I'm still around...alive and kicking!

WOW!  It's been a LONG time since I posted!

In case anyone was wondering, no, I'm not dead, nor did I drop off the face of the earth!

With all the hullabaloo of my husband's illness, my own health issues, and our financial setbacks last year, I just lost my posting and crafting mojo.  I did make a few things for Christmas, but that was about it, as far as crafting goes.

Hubby is doing very well now, despite a few set-backs.  He had issues with his blood thickening up, so had to take blood-thinners for about 8 months.  He also had another foot injury which put him back into the hospital for a few days, but the infection wasn't as bad as it was last year.  He now has a CPAP machine, which alleviates my fears that I might wake up to find that he quit breathing without starting back up again.  He had some issues with heart palpitations, but another heart catherization showed NO BLOCKAGES.  Thank goodness!  I'm inclined to think that the palpitations may have been mild anxiety attacks, as he's not had another spell of them since the catherization.  I believe that the catherization probably alleviated his worries, and thus eliminated the palpitations.

I'm at home full-time now, as my arthritis in my knee, hip, hands, and spine make it very difficult to be on my feet for very long or even do computer work on a full-time basis.  I'm currently awaiting a disability hearing...sometime within the next 8 months...MAYBE!   The knee was functioning OK for a couple of yeras, after I had a cortisone shot directly into the joint; however, the shot is now wearing off.  I'm hoping to be able to get another shot very soon.

Our oldest grandson graduated from high school in May, and is in his first semester at college.  It was a blessing that he won  enough scholarships to pay for his first semester!  We're very proud of him!

I started getting my crafting mojo back by monogramming sheets and towels for him to take to college.  I didn't take a picture of those, for some reason.

Our youngest grandson turned 3 in August, and since he graduated to a full-sized "big boy" bed, I decorated some sheets for him with machine embroidery and a little red rick-rack..

Here's the top sheet, from left to right.  The bottom sheet matches the pillowcases and coordinates with the top sheet.

I've been making quite a few things over the past month, but I'll save those for another post!

Is there such a thing as Wallets Anonymous?

Yep, those lil' wallets are addicting! I'm really wanting to make some more fabric ones, but I ran out of WonderBond. I hope I can get some of the fabric ones made tomorrow!



Anyway, I happened onto some more cute school folders, so here are the results!



First, a bright and cheery striped wallet! The inside is the same stripe, only the stripes are running crossways.

Then, with Valentine's Day looming, I thought a Valentine wallet might be a good idea!

I have a ton of these black and yellow folders at the store, so I decided one of them would make a really neat and artsy-fartsy wallet.


I will be listing these in my new Etsy shop, just as soon as I get one packaged and weighed to determine the postage, my descriptions written and manuever my way around Etsy to make sure I know what I'm doing!

I made these "Spud Sacks" a couple of weeks ago. Some of you may know them as "Potato Bags". I just thought "Spud Sack" was a cuter name!

Anyway, they are TERRIFC for baking potatoes in the microwave! The potatoes come out with a nice, fluffy, inside, and the skin stays tender...just as if you had baked them in a regular oven!

I haven't tried these ideas yet, but some folks say that the bags are great for heating up rolls and for cooking corn on the cob!

The bags are made of 100% cotton materials, right down to the thread. I also usually wash and dry my cotton fabrics before sewing in order to pre-shrink them.

Oh...and the name of my Etsy Shop? Well, I took a cue from my blogging name and am calling it "Just Plain Petty"!

I'm back!

Well, so much for my intentions of blogging every day!

Our daughter and I own a small, independent $1 store, which she has been managing while I managed my husband's business from home, although I was doing the bulk of the buying and "going to get stuff", and working on the weekends. As a single mom, she also had a part-time job on the weekend. The manager's position at her part-time job became available, so she applied for it because she needs the benefits...and got the job!

As a result, I am now running our $1 store full-time...6 days per week! I'm loving it!

However, my work hours were leaving me no time to craft or sew, so I set up a sewing area at the store and moved my sewing/embroidery machine down there. I am planning to create items to sell at the store, and I'm seriously considering selling on Etsy.

First, though, I had to get Christmas gifts out of the way. I have been one busy gal for the past couple of months!

Here are some of the gifts I've made!

First, a friend's husband built a Barbie doll house to scale for their daughter. I decided to help out by making the bedding. My friend built the basic bed, and I made the mattress, sheets, comforter, pillows, and headboard.

