My New Creative Passion.....

Ok, I'm getting ready for a Sale that a couple of friends and I have decided to have, and I just  couldn't figure out what I want to make to sell.  So I decided to make some purses from old wool sweaters.  I have always wanted to try this so what better time to experiment.  So here is an example of an old wool sweater that I washed and shrunk in the washing machine.  

After your done shrinking your sweater you then cut it up into what ever shape you want.

Here's an example of one man's sweater that I shrunk up and I can't wait to see what I come up with.  Gray & Black & I think Hot Pink or Pale Pink, we'll see......

Here's my first one that I'm working on.  This is what was a cute sweater...see the arms, I put them on the side so you could see the shape of the sweater and how it once was.....It did not have the embellishments on the sweater; I added the felting (vines and leaves) and then I hot glued these flowers that I salvaged from a throw away item (they were too cute not to use them again).

You can't leave the back of the purse plain! So I added some more vines and leaves.

It's starting to look sooo cute!  

This is the tricky part.  I'm forming the lining and I'm going to hand sew it to the purse.  I used an old fashioned tea towel to make the pocket.

These are the details close up.....

You just can't have enough of details on a one of a kind purse!  I hand stitched the edges with yarn to give it a finished look....
So now that I have a new found passion for making these purses I hope that I will be able to part with them and sell them at the boutique!!!!

Getting Organized.......

I live in a very small house and it seems like the older I get the less clutter I want around me.  I've been purging a lot of things lately.  But I can't seem to part with my craft stuff!  So I decided to get organized.  Here are some of the few things that I've done lately while I've been home feeling under the weather.  I had a collection of pins and frames that I thought would look great as labels for my craft supply boxes.  So I glued them onto the boxes and labeled the boxes.  Now I don't have to keep pulling boxes to find my items!  Keep an eye out for pretty boxes to hold those craft items....I found the pretty pink box on top at a yard sale for $1.

This was a pin and I removed the pin from the back and glued it on to the box.

Opps, not too clear but it says "Stamps" 

I was going to get rid of these jars but decided to put them to use for all of my buttons.  I just added some pretty new knobs.

I even painted my garage sale organizers a bright color to inspire me....

These small drawers are great for holding those little things....beads, misc. earring parts, etc.

Using pottery is great for holding your small tools. ...  So now that I'm getting organized, I hope that I can start to get creative once again.  It's nice to get away from the everyday chores and working all of the time stress and just "Get Creative"!!!!
I hope I've inspired you......

Idyllwild for the day......

We went to Idyllwild with Marti & Ernie Williams last Saturday after service.  It was such a beautiful day!  We went for a ride up there and went back down the mountain the back way thru Beaumont and went to the Outlet.  After that we had a nice lunch and headed home....

Marti & Ernie Williams

It was so clear and the air was so crisp!

It's so hard snapping pictures while your moving!

Ohh, see there is the great view!  It was so clear out!  What a pretty drive!

Marti and I were bored in the back seat so we had to be silly!

And look at the great sunset we enjoyed on the way home!

Too pretty to not share!!!!

What's been happening......

We started babysitting our grand baby girl this last month and of course Papa and I are loving it!  Of course I enjoy it more when I get her all to myself!  She is the best baby to babysit.  Always happy!

My grandson Macaiah with his big smile looking like his mom!  He is growing up before our eyes! He's almost as tall as me and he has been winning awards at school and making us all proud.  He also gave two talks already!  He is progressing so quickly, before you know it we'll be going to his baptism and he'll be pioneering with his Papa!

We love being grandparents!  Here we are at Macaiah's school the day he received an award for being  "a terrific kid."

Uh huh, yeah!  Liz doesn't think she is mean....What do you think?
(Just kidding, she's as harmless as a kitten)

Hiram, doing what he does....keeping the peace.

We had a great family day at Knott's Berry Farm with Liz, Hiram , the grandbabies, Irmgard, Korey & Summuer & Andrew, Sherrie & Bree & Zaden, Adreana and Macaiah's friend Hector.

Kim in the Jail House! (At Knott's of course)

Macaiah & Hector in the Jail House.

Korey & Summuer getting some hugging in at Knott's Berry Farm.

This picture is dedicated to Kamron (who we were really missing on this family outing).   This is the man in the jail house that talks to you at Knott's Berry Farm.  Kamron and Korey use to love to sit there and talk to him and wonder why he knew their name and what they were wearing.  

Andrew James......

After we left Knott's Berry Farm we went over to a great "all you can eat" Seafood Food Buffet by Disneyland.  Everybody was really hungry for crab claws and seafood.

Summuer Horn, like brother, like sister.

Also last month I said good-bye to my trailer....... It was so much fun having her for our special crafting and camping trips. 
I will miss her.  But I'm sure there will be another adventure just around the corner......
Kim has signed up for regular auxillary pioneer and we are both going to be very busy with the Regional Building Committee.  
So who know's what's in store......