How to Add a Zipper to your Emmaline Bag Pattern

Hello Bag Ladies!! (Who are not bags at all...!)
I've had a few requests for a zipper opening in the Emmaline Bag pattern.  Yes, I am a total dolt for not putting it in, in the first place, but that can't be helped.  I yam what I yam. 

I'd just like to draw your attention to the perfect tutorial to help you with this... if you haven't found it already.  Emmaline Bags & Patterns: How to Sew a Zipper Opening in Your Purse or Handbag - A Tutorial

This tutorial shows you how to adjust your lining, cut, sew and install your own flash zipper gusset.  I hope this helps!

I Had the BLEEP Scared Out of ME!!

I have a little story to tell about a humungously, humungaloid sting ray that nearly killed me (not quite).  I was just sitting here watching 27 dresses (there is nothing else on),  thinking about it nearly three weeks later and I'm still thrilled by the whole event.  Yes, come to think of it, it was thrilling and yes I know humungously and humungaloid are not actual words, but I am putting them into circulation.  

This could be him... we saw this guy just after the incident.

True story:  On our recent holiday in Western Australia, we went snorkeling a few times from the beaches in one of the most gorgeous marine parks in the world, Ningaloo Reef.  That's what it said in the pamphlet and I think it must be true.

Learn To Sew:: A Beginners Sewing Series

One of the sweetest girls in the blogosphere, Mayya from Sew Chic and Unique, is starting a learn to sew series on her blog.  Mayya, a creative sewer and busy mother of two, knows that there are a lot of other women and girls out there that just need that extra help to get the dust off of their machine and stitch up some wonderful, creative, projects of their own.

Mayya is going to have some super easy projects happening for the beginner sewer!  Please hop over to her blog or follow in your favorite way (she has a facebook page too) and watch for her easy learn to sew project posts.  The first post in this series HERE gives you a list of essential supplies and notions.    Thank you, Mayya, the beautiful lady from Oman, for encouraging the craft of sewing!

Thank you for reading,

Source: www.sewchicandunique.com

Handbag Hardware Kit Available!

It seems I've got a bit of a hardware surplus, and I really don't want them going home in my suitcase so....  I've put some magnetic snaps and gorgeous rectangular rings available for sale on my website.   OH! AND I've put together the perfect hardware kit for the Emmaline Bag Pattern (four rings and one magnetic snap).  I can ship them to you around the globe, but quantities are limited.

When I set up shop in Canada in a few months, I fully intend on having a nicely stocked handbag hardware shop with all of the items necessary to feed your handbag addiction!  And...maybe a few sewing notions too.

Thank you to all of the girls on facebook for sharing their favorite hardware finish with me.  Shiny nickel was the clear winner, closely followed by brushed nickel and then bronze or antique bronze.  I'll do what I can to get what you want/need.  If you have specific handbag hardware requests, make sure you let me know and I'll try to get them in.

In the meantime, I am limited to magnets and rings with a fabulous shiny nickel finish!

The STUFF!

Flat Alloy Rectangular Rings

Inside measurements:  38 mm (1-1/2") x 12 mm (1/2") x 3 mm
These are very high quality zinc alloy rings finished in a polished shiny nickel.  These are perfect for handbags and totes, and my preference for The Emmaline Bag pattern.  Available in packs of 2, 4 & 10 (save 15%).

Magnetic Snap Closures

18mm (3/4") Shiny nickel magnetic snap closures made from the highest quality.  US patented. Easy to install, no special tools required.  Available in packs of 2, 4 & 10 (save 15%).

The Emmaline Hardware Kit

This hardware kit is perfect for The Emmaline Bag Pattern, available in my pattern shop.
It includes 4 Rectangular Rings AND 1 Magnetic Snap Closure (Save 10%).

Please hop over to my website by clicking on the link in the top menu bar or going HERE!

Thank you for looking,

Used quilting book to give away! CLOSED

At Piece with Time: 

A Woman's Journey Stitched in Cloth 

by Kristin C. Steiner &
Diane C. Frankenberger

About this book:
Would any of you amazing quilters like a quilting book that I am done with?  (UPDATE: This book is going to Maria, in Brazil!) About 8 years ago, when I was still living Alberta, Canada, I bought this wonderful book from my local quilt shop and participated in a sew along "course", completing 1 or 2 blocks each week and completing all of the hand applique in my own time.  Well, not exactly completing it.... as the case may be. But mostly!  I made a lovely gift for my mother from it and I hope someone else will enjoy it as much as I have.

This is NOT just a quilting book, but as the title hints, woman's journey through life.  It's beautifully written and illustrated with gorgeous watercolors.  It has a few little projects, such as a journal, doll, and mini quilt, etc.

Swimming with Whale Sharks - Holiday Photos #2

Heading out to the reef, watching for turtles.

Welcome to post #2 of my holiday photos.  You can find the first post with our pictures of us with wild dolphins HERE.   Please enlarge the pics when you look at them and leave a COMMENT!!  Jxx

About these photos:
Have you ever wanted to swim with a shark but were afraid it would get hungry and eat you?  Whale Sharks are your answer... they eat plankton... yup, just like Will and Phil (from Happy Feet 2).    Since I am considerably larger than plankton, I didn't hesitate to jump in the ocean with a 6 meter shark swimming about.  Okay, only slight hesitation, buy I ensured my son it was perfectly fine and we LOVED it!  What an experience.

