This is a couple weeks belated, but I completed the last Weekender bag that’s been on my list this year.  This one was for T, my mom.  It turned out really, really well, and I’m happy with the modifications that were put into this last one.  I think I’ve landed on all the final version that I’ll be making in the future, should I make any more of these.

To be honest, though, I think I’d like to hold off on making these for the rest of the year.  They’re beautiful, and I love the end result (even have enough fabric to make another one), but they’re pretty time intensive, and I need a break.

After cleaning up my crafting space, which is something I really should do more often, I haven’t really been back down there to do much.  We’ve traveled a bit (for B’s birthday), and in general have just laid low.  Furniture we’d ordered in July arrived for our dining room and MM’s man cave, so we spent a fair amount of time moving things out of the rooms, moving things back, and populating the shelves.

While putting picture frames and other item on the shelves, I remembered that I hadn’t finished the honeymoon album (from 2011).  MM’s cousin (her name starts with a B – but that’s confusing, since nephew’s name is B…  We’ll call her BW, and then instantly forget that we’ve done so in future posts.  Cause that’s how I roll) mentioned a site that she uses for digital scrapbooks about a year ago.  At first, I wasn’t really interested – I have a small cabinet full of materials for scrapbooking, including papers, mounting adhesive, stickers, and all the other paraphernalia needed to fill the 2-3 12×12 inch books that I purchased from a scrapbook company that ended up getting purchased by another company and then downsized what they offer…

It’s a long story, and I’m not sure you really want to hear all of it.  Suffice it to say that I panicked when they let everyone know that they were shutting down, and I bought enough supplies to get through three books.

Anyway, after thinking about it for a little bit, I decided to try BW’s website out.  And the book turned out really well!  It was of my trip to St. Petersburg with my chorus, back in 2007.  And yeah, it took me about 9 years to get that thing done.  But in the span of one weekend, I had the pictures placed, backgrounds set up, “stickers” added, and titles and journaling done.

So, I started one for our honeymoon.  Again, it was pretty late in coming (our wedding was in 2007, our honeymoon in 2011), but hey, better late than never.

I’d started it right after the Russia book, then got distracted by all the things to sew!  And, since I was taking a bit of a break in sewing, this past weekend I got it finished, had MM look it over (it’s his honeymoon, too!), and got it ordered.  It’s quite a bit bigger than the Russia one, with more pages, and so obviously cost more.  But I got the result yesterday (way, WAY faster than I expected), and it’s gorgeous!

Next up, by way of projects, is going to be a couple small stuffed animals for a coworkers friend, just because, as well as the Riviera Handbag that I promised a chorus member.  I should start thinking about what to make for Christmas gifts as well, cause I’m not going to be able to leave that to the last minute (though, to be honest, that is my MO).

More later, everyone!  I hope you’re all doing well!