5/8" so cut one strip 5/8" x 3 1/2" (or however long you want it)

Step 4: Cut strip of velcro 1 1/2" long.  Place rough velcro side on the right side of one strip of leather.  It also needs to be placed on one end of the leather.  Sew around the velcro using a zigzag stitch.

Step 5. Place soft velcro side on the right side of the second strip of fabric.  This should be placed on the oposite end of where you placed the first piece of velcro.  (Make sure that when you wrap the cuff around the wrist, the velcro pieces are placed so that they will meet securely.)  Sew around the velcro using a zigzag stitch.

Step 6:  Feed the 5/8" x 3 1/2" leather strip through the watch bar from top down, under the watch face, and back up through the other side of the watch.

Step 7: Place watch face with narrow leather strip on top of the large leather strip with the soft velcro attached.  Attach one side of the narrow leather strip to the large leather strip.

Step 8: Follow step 7 for the other side of the narrow leather strip. 

Step 9: Place the two long leather strips wrong sides together.  Topstitch about an 1/8" all the way around the watch cuff.  

The completed watch cuff!!  You could also do this with felt/fabric/whatever you want.  I chose the leather to hopefully lend longer lasting life to the watch!

I have one more to make.  If you'd like to see photos of it, let me know.  What do you think?

Crafting for Christmas...part 3!

Now tell me, who doesn't love Elizabeth over at Twelve Crafts??  She has done some amazing gifts for her girls this year but this one is my favorite!  (I do love the pillow buddy tutorial and the mailbox tutorial which are both in the works in my house right now!) She even wrote up a tutorial for it which can be found here.  So, I changed the technique just a bit.  Since I'm a bag maker, I'm used to squaring off bottoms and leaving a hole in the lining to pull everything through it.  So basically the two differences were in making the bonnet or hood for the bassinet, and attaching the bonnet to the body of the bassinet. 

Here's a look at my first try...

That sepia sure makes this toy look old fashioned!  I love it!  Ok, so when I squared off the bonnet, instead of measuring 5" and only sewing that 5", I sewed all the way across.  Then I smooshed it the same way, keeping the seem in the center, pinned it and sewed.  If you need clarification here, let me know! :)

The second change I made was in putting the whole bassinet together.  Much like in making bags, I sandwhiched the outside fabric rightside in, the bonnet right side out (I think??), the handles, and then the lining rightside out.  Pin all in place and sew all the way around.  I also left a hole in the lining so I could pull the whole bag through that hole.  Once you've adjusted the bassinet, pin all the way around the top edge, and then topstitch all the way around.  

And yet...

I still made a grave mistake.  The lining was actually supposed to be the white fabric, not the pink floral.  When I sandwhich everything together, I put the handles in the wrong place.  So, the hole was on the outside, not the lining.  When I tried to seam rip...the white fabric began to tear.  So, I decided the best route would be to just use it as the outside fabric instead.  It's cute...it'll just get dirty easier.  BUT then again, it IS washable. 

So, what do you think?  If you'd like to try it yourself, be sure to head over to Twelve Crafts and snag that tutorial!

Our Christmas Traditions...

So, I've been reading all of the fun holiday traditions being talked about over on Twelve Crafts!  A couple of them I LOVED  and would like to begin including them in our families current Christmas traditions...but for now, I thought I would share with you the things we've already been doing. 

A little history...

We are a family of five.  We have been married for 7 years and our first child came along 3 months shy of our 2nd anniversary.  Coming from two different families, my husband and I each had differing family traditions.  Once our first child came along, we knew we wanted to create some new traditions, things that our kids would look back on with a smile in thirty years. 

One fun tradition we've started is opening one gift on Christmas Eve...which specifically is a pair of Christmas PJ's.  Our kids love sleeping in their new pj's on Christmas Eve. 

Our church has a chilli/caroling night in December every year.  This has also become a fun tradition for us!  The kids LOVE to sing carols and meet each new person we come across.

It has also (more recently) become a tradition to handmake at least Christmas gift for each child.  This year my husband has been bit by the bug too! 

Each Christmas morning, we read from Luke 2.  The perfect reminder of why we're even handing out Christmas gifts or celebrating the day.

This last one is going to sound so simple and yet for us, it's the most important.  On December 25th, Christmas day, we stay home.  My husband spent every...EVERY Christmas day at his grandparents house.  After we married, it became apparent that we were going to have trouble determining where to spend Christmas.  Thankfully...my husband agreed with me.  Christmas Day is for the five of us.  We love all of our extended family, but we decided that Christmas day needed to center around our children.  So, we stay home on Christmas day...our most treasured tradition.

Would you like to know what we're making for Christmas this year?  Here ya go...

PVC sling chairs
pretend n play diaper bag w/ accesories
pretend n play bassinet
pretend n play mailbox
button bracelet
tile pendents
PVC marshmallow gun
hobby horse on a stick
pillow buddy
peasant dress
framed yo yo art
mary jane slippers  (no, I don't crochet but a friend does!)
camera bag
sock monkey
stenciled t-shirt
men's hoody
magnetic spice rack

IF you are interested in making something from this list that does not have the tutorial link, let me know.  I'll do my best to find them...they aren't there because I didn't save them or they are a purchased pattern.

Happy Crafting all!

Tonight I thought I'd share a bag I made a while ago...one that's never been on my blog.  I found the original tutorial for it on Craftster.  Which, I might add, if you've never been to Craftster, you need to go, NOW.  Well, at least after you've read this post and commented...THEN, go to Craftster! :)  It's a great little bag and was also my first time making a bag with a zipper closure.  That was a major step for me!  I was terrified of zippers. 

This is the Eden Bag with a fabric flower pin detail.  The strap is short, and attached to two silver rectangle rings.  As already mentioned, it has a zipper closure and three inside pockets.  So, what do you think? 

I really think this would make a great bag for a pre-teen or teenaged girl.  It's just the right size for wallet, cell phone, keys...and still have room for a number of other items. 

Has anybody been crafting for Christmas??? Care to share?  I've got more coming soon!