Wolves and moose and bears... Oh my!

There's deer prints on my ironing board!

1 animal footprint set down, 2 more and the Northern Lights to go!

Sorry for being MIA! Update!!

Hello all,
Sorry for being quiet recently!  I ended up getting a new job!  Full time!  So, after not working full time for the last 5 years, bed has been my very good friend in the evenings :-)  Despite, I have still managed to get a bit of sewing done!  Here's the progress on my bag so far:

The colors of the fabrics still didn't come out quite right- the pocket looks a little better than it does in the pic.  I'm working on a good way to finish it off on the side where the stem ends, but I have everything else you see fused down and ready to quilt.  Hubby is going on a hiking trip all weekend, so I'm thinking that sleeping in and sewing up a storm will be in order!  Speaking of sleep, night all!

It all starts with a plan...

And, if you're lucky enough, a glass of wine!  Now, you must understand that I, at least for the most part, have an aversion to pre-made patterns when it comes to making a lot of things.  I LOOK at quite a few, then take all the ideas I see and incorporate them into something I would use, usually with my own twist.  With that said, remember this?

Well, it's working on becoming this:

I've never been known for my artistic drawing abilities, so please forgive the crudeness of these.  Say hello to my new messenger bag!  I've been carrying around a USPS one that my parents gave me for years now.  It has served me well, but is starting to fall apart, so I think it's time to start thinking about retiring it.  Therefore, I have been working hard on the design under the direction of my fore-kitten...

She knows how to keep a girl in line!  Start to wander, and she's on your lap in a heartbeat, giving you the choice of continuing to be sidetracked and used as a heating chair for a cat, or to kick her back off of your lap and continue back to work.  No really, this is my baby.  I love having her around, even when I hate it :-) 

I grabbed my glass of wine tonight and went to work cutting out the exterior and lining for this bag...

Kind of ballerina colors, except for the darker purple.  I just needed a little pop of color somewhere, and it goes a little better than how it shows in the picture :-)  I have cut out the exterior panels, interior panels, laptop divider panel, flap, and flap back.  I will be using Soft N' Stable, which, if you haven't used yet, is amazing stuff!  I made my purse out of it and love it so much.  I'll be cutting out some pockets and Soft N' Stable and such tomorrow hopefully, then we can start sewing away and hope the little pattern in my head works out :-)

So, that's my peek for now.  I'm finally tired enough to go curl up in bed, so I'm going to go clean up and head in.  Later all!

First Finish of May!

Well, I guess I'm not going to keep you in suspense on my first sneak peek for too long!  I found the idea yesterday, bought the materials today, and finished it tonight!!  I found the tutorial that I based this on from Twinkle & Twine.  I ended up buying a premade pendant, just because I liked it better than anything I could've made, and it had matching beads to boot!  This is also my first attempt at jewelry (unless you count those embroidery thread bracelets as a kid, or wine charms).  Let me know what you think!!

A sneak peek.... Updated!

Just a couple little somethings I'm starting to work on :-)  Can you guess what they are??  Will have updates to show soon!!

March Review and New Just 3 Linky

So, last month I joined up for the TraceyJay's "Just 3" Linky.  Here's how I did on my 3 goals:

1) Finish my class with a 4.0 GPA. 
Final grades come out Friday, 5/4.  I had a 95 pre-final and projects.  Got a good grade on the final I was told, and am hoping I did well on my projects, so I'm pretty sure this one is good!!


2) Try my hand a paper-piecing. 
Well, I started a pieced project, shown HERE.  Not done yet, but I've done research on how to paper-piece, cut out all my pieces, found and printed my pattern, and am starting to get everything together!

3) Make a waterproof mat for my new plants!  
The paper-piecing project will also fill this project, so I didn't completely complete this one.  But, once again, progress!!

Now, on to the NEW for May!

1) Actually finish the waterproof plant mats.  I have everything started and ready to roll, I just have to take time to finish the project!

2) Start and finish my Alaska Challenge Block.  This should probably be first priority, so that when I pull my hair out working on it and scrap the whole thing, I'll still have time to come up with something new!  Hehe ;-)

3) Get all the supplies and materials ready for the cruise!  We leave June 5th!  That's barely a month away!  Yikes!!

So there we have it.  New goals!  I hope my hubby doesn't mind not seeing me, because I will probably be holed up in the sewing room working on all this!  Yikes!  I also start my new job on Monday, 5/7, so I'll probably be dead tired every night too!  After all, this will be my first full time job since 2007! :-x  I've had multiple part-time jobs at a time that has given me full-time length days, plus school and homework, if you count those, but accountability to just one place- nope! 

I'm also experiencing some side effects from stopping some medication, which is giving me some vertigo and what are unofficially called "brain zaps"- think of scary movies when there's a ghost that kind of shakes and disappears-reappears really quickly, usually with a static-y sound effect- well, the world is doing that to me, minus the accompanying sound effect :-)  Usually lasts 1-2 weeks, sometimes a month, I guess.  I'm a week in so far, and hoping it ends soon!  Not pleasant, to say the least!

Hope everyone else is doing well!  Go check out TraceyJay and see what other people's goals are for May!