Frugal Friday With Marsha 11/14/14--Making Pillowcases

Continuing on sharing crafts that I have made for gifts, this week I will show you the pillowcases I've made.
I actually made a pillowcase for each of the 10 grandkids last year for their birthdays.   I take that back, 9 grandkids, as Killian wasn't born yet.  I did make 10 as I made one for my youngest daughter as well.
I also made a set of pillowcases for my son and his girlfriend and my oldest daughter and her boyfriend for Christmas.  Part of their gifts were also pillows that I bought at Walmart.
I appliqued the grandkids' names on all of theirs.

I don't know if I can round up all of the pictures from around my computer, but there will be a lot of them to share.
I have step by step photos taken too that I plan on posting a tutorial on how to make them.

Seems I am only missing one pictures and that's the one that I made for my grandson Cash.  It was a Hot Wheels one.

An InLinkz Link-up

Writer's Unite 11/13/14

Welcome and we have made it to another Thursday!

How many of you have joined TSU?    I wasn't going to, then talked in to it, and glad that I did.
I've been doing a lot of sharing of my writing there.  It seems to be a great place to share and earn at the same time.
If you have joined, feel free to add your profile link to the linky this week if you would like.  Mine will be the first one that I add.

Busy busy as always here.   I'm not writing blog posts as I should, but the last couple of days I've written more on bubblews instead.
I did 'get hit in the head' yesterday with something I should have been doing all along in my blog posts.   That is linking up key words in my posts to products and such elsewhere.  No, I won't go overboard with it, but why did it take me so long to learn about that?!

Onward!  Keep writing and sharing!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday 11/12/14

The retreat was awesome!  I really got busy sewing for 12 plus hours 2 days in a row.

I will start with a picture that I took from across the room.  I couldn't quite get all of the tables in.

The first thing I worked on was working on my Five and Dime quilt.  One of the gals who came let me borrow her Loose Change ruler.   I worked on it until I had all 40 of my blocks made and cut, then I put 2 blocks together to see what they would look like.

I then got started on my Charming Star quilt top for the sewalong with Terry's Treasures. (see button on the right).  I ran out of one color for my cream border, but one gal had some close enough in her stash.  Thanks to her I was able to complete the top.

I then moved on to cutting up some Christmas panels that a gal at church had given me.  I got the Christmas songs one cut and squared up, then it was time to leave for day 1.   I came back in the morning and got right to work squaring up the pictures from the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer panel.   These panels are made to be made into the soft books, but I always prefer to make them quilt tops instead.   I completed the Rudolph top.

Next I got out my fractured pineapple blocks.  I finished the 3rd one and made 2 more.
I got bored of those and moved on to making 4 patches with the 2 and a quarter inch squares. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of my progress with those.

Since being home I tried to get back to my lighter blue hexagons for the rainbow color challenge with the soscrappy blog.   I admit that I'm having a problem getting motivated to make these with so many things to get made.  I need to find a project other than just making the flowers.

Finally this week, yesterday was sewing club at church where we meet once a month to sew quilts for charity.  I'm just working on simple 4 patch tops now with larger 4 patches.   I had a goal to get my whole pile made into 4 patches.  As you can see by my picture, I didn't quite make that goal.

My current UFO list:
Rectangle quilt
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Yo-Yo Table runner
Emerald Island Fusique table runner
Five and Dime quilt
Fractured Pineapple quilt
Christmas bags (total of at least 25) (9 done)
Charming Stars quilt
Brown half square triangle quilt
? sets of doll blanket, pillows and rug
Hexagon flower table runner
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer quilt

I am linking up with the following blogs:

All Business Monday--Etsy

This week I want to talk about Etsy--the site to sell your hand made items, as well as supplies and vintage items.
I've had an etsy shop for a long time.  Every year I make a goal that I will at least list one new items each week.  Every year I don't maintain that goal.

Still, etsy is the place where I have sold the most of my crafts, which is a variety of items.  I have plastic canvas, quilts, table runners, baby bibs, fabric bags, crochet items and more.
I don't have a niche.  I am more of an all around type of gal.
Often I learn how to make something new and you will then see a lot of that in my shop.

I've had luck with special orders here and there.  Someone sees, say one of the fabric bags, and wants a certain color or print, and will order it special.  I love those!

I have found that even with the fees, etsy is still the best place to list your items for sale.


