In honor of the fourth of July celebrations that will taking place this weekend, I present Etsy in red, white and blue! Click on the picture to see each shop.

Have you noticed that much of the fabric we creat our projects with is not made in the USA? That is changing. Connecting Threads has just announced that the cotton for all their new fabric collections is being grown in the USA. It is being woven and manufactured in North America.

Look for that Cotton Made in the USA label!

I was like a fart in a skillet yesterday and whipped up this bag. It is black with silver dragonflies. It was the first time I ever sewed with brocade. WHAT A MESS! I think that the next time I sew with brocade, I will fold all the edges over so they don’t fray. I had to use a lint brush to remove all the fiber from my black pants. Why do I always wear black when I am in the mood to sew?

I made this clutch to use at my son’s wedding which is only TWO WEEKS FROM TOMORROW!!!

What a sad week this has been. Famous people have died and a local mother in our town was killed in a car accident leaving two teenage children without their mom. I am having a hard time not thinking about it.

There are things we can do to help unfortunate situations. I know that I have discussed this before but I hope more people will take note, especially since Cryo-Cell is offering a promotional code that you can use to save on the purchase price of the U-Cord service.

Cyro-Cell is an umbilical cord banking service that owns C’elle. C’elle is an innovative company that preserves menstrual blood to harvest stem cells. This process poses no threat to babies. On the contrary, this process uses cells to extend the number of the progenitor cells that grow into mature blood cells. This offers their use in life saving benefits. 12,000 umbilical cord blood stem cell transplants occurred worldwide to treat over 75 different diseases!

Please, tell your friends so that they can have the opportunity to make choices. These options were not available when I had my children. I could not take advantage of this offer. Expectant families have the chance to store their baby’s cord blood and have a chance to make a difference if a disease strikes their family.

Things have finally settled down around here and I finally am in the mood to start a sewing project. (We have a wedding in 21 days for those of you new to my blog). I have had this kit since February and it has been crying out to be made.

I have spent the last hour cleaning up a mess in our family room. It seems that ants have decided that our wood floors and door molding make mighty tasty meals. I could not figure out why I kept seeing what appeared to be piles of sand along my baseboards and beside my door jams. When I looked closer, I discovered tiny red ants were going to town building their habitat. Ugh. Between ants and dogs, I am slowly being driven crazy.

We have a Shi tzu and a Boston Terrier and both breeds are noted for not shedding. We did our research before bringing home Elsie, the Boston Terrier. The books said hers was the perfect breed for a dog that did not shed. Brody, the Shi tzu, was an inherited dog and we were lucky that his breed is also said to be of the non-shedding variety. The books lie. I am constantly using duct tape to get all the hair out of my sofa fibers. Our dogs don’t shed near as much as other breeds so I know I should be thankful. I have visited homes where the dog hair could be found in the corners of every room. Eeeew! Certain breeds will shed but no breed should shed year round. If your dog sheds all year long, there is something wrong with their diet.

I wish more people used Dinovite to find the best nutrients for their pet. Lack of nutrients or the wrong nutrients are what cause pets to have itchy skin and shed. Many pets are not getting the vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, beneficial bacteria, and essential fatty acids needed to keep them healthy. Dinovite’s solutions center will have your dog in better health by using all-natural products.

I entered information in Dinovite’s easy to use questionnaire and was able to see if any changes were needed in Elsie’s diet.

As you can see, Dinovite agrees that Elsie is in good health but added that a supplement called BestOShow would add the Supromega Salmon Oil lacking in her diet.

We all want what is best for our pets. Let Dinovite find the best solution for your furry friend.

I have been making these purses out of Batik fabric. They are fun to make because every purse turns out different. I put 8 pockets inside each bag and one or two pockets on the outside to make a cell phone easier to grab.

It is a dream of mine, to be featured in a Treasury at Etsy. Someday, it will come true! There is a great place where you can check to see if one of your Etsy items has been featured. By going to Craftopolis.com and typing in your Etsy name, you can find out if you have a featured item. Very cool! They also have a treasury clock that can help predict when treasuries will be available. That is very helpful because it is hard to tell when a good time might be!

I am so sorry for my lack of posts. I wish I could say that I have been busy sewing but that has not been the case. This is the busiest time of the year for our business and I have been waiting on customers. That is a good thing because that means that I can eventually buy more fabric!!!

Speaking of buying fabric check out the coupon code at Tilt’s blog, Crafts, kids, home and Life. You can shop at Fabrics dot Com and save $5.00. Valid from June 12th to June 19th.

Thanks Tilt!!!

I have always been drawn to Vera Bradley bags. I like most of the fabrics used to make their fun purses and luggage. Some of the fabrics are gawdy but that is my opinion. I like the quality of the bags and the fact that they are made in my state of Indiana. The bags are made in the USA. Yay Rah!

Imagine my surprise when reading the latest Indianapolis Monthly magazine, I discovered that Vera Bradley bags are not all made in the USA. Like just about everything else, Vera Bradley is being made in China. Over 700 Vera Bradley workers have been laid off. While the company says that they had to reach out to foreign companies in order to keep up with orders, they let Indiana workers go?

I am very disappointed in the Vera Bradley company and am more determined to make my own, quality, versatile and inexpensive bags.