Basic Black Beautiful Bodacious Bag

So, I made something for the first time...and I'm so happy with how it turned out! I made this bag as part of a trade over on Etsy:



I was browsing some blogs and came across Handmade By Annabelle's blog
http://www.handmadebyannabelle.blogspot.com/ where I just fell in love with her rag coiled basket in blue & brown. The basket is a gorgeous shade of blue with brown dots and the liner is brown with dots in the same blue. I asked Annabelle a question about the diameter of this basket and in the same convo, asked if she might be interested in trading. She answered my question, but said nothing about trading so I figured she wasn't interested. We traded a couple more convos and then she asked if I ever made purses. Well, not yet I hadn't but I have been wanting to try. A few more convos later, we had decided on this bag. So, I've been busy knitting and felting...and just finished it up today! I hope Annabelle loves it as much as I love my basket!

My basket is a great size. I love that the liner actually has the "right" side of the fabric on both sides - that's attention to detail! I'm going to throw some of my balls of yarn into it - won't that look cute?


Well, let me know what you think of my first attempt at a purse. I added removable handles. The ones I'm including with the purse are black felted wool. But, they can easily be removed and replaced with ribbon, a scarf, chain, etc to change the look. I can just see someone putting a hot pink or red scarf through this to match that special outfit...Wow - I've got to go start knitting one for myself. I may just have to needle felt the letter C. U. T. E. on mine as advertising...


Have a happy day!

OMG - My Van Is Gone!

What a way to wake up yesterday! I got out of the shower...and was pouring my first cup of coffee when I happened to glance out my back window. And my jaw just dropped to the floor - my mini-van (yes, I drive one - it's great for garage sale-ing or craft shows!) was gone - right out of the garage. I quickly went through the house to make sure all our drivers were still tucked into beds...husband - check, 18 year old - check, and my older daughter was already at work and her car was gone - check. But I gave her a call anway. No, she didn't take my car. But, she did notice that my van was gone when she left for work (and she didn't think to check on that - have I failed somewhere?) but she just thought daddy took it. She also noticed that someone had gotten into her car (parked in back of the house) and the junk car.

So, I call the police...report it stolen...no, I haven't given permission for anyone to take it. They take the details and say they'll send someone over. He's there pretty quick. As he's taking down the information, his radio goes off: "we think we've found it...corner of x and x...occupied". He quickly gets up and tells me he'll be back. Wow, that corner is only about a block away!! A few minutes later he's back telling me to grab my keys as it is my van! Hooray...I think. Wait, I wonder if it's damaged...did "they" do anything foolish like a robbery or high-speed chase while driving it? He assures me it looks fine. We get there and it does! However, I can't touch it until they process it for fingerprints.

So...they get done and I'm free to take it home. Wow, I'm a mess by the time I get home - literally! Have you ever dealt with fingerprint powder? It sticks. It sticks good. I call in to work...um, I'm going to be a bit late. They're fine with it, really, I have a great boss! A bunch of paper towels and Formula 409 later, it's much better. I can actually touch things without my hands turning black from that powder.

So, did they take anything? Yes... They also left things behind. They stole the van and then went shopping for deoderant, toothbrush, toothpaste and some lotion. They also went to a fast food place. Left all of that stuff when they ran as soon as they spotted the cops. And no, they weren't caught - took off running. I have some items missing...phone charger, a used pair of Sketchers, and a portable CD/Radio player (used because my radio isn't currently working in the van). Make a mess of everything else in there...

All in all, I'm happy to have gotten my van back that quickly! About a 1 in a million have that happen the cop told me.

Free Shipping through July 31st!

It's Christmas In July time over at Etsy.com. A number of shops are participating. I'm offering free shipping on my whole store. I've blogged more about it here: http://thatissocute.blogspot.com/2008_07_01_archive.html#3644127131142647348

Come on over and get an early start!