Here are a "few" photos taken from Ningaloo Reef off the coast of Western Australia near Exmouth.  We spent 4 days in Exmouth, snorkeling, hiking and just relaxing on the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.  One of our days was spent with King's Ningaloo Reef Tours, who treated us to snorkeling on the reef two times, a nice morning tea, and a yummy, yummy lunch... OH not to mention 4 swims with the biggest fish in the sea!   We also saw turtles, dolphins, a shovel nose ray and many fish,gorgeous coral and a dugong.

These pictures were taken by Krystal from Krystal Vision Productions, their on board photographer, who made us a DVD of our whale shark adventure for a nominal fee of $60.00.  Worth every penny, and I know some of these will end up printed on canvas, and hung on my wall in my new home back in Canada in the very near future.  Although it was a cloudy day, I still think the photos turned out wonderful.  We did take pics with our own camera, but Krystal's fish eye lens got the whole shark in the pictures, plus she took some of us - of course!

The first pictures will be of the snorkeling, and then the whale sharks.  Remember to click to zoom and leave comments!  (I do this blog strictly for the validation... ) jx

Jace and I looking down and a very huge shovelnose ray.  He loved it!

Here he is, right below us.  You could see his huge eyes flicking open and closed.

A giant shovelnose ray on Ningaloo Reef.

Gorgeous coral and bright fishes at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia.

This is me, I didn't even realize that Krystal took the picture, I was too busy looking at fish.

Nemos!

A few more pretty fish and coral. 

Outside the reef, getting ready to jump in with the Whale Shark.  Do I look nervous?  I can't handle not having my sunglasses on!

Here he is!  The big plankton eatin' whale shark.  We got REALLY close.

Here is Mike and I.  Mike is the one out front taking pictures, I am in the back trying to keep his fin out of my face! He was... eager.

An interesting photo of squishy faces.  I love this pic of Jace!  Here we were waiting to go in with the whale shark for a 2nd time.

Can you see the whale shark under the boat?  Cool pic!  He loved the boat and was very curious.

This is my husband, mike, getting close for a picture.  This has been a huge dream of his for a very long time.

We got quite close!  I don't think I'm in this group, actually.  There was about 16 of us on the boat and we went in the water in two groups and took turns with it.

A very curious whale shark, he stayed up on the surface for a very long time. We were very lucky!

Funny lookin'?  Bye-Bye Spot, we will miss you! 

Thank you for looking at my whale shark pictures.  Trust me when I tell you that the photos do not do the experience justice.  It was so wonderful and beautiful.  Yay for new experiences!  Just do it!

Quilting Supplies and Fabric Giveaway! CONTEST CLOSED

I was just over at Shape Moth, trying to snoop around and see if she's finished an Emmaline Bag yet (she's doing a pattern review of my Emmaline Bag pattern for Purse Palooza over at sewsweetness.com) and I came across the MOST FANTABULOUS GIVEWAY!  If you are a sewer or a quilter, you should head over to Shape Moth and enter.  Wowsa!

Who's giving away quilting supplies?   A big German online shop, patchwork-oase.com, is launching a new shop complete with fabric, quilting accessories,  and patterns and is hosting an amazing giveaway with 10 AWESOME prizes.  The online shop is not open yet, but you can enter to win the prizes at Shape Moth.  Go have a look, write a little post about it and ENTER!

Here is one of the prizes (which will be sent to international winners, by the way...): 





and another:



Thank you, Joanna, for sharing this with all of us.  I can't wait to see what this new online shop has to offer.

Good luck!

Wild Dolphins! - Our Photos From Western Australia

Our first greeting at Shark Bay was from a baby emu!

This is my first post for our WA, Australia holiday.  You can see the 2nd post HERE!

As many of my Facebook friends will know, I just returned from a wonderful holiday in Western Australia with my husband Mike and our six year old son, Jace.  Wow!  What an amazing, magical, time - a true bucket list crosser offerer.  ??  An adventure to cross of my bucket list, I should say!  I would love to share a few of our 662 photos with you.  (How will I only pick a few?)  I will split them up into three posts, and this first one will be some pictures from the Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort at Shark Bay.  Make sure you click the photos to zoom in.

About Shark Bay, a World Heritage Area:
From www.sharkbay.org:   "Shark Bay is renowned for its stunning scenery. It is a place of colour and texture, drama and peace: of bright white beaches and blood-red headlands, shallow bays and plunging cliffs.  Shark Bay’s vast seagrass meadows pattern the aquamarine waters with dark dapples, ripples and swirls. The coasts are peppered by rocky islands and fringed with sweeping beaches of glittering sand and shells.  Shark Bay’s inner waters teem with other life, including dugongs, dolphins, turtles, sharks and rays. Back on shore, the heath and shrublands burst into bloom each spring, and wildflowers carpet the sands."

I couldn't have said it better myself!  

About Our Stay at Monkey Mia:

This big pelican loves to get his photo taken!

We were at Monkey Mia for 4 days and 3 nights.  Every morning we went down to the beach in front of our villa and joined the dolphins in the water for their morning visit.  On the second day, we were lucky enough to be one of the chosen few to feed the dolphins a fish (thankfully Jace is so adorable).  The dolphins are only given one or two fish each so they will still need to fish for themselves throughout the day.  The dolphin feeding is actually just a little meet and greet the dolphins are generous enough to provide.

We went for a couple of bush & beach walks, that took us from the beautiful white sandy beach, into the red sandy hills.  The drastic color changes from turquoise sea to white beach, and then to red sandy dunes, was really quite surreal looking.  We just played around in the dunes, and soaked in our surroundings.  Along with many emu, we also saw some wild goats, but they didn't attack us so I don't think they were that wild.  ha ha.