Get Carded wallet

No more stalling! Today it's a FINISH! It's a "Get Carded" wallet, from the pattern by Erin Erickson. She is the most incredible pattern-writer! I'd like to get inside her mind sometime to see how it works... but it'd probably be too busy for me and simply blow me away. :) That girl thinks of EVERYTHING... not only how to make a pattern for sewing something that comes together perfectly, but how to make it easy to do it. She includes so many how-to's and photos demonstrating them, you just can't go wrong!

Here's my little Get Carded wallet, which is one of the three variations the pattern offers. This one has the gathered front pocket:

The inside has plenty of card slots, and one deeper pocket for paper money. Velcro holds it securely together so nothing can fall out when it's folded:

The back has a clear vinyl (thanks for that, Kris!) pocket...

... to hold your ID card, which comes in handy if you get carded a lot. I don't have that problem. :) It might be a better place for my library card if I could find it. But fortunately I have a smaller one on my key ring.

I like the gathered pocket, because it has room for coins without looking bulky:

Yet it's little! It fits easily in a pocket!

I love it!! It was very fun to sew, too... kind of addicting, in fact. The other variations are a plain, flat pocket and a single-pleated one. I plan to try them both. Also, there's an option for adding a wrist strap that attaches with a lobster clip. Yep, I must try that, too! So stay tuned for more wallets to appear here, hopefully in the near future. Now that I know how it goes together, future ones will go much faster (famous last words again? yeah, you know me...).

Incidentally, if the pattern interests you, it's on sale for $2 off through tomorrow. Go grab one quickly from Erin's shop!

Stalling........

Courtney volunteered to let me take pictures of her yesterday, so here they are! :)

Does that brighten your day? Her shirt certainly brightened mine yesterday - I love it!

In case you wonder about the brown paper on the floor... it's a cat "toy"... they have tons of fun on/in it! :)

Okay... yes, I'm stalling. I still haven't finished my sewing project. And I have at least 4 more in the queue. I'd better git.......... !

Zzzzzzzzzzz..........

That sound is me... as I'm hibernating. Too much winter. More to come, as we're having well below zero temperatures again for quite a stretch. *SIGH*

Interestingly, I heard on the radio this morning that we are not setting new records. The most below-zero days recorded over a winter here is 68... and we're only at 46, or something like that. I hope we don't catch up. We could, though, I guess... the latest a below zero temp has been recorded here is March 31st. That gives us plenty of time. >:-Þ

Okay, so I haven't really been hibernating... only wishing I could. The sound was really Annabelle as she was bored next to me while I was on the computer a few days ago:

I was also experimenting with white balance and focus, since she was being such a cooperative subject. Gotta practice on something, right? I'm sure in the mood for something pretty in GREEN outdoors, though.

I have been sewing! I was hoping to finish my latest project so I could post it yesterday, thus the absence. But it still isn't done yet. Not that it takes so long to actually sew, but I had other things to do. Maybe tomorrow.....

(Or maybe not, since Courtney comes this afternoon.)

Just more frost

Since we're headed back into the deep freeze (below zero again, believe it or not - aargh), I thought I'd bore you with some more frost photos. I took these on Valentine's Day, practicing with my new camera. They're a bit different from past pics, though, because I used my new 50 mm lens. I do love the blurred backgrounds.

Such wonderful, intricate designs in God's handiwork!

Crafting with Courtney

A couple weeks ago when Courtney was here, she started a project. It was the butterfly from this kit:

She had already done the flower over a year ago, so she was experienced. She didn't have this particular audience at that time, though. Annabelle watched intently... for a while...

... and then she could no longer resist!

She wasn't very good at sewing, though, so we made her back off a bit. She found Courtney's backpack a very comfy spot to watch from.

Courtney's technique improved as she went along...

... although sometimes she made a mistake (don't all sewers? yep!) and had to pull out some of her work, which often involved rethreading her needle. That was a bit challenging, but she was able to do it.

The face of concentration:

After sewing most of the way around, it was time to stuff the butterfly, which she's good at because she's helped me stuff a number of things.

Shortly after that, though she still had to sew most of the way back around, she got tired of working on it, so we put it away until this week, when she finished it. Isn't it pretty?

Next we'll work on projects where the holes aren't already punched in the fabric. One step at a time. She'll become Grandma's Little Seamstress someday! :)

Long, tall dogs

Blame it on the Olympics. Or the fact that I don't have much for photos. I'm a bit behind.....

Anyway, we had more sundogs on Valentine's Day morning. They were about the tallest I've ever seen. This is the south one:

And the north one, which was somewhat hidden behind branches, plus the window was a bit foggy at the bottom, so not the best photo:

It was cold out, but the sun has more power these days, so we have icicles:

Every little bit of melting counts, right?! Hopefully today there will be more, with a high forecast of 37° and a couple more days of above-freezing temps after that. Now if we could only get the WINDS to stop.........

