Brr midji is here

Brr  It's cold out.  It's 12 degrees below zero today and going to get colder throught the weekend. 

I added velcro closure instead of snaps.  I like it, but I need to add the velcro on the pocket before assembly.

After trying the ID Holder from the otherday, I was messing with the file and decided to try and make a bigger one to hold my iPhone. It worked but I need to tweek a little the pocket placement.  I added a ribbon loop on the back so I could hang it from a lanyard, that needs work.  

I sewed the velcro on the flap right through the layers and thought to cover the stitching with a covered button.  Making a covered button was easier than I thought. I just need to be neater, I have a couple of lumpy spots.

I also worked on digitizing a logo.  It's a signature, which is not easy. I want it to have a smoother look.  More work tomorrow.

I have a Genealogy meeting this evening and I need to write up my notes.  I'm the presenter.

I think I have adult ADD

Some days I think I have adult ADD.  I'm not trying to make fun of anyone but myself.  I jump from wooo look at that -- to oooh I need that.  Today the mail man delivered a new toy. 

i-Top from Imaginisce

It looks like a funky pair of piers.  It is called the I-top , Custom Brad Topper.  Brads, I don't scrapbook, really I don't. But they seem to have all the cool toys.  This can also make fabric covered buttons and snaps.  The other day making the ID Holders I wanted to put a nice neat snap to close the flap.  I goggled snap sets, etc.  I ran to Joann's and bought a few snap sets, and the tools to use my hammer.

Then I got distracted by my cricut.  Someone on a Yahoo group asked about cutting fabric with a cricut.  I have all the stuff to do that, but seldom every use it, so I began to google cricut and such.  I downloaded new software to cut with and downloaded new tutorials. 

Okay see, back to the i-Top.  May package came in. I ordered what is called Snap Daddies, to be able to cover the snap with fabric, guess what! The stupid things do not come with all four parts of the snap.  Most snap sets come with a cap with prongs, a socket, a stud, and an open prong.  You sandwich each piece of fabric with a prong and either a stud or a socket.  The Snap daddies only came with the cover and the socket.  Remember this is a scrapbooking tool, they cover brads and stuff to bling the pages. It's a good thing I was all over the Internet and ordered a bunch of resin snap sets from the Snap Source. Plus I have snap sets, so I can play with those first. I also bought some button covers called Button Daddies of course.

The ones I bought seemed small online, but the 28 mm is a smidge over an inch, thats a large button. The mediums are 22 mm which is 5/8 of an inch.  I can see embroidering mini designs and making buttons of the store.

I also found a blog called Pink Cricut who had a demo of the i-Top and she said you could use your Crop-o-Dile for snaps.  I think if I had the big bite, it would be easier, because I needed two more hands.

Playing with the embroidery machine

A couple of days ago, I made a huge mess of the embroidery machine.  I got a snarl that I had to cut the fabric out of the hoop and cut the bobbin thread tornado.  I was so mad.  I just had to walk away for a bit.

Yesterday I looked at the machine and thought I don't want to clean out the clipped thread and such.  Today I decided I needed to get the machine back together and running again.  Cleaned out the thread and used the mini vacumn I bought for just this problem.  I rethreaded the machine.  DON'T vacumn the machine with thread on the machine or bobbin thread in the case.  Guess how I know.  The vac sucked the whole bobbin empty in 50 seconds, it was kinda cool. No no ... don't do that.

 ID Holders front

ID Holders Back

I have this embroidery design I bought off the web and I hadn't made it yet, I transferred the design to a disk and printed off the directions.  I read the directions and read the directions.  I seemed to be missing a step or two. Ok I grabbed a fat quarter and cut and starched. I didn't have any warm and natural, but I had fleece ends. 

In this photo, you can see the third one I made out of purple/maroon Paisley.  All I have to do is add the snaps and key rings.  I tried one method of snap, but I think it is too big.  I figured out why I didn't get the directions, the designer Renn, from Embroidery Garden, laid it out so that you turn it indise out and then flip one pocket and you're done. No hand stitching a turning hole, no extra anything.  Once I finished the first one, I was so tickled I had to wake up the napping college kid and make her look.

I then had to go back to Renn's site and see if she had one to fit my iPhone, yes so I ordered it.  I love instant download.

Traveling or Not

This week I was supposed to travel from Snowy, cold Minnesota to warm sunny South Carolina.  Except, it snowed in Georgia and South Carolina.  Sunday morning I got a recorded call that my Monday flights into and out of Atlanta were cancelled, and they were trying to rebook me.  So late Sunday night I finally got someone on the phone and cancelled the whole trip.  Which turned out to be good, because Atlanta's airport was snowed in for two days and they are still trying to get everybody back to normal.

I called today and booked our annual trip to Vegas.  I have multiple trips and multiple packets of papers, on my desk.  The ladies in Florida and Georgia at Delta were great.  But the paper thing is driving me crazy.  I Have this great plastic folder that I got from Disney one year that I keep reusing.  I tried to make one out of fabric covered  file folder.  Nope that was cheesy. I mean it works, but .... I can do better.  So I made a fabric folder.  or three.

The first one I actually made in September after the file folder problem.

I made two more today in  a sagey green. Because then the Hubby will use them on his trip to DC the end of April. I'm not going because the company I used to work for is based there and the Hubby has ideas about going to work for them again.  We promised the youngest child that we would be here through her undergraduate degree, she's got three more semesters then off to medical school. yah!!!!

I used the original plans on the file folder, but added an inch in length, because I found the first one, needed and extra bit to hold my 8.5 x 10 papers folded in half.  I decided not to add Velcro or a button, because the folder slides right into my computer bag pocket and buttons or Velcro would snag.  I top stitched the top so that holds the flap down, just right. 

I wanted to make one in a Vegas'y print but the only thing I had was some playing cards print, and I didn't have enough.  I'll have to get some more.  Vegas prints from Vegas, babbbyyy!  now comes the hard part waiting until April.