This morning I put off my procrastination and went in to my shop.  I renewed several listings that had expired as well as added a new item.  I WILL keep my goal from now on of listing something new each week, which can include relisting an expired item if I don't have anything new made.

Let's craft on!

Feel free to link up any of your blog posts that have to do with your business, but if you have an etsy shop, please do link it up.  Thanks!

An InLinkz Link-up

Super Sunday Reviews--Heaven if for Real

Heaven IS for Real!

 My teenager had started attending a youth group with one of her friends. She got in on the last 2 weeks of them reading Heaven is for Real as a group.

Both weeks she came home telling me about what she had read and telling me that I really needed to read the book. I was thrilled when they gave her a copy of the book to bring home.

I started reading, and didn’t stop until I was done. Yes folks, Heaven is for Real is THAT good. I couldn’t stop turning the pages to see what 4 year Colton was going to tell us next about heaven.

See, Colton got very sick. He went for emergency surgery. During the surgery he went to heaven. When he came back he told his family the different things and the people that he seen there.

At first they thought he was just naming things that he had been taught, after all, his father is a pastor. But, as he talks of meeting his sister, who was miscarried, and his grandfather, who had died 30 years before he was born, they began to believe.

So much of what I read that Colton saw in heaven, I too have been taught throughout my Christian life. He gives so many details, it has to be real.

If you have not read Heaven is for Real, please do. I just went into my daughter’s room to ask her if I can have the book to read again. This time I’m going to read it out loud to my husband.

An InLinkz Link-up

Frugal Friday with Marsha 11/7/14--Crafts as Gifts Continued

Welcome to Friday.  I'm off to a quilt retreat for the day as well as all day tomorrow.
Is that frugal?  I guess it depends on how you look at it.  It's local, hosted by the quilt shop.  They are calling it a no frills retreat, which means they are not catering meals in for us.  That means it did cost considerably less than the last one they held.   I have some TV dinners to take along, however, I also have cash on hand in case others are sending out for something that sounds really good.
I have 7 or 8 different projects packed to work on, including some for gifts this year.

I will share a few more of the gifts that I have given as gifts in the past again this week.

This is a lined fabric bag that I made for my middle daughter, Heather.  I had learned about making the lined bags by making walker bags.  I messed up and the pockets ended up on the outside.  I wasn't about to take it apart, so it stayed that way.

Here are more fabric bags that I made.  These were before I learned how to make them lined, but also before I learned about doing the French seams as well.  One was for my nephew, one for my niece, and 2 for grandsons.  I put their gifts inside the bags.

I had run across a panel that was to make a bug book.  I chose to take the pages and line them up as a quilt top instead.  It was given to my grandson Cash as he hadn't gotten a quilt from me yet.
I have Christmas book panels now that are packed to work on this weekend.  I will be making those into quilts instead of books as well.

I look forward to sharing more gifts with you next week and also look forward to anything you would like to share with me as well.

An InLinkz Link-up

Writer's Unite 11/6/14

Happy Thursday!   I hope this past week has been productive for you with your writing.

This week I want to remind you of other sharing opportunities that I have here on my blog:

Super Sunday Reviews--Share reviews you have written in the past week.

All Business Monday--Share blog posts you have written about your business.

Writer's Unite--as you know is each Thursday where you can share 1 or 2 links to your writing online, any platform, any time you have written it (even if it was years ago)

Frugal Friday--share any posts that you have written related to living a simple life, being frugal, saving money.

Ongoing giveaway--If you host giveaways on your blog, share them on this page, which is found in the index.

Homemade 2012 and Beyond---also a page in the index where you can share any post you have written about making handmade gifts, or even list your handmade shop etc.

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday 11/5/14

Woot Woot!!  Quilt Retreat coming up this weekend!  It's an in town one hosted by the local quilt shop. It will be held in a building at the state fairgrounds.  We will be sewing 9 am to 10 pm Friday and Saturday.
I've started to pack my projects, machine and supplies.

This week I will actually start with a finish.  I plan on making lots of set of these fashion doll bedding sets.   This one is going to my granddaugher, Zelda, for Christmas, but others will both be listed in my section of the Online Craft Mall, as well as in my Etsy Shop.

I worked a bit more on the fractured pineapple blocks.

