Unsure of store hours? Allow me to explain....

Have you stopped by the store lately only to see the lights off and the place looking empty?  Well.... there's a perfectly good explanation for that!  The lights have been off and the place has been empty!  Not really!!  Allow me to give you a picture explanation of my life over the last month....

Grabbed a ziplock project bag from the stash and finished up / made these...

Worked mostly from memory on these, using techniques I'd seen before.  How's that for vague?   I did look around though, and found tutorials for two different zippered pouches (here and here) over at Skip To My Lou's blog.   I added an extra step at the end too -- boxing the corners so that the pouches would be able to stand up by themselves if needed.  Just think it gives the look that extra "I cared enough to do my very best" look.

Wished I had seen this one first though -- love it even more than the ones I made.  

That extra punch that the pleats give...  So cute!  

After I crossed another "finished" project off my list, but before I could grab another to do, I found myself in desperate need of  this:  

I swear, the older I get the easier I get sick!  

Think the guy over on the next block had a case of the sniffles and I caught it!   

Praise the Lord, was able to get that under control in time to head out on an unexpected vacation here..

We spent two days with Oldest Son and his family.   

Daughter-in-law's family lives in LA, and 

we were able to drive over to spend some time 

with everyone.  

Highlights included:  

You gotta see this place!  

There was fabric and trim and thread everywhere!   It was amazing.   

A fabric hoarder's dream come true.  

After that, we were treated to lunch here:  

Totally on my bucket list!   

Guess what I had!  

Yep... a plain ole' hot dog with ketchup, mustard, 

chopped onions and relish --- onion rings on the side!  Worth every single calorie for sure!

Saw this from a distance

Which was also on my bucket list... 

Los Angeles -- what a place! 

And I'd do it again in a minute to spend just one second with these cuties....

In the midst of all of the above, Husband and I received job offer letters from this place!

We leave a week from Sunday for two weeks of training in Dallas.  We are very excited about this opportunity -- been a long time since I was active in the work force so will be a huge change for me.  Husband will slide right into his new responsibilities easily so am hoping to ride along on his coat tails!

Needless to say, that's why you've seen this whenever you've come to 33rd and Broadway recently! 

 We are heading into another crazy month, what with being gone 

to Dallas for two weeks, then having a week to move to our 

new location / job.  Wish us luck -- and I'll do my best to have 

SOMETHING fun and exciting 

on the shelves should you find time to stop by!  

If you want, I'll show you my menu from Pink's too!  

Street Floor Cosmetics Department: Check out the new make-up bags!

I'm in love with Pinterest -- along with the rest of the world.   But I've already collected a stash of fabric, 7 books from the library that must be read within the next couple weeks else I'll have to pay overdue fines for them, and enough food recipe choices to last till the Rapture!  Seems like such a waste to collect pictures as well, so thought I'd try using one of the tutorials that I've pinned.  

With that said I consulted with Daughter, our resident Fashion Consultant here at 33rd and Broadway, and she helped me pick out fabrics.  This is the outcome of that conversation --

Am taking that stack of coordinating fabrics and turning them, Lord willing, into these! 

My inspiration came from this cute bag on Pinterest.  I was able to follow the picture back to this blog and this tutorial posted on August 23, 2011 by Melissa.  Isn't it adorable?   I needed three little gifts and this is going to fit the bill perfectly!  

I worked with an assembly line mentality for the first few steps.  As I said, I'm using zippers and fabric that I already had in the stash pile.  Because each bag will require a different shade of thread once the actual sewing begins, will proceed from there one bag at a time.  

Got my 13 x 7 1/2 pieces cut out and interfaced all before beginning to sew.

Okay... that is the cheesiest picture ever!  My photography skills obviously leave much to be desired!  

Now was the time to thread the bobbin and begin on #1.  Be sure to refer back to her Cosmetic Bag tutorial as she instructed!   I did NOT and ended up ripping out my very first seam!  

Here are pics of my end products!  What do you think?  

and 

This was a great tutorial in my opinion!  Once I got the hang of it I was able to make one up easily within minutes of Melissa's estimated time frame!  Follow the steps very closely and I think you will be VERY happy with the INSIDE as well as the outside of the bag!  Note that you use both the lining and the outside fabrics together to make the box bottom.  I was so pleased with the way it finished things off so neatly inside!  

The little time that I spent on Melissa's blog  Sew Like My Mom convinced me that I need to revisit her often!  I bookmarked her August 11, 2011 post -- an applique tutorial.  I LOVE to applique but am HORRIBLE at it!  Look forward to improving my skills because of Melissa's informative post!  Check out her January 6th post -- a challenge to all of us to be working on making at least one Christmas gift per month.  This project has my name on it for sure! Take a look -- see if you can't find something worth it's weight in gold!   This make-up bag tutorial is one that I know I'll be using often!   Please note that Melissa has requested (on her side bar) that her tutorials be used for personal use only.  Unless you receive permission otherwise (her side bar also contains her email information should you need to contact her), respecting her request is just the right thing to do! 

If you find something I can't live without, by all means don't forget to stop by the Customer Service Desk and let me hear about it!