Around a month ago, on a forum that I am a member of, someone put a $100 gift voucher from Zu shoes up for grabs.  Lucky me was the first in!  So tonight I went shopping for a new pair of shoes for me.  I wanted something a little dressy, and not one of the high heels that are currently in fashion (WAY too high for me, especially for my current weight).

So the idea was to find a pretty pair of dressy flats, as it seemed that they had flats or tower heels.

So off we trotted to the Chatswood Zu store.  And after trying on EVERY ballet flat they had, only to find they all made my feet look like planks of wood.  I almost gave up and bought a huge handbag that I didn’t really need when my darling husband found a great little pair of patent black peep toe court shoes.

Cute huh??  So the plan was then patent leather peeps and a matchey handbag, which was VERY cute.

However… I then caught a flash of red in a peep toe court shoe… The same style in red!  Not patent, but RED!  YAY

So now I have TWO new pair of shoes (I love sales!!)!  All thanks to the kindness of someone I know only through a social forum.  THANK YOU!!

Well, the end of the yearly Christmas crafting is nigh. I have been sewing my proverbial off to spread a little handmade love to my family members.

We have all three barrel purses made for the three ‘cousins’, little apron for the almost 3yo next door (which she got today and LOVES), a specs case for MIL and a jewellery case for my niece.

PHEW!

Each year I swear not to craft for gifts, or make an early start to it if I do… and each year it always come down to the last 25 days.

Well, here is my first completed crafted gift.  A NicoleM 90mm Barrel Purse.

It’s not PERFECT, but for my first metal frame purse it’s awesome   There are things I’ll do differently with future ones.  The clearance between the arm and the bed of my machine isn’t high enough for me to manipulate the purse properly to put the two sections together and do the top stitching around the top etc.  The Peltex/Timtex type material is in it by then, and it’s quite stiff.  So for future ones, I’ll be handstitching the ENTIRE top section.  This in a way will actually save me time (as I won’t spend it cursing at my machine).

I have finished another Monica Poole “Moonshine Designs” bag!

This is the “Palm Beach Sling”, which is her latest release in the handbag range.  It’s a ‘hobo’ style bag, 2 sizes and 2 handle options.  I made the smaller bag with the longer handles.  But it’s not for me .. I can’t say who it’s for… yet…

I love it, though, and will be making one for myself.  except I like my shoulder bags really floppy, so I’ll probably use a light weight interfacing, rather than a Pellon.

I love that the inside pockets mirror the outside one.  There is also a zipped pocket on the inside ‘back’ area.

WOO!