A TINY bag

Yep, I'm still a bag lady! But oh, what a tiny bag!

See how little it is!  It only measures about 4.25" across!

It's a case for a tiny MP3 player (which measures only 1.4"x2.2" itself!). It's a gift, so I don't have the player here to demonstrate... but look how monstrous my iPad charger cord looks next to it!

I wanted to make something that had pockets to keep the charger and earbud cords from tangling together. This fit the bill just right. You can sorta make out the inside pockets in the photo above. There's even a pocket on the outside in the back (see below). I guess it'd be handy for a tissue or something. :)

I found the tutorial for this here. It's actually called a Mini Wallet. It was pretty easy to make, but required some very careful sewing. I used an actual buttonhole instead of a snap, because I thought that would have a little more 'give' if the case got stuffed full. I hope it works as I intend it to... if not, I'll make something else! :)

I also made another little earbud pouch.

I thought a certain little girl might like one for her upcoming birthday. With a surprise inside, of course! Shhh... don't let her see it, Mommy!

Wow, they're almost the same size!

Linking up to amylouwho's Sew & Tell:

This is a first

In the 6 years that I've had this cat tower, this is the first time I've ever seen a cat lounging on that bottom shelf! I could never figure out why none of them ever used it. Its fleecy cover is softer and nicer than the carpeted ones above it. The only thing I could think of is that they just like being up higher.

Josie seems quite content, though, doesn't she?

Oh. But I think she may have ulterior motives.

Yep... most likely planning how best to tackle my hibiscus this time! (The poor thing never gets to bloom... the buds are her favorite part!) Aargh.

A re-run

No, this isn't a re-run for you. You haven't seen this before. But it's a re-run of sorts for me.  I made a little earbud pouch just like this (from a tutorial found here) for Alex for Christmas. It turned out to be a little bit too small. He could get his earbuds into it, but it was a tight squeeze and kind of inconvenient to use. I also forgot to take pics of it.

So I made him another one, and here it is:

It was very quick and easy to make. I made it an inch bigger in diameter than the first one. It's still pretty little, but it should work out a lot better. Here's another photo for size perspective:

Yes, I was experimenting with the backgrounds in my light tent again. Hmmm... so what's the true color of the pouch? Neither one, actually. If I hold the fabric up to my monitor, the first pic looks too blue and the second pic looks way too light. Guess I need to do more experimenting!

The tutorial was written by Erin Erickson, who also wrote the Hipster bag pattern. The tutorial kind of went "viral" before Christmas, and if you do a Google image search for "earbud pouch", you can see tons of them in all sorts of cute fabrics!

Gee, looking at all those little pouches, it occurs to me that the pouch would work for lots of other things besides earbuds. Like perhaps for little girls to put their hair pretties in when they go to their grandma's house or something. Maybe even a certain little girl who's having a birthday very soon!

Pristine whiteness

This is the scene I got up to yesterday morning. Pretty. But... I was becoming so fond of brown! Ah, well... I knew it had to happen sometime. I'm just glad it's January and not October!

There was just a bit of frost on the branches, too.

Later in the morning yesterday the wind started coming up, and it really got to howling. As you can see below, it did a lot of rearranging.

(Click any photo to enlarge.)

Two Zip Hipster Bag #2

Wow, it took me awhile to get back into sewing again after Christmas! I just couldn't seem to get in gear. But I finally got something accomplished... another Hipster bag. This one, unless plans change, is going to be used by Jess herself. (I believe the red one got gifted.)

Once again, the fabric is from Jess's Outside Oslo collection - "Sticks", from the Dusk colorway.

Like the zippers? I do!

I like the inside, too. So much so, that I had to take this pic before I finished putting it together.

Now that I'm back in the sewing mood, I hope to get a lot more done. I have a list..... stay tuned for more.

Linking up to amylouwho's sew & tell:

My wardrobe

Yesterday Jess wrote quite a post... basically about MY wardrobe!  Check it out here!  You might want to read my second comment on her post for a few more details.  I thought that I'd show you a couple of the actual articles she and I mentioned, just for fun.  Here's my will-last-forever stocking cap!  (Pardon the nosey cat.  She thinks she needs to be a part of everything.)

And these are the well-outdated glasses.  They also have the lenses that turn dark in sunlight, so they serve as my sunglasses outdoors as well.  Perfect, huh?

Also, just for the record, I do have my very own Carhartt jacket! :)

A huge WELCOME to all of you who have trucked on over here from Jess's blog!  And now you know! :)

Perfect combo!

I had a Filtron cold brew coffee system on my Christmas list this year, and since I didn't get one, I decided to spend some of the $$ I did get, plus a $25 Amazon gift card I won, and buy one for myself.  Am I glad I did!  It makes the BEST coffee ever!!  And put that into a mug that has my favorite-little-girl-in-all-the-world on it, and it's definitely a perfect combination!

