Back to Reality...

Tomorrow it is back to reality.... time to step back into the world... a new year... I don't make resolutions as they really are hard to keep as time goes on... my word for the school year has been and continues to be, Inspire.  I use it everyday... I say it to the kids at school... we talk about how everyday we are inspired by others in many ways...

I spent my break crocheting for hours on end, binging on Netflix and disconnecting from everything that didn't matter... it was awesome! I couldn't tell what day it was, I didn't know what the weather was until it happened, I couldn't tell you what was happening in the world outside my little cocoon and I didn't care... I stepped away from the outside world and it was very relaxing... I made the occasional trip to the market for things we needed and did go to a few stores after the holidays but soon came home because the crowds were nuts and people were rushing around like ants...

I needed solitude... I needed time to re-charge... I needed time to create...

I finished a couple of projects that have been sitting in my basket...

I was inspired by the beautiful bags from Bookhou to redesign a tote I had lying around into a new, amazing bag for me to carry through the winter months into spring...

I started with this...

Took the handles off, made a tiny leaf stamp, mixed up a brown that matched the purse strap that I took from an old bag that I disassembled for the hardware and printed the design after I did a few test swatches on scrap fabric to see how it looked...

I made a lining from some stash fabric, added a pocket inside recycled from a pair of jeans and added a zipper to the top...

I hand sewed the strap on by following the holes from the previous stitching... it was slow and frustrating at times to find the holes to stitch through but I got in a groove and trudged through... it was worth it...

I started a new shawl using the graph from a Japanese pattern... I don't have any true red shawls, this yarn is the perfect shade of red ( it translates a little brighter than it is in this picture).

I'm back to adding more rows to my poor neglected crocodile stitch shawl that I started in August...

for now I'll run a couple of errands, do some laundry( it would be good to have clothes to wear tomorrow), eat some more food ( like I haven't eaten enough these past couple of weeks...salads here I come...), figure out where we left off at school and get my thoughts organized for tomorrow.... Hope you all have a great week!

Mrs."C"  :)