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

Frugal Friday with Marsha--Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!  It's turned cold here in Kansas.  Oh how I hoped the weather would hold out at least through today.  No such luck for me.  I will just have to go dig out my long johns so I don't freeze this evening.

I am steering away from my crafts as gifts this week and sharing photos from past trunk or treats at my church instead.  This is our 7th or 8th year that we've done this at our church.
It's pretty well not frugal because the candy isn't cheap, but it's a great community service.  Many churches take part each year.

Have a fun and safe Halloween!

An InLinkz Link-up

Writer's Unite 10/30/31

Having too many days this past week where I had to be away from the house most of the day, I got lapse in my blog posts again.  I had a post that needed to go up Saturday...it didn't get done.  I had a post that needed to be put up on Tuesday...it didn't get done either.   I must get both of those posts done, and soon.

Monday, my All Business Monday post was delayed due to me sewing and quilting all day.  I felt that was the perfect time to share about the Sewing Party.  That is something that I need to do since I'm working towards making selling the things that I make as more of a business than just a hobby.  I felt it fit in.

How has your writing week been?

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday 10/29/14

I've still stayed busy with my sewing and that's a good thing.  I did finish up the 40 hotpads.
I have my quilt retreat paid for, which is Nov. 8 and 9.  I can't wait to have hours and hours of just sewing time!

I took a workshop taught by David Duwe on the fractured pineapple block this past Monday at our quilt guild.  I finally get paper piecing!!

Here is my first block.  I look forward to making more of them.  In fact, I'm going to see how many I can make with the scraps I pulled from my drawers for the workshop.

Here are the brown, black and gray hexagon flowers that I was able to finish for the month with the scrap challenge from the soscrappy blog (see button at the bottom of my post).  I also did lots of individual hexagons as well.

I got the rest of my 2 and a quarter inch squares organized in to my 2 pizza boxes.  I kept out quite a stack to just go ahead and sew together, then also realized that I forgot to put some of the piles into my boxes.   I got a start on sewing those together as you see in the top row.  The bottom row are the ones that still need to be sewn together.   These will all eventually be 4 patches and then doll blankets and pillows.

I've added a couple more things to my UFO list and moved one more thing to my done list for this year.   I'm going to go ahead and include all 3 of my lists.  The NewFO's are things that I do have in project bags but haven't started past that point.

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

NewFO's
Spiderweb quilt
Easter wall hanging
Cat wall hanging
Braid table runner
Sunflower pillow
Christmas wall hanging
Chevron quilt
40 Hot Pads

2014 Finishes:
Log Cabin quilt
Log Cabin wall hanging
Log cabin table runner
2 rectangle table runners
Quilt for sewing club at church
Applique Bunnies quilt
Penny Patch Quilt
Spoolin' Around
Hexagon table topper
Sunflower table runner and matching placemats
9 Trick-or-Treat bags

I am linking up with the following blogs:

All Business Monday--The Sewing Party!!

After a day at my quilt guild meeting as well as an afternoon sewing workshop, I think this is the perfect time to tell you all about The Sewing Party.
If you are like me and really want to turn your sewing into a business, then you will definitely want to check this out.

“The Sewing Party” is the first ever online-all-day DIY event in history!

On November 8, 2014, thousands of DIY-ers will gather for a fun-filled day of sewing and crafting classes taught online by leading bloggers and educational experts. It’s all about Connecting. Crafting. And Creating.

Attendees will have access to more than 30 online classes available on the day of the event and for an additional 90 days. There is truly something for everyone! Classes include home décor, fashion sewing, quilting and upcycling, crafting, costume design, techniques for turning your craft into an entrepreneurial venture, and more!

Space is limited and likely to fill up fast! For just $40, “The Sewing Party” participants can attend classes; chat with participants from across the country; interact with top bloggers and educational experts who are teaching; and explore the latest crafting and sewing tips, techniques and products in our marketplace.

*The Sewing Party is a US-only event. We hope to expand the party internationally next year, but it is limited to the US only for 2014

A few of the online classes are:

Bra Making with Madalynn

 
Sewing Curved S Seams

The Tate Top by Workroom Social

“The Sewing Party” brings together some of the best in the industry for this FIRST EVER event. The stellar lineup of sponsors includes:

Be sure to check out all of the website and social links!!

Website & Social Links:

• Website - www.thesewingparty.com
• Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/thesewingparty
• Instagram - http://www.instagram.com/thesewingparty
• Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/thesewingparty
• Pinterest - http://www.pinterest.com/thesewingparty
• #thesewingparty
• The Sewing Party Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bOrxggs2pM

An InLinkz Link-up

Super Sunday Reviews--…Featuring Norah Jones album review

...Featuring is a star-studded collection of Norah Jones' collaborations spanning her entire career. The result serves as a kind of parallel history to her four albums, which have sold over 40 million copies worldwide.

"A lot of the people on this record are people I've worshiped since I was a kid, and some of them are younger and more my contemporaries," says Norah. "Even though the musicians are so varied, the vibe of the songs makes sense when we put them all together."

** This information was provided to me as part of my review.**

My Review
The back of the CD case reads: “Recorded from 2001 to 2010, the cameos, duets and collaborations on this compilation span the musical spectrum and show Norah Jones to be one of the decade’s most diverse musical connections.”

Wow! Is this an under statement in my mind as I listened to the CD. There are so many genres of music on this cd from country to rock to jazz to rap and more!

If you enjoy a variety of music, you will want to add this CD to your collection. One CD about covers it all.

As a family we had fun listening to the album. Some of us enjoy country, some jazz, some rap…some a little bit of it all. My 2 favorite songs on the album are tracks 9 and 10–Life is Better (Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones) and Soon the New Day (Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones)

Others you will find her singing with are Charlie Hunter, Dolly Parton, Foo Fighters, Willie Nelson and more. ***See the complete track list below***




Track Listing
1. Love Me - The Little Willies
2. Virginia Moon - The Foo Fighters featuring Norah Jones
3. Turn Them - Sean Bones featuring Norah Jones
4. Baby It’s Cold Outside - Willie Nelson featuring Norah Jones
5. Bull Rider - Norah Jones and Sasha Dobson
6. Ruler Of My Heart - Dirty Dozen Brass Band featuring Norah Jones
7. The Best Part - El Madmo
8. Take Off Your Cool - OutKast featuring Norah Jones
9. Life Is Better - Q-Tip featuring Norah Jones
10. Soon The New Day - Talib Kweli featuring Norah Jones
11. Little Lou, Prophet Jack, Ugly John - Belle & Sebastian featuring Norah Jones
12. Here We Go Again - Ray Charles featuring Norah Jones
13. Loretta - Norah Jones featuring Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
14. Dear John - Ryan Adams featuring Norah Jones
15. Creepin’ In - Norah Jones featuring Dolly Parton
16. Court & Spark - Herbie Hancock featuring Norah Jones
17. More Than This - Charlie Hunter featuring Norah Jones
18. Blue Bayou - Norah Jones featuring M. Ward





Find Norah Jones----

Official website http://www.norahjones.com/index.php
Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/norahjones?sk=wall
Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/NorahJones
Youtube http://www.youtube.com/norahjones





Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review. Opinions in my review are my own. I received the album from One2One Network where I was placed into a gift card drawing for my review.

An InLinkz Link-up