The evolution of a favorite color

When I was in elementary school, my favorite color was blue. I think it had something to do with the fact that everyone loves blue at some point in their life. But mostly, it was because of the “Cerulean” Crayola crayon.

The highly coveted cerulean crayon...

(Photo Source)

Fast-forward to my college years when I abandoned blue for pink – maybe because there wasn’t a huge demand for Cerulean crayon usage in college, or because pink seemed to be a trendy color in the early 2000′s (pink iPod mini, anyone?). Pink has remained my color of choice for a long time. With the help of my scuba buddies, I even managed to build up a collection of pink dive gear, officially making me the most obnoxious diver on earth.

Not pictured: My hot pink air tank. Even the sharks would raise their eyebrows if sharks had eyebrows.

I still thoroughly enjoy pink, but since I’ve started sewing, my color preference has started to change. Lately I’ve been drawn to green, especially when it comes to fabrics. I like muted, earth-tone or pastel greens best. Check out this dreamy green inspiration board I put together to show you my newfound love for green!

It's easy being green when you're as pretty as these things!

I can’t really explain why I’ve started to love green so suddenly, but I do think it has a lot to do with sewing. Is green an up-and-coming color trend in the fabric stores? Am I only noticing a lot of green because I’m looking for it? Am I looking for it because it’s an up-and-coming color trend? What came first, the chicken or the egg? Am I asking too many questions?

Anyway. What’s your favorite color? Am I the only one who has gone through favorite-color stages?

SEW you want to go to school?

Tis the season of PB&J, new shoes and a fresh box of crayons – back-to-school! And while shopping for brand new school supplies is one of my favorite things in the world, I have not be able to personally celebrate the back-to-school season in many years. I tend to live vicariously through my friends who are teachers until summertime rolls around – and then I want nothing to do with my teacher-friends since they don’t have to work and I don’t want to hear about it!

Recently, Joe, a dear friend and fifth grade teacher, sent me this photo from the One Stitch Two Stitch blog and said, “If you were a teacher, this is what your bulletin board would look like!”

Click the photo to read more about this bulletin board at the One Stitch Two Stitch blog!

Oh, Joe. You know me SEW well!

Since I’m not a teacher, there is no bulletin-board decorating in my future. However, I’m happy to report that I personally celebrated the back-to-school season this year as I recently started the journey towards my MBA. Sadly, I didn’t need to buy any school supplies for my first day – apparently, there is no need for a box of crayons in grad school.

Regardless, I am appreciative that I am officially a part of the back-to-school season at all this year. I hope that this magical sewing bulletin board inspires my teacher pals. I’d love to see photos if you create a sewing theme on your boards!

Happy 2011-2012 school year! Let the learning begin.

Creative Visions and a Placemat Purse

A few weeks ago, I found some clearance placemats at Cost Plus World Market and had a vision – I could easily turn a few placemats into a purse. I still consider myself pretty inexperienced when it comes to sewing, so the fact that I felt so confident about my vision also made me feel a little wary, as if I were missing some glaring error in my plans.

But there was no way I could pass up the opportunity since the placemats were marked down to less than $2.00 each – and I had a rewards coupon on top of that – so I brought home two place mats and a matching napkin to see what I could do.

The "before" picture!

I worked slowly and did a lot of thinking before I made any permanent decisions along the way, but lo and behold, I made a placemat purse lined with the napkin!

The "after" picture... success!

... lined with a matching napkin.

...with an optional bow.

I still have a little bit of fabric leftover and I think I can make a zipper pouch with it. I also bought a few more placemats and napkins so I can make another purse, document the experience with photos and write a tutorial soon.

Cheers to creative visions!