Here is the bed with its sheets and dust ruffle. The mattress was made from some old antique satin drapes. I quilted the top and bottom and stuffed it with a piece of an old memory foam mattress topper. The sheets were made from a scrap of a skirt that I had cut out for my granddaughter which turned out to be too small. The dust ruffle is two rows of pleated satin ribbon sewn onto a base.

Here is the finished bed. The comforter and twin pillows are made from some white satin that a friend gave me. The embroidery is a pink "B" inside a metallic silver heart. The headboard is a thin piece of plywood, upholstered with some more white satin, with a toy tiara glued on top for "bling".

Our oldest grandson has a hunting theme bedroom, so I made this pillow for him.

Our #2 grandson drew a picture of a cardinal, which is their school mascot. I copied his picture, cut the copy apart for a pattern, and cut the appliqued pieces out of felt. The lettering is embroidered. It was a BIG hit! Our #1 grandson now wants me to make a pillow for him, using one of HIS drawings!

Here are the bitty booties that I made for our toddler grandson. They are made of ultrasuede, backed with felt to give them body, and lined with fleece. The soles are sueded leather that I cut out from an old leather purse.

Unfortunately, they would not go on his feet, which apparently had a growth spurt between the time I tried the prototype on him and Christmas Eve! I am enlarging the opening in hopes that the basic bootie still fits him. If not, then I need to find another old leather purse to cut up for soles to make another pair!

Our granddaughter is 12 and into going on sleepovers and also traveling to visit her mom, so I thought she could use a travel toiletry/makeup bag. I had some Kool-Aid Jammers drink pouches, so I whipped one up for her.

I also made a purse for our granddaughter, with a cellphone holder that loops around the handle. I also made a matching eyeglass case, but didn't take a picture of it.

The purse is carried by looping the long handle through the short handle.

One of the customers at the store saw the purse, and wanted me to make two for her granddaughters. I made another one just like my granddaughters, and the purple one with frogs like this one. My customer later asked me if I could make a smaller one for her 2 year old granddaughter, so I scanned the pattern and reduced the size. I forgot to make a picture of it, but it turned out cute. It was red, printed with tiny stars.

I made quite a few purse organizers like this one. It is simply a long strip of interfaced fabric in coordinating prints, with pockets sewn all across.

You simply load your pockets with your essentials, roll it up and place inside your purse. When you are ready to change purses, just pick the whole thing up and place it inside the new purse!

Thinking of things to make for BOYS is HARD! I found the tutorial for these sun visor CD holders online. There are 12 CD pockets, and it was easy to make...EXCEPT that I cannot sew binding on worth a darn! Because of the stiff Veltex innerfacing, the binding could not be pinned, so I had to keep it pulled tight as I sewed. I am not pleased with my messy stitching on the binding, and I also broke a few needles, but the boys were impressed!



I also made quite a few personalized, fleece seatbelt cushions. Easy-peasy!

I made several checkbook covers like this one!

I also made a purse for our daughter, but didn't take a picture of it. I embroidered and personalized a few dish towels, and made a few more checkbook covers. I also made my sweet hubby a snuglet to keep hm warm and cozy while he kicks back in his recliner to watch TV.

All in all, I spent just a little over $100 on Christmas, and all the gifts were well-received!

My best gift was spending time with ALL my family, and I also finally got a beautiful picture of all 5 of our grandchildren! I forgot to get the wallet-sized copy before I left our son's on Christmas Eve, so I'll have to post the picture when I get that.

My sweet hubby expressed great appreciation for my efforts in giving our family the gifts. He's in construction, and with very few new homes being built, our work is very, very slow. He was very upset over not being able to do much in the way of gifts for the grandchildren this year. He said that the gifts I made were better than any store-bought gifts, and that he was very grateful for my hard work in making sure that our family had a nice Christmas.

I hope you all had a wonderful and happy Christmas with your families, and wish everyone a happy, peaceful and prosperous New Year!

I'm not the only crafty person...

...in our family! My mom is pretty crafty, even at 92, and so is my son!

I think that Mama is just about finished with making baby quilts, although I think she is currently working on one. She has probably made at least 25 of her hand-embroidered and hand-quilted baby quilts for the babies in our family. The last one that I KNOW she finished was the one she made last year for my youngest grandson. I don't have a picture of that one, which is a "Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall" design. Here are the ones that she has made for my niece's 3 boys. I have one that she made for one of my angel babies 27 years ago.

