Another Late Night Project - Kindle Sleeves

I'm back into a little creative buzz this week, partly out of necessity. I got my replacement Kindle today and am wanting to really take care of this little Betty and keep her safe. So I started searching around the web this morning for a sleeve or case for it that I would like.

I knew Etsy would have some great ones, then when I started looking around I thought, what the heavens, you sew, you can make your own. So I printed out a Joann's 40% off coupon and headed to buy some fabric. My fabric was already on sale and I only needed 1/3 of a yard, so it was about $4.50 total.

I thought I might whip one up for my kindle-loving sister Christy. When I mentioned what I was up to on twitter I instantly got a "make me one too!" from a certain girl. She's a total gem and super fun Las Vegas photographer. I think that spurred me on even more to quickly whip these up -- the idea of putting something fun in the mail for her. I love putting little goodies in the mail for people I love and don't get the chance to do it nearly as often as I should.

So I looked at this great tutorial Kim Woodward of NewlyWoodwards was kind enough to send my way. The fabric I purchased was already two-sided quilted so I decided to do one side for Christy and the other side for me. The opposing sides seemed to fit our personalities too. Mine is the leafy green pattern and Christy's in the stripey polkadots. I used some small ribbon scraps that matched up nicely and with a few minutes of sewing I was done.

I used two layers of the quilted fabric, sewing it together to get a little more padding. If I was going to do it again, I would do things a little differently, but these will work just great. When I got done and was putting fabric and supplies away I looked in the closet and saw the great green padded vinyl I use for sunglasses cases and though it would make an awesome Kindle sleeve with a little hook and loop fastener attached to the edge. My Kindle may be sporting a range of fashions in the coming months.

Speaking of little sewing goodies, I have toiletries bags and glasses cases in stock if you're interested let me know. Have a fantastic Wednesday! Thanks for spending a few minutes here.

image by kalanicut

Late Night Photo Frame Project

So happy to share with you a project I whipped up late Saturday night. I absolutely adore it. In fact it melts my heart every time I look at it.

I bought this frame quite a long while ago, maybe last summer, at a favorite thrift store. When I first saw it I thought it was supposed to be a piece of art made with shells in these two small squares, but I could never figure out what it was supposed to be, it just didn't add up. Then when I took it apart I realized it's a frame for photos and the shells are to create a beachy theme for the frame, just sitting happily along the bottom.

I have hundreds of photos from the beach, it seems like I take 30 or more every time we spend a day on the beach which is usually once every couple of weeks or so. When I began thinking about photos for this frame, the first one that stood out in my mind was a photo of The Little Bug holding her dad's hand dancing down the beach. I actually took this photo with my little pocket camera from about 50 yards away. That little camera has some powerful magnification properties!

When I thought about a second photo for the frame I knew I had some great shots of the two of them from this past week and a very special day we spent together at our favorite beach. I scrolled through them and found this most amazing photo of the two of them holding hands and The Little Bug twirling her hair around her finger.

I took both photos and sized and edited them and gave them a sepia tone treatment. You might be surprised to hear I did all that in Microsoft Word. I have other editing programs but my new printer is having problems printing photos in photo mode but will print them in Word and thankfully Word has really beefed up it's photo editing capabilities.

When I got them into the frame it was delightful magic. The Man adored it too, which made me even happier. Now this little gem sits on  the dresser across from my bed next to my lovely Anthropologie lamp and the white shade and the white frame and the metal lamp base and sepia tone photos pop quite nicely together.

Sending you warmest wishes. Thank you for being here. -k

This post is linked to Good Life Wednesday at the fabulous blog A Beach Cottage. Sarah's blog photos of her home are to die for. You'll love a wander through her fabulous beach cottage!

This is also linked to Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls. Great spot to see a very creative snapshot of projects people all over blogland are making. Great inspiration!