Happy Valentine's Day!

It suddenly occurred to me a few days ago that Valentine's Day was coming and that I should figure out what I was going to give Courtney. This little bag idea suddenly popped into my head.

I made up the design. I didn't put it together the conventional way, mainly because of its shape. I also wasn't totally thrilled with how it turned out. But that's why I like to use someone else's patterns/tutorials and don't write them myself. ;) I think Courtney really liked it, though, and that's what counts, right? (I gave it to her on Wednesday, since I wouldn't be seeing her on Valentine's Day.)

More sewing projects in the queue! To sew, though, not done-and-ready-to-show-you. So you'll have to wait a while.....

Morning routine

Every morning as I'm getting dressed, this is what occurs:

Don't feel sorry for Annabelle (it's Josie doing all the squawking). She might be smaller, but she's usually the instigator! She often ends up with globs of Josie's hair in her mouth, which you may have noticed her trying to get rid of at the end there. I might have to start giving her hairball medicine, too, just because of Josie's hair that she ingests! The bed usually has globs by the time they get done, too. But they sure have FUN! :)

A puzzle... of sorts

Annabelle was in my lap (her favorite place to nap after supper) while I was experimenting with the new camera. I took a picture of every part of her that I could. Heheh.

(Click on collage to enlarge.)

Think you could put the puzzle together? There might be some pieces missing, though.

Here are a couple of portrait shots I got on a different day, with better lighting and a new lens. Just look at those silver-blue eyes! Best pics I've ever gotten of her.

Haven't seen one of these in a while

See him?

He stands out better in this photo:

There were two of them, but they were having so much fun frolicking around that I couldn't get them both in the picture at once.

Though I wasn't pleased with more snow, it was coming down slowly and gently (NO wind!), so made for pretty conditions. You can see a few flakes in the pics, especially this one:

Rabbits have kept themselves pretty scarce this winter, as have most wildlife. Who can blame them, with the winter we've been having?! I feel like hibernating, too!

I was practicing with the Canon for these photos. I quickly went for the zoom lens to hopefully get some closer shots, but by the time I got back, they were gone.

Sunset sundogs

Last Wednesday evening when I went out to feed the cats, I got partway out to the machine shed, turned around and ran back to the house, tromped through the kitchen with my snowy boots on, grabbed the camera, and ran back out to take photos! There were the most awesome sundogs I've ever seen, just as the sun was setting. I think it was patches of snow flurry clouds in the air that caused them.

HOWEVER, I was sooo disappointed when I saw the photos. The sundogs actually each contained a very brightly colored rainbow, but the camera didn't capture it. So sad. It was glorious, but not so, the photos. It was too cold (near zero) to mess around with settings... I nearly froze my fingers as it was. So I settled for what I caught.

The pics are still pretty awesome, so here they are for you. Just imagine a huge bright rainbow segment on the edge of the brightest part. (Click on any photo to enlarge it.)

This one was on the north side of the sun:

And this one was on the south:

Of course, I couldn't take a pic of the sun itself, or even begin to get both sundogs in one photo. So I tucked the camera inside my jacket and went on to feed my cats. A few minutes later, the sun had set, and here's the last of the beauty:

Gift #2 - Swimsuit coverup

Remember those swimsuits I made way back in July? Yeah, back when we were all complaining about how hot it was. Well, now that we're all complaining about how cold it is (-10° yesterday morning), I finally got around to making a coverup for Courtney's doll. Y'know... in case she goes swimming, she'll surely need something to cover her up when she gets out of the pool in this weather. Ha. Yeah, I'm kinda going nuts with cabin fever.

Actually, at the last minute, I decided I needed something to put in the bag I made for Courtney's birthday. I knew this would be quick, and I had everything at hand, so that's what I made. The tutorial came from Pixie Faire by Liberty Jane.

It was a good way to use a bit more of Jess's ribbon.

Doesn't Kit just look like she's all set to go... to a WARMER CLIMATE?!!!

Gift #1 - Sporty Bag

Or maybe this is Gift #2, since the sewing kit was gift #1. But this was the first of two handmade gifts. Anyway, it doesn't matter. :)

Yep, I'm still a bag lady. Bags are my favorite things to sew, I guess, although doll clothes run a close second. (Gee, how'd we get to the first and second thing again so fast?!) This is a little Sporty Bag, as the pattern called it. It has a flat pocket on one side:

And a gathered pocket on the other side:

It's not lined, but there's a pretty, removable insert in the bottom for a sturdy base:

I bet that photo above gave you a clue to its size!

Here's another clue... that's a barrette on the pocket:

The bag is about THIS size:

So cute, huh? It's from another Liberty Jane pattern that was featured in a recent LJ newsletter and I found just too cute to resist. It was a quick, easy sew. The main fabrics are scraps from Jess's Amusement Park line, Parade and Fireworks.

Any guesses as to what I put inside the bag? Come back tomorrow and find out! ;)