The tote is done!

A While ago my Mother In law and I went to one of our favorite quilt stores. While we were there I found this cute tote pattern and thought it would be perfect for my trip to Dallas this summer. I fell in love with it. The fabric that came with the kit is yellow and while it's not my favorite, I really like it. It is a fast and easy project.

The project called for a ruffles trim. So I bought some ribbon and made the trim. I remembered to take step by step photos to share so you can see how it's done and make your own. This technique is great for making ribbon flowers too! (photos at the end of this post)

Fold right edge under and pin.

Then Fold the ribbon over to the right side overlapping the previous fold.

This is where you determine how big you want your pleats. While holding the ribbon with the previous fold at point where it meets the edge of the ribbon underneath, Fold the ribbon back toward the left making sure to keep the top and bottom edges straight. pin in place.

This is how it should look after  repeating the previous steps a few times.

 Once you have your determined the length of pleats that you want. Take your strip to the sewing machine and sew along the top edge. I used a zipper foot so that I could see the very edge. I know that it's not the proper foot to use but it's what I prefer.

Here is the final result. Perfectly pleated ribbon.

You know those cute pillows that you see in the store that look like a big flower...... This is how they make it. They pleat the ribbon then roll it in a circular pattern over the fabric tacking it down by stitching as you go. The results are beautiful. Here are a few photos of a ribbon that I have rolled!

I hope you enjoyed this post.

Have a Fantastic Day!!

Stella

I have to admit, I wasn't to fond of the Stella Paper Packet at first, but after playing with it for a little bit... I am in LOVE! I wanted to post what I have created so far, and there will be plenty more. I am having way to much fun with Stella to stop now!

All supplies are Close To My Heart unless otherwise noted.

Paper: Stella B&T, Colonial White Cardstock, Cocoa Cardstock

Stamps: Just For You

Inks: Cocoa, Olive, Sunset, Tulip, Lagoon, Black

Die cuts/Punches: Mini scallop boarder punch by EKSuccess

Other: Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Waterbrush, Pearl Paint, 3-D Foam Tape, Score Pal (marthat Stewart), Sponge, ATG Double sided tape (Scotch).

"The Philosophy of Fun"

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If you have an questions just Contact me!

Habbits......

What are they and how do they become a form habit?
We start off doing something and think to ourselves that "this is just temporary" or "it's nothing."
Nasty habits seem to happen over night. You know.... the not putting the cap on the toothpaste because your running late and it never seams to make it back on or leaving a basket of Laundry to be folded for days and then later looking for your favorite shirt or spending that money on a magazine that you really don't read when you could be putting it into savings for something special for yourself. We are quick to spend money and complain that we don't have enough. While good habits seam to take some real effort to form not to mention they take FOREVER to get to the second nature point.

Weather is something that you want to incorporate for your health, organization, finances or just plain Ole Peace of Mind, you can start to change them by picking one thing to change at a time. It usually takes about 28 days or repetitive action for something to become a habit. So start with something small and work your way up to your bigger goals. Write a list of what you want to accomplish. Then break that list down into sections, "what can I work on now", What can you do to reinforce this habit and most importantly what will you reward yourself with once you have accomplished your goal.

I am no expert on this matter, but I do know that this does work. So let's work together on forming healthy habits ( it can be anything you want it to be). You'll be surprised at how much better you'll feel.

My list of habits to start with ( I have many more but I won't over do it which can make you feel overwhelmed and uninspired) When possible... have a visual of your goals.That always keeps you motivate!

Healthy Habit #1...... Eating Breakfast every day! This is a biggie for me. I often skip out on breakfast, not because I don't have time to eat or anything like that. To be honest I have all the time in the world and I don't know why I don't.
Healthy Habit #2........ make time to work out. Get physical as Olivia Newton John once said. lol A little LMFAO "I work out" inspiration inserted here ;-)
(thanks to my son that song gets stuck in my head more times than I'd like to admit.
Healthy Habit #3.......... keeping my calendar updated! (not to mention my blog!!)

