Love

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I haven’t held a card class in months.  I have been way too exhausted. 
I finally held two classes last Friday.  I had a lot of time to prepare since the girls were away at camp all week.  I was so touched that a couple of my ladies brought me “be happy” gifts.
Here is a bottle of yummy bubbly juice from Pat M.
and a cute miniature orchid plant from Vicky…
I made some cookies for my night class and decided to surprise my babies when they arrived home from camp that night with one big cookie.  Instead of a cookie, I ended up giving them Australia.

Hands Off!

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What a roller coaster of a ride this eWillow.com thing has been!
Thursday was an up day.
I found out that I was awarded the trademark for eWillow.com.
I have no idea what that means, except that Neil filled out the tedious forms, we paid the fee, and then waited forever to hear back from the US Patent and Trademark Office.  (like eighteen months)
I guess it’s better to be notified that it was awarded rather than receive a letter that it was denied, right?
I don’t think anyone is going to be beating down the door to infringe on the trademark.
Wait…I just thought of something!  Can a trademark be hacked?  If so, I’m in trouble!  Stay back, picnic bag girl!    (see previous post)

Enough Already!

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I made it to the finals in the “So You Think You’re Crafty” competition.  Whoa.  What a very long and amazing ten weeks it has been!

If you still feel like voting, click HERE.  I think by now you can pretty much guess which project is mine!

As for me, I am really confused.  It is crazy how I can go to sleep and I am ahead by almost 100 votes, only to wake up and find that the other competitor has taken over the lead.  It’s exhausting trying to keep up!  I never knew there were so many night-owls in the world!  I guess people go online when their kids are sleeping in the middle of the night.

It has really been a ton of fun making something new each week.  We all knew before we auditioned what the theme would be for each week.  It’s funny how I made a list of everything that I was going to make, but when it came time to make the project for that week, I NEVER made what was on my original list.  Just for fun, when the competition is over, I am going to post what I wanted to make and what I actually ended up making.  I’m also going to post the thought process that went in to each of my decisions.  Not that any of you care!  I just want to do it for my own memory.

                               

(Oh, and BTW, just to satisfy my own curiosity over how the voting could have possibly gotten so crazy, I Googled “is it possible to hack an online poll” and I got the answer in less than one second.)
                  
I think it would be AMAZING if “So You Think You’re Crafty” were a TV show…put ten people in a room with a bunch of stuff, give them a theme, and let them have at it.  If I were on the show I would approach the competition the same way I approached the online version.  It wasn’t about winning the competition every week…it was about not losing.  All that really mattered each week was being able to get more votes than the person who was in last place.  Just stay under the radar.  By doing so, I wouldn’t be eliminated.  My strategy worked, until now!  I saved my best project for last, even though I could have used it in some of the other categories.  I thought it would be most beneficial to make a big splash in the final round, and luckily I made it that far!
                 
I already mentined on Facebook how losing is much better than winning.  I used Jennifer Hudson as my example.  She lost American Idol, but she has been one of the most successful talents from the show.  And did you know that Halle Berry was first runner-up in the 1986 Miss USA pageant?  Do you know who beat her to take home the crown?  Neither do I.  😉

Turn a Bubble Dress Into a Book Bag

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Bubble Dress to Book Bag

It doesn’t get any easier (or cuter!) than this!  All you have to do is start with a bubble dress.  The one I used is perfect because it has a nice wide elastic waistband and the skirt is fully lined.  That means when you’re finished, your book bag will have a secure opening and the inside will be fully lined, too.  Because you’re using a bubble dress, the top and bottom of the bag are already nicely ruffled.

All you have to do is remove the top part of the dress from the waistband.  I added a wide strip of canvas ribbon for the handle.  The handle is the only part of the book bag that wasn’t made from the dress.

I covered the top of the bubble dress with iron-on vinyl to keep the sides from fraying.  I used a Sizzix die to create the flower shapes.  You can use whatever shape you want, but just make sure that you carefully place the fabric on the die so you can maximize the number of pieces you can cut.  I removed the stitching from the black trim on the bubble dress neckline and flattened it out to make the centers for the flowers.  I added some large white grommets to the waistband for a nice extra touch of color. 

No kid likes summer homework, but it’s a lot more fun to tackle when she can tote her books around in this awesome bubble dress book bag!  Or, use it as a beach bag or summer sleepover bag.  If you want a small bag, use an infant-sized bubble dress.  If you need a REALLY big bag, use a really big bubble dress!  Have fun!

Pretty Please!!!

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I feel like the President of the U.S.A. and it’s November 1st…
We’re down to the wire…
I made it to the final three in the So You Think You’re Crafty competition!
PLEASE vote this week so I can make it into the FINALS!!!

I NEVER imagined I would come this far!  Thanks for voting over the past several weeks.  Please, please, pretty please, KEEP VOTING!

Try to guess which project is mine, then cast your vote in the little bubble in the upper right hand corner HERE.