Here is another site that explains more on how the system works.  I love it!  It makes enough concentrate for around 45 cups, will keep up to 6 weeks in the refrigerator (or it can be frozen to keep even longer), and it requires no electricity! So once I've made a batch, all I have to do is heat some water to enjoy a cup of coffee, instead of filling the coffee maker, etc., etc.

I've made cold brew coffee before.  (In fact, I have a recipe if anybody wants to try it out.)  So I knew I would like it.  But it took some messing around straining the grounds afterwards, etc.  This just simplifies the whole process and of course makes a BIG batch!

Starbucks, you just lost a customer!  Okay, so there is no Starbucks out here in the boonies, anyway, so no great loss.  Ha!

Young author at work

Last Tuesday, Courtney decided to make a book!  Here she is, just getting started:

Earlier she'd come across this little book that Jess had made for me... many years ago!

She thought it was so cool that she wanted to make one of her own.  I helped her get some pages and a cover ready.

She then proceeded to draw some tiny pictures, cut them out, and glue them into her book.  After that, she started dictating things she wanted to write.  I spelled them out for her, and she wrote.  (I was occupied with something else at the same time, so I just hope I spelled everything right.  I didn't get a chance to do a proofread!)  When Daddy picked her up, she had a few pages left and was going to finish them at home and bring the book back next time to show me.  So if she remembers, I'll take some pics to show you, too!  She won't be here till Thursday this week, though, so be patient! ;)

To be continued.... hopefully......

Zipper fun

I bought some more zippers from the Etsy shop, Zipit.  They have a huge selection, and the prices are wholesale!  It's just hard to decide what to get without specific projects in mind, so I went with another "assorted selection".  These are longer than the last ones I got, so I should be ready for anything.  Or I can just look at them, since they're soooo pretty. ;)

Those two orange ones are for something I'm working on right now, however... which is why I placed the order to begin with.  Then to get my money's worth from the shipping cost, I added the other selection, which was at a sale price.  Plus I had a discount code for 15% off the entire order, so I think I did pretty fine!

Along with your order, they always include one of their zipper pulls, which the husband designs.  They have a big variety of those in the shop, too.  Pretty and fun, don'tcha think?

Oh, and I was experimenting in my photo tent again, too, before I took it down to make room to actually SEW in my sewing room.  (Wow, this current project is the first thing I've sewn since before Christmas!!) Above I used a white background, and below is on black.

Which do you think looks best?  My camera definitely preferred the white.  It told me there wasn't enough light with the black one.  But I made it take the picture, anyway. ;)

The Zipit seller also decorates her packages with cute tape.  Fun!

As usual, you can click on any photo to enlarge it for a lovelier view!

Culverts are sooo interesting!

Where our driveway turns to come up to the house, there remains a small patch of snow, and it covers a culvert that goes under the driveway.  It sure seemed to hold a lot of interest by these cats a couple days ago.  I wonder what was in there?  (Hopefully not the skunk that Grandpa saw go into there not long ago!)

(Click to enlarge.)

Hairry decided to check out the other culvert.

No big deal here.  But nice fit.

We acquired a little more whiteness today.  We had snow flurries off and on all day.  It's done, though.  And after mid 50's yesterday, we'll be down to near zero by tomorrow night.  And then warming up again! Best winter ever!!  Sure makes life easier!

Bendaroos

Grandpa and I gave Courtney a set of Bendaroos for Christmas.  She brought them along the next Tuesday so she and I could make something with them.  In case you've never seen them before, they are little wax-coated bendable "sticks" that you... well... 'bend'... into all sorts of shapes and objects.

There are instructions for each object plus templates you can use.  We decided to make the butterfly.  Here's how ours turned out:

I don't know if I'd recommend Bendaroos, though.  They don't stick together the best.  It does help if your hands are really warm, but I don't think the finished object would hold together very well with much handling, unless it was maybe something more solid than this butterfly.  He went home with Courtney in a ziplock bag, and I haven't heard how he fared.  Also, your working surface and your hands end up somewhat waxy.

The kitty book

This post is long on photos, so I'll be short on words.  It's the kitty book I made for Courtney for Christmas.  I'm saving it here mostly for myself, so I have a permanent copy of it.  Yeah, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. :)  I do still need practice taking photos in my tent, though, as you can tell.  But Courtney was with me, and she was in a hurry for our next project, so I didn't take a lot of time getting things 'just right'.  That's my excuse, and I'm stickin' to it.

Anyway, enjoy the book...... (and you can click on any photo to enlarge it).....