She uses vintage embroidery patterns from, I think, the 40s, and they are as cute today as they were back then!

One of the things she currently makes, as baby gifts, are these cute little gingham teddy bears. She hand-embroiders their features and the heart and belly-button on them, and she sews the ribbon bow on so that a baby can't get choked on them.

She also makes these cute little "twin" dolls!

She hasn't made any Humpty Dumpties in a long time, but I think that just about all her grandkids have one.

Our son, who did a LOT of the work on his new home, has been working on finishing the bonus room over the garage. He has installed a mini-bar/kitchen area in it. Here's the vessel sink that he installed. He found the pump at our local hardware store and plumbed it so that the handles on the wall work with it. He drilled a hole through a chipped enameled washpan to make his sink. He also built the cabinet that it sits on. Isn't it just the coolest thing?

My sisters are both pretty crafty, too; but, they aren't into taking pictures of their stuff. One sister is like me...trying her hand at almost anything. My other sister is more into sewing and smocking. She has three granddaughters, so she pretty much stays busy with sewing their wardrobes. However, she has been making a few things for my grandbaby. I just haven't gotten "into" smocking.

She made this little "Noah's Ark" outfit for him to wear at Easter.

She also made his birthday outfit.

I guess we are just a creative bunch of folks!

Today is my son's birthday! It's hard to believe that in 3 short years, we'll be planning his 40th birthday "Over the Hill" party! Of course, I was a mere BABY when he was born! ;)

Have a great week!

More Stuff That I've Made

Our youngest grandson just turned a year old, and I wanted to give him something that I think every little kid needs...a little red rocking chair. I found an unfinished one at a local furniture store (ON SALE!) and gave it a few coats of bright red paint. I was planning to paint his name and some kind of cute design on the back, but then I thought, "I want to do something DIFFERENT!"


So, I went out to my arts and crafts and sewing shed, and made these little padded sleeves for the back of his chair. I used my embroidery machine to embroider his "name train" on one and left the other one plain. Here is a close-up.

His mom, our teacher DiL, had her birthday a few days later, so I made this tote/purse for her. I was inspired by the cute totes at http://hello-refabulous.blogspot.com/ You should check it out; I think she is an amazing young woman. She has eight children, homeschools, and still manages to find time to create beautiful items! This is my first try at ever making a purse, but I think it came out pretty well. I had some wooden apple cutouts, so I drilled a couple of holes in one to turn it into a button and painted it. It's on the closure, which is backed with velcro.

Here's one of the inside pockets, and the lining coordinates with the school print on the outside.

In June, I had the opportunity to get together for a weekend with 6 of my online friends and the mother of one of them in Pigeon Forge, TN. We all chipped in and rented a big log cabin on the side of a mountain, and we had a blast! It was as if we have known each other all our lives!

I made a personalized drink huggy as a small gift for each one of them. They are really easy to make!

What do YOU like to do?

Artsy-Fartsy Stuff

One of my interests is arts and crafts, and I sometimes combine it with sewing. I sometimes dream of being able to earn a decent living by selling my creations; but, in reality, I'm too slow and have to be in a creative mood. I also figure that if I HAVE to produce things in sufficient amounts to sell, it probably would no longer be a fun thing to do.

Here are a couple of the things I've made this year.

This is a "shabby chic" wall pocket/planter. You can line the bottom with sheet moss, or a coffee filter, fill with dirt and a pretty plant, and hang it on a fence. You can also just use a piece of floral foam and silk flowers to make an arrangement to hang on a wall or door in your house.

It's made from a 1-gallon can, with both ends cut out, painted, sanded, decoupaged, antiqued, amd sealed with an acrylic sealer. One end is mashed flat and wired together, with the flowers and ribbon hiding the holes and wire. I also draped pieces of a crystal Christmas tree garland to add a little sparkle.

Right now, I'm into making checkbook covers, because the plastic one I got from the bank tore up, and I REFUSE to pay $5 for another one! This is the first one I made and gave to my daughter. It turned out pretty well, but I was not pleased with the satin stitching on the edges...probably due to the extra inner facing that I used, so my newer ones are going to be finished with seam binding.

I have more pictures, but they'll have to wait for the next post! G'night!