Look what followed me home!

This lovely, beautiful piece of crafty joy has been on my wishlist for awhile now. And when Hubby suggested that I go pick something out for myself for my birthday, I knew exactly what would be coming home with me! Now, I just need to some pretty little bits to run through her!

So, I bought her for what she can DO, right?! But, once I took her out of her packaging, I started looking at her and saw the two little bits o' bling on her front.....I got excited. And then when I noticed the larger piece on her handle, I had to share.....but, I didn't neccessarily share my joy with the right person.... Hubby was in the room with me, the kidlets were already in bed (I should have waited until I could show my wee daughter, who gets uber excited at all things pink and sparkly!), and so I bubbled on about how cool my lovely new tool is and look!, there's bling on her!! His response? To smack himself on the forehead and reply, "TOOLS are Not Supposed to have bling on them!!!" I just laughed and continued on with my own personal Happy Dance! :>

But, wait! There's more! In my birthday trip to the Walt Disney Family Museum post, I mentioned that my friend Jenn is creatively talented too (she sews, quilts, & does needle work) and that she sent me home with one of her creations.

I'd been eyeing one of her utility/shopping bags for awhile now. I have about a dozen (mostly from Trader Joe's) already. But, none are as fabulously chic, practical, and as super strong as hers are. I paid her (another) compliment on it and next thing I knew, she had taken it off the hook with her other (also fabulously chic) bags and handed it to me! She's creatively talented and plenty generous...thank you, Jenn!


The uber cool fabric she got at SCRAP, in San Francisco. I cannot wait to go with her sometime soon! What is also really cool is that the straps she's sewn onto the bag, go all the way around the bag, from the top, stitched down the sides, under the bottom of the bag, and back up again, making it extremely sturdy and able to hold a lot. And because the straps are long enough, its really easy to carry, even when loaded because it can just be slung onto your shoulder (instead of pinching your fingers to a bright pink, like many of my reusable grocery bags do).


I broke this gorgeous bag in with a trip to JoAnns with Jenn. And since I was with my great friend who sews, my bag was filled with my purchases, which were all fabric and a few patterns. I have a wonderful sewing machine, but other than some very square items with nothing more that a straight stitch involved, I haven't used it a lot. I really want to correct that and learn to sew.............MUCH better and more than I do now. But, in the meantime, the fabrics I picked up all have papercraft projects calling out to me! Maybe I'll have to use one of them for the current Everything But The Kitchen Sink challenge, calling for.....fabric! :>

Today is the last day to enter my Birthday Blog Giveaway for a Papertrey Ink gift certificate! Just as a reminder, here are the deets:

"Since the whole month of February is a celebratory month for me, I am leaving the giveaway open for the whole month for you. Every comment made on my posts in February, starting with this one, will give you an entry in the drawing for the PTI $25 gift certificate. If you like my blog, I would love for you to follow me, but it is not a requirement. And if you blog about the giveaway, you will get an additional three entries (either leave me the link in your comment or you can email me). "

I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend! The sun is back out here and Hubby is going to BBQ tonight! One kidlet is in 'imagination land' doing a Space Police mission' (aka playing with Legos) and the other is wearing her apron & chef's hat and whipping up a delish (pretend) pineapple, onion, peach, and cauliflower soup. What's shaped up this weekend for you?