The Horse in My Purse

I love this little girl!

She delights in giving to others.

She believes it is her job to "make the whole world smile."

Right now, her favorite joy (obsession) is My Little Ponies. I was at their house recently and she offered to give me one of her little ponies. Of course, I politely declined. Well, time passed and not long before I was leaving for home, I saw her near my purse. When she saw me see her, she looked a bit guilty. I wondered... but then I kind of forgot about it. 

Later, at home, her momma texted me that Cordelia had told her, "I may have put a pony in Grandma's purse."  That kind of giving and sharing comes so naturally to her. No, she's not a perfect little girl, but she's got a quality that really warms my heart. 

And that, my friends, is why I now carry a My Little Pony around in my purse.

The Purse With a Past ... Give-away!

Ha! I was cleaning out some stashes of unfinished projects Saturday and I found THIS ugly thing!

To find out how I came to own this ugly purse, simply click here. I had truly intended to redo this purse right away.  It had good "bones" but that Anarchy stamp on the front was not acceptable.  Well, true to my nature I tucked it away and forgot about it... until now!

I dug it out and decided the time had come!  I messed with it for quite awhile before deciding just what I wanted to do.  Finally, I made my choice of fabric.  I went from Anarchy to Flower Garden. Really all I had to do was apply (sew) the new fabric over the top of the Anarchy symbol.  It was easy.  I've no idea why it took me so long to accomplish this little make-over.  I kind of like how it turned out.

The thing is, I don't really need a new purse.  So, look it over.  Could you use a new purse?  I've decided to bless someone else with this cheerful little beauty!  Don't hold her past against her please.  To enter this give-away, either leave a comment on this post for me or sign up as a new follower.  Either way, I will put your name in the drawing.  It will be fun, huh?!

I will announce the winner in about a week so keep checking back.  Sneaky, huh?  I leave the announcement date kind of vague so you have to keep visiting my blog.

Also, this is a linky party!  It's not my party but I am attending a linky party at a blog called, 

"You Are Talking Too Much". 

... I liked the blog name.  Come along if you'd like!  You can be my plus one!

After that party I am joining in at Repurposed Ideas Weekly.  Let's go!

And if you are interested in entering more give-aways,
try this link.

Up-Scaling Makes Me Feel Like a Hero!

There's something new going on at our Wyoming Rose Boutique.  Yes, we're still crocheting and crafting but we've added up-scaling to the mix as well.  Have you done any up-scaling that you'd recommend?

If you don't know what I am talking about, let me break it down to two simple steps.

1)     SHOP!  Maria and I aren't too excited to shop the usual way.  We aren't big on going to department stores to find our treasures.  What is the most fun is to shop thrift stores, keeping our eyes (and minds) open.  We really try to see items through our creative vision glasses.  OK, we don't have special glasses.  But we are developing an eye for potential.  We don't always know what we are searching for until we see it.  Things that catch my attention are classic styles or delicate remnants from the past.  Sometimes it is just a unique color or texture that I want to enhance.

2)     LET YOUR IMAGINATION RUN WILD!  This is the part that takes the most time.  I take one of our treasures back to my Rose Room and start experimenting.  I can't tell you how many different ideas I worked through on this golden purse, for example.  What I ended up doing is cutting out this piece of vintage lace and appliqueing it to the front of the purse.  The lace itself has some history.  My mother-in-law gave me some of her sewing things years ago (more than 30 years) and I still have some of it.  (Carol, do you recognize it?) This lace is one of my favorites as you just can't find any like it now.  Isn't it pretty?  It took this purse to a new level of of awesome.  But, I still felt like it needed something more.  I cut and twirled and tied and imagined for quite awhile before I realized this purse just needed some bling, so I made a bracelet for it.  I was really quite pleased with the result.  I like the mixture of antique and glamour, don't you?  We have it listed on our Wyoming Rose Boutique on Etsy.

I went kind of a different way with this classic red purse.  I wanted to keep it youthful and fun but it needed some personality.  I pawed through a lot of fabric before seeing how this bright apple print wanted to bring out the best of the red purse.  I put a lot of time into the process but the result was a cheerful, unique and spunky looking up-scaled bag.  What do you think of it?

I am pretty proud of this next one.  We found this chocolatey blazer and I knew right away that it was a candidate for up-scaling.  It was in excellent condition, soft and cozy - perfect for chilly days.  It already had some interesting lines.  Some of the vertical seams actually had encased elastic that gathered it up just enough to give it some drama, but it still wasn't really living up to its potential.  I took  it home and loved it up.  It had perfectly nice covered buttons but the brown on brown just went flat.  I replaced all the buttons with cool white ones that celebrated the fun of shape.  No more round boring buttons!  Then, I started experimenting with color.  I settled on a peachy cotton thread that had kind of a special smooth finish to it.  I hand-crocheted a lace that could peek out at the bottom of the sleeves.  I did not want to over do it but I still felt it needed a bit more.  I then used more of the fun thread to crochet a flower.  I centered the flower on a cut-out of more antique lace (thanks again to my mother-in-law) that was already a daisy-like design.  I centered another of the funky buttons for the center and sewed it all together.  When I attached it to the blazer, a star was born!  To see more detailed photos just click here.  

So, there you have it.  Go shopping and see if you get any fun ideas to upscale something.  I know that it made me feel rather heroic, as though I'd rescued something from boredom.  Have fun!

p.s.  Anyone who orders from Wyoming Rose Boutique can enter the secret code at check-out to receive a 10% discount.  The secret code is:  DISCOUNT 

My Orange Grandma Bag

One day, maybe a year or more ago, I saw this glorious little bag while out shopping with Maria and Cordelia.

The little girl in me was absolutely charmed by it.  The old lady in me thought it would be ridiculous for me to use it as my purse at my age.  But still, I really wanted it.  I just did!  So, I came up with an idea.  I decided it would be my "grandma bag".  I fill it up with fun stuff to entertain Cordelia during church.  Cool, huh?   People may think I carry it because I am a thoughtful Grandma, but I just think I look cool with it.

Now you know the truth.

My Life as an Anarchist

Our family met up at the mall recently.  This is not new.  We do it about once a week for "mall lunch".  Eric was off and got to join us, so that was nice. 

After lunch we were just walking aimlessly about the mall.  Some of the family went in to see the puppies at the pet store but I'm not allowed in there.  Remember, those little visits are how we ended up with Bode! 

I was looking around and I saw a Native American store that I'd never entered.  It looked like they had some cool hand-made things.  They had a sign that said their last day was DIC 31.  I guessed they meant Dec. 31.  Since it was my last chance, I decided to wander in.  Maria came with me and eventually the entire family ended up in there. 

I enjoyed this little store and wished I'd gone in before Christmas as they had some neat gift ideas.  Maria and I chose some bracelets we liked.  This is mine.  It looks like stone but is actually wood.  I like it.

Besides the bracelets, I purchased a little giraffe toy Mike found for Cordelia.  When I was checking out, the man ringing up my total spoke to a woman off to the side in a different language.  She answered him and then he put this purse into my bag...

I asked him about it and he said, "Think of it as a late Christmas gift."  I thanked him and left the store.  When I got out of the store I took the purse out to get a better look.  Maria and Eric laughed when they saw it!  Sam was suspicious, wondering why the guy shoved it into my bag.  Here's what was so funny.  The front of the purse had the symbol for anarchist!  Luckily, I believe I can add a new front!

The funniest part of the story was that this purse from the Native American store had a tag on it that read, "Made in Equador"!