New Handbags!!!

Ta-Da

Finally, it has been completed!

It took three days

to make my handbags.

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy doing

them.

Piecing them together, finding complimentary

touches to finish them

Above is my Blue and Brown soft corduroy

paisley.

Do you like the handles?

Above is my colorful fun spring/summer

bag.

I love the rick rack ribbon, isn't it fun?

And each bag has four pockets

to carry all the

junk

necessities!

Plenty of room!

These are for me!

I have enough fabric to make one

more of each,

so if anyone is interested

let me know.

Hope you liked them!

Sew Wonderful!!

Today I am actually going to get to

SEW!!!

Woo Hoo!

It's been way over due. Some of you may

have read a bit of

my whining on my last post.

I had every bit to whine, the winter is

flying by and I've yet

to accomplish any sewing projects, so last night

I cut, cut, cut fabric and I have

some more to do today.

Since the weather is icky out today,

roads are slick,

and hubby took the SUV to work

which is the car I

drive everyday, then I thought today

would be a great day

to catch up

DH brought my sewing machine in

for me,

it's on the dining room table

ready to go.

So the fabric above is for two purses,

This one below is for purse one:

Love the colors, its a soft

corduroy

and I'll be using dark brown

handles for this

purse

The one below is for purse number

two:

Bright colors with a dark brown

background,

aren't the polka dots fun?

This fabric is for an apron I'm making

for new friends that we

made.

We've been staying with a family

every once in awhile during

our Hindi class,

and she loves to cook so I thought

of making her an apron with the

colors of India,

but I forgot to get coordinating

strap fabric for the ties,

And this one is for another wonderful

friend in TN, a family we stayed

with while visiting.

They are such an awesome couple,

married for many years

and she loves

cooking and entertaining as

well,

the colors go with her kitchen: 

So lots of sewing to do, and I'm

excited.

I will post the finished products.

Another Handbag & Gluten Free Cooking

Do you love the beach?

I know I do!!!

So does the young girl

that I made

this bag for.

Her mom wanted to give her

a gift and she

asked

if I could make a bag with

the color of aqua

and a beach

theme.

So I searched, and searched

for fabric and

found this.

Then I added bamboo handles

which I just love.

This was fun to put together,

although,

I say that for all my bags.

I just love seeing

them come

together,

piece by piece.

My Gluten Free Cooking:

I made some Gluten Free Shrimp Scampi!

MMMM, was it ever yummy!

I used these noodles

which is like Fettuccine.

Sauteed the Shrimp

in garlic

and some spicy herbs

and made a

fresh

homegrown salad and

that was

dinner.

Then I made a Flour less

Chocolate Cake or

Tarte Au Chocolat

Served it with a Cherry Sauce

and had a cup of

Trader Joe's

Organic Coffee.

Now for some time I have been

looking for a

delicious Gluten Free

Oatmeal Cookie

recipe.

I'd say about 8 months ago

I found a recipe

that said it

won awards.

Now I SWORE I saved that

recipe,

but could not find it

ANYWHERE!

I searched online for it again

and it was

nowhere to be found. I was

quite

discouraged.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

oatmeal cookies,

but my tummy

doesn't agree.

Now my stomach is really

acting up,

and it seems I may have

H. Pylori

AGAIN!!!!

My symptoms seem to

be the same.

So after alot of research

and reading

I didn't realize

you can get it again!

So, my research

has led

me to

understand,

that I have to completely

AVOID:

Gluten

Wheat

Dairy, mainly cow, especially processed,

Soy, (which I avoid anyway)

so basically

NO LIFE!

Well, not really,

thank goodness for so many out

there who patiently

post GF recipes,

dairy free recipes,

and

they are so willing to share them.

I also love

the

Living Without

website and magazine.

So many

recipes and ideas of healthy

living for

sensitive people like me.

Why can't I just be

normal?

I was grocery shopping on Monday,

and it took me

twice as long to get the right

foods

because I have to read

EVERYTHING.

Food right now

makes me sick.

My breakfast consists of a fruit smoothie

made with

Almond Milk

and I add

Aloe Vera Gel that comes

in a bottle.

For lunch, something

light

and GF.

Dinner, is a veggie or salad,

with chicken or light

fish,

and rice.

I have to be so careful now.

I never would of

thought

I'd have to do this.

Organic food,

Gluten Free Food,

Dairy free,

although I do buy

Goat's Milk for

my

Organic, Decaf Coffee.

OK, enough complaining,

I'm sure

many of you out there

understand.

So here are my delicious

cookies

Last night I heard my DH

getting into

my Cookie container

then I hear

this,

"Mmmmm, these are good"

I wanted to jump

of my seat

and snatch it out of his

hand and

say

MINE!!!

But I didn't, mainly because

the recipe

made plenty,

and I would like him to

eat

healthier as well.

But its a good thing for him I had

plenty to share!

If you'd like

this

GF Oatmeal Cookie

recipe,

leave me a comment

with your

email if you'd like.

Have a great

Day!

It's VERY HOT HERE TODAY!

UGH!!!

Handmade Handbag..other goodies

So I've been busy, busy, busy,

working in my

craft room, trying to get some

things done.

