In the Pink

my youngest daughter as an 80's girl for halloween.
this was my oldest daughter's halloween stockings--she was also an 80's girl.

i'm so glad i didn't go through the eighties as a teen, the 70's were bad enough!

this plate is one of a collection on my bathroom wall. if you look closely, you'll see that it's a cross stitch pattern. 

thanks for looking and thanks to beverly for another pink saturday!! i'm going on a pink visit tomorrow bright and early.

Here's a picture of a vintage purse from one of my aunts. She embroidered the motif and then after much use, decided to take the purse apart to make a new lining but never got around to doing the job. I was the lucky recipient of the unlined purse and it's been in my closet for a couple of years now. Yesterday  I was looking for a different project and came across the purse and decided that now was the time!
This is a closer look at the embroidery. 
Step 1. In order to make a pattern for the lining, I pinned a piece of stiff interfacing to the purse and traced the main body piece and the side panels with a marker. The main body of the purse is one piece. I added a 3/8" seam allowance and cut it on the fold.
Step 2.  After cutting out the pieces ,each was stabilized with stitching around the whole piece.
Step 3. I added a pocket to each main lining side.

I stabilized the back of the pocket with a piece of stiff interfacing.

Step 4. Fitted side linings to main lining and sewed seams.
Step 5. Clipped curves and then ironed.
Step 6. Fit the lining into the purse.
Step 7. Whipped the side linings to the purse.
Step 8.  Sewed the entire lining along the top of the flaps and another stitching line to make a tube for the handles.

Finished project-can't wait to use it. I think I'll use the basic pattern for more purses. It shouldn't be as hard because I'll cut out the lining to match the outside. I'll just have to adjust the handle parts.

"Enter you, my friends"

"Enter you, my friends", originally uploaded by suesueb.

the shades of inspiration color for this week is blue. i love all colors but blue is one of my favorites. my kitchen and dining room are both decorated with blue items--a lot of blue items! this saying is painted along the top of my dining room wall. It celebrates my cajun french heritage. when i first painted it, my youngest son was so embarrassed. he thought his friends would think me weird. thank goodness he's grown up and realized the freedom of expression and the fact that everyone's home should reflect their personality. i love my home. it is truly a haven. i hope my children always feel that way and know they can bring friends here and they will be welcomed. there are two more pictures of the saying. visit my flickr page or the shades of inspiration flickr page to see them all. thanks!

Pink Saturday

these are the two pics i chose for this saturday's pink post sponsored by http"//howsweetthesound.typepad.com/.  the pin is part of a collection of enamel pins and the necklace beneath is enamel and greatly coveted by my daughter! pink saturday is a meme from beverly. there are thirty four participants this week and it's going to be so much visiting today. 

 

i also joined a swap for the first time in ages with elizabeth from http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/. each person sends as many fat quarters as they wish cut from vintage sheets (or fabric) and gets that many in return. it'll be so much fun to see what one will get in return--oh, the possiblities!!  here is a picture of my fat quarters that i have so far. i may go through my vintage fabric (if i can bear to part with some-ha!) and include some of that.  to view all the pictures check out http://www.flickr.com/groups/792015@N22/.

mantels

103_1316, originally uploaded by suesueb.

just joined http://kariandkijsa.blogspot.com/ mantel meme. they really have some great ideas and the list of bloggers to visit is so much fun.
my living room mantel is the focal point of the room. the wood backing reaches all the way to the 16 foot ceiling. every month i try to change the decor. this month i have the decorations for my son's graduation. next month i'll change it to "july 4th". i bought the wooden letters at an antique shop in canton, mississippi last november. the set includes all the alphabet except and i and all the numbers except 1. i've been racking my brain each month to spell out something that only has one letter of the set. if anyone has any other ideas for july, i'd love to hear them.

trying to paste a link to technorati. i hope this works.

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window of life

i sent this picture to "shades of inspiration" flickr group. the window was given to me by my husband's mom. he had written his name on it with airplane glue when he was young. i added buttons from my grandmothers, mothers, and my collection and old lace and scrapbook elements. it was fun because of all the memories it holds.  i need to learn how to add a button. maybe i could find a tutorial about it.

today is "the breakfast club". for the past 15 or so years, my sisters and mom (and anyone else who wants to) get together for breakfast. our family is large and close. this is my "therapy" session for the week. no matter how low i may feel, i always come home feeling better. we share funny stories, sad or hard stories, and anything anyone wants to discuss. we look at magazines and/or catalogs and sometimes blogs. it is something i rarely miss and i look forward to it always.

4th of July Banner

4th of July Banner, originally uploaded by suesueb.

getting ready for the 4th!!

a new beginning

well-i've finally decided to try this. it's really sort of scary for someone with limited computer knowledge. hopefully, i'll learn as i go or find someone to help. i decided to do this since my last child just graduated from high school. the past year has brought so many challenges to my life and i figure i may as well learn something new. i love to read art and creative blogs. there are little things i'd like to share and sometimes i would just like to express myself, whether it's through art or words.  i've added a photo from the flickr group "shades of inspiration" from sadie olive's blog.