Menu Planning
Have decided it would be easier to shop for groceries and plan meals if I started doing a monthly meal planning calendar.
Finally Back – - – - -
Well, it has been awhile since posting, a lot of life got in the way. Decided to take a Blogging class to get me back in gear and get going. The purpose of the Blog will remain committed to handcrafted items of all sorts including jewelry, sewing and machine embroidery with a little bit of personal opinion, recipes and other fun stuff.
To help get the creative juices flowing again, I joined a health club – okay, so what does that have to do with creativity and blogging? You’d be surprised, I am feeling a lot more energetic and am more interested in things around me including colors, nature and people.
I am going to try and post at least once each week have no idea of what the subject matter will be, but then that makes things interesting – join me and come along for the ride.
Handbags made with the 5 hour pattern
Here are a few of the handbags I’ve made using the pattern described under the 5 Hour Handbag Tutorial discussed earlier. Have fun reviewing them and perhaps they may give you an idea for a new handbag of your own.
Stimulus – My Ideas
Everyone has their own ideas on how to stimulate the economy. Well, I’m no different. The first thing they need to do is to get money into the hands of taxpayers. Now, $500 isn’t going to do much for anyone. The so called experts say that most people saved it – ya right! I don’t think so. Most people used it, whether to buy more groceries, pay on that credit card they had been using for gas, or Wally World (now, that is a whole other discussion). Giving tax breaks isn’t going to do much near term because an extra $30 a month in your check will allow you to load up on toilet paper and not much else; and, “trickle down” economy doesn’t seem to ever “trickle down”.
So, Mr. Government if you want to do something for us, send each taxpayer around $50,000 and we will definitely help jumpstart the economy. Now, this should be taxable income so you get some of it back. Here are just some of the ways people might use that money:
- Those who have been needing an automobile will get one – helps the auto industry
- Some will pay off credit cards – putting money back into the banks and credit card companies
- Getting needed repairs on their homes – helps small business people
- Families will be able to take vacations – helps the travel industry
- People who can afford the monthly mortgage payment but haven’t been able to save the downpayments will be able to get into a home – helping to get rid of a lot of those foreclosed homes on the market
- New clothes and new furniture – helps the retail market
- Get the groceries we really want instead of eating hamburger every night – helps the food industry; and,
- yes – some will save it or invest it – still helping the economy!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all for infrastructure, rebuilding schools, tax deductions and a lot of the other stuff; but, that will not do much for me and most of the people I know. So, instead of listening to all those “experts” start listening to the little people and what will help us quickly.
And, for goodness sake – rewrite the tax code, forget all those deductions that usually only the wealthy can use and have everyone pay a straight amount. Save some trees with all that paper that has to be printed and give us a break!
What do you think about Stimulus plans, more tax cuts, more putting people to work?
Daily Art Muse – why it is a favorite
I don’t remember how I stumbled onto this blog, but I truly enjoy visiting Daily Art Muse. The writing style of the author and the topics always give me something to thing about. An article about Tod Pardon really caught my eye, the way she expresses her feelings and how she came to write this particular article was so interesting to me. There are so many things I would like to write about, yet continually hesitate and to know that someone so talented goes thru these same types of things was eye-opening. I hope you enjoy this blog as much as I do.
Superbowl Boredom – Create a new handbag in less than 5 hours
Bored with all the pre-game stuff I decided to give myself a handbag challenge. I’ve been promising my Cousin a handbag since Christmas – let’s see if I can do one in less than 5 hours. I’ll take this opportunity to write a very quick tutorial on my Basic Bag. All that is required is a little math and planning. Read the rest of this entry »
Custom Blog Giveaway
No, not by me – Graphic Pretties is giving away a blog makeover, click on the picture to go to their site.
Playing with Dolls
For years I’ve wanted to make one of those soft sculptured dolls. So, now I’ve ordered all these patterns and have enrolled in an on-line class At Doll Street Dreamers, but the same old fear has taken over. Those heads are soooooooo small! So, I’ve decided the best thing for me to do is enlarge the pattern and make something a little larger to learn on. Will keep you apprised of my progress. If anyone makes soft dolls, any constructive advice would be appreciated.
At Doll Street Dreamers you’ll find all sorts of classes, free patterns and lots of great information.
Easy but stylish handbag -
This is my basic handbag pattern and I am working on a tutorial for you to make your own.
With this basic style you can create bags from a very small size to an over-sized tote. Very easy to do. You can have several inside pockets , you could put a zipper inside or outside, or add additional pockets on the outside. This particular bag has purchased handles, but you could easily make your own.
When you find fabric on sale, especially faux leather or some of the designer home dec fabric, get some. Because of the width, for a small bag you could get by with as little as 1/4 yard of fabric. Also, small pieces of fabric are good for making changes to the bag or for embellishments.
If you could have just one . . . .
The year hasn’t started as well as I had hoped and for some reason lately I’ve been going back to a post Serena made on her Blog, Embroidery Treasures, last year. I have the pleasure of taking an on-line quilting class with her next month. But, I digress – -
She talks about getting more time, and with my aging years, you might think that is what I would wish for, more time. More time to be with our new Grandchildren, to see more things, to visit with friends and that list could go on and on. But for the last few months, I’ve been wishing I could get inspired. Inspired about anything, to design a new handbag, or create a new piece of jewelry, finish the 3 jackets that are sitting here looking at me and trying to make me feel guilty – NOT! It’s like the ability to create has left me. I can’t point to one thing that took it away, I didn’t make something that came out horrible, I don’t even know when it left, but I sure wish it would come back. I get to visit my best friend next month and we always inspire each other. We’re like a couple of kids when we get together, even though our Grandkids have kids – lol. She’s been working on new projects, anticipating my arrival and I was suppose to practice something I used to do to teach her, but, it too, is sitting here looking at me. Surely I’ll come back with so many ideas going on in my head there won’t be a way to contain them.
So, that’s my wish, the return of my inspiration/creativity! If you could have just one thing – what would you long for?
