Life is a rollercoaster

Life is a rollercoaster...

It's a whirlwind. It changes at the drop of a hat. One minute everything is fine and moving along steadily and then BAM life smacks you in the face with heartache, with changes, with hardships, with opportunities and uncertainties.

This is what I'm talking about in the past two weeks this is what has been going down for me:

1.  I went on an adventure to San Francisco with my new best friend Sierra. Check out the pics by clicking on the link in the previous sentence.

2. Visited my family in Manteca. Partied with my little sisters and uncles. Went to church with the entire family on Easter and loved every minute of the weekend.

3. Got a new job. Well kind of, it was my old job before I went to work with Apple for a year. It's supposed to morph into a full time position in a few months.

4. I have been working two jobs for the last week and will continue to do so for the next month, or month and a half.

5. I suffer from senioritus and have been busting ass working and trying to do homework so that I can graduate next month.

6. Went on another adventure to the Bay Area with Justine and her cousin Lisa this time to get Justine's birth certificate so that she can get her passport and we can go to Mexico for a graduation celebration.

7. Dealing with a choppy internet connection that will hopefully be fixed TODAY.

8. Haven't been crafty in over a week and it's killing me, but I honestly don't have enough downtime to do much of anything really other than school and work.

See what I mean? Life is a bitch sometimes and all you have do is roll with the punches. At least that is what I'm trying to do. Have a wonderfully fantastic weekend everyone.

Little Cousin Love

My youngest cousin Joaquin is almost four years old and he'll remind you every five minutes if you spend enough time with him which I did this past weekend for Easter. There is an 18 year gap between us and yet we have so much in common.

He loves music, Spongebob, Disney and computers, all of which I enjoy three out of the four (Sorry Spongebob). He is full of so much energy and of course I was put in charge of preoccupying him so he wouldn't get into too much trouble.

Instead of letting him wreak havoc at my parent's house, I busted out my laptop and showed him the PhotoBooth application that comes standard on all Macbooks. He fell in love. I showed him how to click the track-pad and take a picture and the next three hours of the evening went by in a flash.

He took about two hundred pictures and posed for each one. The only time he complained was when he asked me to change the effect and/or background. These were my favorite, and let me remind you he took each one on his own and I would love to know what was going through his little head.

Crafty Update

What have I been upto over the past week? WORKING. Ugh.

However, last Friday a friend of mine mentioned that she had bought a clutch purse in Vegas during a vacation and it was just too gawdy to wear anywhere other than Vegas. I mean I like bling just as much as the next girl but rhinestones in the office always look out of place.

So, as the awesome friend I am, I whipped up this bad boy for her as a gift.

The outside is pleather and just wait for it...

 Leopard print elastic satin! Oh yea. I love leopard print anything and I originally was going to use this fabric for a bikini, but I never got to that so instead I'm going to line clutches with it instead.

It was the first time I used both types of fabric and after some minor trial and error I think the end result was fantastic. 

Plus, she loves it so that's all that really matters.

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Hello Etsy

This is what has been happening the last few days...

1. Wake up. Get ready. Go to work.
2. At work- scan stuff, look at Etsy.
3. Still working- break time, look at Etsy.
4. More working- lunch, check out Etsy again.
5. More scanning- check email, look at Etsy.
6. Go to class- check email, look at Etsy, type notes, look at Etsy, pay attention to instructor, look at Etsy.
7. Go home, eat dinner, sew, look at Etsy, check email, pet puppies while looking at Etsy.
8. Go to bed.

I have been addicted to Etsy. I have noticed that the craftier someone is the more often they check out Etsy or their Etsy shop in a day. I love seeing the front page and watching the updates of the newly listed wares and it makes me so excited to think I am finally getting my crafty groove back.

I see all these sewing projects and tutorials and think, "I can do that." I go home and do it! I've sewn more in the past week than I have in an entire year. Honestly, I could not be happier. The sewing machine and I have become best friends and just yesterday I made time to update my old Etsy shop.

My Etsy Shop

There aren't any new products just yet, but soon. I promise this. Check out the new banner I managed to whip up yesterday evening after class.

Love it! I can't wait to start posting new projects and items to my inventory.

Hello Etsy. I have missed you so.

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Tuesday Tutorial Round-up

I have been on a tutorial kick recently. While working (shhhh) I manage to find the cutest tutorials that fit exactly what I want to do. SEW. Everyday while I'm surfing the interwebs I have been secretly collecting tutorials and links and hoarding them in my gmail account. I can't keep these bad boys a secret anymore, although I'm sure most of you reading this have already found and or used one of these tutorials I want to share the lovelies I have found with you anyways.

I think I will make this a weekly post because there are so many that I have found and wanted to tackle. The following tutorials will be linked to their creator's website/blog as I am not the creator of any of the following tutorials.

This week's Tuesday Tutorial Round-up is featuring tutorials using fat quarter's of fabric. 

Sew, Mama Sew's Simple Party Clutch

Three Bear's Little Boxy Pouch

All Buttoned Up's Trim Boxes

Stardust Shoes' Baby Shoes

Enjoy!

I have two final exams tomorrow but trust me... my mind is already wandering and thinking about sewing all of these projects. If only there were more hours in the day and less work to be done.

Happy Tuesday!
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Sewing, sewing, and MORE sewing!

Looky what I made today. I made two handmade pouches just because I wanted to learn how to sew zippers better.

I love this fabric I picked up at Joann's Fabrics. It only came in a fat quarter I wish they had larger yardage.


I love the contrast between subtle outside coloring and the more drastic inner lining.


I made another version with green hues.


Again the inside is a bolder color and print. Personally I like the simplistic outside with a quirky colorful inside. It gives the pouch more character.



I love the Skip to my Lou blog and website because the tutorials are so easy to follow and customizable. I didn't have a zipper foot to work with but made the tut still work for my needs. There are so many tutorials to choose from so take a look. I was amazed that it only took me about an hour from start to finish to make both pouches with only two seam rips and about fifteen minutes figuring out how to sew over the zipper.

Here's a link to the lined zipper pouch tutorial.


Enjoy.

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Today was supposed to be the first day of Spring... but here in Sacramento not so much. I spent the better half the morning doing homework, even though I still have tons to finish, and managed to find a few cute tutorials I wanted to try out.

I have always been a fan of the blog, Sew Mama Sew and admired the tutorials because they are inspiring and light the fire under my behind to break out my sewing machine. Today was one of those days when I found the perfect project, being the Spring Ruffle Top tutorial, to work on during the bleak and rather dim first day of Spring. I dusted off the sewing machine and this is quite possibly the first time I have been crafty in month. I absolutely love the result!

It took me about two and half hours and only two seam rips later to get this lovely new addition to my Spring wardrobe.

Enjoy.


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