I sewed together tons of the 2 and a quarter inch squares.  I still have 2 very full pizza boxes of these squares.  Next is making them in to 4 patches.  I'm using these in the doll blankets and have a few other projects in mind for them as well.

Last, but not least this week,  I got my hexagons out for the November color with the soscrappy blog challenge.  This month the color is baby blue, or lighter blues.   It will be interesting to see just how many of these actually get completed this month.

Back to my UFO list.   I really should work to attempt to complete these before 2014 is over!

UFO's:

Rectangle quilt
challenge wall hanging
GoodNight Irene quilt/wall hanging
Yo-Yo Table runner
Emerald Island Fusique table runner
Five and Dime quilt
Fractured Pineapple quilt
Christmas bags (total of at least 25) (9 done)
Charming Stars quilt
Brown half square triangle quilt
? sets of doll blanket, pillows and rug
Hexagon flower table runner

I am linking up with the following blogs:

All Business Monday--Online Craft Mall Membership

If you are looking for a place to sell your handmade items, I highly recommend the Online Craft Mall with Under The Rainbow.

I have been a member for going on 10 years and there is no way that you will find a better deal online...at least not that I have ever seen.

Look at all you get for just a ONE TIME $10 membership fee:

20 FREE craft mall posts – Under The Rainbow provides a variety of ways to earn more free posts, or you may purchase more as needed for a small fee. *Purchase more posts for only $2/10 items.

Personal Posting Assistance – Under The Rainbow personally helps you with everything needed for posting your items, including picture editing/scanning, shipping cost calculation, and more.

Absolutely NO non-crafted items as competition – All New Members are screened for authenticity. We are crafters, not representatives for other companies, as all craft malls should be.

No Monthly Fees to Maintain your Craft Posts – Only a small 15% commission on sales, to help support web site expenses – NO MONTHLY FEES for craft item maintenence. We want to help you increase sales without increasing your expenses. Commission is retained from crafter payment when your items sell!

FREE Advertisement in Newsletter – We do our best to promote all members and craft mall posts.

FREE membership to www.online-craft-show.com – Participate in our Online Celebration Events to help increase your sales and broaden your exposure. Events are held every 2 months, and are optional. No commission due for member vendors. *Participation is optional and doesn’t require Vendor Spots.

FREE Private Party Chat Room – We love online parties and like to see our chat room used by our members. So, we created a Private Party Room JUST for that use. *Chat room scheduling is required.

Member Discounts & Benefits – Enjoy our many member discounts and benefits to help your crafting business grow – Craft Classified Ads, Gazebo Store Fronts, product discounts, and much more…

Crafter Fellowship, Business Assistance, and even Craft Project Assistance – Under The Rainbow’s Company Yahoo group for networking with other members and company announcements – membership is required to maintain mall membership. We’ll even help you with your business outside of the craft mall.


I  need to get busy and get more things listed for myself, but you can find my crafter page HERE.


Click HERE for complete information on joining.   If you do join, you might tell her that Marsha sent you over  :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Super Sunday Reviews---Brazilian Bracelets: Making Friendship Bracelets & More

Brazilian Bracelets: Making Friendship Bracelets & More

Friendship bracelets are so much fun to make and even funner to give out to friends and family.

The book, Brazilian Bracelets, is all about making friendship bracelets and more.

Published by Schiffer and written by Florence Bellot, inside the 61 pages you will find several patterns and techniques to choose from.

Some are simple, some are more complicated.

The book starts out with material and advice. A bonus in the back of the book are threads to get you started. A packet which includes 5 different colors.

Some of the designs and techniques include thins bracelets, zig zags, fish, wraps beaded, and more.

There are even instructions on how to decorate your hair with them.

The back of the book includes 2 personal pages. You can fill in your favorite design, the design you love the most, and the first design that you created. You can create your own color chart. You can compare the designs in the book to those you come up with on your own.

My teenager got right down to business making bracelets once I got the book. I thought she would stop after 1 or 2. She did stop at 2 for herself, but then she went on to make more to give to friends and to her sisters.

She brought the book to her next oldest sister’s house and left it with her to make bracelets too. She even gave her a box of embroidery thread to work with.

So much fun to make!




Here are some of the bracelets that Jasmine made:

Disclosure: I rec’d the book, Brazilian Bracelets, from the publisher for the purpose of doing a review. I was not compensated in any other way and all opinions are my own.

An InLinkz Link-up