Yearly Trip

It's that time of year...time for my yearly trip down south to see my family. It's been a bit longer than I intended since my last trip at Christmas in 2007. But, unfortunately, we had a very long winter this year and I wanted to wait until the weather was "safe".

I'm VERY excited because I'll be staying for three weeks instead of two like I normally do!! Since I don't really have a job per se to worry about, I can stay a little longer. I'll be leaving on the 18th (just a couple of weeks away!) and staying until the 4th of May. I will have to put my etsy and Artfire shops on vacation mode during the time I'll be gone. No problem!

I have a few sewing projects I need to finish before I leave: three monsters (whose limbs are all sewn & stuffed. Just waiting for chenille to go on sale for bodies), a new purse for myself (which is all cut out and ready to go. Probably work on that today), a camera case (have to figure that one out), and a wallet for my niece (going blind on that one too). But it shouldn't be a problem. Most of them are either a couple hour or one day projects.

Since I'll be going for three weeks this time, I plan to take some sewing projects with me just in case I get bored lol. Might even get my mom or niece to help me sew some things! I've burned a lot of patterns onto a CD to take with me too. I plan to have everyone look through everything so I can get a list together for gifts. This will help me tremendously come Christmas time.

So, all in all, I'm very excited now that I know exactly when I'll be going! Can't wait to see my new great nephew, whom I've never met--he's 16 months old now. My niece will be picking me up at the airport so he'll be there right when I arrive!

Wallet Purse

Since I plan to make my yearly trip down south next month, I thought that instead of carrying a big, bulky purse, I would make myself a small purse that would just hold my necessities: cell phone, sunglasses, cards, and money. So, this is what I made and I absolutely love it! It was rather easy to put together and I added more pockets than what the pattern called for (one can never have too many pockets).

Inside is a zippered pocket for money (including change), another pocket for receipts and misc items, and eight card wallets (which I won't be using all of those since I only have three cards I take with me).

On the outside back of the purse, I added another pocket that will hold my sunglasses and cell phone. The purse has a front flap and closes with velcro. I may have to make some of these to put in my etsy and artfire shops!