Healthy??

I have posted that I would keep track of what I have/have not been doing to get more healthy.
Well this past week I have been keeping track of what I normally eat. No changing my diet or daily routine.
I can tell you that I am really disappointed in myself with my discipline.
 My daily eating habits: Hot Tea with 3 heaping teaspoons of sugar and whole milk for breakfast.
 Lunch was essentially non existent.
 Dinner was what ever I made, Chicken mostly, or pasta, and yes I am ashamed to say this, canned veggies.
It is what I grew up on and was used to it. I do know how to cook and steam fresh veggies. I would make them maybe every 2 weeks. Other items on the menu, frozen pizza(which is ashame since I do know how to make fresh pizza dough and all the fixings)
I would snack on the most unhealthy things all day long, Stuff like potato chips (my favorite, sour cream and onion). My sweet husband would go shopping and buy it because they were on sale and he knows I like them, (same thing with Soda) even after I would express that I was the one who would be eating it all. (In my defence I didn't want the money spent go to waste ;-) )
He has gotten better with his purchases but we would still buy it for the boys b-day parties or if we knew company was coming over. Now I am thinking that we owe it to our company to have something that is better for them besides chips, buffalo dip, crab dips, Chips.......

I know that this is going to be a long journey for me and I am willing to do the work!  It is going to be hard to get into the habit of eating more meals (smaller portions) each day.

As far as exercise, I have continued to take my walks. My goal is to be able to work up to a nice jog. I use my walks as a warm up to my warm up. I just need to push myself more and learn more about properly executing the movements for various exercises. I have a pretty general idea, I used to work out a lot when I was younger and i feel that I can do what ever I put my mind to.

I also have to say that my 18 year old hasn't had soda for a little over a year now. I am so proud of him. He does make it a point to say something to me when I have some. It is good to know that he is concerned and there to remind me of what I am trying to accomplish. Although it may not feel that way in the moment. lol

Next week I hope that I'll have some better news to report on my progress. Thanks for listening and I hope that you take a moment to reflect on what you can do for yourself and your family to make a healthier lifestyle.

Eating Healthy???

This is such a big thing for me. I want to eat healthy, it's just hard for me to get there. I know that I am like many of you out there who have no clue as to where to start. All I can offer up is do some research.
I found this great website via Pinterest. Michelle is a very encouraging person who does care about your health. She has posted some of her favorite Healthy recipes. She is a fitness trainer with some awesome workouts!!  Here is the website: http://lifeplusfitness.blogspot.com/

I thought that I would be able to start her 8 week program, and when I attempted to do the warm up..... I got extremely winded and heart pounding. (I haven't done any real exercises in almost 8 years! Yes I have done walks and sporadic workouts every now and then. But I really want to get into the habit of doing it on a daily basis! What I am saying is that I want to be healthy and set a good example for my boys and husband!

So here I am pouring my guts out to you all about something that is hard for me to talk about. I am not proud of the way I eat (or lack of eating) or the way I exercise( or don't) but I want to change that and the first step is to admit it and talk about it.
So what I am going to do is start to blog about my daily eating/workout habits. This way I can be held accountable for my actions.. (even if no on reads my blogs.... I know it's out there and can't be taken back!)
Please feel free to comment or even join me in the quest for a healthier lifestyle and we can hold each other accountable!

Making the bag!

Good day to yo all!

I have been making this really cute yellow bag. Now yellow isn't really my color but I just loved the fabrics. My Mother In-law picked up the kit for me at one of the quilt stores. Because of copy right laws I can not post the steps to creating this bag. So I will just post my progress as I make it. I am hoping to create on of my own to share with you all.

I have so much fabric that I really need to start using before I buy any more.  Now I know it's not as much as most of the quilters that I know but it's a lot for me and I don't want to have tons of stuff that I'll never use. With that said, I have projects to finish up before starting new one like the bag. But I promise that I will make one and post step by step directions on how to create it for yourself.