A sneak peek at my newest items

I'm so excited. I was out looking at blogs and came across one by this Etsy seller, Handmade By Annebelle. Just fell in love with one of her coiled baskets. I convo'd her with a question and asked if she would be interested in trading. She answered my question and when she didn't mention anything about trading, I figured I'd have to save for it. About 2 convo's later, she asked me if I ever felted purses! Not yet, but I've been wanting to. So, we threw around some ideas and came to an agreement. This adorable basket is now mine: http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=9521500

I've got her bag knitted and will be felting a load later tonight. Once it dries, I'll attach the handles, list the reserved bag and it's on it's way to her. Here's a sneak peek at the bag:

and also a few other new items I'll be felting.

bet you can't guess what these will be...

how about these?

check back to find out!

Christmas In July over on Etsy.com!

Come on over to Etsy. We have probably at least 200 sellers who are/will be doing a Christmas In July sale. Wow - over 200 - and you're asking "Sure, and how am I supposed to find them?" It will actually be pretty easy. We've had a number of forum threads about this and the main thing all these stores will have in common will be that tag "christmasinjuly".

What are tags? How do they work? Tags are keywords used to sort items on Etsy.

To shop the Christmas In July sale, simply go to http://etsy.com and then on any page in the top banner, in the empty box just to the left of the word "search" type in this tag: christmasinjuly. Yes, leave the spaces out! I just did this and found 32 pages of results. Then I added the tag "ornament" and my results were down to 4 pages. So, if you're looking for something specific, add that word. If not, just enjoy looking around!

Each seller is deciding what they are doing for their sale...it could be Christmas items, it could be a percentage off sale, it could be free shipping or gift wrapping. I'll be checking out the shop announcements to see what the seller is offering.

Most shops are running the sale from July 20-31. A few have mentioned they'll be running a sale all month.

Any questions? Leave me a comment and I'll get back to you.

thanks!!

Update on our deposit dilemna

So, we are working on a letter to send this landlord...sending it via certified mail, asking for our full deposit back. I'll keep you updated as to how that goes!

Meanwhile, I'll be blogging in more detail about this and previous vacations experiences on my new blog: Sisters On Vacation. http://sistersonvacation.blogspot.com

One neat thing - I posted a question on the forums at http://tripAdvisor.com/ Great site by the way if you'll be traveling. They have lots of info and reviews on places to stay, things to do, where to eat, etc. Anyway, I've had someone already ask me who I rented from - they wanted to make sure they aren't renting from the same person! Turns out they aren't, but we are mentioning this in our letter...and telling them we will be using the power of the Internet if they don't return our deposit.

Grrr...they're trying to keep our deposit!

So, as we do every 2 years, my sisters and I (husband & kids included) all rented a house together for our vacation. This year we ended up changing our place within a few weeks of renting because we ended up with fewer people than originally planned. The price was reasonable...but I was a little nervous because their website (they are part of VRBO.com) did not have any comments from previous renters. This is what they told us:
And I usually don't ask the visitors to put remarks on there. I have several properties through vrbo. Which you can click on the link that says. See all my other listings. And I make sure that they are in great conditions. I do have a lady that just stayed and I can ask her to put some comments in if it makes you more comfortable. But I am always on top of my properties and have never had a. Complaint

Well, we do have a complaint - they are trying to keep our deposit! Unfortunately we did not think to take pics as we left the place as we found it. They are claiming that we did some small things:
~ in one bathroom, they have a black bear toilet paper holder...one foot of this bear was already off when our party arrived. They claim we did this.
~ in another bathroom, there is a piece of the tub faucet gone - this is how it was when we arrived but they are claiming we did this.
~ in the kitchen, a cabinet door hinge came loose. They are claiming we broke the hinge. This is normal wear-n-tear and not something you keep a deposit for.
~ in a bedroom, they are claiming a "gouge" in the amoire. This is the bedroom I stayed in and I certainly never noticed a gouge.
~ they claim we were not respectful of nature and threw beer bottles & cans down the mountainside. They were there when we got there.
~ I'm not impressed with their cleaning lady. On the deck was a large trash can that had a full bag of trash when we arrived. Since you had to take your own trash down the mountain (10 minutes 1 way) we were not about to haul someone else's old trash for them.