My dearest friend, Valerie and her

Hubby celebrated

an

anniversary and I wanted to give

her something

special

so I made her this

and here's a close up

But I'll tell you something, I

will

NEVER

sew a satin ribbon on a purse

again!!

It slid here and there, it wanted

to pinch

and

it was getting pretty

FRUSTRATING!

But

it was for my dearest,

best friend

so I did it for her and she

loves it.

I'm glad!

Then I've been altering clipboards

as well

 I made one for my

mom

and then I made another

one,

just because

I really do enjoy making these

and I have

a few more to make.

I enjoy cutting

the paper

and trying to find

paper to compliment it

as well

then adding the

ribbon

to

make it even

more pretty!

Today was a good day!

I met a very sweet

young lady

all

the way

from

Ambert, France.

We spent the day together,

she's a friend

of a

friend

and we got to talking

about so

many things

She had lots

of questions about America

and how

Americans do things here.

We compared

cultures,

which

was fun

and it is amazing

how different

things are.

Let's just

say,

I'm ready to move

to the

countryside

of

France.

I

keep asking my

DH

to see if his company

needs him to

move

to France, or UK, or

how about

just Europe?

Well,

Evidently not!

STINK!!!

But she talked

about the

open markets there

and how they

cook

everything fresh

each day.

Very healthy,

no fast

foods,

she never even heard of

frozen foods

before,

I had to explain that to

her.

The look on her face

said it all,

how

GROSS!!!

LOL

But I did get to go

to a

Mennonite Market today

and

purchased some beautiful

berries,

and a large beautiful Melon

and

the largest

spring onions

And although

it rained most of the day,

we had a nice

time,

I love hearing her speak,

love the french

accent.

And I was able to purchase

fresh produce

right from our

local farmers,

hmmm,

what should I do

with all these

lovely

berries?

Maybe some warm

crepes

for breakfast?

Sounds

good!!

Au Revoir!!

Cabin Fever Craft Show...

Well the weekend has come and

gone, it was

a beautiful weekend here in

the NE,

first time in a long time.

We also had

the Craft Show that I was

trying to prepare

for.

I took some pictures of

our table

When we did this show last

year,

it turned out great. But I

really think

weather had something to do

with it.

Last year, it rained on/off

it was windy,

and yet the place was packed.

This year,

sun was shining, temp's were

in the low 50's

and the crowd was so very small.

So, I wasn't

happy this year. And what is funny

is I didn't

want to do it this year, mainly

because of

just getting over my surgery

and not

having the stamina to do anything

to prepare

for it. But that's ok, I still

had a good

time and we were invited to do

a couple of shows

this summer.

But now I can take it easy.

Today is

just beautiful out and I think

I may go

outside for a little bit

and walk

around the yard. I saw some

tulips

trying to peak out, YEA!!

Hope its

beautiful today where you're

at.

Through The Years......

This morning I was thinking about the

upcoming Craft Show,

and remembering when I started doing

the handbags.

I took a sewing class to help me read

patterns better.

I had a difficult time understanding

some of them.

So a local fabric store offered a six week

course.

It was so much fun. I chose to make a

curtain.

By the fourth week my curtain was done

so the teacher told

me to pick another pattern to make,

she said,

"how about a handbag? something simple"

A handbag?

Panic set in!! I've never done that before!

But I tried it,

and I was having a blast putting that together.

Sadly, the class ended

before I could finish, then that's when the real

panic

set in, who's going to help me finish what I started!!

Thankfully, I have a friend

who's been sewing for many, many years and she

helped me in an area

where I was just stuck at. I could not figure out

what they were saying to do

with the inside lining. She had to read it a couple

of times, then figured it

out!!

I then finished my very first purse. I was so

proud, I even took it to the

lady who taught the class, I wanted to show

her, that her time

with us payed off.

Now I wanted to learn how to sew so

I can make custom

window treatments for anyone who

was looking to

find someone to help them out.

Well, I went to

a Doctor's office for an appointment

and one of the

lady's at the front desk loved my bag,

she wanted that same

one, so I went to buy the fabric and

what do you know?

They no longer carry it!!!!

Great! Now

what do I do?

Well, I cleaned out my bag, Yes, my

very first bag

that I made, and I sold it to her.

Do you know

I regret that now? I wish I had it.

It's the bag,

third row, the one on the left
(click on image to enlarge)

I really liked my new bag that I made

but she loved it too

and I was flattered, so I sold it to her,

and after that

she purchased 3 more bags from me.

So I guess it

was worth parting with. That was

the summer of 2006.

I've been at it now for about three

years.

I never thought I'd be making

handbags to sell.

The picture above shows just a

few of the bags

I've made and sold.

Its been a fun adventure. I am so

happy

I found something that I not only

like doing

but that I am good at. Thanks

to my mom,

watching her behind the sewing

machine

as I was a child, I was so

fascinated with

that big, black machine that

fell back into

the table it miraculously popped

out of.

She tells me I inherited that gift

from my

maternal grandmother. She

loved to sew

everything and anything.

I sell my handmade

products in a local shop, at craft

shows and on Etsy.