Friday Feature ~ Facebook Fan

Recently, I have been working on my Facebook Fan page. In order to get a simplified URL, the page needs 100 fans. What better way than posting on the Etsy Promotion forum. The response has been incredible! I am still getting people adding to the thread after 5 days!! I have a total of 167 fans and achieved my goal of shortening my link to http://www.facebook.com/luckyladybugdesigns

Along the way I have visited the pages and etsy shops of many extremely creative crafters. I believe in paying it forward to someone who needs some assistance in getting more fans for their Facebook page. My Friday Feature will be dedicated to one of those pages that needs some love to get to the 100 fan goal. I hope you will take time and visit the facebook page and shop of the featured artist.

Enough explanation...now for the feature....(drumroll please!).....

This Friday's Feature is the Facebook page of......

MadeWithClayAndLove!!!!

As of today, this page has a total of 64 fans...and it deserves tons more!!! Please stop by and visit and fan this lovely Etsy artisan! Here is the link to her shop on Etsy!

Some of my favorites from her shop are:

The Artist's Palette Keychain

I can't help but smile at The Knitting Sheep

Here is an elegant Pink Rose and Baby Blue necklace

And finally the World's Smallest Sewing Machine!!

I hope you have enjoyed exploring the world of MadeWithClayandLove. Become a fan and don't forget to heart her shop!!! I am sure she will return the favor!

Thank you for reading my blog. May you enjoy many blessings today and always!

Gloria

LuckyLadybugDesigns

Sewing Away!!

I do believe that sewing is becoming my new crafting addiction! I spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights sitting at my sewing machine working on simple tote patterns. I broke two needles, messed with the tension, sewed up the wrong side, managed to work with the zipper foot, fixed a sweatshirt for my daughter, and ripped out a number of seams =) I am getting better…believe me. I actually made a mini tote that I gave to a co-worker today for her birthday. She loved it…it was the perfect size for her lunch!

Now that I am inspired to sew and create I headed off to the fabric/craft store on my lunch hour. I found some lovely fabrics in the remnants bin. One is soft paisley corduroy that looks like it will be fun to work with. I also bought some batting…my co-worker gave me some tips on quilting I might try this weekend if I get up enough courage. I also embellished some cloth diapers for burp cloths. Not perfect but I think I am on the road to getting some items in my shop.

I also have to work on some bracelets. I haven’t touched my beads in weeks. I want to get some holiday inspired items together. And there are a couple of paper projects I have been dying to try. Not enough hours in the day. Isn’t that always the way?

Right now the trainings are finished until the end of the month which should mean things are quieter at work. I finally had some time to organize my stack of papers and filing. I feel like I have a better handle on things. At home I need to get on the computer to download some of the pictures I have taken of my sewing attempts. I will only post them if you promise not to laugh!!

I need to count my blessings…I haven’t done so in a while. Let me see…

…learning something new! ~ I never thought I would enjoy sitting at my sewing machine as much as I do!

…fabric remnants and fat quarters ~ so many choices so little time!!

…my hubby and daughter ~ they are very complementary when I emerge from my craft room with a newly sewn item!!

God bless you all…I will venture around to your blogs sometime soon!!

A Sew Sew Weekend

This weekend I was determined to get some practice sewing in and, boy, did I ever? I headed off to the fabric store for some supplies after searching the net for some easy projects. I am getting more comfortable with my sewing machine and my seams are getting straighter. I had some tension issues but I did what my manual said and the problem was fixed in a jiffy. I even brought one of my projects to work to show my co-worker who sews and she was impressed. That definitely gave me a boost of confidence. I am not up to selling my items on etsy yet...but practice makes perfect! That was how I taught myself to crochet!

Another thing I did this weekend was head to the local library and straight to the section with the crafting books. I could spend hours just going through the books. I ended up bring home ten books on beading, crochet and sewing and one script for an audition in January!

Today at lunch I headed over to Half Priced Books and picked up a sewing and a rubber stamping book. If I don't like them I will just sell them back to the store. Both books look like they had some helpful hints in them. Hopefully, I will get a chance to look them over tonight.

I didn't spend much time online this weekend because I was buried in sewing books and fat quarters. I definitely need to catch with everyone. I need to get my etsyblogger posts together. I also need to get some pictures of my latest creations!! It gets dark too early now to take them outside...I have to find another option.

God bless you all!!! I need to get back to work!

Sew Fun!

My new goal is to learn how to sew. This is an ability I didn't think I could master. Then I was blessed to receive "The Machine!"

At first, I just stared at it. Hmmmm...what is a crafter to do when presented with such a thing? First, I plugged it in! After sitting idle for ten years before coming into my life, it still works! Okay, now for the next step...threading The Machine. I remember my mother's old sewing machine and the complexity of threading the machine, getting the tension correct, etc. I looked at the manual and thought "could it be THAT easy?" It was!! What next? I would try to sew!

I had some fabric from a decoupage project so I went for it. I set the foot down and push lightly on the pedal and......the needle went up and down but the fabric didn't move. Now, I was challenged to figure this out. I took the manual, went over and over it. After about 45 minutes passed, I finally got it! Change the length of the stitch and VOILA!!!!! I had sewn a straight line.

Now I was motivated with a capital M!!! A couple trips to the fabric store.

It was time to get creative! I found a simple pattern online and I was off. Here is the fruit of my labor. TISSUE COVERS!!!!

All of you sewing experts may not be impressed but I am very impressed with myself! I actually created something with a sewing machine. Now, I was starting to build up some confidence and I found a pattern that was just a bit more complicated. Here is the finished product...A CELL PHONE CASE!!

Now, I will not profess it was easy and everything went perfectly but...I did it!! It is lined with coordinating green fabric. It turned out just a bit bigger than it was supposed to but for my first complex (well, complex for me) pattern, I think it came out looking pretty good. Then inspiration struck and I made a matching tissue cover!

Of course, I had to get a "real" pattern. That chapter won't be written until the weekend. I can't wait to get my machine running again! My mind is full of so many things I want to try. I have a couple of books on hold at the library that might help. I will share my creations as I complete them. Wish me luck!

Remember to count your blessings! God is good indeed!