We are talking a $200 deposit here. We are not happy. We are in the process of writing them a letter...not that we expect much. Probably will also write to the BBB & the Chamber of Commerce. I'm wondering if this is how they make some extra money...and if this so-called cleaning lady gets a kick-back for each problem she finds..and how many times she's found the "same" problems!

Whew! That's Done...

"That" being the Open House we held for our daughter! Not that I really had that much to do...I think that what she needed me the most for is to write checks for everything! That's about all we did this morning...run to Sam's Club...run to Gordon Food Service...run to the grocery store...run to the party store...run to the ATM machine! I'm not complaining, I'm just tired!

I let her pick the menu...with just a few hints from me...she picked: chicken wings (3 styles: BBQ, lemon pepper and plain), macaroni salad, baked beans, veggies & dip, fruit & dip, chips, and of course cake! Sodas and punch to drink. It was all good! The best part? I didn't really have to spend the day cooking.

We had a really nice time with all the friends that came out! Thanks to all of you!

Where did that witch go?

I returned home from a relaxing vacation this past Sunday...just me and my 5 year old in the car for over 1900 miles.... and no working radio or CD player. Anyone care to try that?

We went to the mountains of northern Georgia. Since I was driving down from Michigan I decided to take 2 days to drive it. Good thing I did since I made a wrong turn a time or two...come on, my navigator is only 5! Have you ever tried to change the page on your large atlas going down I-75 at 75 miles per hour? Yikes!

Day 1: the plan was to drive about 6 hours (1/2 way). Hit a traffic jam south of Indianapolis where we went 5 miles in about 50 minutes. By this time it was almost 8 PM and we hadn't even had dinner...time to stop for the night even though we didn't make it to Louisville as I had hoped. A little dinner...a little pool time...and we went right to sleep.

Day 2: the plan was to get to our rental by about 4 PM...should have been about 12 1/2 hours total driving according to my google mapping. So, we left about 9 AM. By my calculations, I should have about 7 hours of driving today. No problem. Until I get to where I-24 & I-40 split...quick - which way do I take? At the last second I change my mind and stay on I-40 to Knoxville. Right away I see this big traffic jam..but it's on the other side of the highway - doesn't affect me, right? Wrong...because about 25 minutes later I realize I should have taken I-24..but to turn around mean waiting in the traffice jam for a least an hour. No thanks! Stopped at a rest area and got some directions and a map from someone working there. Only thing is, these are smaller highways and slower speeds...adding over an hour to my drive. And then our directions from the owner were awful, adding another extra 45 minutes. I actually ended up calling my brothers-in-law and they came out to the entrance so I could follow them back. We were so high in the mountains, there were hardly any houses...no street lights...one lane roads, even going up and around tight turns - scary!! Thanks goodness my sisters had a big glass of wine poured for me when I arrived - at almost 9 PM!!

Oh, and the title of this post? Let me explain! On day 2 (yes, that really long day), as I was driving down the highway, I got hit by a broom...yes, a broom! It came out of nowhere. I think it hit the car in front of me, it hit my van - thank goodness it didn't hit the windshield or a headlight! It did hit the front driver fender and scratched that a bit and put a small bit of a dent in it. But, no major problems. I've told about a dozen people about this and for the first time today, one person asked what happened to the witch! Love it! I don't know what happened to her, but I think I found her broom for her!

Woo Hoo - We have one more high school graduate in the house!

Well...as of this past Thursday, our middle child is now a high school graduate. Not that we ever doubted it would happen - she is very motivated! We are so proud of her.

The ceremony however was very long. It started at 6 P.M. A number of speakers of course...six valedictorians! Six!! And each and everyone of the six got up to speak. They did a good job of keeping their speeches short - thanks valedictorians! One main speaker...school board president...various others...musical performances. It was nice...but let's get to the reason we're here - our kids!

It was about 7:40 before the graduates started to go up to get their diplomas. We were done just after 8:00. It wouldn't have been so bad but we were sitting in the "crying corner". Several babies and little kids and they were miserable sitting in a hot place for that long - I don't blame them for crying! Plus, the people behind me were talking...not even trying to be quiet so others could still hear...that's simply rude.