An end and a new beginning....

The last two months at work have been crazy busy! And I have not had much crafting time, and I am getting grumpy about that! But there is a light at the end of my tunnel. On Sept 9th, I will no longer be employed. My company is consolidating and the area where I work is being transferred to other sites. And since I won't and can't relocate to San Jose or Boulder or New Hampshire, I am out of a job.

Though the thought of being unemployed is scary, I do have a good severance pkg. and unemployment,
so my family and I will get by for awhile.

But it will be strange not to get up and go to work everyday. I have worked almost 14 years at my present job and almost 19 at the job before. And almost 5 the job before that. I only had 4 days off between the last two jobs. I have never had time off that I did not know the day I would be returning to work.

Many people ask what me will I do?? My answer? I don't know? I hope to take a little time off and just play and craft and do what ever I want.
Then look to see what can I do? What do I want to do? And can I make it work?

I know I will not get bored. There are too many projects floating around in my head. It will seem luxurious
 to be able to craft, scrap, play with paper or fabric or paint any time I want.

I did get to play with a little fabric and paper this week.
My friend Jenny had a birthday on the 17th. I wanted to make her something and decided a scrap tote would be fun and handy. I found a beautiful aqua blue fabric and this fun dot pattern and sewed a tote that will hold a 12x12 plastic scrapping bin, plus a little more.

It has an extra long handle to slip over your shoulder. Usually if you are going to a crop, your hands are full with all your other scrap totes, so I thought a shoulder bag would be the handiest!

I also added an easy snap closure across the top to hold the contents in the bag. And a big flower just for the cuteness factor!

And no handmade gift is complete wtih out a hand made card.

Now that I am finished with Jenny's gift and it is delivered, I am ready to finish my previous sewing project I started before lots of overtime at work got in the way! A sneak peek is below.

I do not know what the future holds. It is a little bit scary, a little bit sad, as I will miss many of my co-workers. But also a little bit exciting. Something new is around the corner for me. What it is, I don't know.

I am thinking positive that it will be good!!

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Some words of wisdom...

Wonderful words to live by.....

seen here by way of FB

 And.....more....

Special request to all you kids returning to school. If you see someone who is struggling to make friends, or being bullied because he/she doesn't have many friends, or because they are shy, or not as pretty, or not dressed in the most "in" clothes, PLEASE step up. Say hi or at least smile at them in the hallway. You never know what that person might be facing outside of school. Your kindness might just make a BIG difference or even save someone's life!!

A post someone shared on Facebook. I don't know where it originated, but since school starts this week I re-posted it on FB also.

I remember school so well. I was not one of the "popular kids". I didn't have the best clothes, and I spent many evenings alone in my room watching TV. I did have a few friends I could count on...but never made that life long friend connection.

I had to change schools between 11th & 12th grade

I know how hard it was to "fit in".

Here' s hoping every kid has a great school year and makes many new friends.

Some Bling and a Goodbye...

Sunday was a sad day as I saw my long time hair stylist for the last time. She will be moving to Tennessee next month and will no longer to be able to cut and style my hair and keep those greys away!

 She has been cutting my hair since before her daughter was born and her daughter graduated from college this June! Almost 22 years!She has been more than just a stylist, but also a friend.
Jennifer, I wish you and Bruce well in Tennessee! And I sure hope we can visit sometime too!

I made this card and took her flowers. I wanted to take her a gift, but not one she would have to pack!

I have been working so much lately that I have not had much time to scrap or craft. I cannot wait until Sept 9th!! I was able to squeeze in a scrappy afternoon with my friend Heather on Saturday after work. It was so nice to sit and scrap and visit with Heather at her house for an afternoon.

A while back I posted this red suitcase I found at the Petaluma Antique Faire. I wanted to turn it into a jewelry crafting case.

I have been working on it off and on the past few months or so and finally finished it about a month ago. But then I wanted to try it out and do some beading and jewelry making. A few evenings this last week I hauled the case out to my living room and made some jewelry to try out the case. So far it is working out great!

I took out the mirror and fashioned a tool holder to fit inside the lid. Below are the basic steps I took to make my tool holder to go where the mirror was before. I used foam core as my base and some vintage fabric

and elastic.

I wanted the holder to be secure inside the lid so I used two kinds of adhesive. Really tacky tape and a silicone adhesive liquid. And I was careful as I placed the holder in the case to not glue any of the cute red ruffle behind the tool holder. And really strong carpet thread to keep the fabric taught on the foamcore.

And the outside needed a little glam also, so glued some braid around the case and finished the ends with some sparkly vintage red & silver buttons. Again I used more really tacky tape and fabric fusion glue. If one glue is good, two must be better!

All done and filled with my basic supplies. Just add some bead cases with my project beads and I am good to go, to bead and craft anywhere.

And I did!

I made two pairs of earrings and a little pink nest for my friend who is having a baby! She has not gotten it yet, so I guess this spoils the surprise ;-)

I also made this vintage necklace, using a resin flower from my scrapping supplies and anything else that struck my fancy.

If you have any questions about the card, case or jewelry, just post a comment and I will get back to you!

As always, thanks for visiting!